pitching you my best 2024 books on a frosty winter walk

[@BeaumontEmmanuelle]

Leena ! I was reading your book at the Toulouse station the other day and noticed that the guy sitting next to me was reading over my shoulder. When he got up, he asked what the book was and whether he could take a picture of the front cover to remember it ! That's a pretty big compliment, isn't it ? I thought you'd like to know ! 🤗

[@OtraLou]

So cool to know there are other French people Reading Leena's book 😁 greetings from Nantes !

[@healingtiger557]

Love this! Especially because I've lived in Toulouse for the last 10 years, just recently moved away. I'm glad we're more frenchies being fan of Leena 😄

[@IguessImight]

Oh that's so cool! I'm from Toulouse, so happy to know there's Leena viewers out there :D

[@meydelarquier7566]

I'm also from Toulouse. What a small world !?

[@healingtiger557]

@@meydelarquier7566 it is! Bises à tous les Toulousains ❤

[@MsBlulucky]

Full list of the books mentioned: Orbital by Samantha Harvey Brotherless Night by V.V. Ganeshananthan Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Charlotte by Helen Moffett Doppelganger by Naomi Klein I Love You I Love You I Love You by Laura Dockrill The Wedding People by Alison Espach Jane Austen at Home by Lucy Worsley Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

[@mirandagil3642]

thank u❤

[@hkbabel]

Thank you

[@shore871]

Thank you!!

[@tegan6554]

thank you!!

[@etheriaa]

thank you, i went looking for this exact comment ❤

[@Ariana4a]

the fact that you're wearing a rainbow striped shirt and also a rainbow striped jacket is wildly endearing

[@raccoonsnacks]

I love the way you interspersed each book with a quiet picture of the scenery - such nice pacing and a breath between the recs.

[@loissage3630]

Same.😂

[@silliepixie]

Yes, I was thinking this too.

[@mseerikaa]

Same!! Love these chatty nature walk videos

[@madi32]

Ooh, one of those videos that take me twice as long to watch because I constantly have to take notes and update my TBR list.

[@lucyappelboam7793]

By the way I love the pink hat to complete the rainbow with the jacket, genius

[@lucyappelboam7793]

And the rainbow top underneath!!! Hello!??!

[@Rubyisgrowing]

Yes! I came here to say this!

[@wagtail186]

Leena walks is my favorite niche category!

[@oda_margrethe]

As a bookseller, thank you Leena for the appreciation for that bookseller you talked to! ❤ And this has been very much like a realistic book conversation, including the «wait a moment, I just need to find it on The Storygraph before you continue»

[@isabbygabbyorcrabby]

I adore the videos where you take us on little walks with you ❤ I got some vouchers for books at xmas and my first thought was 'well now I need to see Leena' s best books video so I know what to buy 😂'

[@elphabamushu]

This is such a beautifully shot, lovingly put together video and some brilliant book talk and recommendations. Thank you Leena (and Craig!)

[@najualb]

Now THIS is my definitive end of the year favorite! Never stop recommending us books because you and I have eerily similar taste in literature (figured it out once you rec’d the elegance of the hedgehog and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since)

[@kirstylou4615]

Anyone else feel very smug when most of Leena's recommendations are already on your tbr - makes me feel validated that I am, in fact, at least a somewhat cool and interesting person

[@abbiebryant8548]

YES! Two of these are already on my shelf waiting for me and I did give myself a smug little pat on the back

[@gingerprice9221]

Criminal levels of smugness to be honest 😂

[@asea1203]

Charlotte was always my favourite character in pride and prejudice. I craved more of her in the book. I had no idea there was a book from her perspective. Thank you so much for making me aware of it😊😊😊I'm going to read it as soon as I can❤

[@stephanielundquist1675]

From the women's list: and then she fell. I got the rec from your unboxing video even. It was unlike any other book I've read and I couldn't put it down. The imagery, the humility, the honesty, and the journey are just out of this world and so we'll written.

