I am 75, a clinical psychologist who started out with a bachelors in English. When I watch your videos, especially this one, I see myself. I was young, articulate and very well read. That you have found Khalil Gibran, Tolstoy and Turgenev brings me joy. I read these in high school…. I ran our family grocery store in high school so could have hours for reading. I’m trying to speak to you from your future self if I could be so bold. This vibrant reading passion will never waiver and will carry you through the great complication that is a whole long life. You will always be able to lean into it when you need to. One difference between us is that you possess a lovely quiet confidence which I have now but not when I was your age. Your channel is becoming my fave book place to go, so thank you for this. Sending you such positivity.
Emmie, I absolutely adore the range of books that you read. You'll read science fiction to middlegrade to poetry and you'll read Latin American, Russian, or South Korean. Absolutely love hearing about what you're reading!
i read “war and peace” this past year too, because of your tolstoy diaries…and yeah, everything you said i stand by it too, it’s true, i never thought in a million year that a book that long and about something so distant from me could make my heart and soul scream, what a piece of art.
I've been trying to read more classics since the start of last year. So far I've only read Brave New World, 1984, To Kill A Mockingbird, Fahrenheit 451 and now, Emma. I do want to read stuff like War and Peace but idk, Tolstoy has always intimidated me a bit. Would you recommend it for someone who's just getting back into reading again, and who's not super familiar with tons of classics?
I'm so glad you loved Anne of Green Gables! It is one of my favorite books of all time, and my go-to comfort book. It was first gifted to me by my grandmother, so it also reminds me of her whenever I read it. Anne is who I always aspired to be, and she reminds me the world is beautiful during the times when it seems the most dark.
Literally the same! I discovered it at the age of 11, and it has comforted me so much through the years; I love the brightness Anne sees the world with and the joy she takes in all things. Always such a pleasure to revisit!
As a Brazilian reader, I am so happy to see you mentioning The Alienist, by Machado de Assis. Actually, I am rereading this in this moment. Great list!
Hi, Emma. I have no idea if you'll ever see this, but I wanted to share with you how good you feel to my little reader self. Your satirical and enthusiastic personality brings me so much joy! I've watched you for a little over a year now...I was with you when you introduced Calcifer to us, I was with you when you were getting used to Toronto. Your inner light shines so bright, Emma. Thank you, thank you so much for being you and fervently taking the time to show us your fire spark.
@@chumkrimson8161 Unfortunately Macondo only exists within the boundaries of the book. But it reflects many realities, which makes it real at some level. There must be a lot of personal things for Márquez, related to the city he was born in and the people he met as a child.
I'm so happy to see The Girl Who Drank The Moon get the recognition it deserves. I am a teacher and I can't wait to do a novel study of this book with my students someday!
My favorite of the year was In the dream house, which is a memoir written in a very creative way, using horror and fairy tale tropes. It reads like fiction and the audiobook is narrated by the author herself. Highly recommend it!
My favorite book of 2021 was Dante’s ‘The Divine Comedy’. I read ‘Inferno’ in January and then ‘Purgatorio’ and ‘Paradiso’ in November. Life changing!! You can definitely read them separately, but the experience of all three is just... I have no words! So beautiful! Everyone should read it!
My favourites of the year are hugely influenced by you, Emma, and for that, I am eternally grateful! The books are: - The Night Circus - The Picture of Dorian Gray - The Girl who Drank the Moon - The Prophet (Kahlil Gibran) - Little Women - The Great Gatsby - Beloved - Circe
My favorite read of the year was absolutely Murakami’s “Kafka on the Shore.” Such a fascinating novel that manipulates reality so much. Can’t wait to read it again!
i have sort of a love-hate relationship with it, it confused me so much and i audibly said 'what' and 'why' so many times but i still enjoyed the writing/the story a lot hahaha
It was the first book i read by murakami. Then i have bought many books by him. I rea 5 more books of him. Cant wait to read 1q84. I Adore his using music in his books. It is kind of magical listening to songs while reading. And the way he doesnt care about rules of planet earth. Ahahha but i am mad at him. At the end of every book he leaves me lost of question marks in my mind.
