Weird Books | What's to Like or Dislike?
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- čas přidán 22. 07. 2024
- I have 4 odd books to talk with you all about today. I hunted through reviews of these weird books to find people who thought the same things, however they may have rated the book differently than me.
Thanks for watching,
Danni
📚 Music:
Exhale by Jeremy Blake
📚 Time Stamps
0:00 Intro
2:16 Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
10:07 Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
16:48 Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh
21:49 Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko and Sergey Dyachenko
28:03 Outro
📚About Me
I read a lot of fantasy, but I also enjoy sci fi, horror, mystery/thriller, and the occasional nonfiction. On my channel you will find monthly TBR's, High/Low videos, TAGS, and a few original series (Fantasy Genre Blends and Chonky Check Ins).
📚Other Content
Non-New Release Book Recs:
May TBR: • May TBR | 10 Books to ...
Original Tag: • You Want Me to Go Wher...
📚 Connect with Me
Instagram: Danni.Dabbles
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/dannidabbles
#smallbooktuber #booktube
OMG, I couldn't sleep, grabbed my phone and BAM...Danni and "weird books"? Yes please! ❤
Well allow me to keep you company while you aren't able to sleep!
I LOVE weird books! If you haven’t read house of hollow yet, you need to! Also of course bunny lol!
I haven't read House of Hollow yet. I'll add it to my list! I have read Bunny and I almost included it, but I felt like it was a little better known than some of these.
Danni, you've outdone yourself in this video. Marie and I laughed and cheered for you. You built an incredible narrative...with these four books, and the 5 Star, 3 Star and 1 Star reviews. We've never seen ANYONE do something like this, and we are sending you YOUR flowers. Thank you.
Now, I've read books that I thought was weird, but not too sure others have. I don't typically read Goodreads or TheStoryGraph reviews. If I like something, I like it. If I don't, I don't. I'm really not interested in what other's have thought...EXCEPT when I've read something I didn't understand.
One book that had wildly different impressions...for Jade's Bedtime Bookworm Discord Book Club...was Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Jade and I liked it, Christea did NOT like it (at all) and the other two were ambivalent. It was Gothic, so it fits. That idea of disconnection. I don't know. Have you read it? What was your thoughts on it, if you did?
One book that I loved, but "I thought was really weird", was a book called Touch by Claire North. It is about a person who transmigrates from person to person by touch. It is wild, and the experiences that you, as the reader go through were mindblowing and out of my comfort zone. Not too sure what other's have said about it, but I thought it was weird AND good.
I'll leave this here...I remember seeing a movie in the 80s or 90s called As Good As it Gets, with Jack Nicholason, Helen Hunt, Greg Kenner and Cuba Gooding, Jr. The main character, Jack Nicholason is offensive to the Nth degree. If I ever had met him in real life, I'd probably have decked him (after one of his tirades...but oddly enough, the movie was lauded for "going there" and a few of the characters were given accolades for their performances. That being said, it was ALSO hilarious. Marie hadn't seen it, so recently we watched it, and she was shocked that it was allowed to be THAT much. Maybe it is our time, now...that time, then. Just thought I'd throw that movie into the mix. It is strange movie (to me) and, yeah.
Thank you so much for this entertaining and instructive video.
You are becoming one of our favourite people to watch on CZcams. Thank you.
Thank you! I had a lot of fun making this video. It was interesting to see all of the different points of view on the same narrative.
I have not read Mexican Gothic. It is one I have considered picking up. Gothic is hit or miss for me and I've read one other book by that author that I wasn't super impressed by. It does keep popping up though so maybe thats a sign I should give it a try.
I added Touch to my TBR because of you. I think it sound so intriguing. I can't wait to get to it!
Huh. I've never seen As Good As it Gets. I have heard of it. It is interesting to see how movies age and to see the different references that were clearly important at the time. I'll give you another odd movie. I'm not sure I could even describe it. Donnie Darko. It is a sci fi psychological thriller about a teenager who escapes an accident by sleepwalking. He also has visions of some sort of person in a bunny costume predicting the end of the world. It was bizarre. I oddly enjoyed it though.
Thank you Graff! I'm glad that you and Marie enjoy my videos. 😊I enjoy chatting with you both!
@@Danni.Dabbles - We actually own Donnie Darko. Marie loves it, and I haven't watched it. So...will finally watch it (because of you and MANY others, that have been encouraging me to watch it.
