I finally read the song of achilles after thinking is was too mainstream and oh my god I need to stop thinking I'm better than popular books it was so goooood
Leena, I just wanted tell you that your book videos are absolutely everything. I just love them, and watch them as soon as they're published. Chef's kiss to you for your reading and sharing - it is SO appreciated 😊
I would please love love love a longer video about Friendaholic and friends in general! Definitely going on my to do list, essays and discourse on friendships is hard to come by.
I just finished a Swedish book called The April Witch. It follows four middle aged foster sisters, but centers around a highly intelligent and severely disabled woman called Desirée, who was abandoned by her mother in the 1940s. She is able to take possession of non-human and human minds alike, and uses this power to visit her three sisters (unbeknownst to them). The sisters have no clue Desirée exists, but she is determined to discover whom of them “stole” her life. Well written, magic mixed with everyday realism, incredibly raw! Also, I love your videos!
Thank you for all your book recommendations Leena! I find that a lot of people around me are more into just YA/ fantasy books about love (nothing wrong with that!) but I love your recommendations of these incredibly thought provoking, topical books that I would not come across otherwise! It's getting me back into reading after many years which I really appreciate ♥️
I know that our tastes in writing rarely overlap (I HATED Pod, although I loved Our Wives Under the Sea) but every book you talk about I really want to read anyway. You’re a good book sales woman
Oooo I think I’ll pick up the friendaholic book. I’m very introverted but I definitely resonated with the idea of people pleasing and spreading yourself too thin in different friendship groups.
I've definitely got a few books to put on my reading list by the looks of it! I've just started reading Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness as I need another series to sink myself into. I've always been a non fiction reader but last year I read my way through the Grishaverse and now I'm a convert!
I just finished "Everyone in this Room will Someday be Dead" (fiction) and WOW it's a new favorite, a quick read and so, so relatable. And funny! Themes of questioning religion, purpose, mental health, capitalism, life purpose, and relationships.
I finally got around to reading The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary, truly a hug in a book which also addresses some close to home themes of emotional abuse and how hard it is to recognise until you get out ❤
All of these recommendations sound so good. I think I'll pick up Bandit Queens to hopefully get myself out of the reading slump I've gotten into since finished The Wheel of Time this spring, lol. As always thanks for the entertaining and helpful video Leena!
Oooh a delightful selection. Black Butterflies has grown and grown on me. Bandit Queens was robbed! Totally agree. I’m now desperate to read Incomparable World. Hooray for Elizabeth Day being on your list!
my fave book this year has been Desoriental by Negar Djavadi. learned a lot about Iranian history and enjoyed the nonlinear storytelling that keeps you hooked
I was reading (by your recommendation!) Our Wives Under the Sea during the whole Oceangate-thing, and I was just amazed by the coincidence. It was an excellent book and I loved it!! I'll be checking out some of these, unfortunately it is not the easiest thing to get these books where I live.
Love your recommendations! I listened to earthlings on audiobook recently, had a little cry about relating to not relating to humankind, and then got out and bought it in paperback to make sure I'll never lose it.
I loved Bandit Queens and tried listening to Pod but had to quit after about 3-4 hours since I was not in a headspace to handle it. Will try it again later when I'm not as mentally fragile because the writing is excellent.
Adding Pod to my tbr list! This year's standout fav so far is An Immense World by Ed Yong, a nonfiction book about how different species sense the world, adding a kaleidescope's lens to what can sometimes seem mundane. I also loved Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami which explores aging, body image, and the consideration of motherhood. Finally, I loved the v challenging A History of My Brief Body by Billy Ray Belcourt which I'm still grappling with, holding both the anger and the hope, the heady and the poetic. Honorable mention to The Book Thief (speaking of books everyone loves that I'd been avoiding!).
My TBR list (which only started when I recently found your channel) has gotten verrrrry long, and I'm loving it. 😂 I will be adding several of these books you mentioned to the list! I was curious to see if Triangulum made it in this video. I've seen you mention it multiple times in videos, and then recently you said you were going to read it on a trip. I'm dying to know how you liked it. It sounded so very interesting!
I truly trust all of your recommendations - I recently read “Parakeet” by Marie-Helene Bertino and I’m obsessed! I also read a forthcoming poetry collection by my friend and it’s gorgeous, it’s called “I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times” by Taylor Byas
You recommended Still Life by Sarah Winman in a best books of the year video a year back or so. I've been wanting to read it since and recently bit thr bullet. Could not put it down, I'm absolutely in love. Currently reading The Great Belivers, a really powerful boom about Chicago during the AIDS crisis. A must read.
The best part of Leena's videos are not only adding her book recs to my list but also recs from the comments ❤. Im currently reading the last painting of sara de vos by Dominic Smith. Elegant writing, interesting story, rich characters.
