I read Piranesi based on your and clockwork reader's recommendations this year and it was phenomenal, I loved it so so much. Thank you for recommending such a lovely book.
I haven't read any of these and I don't think we have a super similar taste in reading, but I still love watching these videos. It's so nice listening to someone talk about books they love. 😊
Hi Christy! I LOVE Julia Armfield’s writing. I’m currently reading Private Rites and have to have my pencil in hand the whole time. 3 favorites from 2024 that I haven’t heard you talk about previously (to my knowledge): 1. Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin 2. How to Be Both by Ali Smith 3. Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado Can’t wait to hear about how your writing is going!
So nice to find another Australian booktuber! I really loved our wives under the sea. You should read the mountain in the sea - it’s more octopus and sci fi but had a similar vibe.
Hi Christy! It’s been quite a few years since our channels were small and you found mine and I discovered yours. I’ve left RUclips but have been so delighted stopping by your channel and seeing it grow and change. Finding my way back to reading and having a peak into your reading journey is amazing because our tastes have a lot of similarities. Anyway, it feels so special to know that your journey as a writer is blossoming and I absolutely cannot wait for your novel to be published and to read it! Sending lots of love!
I just finished Orbital this morning and I have a hard time imagining anything hitting me harder than it this year. I had a lump in my throat so many times; it's such a beautiful work. Thanks for this list and your channel!
Didn't read much in 2024, but my favorite book was actually "Frankenstein". I truly enjoyed it. I think the writing was so amazing. It took me a little bit to get used to it at first and pick up the pace, because I'm not a native English speaker, but once I got used to the writing, it was really an amazing experience. The story was great and surprisingly different from the known clichés. My next reading will be "Dracula".
Thank you for all of the amazing content this year!! I always look forward to your videos and get so many good recs from them. My top reads this year were The Tainted Cup, Where the Dark Stands Still, Paladin’s Grace, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands, Piranesi, and A Crane Among Wolves.
My favorite read this year was David Mitchell's "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet". Jacob is a young Dutch man working in Japan in the 18th century. It was a beautiful experience and has stuck with me all year 💕
I read Stephen King’s 11/22/63. It was a fascinating time travel story. Political intrigue. A love story that plays a big part. Interesting portrayal of Lee Harvey Oswald.
I picked up 1Q84 over Christmas and am loving it! I am halfway through book 1. I am interested in Octavia Bulter so it was nice to hear your review. I read The Fifth Season a few years ago and loved it! I would re-read that series.
my 10 favourite books this year (unordered): - homegoing by yaa gyasi - house of the spirits by isabel allende - network effect by martha wells (actually the entire murderbot diaries....) - tehanu by ursula k. le guin - tales from earthsea by ursula k. le guin - my brilliant friend by elena ferrante - a man called ove by fredrik backman - the sword of kaigen by m. l. wang - a song for arbonne by guy gavriel kay - a game of thrones by george r. r. martin (reread)
While watching I was thinking you should read Strange Beasts of China, so happy that it was in your top two books! I also loved it too, had to re-read parts but once I started re-reading it helped! 😊📚
By far the highlight of my year was All the colors of the dark, it was an amazing book and I think you would really enjoy it! Orbital was another favorite of the year :)
Well, what a coincidence! I have started reading Days at the Morisaki Bookshop and I'm quite loving it. I was just thinking whether you have read it and here comes your video talking about it.
My favorite read of the year has to be Hooky by Miriam Bonastre-Tur, mostly because of the characters and artwork, and my other favorite is The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young. I was so stunned by that book and how beautiful it was that I sometimes still think about the characters
My favourites of 2024: 1) Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands 2) The lost story by Meg Shaffer (Narnia- style adventure for grownups) 3) A dark and secret magic (small town/ darkish cottage core Halloween adventure) 4) James by Percival Everett (Huckleberry Finn retelling, Booker Prize shortlist) 5) Small things like these by Claire Keegan (check out the movie trailer with Killian Murphy)
I also read Strange Beasts of China after you mentioned it on your other vlog and even thought it definitely wasn't a book I'd normally pick up, I got so swept up in it! I definitely agree with you on "how" to read it. I don't think it's a book you can breeze through...