About As Good As it Gets...it is weird, but not exactly werid, per se. I'm not sure a movie like this could be made, now. It goes against social acceptance...today. It was edgy when it came out. The Helen Hunt character is our view of the Jack Nicholson character. It is both weird and comforting, in a odd way.
We just rewatched it last year...and still makes me mad and is heartwarming at the same time.
It's a special movie, but also really weird.
Talk to you, later.
Yes! I love the weird stuff!
I think The Gray House (haven't read it yet tho) is in the same realm as Vita Nostra & Catherine House (have read them).
The Employees by Olga Ravn has some vibes like Annihilation, its told in statements from employees on a spaceship about their weird experience.
I've only read The Beauty & Peace, Pipe by Alia Whitely but definitely varied weird fic seems to be her wheelhouse.
I added The Gray House to my TBR. How intriguing. I love the line in the synopsis "what others understand as liabilities can be leveraged into strengths."
Ooo! Kind of a mixed media format of storytelling. Thats interesting.
I haven't read anything by Alia Whitely. I'll have to check them out!
I recently heard Vita nostra described as super weird, so I was already intrigued, but I also needed to hear "magical school" and "wild ride" to add it to my wishlist 😆 Catherine House sounds interesting as well, I'm always fascinated by cults and the like, but I've never read anything like that. I started listening to a memoir called Sure I'll joing your cult, but it was a VERY different vibe! I think (and hope) I'll enjoy Catherine House more! Great video!
I hope you enjoy Vita Nostra Ellen! And I absolutely would recommend Catherine House. I'll be interested in your thoughts when you get to it! Thank you!
Same expressions, different ratings 😂 100%!! I have totally had a discussion with someone about a detail/scene/character in a book and one of us LOVED the book due to that element and on of us HATED the book due to that element 🤪😂
“It was good but not really” I think that is how I’m feeling at the moment but totally down to continue this series! I’m too curious 🤪
I just love that we can love and hate the exact same element of a book. It oddly makes me happy. 😂
Oh Annihilation. How I hope to get answers or at least a bit of direction in the next book. We shall find out together!
I used to read so many weird books, but not in the past ten years. I donated about 300 books last summer in a big household purge. Wish I could remember names. Stephen King had some doozies, I think in his short story collections. I wish I had a great recommendation, but sadly I do not. Loved every minute of this 💐
Oh my! That is a huge purge! I'm so glad you were able to donate them. That is amazing.
Stephen King is definitely an author I need to read more of. I think I might try Misery next, but we will see.
Thanks for watching Lynn! I hope you are doing well!
In the House in the Dark of the Woods by Laird Hunt is super strange and an absolute masterpiece. It's gothic horror, which is strange by default, but this was extra odd.
While I was reading it I was perpetually confused and asking myself "what the actual f is going on?!" But after finishing it and thinking through the metaphors and digesting the themes, I look back on it with such fondness. I think about that book all the time.
Whelp...Adding that to my TBR immediately! 🤣 I love books that mess with your mind, but still have the ability to make you love them. That's my jam. I look forward to reading this one!
Weird books are the best 😅
Agreed!
I don’t know if I have any weird book recommendations. Maybe Plain Bad Heroines. However. I love this idea because reading is so subjective and I agree it is interesting to see what people think about the same one!
It was really fun to look at other peoples' reviews and see who agrees and who disagrees and which themes reoccur.
I really enjoyed the Southern Reach books and read them pretty close together as I was so curious to see if/what the payoff would be. “Fever dream” is a good description - I flipped back multiple times trying to figure out what was happening, and then realized I never would, so just went through the daze of it all.
I just mentioned on your non-new releases - Nick Harkaway’s The Gone-Away World. Post-apocalypse weirdness, but it actually has an identifiable plot.
I look forward to continuing The Southern Reach series. I really do want to see what the heck is going on. Not sure if there will be answers but I'm curious to find out. It definitely made me feel dazed as I read through it.
Yes! I added it to my TBR!
Annihilation is such a weird book and hard to describe but, I loved it and I loved the trilogy. 💕
I need to read Catherine House! That sounds like something I’d love.
Ooooo! I need to add Vita Nostra too!