I'm going through...a phase (?) where life is really hard and I don't want to feel my feelings more than I already do so I've been avoiding reading. And good shows, and podcasts, and crafting, and a lot of good things. But I've kept up with your channel and that's made all the difference with your last few videos. All of the books you listed sound like little folk remedies for what ails my heart. ❤🩹 thank you
I can really relate to this. Sometimes I worry that things I used to enjoy doing will be tainted with those bad feelings if I go to them when I’m low, or I’m not sure they’re what I need to feel better. Like you though, Leena’s videos always cheer me up! I hope you find happiness in your things again soon. X
Some excellent recs, as always! I adored Pod and Black Butterflies!! Finished The Marriage Portrait last week and thought it was an absolute masterpiece as well... Can't wait for Bandit Queens to come out in paperback so this cheap queen can read it toooo ❤🔥
Thank you for these recommendations!! I can't remember if you've mentioned reading either of these, but two recent reads that I think you'd appreciate are The World Keeps Ending and the World Goes On by Franny Choi and A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers. I don't think either are a perfect match for No Books on a Dead Planet, but both of them are very much about wrestling with existential dread. I'm going to re-read Choi's book of poetry soon (I kept taking photos of pages that made me say "yes! this!"), and this was probably my sixth re-read of Chambers' novella!
Was abroad two weeks and picked up some books. Cemetery Boys was a quick read, I correctly guessed all the story beats before they happened but it was fun and cute and the magic was really cool! Now I've started The Overstory and I don't know what's going on but I'm fascinated. Tell me more about these trees, Richard. I've also picked up Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky and am only halfway through The Priory of the Orange Tree as well. Now to also read while at home when I'm not spending hours on a train or waiting somewhere!
If you're interested in books written by Finnish authors, I would recommend the book The Women I Think About At Night by Mia Kankimäki. I recently read it and thought it was witty, funny and extremely interesting. Mia writes about brave females in history that didn't get the spotlight they deserved and follows their footsteps around the world. Her writing style and sometimes self-depricating humor made me chuckle out loud while reading this in public... I hope you can find it and will enjoy it too! :)
Yes Incomparable World! Some favourites this year were Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou, What Storm, What Thunder by Myriam J. A. Chancy, and Right By My Side by David Haynes
I know what you mean about the "not like other readers complex" - I've long been guilty of this myself! Have actually been feeling this way about 'Our Wives Under the Sea' as I've heard so many people talking about it online that I worried it wouldn't live up to the hype. However, I really respect and trust your opinions when it comes to books as it seems you've enjoyed a lot of the same ones I have, so that's finally spurred me on to put it on my book wishlist :D
i LOVED lessons in chemistry as well and bandit queens genuinely deserved to win. this year, my stand-outs have been the monk and robot duology by becky chambers, how high we go in the dark (sequoia nagamatsu), the once and future witches (alix e. harrow), hamnet (maggie o'farrell), reputation (lex croucher), erotic stories for punjabi widows (balli kaur jaswal) and small things like these (claire keegan). i'm trying to read some taiwanese fiction because of a trip in a few months and green island by shawna yang ryan really was an education in tragedy and how national trauma can seep into all the little cracks of the everyday. I'm currently reading a strange and stubborn endurance (foz meadows) and it's not something i'd usually have picked up, but i'm really enjoying it so far.
"Our Wives Under the Sea" has been on my TBR for ages since I really liked Armfield's story collection and the cover is gorgeous but your description has really sold it to me. Love stories that go to the bottom of the ocean. 🌊
Rereading Auto da Fé… a very original novel …& Lonesome Dove…a Western epic…A Room with a View…funny how a simple kiss stirs so much controversy…but that was Published in 1906…& Circe by Madeline Miller…pretty eloquent…Also reading a relatively new translation of the classic Chinese novel Rickshaw published in the 1930s…& just finished reading Call Me By Your Name…gorgeous prose…strange enough I don’t feel like I’m spreading myself thin by reading these books simultaneously …
my favourite book so far this year is strong female character by fern brady and i want to make everyone ever read it !! it’s a memoir that chronicles fern growing up with autism while being told she wasn’t autistic until she was in her 30s, v heavy subject matter at times but she’s so naturally funny and such a good writer, i loved it!!
A really interesting book I read this year is Run Towards the Danger by Sarah Polley, a series of of incidents rather than an autobiography by a very thoughtful and careful writer - she who directed Women Talking and was a child star in Baron Munchausen. A lot of things happened to this woman and if you know anyone with concussion, MAKE them read it. Now damn you, I've got a longer TBR. Thanks!
I rarely do laugh out loud while reading, but The Bandit Queens definitely made me do it. And then swallow back my giggles two paragraphs later... Incredible! I'm currently reading Savage Her Reply by Deirdre Sullivan, an incredible retelling of the Children of Lir legend from Aoife's point of view. Chapters are named after letters of the ancient Irish alphabet, the ogham, with a poem shaped into the letter, it's lyrical and brutal and has won Irish children's fiction award. How is this book a children's book?! Sadly it seems no library in Ireland has The Eagle and the Cockerel at the moment and it sucks because damned you sold it so well!
Oh, 'Lessons In Chemistry' is a diamond of a book. It has quickly become one of my favorite books of all time. 'The Pod' is on my TBR, as is Alice Hoffman's latest, but I'm currently on 'Ink Blood Sister Scribe' by Emma Torzs, and loving it.
