52 weirdly specific book recommendations (your odd book requests)

🏺I also exist in these places 🏺

[lexilatis]

Specific book requests timestamps:
00:49 “I want to feel everything”
01:37 “a book to cope with growing up”
03:30 “brilliant society women who make everyone fall in love with them”
04:22 “a book to read in 30-minute intervals during lunch break at work”
05:01 “fiction for people who work in restaurants”
05:42 “something that reminds me of cold winters, fireplaces and hot chocolate”
06:16 “2000s rom-com and autumn vibes”
06:50 “a book that makes me root for the antagonist”
08:14 “a book with a female lead but with horror vibes”
08:35 “a book that feels like the Willow music video by Taylor Swift”
09:15 “a romance book that won’t make me cringe and die”
09:42 “a book for someone who falls in love easily but is never taken seriously by the other person”
10:37 “a book about books”
10:50 “a sci-fi book to start with the genre”
11:23 “a book for when you quit your job and don’t know if you‘ll ever find meaningful work because capitalism”
13:00 “female rage in a hysterical non-cutesy way”
13:05 “a book that feels like drinking cold water after chewing mint gum”
13:20 “a letter-format book”
13:32 “a book that hugs me, brings me a cup of tea and then lets me sleep on their lap”
13:43 “a book set in Victorian England, very atmospheric”
13:58 “a book centered around a specific colour”
14:17 “wholesome comedic science-fiction”
14:32 “a book with an academic setting and a main character I will pity terribly”
14:38 “a book with Sapphic yearning”
15:13 “a book with depressing old people and death”
15:27 “Dostoevsky existentialism, bloody chamber prose and George R.R. Martin engaging plot mashup”
16:12 “something if you miss your home and your mom”
16:30 “a villain gets the girl story”
16:53 “something that will terrify me but isn’t a horror book”
17:07 “a book that feels like an escape room with lots of puzzles and riddles”
17:26 “a book with fall vibes, music and magical realism”
17:36 “a book that reminds you of your favourite Taylor Swift song”
18:08 “a book that makes me feel like I’m Remus Lupin”
19:13 “a book that takes place in a cave because I’m working as a guide in a cave right now”
19:32 “Midnight in Paris movie as a book”
19:59 “a new fantasy romance series after ACOTAR with all the angst”
20:28 “a book that feels like the relief you feel after vomiting”
21:22 “mountains, religious cults, questionable morals and murder”
22:03 “a book where there is only one character in the whole book”
22:26 “a book with a protagonist so unhinged or dysfunctional, I’ll go oh I’m doing great actually”
22:46 “something with the feeling or mood from book IV, part 4, chapter 9, page 1180 of War and Peace”
24:42 “a book for when the Deutsche Bahn decides to be 60 plus minutes late again”
25:33 “a book with the taste of a Negroni Sbagliato with Prosecco in it”
26:14 “a book where the murderer is telling the story”
26:20 “a book that feels like the game Stray”
28:16 “a book to read when you have a cold that developed into a bacterial infection that spread into pink eye”
28:43 “a book about someone with a very weird obsession”
29:34 “books that make you seem hot and interesting when reading on public transportation”
30:31 “a safe book to give to someone you don’t know that well”
31:01 “fiction books featuring entomology, ornithology and geology”

[vetha_litlov]

Emma, I want you to do a book rec for the 16 MBTI personality types

[pendragon]

Emma is the barista of books. No matter what crazy request it is (one caffeine shot one decaf shot, steamed whole milk with nonfat foam) she’s just like, “Yep, got it!” I absolutely adore Paradise Lost by the way! Have a good weekend!

[morganecachia]

We should all have a copy of one hundrer years of solitude on all time in public transportation so we know how to recognize each other as Emma's Channel avid watchers. It'd be like a club badge except it's a book

[abbysater]

emma is one of the only youtubers that can perfectly match vibes to books flawlessly

[mrodriguez]

When I try to come up with a recommendation I literally blank, as if I have never read a single book in my life. Emma impresses me with her information/story detail retention

[dariapoirier]

Ah Emma! Thank you so much for bringing books back into my life! You and Carolyn are the biggest inspiration to start (and then never ever end!) reading. You both have gotten me through my days of pre-surgery, post-surgery and radiation therapy. Your videos are my companions during my lunch every day, and your love for books has brought back mine! And special extra thank you for inspiring me to re-read War and peace, this was such a journey and such a pleasant one. Thank you thank you thank you!

[Paulafiwa]

I am German and had to laugh and cry at the same time when you said that German trains (Deutsche Bahn) are always on time... :') Love your channel Emma <3

[aviacohen]

