Gem Hey there! Thanks so much! Hope to hear back from you about them.

OK, I’m really blown away right now. Would you believe that I am a chronic migraine sufferer and my only recourse to relief has been Sumatriptan for the last 12 years? I’ve tried all the preventatives from Topomax to Lamictal to Verapamil and beyond. No luck. My life largely revolves around migraines. I would love to read your essay if you’d be willing to share it. Here’s to solidarity between migraine sufferers.

Leaf by Leaf Wow. I’ve never met a guy who suffers from migraines. Topomax didn’t work for me either and it made me stupid (hence its nickname: Dopomax.) I’ll have to go back and find that essay. I’ve since changed laptops but I’m sure I’ve got it somewhere. We all need beta writers! 🤓

@@simgingergirl I wish it weren't true, but here I am! Yes--Dopomax indeed. Not only did it render all of my cognitive abilities useless; it also suppressed my appetite to the point that I realized I hadn't eaten in two days (I happened to be doing some international travel during those two days, so that added to the lapse). Had to stop that one immediately. What are you doing to manage your migraines presently?

Leaf by Leaf I treat instead of prevent. I take the Sumatriptan auto injection and Maxalt if I have some (I often forget to refill that one.) My grandma said hers didn’t go away until menopause so I’m looking into a hysterectomy... but I don’t think that procedure would do much to help your pain! 🤣

Probably not, haha! Another friend of mine said her migraines stopped after she gave birth. I’m out of luck there, too! Oh, well. Like you I’ve found that Imitrex is my only effective relief. Not sure what I’d do without it. Well, given the nature of the origin of this discussion, maybe I do know what I’d be doing.

Having recently read Hrabal's Too Loud a Solitude, I am keen on everything he's written. Miss Lonelyhearts is one of my favorites! Of the others you listed, I have NOT read the Wells, the Bulgakov, or the Hines, so thanks for these recommendations!

Thanks, dude! Great picks! Of those, I have not read Snow Country. I really like Robinson’s writing; it’s very elegant. Housekeeping has delicious sentences. Just let them wash over you.

Really nice of you to say! Glad you're enjoying. All my best to you!

I've not read that one! I've only read O, Pioneers! and Death Comes for the Archbishop. Thanks so much!

Thanks so much! That’s one of my faves, too! In fact I refuse to watch the Bly Manor adaptation become I have very fond memories tied to reading James’s novella.

I could see that with Housekeeping (and I’m sorry for your wounds). What did you think of Jack?

Thanks! Great picks! Glad to see Gombowicz. I have videos on Lispector and Bioy Casares up here.

Will chk out for sure. One q: Camu's The Just...does it have any other name?

Right on! Have you read any of Levé’s other work?

Welcome! Thanks so much!

Thanks so much! You know, several people have been mentioning that Berlin collection as a must-read. I think it's time I do something about this!

I promise I'm working on it! This is by far my biggest request on here. I'm trying to decide whether to do a raw-shot video with my humble little camera OR pay a videographer friend of mine to bring his rig over and make it much more aesthetically pleasing.

Glad to hear you’re enjoying the videos! Bruno Schultz is wonderful!

Great picks! I am well acquainted with Wharton. Spend time during my MA studying her.

Ethan Fromme is one of my very favorite books! It was a complete surprise. I thought I’d probably enjoy it but I freaking loved it! I also love Housekeeping and A Christmas Carol, as well! All of these are so wonderful!

Ethan Fromme is indeed wonderful!

Thanks! I’m putting that one down on my recommendations spreadsheet. And thanks for the correction on Khayyam!

In first grade, I had a maroon sweatshirt with yellow writing. "The moving finger writes...."

I, too, adored _Tinkers_ ! My 10th-anniversary hardcover has a generous foreword by Robinson herself.

I actually haven’t read it, but several others recommended it. Thanks for helping bump it up in my priority queue!

My pleasure!

That is a great suggestion. I actually started doing that fairly recently but I haven’t backfilled my old videos. For The Mad Pat I suggest first emailing the publisher to make sure it’s in stock. www.riverboatbooks.com publisher@riverboatbooks.com

@@LeafbyLeaf Thanks!