I keep looking for books to bump Prince Harry's memoir down my list of favorites of the year, but it keeps hanging on as a top read. I went into that book with no expectations whatsoever and was absolutely riveted and also moved to tears several times. So few of the books I've read this year have elicited any kind of emotional response, making Harry's memoir a surprising outlier. In short, I'm not at all surprised to see it in this video.
So far my top picks would be Black Water Sister by Zen Cho (a reread), the Murderbot series by Martha Wells, actually really enjoyed Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott (picked up solely on the cover haha), the Teixcalaan duology by Arkady Martine, The Song of the Cell by Siddhartha Mukherjee. umm if you want cozy/fluffy stuff there is Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree or the Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna?
I'm currently reading Unmasking Autism by Devon Price and as an Autistic person myself this book is absolutely mind-blowing. It takes so much in account, from gender, to racism, to capitalism in a very direct, but at the same time nuanced way. His book Laziness Does Not Exist is also brilliant.
I really enjoyed Bandit Queens! I don't usually read nonfiction, but I felt compelled to check out Killers of the Flower Moon after learning about the movie adaptation. I had never heard of the serial murders of the people within the Osage tribe and the connection to the creation of the FBI. It was an interesting and infuriating read. I need to get my hands on Incomparable World, Pod, Glory and Friendaholic. I think the next book I'll be reading is All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir or If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga. I love that the comments contain additional recs. I've already added some to my TBR, lol.
I read Spare and actually I enjoyed it which surprised me. I do think Harry is somewhat of an unreliable narrator but I found that actually added to my enjoyment
Our Wives Under The Sea is also one of my top reads for this year so far!! Other faves are Elena Knows by Claudia Pineiro, Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, Queerly Beloved by Susie Dumond, and The Hopkins Manuscript by R.C. Sherriff
YESS Leena recommending more books!! i've recently finished reading 'The Murderer's Ape' and found it so endearing and beautiful - i would've never picked it up if it hadn't been for you mentioning it in a book video, so thank you!! i cant forgive you for Pod though. i'm sorry but that one I just couldn't push through EVEN IF YOU KEEP PRAISING IT LOL personally i can't get over 'A Psalm for the Wild-Built' and keep thinking about it. it's easily one of the most memorable books I've read this year! I've also slowly been reading 'How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures' which feels very heavy with its themes but is absolutely beautiful and I think you could potentially like it!
I’m currently reading Translation State by Ann Leckie and finding it really fascinating! I definitely recommend the Imperial Radch series for interesting thoughts about politics, gender, and what it means to be human
I read Bandit Queens after your women's prize video and its one of my favourites of the year. I also had dismissed Lessons in Chemistry. I thought it was just a romance book from the American cover but I guess I need to give it a chance.
I saw your recommendation for Pod in the last video and thought I'd give the audiobook a go. Omg I cannot stop telling people about this book! I was hooked from the beginning and consumed it as fast as I could. Currently listening to bandit queens.
I loved Bandit Queens, the characters were so realistic and I became fond of them all and the commentary on their social statuses, the pace of the book I found great
Iron Widow, that book had me wanting to love it and hate it at the same time. Hating it for the emotional roller coaster but also loving it because of the story telling, characters, and world building. It's east asian historical fantasy. I hope you give it a try :)
not fiction, but I've just read a memoir: Women we Buried, Women we Burned by Rachel Louise Snyder (she also authored No Visible Bruises) -- I think wonderfully written and her perspective on the adults who failed her (father, step mother) at the end of their lives is so highly evolved, and yet not unattainable. Extremely important for my own forgiveness journey for my birth family
We agree on Bandit Queens, love, love, love that one. I still need to read Black Butterflies. All the others have great premises, just not sure of the delivery. Yep, let's not talk about the one that isn't even a spare anymore, what's the next instalment title going to be for him... "Going Spare..." "Going beyond spare".... "Spare and beyond".... surely the publishers and the ghost writer were having a lend 🤣
My fave 10 books I've read this year have been Paradais, Assembly, The Rachel Incident, Notes on Heartbreak, Diary of a Void, Vladimir, A Little Life, My Year of Rest & Relaxation, The Secret History and Real Estate (some oldies I've finally gotten round to reading!)
Maame by Jessica George was lovely and brilliant and definitely hit just right as a person grieving the death of a parent like the MC. And I think the concept in The Celebrants by Steven Rowley of holding living funerals to get friends through hard times was so well done!!
For July, because of the 4th I decided to read something about the U.S. I had "Grover Cleveland " by Henry F. Graff. I have no idea when or why I had this book about a basically unremarkable man an period of history. So I guess this is a series intended for students and I must say that I learned a lot about politics in America and he was an interesting person.
it feels so strange to see someone from the UK talk about something that has something to do with the region I live in (ex-Yugoslavia, I'm from Serbia) not in a bad way! just interesting 😄
So looking forward to bandit queens when I get around to reading it, everyone talks about how good it is. Top book of the year for me in my reading is Kim Jiyoung born 1982.
