Friday Reads: Pick a Pulitzer for me to Reread and Passage to India

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]Hi BookTube, it's Kelly. Thanks so much for watching. Uh happy Friday, especially for those of you who live in the US. It's a holiday weekend, so we have Monday off. I am really hoping to get a lot of reading done this weekend, but we'll talk more about that in a minute.

[00:00:21]Um Yeah, so our week here started off with snow. If you saw my community post, crazy.

[00:00:30]>> [laughter] >> Uh we were actually supposed to get snow later in the week, and then the forecast turned to rain. So, I have no idea what um the temperature is going to be like by the time you're watching this.

[00:00:43]Um but I do sympathize for those of you who are experiencing things in the '90s uh on the East Coast. I'm not I'm definitely not looking forward to 90 90° temperatures.

[00:00:57]That's for like July.

[00:00:59]>> [laughter] >> Anyway, I have been watching um Randy at A Literate Texan, and I know many of you have as well. He posted a video, which I will link to down below, about how to remember more of what you're reading. And I thought he had some really great points to make in it.

[00:01:23]One of which is to reread, you know, read it again. And I think there's so much value in that.

[00:01:31]Um but I also feel like I have so many other books that I've I haven't even read once. I thought that I would reread um a Pulitzer, at least one Pulitzer this year. But I want you to help me decide which which one I'm going to read. So, you will place your vote by leaving the name of the book in the comment section. It's not going to be a poll on my community page. Sorry.

[00:02:04]>> [laughter] >> You have to leave a comment down below.

[00:02:08]Um the first book I don't actually have.

[00:02:12]Um and I really I really wanted to get it for quite a while. And that's The Orphan Master's Son. Um It is It is a very unusual uh Pulitzer winner in the sense that it really has a lot to do with North Korea.

[00:02:29]And um I I feel like I re- remember I feel like I remember there being like some maybe elements of magical realism, but that could be wrong. It has been a long time since I've read these books.

[00:02:44]Um My other options for you, I picked five.

[00:02:51]So So there's The Orphan Master's Son.

[00:02:54]The next one is Tinkers by Paul Harding.

[00:02:59]Um This was initially published by a little medical press and um yeah, it just um I It's one of It's one of those Pulitzer situations where the Pulitzer is so unexpected that I just imagine somewhere like there's somebody freaking out and being like, "Oh my god, we need to print a lot more of the of these [laughter] books."

[00:03:27]So yeah, so I I really I remember really enjoying this book.

[00:03:34]It's also epilepsy, which I have, is part of the book and it's hard to find novels that have anything to do with epilepsy. And by all means, if you have recommendations for me, please please share them in the comment section um or reach out to me somehow, um, because yeah, I don't have I have a couple, but I don't have very many. Um, the next one I've been thinking about rereading for a long time. This was the first novel that I read as part of my Pulitzer project where I read all the books that have won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction or as it was previously known, the Pulitzer Prize for the novel. And so this is what, um, where I started. Um, I allowed myself not to reread, um, things I had already read. I have since gone back and read most of the ones that I didn't read, um, in this period, but anyway, I I just remember loving The Late George Apley.

[00:04:37]It is, um, yeah, a novel in the form of memoir. I think it's, um, an epistolary.

[00:04:45]Oh, maybe not. Anyway, I just don't know. I don't know if this copy can, um, hold up.

[00:04:50]>> [laughter] >> I But maybe it has one one read left in it and then I can decide whether it's time to get a newer edition or, um, at least one that's in in better shape, but, um, yeah, I just I remember like staying up late to to finish this book. Um, I really enjoyed it. Um, this one I I may try to read anyway, regardless, um, this year, but this is The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. I also have on my library card over here, um, The Custom of the Country, um, and that is part of her like New York trilogy, even though I don't think The Custom of the Country, I'm not sure.

[00:05:37]I don't I don't think it takes place in New York, but anyway, um, but so they're not like related. You don't have to read them in any kind of order, but, um, I would really like to read The Custom of the Country and then read The Age of Innocence.

[00:05:52]I think that could be could be really interesting.

[00:05:57]So, yeah, I I mean, you know, all of these books I will get around to rereading at some point, but I'd like you to help me decide the next one.

[00:06:07]The last one is A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley. This is essentially King Lear on an Iowa farm.

[00:06:18]That's what it's supposed to be, but of course when I read A Thousand Acres, I had not read King Lear.

[00:06:26]So, that has changed.

[00:06:28]And I think it would be really part of me has thought about reading this for Shake Timber, our month-long celebration of Shakespeare. But yeah, so I would like to try this one out again.

