5:15 Say what? I thought that book was much older. I remember reading that in Middle School. My recommendation that I never mention is Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede. It is a high middle school reading level but it is a short novel. So do I mention for younger who are used to that length or to older readers who might skip it as short generally is for younger?
Ooh, that's tricky with books that seem an odd length for the age group, I have that problem but in reverse with some longer middle grade books like Keeper of the Lost Cities and The Mysterious Benedict Society.
@@ChantelReadsAllDay Oh that is hard too... though I was one who read Redwall when most of my peers were sticking with 100+ chapter books. Keepers of the Lost Cities read more like a Pre-teen than a middle schooler to me.
I loved that you shared these "old" favorites! I haven't read most of these, so now I have lots to add to my TBR. I always love hearing your thoughts on your reading. thanks so much
Thank you for sharing. I loved A man named Ove. I cried the ugly cry. 😭 Thanks for the recommendations. I think I will put : All the Light We cannot see and Rain Reign on my 2023 TBR. I love a good middle grade read... thanks again 📚
Oh man, ugly cry with that book is right. Have you read And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Backman? It's about 75 pages and I'm pretty sure I cried through 74 of them.
I read Princess Academy books 1 & 2 this year! I set aside book 3 for now, but it’s a great series. A book I read and loved from quite a few years ago was The Help by Kathryn Stockett - another one of those that EVERYONE was reading at the time!
Since I don’t read much young adult or middle grade books anymore I always forget how many of them I loved reading, but one that I read a long time ago that I don’t hear a lot about are the west side school books I remember loving them as a kid, they were so funny and entertaining like Amelia Bedelia but for middle grade I also really liked The Giver it’s such a good book 💜💜💜
Haha, okay, so I guess not everybody loves it! I'm not sure I would love it now, I was reading very different books at that point in my life and I honestly have no desire to actually re-read it so I'll never know.
Someday, when I have a quiet place to film again and all my books are together in one place, I'm going to do a mass rereading project and make sure I've talked at length about all the books I've loved
Some of my most memorable 5 stars from 5 years ago: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand, Fried Green Tomatoes by Fannie Flagg, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte, and Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi. It was a great reading year and thank you for your backlist reading recommendations.
Five years ago.... 1. "In This Moment" by Karen Kingsbury //I remember this book so well. You have a school principal who is a Christian and hosts a Christian club. It is about the lives touched and the persecution that happened. It was so good! 2. "The Sovereignty of God" by Arthur W. Pink (non-fiction). // I remember loving this book and having so many good indepth discussions with my Dad. 3. "That Certain Summer" by Irene Hannon //All I remember is that this book was really good because of the characters but I don't remember the plot. I also remember trying another book by the same author and being disappointed as it wasn't as good. 4. "Almost Amish" by Kathryn Cushman // This is not my usual genre but I really enjoyed this book even with the sappy romance probably because of the main character. She wants to become/join an Amish community because she doesn't fit in with the modern world. 5. "The Divergent" series by Veronica Roth //I was hesitant to read this series because of my experience with the "Hunger Games" series (I was less than impressed). BUT, my brother recommended it to me so I tried it. I feel this series was better executed than the "Hunger Games" and I loved them. 6. "Elizabeth and Mary" by Jane Dunn // non-fiction and excellent!!! This is a parallel biography of Elizabeth the first and Mary Queen of Scots and it is well done and well written ❤️👍 7. "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams // In 2018, when I re-read this book it was still just as funny as I remembered from Highschool. But, since Hubby and I watched the movie on a date night at home, it felt infinitely more romantic 💕 ***I read several good books that year but these stood out to my memory as the best. I wasn't keeping track of ratings back then***"
I watched another one of your videos and checked Rain Reign out from my library. Hoping to read it soon! Also, I bought a couple Kate Morton books quite awhile ago and I have a goal to read at least one in 2023. 😊
Story Girl sounds cool. Surprised you liked the giver so much 🤔 I just read the quartet and I liked 2 & 3 the most 😂😅... I really need to read The Mysterious Benedict Society. I've recently added it to my wishlist. Glad to know you loved it ☺️
Love to Water My Soul by Jane Kirkpatrick is a book I used to recommend all the time but haven't in quite some time. Also, I think I need to re-read All the Light We Cannot See; loved that book!