I just finished Frankenstein in Bagdad. I really liked it: the writing, the stories, the atmosphere, the characters and their relationships... Really beautiful book. I never would have picked it up if it wasn't for your recommendation. Thank you so much!
It was one of the best for me too this year. I bought it after emmie recommended but then i totally forgot until one of my friends mentioned about it. I believe that it is huge success to write smt about so devastating but not dramatize it and as readers we get how horrible situation out there.
here's my top 5 of 2021 (in no particular order) - the song of achilles - entwined - empire of sand - the hunger games trilogy - the bear and the nightingale honorable mentions: - the witcher - sword of destiny - unholy blood - little women
My favourite book this year was John Williams’ ‘Stoner’. Such a beautiful, heart wrenching story about the mundanity but importance of everyday life, following an English professor through his life. This book deserves so much more attention than it receives, I never hear anybody talk about it! The best book I have ever read, please read it!
Read the three body problem in Chinese last year as well. I've heard of this book before, there was a TH-camr who said this was top of the list of books borrowed at Tsinghua university (most prestigious university in China) library, and then saw that Emma was reading it too, so I went and read it as well. It is way beyond my expectation, especially since I'm not usually into Sci Fi and this is my first one. The trilogy is Sci Fi, but not simply Sci Fi, to me it's more like putting humanity and human society under the extremes and imagining how it would behave, like projecting the human history into the future under this Sci Fi backdrop. The science part is very fun to read as well, my high school physics came back to me a bit. Towards the end, the story almost felt like it was going in a direction I didn't like, but it worked for me in the end, it was gentle and cruel at the same time. There are certain aspects of the book that I don't fully like, but I'm totally willing to ignore cuz this trilogy is just amazing! It opened me up to seeing the world beyond how things are today, and ultimately makes me love humanity and this blue marble that we have more than before.
I picked up Nevernight on a lark and ended up falling in love with the world myself. I've heard a lot of readers don't care for the footnotes, but I adore them.
Adding a few of these to my ever-growing TBR! I’ve started reading again in the last 3-4 months after probably 8 years of barely reading any books at all, and passionate readers like you on TH-cam make me feel so excited to explore new books. Thank you 😊
Yayy we have some overlap in our favorites list, I also ADORED The Girl Who Drank the Moon and The Enchanted Sonata. I picked up The Enchanted Sonata based on your recommendation and I'm so glad I did, it's one of the best YA books I've ever read. I can't wait to read Entwined now! My other absolute favorites of the year were; 1) A Snowfall of Silver by Laura Wood, which is a historical romance set in 1930s London, it's about this young girl who dreams of becoming an actress and she goes on tour with a theatrical troupe. It was sooo cozy, it's literally hot chocolate in book form!😭 2) The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, this is hands down the best gothic novel I've ever read and has become one of my all time favorite novels in general. This is one of those books that once you start reading it you physically can't stop reading. It was like going into a trance, Diane Setterfield must be a witch or something. 3) The Fruit of Knowledge by Liv Strömquist, this one's nonfiction and it's a graphic novel about the history of the vulva. I learned so much from this book, it was such an empowering read and it's also seriously one of the funniest books I've ever read. I think this should be required reading for everyone.
there is something about watching the pure joy you have for these books that not only makes me so genuinely happy, but also makes me want to pick up every book I own and not stop till I've finished them. also, my favorite books of 2021 were The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Phantom of the Opera, Malibu Rising, The Song of Achilles and Horrid! 🖤
@@teajarbiscuits people enjoy different things, we shouldn't care what others think of the books we love. We're all here to talk about books and have fun
my absolute favourite book of the year was "on earth we're briefly gorgeous" by far like i adore this book with my whole heart but i also really really loved (in no particular order) "the priory of the orange tree" by samantha shannon, "normal people" by sally rooney, "human acts" by han kang, "autobiography of red" by anne carson (which i read after your recommendation), "the fifth season" by n k jemisin and "mister impossible" by maggie stiefvater!! and another general favourite of my reading year was reading romance and even though this list is lacking on it it's only because i haven't found a romance novel that is as beautifully written as these books here (even though a lot of them include or mainly revolve around romance and genre isn't a monolith anyway)!
thats so funny because I found Ocean Vuong's on earth we are briefly gorgeous" to be one of the worst books Ive read two years ago. I found him trying to hard to have a sophisticated and poetic prose and his writing seemed too scattered to me. I see why people may find his writing to be wonderful but I thought him overrated. I might have to read some of his poetry though but my opinion still stands on his memoir.