Thank you for sharing! My favourite book of 2023 so far is Things we do not tell the people we love by Huma Qureshi. A close second is Strange the dreamer by Laini Taylor. :)
I always love hearing your thoughts on books! Incomparable World sounds really interesting. I've read 24 books so far this year and my top read so far, I think, is Wild Geese by Soula Emmanuel. It's about an Irish trans woman in Copenhagen whose ex-girlfriend turns up unannounced for the weekend, and it's one of those novels that's so beautifully written about just two people and a tiny moment in time, but encompasses so much.
read Pod on your recommendation and LOVED it, thanks! Such a unique, empathetic novel - I got into it much more quickly than I thought too, it took me like 10 pages flat to be invested in the perspective/fantasy.
I also read Still Life by Sarah Winman a few months ago, which was a recommendation from you as well! Fantastic book wow. I've recently read and would recommend: Old Enough by Haley Jakobson - super sweet debut novel with nuanced perspectives on SA recovery, finding queer community, and growing apart from a childhood best friend The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman - incredible non-fiction about a Hmong immigrant family with an epileptic daughter, whose culture is often at odds with the culture of the medical establishment, despite both sides doing their best to care for her. Incredibly sad but also so full of hope, and beautifully contextualized in history and politics. War Diary by Yevgenia Belorusets - A journalist's diary of the first few weeks of the War in Ukraine. A quick read, at once devastating and hopeful Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune - Set in a haunted tea house through which the souls of the dead pass in order to cross to what's next. A love story about grief and loss and healing with the most lovable characters you'll ever find. Beware, tear jerker!!
It's interesting to me that people re-read books. I don't think I ever had or ever would except if it had been years since and I wanted to see if I could find a new perspective.
im halfway through pod and really loving it, but also finding it hard to get through because it's so devastating. it put me in a really weird headspace for a few days and I'm working up the courage to pick it up again because its SO GOOD but SO PAINFUL
I read Pod after watching your Women’s Prize video and was blown away. But still struggling to explain the premise in one sentence when I talk to people about it 😂 currently reading Memphis by Tara M Stringfelllw and really enjoying it.
just finished new animal by ella baxter. it's a hilarious and dark easy read about a mortician makeup artist who throws her life into chaos to find solace. amazing!!!!!!
LEENA! if you haven’t read it yet, I just finished “To Dye For” by Alden Wicker. It’s all about how the chemicals in our fabrics are making us sick, fast fashion, toxic North American regulations, and fighting back against The Man 🥰🥰🥰 I think you would love
Speaking of “out of this world” I’m reading “Sphere” by Michael Crichton right now. I’m normally not into SciFi but he has become one of my new fav authors
I am reading A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon. It is a prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree and share the same epic fantasy style. It is a massive book and I'm finding it hard to get through, but the times that I manage to get into it make it worth it. A very immersive fantasy world to disappear into.
LEENA. YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW VALIDATING IT IS TO SEE THAT YOU LIKED LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY TOO. THANK YOU. I APPRECIATE THAT SO MUCH.
I finally read the song of achilles after thinking is was too mainstream and oh my god I need to stop thinking I'm better than popular books it was so goooood
Same!! Also in my top faves of the year so far
I have the same issue, I avoid hyped books like Plague. 😂😂😂
oop i literally saw this book at the thrift store today and passed it up for this exact reason. Maybe i should go back and get it!
@@Priyanshi-td6smI actually think you SHOULD read The Plague. It's an incredible book. Dont avoid it because of the hype!
Leena, I just wanted tell you that your book videos are absolutely everything. I just love them, and watch them as soon as they're published. Chef's kiss to you for your reading and sharing - it is SO appreciated 😊
Xxx
We appreciate your recommendations. You seem to have great taste in literature. We will always wait what you have in store for us.
I am reading Shameless by Nadia Bolz-Weber. She is a pastor and this book is about why purity culture is terrible. Loving it so far.
I would please love love love a longer video about Friendaholic and friends in general! Definitely going on my to do list, essays and discourse on friendships is hard to come by.
Because of the book lessons of chemistry my partner and I have decided to keep our own surnames!
I'm currently reading Motherhood by Sheila Heiti per your recommendation and it's great so thank you!!
I just finished a Swedish book called The April Witch. It follows four middle aged foster sisters, but centers around a highly intelligent and severely disabled woman called Desirée, who was abandoned by her mother in the 1940s. She is able to take possession of non-human and human minds alike, and uses this power to visit her three sisters (unbeknownst to them). The sisters have no clue Desirée exists, but she is determined to discover whom of them “stole” her life.
Well written, magic mixed with everyday realism, incredibly raw! Also, I love your videos!
Thank you for all your book recommendations Leena! I find that a lot of people around me are more into just YA/ fantasy books about love (nothing wrong with that!) but I love your recommendations of these incredibly thought provoking, topical books that I would not come across otherwise! It's getting me back into reading after many years which I really appreciate ♥️
I know that our tastes in writing rarely overlap (I HATED Pod, although I loved Our Wives Under the Sea) but every book you talk about I really want to read anyway. You’re a good book sales woman
I DNF'd Pod hated it so much!