[@CJCregg884]

I immediately put Charlotte on my tbr, one of my favorite books last year was The Other Bennet Sister, from Mary's pov (partially during p&p, but most of it takes place afterwards). I never thought I'd feel (and root) so much for Mary, god was it good.

[@IledeMontagne]

Parable of the Sower was my favorite book of 2024 (mostly because I'm in a "what are all the things that could possibly go wrong in the next decade" dystopia mode 😅)! Also funny how different people's taste in books are, as I watched a "books I read recently" video were the person said that Orbital was a bit too apolitical and didn't confront the way geopolitics impacts cross cultural relationships. These book rec videos are always some of my favorites on your chanel, so I'm glad it's how you chose to start the year ❤

[@charliebrown1184]

I need more walks like this in my life.

[@holliee6832]

This is the first video of yours I've watched. Love that you filled it outdoors. So calming. I'm loving the jacket too!

[@robotnic]

Great recs, Leena. Congratulations on publishing your book!!! My preorder finally arrived, so proud 🫶🏻

[@sacrefrenchie2132]

Well you've completely sold me on The Wedding People. My favourite book of 2024 was 100% Evenings and Weekends by Oisin McKenna. A kind of love story about how we're always growing. I cried a lot. Closely followed by Mona Awad's Bunny. I did not cry, but it was hair-brained and a lot of fun.

[@ghostlyamy]

you've got me on evenings & weekends - i'll have to check it out!!

[@angelikicoletsou4463]

Ι just love that you are outdoors and suggest books in this amazing jacket. Keep on girl❤

[@laurasalgarolo4276]

Hi Leena, thanks for all the new books to add to my TBR! Ever since you recommended Still Life a few years back and I absolutely loved it, I always look forward your favorites of the year video. One of my 2024 favorites was The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley which for me falls into the page-turned but also beautifully written category.

[@corneliusowl6024]

My favourite read this year was Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett. I genuinely loved the characters the storyline and everything so very much I listened to an audioboom version and loved the accents the reader used. It just filled my heart

[@thesunfloweronthewayside4926]

(One) of the/or THE best book I read in 2024: "Half-arse Human" by Leena Norms. It is literally slowly but surely changing my life.

[@deathofmice8258]

I love this video format, and I have so many new books on my library hold list now 😁

[@nicola.p]

Love that you topped that rainbow coat with a purple hat next to the red to keep it all in the correct rainbow sequence 😍

[@ElisabethFreiberger]

Your description of The Wedding People made me think of A Man Called Ove. Not sure if you’d already read it but I think you might enjoy it for similar reasons :)

[@emmaj8726]

I was scrolling through the comments just to see if anyone else had already left a comment like this.

[@CiaoBellaBee]

Yes this exactly what I was thinking! I’ve only seen the film “a man’s called Otto” but I loved it. Also maybe a similar vibe to “Anxious People”?

[@benreadsgood]

*Adored* this format. Need more walks where I can’t get a word in edgeways.

[@epigraphe4363]

Thank you for the breakdown! Always enjoying the scenic walks in your videos. I absolutely love the pitch for The Wedding People-instant add to my TBR. One amazing read this year was Gunnar’s Daughter by Sigrid Undset. It was so unusual, so surprising in setting (it’s written in the style of an Icelandic saga) and heartbreakingly well written. The way trauma and the complexity of human relationships were portrayed was so modern (the novel was published in 1909) and nuanced. I think it’s a powerful classic piece of literature which deserves much more recognition.

[@Shellyish]

One of my favorite videos of the year. ❤

[@ohladysamantha]

I agree with you about Intermezzo. Normal People is my favorite but Intermezzo comes so close. I read it with the audiobook at times and i would re-listen to parts that I had read, not out of boredom or missing anything but just because I wanted to hear the story again. I definitely have reread parts of Normal People in the same way.

[@ModernLifeisThrift]

I loved Intermezzo. It was refreshingly different from her other work while still having all her strengths.