My favorite read from this year was One Hundred Years of Solitude, I am Colombian and this was one of the books that intimidated me, but it is a beautiful masterpiece. Another magic realism book that I loved and recommend is Like Water for Chocolate by Mexican author Laura Esquivel, it is wonderful and beautiful. Love from Colombia
OMG! Emma idk if you gonna able to read this but anyway, you become my favourite one on TH-cam I’m not joking like I’m waiting for the day you upload 🥲😔🤍🤍!! I love you so much and I’m sending you visual hug 😔🫂♥️.
If you like L.M. Montgomery as a writer, I can not more highly recommend The Blue Castle. It has been a favourite of mine since I first read it, I have bought three copies of it, it is the first book I ever annotated... it's just phenomenal. Her prose blows me away every time, and I have never fallen in love with characters more than in this book. I've written three essays about it, that's how much I adore this book.
The Bloody Chamber is intense and wonderful. I got into her work when I was 15/16 and thus began my journey with magic realism and all things Angela Carter. Thirty years later I still believe she is one of the best writers ever.
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee is by far my favorite book that I've read in 2020. I highly highly highly recommend you read it if you haven't already! It was the type of book that I had to put down every now and then just so that I don't finish because it was too good.
I think my favourite read of 2021 was either Borges' "Ficciones" or Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia". Probably Borges because he basically lifted my brain out of my skull and twisted it into a balloon animal, but Orwell's account of his experiences in the Spanish Civil War is really fascinating and his prose is just gorgeous.
I've had such a great reading year, too! I think War and Peace and Les Misérables might've affected me the most, but there's so many! About Les Mis I wanna say that I think a lot of ppl go into the book expecting the musical which is such a shame! It rly is a very different kind of story. I think if people went into it not expecting anything they'd get to love it much more than they would otherwise. It's the story of Paris as a living being and one of hope despite hope lost. I simultaneously felt like comforting the book and comforted by it. It sustained me emotionally in a big way all year. I don't know how it manages to be so beautiful and hopeful despite all the tragedy. The musical is very different in that. (And it's also valuable, just super different!) It's now almost a year since I finished it and it's one of those books I've been wanting to reread since i first read them.
you're easily my new favorite channel when it comes to book recommendations! i love how you branch out into so many different and unique types of genres and recommend books ive never heard of before or wouldn't have picked up otherwise. my personal favorite book of 2021 was 'we were liars', i read it twice and i loved it so much more the second time it totally blew me away :)
"I'm Thinking of Ending Things" is my favorite book of 2021. it keeps coming back to me and i still get random sentences from the book stuck in my head even though i've read it months ago. psychological horror is one of my favorite genres to read and this book tackling the subjects of loneliness and getting old in such a profound way is really special to me! also, the movie adaptation of this book was really good for entirely different reasons and i loved that too
I loved Evie Wyld’s The Bass Rock - set in Scotland, witchiness (not fantasy, but a mixture of historical settings and present day), I thought the whole thing was brilliantly done!
I LUV U EMMA!!! My favorite reads of this year are: Piranesi, The Death of Vivek Oji, Tender is the Flesh, Strange Weather in Tokyo, and The Housekeeper and the Professor! Here’s to another wonderful reading year 💖💖💖 all the best in uni!!!
So much love to you Mae🥰 Ooh so happy Tender is the Flesh made it on your list, can’t wait to pick it up this year! Thank you so much lovely, happy new year💕
I think I'm going to add "The Iliac Crest" and "First love" to my TBR list. I know Russian, but I've only read "Mumu" by Turgenev for school. I adore Anne of Green Gables. It's one of my favourtie books to reread. My favourite books from last year were a biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera, "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes, "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini and "And then there were none" by Agatha Christie.