Gabriel Garcia Marquez: 'CHRONICAL' OF A DEATH FORETOLD.

Excellent! I love to keep people's TBR queues fat and healthy. :)

No problem! Check back soon because I’m posting part two of this one.

Love Steinbeck's powerful little book! I'll have to add The Hole to my list of Japanese novel to read (I'm deliberately trying to ameliorate my lack of knowledge of Japanese literature)--thanks for that!

I love Alan Lightman! Last one I read was The Accidental Universe. Still itching to get into some Denis Johnson-I know I’ll love it.

I’ve had a copy of the Barnes for years. One day it will just happen. I’ll pick it up and read it. The other has been off and on my radar. I grow weary and wary of Pulitzers. Thanks for the recommendations!

WOW I just recommended Sense of an Ending without reading this comment first, what are the odds? Tokyo Blues and Sputnik are great, too (by Hurakami)

@@JohnZaabi hahaha. I will have a look at those two and perhaps add them to my ever expanding TBR. Another short book favourite of mine, which I've read since this comment, is Eimar McBride's A Girl is a Half-formed Thing - incredibly dark subject matter (illness, grief, paedophilia/sexual abuse, promiscuity) but ultimately, a rewarding read that tells of a young woman's desperate search for her sense of identity.

@@andrewrussell2845 hi Andrew, I'm not too sure I'd want to read that one you suggest, it sounds like The Bell Jar on steroids! About Identity, there's a novella by Milan Kundera conveniently called "Identity", it's a mere 100-odd pages long. It's more of a philosophical undertoned type of storytelling... also Girl Interrupted with Brangelina, if you care for Hollywood tie-ups!

hey Andrew it does sadden me that this guy, who's uploading fantastic content about our rich cultural background, barely surpasses 5,000 subscribers whereas those idiotic tik-tokers can show for themselves millions of zombified followers, with nothing to say except for "sick," "it's dope," and stupid lingo of that sort. What is this phenomenon, is it like this worldwide? I'm in Argentina, people are incredibly stupified here as well, but give us a break, our national average income is only US$250 per month, so yes, not much on display for now. However, it startles me that wealthy nations are facing similar difficulties with an increasing amout of people being dumbed by media or whatever, make room for books, concepts, debates!!! I was checking Russell Brand´s channel, he's done this podcast about the mental health crisis, are goverments and policy makers unaware that books (the cultural industry) is a good remedy (or some kind of solace) for the burgeoning mental suffering people are undergoing? Why not foster these industries? Why are people massively opting for the Kardashians instead of Borges? - or even as well as, nothing wrong with light entertainment- Sad

I read Point Omega a long time ago on a plane I remember being struck by it. Time for a re-read, as I can’t remember anything. Great list! I’ve got some new recommendations now!

Great choices, especially the superb 'Invisible Cities' by Calvino. Have you read 'Einstein's Dreams' by Alan Lightman, very much in the same vein and one of my absolute favorite books.

Dandelion Wine is great! I read it during summer, which I was grateful for, as it fitted perfectly with the weather.

@@timkjazz Sorry for the year delay in my reply lol. I never got a notification. I have read Lightman's little book. I enjoyed it but I think it pales in comparison to Invisible Cities. And I couldn't enjoy his other one about the creation of the universe. Mr G, was it called?

@@cretekastos6903 Wonderful!

I’m so glad you stopped back by! I have not read any of those three books so I’m going to acquire them and read them immediately!

Finally read Autobiography of Red! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oNSfhalz1LrHnnk.html

I have The Hare but have yet to read it. Aira is definitely on the list!

Yeah, I also got one on my Nonfiction Recommendations. I think it means the person thinks your picks should align with their own. Curiously: I never see an actual comment with why it’s a bad video. I love Robinson-such wit. For the last five years, I’ve been traveling to Poland about 5x/year and I’ve come across great literature, in minding Gombrowicz and Mrożek. I’ve got a friend there who may be helping me with a Polish lit video soon!