[@Anna-jd7fd]

Love how your glasses and your hat continue the color code of your jacket 😊 greetings from Germany

[@fionahorne9283]

I finally bought your book 🎉❤ so excited

[@bleudragon9]

Quick note: "The Wedding People" reminds me a little bit of the plot of "A Man Called Ove", the novel by Fredrik Backman, published in 2012. He's constantly trying to end it all if his neighbors wouldn't keep interrupting.

[@jayciecarter2928]

I'm so excited to read Jane Austen at Home after both yours and Ariel's recommendations!! It's been on my shelf for years, but my goal is to finally get round to reading the last of Austen's work and the biography to celebrate the anniversary this year! My fave book of 2024 was What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo. Oh man, what a book. The best, most thought provoking, well-researched, and moving book about complex PTSD I've ever read. Can't recommended it highly enough! (Though I'd check out the content warnings, it does cover some intense themes)

[@sammiehilton]

As someone who reads for a living (academic) im always suprised how you can make me actually want to read more. I can’t wait to try some of these books. I think ill start with the wedding people as its giving Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine/ The midnight library; then orbital which is giving the humans; then Doppelganger ❤❤

[@stphmrns]

Totally agree about The Wedding People!! Highlighted lots of really lovely passages but still absolutely breezed through it. Think it would be such a great gifting book and I don’t think it’s gotten as much fanfare as it deserves.

[@celeste_072]

wheww, all of these sound like bangers. Thank you, Aunty Leena. Also eee half of a yellow sun!! I have a signed copy by the author herself!

[@SallyAnn191]

There must be a trick to reading faster. My TBR list is longer than the average human lifespan - and I've just added to it watching this video. Thanks for the recommendations and the walk. Happy New Year.

[@shelf-reflections]

What a great way to tackle this kind of video! You've convinced me to pick up Charlotte and The Wedding People ☺

[@allliiicee]

now i'm inspired to go on a long walk and make my sister listen to me talk about my favorites and all the good recommendations I got from you :)

[@catherine906]

leena you are radiant!! and i LOVE YOUR COAT!! aghshsj so looking forward to this xxx

[@chocolatechristie]

Great video Leena, have missed your bookish videos!

[@16kaiseama]

The Wedding People was one of my favorites this year too! I got it because I thought it would be a romcom but it was so much more and I loved it

[@hanamarcetic5923]

Black butterflies, a fictionalized retelling of the siege of Sarajevo from the perspective of a woman whose family is in the UK while she struggles to survive the first year of war in a changing city, her relationships with people around her and her art while the conditions of living worsen and she is cut off from communicating with her husband and daughter. It's very easy to read, and quite difficult to put down

[@maru2825]

Hi Leena your book videos are my favourite! Also really enjoyed your book, listened to it on audio and found it very comforting :)

[@trebaneconapise7793]

FINALLY GOT YOUR BOOK TODAY! Almost thought it got lost on the way or something, I'm so looking forward to reading it

[@sagefright]

loveeee these recommendations they're always loaded with the best books! case in point my favorite read of 2024 was the overstory xx

[@nicollebegbie]

Century trilogy by Ken Follett. Traces five different families through the major events of the 20th century. Was incredible to read and also learnt more about history but through storytelling. Wonderful books.

[@soulsworn13]

I finally read the copy of Great Expectations that I've had kicking around for years last year, and it honestly was the funniest book I read all year. There were turns of phrase and jokes that were made which took me by surprise with how funny they were. It was also just unexpectedly interesting, but i guess that's why it's a classic. I always love your book recs, I've found myself branching out of my usual fantasy niche a bit more because of it

[@jenniferpiercy7148]

Watch Leena, pause video, add book to Libby. Repeat! Thank you for these great recommendations 😊 ❤

[@dexaria]

It got dark and you just HAD to go to the pub. Oh no how sad.😂 Thanks for the recommendations! I’ve added a bunch to my tbr

[@bookasaurusray8882]

the author of brotherless night was one of my teachers at university! she's amazing!

