Top 14 Books of 2024!

[@longarinas]

I just love the way she talks 🌹

[@da2357]

I’ve adored all of Lucy Worsley’s TV shows on PBS (she did a three episode mini-series about Agatha Christie) that are phenomenal, so was excited to get Agatha Christie for Christmas. I can’t wait to start reading it after my current book is finished. Happy New Year! 🎉

[@sharonschweitzer7880]

Betty Smith’s other three books are really good as well. I enjoy your channel, thank you for sharing. Happy New Year!

[@adventuredenali]

@@sharonschweitzer7880 oh that’s so great to hear, I will look into her other works! Thank you and happy new year!

[@steph4774EN]

I really love and appreciate your book reviews. They are honest, thorough and gives me many ideas of new types of books to read. So, thank you!

[@adventuredenali]

@@steph4774EN thanks so much! Have a happy new year and enjoy your reading!

[@hanamarcetic5923]

Happy new year, Alicia! I always watch your book reviews, but I usually reside in different genres (I rarely read crime, SF or famtasy) so we seldom read the same titles. This year, however, my dad brought an old copy of A tree grows in Brooklyn in Serbian from his deceased relative's home library and I read a few pages and instantly loved it. But as I was in the middle.of a different read I set it aside and then you talked about it just as I finished that other book. So I jumped right back into the tree in Brooklyn and it was just as amazing a read for me as you seem to descirbe. One of my favorites this yead as well!

[@adventuredenali]

@@hanamarcetic5923 happy new year! That’s so wonderful that you had a similar experience with A Tree Grows in Brooklyn!! Such a remarkable book.

[@Jimi6was9]

Happy New year, and thanks for sharing!

[@adventuredenali]

@@Jimi6was9 same to you! And you’re welcome!

[@northoftheequator2094]

I know Amy Stewart mainly from her nonfiction. I have her memoir about starting a garden. But she's written others, the most recent one is about tree collectors. She's also an artist. In fact, come to think of it, she kind of reminds me of you. Multi-talented.

[@adventuredenali]

@@northoftheequator2094 my partner was also familiar with her nonfiction works! I’ll have to check those out too at some point. It’s always fun to find a new author to explore.

[@hobo_fire]

Thanks for the recommendations! I'll definitely check out at least four books you've listed. Happy New Year! PS - I hope you consider sharing more knitting stuff soon.

[@adventuredenali]

@@hobo_fire thank you and happy new year! I have a knitting update coming out tomorrow in fact!

[@steveripley1330]

Alicia, Great to see you back! Happy New Year. I'm 70% of the way through Jonathan Strange... Only reading it at bedtime so it will take a while! Will be interested to see what you think of Piranesi.

[@adventuredenali]

@@steveripley1330 Thank you! How are you enjoying Jonathan Strange? So far Piranesi has been engaging and intriguing and I’ve enjoyed reading it!

[@steveripley1330]

@@adventuredenali I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I'm just getting to the Sad bit!

[@pat9577]

I have to say …. I LOVE your knitted scarf!!! The design and color way is beautiful. Would you consider making and selling one?

[@phoenixbutterfly1677]

Happy New Year to you too! 🎉 I too thoroughly enjoyed Annihilation. Great book recommendations by the way. ❤ I just put “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” on my TBR. :-)

[@adventuredenali]

@@phoenixbutterfly1677 Do you plan to continue the series? Also, I hope you love A Tree Grows in Brooklyn as well!

[@joyandoutrage]

I started reading Annihilation after watching this video and I will not be putting it down! was not expecting to need to binge read this today, but it really is that good! Thank-you! Would not have found this one on my own! its reminding me a little of House of Leaves so far. But I am not very far in I have no idea what is going on here. xoxo

[@Ali4451_]

I really enjoyed this. Thanks for the book reviews

[@adventuredenali]

@@Ali4451_ thank you and you’re welcome!

[@lissahenderson3408]

Happy New Year!

[@adventuredenali]

@@lissahenderson3408 thank you and likewise!