When you get a chance have a look at Antoni Lange - bizarre Polish poet, polyglot, science fictioner, etc. who died in poverty still scribbling weird things. In other words, a perfect poet 😄😸

@@jackseney7906 thanks

Whoa! I think you just won the award got mentioning the most books I’ve never read. I’ve heard about Ice many times. But the others I am not familiar with at all. Please keep dropping these titles!

Leaf by Leaf I’m glad to hear that! 😄 I mainly read translated fiction so I have a lot of relatively unknown books to recommend.

Ah, why didn’t I include Lot 49?! You’ve given me some new ones. One of the reasons I started this channel-to get in touch with more books!

@@LeafbyLeaf If you didn't know Akutagawa: He also wrote In the Bamboo Grove, on which Kurosawa's movie Rashoumon is based.

@@kursverzeichnis1297 Added to the list (of recommendations I'm getting on this channel)! I'm going to have to start making videos out of reading books you all recommend.

Thanks for making me aware!

@@LeafbyLeaf Excellent channel mate! Keep the torch burning!

No, I don't have one about the shelves themselves (themshelves?)--but they are not IKEA. They are built-ins that we designed when we built the house back in 2017. :)

Thanks for helping me keep my TBR healthy! The only one I’ve read is Zweig’s Chess Story, which makes this an excellent list. I’m adding all your choices now.

@@LeafbyLeaf Happy reading!

Indeed!

Indeed, a great work, although I almost favor his story “Master and Man” better (though I recognize that isn’t technically a short book).

🙌🙌🙌

Can’t believe I couldn’t remember Robert Burton! One of my favorite fat non-fiction books. Thanks for all of these. New recommendations for me!

@@LeafbyLeaf BURTON! I knew it was a last name I confuse with another famous writer

Thanks for bumping this one. I definitely have a list of great short books!

@@LeafbyLeaf Thank YOU! I would have left a longer comment, but I worried the sell-by date had passed. I have had some nice experiences with short fiction of late, and we seem to be in a golden age of short histories/monographs. I can’t vouch for them all, but I would like to hear your take of works like Gaitskill’s THIS IS PLEASURE, Catherine Lacey’s PEW, Sayaka Murata’s CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN.

Thanks for putting those on my radar! This year I’ve been trying to focus on shorter books, so a lot of my video since January are on shorties. I just read S. D. Chrostowska’s slim book of stories, A Cage for Every Child. Highly recommended if you like Schwob, Borges, et al.

You’ll find L’Étranger in my Favorite Opening Line video. As for the other two, these are new to me, so-thanks!

Um, yeah, if Borges approved it, it could be a phone book and I'm on it!

I thought the same thing until I read it. Unfortunately it didn't do anything for me. Casarez and Borges were friends who also collaborated on projects together so maybe that explains the hyperbolic blurb.

@@TheCollidescopePodcast I've read another book by him and it was very good, will have to check it out myself

I’m getting the NYRB paperback because those are so irresistible.

Hahah! The best short book I recently read was Too Loud a Solitude (I did a video if you're interested).

@@LeafbyLeaf I am, and I will check that out.

@@LeafbyLeaf Sorry I forgot this one: Bench Press by Sven Lindquvist..... all about weightlifting and the nature of um, everything. Or something. Cheers!

Hahaha-love your description!

Thanks so much for these--amazingly, I haven't read any of them! Of the writers, I've only read Ozick's essays. Really appreciate this!

You will not be disappointed. Looking forward to your thoughts/ reactions. Loved Ozick collection of essays.

All three of those are indeed great books! But, yeah, Absalom may not count as a short book despite its short page count. What a whopper!

@@LeafbyLeaf My thoughts exactly. Though I’d love to see you do a video on Absalom! Absalom!

That is on deck for sure!

@@LeafbyLeaf looking forward to it 👌🏼

They are indeed all mine! This is my custom library built about two years ago. I’m in the eastern US. Who are some of your favorite American postmodernists?

