Picked out a few books from your favourites and I enjoyed a lot of them, so I just want to say THANK YOU KATIE :) Books that I read and really liked: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Last Night, The Doll Factory, The Binding The only one that was not to my taste was Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. I found the pacing a bit too slow and I stopped reading after about 300 pages, but that's ok and I'm glad you liked it.
When I double check after thinking you haven't posted in a while and find that yt unsubscribed me when I had notifications on .. strange but excited to catch up ❤
Thank you for recommending Mr Loverman in a few weeks ago. It had been on my tbr for so long, and you made me tackle it in early January. I enjoyed it immensely (new favourtie!): the lovable characters with their quirks and flaws, the writing, the insightful way the author delved into the characters' thoughts and feelings, and last but not least the wonderfully done audiobook. 😊
I’ll have to check Lord Edgware Dies. I love David Suchet as Poirot in the film. I’m reading Hardy’s Desperate Remedies, and looking forward to Trollope’s Can You Forgive Her? My very favorite novelist is Barbara Pym. Thanks for you favorites of 2021!
Namaste & Hello Katie dear😊! This was such an excellent list of books!👍Will be reading one from this recommendation list every month now! Absolutely enjoyed watching📚👍👍👍👍👍Happy reading dear😊
Oooo I've been waiting for the Tolstoy Estate to be released in the UK for ages. I've just finished a reread of The Binding (fave of 2020) and it was amazing still! Also lots of wonderful classic recommendations too!
This is a fantastic video as always Katie! I love how our top lists overlap, but also how many of these I want to read! I have a feeling that some of these may make my best of 2022 list.
Always love the best books of the year video! I absolutely adored Eleanor Oliphant too. One of my favourite books of all time. I'm planning to read The Dictionary of Lost Words next month. I'm really looking forward to it! ☺
Lovely to hear about your favorite reads, as always, Katie! I just downloaded Last Night from the library (funnily, it's "Just Last Night" in North America)...sounds like maybe the perfect kind of cozy read to curl up with in January? Hope your year is off to a good start! Also, not sure if those glasses are new, but either way, they look great! :)
It's a great one, hope you enjoy it! My glasses are not that new but I have two pairs and these ones, though my favourites, are super reflective so I usually wear my other pair when filming, unless the lighting is really good!
@@katiejlumsden Update: I just finished Last Night and absolutely loved it 😭 I normally don’t love other stories / subplots mixed in with my romances, but something about this book just hit all the right buttons - I wish I could read it all over again already. Thank you, Katie, what a great rec! ❤️
@@katiejlumsden It was! I thought it balanced the threads of grief/loss and romance/recovery so beautifully...and I was so moved by the exploration of characters in their mid-30s who are getting to a point in life where certain doors are closing (it felt quite poignant and meaningful in a way I wasn't expecting). And I have a lot of thoughts, too, about how Mhairi McFarlane played with the tropes of unrequited love/"the one that got away" and even enemies-to-lovers...and I have to say, I loved the dressing down Eve gave [redacted] after the fight towards the end of the book (without making him into a total villain, either). I'm getting rambly now but...so much to love in it!
You looked misty eyed talking about The Kingdoms. I kept putting off reading it all year because I knew I'd want to give it my full attention. I never did end up getting around to it but that only means I can look forward to it this year.
Love your list. I’ve read 5 of them. My top books of 2021 are Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan ☘️ Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ni Ghriofa ☘️ The Promise by Damon Galgut We Begin At The End ( best thriller) Standard Deviation (funniest book) Hidden Valley Road Empire of Pain Shelter by Jin Jung Writers and Lovers by Lily King Bewilderment by Richard Powers A Passage North The Glorious Heresies ☘️ My Policeman by Bethan Roberts The Yield by Tara Jean Winch Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle Memorial by Bryan Washington A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske Luster Swimming in the Dark My Dark Vanessa Valentine The Vanishing Half The Prettiest Star A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders ☘️👋🍀📖🫖☕️📕👓📚🐈
The Kingdoms was not only my favourite book of this year, but is my new favourite book ever - so absolutely perfect! Can’t wait to read more Natasha Pulley. And can’t wait for you to read The Betrayals, I thought it was mostly brilliant and I think I liked it even more than The Binding but I’ll have to read it again to make up my mind about fully
My favourites of the year were Islands of Mercy - Rose Tremain, Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray - Anita Heiss, Oh William! - Elizabeth Strout, The Promise - Damon Galgut, and The Tolstoy Estate
i should just read all the books you like because your favorites always turn out to be my favorites as well. I knew I'd love The Haunting Season when I saw that of the eight writers, five of them were authors I'd read and would immediately read any new book they have written. I also finally read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell and felt like I had to make room in my head for a whole new alternative world - next to Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings and Narnia and Discword...
I really want to get to The Binding and the Dictionary of Lost Words this year! One of my favourite books from last year was Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse, it was such a cool world and the characters were fascinating.
There’s a dark side to a conscientious objector movement. It continued on into the 1930s and 1940s and opposed Britain’s ability to stop Hitler. Hitler should have stopped as Poland was invade, but he wasn’t.