[00:06:42]So, um voting will stop on Tuesday then next Friday I will tell you which one I'm going to be reading. I'll have all these details down below in the comment section.

[00:07:01]Okay.

[00:07:02]So, I did finish A Passage to India by E.M. Forster.

[00:07:15]And you know what?

[00:07:20]This is a really great book. I know some of you gave it five stars and I think my friend Joe, who I read this with, Joe Smith, she was like, "This is crazy.

[00:07:31]I should just give it five stars."

[00:07:34]I am just yeah, oh, this book just it just made me really sad.

[00:07:41]And Joe said multiple times in our buddy read discussion that it's a it's a novel about misunderstanding.

[00:07:50]That's really what this book is about.

[00:07:52]Like, if you ever have a prompt in a tag video >> [laughter] >> something like, tell us about a book with misunderstanding as a theme, like, this is it. A Passage to India.

[00:08:04]Um, and I I just man, there were just so many like different choices I wanted the characters to make and um yeah, and and and Joe Smith and I like we talked about the fact that like Forster is sad. This is the third novel by him that I've read. Um the first being A Room With a View, which definitely is by far far my favorite. I also read Howards End.

[00:08:35]Um, and I think uh Forster has two more novels. Um, so at some point I would like to read those, but I need I need a little bit of a break. I will say uh this book did prompt me to watch um Oh gosh, uh The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which is a film I really love and I also started watching a Bollywood uh musical called Lagaan, um I remember I still remember Jason telling me that we needed to watch Lagaan and I was like, what's Lagaan?

[00:09:13]And he's like, it's this Indian musical that is about cricket. And [laughter] and it's 4 hours long and I was like >> [gasps] >> no, no, no, no, no, no. Um, but I watched it and it absolutely like it's it is a crazy crazy musical, but it is it is absolutely wonderful, too. Um, even Jason, he's like, I'm not watching any of this." And I mean, I just started. I I just just watched a little tiny bit. Um and as soon as the music started, like, it just pulled Jason into the living room and uh so he watched a little bit of it with me. But anyway, so A Passage to India, like, it is it is a great book. Um it deserves to be praised and be in in print, but I just Yeah, it was just it was just a little too a little too sad for for Kelly right now.

[00:10:11]>> [laughter] >> So, >> [gasps] >> Oh, which brings us I'm I'm not going to say anything. Um I am reading the latest Pulitzer Prize winner, Angel Down by Daniel Kraus.

[00:10:26]I am I'm holding holding all my cards close to my chest. I will um be doing a review video of of this.

[00:10:37]I would love for that to happen before the month is over, but I don't know if that's possible.

[00:10:42]Um I like to kind of stew and think on things a little bit before I make a review video, but definitely this will be this will be headed your way. This is this is the focus for Memorial Day weekend.

[00:11:00]>> [laughter] >> This and maybe the new documentary about Rafael Nadal, but a great great tennis player.

[00:11:09]Um which uh yeah, is coming out on Netflix.

[00:11:14]So, so much I I know the TV, it's just constantly like pulling me away from books.

[00:11:21]Um but anyway, so Angel Down, I I'm not going to say anything else. I just um but I am I am reading it.

[00:11:33]I will say if if you're concerned about this book is the idea that it's one sentence. Like that is not the case.

[00:11:41]It's not It's not really one sentence.

[00:11:43]So, uh but anyway, I won't say any more on that. So, Passage to India I gave four stars to.

[00:11:50]Again, it's it's not that it's a bad book.

[00:11:53]It is a really really really good book.

[00:11:57]Um it's just I don't know. Yeah, it just Like I said, it just made me It made me sad. What are you doing this weekend? Um whether you have a three-day weekend or not, what are you reading?

[00:12:14]Um What have you read lately that you've loved? Please, please tell me down below in the comments section as well as what Pulitzer I should reread. Um I am very curious.

[00:12:27]So, I will like I said, I will list all of the books um uh and the deadline for that down below, but I look forward to hearing what you would like to see me reread.

[00:12:40]Um and I will reread it at some point this year.

[00:12:45]Even if it comes at the sacrifice of of something over here that's a goal.

[00:12:50]>> [laughter] >> So, um Anyway, thank you guys so much for watching.

[00:12:56]Um if you don't feel comfortable leaving a comment and you don't want to vote, you can leave an emoji or you can give this video a thumbs up. It really means a lot to me.

[00:13:06]BookTube, remember to be kind to yourself, be kind to others, and I will hopefully be back soon with another video. Take care. Bye.