@@LeafbyLeaf, DFW is my personal god. In these days I'm reading my second pynchon novel "gravity's rainbow"(yesterday i began the third part), after the crying of lot 49. I love don de lillo( mao II, the white noise and underworld) paul auster and Cormac mccarthy(almost everything), john williams(stoner and butcher's crossing) Jennifer egan and ben lerner. After pynchon, i want to read some vollmann novels( i've got his debut novel "you bright and risen angels" his most acclaimed work"central europe" and "his masterpiece "fathers and crows". Do you have any piece of advice? What 's your Name, your age and what are you doing for a living? I m a new follower of yours. Maybe we can email each other. This is my email: vlamaj2019@yahoo.com thanks for everything. See you soon. Marinella

Those are some great picks! I have a video just on Vollmann, and one on Williams's STONER, if you'd like to check them out. Unfortunately, I don't really use email much these days, so I'd rather flow all communication through the channel. Thanks for subscribing and stopping by!

Not necessarily. There’s a place for books of all lengths.

@@LeafbyLeaf I mean, my book is only 113 pages, give or take. And I'm selling it on Amazon for 10 dollars. Am I charging too much? Asking for advice... Is all. And is it long enough?

Nathanael West’s Miss Lonelyhearts is a mere 60pp and sublime! If this is a self-published work of fiction and it isn’t selling as well as you want, I would consider lowering the price. But I don’t know a lot about marketing books, so please pair my advice with a grain of salt.

Miss Lonelyhearts for sure could be classified novella, though the authors/publishers billed them all as novels.

Ooooo how I love book recommendations! Adding yours to my master list. I’ll let you know when I post about these. Thanks!

@@LeafbyLeaf Yes, Bonsai is great. I’m new to your channel, so I don’t know if you’ve talked about Bioy Casares. If you like Borges, you’ll probably love Bioy Casares’ The Invention of Morel. The best (very) short book I’ve read this year is Cecil Taylor, by César Aira, although I’m not sure if there’s an English translation available. If you haven’t, you should also check out Juan Rulfo’s books (there’s only two).

I’ve read all of these except Bonsai and Cecil Taylor. I have a video on Casares’ “Morel” on the channel! Love, love, love Borges. I also have some Jorge Barón Biza coming up in a few weeks. Thanks for more recommendations!

kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rpeofdqfvdvenWQ.html

@@LeafbyLeaf Oh, I’ll look for the video on Morel. It is good to hear that there’s an English translation for Barón Biza’s book, it is so difficult to find copy of it in Spanish that I wouldn’t have thought there’d be one. I’ll explore your channel more in depth before I make more recommendations. And thank you, these videos are great.

Definitely a great one!

I do have a video on TGG out here, for what it’s worth!

Great choices! Can’t remember which video it is, but I talk about As a Man Thinketh (maybe last year’s nonfiction November video).

Nice recommendation! I just read through the copy and a little of the first pages. Then I bought the nice little hardcover. Thank you!

Hahaha! I love that! I have not read Barnes yet, but I do have that book. Maybe soon.

Great choices!

Great recommendations! I loved Outer Dark. Keep putting off Nightwood because I don't want it to be over. :-P

You've just reminded me that I need to do some videos specifically on short stores! And, yes, "The Overcoat" is one of the greats!

I need to explore more of his fictional work.

Also The Rough Guide to Cult Fiction, my fave mini reference. Ends 2000. So wish it would be updated. Someone who reads a lot of the good stuff could do it 😉

😁😁😁

Seriously, you've already done the work, all those colored stickies on all those books. Better than Food could too. Literally everyone who follows y'all would want it. Or is it all y'all?

You never know… 😁

Good ones!

Yeah, his spiritual (dis?)(illusionment?) was pretty severe.

The film is just as difficult. Incredible cast. Dark, dark.

Oooh, I’ll have to check that out.

Yes.

I'm his son.

For me, I just simply haven't gotten around to it yet. But I will state for the record that Franny & Zooey is my favorite of his work!

@@LeafbyLeaf Can't wait for the review.