The newest of the Oldest Stories Podcast is out now.  (For my review of the whole series, see here.)

Sennacherib vs Hezekiah in 701 BCE: Isaiah and the Battle of Eltekeh

The Booktube Numbers Tag

I was tagged in Jim's video: https://youtu.be/hc8D2EmCEbI?si=O4ayIVK5zk3Jcc27

The Questions

1. What was your first Booktube video?

2. How many books are you currently reading?

3. What were the Top 3 books you read last year?

4. How many books did you read last year?

5. How many books have you rated as 5 stars this year?

6. Do you have a reading target for this year?

Are you on track?

7. How many pages long is the book you are reading now?

8. How long are your videos?

9. Do you have a favorite number?

10. Last Question: Do you have a book on your shelves with a number in the title or on the cover?

I tag:

 @Bucky749  

 @WilliamsLibrary  

 @DerekGreen1  

 @bethannebruninga-socolar  

 @JosephFrancisBurton  

 @abbyreads1  

Links to stuff mentioned (where applicable):

* Man's Fate by Andre Malraux translated by Haakon M. Chevalier: Book Review: https://youtu.be/h_ysEljuOCc

* Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners: The SIOP Model: 3rd Edition: Book Review: https://youtu.be/adX1bxeN62k

* Rereading Foundation by Isaac Asimov: https://youtu.be/eGKYGVJK5Oo

* Pontius Pilate by Paul L. Maier: Book Review: https://youtu.be/w-SsjFvMO3Y

* Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann: Book Review: https://youtu.be/H6TdMJi7m08

* The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald: Book Review: https://youtu.be/Vex9dxIxDFk

* The Lexical Approach by Michael Lewis: Book Review: https://youtu.be/aZPjbdDeUWQ

* Started: The Bible: https://youtu.be/ZSASoBvenLM

* Starting: Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature Edited by Benjamin R. Foster: https://youtu.be/GntFy0nIRPA

2025 Reading List: https://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2025/12/2025-reading-list.html

Tag Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x68GfUHYtDeSJLo6gwRKIID

William over at William's Library made another video on The Apocrypha for me.

The Apocrypha (part 2)

And just like last time, I discuss the issue further with him in the comments of the video.  But unlike last time, I'm not going to copy all those comments over to this blog.  (It's too much work.)  So if you want to follow our discussion, check out the comments section on William's video.

Centennial Park, Holland City (Spring)

(Travelogues--West Michigan)

Centennial Park, Holland City (Spring)

Address: 250 Central Ave, Holland, MI 49423

Related Playlists:

Travelogues Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x71JnPJ1gs_uaswSALX-7V9

West Michigan Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x4D-0HPmovcbB6cCqlVVGEL&si=IEFmZ3UMgJxI0F4F

Ottawa County Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x6OddthAYeQq7rW7rG0oTTd&si=Yy1NZMrBVurS_s1x

Holland City Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x759E67g7Go5TAwvBMSjDV4&si=zKj6USKHdzHmz6um

Nelis' Dutch Village, Holland Charter Township (Spring)

(Travelogues--West Michigan)

Nelis' Dutch Village, Holland Charter Township

Address: 12350 James St, Holland, MI 49424

Related Playlists:

Travelogues Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x71JnPJ1gs_uaswSALX-7V9

West Michigan Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x4D-0HPmovcbB6cCqlVVGEL&si=IEFmZ3UMgJxI0F4F

Ottawa County Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x6OddthAYeQq7rW7rG0oTTd&si=Yy1NZMrBVurS_s1x

Holland Charter Township: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x5-0gc7LcZW84TE0cHqjCcc&si=NWvRuabSDaeomDXS

This Week in Booktube: May 3, 2026

(These are the Booktube videos I watched this week. As always, I encourage you also to check out each of the videos I've linked to down below.  Support Booktube.  And let me know what you've watched this past week.)

Google document: docs, pub

Pens and Poison by Liza Libes Why I Left Academia (And Why Modern Literature Is So Bad)

Bookish I Hate Frankenstein!

Raf Blutaxt Dear Booktube, Get An Education!

Randy Ray Do Audiobooks Count as Reading?

Steve Donoghue A Little Rant about Book-Reviewing by a Book Reviewer!

William's Library Why I Temporarily Stopped Reading

Bucky749 Star Trek dvd and blu-ray collection 2026

Abby Reads The Seriously Well Read Tag

Abby Reads „The Martian Chronicles“ by Ray Bradbury | A 5P Review

 ...although this week, I must add a caveat for a couple of these videos.

There's been some discussion on booktube lately about the rise of conservative booktube.  I don't have a problem with conservative booktube per se (the more diverse points of view, the better), but it does appear that this new conservative booktube is only interested in complaining about woke books.  (i.e.--the anti-woke grifters are finally coming for booktube.)  There are some indications from the video below that this young women is going to be attempting to milk the anti-woke grift, but we'll give her the benefit of the doubt for now.

What bothers me at the moment is her apparent assertion that great literature is divorced from politics.  (Or am I misinterpreting her?)  As it happens, I just finished listening to The Age of Revolution: 1789-1848 by Eric Hobsbawm in which Hobsbawm makes the point that the only works of art we remember from this period are the ones that dealt with the political and social issues of the day.

I wish I had remembered to include that in my video review of that book, but I didn't.  (I've already filmed the video review of that book, and it'll be posting in 4 days.  I'm trying to restrain myself and only publish one video per day, so I've got a bit of a backlog at the moment.)  