My favorite book I have read this year is Anne of Green Gables. I first watched the series Anne with an E and was HOOKED. Unfortunately, that show got cancelled. However, my bestie gifted me the 1st book and I immediately read it. Now I own the whole series (total of 8 books). Currently in book 4. I love this series so much, gave me much happiness and comfort that I definitely needed at that time. Kind of like this channel 😚😚 Love you emma
I am so looking forward to the next 51 minutes of my life. The cosiest time of day ☕️ thank you! ♥️ oh, and not a first read but I was absolutely *consumed* by Alex Garland’s novels this year; The Beach has been my go-to rec for the last 6 months+ and the audio book got me through *many* a stressful coursework sesh
for the last 2 years i’ve used this as my ultimate cosy relaxed video that i put on and even though i’m behind, i’m slowly but surely working my way through all these books ❤
best book i read last year was "the rules of attraction" by bret easton ellis, which i'd highly recommend to anyone who likes campus novels with a darker twist and tone. especially if you like the secret history, as donna tartt and ellis are friends, and i'm pretty sure it's implied both are set at the same university? it's something along those lines.
@e it's got a very similar style to american psycho, characters talk about really specific things like music playing and stuff, but not as verbose as patrick bateman does, but it has a very simplistic, minimalistic and cold matter of fact style just like AP, and the protagonist is even patrick's brother (plus patrick even narrates a chapter) so i'ld definitely recommend
@e I loved it too, it's a wild ride. similar to AP with it having a lot of ellis's very dark satirical humour and super apathetic and trashy characters, but the themes and message are quite different. instead it's a load of desperate horny university students who have no idea what a healthy relationship looks like, which allows for some pretty great but also tragic scenes. and a LOT of 80s music. the movie adaptation is also fantastic
@@adamrowett6423 the movie is soo good, i’d argue it beats out AP as the best adaptation of ellis’ work. i mean, less than zero and the informers are hardly competition, unfortunately
My favorite book of the year is the second book from “The Scythe” trilogy. I was not much impressed with the first book but the second book was SO good. I was anxious to open the book to read, what the main antagonist will do to the protagonists. I cannot describe it really good but it was one of the best books that gave me emotional tension. I hope the third book will be as good as the second.
Always love hearing you talk about books you love; I can not wait to read some of these. This past year I truly fell in love with classics and read so many that I absolutely loved. My favorite books of the year that I read for the first time are: 17. A Long Fatal Love Chase by Louisa May Alcott (A very underrated gothic Alcott novel.) 16. Six of Crows Duology by Leigh Bardugo (Not generally a fan of YA fantasy, but I loved these two books.) 15. Animal Farm by George Orwell 14. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (Incredibly weird.) 13. The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux 12. Medea by Euripides (Perfect revenge plot.) 11. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson 10. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (A ton of fun and my introduction to Dumas. Can not wait to try out The Count of Monte Cristo.) 9. Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (A brilliant Russian novella that focuses on the Lady Macbeth archetype but in Russia.) 8. The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis 7. The Metamorphoses by Ovid (This is basically the perfect classic collection of Roman myths.) 6. Passing by Nella Larsen (A very underrated and powerful story by a black woman author.) 5. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery 4. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde 3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë 2. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (Despite being so old, it was surprisingly relatable, humorous, and emotional.) 1. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (I loved this one so much; it was so emotional, epic, and beautifully written.)
My favorites of the year were 'Blood Meridian' by Cormac McCarthy, 'Pachinko' by Min Jin Lee, and 'Shuggie Bain' by Douglas Stewart... all three are masterpieces in their own special way!
Thank you emma for staying dedicated with reading and books no matter how big your channel gets. And also, you delicately "forced" me to read classics. I also have to thank you for that. ❤️
I love the atmosphere of your videos so much. I really appreciate you. I’m currently getting into reading proactively for the first time, you’re helping a lot!
happy new year, emma! I absolutely love kick starting this year listening to you rant about your favourite books of the year. my favourite books of 2021 are (in no particular order) untold night and day, the crocodile (this is a short story by dostoevsky but I loved it nonetheless), dog songs, dombey and son, the girl who wrote loneliness, and the band played on, and a pale view of hills.