[@alicegam]

I have been waiting SO eagerly for this video!!! I always find five star reads in your recommendations:)

[@myfaaaavevideos]

I love how you always have such a great variety of books in these videos, always discover something I haven’t heard of before ❤ Charlotte sounds brilliant and may be a good read for when I finish Jane Austen at Home (which I agree is wonderful). I would also recommend Lucy Worsley’s book about Agatha Christie, it’s really insightful and she brings a refreshing perspective to Agatha’s life.

[@jays5466]

It's funny, because the description doesn't mention what the main character is there to do in the versions of The Wedding People I've seen, I've never gravitated toward it because I didn't really know what I was getting with it, but now that you pitched it with some of the details I added it to my TBR

[@terrydulever]

I wish everyone would read doppelganger. Love the second of nature in between the recommendations, it gives my brain the time to get ready for the next one

[@teresaribeiro8489]

You convinced me on the plot of “The wedding people” for a similar recommendation and my favorite book of 2024 : Three Apples Fell From The Sky from Narine Abgaryan (felt like getting a big hug about being human and the passing of time)

[@ThePopsicle1234]

If you liked the wedding people, I feel like you would like A Man Called Ove, beautiful book where the community (unknowingly -??-) uplifts Ove's days.

[@MG-vw2qy]

I always love this style of video :) Feels so cosy, like receiving recommendations from a friend. Can’t wait to give some of these a go in 2025!

[@zofiabochenska1240]

My recomendations, based on your reccomendations ;) I'll read the Brotherless Night, and you can try Seven moons of Maali Almeida (magical realism about the Sri Lankan war) I'll read The Wedding People, and for you there is Man Called Ove, which is very sweet story with similiar theme.

[@zofiabochenska1240]

Oh, and my favourite od this year is Elif Shafak's Island od Missing Trees

[@Semira888]

I’m so happy you liked Intermezzo

[@annalockwood3021]

Thank you for this list!! Really looking forward to reading Charlotte now that I know it exists. 😊 Am now adding a page to my journal for all the other titles, lol!! My reading preferences have been in flux lately, and I’ve yet to find a starting point for a successful streak of books I can read without losing interest. Some years ago I refined my understanding of which books would hold my interest all the way through, but I think I need to step up my game again. This list looks like a wonderful starting point. Thanks again!!

[@soda_fairy]

That coat brings me so much joy omg

[@renee_angelica]

Okay, LOVE the book walk...can see this in my future for sure

[@racheleleanor1992]

I loved this, thank you for making my TBR longer (new books always welcome!) Some of my highlights from last year's reading: All The Light we Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer and Dancing with the Octopus by Debora Harding.

[@isabelletaylor3726]

Thank you for all these recs! I recently read Monstrilio which was a total chance find and it was completely bizarre (sentient lung) but so interesting in the way it explores grief and relationships

[@phrensies]

I’ve been waiting for this video!!!! What a list, so many overlaps with mine but also some titles I haven’t heard of!! ❤❤❤

[@pastrysbooks]

Oooh, if you liked Charlotte, I can recommend The Clergyman's Wife by Molly Greeley! It's also about Charlotte Lucas after she's married to Mr. Collins, and I actually read this while I was interning for a literary agency in New York, and recommended it to the agent who took it on! It's a beautiful story, and it absolutely made me sob, but in a good way!

[@smeebythesea]

the giant dark by sarvat hasin was by far my favourite book I read this year. the writing style was absolutely gorgeous and I loved every bit of it. such a devastatingly good bit of literary fiction

[@JennyBrown-bw7dt]

in the pub sequence I couldn’t focus because I was listening to sledgehammer by peter gabriel in the background! All these sound great, definitely adding a few to my TBR!

[@madriarc]

Same 😅 I want to go to this pub!

[@TheHelican]

Best book I read this year was easily 'Pachinko' by Min Jin Lee. It's a generational saga that focuses on a Korean family in 19th/20th century Korea and Japan. The story is full of twists, the descriptions are just lush enough without being overly long, but the real strength of the novel is the characters. Even the most fleetingly mentioned people are given a specificity so deep that, as a reader, I felt like they were real people, and that I was being told their tale by someone who knew them personally. I cannot recommend that book enough.