Another great list I need to add to my TBR. If you're looking for another book like Brideshead Revisited, I suggest Silence by Shusaku Endo (Trans. by William Johnston). A great book about faith with some really beautiful prose. Hope everyone has a great new year!
I’m finally getting around to Dorian Gray - so excited!:) My favorites from 2024 were If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio and The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard. Cheers to more great reads in 2025 & thanks for another amazing/cozy video! 📚 ☕️
An author to add to your list is Hiromi Kawakami. I read 3 of her books in 2024; 1. Dragon Palace - a collection of mind blowing short stories; 2. People from my Neighourhood - very short stories which started off mundane but became bizarre 3. The Third Love - this is a full novel which deals with alternate realities and dream worlds, a very good read.
One of my favorite books this year was Hard-boiled Wonderland and the end of the world by Haruki Murakami, it was absolutely wonderful, so weird and interesting and masterfully written🫶🏻
You should read Murakami's most recent book The City and its Uncertain Walls. It has a starting point in Hard Boiled Wonderland and then expands on it, it is very well written and very mind bending.
I think you might really enjoy reading Karen Russell's books! They're mostly collections of speculative short stories and she does also have a novel Swamplandia (the vibes are Gothic alligator wrestling)
Christy if i remember correctly, you were going to read "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" (if not all the Narnia Chronicles) last year, but I did not hear you talk about them. Did you read them and if so, what did you think? I hope you have a good year. Happy reading
Christy, have you read anything by Claire Keegan? If not, Foster would be a great starting point. I think you’d enjoy her style! Rebecca and Ishiguro made my top 10 as well! ❤
I read 9 books in 2024 and it’s the most I’ve managed in years (AND i have a freaking toddler so how I did this, I do not know lol) So excited to add some of these to my 2025 list! I’m apart of the book club, but haven’t managed to join in on a month yet because of fear of time constraints! So maybe it’s time!! 💙
Tip: buy an ereader and buy new ebooks instead of paperbacks. This solves both the content production thing as well as well ... authors will get paid because their books are bought. I love your conent!
My top 10 books of 2024: Cloud Cuckoo Land (Anthony Doerr) Landmarks (Robert Macfarlane) The Living Mountain (Nan Shepherd) The Boat in the Evening (Tarjei Vesaas) Rooted: Life at the Crossroads of Science, Nature and Spirit (Lyada Lynn Haupt) Art Objects (Jeanette Winterson) The Old Ways (Robert Macfarlane) Wild Geese (Nan Shepherd) Day (Michael Cunningham) Held (Anne Michaels) Of those 10, one was a read - Art Objects.
Definitely gonna check out Strange Beasts of China! Speculative fiction with Chinese elements are so rare for me to find, if anyone has other recommendations please let me know 🥰
You might like MONSTER SHE WROTE: The Women Who Pioneered Horror & Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson. It’s about the women writers who have contributed to and often created the elements of horror and science fiction & fantasy that we enjoy today. So many amazing women writers and novels I had not heard of before! Be prepared that your TBR will grow!! 💖✨
Have you read Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk? It’s from 2009 and won the Nobel Prize. It blew my mind. Super detailed like Tartt and Dumarnier. The protagonist is unforgettable.
I have an incredibly nit-picky question about "The Remains of the Day". At one point the main character uses the phrase "begs the question". The phrase "begs the question" is actually not synonymous with the phrase "raises the question", it means something completely different. And I was wondering if the main character's incorrect use of that is a mistake on the part of the editing or a deliberate point on the part of the author. Very picky, I know, but I am curious if anyone has any thoughts on that.
I would say that the two phrases are widely used in British English interchangeably, when you say “which begs the question” rather than an assumption it just means “this makes me think about…”. I believe that the butler is just using the phrase the way that most people would in that setting rather than a mistake by the author.
@ I was going to start with Johnathan Strange because I watched the tv show a few years ago and it broke me. Why do you recommend I start Piranse first?