Oooo I think I’ll pick up the friendaholic book. I’m very introverted but I definitely resonated with the idea of people pleasing and spreading yourself too thin in different friendship groups.
I've definitely got a few books to put on my reading list by the looks of it! I've just started reading Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness as I need another series to sink myself into. I've always been a non fiction reader but last year I read my way through the Grishaverse and now I'm a convert!
I loved Pod so much. I read it because of you, and cannot thank you enough. 🧡
I just finished "Everyone in this Room will Someday be Dead" (fiction) and WOW it's a new favorite, a quick read and so, so relatable. And funny! Themes of questioning religion, purpose, mental health, capitalism, life purpose, and relationships.
I adore that book and just saw she has one coming in 2024 that looks equally dark, funny, and bound to sucker punch us w emotion
that one was also a surprise favourite for me this year! so happy to see people talking about it!
Thank you for the recommendation! I just borrowed the book from the library and look forward to digging into the story.
Omg, Lessons in Chemistry is SO good, I swear it was a perfectly done book, like, did exactly what it set out to do. Amazing 😍
I finally got around to reading The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary, truly a hug in a book which also addresses some close to home themes of emotional abuse and how hard it is to recognise until you get out ❤
All of these recommendations sound so good. I think I'll pick up Bandit Queens to hopefully get myself out of the reading slump I've gotten into since finished The Wheel of Time this spring, lol. As always thanks for the entertaining and helpful video Leena!
Oooh a delightful selection. Black Butterflies has grown and grown on me. Bandit Queens was robbed! Totally agree. I’m now desperate to read Incomparable World. Hooray for Elizabeth Day being on your list!
my fave book this year has been Desoriental by Negar Djavadi. learned a lot about Iranian history and enjoyed the nonlinear storytelling that keeps you hooked
I was reading (by your recommendation!) Our Wives Under the Sea during the whole Oceangate-thing, and I was just amazed by the coincidence. It was an excellent book and I loved it!! I'll be checking out some of these, unfortunately it is not the easiest thing to get these books where I live.
i read „marriage portrait“ lately which i loved and (late to the club, i know) „daisy jones & the six“, and i just couldn‘t put it down.🙌🏼😍
Love your recommendations! I listened to earthlings on audiobook recently, had a little cry about relating to not relating to humankind, and then got out and bought it in paperback to make sure I'll never lose it.
I loved Bandit Queens and tried listening to Pod but had to quit after about 3-4 hours since I was not in a headspace to handle it. Will try it again later when I'm not as mentally fragile because the writing is excellent.
Adding Pod to my tbr list! This year's standout fav so far is An Immense World by Ed Yong, a nonfiction book about how different species sense the world, adding a kaleidescope's lens to what can sometimes seem mundane. I also loved Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami which explores aging, body image, and the consideration of motherhood. Finally, I loved the v challenging A History of My Brief Body by Billy Ray Belcourt which I'm still grappling with, holding both the anger and the hope, the heady and the poetic. Honorable mention to The Book Thief (speaking of books everyone loves that I'd been avoiding!).
Every time you chop your hair you get more radiant, I wish it worked for me!
My TBR list (which only started when I recently found your channel) has gotten verrrrry long, and I'm loving it. 😂 I will be adding several of these books you mentioned to the list! I was curious to see if Triangulum made it in this video. I've seen you mention it multiple times in videos, and then recently you said you were going to read it on a trip. I'm dying to know how you liked it. It sounded so very interesting!
I truly trust all of your recommendations - I recently read “Parakeet” by Marie-Helene Bertino and I’m obsessed! I also read a forthcoming poetry collection by my friend and it’s gorgeous, it’s called “I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times” by Taylor Byas
You recommended Still Life by Sarah Winman in a best books of the year video a year back or so. I've been wanting to read it since and recently bit thr bullet. Could not put it down, I'm absolutely in love. Currently reading The Great Belivers, a really powerful boom about Chicago during the AIDS crisis. A must read.
The best part of Leena's videos are not only adding her book recs to my list but also recs from the comments ❤. Im currently reading the last painting of sara de vos by Dominic Smith. Elegant writing, interesting story, rich characters.
I'm going through...a phase (?) where life is really hard and I don't want to feel my feelings more than I already do so I've been avoiding reading. And good shows, and podcasts, and crafting, and a lot of good things. But I've kept up with your channel and that's made all the difference with your last few videos. All of the books you listed sound like little folk remedies for what ails my heart. ❤🩹 thank you
I can really relate to this. Sometimes I worry that things I used to enjoy doing will be tainted with those bad feelings if I go to them when I’m low, or I’m not sure they’re what I need to feel better.
Like you though, Leena’s videos always cheer me up! I hope you find happiness in your things again soon. X
Some excellent recs, as always! I adored Pod and Black Butterflies!! Finished The Marriage Portrait last week and thought it was an absolute masterpiece as well... Can't wait for Bandit Queens to come out in paperback so this cheap queen can read it toooo ❤🔥
Hahah sounds like we are very much aligned bookwise!
