Top 20 Books I Read in 2017
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- čas přidán 1. 01. 2018
- Thanks to everyone who followed my reviews and talked books with me throughout the year ;)
The books mentioned in this chart, including honorable mentions, in alphabetical order - together with links to watch my review of the book and to buy it on Amazon (yep I'm an affiliate):
Atwood - Hag-Seed
R: • Hag-Seed by Margaret A...
A: amzn.to/2EzZW3I
Chandler - Farewell, My Lovely
R: • Farewell, My Lovely by...
A: amzn.to/2Ca3AzD
Collier - Fancies & Goodnights
R: • Fancies and Goodnights...
A: amzn.to/2CFpQ5a
Coover - The Universal Baseball Association, Inc.; J. Henry Waugh, Prop.
R: • The Universal Baseball...
A: amzn.to/2C9nMSb
Cortazar - Blow-Up
R: • Blow-Up by Julio Corta...
A: amzn.to/2q8kJb6
Doctorow - Ragtime
R: • Ragtime by EL Doctorow...
A: amzn.to/2Cam8jc
Dowling - Double Take
R (part of a 5-Review Extravaganza): • 5-Review Extravaganza:...
A: amzn.to/2ExjEgh
Dowling - The Four Horsemen
R: • The Four Horsemen by G...
A: amzn.to/2Cr3I1L
Eggers - The Circle
R: • The Circle by Dave Egg...
A: amzn.to/2C9oVcr
Enriquez - Things We Lost in the Fire
R: • Things We Lost in the ...
A: amzn.to/2qbphhc
Fitzgerald - The Diamond as Big as the Ritz & Other Stories
A: amzn.to/2Cccm05
Grossman, D. - A Horse Walks Into a Bar
R: • A Horse Walks Into a B...
A: amzn.to/2CaGvws
Grossman, L. - The Magicians
R: • The Magicians by Lev G...
A: amzn.to/2ExzbfY
Moorcock - Elric of Melnibone
R: • Elric of Melniboné by ...
Nabokov - Pale Fire
R: • Pale Fire by Vladimir ...
A: amzn.to/2qdpEaY
Nooteboom - The Following Story
R: • The Following Story by...
A: amzn.to/2CtF8wk
Pamuk - The White Castle
R: • The White Castle by Or...
A: amzn.to/2C9HehC
Poochigian - Mr. Either/Or
R: • Mr. Either/Or by Aaron...
A: amzn.to/2qczkCC
Pratchett - The Light Fantastic
R: • The Light Fantastic by...
A: amzn.to/2CE1adD
Pynchon - V.
R: • V. by Thomas Pynchon R...
A: amzn.to/2CaiSV5
Roth - The Great American Novel
R: • The Great American Nov...
A: amzn.to/2CsaDa6
Smith - The Dark Eidolon & Other Stories
R: • Clark Ashton Smith: A ...
A: amzn.to/2CalwKq
Waldman - Love & Treasure
R: • Love and Treasure by A...
A: amzn.to/2C7PcYr
Waldman - Nursery Crimes
R (part of a 5-Review Extravaganza): • 5-Review Extravaganza:...
A: amzn.to/2Cvye9Z
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Your 20 best books of the year is definitely a highlight at the beginning of each year. Thank you for that.
That's so cool, thanks man :)
Thank you young man for all your uploads, I value your opinion and you have steered me to some excellent reads over the years..thanks again and Happy New Year to you!
thank you for making your videos and sharing your love of these books. happy new year.
ah so many books that I am now curious about. Thanks.
Your YT Videos have had a profound influence on my reading. Thank you so much.
wow the way you describe books is amazing! now i'll have to try some of the books you recommended
Always love the diversity of books you read. Never new releases or hyped books from booktube. I love f. Scott Fitzgerald short stories which i believe is his best writing.
I spy that copy of The Recognitions on your bookshelf.... believe it or not that was the first postmodern novel I ever read! I thought I would start with a hard one. As long as you are armed with the annotations, its not that difficult, and the opening is the greatest 20 pages I've ever read.
Some of my favourite books read this year include Stewart Lee's Content Provider, On Bullshit, David Bowie: A Life by Dylan Jones, Tales of Science and Sorcery by Clark Ashton Smith, Iain Sinclair's Lud Heat and Suicide Bridge, Steve Moore's Tales of Telguuth, Memories of the Future, The Haunted Omnibus by various and illustrated by Lynd Ward, and Bulgakov's Master and Magarita.
Great list, thanks mate!
"Under the Black Water" was amazing. One of my favorite short stories.
terrific list - i have to remember when i look for a new book to read, check out Bookchemist first!
I should definitely try The White Castle since I’m obsessed with books that explore narrative, language, etc.