[@SkySpiral8]

I wondered if A Tree Grows in Brooklyn had struck you so strongly because (as you once shared) your family was from Brooklyn…then I kept listening, and you seemed to confirm that. A fictionalized coming-of-age and multigenerational autobiography I have enjoyed is Caramelo, by Sandra Cisneros, a Mexican American who grew up on both sides of the border. I also wonder if we both listen to the Books Unbound podcast?

[@archivist17]

Happy New Year! Sounds like you've been really busy, so i hope you're managing to rest and refresh during the holidays.

[@adventuredenali]

@@archivist17 thank you! Happy new year to you too! It was a busy start, but I’ve managed a few solid relaxing days before we’re back at work again.

[@theyarngoeson]

My favorite series adaptation of Emma was with Johnny Lee Miller. I always enjoy your overviews of books! Wishing you Happiest New Year!

[@adventuredenali]

@@theyarngoeson oh! I haven’t seen that one! Only movie adaptations. One day I’ll have to watch the mini series.

[@darlanbrabosa773]

Aki onde moro resenha tem outro significado... E parabens pelo audio em portugues, muito legal o video. Viva o Brasil 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

[@andreaorourke]

Thank you for sharing. I love hearing your book recommendations. I absolutely loved Annihilation. The movie is incredible too (apparently the director made the movie based on what he remembered about the book that he read many years before, so it’s quite different, but amazing in its own right). I am part way through Piranessi, interested to hear what your review is when you are finished. Happy new year 😊

[@adventuredenali]

@@andreaorourke I had no idea there was a movie made! I’m curious and apprehensive, haha! Piranesi has been so intriguing! So far I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s a very different book entirely!

[@teresaharris-travelbybooks5564]

I'm reading Moonflower Murders now. I really like it, as well as Magpie Murders. The writing style and dialog are good and believable. My pick for best book of 2024 is The Unmaking Of June Farrow.

[@adventuredenali]

@@teresaharris-travelbybooks5564 the third book is coming out this new year! I’m excited for it! I’ll have to check out your favorite book of 2024!

[@adventuredenali]

@@teresaharris-travelbybooks5564 I just read the synopsis for the June Farrow book, sounds incredibly intriguing!!

[@maremateo3418]

Happy New Year! I appreciate your book recommendations a lot. I love the books of Jane Austen too and re-read them every once in a while, preferably after reading not so well written books, as a kind of “cleansing”, if you know what I mean. ”Emma“ is her best book and it is no coincidence that our wonderful daughter is also called Emma😊 I read and loved the books of H.G. Wells (and Ray Bradbury!) as a teenager and I am now inspired and very curious to re-read them now, about thirty years later. I also loved Betty Smith‘s ”A Tree grows in Brooklyn“ so much. I suspect that she was a source of inspiration for Paul Auster 😉. His „Brooklyn Follies“ I can also recommend, but Betty Smith‘s novel is a class of it‘s own. To Paul Auster: I love the film ”Smoke“ of Wayne Wang & Paul Auster and ”Augie Wren‘s Christmas story“ a lot. It‘s like a declaration of love to Brooklyn. An almost forgotten film gem. I am looking forward to Jeff Vandermeer‘s ”The Southern Reach Trilogy“ and I am curious about ”22-11-63“ and „The Ministry of Time“. Have a great reading time in 2025!

[@adventuredenali]

@@maremateo3418 oh my gosh, I haven’t read Ray Bradbury since I was a kid either and now I want to revisit some of his works too! I haven’t read anything from Paul Auster, but now I feel I must add him to the list!

[@maremateo3418]

Nice exchange☺️! Regarding to Paul Auster: The correct title is „The Brooklyn Follies“, „Brooklyn Revue“ is the title of the German edition. And as a first reading I would also recommend “Moon Palace”.

[@edwardstaats4935]

Happy New Year

[@adventuredenali]

@@edwardstaats4935 happy new year!

[@archivist17]

It's pronounced 'Ozman'. He's a much loved TV personality and producer in the UK.

[@adventuredenali]

@@archivist17 oh thank you!