Thank you for these recommendations!! I can't remember if you've mentioned reading either of these, but two recent reads that I think you'd appreciate are The World Keeps Ending and the World Goes On by Franny Choi and A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers. I don't think either are a perfect match for No Books on a Dead Planet, but both of them are very much about wrestling with existential dread. I'm going to re-read Choi's book of poetry soon (I kept taking photos of pages that made me say "yes! this!"), and this was probably my sixth re-read of Chambers' novella!
All of Becky Chambers books are so worth a read! I read To Be Taught, If Fortunate 2 years ago and I’m still thinking about it
Was abroad two weeks and picked up some books. Cemetery Boys was a quick read, I correctly guessed all the story beats before they happened but it was fun and cute and the magic was really cool!
Now I've started The Overstory and I don't know what's going on but I'm fascinated. Tell me more about these trees, Richard.
I've also picked up Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky and am only halfway through The Priory of the Orange Tree as well. Now to also read while at home when I'm not spending hours on a train or waiting somewhere!
I just started reading the black butterflies. So happy to see on your list.
If you're interested in books written by Finnish authors, I would recommend the book The Women I Think About At Night by Mia Kankimäki. I recently read it and thought it was witty, funny and extremely interesting. Mia writes about brave females in history that didn't get the spotlight they deserved and follows their footsteps around the world. Her writing style and sometimes self-depricating humor made me chuckle out loud while reading this in public... I hope you can find it and will enjoy it too! :)
Love NoViolet Bulaweyo!! I adored "We Need New Names," can't wait to read "Glory." Thanks for your insightful recs!
Yeah this was my first by her and I’m so keen to read more!
Yes Incomparable World! Some favourites this year were Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou, What Storm, What Thunder by Myriam J. A. Chancy, and Right By My Side by David Haynes
I know what you mean about the "not like other readers complex" - I've long been guilty of this myself! Have actually been feeling this way about 'Our Wives Under the Sea' as I've heard so many people talking about it online that I worried it wouldn't live up to the hype. However, I really respect and trust your opinions when it comes to books as it seems you've enjoyed a lot of the same ones I have, so that's finally spurred me on to put it on my book wishlist :D
i LOVED lessons in chemistry as well and bandit queens genuinely deserved to win. this year, my stand-outs have been the monk and robot duology by becky chambers, how high we go in the dark (sequoia nagamatsu), the once and future witches (alix e. harrow), hamnet (maggie o'farrell), reputation (lex croucher), erotic stories for punjabi widows (balli kaur jaswal) and small things like these (claire keegan). i'm trying to read some taiwanese fiction because of a trip in a few months and green island by shawna yang ryan really was an education in tragedy and how national trauma can seep into all the little cracks of the everyday. I'm currently reading a strange and stubborn endurance (foz meadows) and it's not something i'd usually have picked up, but i'm really enjoying it so far.
"Our Wives Under the Sea" has been on my TBR for ages since I really liked Armfield's story collection and the cover is gorgeous but your description has really sold it to me. Love stories that go to the bottom of the ocean. 🌊
get ready to have your gut punched, my friend x
Rereading Auto da Fé… a very original novel …& Lonesome Dove…a Western epic…A Room with a View…funny how a simple kiss stirs so much controversy…but that was Published in 1906…& Circe by Madeline Miller…pretty eloquent…Also reading a relatively new translation of the classic Chinese novel Rickshaw published in the 1930s…& just finished reading Call Me By Your Name…gorgeous prose…strange enough I don’t feel like I’m spreading myself thin by reading these books simultaneously …
my favourite book so far this year is strong female character by fern brady and i want to make everyone ever read it !! it’s a memoir that chronicles fern growing up with autism while being told she wasn’t autistic until she was in her 30s, v heavy subject matter at times but she’s so naturally funny and such a good writer, i loved it!!
Now i want to read everything 😭😂
My work here is done!
A really interesting book I read this year is Run Towards the Danger by Sarah Polley, a series of of incidents rather than an autobiography by a very thoughtful and careful writer - she who directed Women Talking and was a child star in Baron Munchausen. A lot of things happened to this woman and if you know anyone with concussion, MAKE them read it.
Now damn you, I've got a longer TBR. Thanks!
I rarely do laugh out loud while reading, but The Bandit Queens definitely made me do it. And then swallow back my giggles two paragraphs later... Incredible! I'm currently reading Savage Her Reply by Deirdre Sullivan, an incredible retelling of the Children of Lir legend from Aoife's point of view. Chapters are named after letters of the ancient Irish alphabet, the ogham, with a poem shaped into the letter, it's lyrical and brutal and has won Irish children's fiction award. How is this book a children's book?!
Sadly it seems no library in Ireland has The Eagle and the Cockerel at the moment and it sucks because damned you sold it so well!
Oh, 'Lessons In Chemistry' is a diamond of a book. It has quickly become one of my favorite books of all time. 'The Pod' is on my TBR, as is Alice Hoffman's latest, but I'm currently on 'Ink Blood Sister Scribe' by Emma Torzs, and loving it.