Weird Book Recs:
Our Wives Under the Sea-Julia Armfield
The Martian Chronicles-Ray Bradbury
The Dream Master-Roger Zelanzy
These aren’t all 5⭐️s for me but, they all give me the “weird” vibe.
Maeve I would love to hear your thoughts on Catherine House if you pick it up. And Vita Nostra. Both are freaking weird, but I loved them.
Thanks for the recommendations! I hadn't heard of The Dream Master. Adding that to my TBR it sounds fantastic. The others I've had on my radar and hope to pick them up as well!
@@Danni.Dabbles I will definitely tell you my thoughts when I read Catherine House and Vita Nostra. 💕
I typically enjoy weird books. The only one of these I’ve read is Death in her Hands, and I liked that one. I like all her stuff. The Library at Mount Char is a weird one that you may enjoy.
I tried The Library at Mount Char a couple of years ago and I ended up DNFing it. I can't remember why at this moment. It is very hard for me to consistently enjoy weird books, but when I do find one I love it blows me away.
AHHH congratulations on 600 subs!! 👀🎉 🥳
Thank you!!! 🥰
Great video idea! Its good to see a variety of reviews. A couple of these have been on my to read list for a while. I've read a couple of odd books, one being We Spread by Iain Reid. It's not as weird as some of these books you discuss, but I thought it was odd! 😊
Thank you! Ooo! We Spread has been on my TBR for quite a while and I keep forgetting about it. Thanks for bringing it back to the forefront of my mind. I've heard Iain Reid has some other weird books as well.
@@Danni.Dabbles hope you enjoy it when you get to it! And yes, I have heard his others are odd.
Jawbone by Mónica Ojeda was definitely weird. I have a hard time recommending though because of the content warnings but if you can handle it the writing is completely enthralling🌻
Ooo! Jawbone is on my list. Thanks for the content warnings. I'll enter with care.
gimme the weird. All the genre blending and mind melting
Woohoo! Yes please!
I also like weird imaginative books and I loved Vita Nostra. I would recommend The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle (genre-bending detective story), Solaris (dreamy philosophical scifi), Lanark by Alistair Gray (Kafkaesque journey through one man's psyche), and authors David Mitchell and Angela Carter. And pretty much anything by Murakami is pretty weird as well lol.
7 1/2 Deaths was fun and unique! I've heard of Murakami but haven't been brave enough to pick up any of their works. I hadn't run across these other titles or authors! Thank you for the recommendations!
@@Danni.Dabbles If Murakami sounds a bit intimidating, I would recommend Before the Coffee Gets Cold. It's a beautiful little book that gently introduces the reader to the wonderful genre of Japanese magical realism. It uses the premise of a magical café that let's you time travel to show the human nature and connection. But after Vita Nostra I believe you can absolutely give Murakami a try. Just be prepared that Asian literature tends to be slower in pace.
I'm really glad I came across your channel and hope that you will enjoy all these weird books people are recommending to you. I've added some to my own TBR so thanks a lot 😊
@@Lilithka I've read Before the Coffee Gets Cold! I guess I had forgotten Murakami was the author. I did enjoy that book but was slightly triggered by the dementia/alzheimers content. It was beautiful though. I may give some of their other works a try!
@@Danni.Dabbles Before the Coffee Gets Cold is by another Japanese author, Toshikazu Kawaguchi. I'm sorry if my comment was confusing. I meant that this book seems to me a good intro book to magical realism. From what I've read by Murakami (so far only Kafka on the Shore and 1Q84), his style is more heavy, actually both in the sense of elements of magical realism and also in the general tone as well. I'm sorry to hear that Before the Coffee Gets Cold was triggering to you. It was a hard read for me as well. But healing at the same time. It's actually a series, I think I'll try the next book later.
I didn’t like Annihilation but maybe reading them al at once IS the answer
We shall see. I plan to continue the series and hopefully finish the trilogy by the end of the year. It may just not be for me.
You want a weird book that's also enlightening and will give you food for thought (instead of just these twisted no use modern imaginations "did any of that meaning anything at all?" exactly)? Briefing for a Descent Into Hell by Doris Lessing
Ooo! It sounds interesting. Explorations of minds is always an intriguing narrative for me. I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the rec!
Bunny by Mona Awad
Yes! I almost put Bunny in this video, but I thought it would be one that is more well known.
Wierd book series: the dark tower by S. King
Thanks for the recommendation!