Confession: Out of all of the books I've read (in my entire life), The Magicians was the hardest to get through and made me feel very strongly (in a negative sense). I was surprised because I love that genre and I'm addicted to the show on Netflix (I know, saying the show is better than the book is sacrilege). But I'll have to look into the other books on your list. Love your videos.
Wow, that is certainly an eclectic list! I've only read seven of them, but I agree with you about V. I'm interested in what you said about the Fitzgerald stories, because, being a huge fan of The Great Gatsby, I had my bubble pricked this year by Tender is the Night, the most bitterly disappointing read of the year for me (along with The Vegetarian). Now I don't know what to think. Did he have just one lucky throw?
My favourite video of the year!!! :D
0:52 😂 happy new year!
Excellent video!
Now being the nerd that I am, I couldn't help going back and comparing this to your video of 11 months ago, about the books you were going to read in 2017, to see how many of those you actually read or liked.
PS: you read them all! (except some Eco?...)
Surprised I did not find Lincoln in the Bardo and, more importantly, Ellison's Invisible Man in this annual Top 20 list. You still recommend it though, right? I mean, you rated it 5 stars.
Thank you!
Ignore the amount of stars I give books on GoodReads (I should really stop doing that): it's more a reflection on how happy it left me than on the book's actual quality. That said, Invisible Man is indeed a great novel and I'd recommend it to anyone. It just did not quite make my heart beat the way these 24 did.
Thank you so much for the reply!!!
Ho scoperto il tuo canale da pochi giorni e lo sto divorando, soprattutto perché il tuo entusiasmo è estremamente contagioso. Posso chiederti qual è stato il tuo percorso universitario? Ho capito che ora sei a birmingham per un dottorato e che i primi anni di università li hai trascorsi a Milano, forse mi sfugge qualcosa riguardo Venezia...
Vorrei anche chiederti com'è stato il tuo passaggio dalle letture in traduzione a quelle in lingua originale; graduale, un cambiamento netto e imposto/ti, se ritieni sia utile usare, almeno all'inizio entrambe le copie e, chessò, subito dopo aver letto quel libro rileggerlo in versione originale.
Complimenti per il canale e la costanza nell'aggiornarlo!
Grazie per il commento :) a Venezia ho fatto la magistrale, e al momento sto facendo un dottorato in Inghilterra. Per quanto riguarda le letture, ho cominciato a leggere solo in originale (per i libri in inglese!) a metà della triennale, più per scelta personale; è solo una questione di abitudine e di costanza, e più ancora che il testo a fronte, consiglierei di iniziare da libri facili (magari brevi, senza lessico troppo astruso) e passar poi a letture più complesse quando si acquista familiarità. Buone letture :)!
I like that you don’t really read any cliches.
Here's what I read the past year or so:
Running Dog - Delillo: disappointing early novel from maybe my fave writer(i have players and Mao II lined up next...)
Libra - D Delillo: This is a re-read technically, but forgot how great this is...
Point Omega : weird but I kinda liked it
Thin red Line - James Jones: good but overwrought and overwritten
Cold 6,000 - J Ellroy: Disappointing from one of my new faves
One to count cadence - James Crumley: Sorta childish vietnam book, didn't even finish
Illuminatus trilogy - Shea & Wilson: Got like six pages in, said no way!
Floating Dragon - Peter Straub: not bad but fantasy ain't my thing
Plot against america - P Roth: Very good, recommend if u dig Roth
Because the Night - J Ellroy: Very good, ellroy's 2nd novel i think
Brown's requiem - Ellroy: Excellent, Ellroy's first! amazing!
Destination Morgue - Ellroy; excellent coll. of various pieces
Steve Erickson zeroville: too weird and strange for me
The Assistant - Bernard Malamud: very good, but reads more like a short story
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said - PKD: not bad, not great
But maybe the two best books i've read lately are non-fiction:
A Civil Action - John Harr
Prince of the City - Robet Daley: Maybe the best book i've read in a long time!
Couple fantasy mentions in this vid. Do you have a video on Tolkien? What's your opinion of the LOTR series, I'm curious
As damaging as that is to my nerd cred... I've never read it. All my life I've met big fantasy fans who just couldn't stomach it, which kinda gave me the impression I would not like it. But it's massively important to so many of my favorite writers, and I'll have to read the trilogy soon.
Read" Tender is the night" by Fitzgerald. Everything by him really.
Great videos man keep it up
Ooh you got the Arkham Horror lcg. I love playing that game solo.
Me too but I'm just terrible - I lost all of my games so far but a couple ones!! Last I played I cheated and used advanced cards even without the XP ;) I've been told the scenario in the core set are kinda mean though and I'd really like to get Dunwhich Horror
you seem like a cool, genuine fellow!!
How many books do you usually read in a year? Great video btw.
It changes vastly depending on circumstances. Excluding comic books, but including academic books and re-readings, between 50 and 80 I guess?