@@emmiereads i think about untold night and day at least once a day. aaah i hope you end up liking dombey and son ♡
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Anne of Green Gables made it to my top 10 last year as well! I think you should definitely read the whole series, although there are some books that aren’t as good as the first one, I absolutely love the brilliance of LM Montgomery writing and detailed description of nature elements, ughhh, so adorable ❤️
aah, my favorite read of this year's definitely been 'No Longer Human' by Osamu Dazai. I wouldn't even really know how to explain it well, it's not really plot nor character driven, mostly feels like following inner thoughts. Very sad and heartbreaking, especially when you learn more about the author, but in the end it can seem hopeful as well
Yes! “No Longer Human” was one of my favorites that I read this year as well!!! And it’s so hard to describe because it reads like a fictional memoir. It is so beautifully written (albeit could do without the misogyny)
@@lucycottam5578 thank you for the recommendation! I liked his style of writing so I wanted to read some more of his work, I'll make sure to check it out :D
I started the year with Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison and finished it with House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski - great bookends. Crime and Punishment was very affecting. I also read the Harry Potter series for the first time - I'm 43! What an experience! It's unlocked the world(s) of fantasy fiction for me: currently reading The Hobbit and plan to read the LOTR trilogy this year (I have the same gorgeous box set as you). This channel was such a good find and has inspired me to finally dip into classical mythology. Happy reading.
Thank you, Emmie, for so many wonderful videos and countless great recommendations this year! My top five books were The Secret Life of Bees, The Phantom of the Opera, Girl in Landscape, Trainspotting, and the Shining! Honorable mention to The Gunslinger
I think my favorite was the house in the cerulean sea. Thank you for all the lovely videos and book recs last year; as a librarian I am never short of books I want to read but you have made my tbr list grow so much. And thank you for creating such a safe and comforting place :)
the girl who drank the moon is one of my favorites for the year! I loved it so so much I got a lil dragon tattooed on my arm so I always have fyrian with me
Omg I just read “the girl who drank the moon” last week and it’s so so good! Everyone should read it. It was way better than I even thought it would be, it just wonderful
The Dispossessed by ursula Le guin was my favorite this year. I finished it in june and it hasnt left my mind since. It’s so incredible i think everyone should read it once in their lives
My favorites of 2021 in no particular order were Alias Grace (Atwood), Tale of Two Cities (Dickens), The Night Circus (Morgenstern), Transcendent Kingdom (Gyasi) and The Blind Assassin (Atwood) This year I’m trying to read as much Margaret Atwood as I can
The night circus is one the most well-written books there ever is. No book I have ever read came close to the way the subject of the book is so intricately infused into the writing, my god
The best book I’ve read this year was the Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I had it on my shelf for years and I finally decided to take out and read it. Absolutely stunning book. I am surprised not many people have read this book. I think it should be on everyone’s to read list.
my favorites of the 2021 are definitely "Despair" by Nabokov (I read this in January and I still think about it 👀), "Kafka on the shore" by Murakami and "Never let me go" by Ishiguro! 🌻🌞
My favourite books i’ve read this year were Educated, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Cat’s Eye, the House in the Cerulean Sea, Where the Crawdads Sing, Anne of Green Gables and East of Eden which really solidified Steinbeck as maybe my favourite author, what an amazing read that was
Your videos are wonderful. I am 64 years old and have been an avid reader all my life. Anne of Green Gables is a re-read favourite from childhood and I love the whole series. This year I finally tried more L M Montgomery and loved Emily of the New Moon (a trilogy) and The Blue Castle (a stand alone novel). Thank you for your enthusiasm and for introducing me to many more authors and books.
this video really makes me wish i found your channel sooo long ago. some of the books that you have talked about that i didn't recognize made me realize there was so much of you and your channel that i missed. you have become one of my fav youtubers and truly inspire me to read more and expand my reading. thank you for popping up on my recommended this year because it has been a highlight. cannot wait for 2022.
some of my fav reads from 2021 would be: "In watermelon sugar" - read this after seeing it here and it was so strange but so so amazing! "Piranesi" - another strange one that had me reading very late into the night "Pride and prejudice" - really helped me get into classics "The picture of Dorian Gray" - read this for school and really loved it! oh and there are so many more, too many to list ahaha - I'm so excited for this next year in hopefully just as great books 🥰💜
Emma, you have to try Where the crawdads sing! It is very atmospheric and the writing is beautiful. The moment I picked up this book, my mind went "Emma will enjoy this". I also recommend A man called Ove because it really is a very heartwarming book that you can cozy up with a nice cup of tea. Both of them are my fav read of 2021.
