Thank you so much, that's amazing, what a lovely review - it's almost like an out-of-body experience hearing someone talk about my book in such detail for 15 minutes, and absolutely getting it too! It's made my day, thank you!

Please stop. Im falling in love with each book you praise on this channel at this point. My wallet is CRYING.

british. funny. gritty. dark. full of surrealism, I'm sold. your reviews are so engaging. 🌞

@WillowTalksBooks

Ай бұрын

Thank you 🥹💜

In the countryside, no one can hear you scream.... This sounds like just my kind of book, reminiscent of those wonderful English rural horror setups with the pub landlord saying "We don't 'ave strangers 'ere...". Onto the tbr it goes.

Part of your description of this book reminds me of ST:TNG episode The Inner Light, where Picard lives an entire lifetime in a few minutes while caught in an energy beam.

This sounds incredible! I do get intimidated by surrealism and dreamlike stories, but I'd like to try it because of how you are describing the writing and humor and pageturnerness of it

This really sounds like a book that could deeply change me.

This sounds incredible! It was already on my radar but now I am definitely picking this up. I went to dead inks books for the first time recently and it was such a great shop, I'll definitely be picking this up on my next visit 😊

I think you mentioned it in one of the videos so I precomended it. Got it yesterday.

@WillowTalksBooks

Ай бұрын

Enjoy!

Thank you, Willow! This sounds like it’s right up my alley! I love Shirley Jackson and somehow your description reminds me of her. The normal isn’t as normal as it seems and bizarre things happen… in a normal way.

This sounds amazing, buying asap 🙌

Having watched it a couple of times now: I'm going to look out that Rick & Morty episode, it sounds right up my street! I must admit, I've only ever seen one, a few years ago (I'm more of an Adventure Time lad): I can't remember it exactly, but it was about new members of their family appearing, and the 'real' family members being unable to tell because they'd had false memories implanted, or something like that. It was really philosophically fascinating, I'll have to track down more. I'm right with you on surreal books being written in an experimental style... I have very little patience with such shenanigans too, I always think it's important to have *something* that grounds the reader. If weird stuff is happening, I want to feel like it's really happening to real people whose company that we like, and that it's not some vague, free-floating conceptual notion. It's the same with experimental films - I love a weird film in which bizarre things happen, but not when it's also confusing and features people who walk around with expressionless faces and never react to any of it. I much prefer things like Daisies or Celine & Julie Go Boating. Funny women are much better guides through a dreamlike story than expressionless cyphers! Spot-on with my upbringing too - it sounds like we had a very similar time, albeit on the opposite side of the country (I was East Midlands, around Grantham way) and probably a couple of decades apart. But I grew up in a tiny village with no shop or pub, and despite having lived there my entire life from a baby, always feeling like I didn't actually belong there. I wasn't from farming stock; my parents were from the city (Dundee and Nottingham); and while I was technically rural Lincolnshire through and through, I also wasn't. We weren't shunned for being outsiders - people were generally very nice and my parents were well-liked and took part in the community, but I always felt like the weird kid who didn't get the other kids, and they didn't get me, apart from a couple of close friends. But I think that does give you a unique insider/outsider perspective on rural life - I'm not so close to it that I can't look at it objectively; but I'm also not a city lad who's peering in at it through the window. Very interesting thoughts on the themes and whatnot. I'd say it's much more philosophical and experiential than it is political. Someone I know took it as a comment on Brexit - which is completely unintended (the story actually predates Brexit), though I'm quite happy if readers take that from it. Generally, though, it's mostly about the philosophical themes and what the characters experience, and how the two intersect. Anyway, thank you again for taking the time to read it and for making such a thoughtful and fascinating video! - Adam

I pre-ordered this book on your recommendation and I’m currently reading it. I just love it so far 🥰 also the cover and the quality of the print is really good

@WillowTalksBooks

Ай бұрын

Indie publishers go hard 😌

What a fantastic video and review! I too read it in a couple of days and I don't really 'do' reading (drawing takes up too much time!) I'm so pleased to see so many people enjoying this book - the author is my brother!

You completely sold me on this book 😍

I ordered this yesterday - looking forward to reading it!! Thanks for your review.

This book sounds like exactly what I've been looking for over the past couple of months. I read The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn Kiste in March and have been searching for a book with similar vibes. Lost in the Garden sounds like the perfect book to fill this need. Thank you for a lovely review!

I am looking forward to reading this book. Thank you for the recommendation.

Im intrigued and as its more than a pamphlet, it will also keep me out of trouble for more than a day or two 😄

On the list, thank you

Can you make a list of specifically "folk" horror books recommendations?! Love your reviews and trust your taste!

I just bought the ebook 📚✨ this sounds wonderful

Every time I see a new review from you, I tell myself, ok, you can watch it but you're not buying it until you've read the books you have. And then I watch it and buy it! 🤣

@WillowTalksBooks

Ай бұрын

That’s my life as well 😭 There’s too much good stuff to enjoy!