Although I didn't love The Circle, I found it super relevant. Not to sound petty, but I'm happy that a woman writer got the #1 spot, I feel like women have been historically under-represented in literature.. I'll definitely check out the recommendation.. I seek out novels that rip your heart to pieces..
I discovered Julio Cortazar this year, at university.
Sadly he is not that well known in Germany, although he is one of the "giants" auf latin American authors. Read Cortazar! :)
I also read Elric and V in 2017
Indigo halm I only read _V._ last year.
How odd is it, as an Italian, to listen to an other Italian speaking in English? And to make it even stranger I’m commenting in English. So.. that’s that.
what are your favorite films of 2017 though? interesting to know since it was one of the best years for it
As in, which came out this year? Passengers (December 16, it counts)! Reminded me of the best golden-age sci-fi. If you mean movies I watched this year in general then an old favorite of mine - Angels of Evil, just my type of movie: czcams.com/video/9fHwv1cKktI/video.html
watched Passengers but thought it was just ok. It is too difficult to name a favorite for me but possibly The Love Witch or The Killing of a Sacred Deer.
also I've really enjoyed the edgy french film Raw, as well as the Twilight Zone influenced sci-fi drama Marjorie Prime. It was really a year overloaded with a lot of decent movies.
Is Julio cortazars blow up in Spanish or in English?
In English - I don't speak Spanish!
The_Bookchemist ah sorry i assumed because it’s Julio Cortázar 🤠
Ragtime, what a treat!
My 2017 list would go as follows
1.)the complete cosmicomics by calvino
2.)the big sleep by Chandler
3.)nine stories by salinger
4.)a scanner darkly by Philip dick
5.)the portable Edgar Allen pow
6) the old man and the sea by Hemingway
7) the yiddish police mens union by chabon
8)Franny and zooey by salinger
9)the haunting of hill house by jackson
10)a nervous breakdown: 3 stories by chekhov
11)UBIK by dick
12) selected works of WB Yeats
13) left hand of darkness by leguin
14)Dr Jekyll and other stories by Stevenson
15)the brief and wonderous life of Oscar wao by Diaz
16)dune by herbert
17) roadside picnic by the strugatsky brothers
18) catcher in the rye by salinger
19)do Androids dream of electric sheep by dick
20) Solaris by lem
21)war of the world's by Wells
22) the hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy by Adams
23)wonder boys by chabon
24)neuromancer by Gibson
25) the man in the high Castle by dick
26)Adrien mole: the wilderness years by Townsend
27) a Christmas Carol by Dickens
28) the dark tower by king
29) Dracula by stoker
P.s what's your opinion on the cosmicomics, I've never heard you mention it
What an impressive list, all masterpieces in here! Kudos! As for the Cosmicomics, it's not my favorite Calvino (I talked about him quite a lot on my channel!) but I still appreciate it - it was one of my first experiences with that type of quirky literature. Keep in mind I was in high school last time I read it :)
K. Whatever. Here's what I read in 2017:
(I know no one cares, but why not)
My Favorites:
1. Solaris (S. Lem) - The Tarkovsky adaptation is one of my favorite movies. Don't care for the Amercian version.
2. A Confederacy of Dunces (J.K. Toole)
3. Vineland (T. Pynchon) - extremely disappointed initially, but warmed up over time. 2/3's could've been cut out, would've worked better as a novella.
4. Rabbit Run (J. Updike) - Liked the first 20 pages, give or take, then the story took a dip from there. Overall, ok, I guess.
5. Child of God (C. McCarthy) - one of Cormac's weaker novels, but an ok read, even if forgettable and the ending is abrupt.
6. Breakfast of Champions (K. Vonnegut) - Didn't love it, but good enough
Meh:
*Breakfast at Tiffany's (T. Capote) - I like the movie much more.
*Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (P.K. Dick) - I like Blade Runner a million times more.
Hated:
*God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (K. Vonnegut)
*Mother Night (K. Vonnegut)
HATED, HATED, HATED:
*Roadside Picnic (Strugatsky bros.) - Love Stalker, hated this book. The movie is a billion times better.
*The Stranger (A. Camus)
*Hagakure (Y. Tsunetomo)
First :D
You could be kind indiscrete, but this introduction was amusing; 21 century joke!
are we all, anytime "books" "not read" walking the subways, plain people, hard times, lines, not cigarette cocaine washing fluid do kitchen a better politics, lines .. spotingly sopolitely youth .. of lines to say .. as if book alive .. strange day of sunshine .. applied for these times .. outside sunshine, beyond our consciousness why even say odd sense to reality banks grocery stores do your day hidden shy book .. book alive .. if ever finger run near grey screen words each computer augment just my boring sour life "we all know this about each other" just a book I see don't all a lines I see ya/ love to straighten out those words, give spoken some regular guy girl
You took the words right outta my mouth