While I absolutely love to read books (probably a requirement of someone keeping a book blog), I also enjoy binge watching shows and movies on Netflix. And YouTube. A Booktuber whose videos I really enjoy is ABookOlive, and she recently published a tag video called "The Netflix Book Tag", which I've decided to attempt here. I hope you enjoy, and if you feel so inspired to create a blog post
Recently Watched (the last book you finished reading)
The Closed Door and Other Stories by Dorothy Whipple is the book I most recently finished, as part of the 24 in 48 Readathon.
Top Picks (books that have been recommended to you based on a book you've already read)
One of my favorite childhood books was
The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank. It was my first introduction to WW2 and the Holocaust; the endearing words of that young girl have remained with me my whole life. That's why I am so interested to read the Persephone Books reprint of
An Interrupted Life: The Diaries and Letters of Etty Hillesum. Etty was a woman in her mid-twenties, living in Amsterdam, and keeping a diary - just like Anne Frank. In the description, Persephone makes the comparison between Etty Hillesum and Anne Frank, so I totally consider that a recommendation!
Recently Added (the last book you bought/received)
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| US cover on the left, current UK paperback cover on the right. |
My last-purchased book was a copy of the UK edition of Han Kang's historical fiction novel
Human Acts. I love the story, and first read it as an ARC, but I don't get on with the US cover at all. There's something provocative yet tender about the UK cover. It's really beautifully written, and a lovely cover, and I was happy to wait the 20 days that it took to travel across the pond.
Popular on Netflix (books that everyone knows about...books that you've read and books that you haven't/don't plan to read)
Two incredibly popular books are
Wild by Cheryl Strayed, and
The Mothers by Britt Bennett. I've read
Wild a few times and found it both deeply sad and incredibly hilarious. I didn't get around to reading
The Mothers, which seemed to be The Book of 2016, when the buzz was at its height. I hope to get to it sometime in 2017, though!
Comedies (funny book)
While I prefer reading serious and darker books (not quite sure what that says about me...oh well), I do enjoy reading humor books, especially personal essays. Two of my absolute favorites are the classic short story and essay collection
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris, and the essay collection
I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley.
Dramas (character who is a drama king/queen)
The ultimate drama queen, from my shelves, is Julie Powell from
Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously. She's a character that you grow to love, but she has some serious meltdowns over not-so-important things!
Animated (book with cartoons on the cover)
I have to choose my absolute favorite graphic memoir series, March by John Lewis. It's the harrowing and truly inspiring story of the Georgia Congressman's life growing up the son of sharecroppers in the American South and his involvement in the Civil Rights movement, including work with Martin Luther King, Jr., all framed by the inauguration of President Barack Obama. Illustrated by Nate Powell, the drawings are incredibly evocative and descriptive.
Watch It Again (book/series you want to re-read)
It's been a few years since I first read the Gilead series, and I'm feeling like it's time to go back to Gilead, Iowa and spend time with Rev. John Ames, his wife Lila and young son, and his friend and fellow ecclesiastic Rev. Robert Boughton's family.
Documentaries (non-fiction book you'd recommend)
I would highly recommend the book
The Oregon Trail by Rinker Buck. Not only is this one of the greatest author names of all time, but the book itself is an intriguing look at America's history, past and present. It's also hilarious, which doesn't hurt.
Action and Adventure (action-packed book)
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| This is the author signing my copy of the book, at an event in a local bookstore |
I don't generally read a lot of books full of plot and action, and so I had a hard time trying to pick out a book to highlight. One of the first time come to mind is
Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist by Sunil Yapa. It's not entirely plot-driven, but there are lots of action-packed scenes of protesters, police, bystanders, and representatives in Seattle for the World Trade Organization meeting in 1999.
New Releases (a book that just came out, or are coming out soon)
I am a big fan of the Hogarth Shakespeare series, and am eagerly anticipating the latest addition: A retelling of
Othello by Tracy Chevalier called
New Boy. It has a release date of May 16, 2017 so I guess I'll have to sit tight until then.
So that's it for the Netflix Book Tag. If you're at all interested in thinking about your reading life in terms of a streaming video service, then consider yourself tagged!
Librorum annis