[@raigne86]

We Solve Murders appeared in someone else's annual roundup on reddit and my husband saw it and recognized the author as being the creator and cohost of the quiz show we've been watching at dinner (British show called Pointless, there are some episodes on youtube) and I had not made the connection at the time, but knew I recognized him as an author and couldn't remember why, and then forgot to look it up. It's you. You talk about them so much. After seeing him on the show, I'm now really interested in investigating his writing, even though the premise of the Thursday Murder Club series never appealed to me.

[@adventuredenali]

@@raigne86 oh! I’ve never seen nor heard of the quiz show! I should check it out sometime, just to see Osman in action. I think I’ve already said as much, a lot… but I just really love his character writing. I honestly can’t remember the plot lines or any real particulars of the stories, but those characters, all of them - such treasures!

[@raigne86]

@@adventuredenali Given how witty he can be on the show, and his background with improv and screenwriting, I imagine he's very good at writing dialogue, and I bet "hearing" a voice with the character helps a lot with bringing them to life. They're being delivered tomorrow. I'm excited, lol.

[@jessicasblack]

The tension in The War of Worlds is done so well that I start to feel myself getting nervous and scared when the action is taking place. I can imagine how people who heard it read over a radio show felt like it was real and started to panic. 11/22/63....I don't love Stephen King (he's just not for me but has some interesting ideas that make me read some of his books) but this book was a true masterpiece. And it touched on something I always wondered about time travel, "why doesn't anyone comment on the smell?" That one little bit of detail was the lighting of the candle on the cake for me.

[@adventuredenali]

@@jessicasblack the tension, you’re so right! It’s this quiet, thick, building, palpable tension! So well created. Man, I really loved that book. Have you ever heard the podcast Radio Lab talk about the history of that broadcast. Some folks were pretty angry with Wells for a long time afterwards!

[@adventuredenali]

@@jessicasblack and you’re right, the smell! I love when a book conjures up smells!

[@jessicasblack]

@@adventuredenali I haven't heard of that one, I'll have to look it up. I can imagine they were angry. That was early days pre-WW2 when the occupations were occurring and I am sure tensions were already very high. The fear of invasion was already a daily thing for people at the time. The broadcast just added another level.

[@jessicasblack]

@@adventuredenali I think it's not an immediate realization for a lot of people that different time periods have smells because we're so used to them. But to be suddenly transported to another time I think smell would be the first awareness you'd have. Maybe that's me because it seems like a lot of time travel I've read goes to historical times when bathing and dental hygiene weren't really an all the time thing and cities like London smelled like raw sewage.

[@archivist17]

Have you read any of Wells' short stories? The writing is superb. Plus, there are the more comedic novels, Kipps, and The Wheels of Chance (both of which have autobiographical elements).

[@adventuredenali]

@@archivist17 I have, but it’s been so long, I can’t remember at all which ones or what they were about! It hasn’t been since I was in my early teens. I would love to pick up a collection of his short stories again and read through some. I know he wrote a ton.

[@archivist17]

@adventuredenali I have/had the Penguin collection of the short stories, which was a very good selection. I don't know when it was last published, though.

[@noreenroche5294]

I think you would enjoy Remarkably Bright Creatures, it’s partially narrated by an Octypus

[@adventuredenali]

@@noreenroche5294 I really need to get to that one this year!

[@vjmtz]

I really need to read that King book, I read just about all his major books except that one. But I wonder: Will you watch the Annihilation movie that Alex Garland adapted? Would like to sometime hear your thoughts on the movie compared to the book. I also totally get how you feel about series, which are mostly now sagas...I love them, but man its a huge commitment at times that takes so much to read. I like you like a break or some "easy" reads.

