Favourite Books of 2015

[@Alraundelberin]

I am hooked on your channel lately. Oh my god how can I describe the joy when.You speak about I Dickens and Austen! You are amazing girl! I am learning so much from you. I feel lucky that I found your channel this early. You will be big! Lots of love from Turkey!

[@katiejlumsden]

+lauvielin Thank you, thank you, that genuinely means so much to me :)

[@LaurenAndTheBooks]

You can NEVER be too excited about favourite books! So looking forward to reading Station Eleven at some point this year and feel like I definitely need to factor in some Banana Yoshimoto, I think I'll start with Kitchen. The Chimes is on my TBR for this month, I've had it on my TBR for a few months now and I just absolutely must get round to reading it! x

[@katiejlumsden]

+Lauren And The Books Glad to hear it! Well I recommend them all - especially Banana Yoshimoto, her books are so beautiful and tend to be quite short and quick to get through too.

[@katehowereads]

So fun to see what you enjoyed and such a lovely variety!

[@katiejlumsden]

+Kate Howe Thank you :)

[@jakobtanner2523]

Great list! Oooh I haven't read any of Austen's juvenilia. Now you've made me curious. Have you read Sanditon???

[@katiejlumsden]

+Jakob Tanner I have indeed. Sanditon is interesting but ends before we really get any sense of what the story would be. In terms of her unfinished stuff, I prefer The Watsons, which we have about the same amount of words for and I think we get more of a sense of what it would be about. But yes, her juvenilia is hilarious, so hilarious.

[@booksandquestions9135]

131 books? My goodness--that is impressive. I haven't read most of these you mention, but a lot of them have been sort of on my radar, so thanks for the lovely reviews!

[@katiejlumsden]

+BooksandQuestions :) Yep, it was a lot... I don't quite know how that happened...

[@elizabethannebooks7311]

A really fantastic list! I absolutely loved the Clockwork Princess and Dickens at Christmas. I especially need to read Lady Susan and Station Eleven now.

[@katiejlumsden]

+ElizabethAnneBooks Thanks :) I strongly recommend both of them - they're wonderful.

[@studylit]

Great list-- I really want to read some Ruth Ozeki some time, and the Max Porter- who knows when I'll get around it though, time is not on my side this year which is already frustrating me!

[@katiejlumsden]

+A Hermit's Progress Both Ruth Ozeki and Max Porter are excellent writers :) But I feel your pain - my TBR is so long and time always slips by so fast!

[@hanffd]

I adored Station Eleven and want to read most of the other books you spoke about. Great video!

[@katiejlumsden]

+Debra Hanff Thank you! And yes, Station Eleven was just so wonderful :)

[@nowvoyaging8881]

I've got How To Be Both and Station Eleven on my shelves but haven't picked them up yet. I may have to now! I would say hands down my favorite book of the year was The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet. It was the first book in such a long time that made me both sad and happy when it was done. Sad because I didn't want to leave that world or those characters but also happy because I was so overjoyed to have discovered this book and now have those characters and their world living in my head!

[@katiejlumsden]

+Liz L I hear such things about The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet! I definitely need to try and pick up a copy some time.

[@elenareadsbooks88]

Love that you have such a great variety of reading tastes like me although it is lethal for my wishlist 😀 excellent list I especially enjoyed a tale for the time being and look forward to picking up chimes now

[@katiejlumsden]

+Elena Reads Books (ereadsbooks) Booktube is forever lethal to my wishlist! But yes, I strongly recommend The Chimes - it was brilliant :)

[@LiteraryGladiators]

I enjoyed watching this video! It is quite a challenge to narrow your list down from a select number to just 10, but especially difficult when you get to the numbers that are barely going to make the list. I really like videos that include the ranking of books, for it makes it all the more exciting. I thought Grief Is a Thing With Feathers was going to be higher up on the list from what you were saying about it, but it sounds like something you would definitely hail as celebratory. I will have to look into Banana Yoshimoto. I heard a lot of good things about her through the year. Perhaps she will be a good selection for Japanese June! Thank you for sharing! :) -Josh

[@katiejlumsden]

+Literary Gladiators Thank you :) It was really hard to have a ranking, especially as I loved all of these books so much. And I strongly recommend Banana Yoshimoto. So, are you doing Japanese June? I have a feeling I might be trying to do it too.