@@christinacreech1974 Jonathan is just a very very long, very difficult book to read because it's a regency pastiche :-) If you're used to reading books from that time period, then disregard this. It's my favourite of the two and honestly an absolute masterpiece. In my opinion, it’s probably the best fantasy story published since 2000. BUT Piranesi is, in comparison, really short and much more palatable to a modern reader, if that makes sense. However, if you’re super excited for Jonathan Strange, then go for it!
I read Butter in early 2024 and I thought the story was amazing but some of the actual writing was not great (but that may be due to the translation). It is a great story and definitely one of my favourites of 2024.
Such an amaging top 10. 🩷 Thank you for all the inspiration this year, Christy! And Our Wifes Under The Sea was also one of my favourite reads this year. A fascinating and haunting read. 🥰
i have been following your project teacup journey from the very beginning and i seriously wish i get to read it one day.
I read Piranesi based on your and clockwork reader's recommendations this year and it was phenomenal, I loved it so so much. Thank you for recommending such a lovely book.
I haven't read any of these and I don't think we have a super similar taste in reading, but I still love watching these videos. It's so nice listening to someone talk about books they love. 😊
Hi Christy! I LOVE Julia Armfield’s writing. I’m currently reading Private Rites and have to have my pencil in hand the whole time. 3 favorites from 2024 that I haven’t heard you talk about previously (to my knowledge):
1. Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin
2. How to Be Both by Ali Smith
3. Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
Can’t wait to hear about how your writing is going!
So nice to find another Australian booktuber! I really loved our wives under the sea. You should read the mountain in the sea - it’s more octopus and sci fi but had a similar vibe.
Hi Christy! It’s been quite a few years since our channels were small and you found mine and I discovered yours. I’ve left RUclips but have been so delighted stopping by your channel and seeing it grow and change. Finding my way back to reading and having a peak into your reading journey is amazing because our tastes have a lot of similarities. Anyway, it feels so special to know that your journey as a writer is blossoming and I absolutely cannot wait for your novel to be published and to read it! Sending lots of love!
I just finished Orbital this morning and I have a hard time imagining anything hitting me harder than it this year. I had a lump in my throat so many times; it's such a beautiful work. Thanks for this list and your channel!
Didn't read much in 2024, but my favorite book was actually "Frankenstein". I truly enjoyed it. I think the writing was so amazing. It took me a little bit to get used to it at first and pick up the pace, because I'm not a native English speaker, but once I got used to the writing, it was really an amazing experience. The story was great and surprisingly different from the known clichés. My next reading will be "Dracula".
Thank you for all of the amazing content this year!! I always look forward to your videos and get so many good recs from them.
My top reads this year were The Tainted Cup, Where the Dark Stands Still, Paladin’s Grace, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands, Piranesi, and A Crane Among Wolves.
My favorite read this year was David Mitchell's "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet". Jacob is a young Dutch man working in Japan in the 18th century. It was a beautiful experience and has stuck with me all year 💕
I read Stephen King’s 11/22/63. It was a fascinating time travel story. Political intrigue. A love story that plays a big part. Interesting portrayal of Lee Harvey Oswald.
I picked up 1Q84 over Christmas and am loving it! I am halfway through book 1. I am interested in Octavia Bulter so it was nice to hear your review. I read The Fifth Season a few years ago and loved it! I would re-read that series.
The legacy of the elves by Andrzej Sapkowski you should read it, love the book
my 10 favourite books this year (unordered):
- homegoing by yaa gyasi
- house of the spirits by isabel allende
- network effect by martha wells (actually the entire murderbot diaries....)
- tehanu by ursula k. le guin
- tales from earthsea by ursula k. le guin
- my brilliant friend by elena ferrante
- a man called ove by fredrik backman
- the sword of kaigen by m. l. wang
- a song for arbonne by guy gavriel kay
- a game of thrones by george r. r. martin (reread)
I've been wanting to read Strange Beasts of China - I'm happy to see you enjoyed it!
While watching I was thinking you should read Strange Beasts of China, so happy that it was in your top two books! I also loved it too, had to re-read parts but once I started re-reading it helped! 😊📚
By far the highlight of my year was All the colors of the dark, it was an amazing book and I think you would really enjoy it! Orbital was another favorite of the year :)
Well, what a coincidence! I have started reading Days at the Morisaki Bookshop and I'm quite loving it. I was just thinking whether you have read it and here comes your video talking about it.