For me the top books of the last year were definitely The Picture of Dorian Gray and Anne of green gables. It was through your channel that I finally picked them up and read them. Thank you Emma! 🌼
My favourites this year were a little life, drive your plow, never let me go, after dark, and the book thief. I've spent this year really trying to get into books. It started just to help me as my english (in school) was quite poor as well as to try and impress my parents lmao, but I ended up discovering something that now I don't know what I would do without, that is now a huge part of my everyday life and has allowed me to discover so many new things. You have been a huge part of that as well and I'm so thankful, as you encouraged me to indulge in books that aren't just ya literature but also that it's okay if sometimes I want to relax and read something not so difficult.
@@galerights8983 yes haruki murakami. One of the best books I love how it’s written almost as if in the perspective of a camera thought it was really interesting.
1984 has to be my best book of the last year. So glad could finally get my hands on it and omg, I loved it and howwww. Special mention to The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, loved to see that you mentioned it in your top 14 too.
Aw I'm so glad that Anne made it on to your list! I think it tops my own list from this year. Either that or The Song of Achilles. They both really made my summer.
The Shadow of the Wind was definitely my favorite of the year. Funny story is that I misread it as The Name of the Wind, so I thought I was reading a fantasy book😭, but I continued it anyway coz I'm hooked and ended up being my fav
my favorite books of the year were “a lesson in vengeance”, “the bell jar”, and “the picture of dorian gray”. but all of these that you mentioned in the video are going on my tbr!
Hi Emma! Soo glad you're reading Latin American works :')) I'm starting Pedro Páramo this month, which is a Mexican novel that I've had on my tbr for a while and I'm really excited. I'm also reading And Then There Were None and 1984. I hope you have a great 2022!! Love your videos; your channel made me get back into reading 🌻
Not me watching this video and aggressively adding the books to my cart. I was just mesmerised by your description of the books, had to add all of them to my tbr. Thank you for existing in our lives too Emma, much love.🥰❤
Alright. You've convinced me to add your top 3 to my tbr even though they're not really my style. Your excitement over explaining them is infectious! I might try out the three-body problem and first love too.. They all sound so good!
Thank you Emma for sharing your passion for the books! It’s so contagious and cozy! I really love you videos. My favorites of 2021 was “tender is the flesh” and gone with the wind. I already bought the iliac crest thanks to your comments 😉 feliz Año Nuevo from México 🇲🇽
some of my favorites of 2021 are a little life, the picture of dorian gray, the girl who drank the moon and normal people! i also read lots of norwegian books and my favs were kinderwhore by maria kjos fonn, tollak til ingeborg by my fav norwegian author tore renberg and unnskyld by ida hegazi høyer 🥰 great video, as always !!
I've only tapped into this place (where you're so immersed it feels like the book attracted you to some isolated garden) once in middle school. I picked up one book after another for a period of 4 months. Soon after, it felt like I had lost that new-found passion , then highschool and collage came along, so I've never been able to reenter that place again since. This day I've been incessantly watching your videos in hopes of rekindling that spark I once felt in middleschool, and I've just picked up a book and finished it already, "The Alchemist" (I have mixed opinions about it). I hope to keep watching your wonderful videos, and along with it keeping reading more and more books so I could enter that lovely place again. Keep up what you do, I absolutely love it.
Finally read my first Ishiguro novel this year, and he’s definitely one of my favourite authors now! The Remains of the Day is the best book I read in 2021, and probably one of the best I ever read
Aahh I've been watching your videos for almost a year and a half now and it's been such a joy to see this little corner of the internet grow so wonderfully in 2021! I love your videos so much, can't wait to see how you grow this new year
Emma, first of all : your blouse is gorgeous! Second: Yes, The Enchanted Sonata is a dream. I loved it, thanks for the recommendation. And third, others of my best books of 2021: Les Miserables (Victor Hugo), The Phantom of the Opera (Gaston Leroux) and Daughter of the Forest (Juliet Marillier). 😘💖✨
My favorite books from last year are The mill on the floss and Lonesome dove, two terribly long reads but I enjoyed them both very much felt a lot of emotions during and after reading. My recommendation for anyone who is looking for a tough but humanizing journey to embark on! Thank you Emma for your videos! Happy new year!
my favorites of the year are, and in no particular order: - Lord Of The Flies - Project Hail Mary - I saw ram allah - although I've read it in Arabic- I'm sure that its translated version is excellent ! In my next year I'm hoping to read some famous titles like 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Dune, The three body problem trilogy, the iliac crest wich you recommended :), and many other books I'm hugely optimistic about this year !