I keep looking for books to bump Prince Harry's memoir down my list of favorites of the year, but it keeps hanging on as a top read. I went into that book with no expectations whatsoever and was absolutely riveted and also moved to tears several times. So few of the books I've read this year have elicited any kind of emotional response, making Harry's memoir a surprising outlier. In short, I'm not at all surprised to see it in this video.
Hiiighly recommend her video about harry’s book!!!
So far my top picks would be Black Water Sister by Zen Cho (a reread), the Murderbot series by Martha Wells, actually really enjoyed Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott (picked up solely on the cover haha), the Teixcalaan duology by Arkady Martine, The Song of the Cell by Siddhartha Mukherjee. umm if you want cozy/fluffy stuff there is Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree or the Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna?
I have added a lot of these to my list, thankyou 😄 I've recently read Ariadne, Idol and am currently reading Little Fires Everywhere.
I'm currently reading Unmasking Autism by Devon Price and as an Autistic person myself this book is absolutely mind-blowing. It takes so much in account, from gender, to racism, to capitalism in a very direct, but at the same time nuanced way. His book Laziness Does Not Exist is also brilliant.
I really enjoyed Bandit Queens! I don't usually read nonfiction, but I felt compelled to check out Killers of the Flower Moon after learning about the movie adaptation. I had never heard of the serial murders of the people within the Osage tribe and the connection to the creation of the FBI. It was an interesting and infuriating read. I need to get my hands on Incomparable World, Pod, Glory and Friendaholic. I think the next book I'll be reading is All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir or If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga. I love that the comments contain additional recs. I've already added some to my TBR, lol.
I read Spare and actually I enjoyed it which surprised me. I do think Harry is somewhat of an unreliable narrator but I found that actually added to my enjoyment
Our Wives Under The Sea is also one of my top reads for this year so far!!
Other faves are Elena Knows by Claudia Pineiro, Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, Queerly Beloved by Susie Dumond, and The Hopkins Manuscript by R.C. Sherriff
Yay! Your book recommendations are my favorite. You descriptions are more accurate than any book jacket.
YESS Leena recommending more books!! i've recently finished reading 'The Murderer's Ape' and found it so endearing and beautiful - i would've never picked it up if it hadn't been for you mentioning it in a book video, so thank you!! i cant forgive you for Pod though. i'm sorry but that one I just couldn't push through EVEN IF YOU KEEP PRAISING IT LOL
personally i can't get over 'A Psalm for the Wild-Built' and keep thinking about it. it's easily one of the most memorable books I've read this year! I've also slowly been reading 'How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures' which feels very heavy with its themes but is absolutely beautiful and I think you could potentially like it!
I’m currently reading Translation State by Ann Leckie and finding it really fascinating! I definitely recommend the Imperial Radch series for interesting thoughts about politics, gender, and what it means to be human
I'm adding Bandit Queens to my tbr list now!
"Black Butterflies" & "The Bandit Queens" are on my list now 📚
I read Bandit Queens after your women's prize video and its one of my favourites of the year. I also had dismissed Lessons in Chemistry. I thought it was just a romance book from the American cover but I guess I need to give it a chance.
I saw your recommendation for Pod in the last video and thought I'd give the audiobook a go. Omg I cannot stop telling people about this book! I was hooked from the beginning and consumed it as fast as I could. Currently listening to bandit queens.
I loved Bandit Queens, the characters were so realistic and I became fond of them all and the commentary on their social statuses, the pace of the book I found great
Thankyou leena 🍲
My bookshelf is looking dry rn, really needed some fresh recs
Glory sounds so cool
it's really special, especially in audio!
I didn't think I enjoyed our wives under the sea and yet it has stayed with me. Very much enjoyed Pod too. Have you read Remarkably Bright Creatures?
Iron Widow, that book had me wanting to love it and hate it at the same time. Hating it for the emotional roller coaster but also loving it because of the story telling, characters, and world building. It's east asian historical fantasy. I hope you give it a try :)
Hi, maybe try Cracking Ibiza- it's fun and easy reading and can be read in a day or two!
Biography of X by Catherine Lacey was so exceptional. It should be one of those books I hear about everywhere on RUclips.
I just finished reading The Talented Mr. Ripley and I loved it so much, 5 stars!!
Just finished Chain-Gang All Stars for my work BookClub. About to start Little Monsters.
not fiction, but I've just read a memoir: Women we Buried, Women we Burned by Rachel Louise Snyder (she also authored No Visible Bruises) -- I think wonderfully written and her perspective on the adults who failed her (father, step mother) at the end of their lives is so highly evolved, and yet not unattainable. Extremely important for my own forgiveness journey for my birth family
We agree on Bandit Queens, love, love, love that one. I still need to read Black Butterflies. All the others have great premises, just not sure of the delivery. Yep, let's not talk about the one that isn't even a spare anymore, what's the next instalment title going to be for him... "Going Spare..." "Going beyond spare".... "Spare and beyond".... surely the publishers and the ghost writer were having a lend 🤣
My fave 10 books I've read this year have been Paradais, Assembly, The Rachel Incident, Notes on Heartbreak, Diary of a Void, Vladimir, A Little Life, My Year of Rest & Relaxation, The Secret History and Real Estate (some oldies I've finally gotten round to reading!)