I think I put two books from this video on my list to look into. The rest I either own to read soon or have read and enjoyed. The exception is the Frederic Backman one. I have tried three of his books and just cannot read him. I do not like his writing style at all. So many love his books, though. 😔 The Princess Academy (whole trilogy) and A Night Divided are excellent on audio. My kids loved them, too! I had no idea that All the Light We Cannot See was a huge hit. I randomly picked it up at a thrift store once and read it and really enjoyed it.😁
Backman is hit or miss for me, I DNFed Bear Town and Anxious People by him and have enjoyed A Man Called Ove and Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer. He's definitely a try from the library and only buy if I like it kind of author for me.
I agree on The Giver I read that in 2016! So good! Pillars of the Earth would be another oldie but one that has stuck with me. Looking back at my old goodreads ratings makes me realize how easily I gave out 5 stars back then 😛 The Host is another one I loved.. I read that in 2009 and can still remember some of the major things in that book! I should reread some of these!
The Mysterious Benedict Society brings back wonderful memories! My boys and I read them aloud years ago. They came up in conversation just the other day when I watched a book tag with the question which book would you like to see made into a movie. But my son and I thought that Constance might have to be tweaked for casting reasons - reason is a spoiler!
They're making a movie A Man Called Otto with Tom Hanks :) I suppose they changed the name from Ove to Otto cuz it's easier to say? Ove is pronounced so differently than it looks so Indon't know. Thought I'd let you know!
I seriously can't think of anything I don't remember to recommend. I'ma lways yammering on about this book or that, depending on who I am talking to. I know... I know... weird, right? Maybe Michael Phillips' "The Garden at the Edge of Beyond." Most people I know IRL aren't a fan of fantasy so I don't give allegoricalish or symbolic story recommendations often.
I’ve read and loved a few of these and I have a few new books to add to my TBR! Have you read The Fiddler’s Gun and Fiddler’s Green by A.S. Peterson? He is Andrew Peterson’s brother. I read them probably 7ish years ago as a teen and loved them SO much. I reread them this year and my 5 star rating held up. A historical fiction seafaring adventure with laugh out loud characters, beautiful writing, and so much heart.
Thanks to you I read a lot more fiction than I used to! Some old favourites are middle grade: E. L. Konigsburg’s From The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is one I have read multiple times and it never gets old. I’ve also read The View From Saturday by her and I don’t remember specifics but I know I loved it. P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster are such good, lighthearted British humour 👌🏻 Also, I love Mysterious Benedict Society and the prequel about Nicholas Benedict, but I feel like the rest of the books in the series definitely went downhill. If you haven’t read the last book that came out recently, don’t. It was such a disappointing waste of time!
Hello Chantel, I get intimidated by the width of middle grade books. I want to read the middle grade book whose English level is easiest as I cannot understand tough English sentences at all. Please guide me
I've not read or heard of any of those books. My TBR list just keeps growing. I had to go to my Goodreads to find a 5 star from 5 years ago and there were two. Daughter of Twin Oaks by Lauraine Snelling and Last One Home by Debbie Macomber. I need to reread these and see if they are still 5 stars. I am pretty certain Lauraine Snelling will be because she is one of my all time favorites.
Most people seem to like Fawkes more than Romanov (and then like those more than her newest) but I know Tiffany from Beautiful Minutiae is in the opposite camp and likes Romanov more, so maybe that will be you!
I got the story girl after you talked about it being a favorite and I cannot wait to read it. I have only read her Anne of green gables series. It’s a favorite of mine. I also love the giver. I read it in 8 th grade as required reading. It stuck with me as a favorite, since then.