My fave of the year was hands down The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain. I read it in January and it kept its spot the whole year! It's a mother-daughter story with a time travel twist and has the most compelling writing. Other amazing fiction books I loved were: - The Appeal by Janice Hallett (a murder mystery told entirely through mails, chat logs and messages) - Foe by Iain Reid (a mind bending experience) - Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau (coming of age set in the 70s, revolving around music) - Maybe This Time by Jill Mansell (a heart warming love story) - A Piece of The Word by Christina Baker Kline (historical fiction set around a real painting, telling the story of a woman that's on it)
My favorite book (and also the first one) I read in 2021, also my favorite book ever definitely is "the book thief" by Markus Zusak. Omg the love I have for this book and how emotional it made me and also how beautiful it was, it is just amazing.
I am 75, a clinical psychologist who started out with a bachelors in English. When I watch your videos, especially this one, I see myself. I was young, articulate and very well read. That you have found Khalil Gibran, Tolstoy and Turgenev brings me joy. I read these in high school…. I ran our family grocery store in high school so could have hours for reading. I’m trying to speak to you from your future self if I could be so bold. This vibrant reading passion will never waiver and will carry you through the great complication that is a whole long life. You will always be able to lean into it when you need to. One difference between us is that you possess a lovely quiet confidence which I have now but not when I was your age. Your channel is becoming my fave book place to go, so thank you for this. Sending you such positivity.
That’s the kindest message I read in a while, good day ma’am 💓☺️love her too
Ahh such a beautiful comment ❣️✨
Such a stunning comment💚
this is such a lovely comment 🤍
Such a heart warming message
Emmie, I absolutely adore the range of books that you read. You'll read science fiction to middlegrade to poetry and you'll read Latin American, Russian, or South Korean. Absolutely love hearing about what you're reading!
i read “war and peace” this past year too, because of your tolstoy diaries…and yeah, everything you said i stand by it too, it’s true, i never thought in a million year that a book that long and about something so distant from me could make my heart and soul scream, what a piece of art.
I've been trying to read more classics since the start of last year. So far I've only read Brave New World, 1984, To Kill A Mockingbird, Fahrenheit 451 and now, Emma. I do want to read stuff like War and Peace but idk, Tolstoy has always intimidated me a bit. Would you recommend it for someone who's just getting back into reading again, and who's not super familiar with tons of classics?
@@nat2057war and peace is easy to read, just printout list of characters to refer to because they all have several names and there are many.
I'm so glad you loved Anne of Green Gables! It is one of my favorite books of all time, and my go-to comfort book. It was first gifted to me by my grandmother, so it also reminds me of her whenever I read it. Anne is who I always aspired to be, and she reminds me the world is beautiful during the times when it seems the most dark.
Literally the same! I discovered it at the age of 11, and it has comforted me so much through the years; I love the brightness Anne sees the world with and the joy she takes in all things. Always such a pleasure to revisit!
Top 3 of the year: "Daisy Jones and the Six" "One to Watch" "Giovanni's Room" | Very different but all super relatable to me in different ways
daisy jones was my #1
As a Brazilian reader, I am so happy to see you mentioning The Alienist, by Machado de Assis. Actually, I am rereading this in this moment.
Great list!
I share that feeling, Mell!
AAAAAAA my two favorite booktubers
me too 😁
The Alienist by Caleb Carr published in USA 1994 was a bestseller. Same book name.
Hi, Emma. I have no idea if you'll ever see this, but I wanted to share with you how good you feel to my little reader self. Your satirical and enthusiastic personality brings me so much joy! I've watched you for a little over a year now...I was with you when you introduced Calcifer to us, I was with you when you were getting used to Toronto. Your inner light shines so bright, Emma. Thank you, thank you so much for being you and fervently taking the time to show us your fire spark.