[@LiteraryGladiators]

+Books and Things Ranking is hard, but I feel there is just something that I really enjoy about it. Perhaps that quick intensity or my interest in statistical data in areas I enjoy studying. I will be looking into Japanese June. It will be interesting to be doing it with a great group of people on here.

[@katiejlumsden]

Great! It'll be nice to know some other people doing it.

[@LiteraryGladiators]

It is quite assuring! I like doing the challenge in general, but doing it with people you know always makes it that more fun!

[@katiejlumsden]

Exactly :)

[@DinosaurintheLibrary]

I really need to get on reading Grief is a Thing with Feather. It sounds so good! I also have the Ozeki sitting on my shelf...but just haven't managed to get to it yet--not to mention rereading some Dickens. So many books, so little time.

[@katiejlumsden]

+Dinosaur in the Library Ah, the eternal problem of readers. But Max Porter, Ruth Ozeki and Dickens are all glorious authors :)

[@roberrrrto93]

Interesting picks! I've just received The Chimes to review so now very excited to get to it! Also, 131 books is hella impressive, well done!

[@katiejlumsden]

+roberrrrto93 Thank you :) I hope you enjoy The Chimes - I thought it was just beautiful.

[@KnowledgelostOrgOnline]

Such a great list of books. I need more Banana Yoshimoto in my life. I have the same problem as you where I read one book by an author and not go back :/

[@katiejlumsden]

+Knowledge Lost Everybody ever needs more Banana Yoshimoto in their life! But yes, I keep on doing this with brilliant authors and then just forgetting about them...

[@SoniaBIndianCinema]

Watching your video makes me want to read Banana Yoshimoto again... Read them a long time ago so probably I will have a different feeling now if I re-read them.

[@katiejlumsden]

+Sonia Wong I absolutely love her work - she's such a brilliant and interesting writer :)

[@AmandaQuotidianBooks]

I must read some Banana Yoshimoto!!

[@katiejlumsden]

+Amanda Center (IntrovertX) Yes you must! Everybody must! :)

[@WinaPuangco]

Gahhhhhhhhhh Now it feels even longer until my copy of How To Be Both arrives!!! :) Great video! Also, Grief Is A Thing With Feathers--I think I need it.

[@katiejlumsden]

+Wina Wonders And I strongly recommend Grief is the Thing with Feathers - it is so, so good!

[@WinaPuangco]

ALSO: A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

[@WinaPuangco]

OH AND I'm currently reading Emerald City! I'M SO EXCITED!

[@katiejlumsden]

+Wina Wonders THEY ARE BOTH SO BRILLIANT. I hope you like Emerald City, I adored it :)

[@HollyDunnDesign]

It was lovely to meet you the other day :) So glad to have discovered your channel too, as you have excellent taste! Definitely going to look for some Banana Yoshimoto :D

[@katiejlumsden]

+Library at the Edge of the World Hello Holly! It was lovely to meet you too, and thank you for coming to look at my channel - I so enjoy yours :) I really do strongly recommend Banana Yoshimoto - her writing is just so utterly beautiful.

[@NoelleMar]

OH MY GOSH I KNOW RICHARD O'BRIEN! XD For a moment, I thought, wait... that can't be Richard... and his girlfriend Emma... nope. It is. That's great! Glad you enjoyed it. I know this is way later, but if he hasn't seen this, I should send it to him.

[@NoelleMar]

Except maybe you know him as well lol. XD

[@katiejlumsden]

Nope, just picked up his collection and loved it :)