Apart from the british thing "John Dies at the End" sounds like it has a similar tone /execution.

The first thing that comes to mind when you say something wrong with people in a little British village is Hot Fuzz. Which might not be the vibe with this book but I can't help making the connection

@WillowTalksBooks

Ай бұрын

Yeah I actually made that connection myself as I was editing it

@Adam-qi7no

Ай бұрын

I do love Hot Fuzz, although this story predates it. I'd say it's a collision between Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead, Annihilation and A Field In England.

this sounds extremely similar to The Haunting of Velkwood. by gwendolyn kiste 🧐🧐🧐

It reminded me of paradise rot by Jenny Hval

@WillowTalksBooks

Ай бұрын

Aye, I get that

Hey Willow. Have you read Strega?

@WillowTalksBooks

Ай бұрын

Yup! I read it last year and loved it but didn’t do a video on it. I really should!

Did it have a slight ‘day of the triffids’ vibe ?

@WillowTalksBooks

Ай бұрын

Kinda! I haven’t read that in years but it was a fun and campy little thing

@Adam-qi7no

Ай бұрын

The 1981 TV adaptation of Day of the Triffids was definitely one of the inspirations for the wandering ghosts. I loved the book too, though mine is trippier! :)

Could you tell me the “language level” of this book? I’m almost sold by your video (as always), but there’s no translation to my mother language. I read books in English and understand them pretty well (as well as your videos), but I’m wondering if the surrealistic aspect of the narrative may increase the difficulty of the text.

@Adam-qi7no

Ай бұрын

I think we're looking to sell the translations rights, so it may appear in your native language at some point, but I couldn't say when! If you're used to reading in English, though, I reckon it ought to be all right... I tried not to make it too impenetrable, or use too obscure words.

@AnaClaudiaBertiniCiencia

Ай бұрын

@@Adam-qi7no Wow, an answer from the author! 🤩 Thank you for your attention. I guess I’m gonna try reading (cause who knows when it’s gonna be published in portuguese). Wish you success! ♥️

@Adam-qi7no

Ай бұрын

@@AnaClaudiaBertiniCiencia Aw, thank you! :) Yeah, I reckon you'll be fine with it. I hope you enjoy it!

@AnaClaudiaBertiniCiencia

8 күн бұрын

@@Adam-qi7no I‘m reading it now (started a week ago). Till now I could understand 90% (and the general meaning of the other 10%). Totally bizarre! 😂 (Loving it!) There is this sense of ‘uneasiness’ (don’t know if this word exists, hope so) when we observe the world of the narrative and the characters. (Also: I wanna slap Heather in her face sometimes).

@Adam-qi7no

8 күн бұрын

@@AnaClaudiaBertiniCiencia Wonderful, thank you - I'm really glad it's generally making sense, and the atmosphere is coming across! (I reckon "uneasiness" is a word... my spell-checker gives it the thumbs-up!) So happy you're enjoying it too! Hahaha... Heather seems to be inspiring quite a few people to violence so far. I maybe have a higher tolerance for that sort of person! 🙂

Just out of interest, what makes a novel English and not just UK representative and are they a separate and distinct thing? Like are Ali Smith seasonal quartet books English, UK, or are the books split between those representation. I don’t think this is a distinction that most in the US can’t even tease out or understand.

@WillowTalksBooks

Ай бұрын

That’s an enormous question. The four nations that make up the UK are very culturally distinct from one another. I’m not sure how to answer this without writing a book on the subject, honestly. But this book feels distinctly English because it’s about small-town fears, traditions, kind of everything I said in the video.

@bookofdust

Ай бұрын

@@WillowTalksBooks Thanks! Would it just be easier to identify it all as British and leave it at that?

@WillowTalksBooks

Ай бұрын

Nope, on account of Britain being four disparate nations with different cultures. I’m English and I moved to Scotland because I love the culture, history, and politics. They’re different.

@WillowTalksBooks

Ай бұрын

Also, why do we want to identify all of it as British and leave it at that? Diversity and complexity is a good thing :)

@WillowTalksBooks

Ай бұрын

Regions have different folklores, languages, and traditions. This is a uniquely English novel. Why would I even want to make it more broad and vague and watered down? Sorry, as you can tell, this comment has really gotten under my skin.

Keep to reality man and write Bill and Ben the Flower Pot Men? Planted headless in someone's else's garden

@WillowTalksBooks

Ай бұрын

You really meet the strangest people in this job

@tedburt7630

Ай бұрын

@@WillowTalksBooks Just conceptualizing a story idea, where you got a real garden; not a lot happening? Then the surreal one (neighbours) where u got flower pot men etc hehe.

This sounds perfect for me. 🖤🪻🌷🌹🌻