I am currently reading Big Swiss by Jen Beagin and loving it! I have a feeling you would love it too, Leena!
Maame by Jessica George was lovely and brilliant and definitely hit just right as a person grieving the death of a parent like the MC. And I think the concept in The Celebrants by Steven Rowley of holding living funerals to get friends through hard times was so well done!!
For July, because of the 4th I decided to read something about the U.S. I had "Grover Cleveland " by Henry F. Graff. I have no idea when or why I had this book about a basically unremarkable man an period of history. So I guess this is a series intended for students and I must say that I learned a lot about politics in America and he was an interesting person.
Leena have you read Yellowface? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
I haven’t yet but I’m keen to !
it feels so strange to see someone from the UK talk about something that has something to do with the region I live in (ex-Yugoslavia, I'm from Serbia)
not in a bad way! just interesting 😄
Lol yeah. I always brace myself when they pronounce cities or surnames (it was fine in this video though).
So looking forward to bandit queens when I get around to reading it, everyone talks about how good it is.
Top book of the year for me in my reading is Kim Jiyoung born 1982.
I read The Bandit Queens on your recommendation and loved it!
This morning my stepmum said she will send me Lessons in Chemistry and my reaction was EXACTLY like yours! So I'm pleased to hear you enjoyed it
I loved Lessons in Chemistry!
I got lessons in chemistry in a charity shop the other day so I’m very excited to read it!
Thank you for sharing! My favourite book of 2023 so far is Things we do not tell the people we love by Huma Qureshi. A close second is Strange the dreamer by Laini Taylor. :)
I always love hearing your thoughts on books! Incomparable World sounds really interesting. I've read 24 books so far this year and my top read so far, I think, is Wild Geese by Soula Emmanuel. It's about an Irish trans woman in Copenhagen whose ex-girlfriend turns up unannounced for the weekend, and it's one of those novels that's so beautifully written about just two people and a tiny moment in time, but encompasses so much.
read Pod on your recommendation and LOVED it, thanks! Such a unique, empathetic novel - I got into it much more quickly than I thought too, it took me like 10 pages flat to be invested in the perspective/fantasy.
I also read Still Life by Sarah Winman a few months ago, which was a recommendation from you as well! Fantastic book wow.
I've recently read and would recommend:
Old Enough by Haley Jakobson - super sweet debut novel with nuanced perspectives on SA recovery, finding queer community, and growing apart from a childhood best friend
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman - incredible non-fiction about a Hmong immigrant family with an epileptic daughter, whose culture is often at odds with the culture of the medical establishment, despite both sides doing their best to care for her. Incredibly sad but also so full of hope, and beautifully contextualized in history and politics.
War Diary by Yevgenia Belorusets - A journalist's diary of the first few weeks of the War in Ukraine. A quick read, at once devastating and hopeful
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune - Set in a haunted tea house through which the souls of the dead pass in order to cross to what's next. A love story about grief and loss and healing with the most lovable characters you'll ever find. Beware, tear jerker!!
I'm going through a re-read period, but I did read Bandit Queens - definitely a good one to add in!
It's interesting to me that people re-read books. I don't think I ever had or ever would except if it had been years since and I wanted to see if I could find a new perspective.
Okay, random, but what is that beautiful paint colour for your backdrop Leena, love it, want it. Gorgeous.
Im 75% through the Rachel Incident and it is so good!
im halfway through pod and really loving it, but also finding it hard to get through because it's so devastating. it put me in a really weird headspace for a few days and I'm working up the courage to pick it up again because its SO GOOD but SO PAINFUL
Read bandit queens with my bookclub and it was such a good bookclub book! So shocked not to find it on the shortlist
I read Pod after watching your Women’s Prize video and was blown away. But still struggling to explain the premise in one sentence when I talk to people about it 😂 currently reading Memphis by Tara M Stringfelllw and really enjoying it.
just finished new animal by ella baxter. it's a hilarious and dark easy read about a mortician makeup artist who throws her life into chaos to find solace. amazing!!!!!!
LEENA! if you haven’t read it yet, I just finished “To Dye For” by Alden Wicker. It’s all about how the chemicals in our fabrics are making us sick, fast fashion, toxic North American regulations, and fighting back against The Man 🥰🥰🥰 I think you would love
Ooo thank you I’ll take a look!
I'm currently reading Women Without Kids by Ruby Warrington, and so far it's a very insightful and good read!
Speaking of “out of this world” I’m reading “Sphere” by Michael Crichton right now. I’m normally not into SciFi but he has become one of my new fav authors
I am reading A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon. It is a prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree and share the same epic fantasy style. It is a massive book and I'm finding it hard to get through, but the times that I manage to get into it make it worth it. A very immersive fantasy world to disappear into.
I really enjoyed 'The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida' this year
Leena you look great!