I read 15 books in 2024 (including the Fifth Season - loved!), my hands down left-reeling favourite was Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller ✨💛✨
My favorite read of the year has to be Hooky by Miriam Bonastre-Tur, mostly because of the characters and artwork, and my other favorite is The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young. I was so stunned by that book and how beautiful it was that I sometimes still think about the characters
My first two reads this year were Piranesi and Howl’s Moving Castle. I am definitely going to check out the few that weren’t book club picks!
My favourites of 2024:
1) Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands
2) The lost story by Meg Shaffer (Narnia- style adventure for grownups)
3) A dark and secret magic (small town/ darkish cottage core Halloween adventure)
4) James by Percival Everett (Huckleberry Finn retelling, Booker Prize shortlist)
5) Small things like these by Claire Keegan (check out the movie trailer with Killian Murphy)
A nice cup of tea and some book writing, can’t get any better than that ❤!
I also read Strange Beasts of China after you mentioned it on your other vlog and even thought it definitely wasn't a book I'd normally pick up, I got so swept up in it! I definitely agree with you on "how" to read it. I don't think it's a book you can breeze through...
Another great list I need to add to my TBR. If you're looking for another book like Brideshead Revisited, I suggest Silence by Shusaku Endo (Trans. by William Johnston). A great book about faith with some really beautiful prose. Hope everyone has a great new year!
I’m finally getting around to Dorian Gray - so excited!:) My favorites from 2024 were If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio and The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard. Cheers to more great reads in 2025 & thanks for another amazing/cozy video! 📚 ☕️
An author to add to your list is Hiromi Kawakami. I read 3 of her books in 2024;
1. Dragon Palace - a collection of mind blowing short stories;
2. People from my Neighourhood - very short stories which started off mundane but became bizarre
3. The Third Love - this is a full novel which deals with alternate realities and dream worlds, a very good read.
Christy, have you read Moonbound by Robin Sloan? I think you would love it.
I’ve been waiting for this!! ❤❤❤ Happy New Year
Your recommendations videos are my absolute favorite!!! ❤
So many wonderful books on here. I loved Our Wives Under the Sea as well.
I need to try Octavia E Butlers work
Nice list! I love how you tend towards magical feeling books. This was how I found your channel. I added Strange Beasts to my tbr.
I read my way through your 2023 top books and cannot wait to check some of these out! ❤
Thanks for sharing your list!
Been awhile Christy...so lovely and inspiring to see you today❤
I've read A Little Luck by Claudia Pineiro and really liked it so much. I'll definitely read Elena Knows this year
One of my favorite books this year was Hard-boiled Wonderland and the end of the world by Haruki Murakami, it was absolutely wonderful, so weird and interesting and masterfully written🫶🏻
You should read Murakami's most recent book The City and its Uncertain Walls. It has a starting point in Hard Boiled Wonderland and then expands on it, it is very well written and very mind bending.
ah i'm so early!! love these videos every sunday
I think you might really enjoy reading Karen Russell's books! They're mostly collections of speculative short stories and she does also have a novel Swamplandia (the vibes are Gothic alligator wrestling)
Christy if i remember correctly, you were going to read "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" (if not all the Narnia Chronicles) last year, but I did not hear you talk about them. Did you read them and if so, what did you think? I hope you have a good year. Happy reading
Babel by RF Kuang was my favorite book from 2024! I also really enjoyed The Daughters of Izdihar and The Weavers of Almaxa by Hadeer Elsbai.
My book of the year was Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, highly recommend!
Read lots of books in 2024 my two favorites were Ella enchanted and Babel
Christy, have you read anything by Claire Keegan? If not, Foster would be a great starting point. I think you’d enjoy her style!