[@adventuredenali]

@@vjmtz I was just blown away by the writing in 11/22/63, and how alive everything became - so naturally and unforced. I’ll be so curious to see how it compares to his other works. I don’t know about watching the movie or not! I’m curious, but apprehensive. Have you seen it? Sagas, that’s the word! I can see the appeal for some folks who fall so in love with the world, they never want it to end. I thought I would feel that way more, but realize I prefer closure. 😂

[@vjmtz]

​@@adventuredenali I have not seen the movie...(lately Ive been bad at watching movies) but he did write Ex Machina, Civil War recently, 28 Days Later... so decent stuff I suppose? So who knows if its good, but it does have a solid cast if anything. So maybe worth checking out. I tend to watch adaptions after reading a book as its nice to compare interpretations. And YES! I need closure, and I don't really like spin-offs, or basically a my TR list to be 100 books... its why as much as I would love to read something like Brandon Sanderson fantasy novels... his saga is about 20 books long. I'm struggling with the original Dune Saga by Herbert. As much as I love the world and story, you just feel like you're in a rut getting through them at times. Sometimes you just want something different, closure helps with that. Lately, a lot of new books/authors are writing sagas, and that worries me.

[@user-gl5ld9vm7i]

Hi! Different subject...do you still use and own your Bronze Kaweco Sport fountain pen? I bought mine because of your wonderful review!! 😊

[@adventuredenali]

@@user-gl5ld9vm7i hello! I sure do! How have you liked it so far?

[@user-gl5ld9vm7i]

Yes, I love my Kaweco Bronze Sport. I love the weight and it's warmth in the hands.

[@novice_naturalist]

I haven’t read Annihilation, but your description of it reminded me of I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman. If you haven’t read it, I recommend it!

[@adventuredenali]

@@novice_naturalist oh! I have not read that book - add it to the list!

[@ghosttuber2811]

was thinking this too!

[@pattern-shift]

You inspired me to read ‘A Tree Grows in Brooklyn’ knit the ‘Moon Sisters’ shawl. And I found you trough the fountain pens. No plans to start playing the violin though… 😂 A question; Do you keep all your books?

[@adventuredenali]

@@pattern-shift haha that’s so great! 😃 I hope you enjoy both the reading and the knitting! I get rather attached to the books and find it difficult to let go. I lost a rather large personal library once in my life and it’s sort of haunted me since. -.-

[@pattern-shift]

@ oh that’s so sad. I had my music collection stolen over 20 years ago (about 700 records) and I think my connection to music has never really recovered.

[@adventuredenali]

@@pattern-shift oh my gosh, I can imagine how much of a loss that continues to be! I’m sorry that happened. :(

[@1956amh]

Just got Annihilation on ebook 😅

[@adventuredenali]

@@1956amh wahoo! I hope you enjoy it!

[@negaband]

For some reason, this will only play on my TV in Portuguese, normal on my phone. I have no idea why 😂

[@adventuredenali]

@@negaband haha wow! That’s funny. 😂

[@IntrospectiveEssays]

The thumbnail for this video looks you are in mid sneeze.

[@adventuredenali]

@IntrospectiveEssays hahaha yeah it does 😂

[@IntrospectiveEssays]

@@adventuredenali 😃

[@reveme]

How can you read 52 books per year… 😮

[@adventuredenali]

@@reveme haha great question! It just sort of happened! 😮 In part, we don’t have a TV, and only watch a show on our lap top about twice a week at night, so I think that opens up a lot of time to do other things. I’m also a teacher, and in the summer on my holiday, I consume a lot of books. Plus, I always have a book with me, so no matter where I am, if I have a few minutes of waiting time, I can pull it out and read. I also just simply make time to read. I enjoy it, and want to do it!

[@adventuredenali]

@@reveme there are KZbin channels dedicated to book content, those folks read 100-200+ books in a year. 🤯

[@reveme]

@@adventuredenali lovely 😊 I’m in the middle of Kafka on the shore (Murakami) but I spend too much time on KZbin and journaling (which I love) to be committed to it 😂 Time is never enough, but you’re making it for what’s most important. I love it. Thanks for your kind reply, have a great new year 😊

[@ghosttuber2811]

really you only need to read the next book after acomaf & be satisfied. the last two books that are out right now aren’t really relevant to the first three books of the series.

[@adventuredenali]

@@ghosttuber2811 oh! That’s good to know! I do have the third. I was afraid of it, now she’s in Tamlin’s Court and I didn’t want to get my heart broken. I love Rhysand and his circle of friends so much!