YESSS when I saw you pick up the Princess Academy I was soooo happy lol... I love that trilogy, especially book 1. Have you read the other two? Same with the Mysterious Benedict Society 👌
I read The Forgotten Garden this summer and I enjoyed it, but I have also said it was about 100 pages too long lol.... Her writing style is very enjoyable. It's pretty but not too flowery or poetic.
I love All The Light We Cannot See. I’m actually rereading it, though now I find his style plain, I don’t know if it’s the translation, I might as well read it in English to check that. I love the plot, it was clearly well planned.
Honestly with as deep and sad as some of Ann M. Martin's books are, I can't believe she wrote The Babysitters' Club books lol.. I loved some of her books growing up (although not the BSC series) but other books of hers BROKE MY HEART 😭
A Chance to Die by Elisabeth Elliot
The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Tripp
I first read, "The Story of the Trapp Family Singers" by Maria Augusta Trapp in 2021 and I can concur that it is awesome 😊
I love that you shared older favorites because some great books tend to get forgotten about due to the focus on new.
5:15 Say what? I thought that book was much older. I remember reading that in Middle School.
My recommendation that I never mention is Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede. It is a high middle school reading level but it is a short novel. So do I mention for younger who are used to that length or to older readers who might skip it as short generally is for younger?
Ooh, that's tricky with books that seem an odd length for the age group, I have that problem but in reverse with some longer middle grade books like Keeper of the Lost Cities and The Mysterious Benedict Society.
@@ChantelReadsAllDay Oh that is hard too... though I was one who read Redwall when most of my peers were sticking with 100+ chapter books. Keepers of the Lost Cities read more like a Pre-teen than a middle schooler to me.
I loved that you shared these "old" favorites! I haven't read most of these, so now I have lots to add to my TBR. I always love hearing your thoughts on your reading. thanks so much
Keep hearing about A Man Called Ove. Added it to my wishlist so I can pick it up soon! Thanks for sharing!
You really are the perfect companion of couch and coco.
Haha, yes!!!
Thank you for sharing. I loved A man named Ove. I cried the ugly cry. 😭
Thanks for the recommendations. I think I will put : All the Light We cannot see and Rain Reign on my 2023 TBR. I love a good middle grade read... thanks again 📚
Oh man, ugly cry with that book is right. Have you read And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Backman? It's about 75 pages and I'm pretty sure I cried through 74 of them.
I feel like you would really like the prequel to The Mysterious Benedict Society (it’s about Mr. Benedict as a child)!
I'll have to read that one, I've read the series but not the prequel.
I read Princess Academy books 1 & 2 this year! I set aside book 3 for now, but it’s a great series. A book I read and loved from quite a few years ago was The Help by Kathryn Stockett - another one of those that EVERYONE was reading at the time!
Oh yeah, I'm surprised that one didn't show up on my list, I loved that one!
Since I don’t read much young adult or middle grade books anymore I always forget how many of them I loved reading, but one that I read a long time ago that I don’t hear a lot about are the west side school books I remember loving them as a kid, they were so funny and entertaining like Amelia Bedelia but for middle grade I also really liked The Giver it’s such a good book 💜💜💜
I hated All the Light We Cannot See. A friend and I rant about it at least once a year. I think I've recommended most of my favorites at some point.
Haha, okay, so I guess not everybody loves it! I'm not sure I would love it now, I was reading very different books at that point in my life and I honestly have no desire to actually re-read it so I'll never know.
Someday, when I have a quiet place to film again and all my books are together in one place, I'm going to do a mass rereading project and make sure I've talked at length about all the books I've loved
I read a biography about LM Montgomery and The Story Girl is her favorite book. I haven't read it yet but I will in 2023.
Oh, I didn't know that, I think she really is a kindred spirit. I hope you love it!
Some of my most memorable 5 stars from 5 years ago: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand, Fried Green Tomatoes by Fannie Flagg, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte, and Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi. It was a great reading year and thank you for your backlist reading recommendations.
