the only book ive rated 5 stars in 2023 so far

hey guys so welcome back to my second Channel welcome back to Jack In The Box have to make this video feel like that have to tell as many people as humanly possible about this book because this is the first five star book that I've read this year the first book have personally rated five stars and I've read like 38 books want to say so this is my favorite of the year so far this is Foster by Claire Keegan it's actually my second Claire Keegan book of the year and my second favorite book that read this year was her other one so need need to tell you about them so her other novel is small things like these it was shortlisted for the booker Prize last year and that's kind of what brought it to my attention and realized after reading it and then going to Dublin that I've really been loving Irish books or books written by Irish people small things like these as title actually kind of sums up my attitude towards Irish fiction in general because do think that Irish fiction really focuses on so much of Irish fiction concerns itself with telling domestic Stories the aren't Grand they're not about royalty they're not about celebrities Award winners they're about normal people accidental Sally Rooney pun in there as well for another bit of Irish fiction and although ostensibly they seem to focus on small lives small things small occurrences actually they are so huge and important and significant and though they seem quiet they are screaming they're loud because of the way that they pack punch and so yeah I've been really loving reading Irish books like peninka like said small things like these hearts and bones and so when was in Dublin picked up this book this is Foster by Claire Keegan and it is just Sublime it's like 83 Pages or something like that this gorgeous little story of this little girl who goes to live with distant relatives because her mum basically just keeps having babies and she's having another one and so the girl who we're following is sent off to her relatives basically just to be looked after while all this chaos is happening back home and it's set over the summer and think those two settings both of temporary home and of the season of the summer it creates this really interesting dynamic because it's problematized by inevitability the inevitability that these things will end the inevitability that the summer will come to close and Autumn will come the inevitability that when you exist in temporary space you will eventually have to leave and so while we watch this idyllic experience that this girl is having we know that it must eventually come to close and so while the book doesn't have like huge amount of plot think that tension of the fact that we know the summer will come to an end we know that she will have to leave this space that creates an atmosphere creates stakes in way and so we get to know this family that she's living with we start to slowly realize along with her that maybe they are keeping some secrets and silence is really important Motif think in this book like the things that aren't said there seem to exist silent truths that everyone knows but no one acknowledges out loud or verbally and think that's really interesting was reading up on kind of like the political context of Irish novel and the troubles the fact that for long time in Irish history politically it has been dangerous to speak out it has been dangerous to tell the whole truth there are also truths that have been obscured and so feel like this book is product of culture and of history and you know at one point in the book it's mentioned that minor has been killed kind of just in passing which think is very typical of this kind of fiction this book also does one of my favorite things ever and that is by having kind of slightly ambiguous closing line like the closing line has Duality it could mean multiple things and always really appreciate that love when you leave the book having to think about the alternative things that could mean and this really feels like snapshot in time like this isn't the girl's whole life this is one summer of her life and kind of love that love that she has this whole rest of her life to look forward to and we'll have to just contemplate what that might look like but we'll never know there are secrets that are uncovered there are things that are not being said it's sharp it's poignant it's heartwarming and heartbreaking hello I'm just editing this video and realized forgot to say something and that is that this book really reminds me of Anne of Green Gables it's kind of following similar kind of tradition in writing to that novel so if you're an Anne of Green Gables fan this book is for you that is all that's my public service there you go thank you bye it's Sam it's this gorgeous Irish landscape and we see little glimpses of domestic life things like just going and doing the shopping sitting around and playing cards it's really beautiful and elegant in its ordinariness and also think casing is great and pacing for me think makes or breaks book and this book Nails it Claire Keegan nailed it so that is Foster hope that this video has inspired you potentially to read this book really love it and like said this was my first five star book of the year it gave me goosebumps got Shivers and whenever get really like visceral response to book already know it's going to be ranked super high on my list and just devoured this in one sitting it was so wonderful and exquisite and yeah recommend this very highly so thanks for watching this video hope that you enjoyed it and will catch you very very soon with more book recommendations so all the best stay in touch just dropped the book nice all the best stay in touch have wonderful day and I'll catch you very soon bye bye my gosh forgot to say there's film they've made film Out of This Book and so have to watch it I'm that's like the thing want to do today is find way to watch this movie because if it's anywhere near as beautiful as the book so this could end up being not only my favorite book but also my favorite movie of the year so that's that's another thing just had to add that because know the whole comment section would be people being like Jack there's movie and know and I'm just as excited as you are