Friday Reads: BookTube Questions, Slumps, and More

Time to once again wrap up the week in reading! It was a slow, slumpy week for me but there's still a lot to talk about. I'm also curious if anyone who has been thinking about starting their own BookTube channel has any questions for me.

Further viewing 🎥:

Titles mentioned 📚:
Taste: My Life Through Food, Stanley Tucci
The Charm Offensive, Alison Cochrun
Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World, Benjamin Alire Saenze
The Power of the Dog, Thomas Savage

My husband made a cookbook! Check it out here:

But wait, there's more!

[CircesBooked]

I loved hearing the stories about your grandmother! Sassy older italian ladies are always a good time !

[dr_ficticitybooktube]

Sorry about your grandmother, love and light to you and your family 💜

[myreadinglife]

Lovely remembrances of your grandmother. ❤️

[KierTheScrivener]

Purple and Green are such great colours. It is lovely to hear about your grandmother ❤

Going on four and half years and I only recently got a ring light/phone holder as well.

I love Aristotle and Dante so much. I am planning to reread the first and glad to hear the second is living up to it.

The Great Circle is probably the one booker I am definitely not getting to. Because of length and it doesn't pull me in.

Indelicacy by Amina Cain is the most recent favourite I read. So evocative and well written. My current read is A Passage North which isn't completely winning me over.

[-ParisTexas-]

Guiness and I share a birthday. :) Sad to hear about your grandmother. Sorry for your loss. I *Moonstruck* . And I hardly ever hear anybody talk about it. Same with *Big Night* . I should really rewatch that.

[BrandonsBookshelf]

Guinness and Jameson! Hope Guinness is ok. Lol im. really interested in Taste. I e recently become a big fan of Tucci! Like these Friday shows!

[zubooks]

Hi Greg,
It was really nice to hear stories about your gramnother. It sounds like she was a strong and interesting person.

I'm glad to hear that you liked the beginning of The Power of the Dog, I think it will be in my Top 5 this year. But you're right, it's not particularly easy, and I would say that it gains to be read within a short amount of time to appreciate the tension and intricate character dynamics.

I have been playing with the idea of a Booktube channel for a while, and there are a couple of things I'f be interested to receive your input on:
- Is there a reason why most of your videos last between 20 and 30 minutes? Is it an algorithm thing? Or based on feedback/your own preference?
- Do you sometimes get in touch with other creators? Is there some sense of community?

[karlab]

Re: Advice on how to do a BookTube channel, I have a couple of questions. How do you prepare content (do you actually write out what you'll say or do an outline), do you practice, how far in advance do you plan content, do you take notes as you read and does having a channel influence what you read? What are the downsides to having a channel? Appreciate all that you do and I look forward to hearing your answers.

[alenanikulina]

I have a reading habits question ☺️ you mentioned a few times that you do not read ebooks. If it’s ok, could you please share why? I am trying to read ebooks but just can’t get into it. I guess I need some sort of validation maybe? 🤭 in any case, I would really want to know your reasons. Thank you!

[shawnbreathesbooks]

Oh man, those memories of your grandma! 💕😭💕😭

[jacquelinemcmenamin]

Definitely go audiobook route for Great Circle and Piranesi. I loved both.

[janethansen]

I loved Great Circle, I was so engaged and really fell into the story. I have a pile of October/spooky kind of books to read through plus a couple of novels plus want to pick up some non fiction for November....you know, time may not be my friend here but really does it matter?

[CourtneyFerriter]

I'm very interested to read The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois, but it's so long and such a time investment that I'm waiting to hear some reviews of it before I take the plunge.
I'm so sorry to hear about your grandmother. Hope that Guinness will be okay.

[KurtAnderson]

When my audiobook loan came through for Aristotle and Dante I dropped everything and devoured it! Hope you love it as much as I did.

I’m just shallow enough to admit Stanley Tucci is an absolute zaddy
Need to pick up that one as well.

[loriroemer]

I didn't love The Great Circle. Your grandmother sounds like a helluva woman, I loved the stories.

[BookishTexan]

The Power of the Dog sounds interesting, but I’d be afraid it would be a sad dog book.

[bookofdust]

I’m so excited for Aristotle and Dante and you’re fanning the flames! I’m still confused if the Tucci book is just a companion work to the series, which I’m slowly parsing episodes as a slow, simmering watch, if it’s just a rehash and recipes I don’t think I need to read it.

[JentheLibrarianreads]

I was also planning to read Piranesi in October and am running out of time. We should read it together, but given how bad we both are at TBRs we’d probably fail 🤣

[Tisaya]

Does your mom speak Italian and did she teach you and your sisters?

[jacquelinemcmenamin]

Best books read so far this month
Cloud Cuckoo Land
All the Light We Cannot See
Writers and Lovers
Standard Deviation
Shelter
Platform Seven
We Begin At The End
I’m currently reading/struggling not to DNF
HomeGoing
The Fortune Men
At Night All Blood is Black
I’ve already DNFD The Waves. I didn’t understand it. It went right over my head.
I’m trying to read books that have been on my shelf and unread for years. These include
A Thousand Acres
Golden State
Portrait With Boy
🍀👋👋☕️🫖📖🐝📚