I want to feel everything - Nisim Aloni - Run, Soldier, Run
a book to cope with growing up - David Grossman - Someone to Run With
brilliant society women who make everyone fall in love with them - Nella Larsen - Quicksand
a book to read in 30-minute intervals during lunch break at work - Georges Perec - Species of Spaces and Other Pieces
fiction for people who work in restaurants - shirley jackson - The Sundial
a book with a female lead but with horror vibes - Beloved - Toni Morrison
a romance book that won’t make me cringe and die - Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes
a book for someone who falls in love easily but is never taken seriously by the other person - Oranges are not the only fruit - Janet Winterson
a book for when you quit your job and don’t know if you‘ll ever find meaningful work because capitalism - The Visit - Friedrich Dürrenmatt
female rage in a hysterical non-cutesy way - Oreo - Fran Ross
a book that feels like drinking cold water after chewing mint gum - As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner
a book that hugs me, brings me a cup of tea and then lets me sleep on their lap - Gertrude Stein - The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
a book with Sapphic yearning - Ellen Galford - The Dyke and the Dybbuk
something if you miss your home and your mom - Mama Day - Gloria Naylor
a villain gets the girl story - The Hour of the Star - Clarice Lispector
something that will terrify me but isn’t a horror book - Curzio Malaparte - Kaputt
a book that feels like an escape room with lots of puzzles and riddles - Joris-Karl Huysmans - A Haven
a book with fall vibes, music and magical realism - The Street of Crocodiles - Bruno Schulz
a book that takes place in a cave because I’m working as a guide in a cave right now - Cavedweller - Dorothy Allison
a book that feels like the relief you feel after vomiting - Reflections in a Golden Eye
- Carson McCullers
a book with a protagonist so unhinged or dysfunctional, I’ll go oh I’m doing great actually - In Cold Blood - Trueman Capote or The Petty Demon - Fyodor Sologub
a book to read when you have a cold that developed into a bacterial infection that spread into pink eye
books that make you seem hot and interesting when reading on public transportation - Alberto Breccias Dracula - Alberto Breccia
a safe book to give to someone you don’t know that well - Domenico Starnone - Trick

[vitareads]

You are inspiration personified. To read, write, learn new languages, spend more time in nature, cook, do yoga, shop at thrift stores... I mean... sheesh, I just love you.

[gabybarreto.violinist]

As someone living in Germany who travels a lot by train, knows how late those trains can be and also loooves Dune, I was very happy and surprised to see you practically read my mind with that recommendation. Thanks for your videos Emma, I wish you all the best :)

[cristenkray]

I need this as an entire segment of your channel. Your encyclopedic knowledge of these intensely specific prompts is what I aspire to be.

[ky_]

I've never watched your channel before, but this video came out at the best time. I've been looking for recommendations because I've just gotten back into reading and I decided that I'm going to give my parents a list of books as my Christmas list this year, so thank you for helping me add to that list

[wiesowarum]

I cannot describe what it is, but you’re videos are so comforting, they make me feel at home

[alba.montserrat.c]

You always make me want to read sooo badly!! Your recommendations are the best ❤

[jackrimson]

5:01 “fiction for someone who works in a restaurant”
not really fiction but reads like one. I want to recommend ‘Down and Out in Paris and London’ by George Orwell. Yes. It’s written by the 1984 guy.
It portrays Orwell’s experience of being in poverty in 1930s Paris and London. And here, Orwell works in a hectic hotel restaurant in Paris of that time. Half of the book circles around his life doing that job.
It has that early 1900s Europe vibe like Giovanni’s Room. Lets you experience how it was like working at a restaurant at that time in Paris. And also talks to you about how poverty pulls people down. How poverty is ultimately the society’s fault.
It was an interesting read, a fast one, too. It’s an Essay, Orwell retracing his life back then. It honestly reads better than other fictional books. Really recommend it.

Whoever read this to this point, thank you, and hope you have a great day!

[antonian]

Hi Emma, the Deutsche Bahn really is notoriously late!! The stereotypical German is known for being on time, as you surely know, but we have lots of infrastructure and systemic problems with railways, so jokes about the trains running late are a tale as old as time (and very realistic unfortunately!)

Thank you so much for your videos, the love and energy you put into it and for being our safe space on the Internet!!

[Goldlucky]

for 21:35 i would also recommend Revelator by Daryl Gregory, takes place in Appalachia and it's a fun but dark combo between 1930s bootlegging and a group following an old world god in a southern baptist world.

[catarinareis]

Forgot to do this before but I'd like to share some recs that for me more or less fit some of these "prompts":

🔸a book to cope with growing up
Kazuo Ishiguro - Klara and the Sun
Fredrik Backman - My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry
Valérie Perrin - Three

🔸fiction for people who work at restaurants
Banana Yoshimoto - Kitchen
Haruki Murakami - Birthday Girl

🔸a book with a female protagonist but with horror vibes
Sheridan Le Fanu - Carmilla
Sloane Leong - Graveneye

🔸a romance book that won't make me cringe and die
David Nicholls - One Day

🔸a sci-fi book to start with the genre
Ted Chiang - Stories of Your Life and Others; Exhalation
Hervé le Tellier - The Anomaly
John Marrs - The One

🔸a book for when you quit your job and don't know if you'll ever find meaningful work because fuck capitalism
Sayaka Murata - Convenience Store Woman
Kikuko Tsumura - There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job
Hanna Bervoets - We Had to Remove This Post
Olga Ravn - The Employees

🔸 female rage in a hysterical, non-cutesy way
Olga Tokarczuk - Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
Stieg Larsson - The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

🔸something if you miss your home and your mom
Shin Kyung Sook - Please Look After Mother

🔸a book with fall vibes, music and magical realism
(not so sure on the magical realism bit but) Kazuo Ishiguro - Nocturnes

🔸a book with a protagonist so unhinged or dysfunctional you'll go "oh, I'm actually doing great'
Fernanda Melchior - Paradais

🔸a book for someone with a weird obsession (or in this case, since I didn't read it properly the first time, a book that features a character with a weird obsession)
Han Kang - The Vegeterian
Marieke Lucas Rijneveld - The Discomfort of Evening

(shameless self-promotion but I'm cat.andherbooks on IG in case anyone wants to talk books and share more recommendations)

[kaileeviator]

I'm just so stoked that I was driving while listening to your recommendations, and KNEW you were going to choose Perfume for the narrated by a murderer prompt. Love your channel, never commented before, but you have truly reawakened my love for literature. Forever thankful!
Have a great day, Emmie