[@mandyhackman9740]

I just read “Home is not a Country” by Safia Elhillo on a whim (random pickup from the local thrift store) and it is a must read imo! It’s a novel told in very short chapters that are each a poem, and without giving it away too much it’s about a young teenager from an immigrant family dealing with displacement and longing for an experience you didn’t personally have, as well as friendships and family in the face of loss but also the “what if” version of yourself. It’s so so good. It manages to be both a book of poetry and a really pace-y novel at the same time. I read it in one day.

[@notanniewarren]

The way I squealed when you recommended The Wedding People, my joint first favourite book of 2024! I am going to pitch you my other favourite book of the year, which I think you will also really like... it's called The Husbands by Holly Gramazio and it's a very funny book about a woman who arrives home very drunk from her friend's hen do to find her husband at home. The weird thing, though, is that she's absolutely certain that when she left for the hen do, she was very much single. Eventually she finds out that she has a magic attic that, hear me out, is constantly sending her new husbands. Like, every time her husband goes up into the attic, an entirely new one comes down, and her entire life changes according to how it would have been if she'd married that man - her flat, her job, her relationships with her friends. It's SO good, SO funny, SO readable and fast-paced yet also thought-provoking, and unlike anything I've ever read. I think you'll really love it! ❤

[@donutsrockz]

This is sucha cute and unique way of doing a book review!!

[@gabriellee4151]

Bringing Back the Beaver was one I reread this year and it's just fantastic.

[@maudhaugland5822]

Can't wait to read Orbital and Intermezzo! My favourite books this year include Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, Minor Detail by Adiana Shibli, Putin's War Against Women by Sofi Oksanen and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson 💛

[@catthomas3507]

Shibli is an absolute genius. I wrote a paper on Minor Detail. It's amazing.

[@catthomas3507]

Shibli is a genius.

[@maudhaugland5822]

@catthomas3507 she really is! I was lucky enough to hear her talk in Oslo and it was amazing

[@jillybeanh67]

Completely agree, a other vote for minor detail, it is amazing and my fiction book of the year this year

[@Lowriaa]

Ooh, the perfect video for the Christmas book tokens! Yay! And so beautifully done too!

[@sarahkendall5714]

Those regency books sound good! I will have to see if I can get them at my local library! This video reminded me of a series that the BBC run (it's on BBC 4) called 'Winter Walks' where basically you just follow someone doing a lovely walk in winter in the countryside, with the occasional book recommendation or poetic verse sprinkled in. For book recommendations I would seriously recommend: - In Memoriam by Alice Winn - The Others of Edenwell by Verity M. Holloway - The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow

[@Kafia_]

Ooo please give us a list of books/authors with whom you are political aligned that would be so interesting... Also this was a masterpiece of a video ❤

[@alexkl6084]

highly recommend emily austin's "everyone in this room will someday be dead", one of my favourite reads of last year!

[@tinylaw95]

I added so many of these books to my TBR list. Thanks Leena!

[@Vanessa-fs7oz]

This sounds like such a great list with a lot of new books/authors for me to get excited about. I wanna recommend a book that was one of my favorites in 2024 that popped into my head as you were describing Our Endless Numbered Days. The book The Bear by Andrew Krivak has some similarities in that it is about a young girl and her father being the last two people on the planet after some vague sort of apocalypse, leaving them to try to survive in the woods long after the last other humans died or disappeared. It sounds like it takes a wide departure from the Claire Fuller book in that the relationship between the girl and her father is very tender and gentle while also stern in a caretaking sort of way. It is beautifully written as a fable of sorts, a touch of magical realism. It's a short read and I've wanted to reread it ever since I finished it. If you read it, you should share your thoughts! I'd be so curious to hear them.