Rebecca and Ishiguro made my top 10 as well! ❤
Can you please explain your take on Strange Beasts of Yan Ge? I think i didn't get a lot of the story. xD
elena knows blew me away one of my faves of 2024 as well 🫶🏽
I also put Orbital in my top 10. I am really surprised at how much anger some booktubers seem to have towards it 😅
LOL the Saltburn moment had me dying
I read 9 books in 2024 and it’s the most I’ve managed in years (AND i have a freaking toddler so how I did this, I do not know lol) So excited to add some of these to my 2025 list! I’m apart of the book club, but haven’t managed to join in on a month yet because of fear of time constraints! So maybe it’s time!! 💙
Tip: buy an ereader and buy new ebooks instead of paperbacks. This solves both the content production thing as well as well ... authors will get paid because their books are bought. I love your conent!
My top 10 books of 2024:
Cloud Cuckoo Land (Anthony Doerr)
Landmarks (Robert Macfarlane)
The Living Mountain (Nan Shepherd)
The Boat in the Evening (Tarjei Vesaas)
Rooted: Life at the Crossroads of Science, Nature and Spirit (Lyada Lynn Haupt)
Art Objects (Jeanette Winterson)
The Old Ways (Robert Macfarlane)
Wild Geese (Nan Shepherd)
Day (Michael Cunningham)
Held (Anne Michaels)
Of those 10, one was a read - Art Objects.
Definitely gonna check out Strange Beasts of China! Speculative fiction with Chinese elements are so rare for me to find, if anyone has other recommendations please let me know 🥰
Is 1Q84 as weird as After Dark? Cause i loved After Dark and want more of that stuff 👀
It's weirder and much, much longer but it's really good!
@@midorilove07 Agree. I recently reread After Dark and enjoyed it but it is quite tame compared to 1Q84.
You might like MONSTER SHE WROTE: The Women Who Pioneered Horror & Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson. It’s about the women writers who have contributed to and often created the elements of horror and science fiction & fantasy that we enjoy today. So many amazing women writers and novels I had not heard of before! Be prepared that your TBR will grow!! 💖✨
Have you read Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk? It’s from 2009 and won the Nobel Prize. It blew my mind. Super detailed like Tartt and Dumarnier. The protagonist is unforgettable.
Where do we send books/care package?😊
Can’t wait to read the strange beasts of China!
I have an incredibly nit-picky question about "The Remains of the Day". At one point the main character uses the phrase "begs the question". The phrase "begs the question" is actually not synonymous with the phrase "raises the question", it means something completely different. And I was wondering if the main character's incorrect use of that is a mistake on the part of the editing or a deliberate point on the part of the author. Very picky, I know, but I am curious if anyone has any thoughts on that.
I would say that the two phrases are widely used in British English interchangeably, when you say “which begs the question” rather than an assumption it just means “this makes me think about…”. I believe that the butler is just using the phrase the way that most people would in that setting rather than a mistake by the author.
I would love to see you talk about Bunny by Mona Awad
Its interesting Parable of sower and talens are Jesus Parables in the bible.
Okay, I guess I’ll read Suzanna Clarke this year.
Start with Piranesi 😊💛
@ I was going to start with Johnathan Strange because I watched the tv show a few years ago and it broke me. Why do you recommend I start Piranse first?
@@christinacreech1974 Jonathan is just a very very long, very difficult book to read because it's a regency pastiche :-) If you're used to reading books from that time period, then disregard this. It's my favourite of the two and honestly an absolute masterpiece. In my opinion, it’s probably the best fantasy story published since 2000.
BUT Piranesi is, in comparison, really short and much more palatable to a modern reader, if that makes sense.
However, if you’re super excited for Jonathan Strange, then go for it!
@ That makes sense! I think I’m going to read both of them! 🤩
Your 'Favorite Reads of 2024' video is amazing! What would you recommend to start 2025 with-a feel-good read?
❤❤
I loved Butter by Asako Yuzuki, I think you’d really enjoy it too (if you haven’t already read it)
I read Butter in early 2024 and I thought the story was amazing but some of the actual writing was not great (but that may be due to the translation). It is a great story and definitely one of my favourites of 2024.
zero interest on books, Just you and your smile are intresting
Such an amaging top 10. 🩷 Thank you for all the inspiration this year, Christy! And Our Wifes Under The Sea was also one of my favourite reads this year. A fascinating and haunting read. 🥰
1Q84 🫶
"but without any of the really, erm... 🛁" 😅