I got the Princess academy because of you!! (I just haven’t read it yet)
I would be curious to hear your thoughts, since I like it you probably won't, BUT I actually think you would like it . . .
Five years ago....
1. "In This Moment" by Karen Kingsbury //I remember this book so well. You have a school principal who is a Christian and hosts a Christian club. It is about the lives touched and the persecution that happened. It was so good!
2. "The Sovereignty of God" by Arthur W. Pink (non-fiction). // I remember loving this book and having so many good indepth discussions with my Dad.
3. "That Certain Summer" by Irene Hannon //All I remember is that this book was really good because of the characters but I don't remember the plot. I also remember trying another book by the same author and being disappointed as it wasn't as good.
4. "Almost Amish" by Kathryn Cushman // This is not my usual genre but I really enjoyed this book even with the sappy romance probably because of the main character. She wants to become/join an Amish community because she doesn't fit in with the modern world.
5. "The Divergent" series by Veronica Roth //I was hesitant to read this series because of my experience with the "Hunger Games" series (I was less than impressed). BUT, my brother recommended it to me so I tried it. I feel this series was better executed than the "Hunger Games" and I loved them.
6. "Elizabeth and Mary" by Jane Dunn // non-fiction and excellent!!! This is a parallel biography of Elizabeth the first and Mary Queen of Scots and it is well done and well written ❤️👍
7. "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams // In 2018, when I re-read this book it was still just as funny as I remembered from Highschool. But, since Hubby and I watched the movie on a date night at home, it felt infinitely more romantic 💕
***I read several good books that year but these stood out to my memory as the best. I wasn't keeping track of ratings back then***"
I love A Man Called Ove & The Forgotten Garden as well (Ove reminds me of my Dad lol!)😆😆😊
I used to watch Road to Avonlea, and I live in the United States. Loved it when I was a kid! I've never read the book though.
Road to Avonlea is based off of The Story Girl! Loved that show.
I love The Giver. I had to read it for my English class in grade 7.
I watched another one of your videos and checked Rain Reign out from my library. Hoping to read it soon! Also, I bought a couple Kate Morton books quite awhile ago and I have a goal to read at least one in 2023. 😊
Story Girl sounds cool. Surprised you liked the giver so much 🤔 I just read the quartet and I liked 2 & 3 the most 😂😅... I really need to read The Mysterious Benedict Society. I've recently added it to my wishlist. Glad to know you loved it ☺️
did you read the extermionating manuscript by Gema Clouds?
Love to Water My Soul by Jane Kirkpatrick is a book I used to recommend all the time but haven't in quite some time. Also, I think I need to re-read All the Light We Cannot See; loved that book!
I think I put two books from this video on my list to look into. The rest I either own to read soon or have read and enjoyed. The exception is the Frederic Backman one. I have tried three of his books and just cannot read him. I do not like his writing style at all. So many love his books, though. 😔 The Princess Academy (whole trilogy) and A Night Divided are excellent on audio. My kids loved them, too! I had no idea that All the Light We Cannot See was a huge hit. I randomly picked it up at a thrift store once and read it and really enjoyed it.😁
Backman is hit or miss for me, I DNFed Bear Town and Anxious People by him and have enjoyed A Man Called Ove and Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer. He's definitely a try from the library and only buy if I like it kind of author for me.
I agree on The Giver I read that in 2016! So good! Pillars of the Earth would be another oldie but one that has stuck with me. Looking back at my old goodreads ratings makes me realize how easily I gave out 5 stars back then 😛 The Host is another one I loved.. I read that in 2009 and can still remember some of the major things in that book! I should reread some of these!
The Mysterious Benedict Society brings back wonderful memories! My boys and I read them aloud years ago. They came up in conversation just the other day when I watched a book tag with the question which book would you like to see made into a movie. But my son and I thought that Constance might have to be tweaked for casting reasons - reason is a spoiler!
They're making a movie A Man Called Otto with Tom Hanks :) I suppose they changed the name from Ove to Otto cuz it's easier to say? Ove is pronounced so differently than it looks so Indon't know. Thought I'd let you know!
