mid year book fReAkOut tag (allegedly)
Added 2024-07-01 15:27:23 +0000 UTCIn this month’s (extremely punctual, please clap!!!) Patreon vid, I use the midyear book freakout tag as a flimsy excuse to yap about Ted Chiang, mm hockey romance, the 2020 Emma adaptation, (bad) therapy in romance novels, the literary agent who got canned for bad tweets, and ✨so much more✨
Comments
I had to come back and re-watch this because I’m halfway through Heated Rivalry and loving it so much. Was confused which one the sequel is and I need it immediately.
Lealealea
2024-10-24 18:18:33 +0000 UTCI will never be tired of yelling about it with you 😫
Stephanie H
2024-08-09 19:32:01 +0000 UTCAh! Drunk on All Your Strange New Words mention! Maybe I just love stories about linguists/translators interacting with aliens (see also Ted Chiang and The Sparrow although the translation work looks so different here) but I loved it. I'm also a sucker for sff books with this style of title. I'll be excited to hear your thoughts on both Dispossesed and Ministry of Time. The Ministry of Time discourse has made me crazy from the jump (not to mention the nonsense "plagiarism" review bombing. Between that and the way the publisher absolutely failed to understand how to market this book (forever baffled by them getting emily henry to blurb it and calling it a romance and WORKPLACE COMEDY) I haven't been shocked it hasn't gotten wider attention (though it's disappointing) but I truly didn't expect the conversation around it to go this way. I do have to wonder how the folks taking this stance feel about historical fiction as a genre (which don't get me wrong I do have concerns sometimes about how some books/movies/etc shape public perception of historical individuals but it does feel like a weird takeaway from this book in particular given the shape of the actual book).
Stephanie H
2024-08-09 19:28:53 +0000 UTCChomping at the bit for yur opinions on the Desposessed!Your old videos on le leguin is how I originally found your account so it feels important. Since then I have TORN through her work. I finished the lathe of heaven recently. It’s like a unproblematic Murakami but with a point! Would reccomend!
Claire Larvin
2024-07-13 05:34:14 +0000 UTCI too feel The Fear, so I’m definitely excited for this one 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹
hal
2024-07-04 23:23:13 +0000 UTCahhhh i can't wait to read it!!
Mel Thomas
2024-07-04 13:47:23 +0000 UTCI have not been able to stop thinking about The Ministry of Time since I finished it a few weeks ago—it’s FASCINATING! lots going on there!!! much to chew on!!! and the discourse ™ is so so silly, we could be getting into it about so much more in this book.
Bri Mattia
2024-07-03 16:26:39 +0000 UTCAfter Donald Sutherland died, everyone was posting about his turn as the dad in Pride and Prejudice, and it actually made me want to watch it
KrustyFrank27
2024-07-03 15:25:35 +0000 UTCthank youuuuuuu 😇
Mel Thomas
2024-07-02 23:21:25 +0000 UTChe was SUCH a delight
Mel Thomas
2024-07-02 23:20:45 +0000 UTCYES! explanation not excuse!!!
Mel Thomas
2024-07-02 23:19:46 +0000 UTCYES, this is beautifully put!!!
Mel Thomas
2024-07-02 23:16:25 +0000 UTCyes yes yes i'm so glad i've found my people
Mel Thomas
2024-07-02 23:11:09 +0000 UTCgood lord indeed!!!!!
Mel Thomas
2024-07-02 23:10:53 +0000 UTCI can’t wait to hear your thoughts on Ministry of Time! I’ve been blessedly oblivious to the discourse, but that book is two huge handfuls and I’m really curious to see what you think. There was so much in it that I loved, and there were things in it that I thought were a little uneven, but you have to commend a book for taking such a huge metaphorical bite
aldiaemilie
2024-07-02 01:09:35 +0000 UTCMM hockey romance is the only thing I've been reading for the past month and it's all your fault (in a good way)!! I started with Heated Rivarly when I saw a tiktok of yours mention it and nothing has come close to it. I also love it when authors do sequels, or even a series, following the same couple. I want to see the couple go through it!! Gimme the angst. I find it tough to find those kinds stories though 😭 so I end up reading fanfiction to satisfy that urge.
Yasmeen Akbari
2024-07-02 00:33:47 +0000 UTCI somewhat frequently reread Emma and rewatch the 2020 film adaptation, and I skip over the picnic scene more often than not because it's so uncomfortable. It's like reliving every time I've ever fucked up all at once--the sickening realization that I've hurt someone's feelings (and damaged how others see me in the process), followed by guilt, knee-jerk defensiveness, and eventual reparation. I love the way Jane Austen wrote the scene and its fallout though, and I especially love how it illuminates the differences between Emma and Knightley while also laying the groundwork for a romance that has the potential to be a real partnership despite those differences. It's so clear that Emma is making the mistakes she is because she's young, sheltered, and privileged--she doesn't totally have the life experience or perspective or emotional intelligence needed to avoid making all these missteps. Knightley, who is considerably older and a man who's had the opportunity and encouragement to see the world beyond the community where he grew up, clocks Emma's unkindness immediately. And I love that he goes on to hold her accountable for it! The fact that he doesn't let her age or status excuse her actions--even though he acknowledges them as an explanation--shows how much he considers her his equal. He believes she has the capacity to be better and actively wants her to grow into that capacity!! This is my favorite kind of romance--one that can acknowledge that the two main characters are on uneven footing in ways that go beyond social class & obvious power dynamics, but that also shows us how those differences better them both.