[@caterpilllllar]

highly recommend ursula k le guins earthsea series. just for the way the series progresses book to book in unexpected ways is worth it enough, but how she chooses to go off the expected path of heroes in their prime, explore mature lives and makes small stories feel and become epic and what would be epic strories feel quaint. her politics are really interesting though not because theyre by any means perfect but in context impressive and refreshing. the tombs of atuan is great but im hesitant to describe it further since reading it blind after the first book was so good 😖😖

[@marianamasbooks]

I’ve actually always been a Charlotte Lucas stan haha (I’ve always thought Elizabeth was super unfair to her). Definitely going to look for that book. I love you I love you I love you also went straight to my want to read list. (I love your favorite books videos! The walk + pub format was so fun! ❤)

[@librovoro]

This year for me was the year of Iron Widow and Ursula K. Le Guin's books, I highly recommend both! The first is a raging feminist sci-fi piece set in a distopian Pacific Rim-esque China, the others are sci-fi and fantasy books based on people, anthropology, incredibly brilliant concepts and nuanced characters- she's the first one to have written about a magic school! I personally would even read her shopping list (I did read the entirety of her blog as well this year and had a blast), but if you neeed recommendations: The left hand of darkness or The Wizard (first book of Earthsea) would be good places to start

[@pirlie]

Ok, so there are some books i read in 2024 and would like to recommend, but they are not translated to English yet. So these are three books i also liked and are available in English: - Prima Facie by Suzie Miller -> novelisation of a successful theatre play about a young barrister from working class background in London and... look at the Storygraph fpr more info pls! - The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi -> great thriller around learning languages - Figuring by Maria Popova -> nonfiction, explores the complexities of love and the human search for truth and meaning through the interconnected lives of several historical figures across four centuries. Contains quite a bit of lgbtqia+ history.

[@poobear622]

Love this video, looking forward to reading some of these!

[@leanna_williams]

I can’t wait to read every single one of these starting immediately

[@eproudfoot2799]

Oooh you’ve got me so excited to read Charlotte

[@silvercookies]

I have your audiobook! As soon as I finish my current audio I shall start it :D.

[@xXNekou]

I want to recommend a book as well! It's "Out" by Natsuo Kirino (a Japanese author). It's about a low-middle class woman working in a factory who kills her jerk of a husband, and then asks her colleagues/friends to help her get rid of the body. A really good book, highly recmmend :)

[@ferngecko1943]

What a list! Some of my fav books this year were the lost rainforests of Britain by Guy Shrubsole (very readable nonfiction), the future by Naomi Alderman (dystopia about tech billionaires and their doomsday bunkers), and Minor Detail by Adania Shibli (Palestinian literary fiction)

[@danamatsukawa4762]

I really wanted to read Charlotte. Not available at my library, or on my kindle. 😞

[@amandaaaa31]

A Man Called Ove has a similar structure to The Wedding People in the way you described

[@zofiabochenska1240]

Came here to write that! Strongly reccomend :)

[@fairyelephant8612]

Another one with a similar theme is The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

[@spheals]

Love them both and very interested in reading The Wedding People.

[@joanaranito]

The Wedding People has a similar premise to Hotel Silence, which I think I also read because you recommended it on the channel!

[@claireeden8069]

Leena if you liked Charlotte you'll really like The Other Bennett Sister which does the same thing but with Mary Bennett. It has some flashbacks to things that happen during Pride and Prejudice but it is mostly in the years afterwards. Its lovely and romantic and makes you fall in love with Mary. Although be warned, Charlotte does not come across great in it! But perhaps the two books together explain the inner workings of 2 understated characters

[@laevans1986]

I'm really excited to learn about 'Charlotte'. Another story set post Pride and Prejudice that I would recommend is The Heiress by Molly Greeley which follows the life of Anne De Bourgh. It's a really rich, well written and satisfying read!

[@Marina-nz7mb]

so many good recs!!!!!! i'm excited to read them ❤

[@stef1005]

so i want to read basically all of them I also loved Intermezzo and think it is Sally Rooney's best work yet