Yes, I am excited to watch the movie!
Awesome video I love your books 📚 anyway please keep safe and well love Lesley 😍
I seriously can't think of anything I don't remember to recommend. I'ma lways yammering on about this book or that, depending on who I am talking to. I know... I know... weird, right? Maybe Michael Phillips' "The Garden at the Edge of Beyond." Most people I know IRL aren't a fan of fantasy so I don't give allegoricalish or symbolic story recommendations often.
Don't mind me just adding a bunch of books to my wishlist 🤣🤣
I agree with you on how you rate your five stars. It is the exact same way with me❤️
I’ve read and loved a few of these and I have a few new books to add to my TBR! Have you read The Fiddler’s Gun and Fiddler’s Green by A.S. Peterson? He is Andrew Peterson’s brother. I read them probably 7ish years ago as a teen and loved them SO much. I reread them this year and my 5 star rating held up. A historical fiction seafaring adventure with laugh out loud characters, beautiful writing, and so much heart.
I want to read Tainted
I think you'd really like Mortal Sight if you like the spiritual world crossing over with the normal world ☺️
Thanks to you I read a lot more fiction than I used to! Some old favourites are middle grade: E. L. Konigsburg’s From The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is one I have read multiple times and it never gets old. I’ve also read The View From Saturday by her and I don’t remember specifics but I know I loved it.
P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster are such good, lighthearted British humour 👌🏻
Also, I love Mysterious Benedict Society and the prequel about Nicholas Benedict, but I feel like the rest of the books in the series definitely went downhill. If you haven’t read the last book that came out recently, don’t. It was such a disappointing waste of time!
I recommend the entire James Herriot series. All Creatures Great and Small is one of them. Good for adults and young adults. Great for animal lovers
I really need to read that series!
Hello Chantel, I get intimidated by the width of middle grade books. I want to read the middle grade book whose English level is easiest as I cannot understand tough English sentences at all. Please guide me
I've not read or heard of any of those books. My TBR list just keeps growing. I had to go to my Goodreads to find a 5 star from 5 years ago and there were two. Daughter of Twin Oaks by Lauraine Snelling and Last One Home by Debbie Macomber. I need to reread these and see if they are still 5 stars. I am pretty certain Lauraine Snelling will be because she is one of my all time favorites.
Most people seem to like Fawkes more than Romanov (and then like those more than her newest) but I know Tiffany from Beautiful Minutiae is in the opposite camp and likes Romanov more, so maybe that will be you!
I got the story girl after you talked about it being a favorite and I cannot wait to read it. I have only read her Anne of green gables series. It’s a favorite of mine. I also love the giver. I read it in 8 th grade as required reading. It stuck with me as a favorite, since then.
Everyone keeps telling me The Giver is amazing. I tried It once but couldn't get into it, so maybe I'll have to give it a second chance🤔
I hope you love The Story Girl as much as I do!
YESSS when I saw you pick up the Princess Academy I was soooo happy lol... I love that trilogy, especially book 1. Have you read the other two?
Same with the Mysterious Benedict Society 👌
No, I haven't read the rest of the Princess Academy series, are they as good as book one?
I read The Forgotten Garden this summer and I enjoyed it, but I have also said it was about 100 pages too long lol.... Her writing style is very enjoyable. It's pretty but not too flowery or poetic.
I love All The Light We Cannot See. I’m actually rereading it, though now I find his style plain, I don’t know if it’s the translation, I might as well read it in English to check that. I love the plot, it was clearly well planned.
I'm curious to know what I would think of the book now if I did a re-read!
Woah that hot chocolate looked creamy 😍
Honestly with as deep and sad as some of Ann M. Martin's books are, I can't believe she wrote The Babysitters' Club books lol.. I loved some of her books growing up (although not the BSC series) but other books of hers BROKE MY HEART 😭
Haha, so true, her books are on both ends of the spectrum!