JJ
2024-07-01 22:40:14 +0000 UTCI'm excited to hear what you think of Stories of Your Life and Others someday. "Seventy-Two Letters" was the standout story of that collection for me.
Kit
2024-07-01 20:17:43 +0000 UTCI'm so happy that you singled out "The Truth of Feeling, the Truth of Fact"--as sticky as so many of Ted Chiang's ideas and stories are, that's the one that has stuck with me the most. I'm a Master of Library and Information Studies student and, as we often talk about archives as well, that story has been so tremendously useful in conceptualizing--both to myself and to others--the construction of truth and reliability in the written record. Especially when it comes to the ownership and use of information about North American Indigenous communities, where the ability to produce documents that would be recognizably "truthful" to the US government lay almost exclusively with Indian agents and other bureaucrats from outside the given community, it's so important that we today take a more expansive view of how we think about the nature of truth and objectivity. I love how Ted Chiang links something that we all understand to be technological with something that we have to work a bit harder to see as a technological influence.
Kit
2024-07-01 20:16:10 +0000 UTCEvery time I read "mm hockey romance," the voice in my brain reads it as "mmmm hockey romance." I think it works either way.
Laura DeSantis
2024-07-01 19:14:25 +0000 UTCI turned 28 last week ans immediately got covid. I've been doom-scrolling a lot and really feeling the fear. It's comforting that so many of us are feeling in the same boat. I picked up Think of England by KJ Charles after listening to the Reformed Rakes Podcast. It was delightful reading a character as repressed as Curtis. It did make me realised how accustomed I've become to dual POV romance, I wanted to crack open Da Silva's brain. Ending up reading The Art of Fortune Hunting(?) as well. I know completely what you mean about Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal. All of Us Strangers was the first thing I've seen Mescal in. I don't normally get invested in actors relationships off screen but they are so open with each other, it's really compelling. Paul went to Uni at the same time as me so we have some mutual friends. I've heard he's a lovely genuine guy.
Muireann McGlynn
2024-07-01 19:14:14 +0000 UTCOMG hi yes the Ministry of Time discourse IS dumb tysm please yell with me
Haley Stewart
2024-07-01 18:31:51 +0000 UTCThe 2008 miniseries with Romola Garai has always been my favorite Emma, so I was unprepared for how much I adored the 2020 film. It was everything I love about the original, distilled into one delicious, pretty little bite.
Alison 🌸
2024-07-01 18:22:10 +0000 UTCUm, yes. I'm also feeling the fear. Looking forward to the genius blend you'll come up with!
Nooshin S.
2024-07-01 18:03:31 +0000 UTCI also love those Bantam covers! Your taste continues to be exquisite
KrustyFrank27
2024-07-01 17:46:18 +0000 UTCI've had a crush on John Cho ever since he was the comic relief character on the (genuinely dreadful) sitcom Off Centre, truly the most crush worthy actor out there.
Evie
2024-07-01 17:42:25 +0000 UTCthe dispossessed is the book i wish someone handed to me as a teenager. i'm reading The Language of the Night by Le Guin and her commentary is making me want to revisit it. also yeah those Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal interviews??? good LORD
alliwag
2024-07-01 17:41:08 +0000 UTCemma 2020!!! bill nighy continues the proud tradition of austen dads making me weep!!!
mall0rie666
2024-07-01 17:31:08 +0000 UTCUnrelated, but I love your Raven Cycle and Captive Prince art in the background
Jennybug
2024-07-01 17:16:05 +0000 UTCMinistry of Time is truly so interesting and hard agree on the pearl clutching
Amelia
2024-07-01 17:07:58 +0000 UTComg you should DEFINITELY read the dispossessed. not my favorite from le guin, but i think it’s one where she writes with a particular certainty that matches the book’s ideas in this very neat way. like it’s well thought out, but not overly explained. not sure i made sense here, but i’m trying not to reveal too much because the experience of being surprised by a little bit of something remarkable in a le guin book is one of the best in the world.
Ratos e pratos
2024-07-01 16:39:54 +0000 UTCAlso you're so real about Jacob Anderson.
Gabie
2024-07-01 16:37:31 +0000 UTCThe Past is Red hit me like a ton of bricks - it feels very special to me to the degree that I hesitate to recommend it to friends. One of those "if you don't like this I'll be crushed" books. I'll FOR SURE be reading more Valente in the future.
Gabie
2024-07-01 16:37:09 +0000 UTCyeah i DEFINITELY stared at the wall for like an hour after I finished it, ngl, so treading carefully seem wise
Mel Thomas
2024-07-01 15:59:44 +0000 UTChey buddy 😃
Mel Thomas
2024-07-01 15:58:41 +0000 UTComg the way i JUMPED when you said my name!
Chels
2024-07-01 15:54:00 +0000 UTCI was scared of thrown off the ice bc of all the pearl clutching around lack of HEA but after finding out what actually happens I have more complex feelings about it (still don’t know if I actually want to read it haha)
Eli
2024-07-01 15:48:05 +0000 UTC
