Hardcore Literature Benjamin McEvoy

On a rainy afternoon I sat down to find a new podcast about literature. And then I suddenly found this fantastic podcast discussing all the things that make me love books.

This is the podcast I didn’t know I was missing in my life. Thank you Ben for sharing your brilliant literary insights. These episodes are deepening my love for reading beyond measure!

I’m a 15 year old girl, and since I’m from Denmark, English isn’t my first language. Therefore, I must warn against any grammatical errors. I am still learning, which all these English books luckily gives me a major opportunity for <3.

I have always loved reading, and since I’m quite active on social media, I have been influenced to read a lot of newly written fiction, have an endless tbr, and pressure myself to read as many books as possible. That of course resulted in me having “reading slumps”, and getting a feeling of not being a worthy reader, just because I couldn’t read 150+ books a year. Especially when I quite frankly found the books quite boring. From there, a lot of self doubt came. (Was it just boring because I ”didn’t get it”?) And reading was almost a chore, that I didn’t actually enjoy. That was until I stumbled upon Benjamin McEvoy’s YouTube video, with a title in the lines of “Books for a teenage girl”. That was definitely what one would call a game changer. I started to dive into the books he recommended, and after that listen to the podcast episodes on some of them. I think I can confidently say, that this has changed my life. I have been reading these books for almost a year now, and I feel so much more confident in myself, especially in school, where my English has improved tremendously, but also just the confidence in my own intellect has grown stronger. The podcasts has also inspired me to really deep dive into the literature, reread multiple times, do marginalia, and just really comprehend the themes, time and intention of it. Both the podcasts and the English classics are complex for me, but I always love a challenge, and I honestly find it more entertaining that way.

Nothing less than five or of five stars is acceptable.

-from the loving listener and viewer, Maj