But I can console myself with the fact that I already made that point in my written review:

In his section on the arts, Hobsbawm claims that almost all of the art of lasting value from this period was politically motivated (contrary to the post modern view that true art must be separated from politics). He cites examples from Mozart's "The Magic Flute" to Beethoven's "Eroica" to the French painters such as Delacroix and David to all the romantic and revolutionary novelists of the period.

I posted a comment to this effect in the young women's video: 

I sympathize with much of this story.  I don't believe academia should exclude political viewpoints, or force conformity to one political viewpoint.  But where I disagree is the premise that great literature should always be apolitical.  I think a lot of the classics of the 19th century were very political in regards to the issues of their day. 

...and then predictably, my comment inspired other people to reply with their own comments, some of which were nonsensical and incoherent.

The other video I want to caveat is this one: 

I like this guy, what little I've seen of him, and I was intrigued by his video, but I was ultimately left confused as to what his message was.  He seemed to be simultaneously saying that booktubers need to get an education, that a proper education is not just reading books but rather formal schooling, and that American schools don't give us a proper education.  

So, what are we to do then?

I wrote in the comments:

Okay, I'll bite.  I'm an American.  How do you suggest I go about getting an education?

...and I got a bunch of unhelpful replies.

Like, for instance:

For you personally, I would suggest starting with the difference between good faith and bad faith arguing.

Dude, what?  I'm just trying to get some clarification here!

Or, this one:

If you can write a youtube comment, you can get educated. Yale and Oxford have dozens of hours of lectures on this website alone. Most high end schools have free lectures online. Wiki's exist, history books can be sold privately. You probably have a local library.

You may not be able to a job with a degree from it, but you can ALWAYS continue educating yourself, for free, with a little bit of time and effort.  Never, ever, let people convince you that you are trapped in ignorance, the average person has more ability to learn now than they ever have. IF we can avoid the distractions along the way, THAT is the real challenge.

To which I replied: 

Okay, but, the premise of this video was that reading a lot of books does not make you educated.  Or did I miss something?

I'm assuming by extension this applies to online audio, lectures and wikis.

Hager Park, Jenison, Georgetown Township (Spring)

(Travelogues--West Michigan)

Hager Park, Jenison, Georgetown Township

Address: 8212 28th Ave, Georgetown Township, MI 49428

Related Playlists:

Travelogues Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x71JnPJ1gs_uaswSALX-7V9

West Michigan Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x4D-0HPmovcbB6cCqlVVGEL&si=IEFmZ3UMgJxI0F4F

Ottawa County Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x6OddthAYeQq7rW7rG0oTTd&si=Yy1NZMrBVurS_s1x

Georgetown Township Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x7Dd8SZPQOnAFd76sIgDDDc&si=95kSGv5QCEdCx3Uk

Jenison Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x5ssUX9HTK3-13L093hsxQy&si=TO6oo-U0oWE4kVZz

DC Finest: Justice League of America: The Return: Book Review

(Book Reviews--DC Comics)

Started: April 7, 2026

DC Finest: Justice League of America: The Return: Book Review

Links to stuff mentioned:

Steve Donoghue's video: https://youtu.be/YTE4-hAHt9M?si=r9kyFarc7rq_HwXB

Michael K. Vaughan's video: https://youtu.be/1b3yPcCB3Gk?si=P3pWUl8JQ-crM8_j

Related Playlists:

Graphic Novel Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x6NMoYW6CBw6Qj_cqK8DIeb

DC Comics Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x6kPikhXNalrSh9BnvzZi2f&si=4rAijTT4v9u_06q2

Book Review Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x7dao6py7ODX_PkUvrAEch7&si=EJ7CG8iO9IouNaYY

Books I Read in 2026: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x7YYl7seud9ov0n6dtdHzvj&si=iMERlWtiF0Rq2-uy

Bad King John by Eleanor Farjeon: Poem

(TESOL Worksheets--Poems ESL Listening)

Transcript: docs, pub
Video: HERE

Bad King John by Eleanor Farjeon: poem

Video: https://youtu.be/5lDioPvdqCs

John, John, bad King John

Shamed the throne that he sat on;

Not a scruple, not a straw,

Cared this monarch for the law;

Promises he daily broke;

None could trust a word he spoke;

So the Barons brought a Deed;

Down to rushy Runnymede,

Magna Carta was it hight,

Charter of the People’s Right,

Framed and fashioned to correct

Kings who act with disrespect –

And with stern and solemn air,

Pointing to the parchment there,

“Sign! Sign! Sign!” they said

“Sign, King John, or resign instead!”

John, John, turning pale,

Ground his teeth and bit his nail;

Chewed his long moustache; and then

Ground and bit and chewed again.

“Plague upon the People!” he

Muttered, “What are they to me?

Plague upon the Barons, too!”

(Here he had another chew,)

But the Barons, standing by,

Eyed him with a baleful eye;

Not a finger did they lift;

Not an eyelash did they shift;

But with one tremendous roar,

Even louder than before,

“Sign! Sign! Sign!” they said,

“SIGN, KING JOHN, OR RESIGN INSTEAD!”

Poems ESL Listening Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x7ReDXIOlVgC1Ci0mGdDWqd ESL Listening Exercises Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x7xq-zLjulU2DRTjg2TNmAx Eleanor Farjeon Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x7QKa64WEUJ_-axsb1xkf8I&si=Cs6-Jb5OPBZ4lEdm https://sites.google.com/view/reading-and-listening-practice

Sentences and Pictures for CVC -ug words

(TESOL Materials-- -ug word family)

Google: slides, pub

I used Google Gemini Storybook to create these images, and then I copied them over to the slideshow.  (Because I was using my work Google account when I created these images, I can't share the original chat.)