"One Hundred Years of Solitude" is my favourite of the year.
I will need to go back to Macondo constantly.
An UNBELIEVABLE book! 🤯 🦋
Currently 100 pages in and I can totally understand
You've been to Macondo? How is it? I've been thinking of traveling to Colombia and taking a trip there
planning to start it can't wait
@@chumkrimson8161 Unfortunately Macondo only exists within the boundaries of the book. But it reflects many realities, which makes it real at some level.
There must be a lot of personal things for Márquez, related to the city he was born in and the people he met as a child.
I read that book in 1989 had no idea of its fame when I picked it up, loved it. Still one of my all time top 10 lifetime favorites.
I'm so happy to see The Girl Who Drank The Moon get the recognition it deserves. I am a teacher and I can't wait to do a novel study of this book with my students someday!
My favorite of the year was In the dream house, which is a memoir written in a very creative way, using horror and fairy tale tropes. It reads like fiction and the audiobook is narrated by the author herself. Highly recommend it!
Ah I still have that one on my shelf to read, maybe I’ll make sure to get to it this year then!
@@emmiereads I think you’ll love it! It’s written so beautifully!
That was one of my favorites this year too!
In the Dream House was fantastic!
My favorite book of 2021 was Dante’s ‘The Divine Comedy’. I read ‘Inferno’ in January and then ‘Purgatorio’ and ‘Paradiso’ in November. Life changing!! You can definitely read them separately, but the experience of all three is just... I have no words! So beautiful! Everyone should read it!
Yes, I agree. It is what we used to call one of the desert island books.
I read inferno this year and hated it??? what made you love it so much? I’m so curious, bc I genuinely don’t get it lmao
same, i read them all last year and loved it
My favourites of the year are hugely influenced by you, Emma, and for that, I am eternally grateful!
The books are:
- The Night Circus
- The Picture of Dorian Gray
- The Girl who Drank the Moon
- The Prophet (Kahlil Gibran)
- Little Women
- The Great Gatsby
- Beloved
- Circe
@@songofmari I didnt see it coming tho! Hahahaha
My favorite read of the year was absolutely Murakami’s “Kafka on the Shore.” Such a fascinating novel that manipulates reality so much. Can’t wait to read it again!
i have sort of a love-hate relationship with it, it confused me so much and i audibly said 'what' and 'why' so many times but i still enjoyed the writing/the story a lot hahaha
Kafka on the shore,was my first Murakami's book,i read on 2019 and ever since after that He's one of my fav author.
It was the first book i read by murakami. Then i have bought many books by him. I rea 5 more books of him. Cant wait to read 1q84. I Adore his using music in his books. It is kind of magical listening to songs while reading. And the way he doesnt care about rules of planet earth. Ahahha but i am mad at him. At the end of every book he leaves me lost of question marks in my mind.
This was my first book of the year and I LOVED IT
That's my book of the year as well. Adored it
I just finished Frankenstein in Bagdad. I really liked it: the writing, the stories, the atmosphere, the characters and their relationships... Really beautiful book. I never would have picked it up if it wasn't for your recommendation. Thank you so much!
It was one of the best for me too this year. I bought it after emmie recommended but then i totally forgot until one of my friends mentioned about it. I believe that it is huge success to write smt about so devastating but not dramatize it and as readers we get how horrible situation out there.
here's my top 5 of 2021 (in no particular order)
- the song of achilles
- entwined
- empire of sand
- the hunger games trilogy
- the bear and the nightingale
honorable mentions:
- the witcher - sword of destiny
- unholy blood
- little women
I’m so glad u liked the Bear and the Nightingale! I wanted so badly to love it and just couldn’t, I’ll have to reread it some time soon!
My favourite book this year was John Williams’ ‘Stoner’. Such a beautiful, heart wrenching story about the mundanity but importance of everyday life, following an English professor through his life. This book deserves so much more attention than it receives, I never hear anybody talk about it! The best book I have ever read, please read it!
as a reader who consumes books from all different genres I always get so many good recs from you - happy new year!!
happy new year!!!💙
Read the three body problem in Chinese last year as well. I've heard of this book before, there was a TH-camr who said this was top of the list of books borrowed at Tsinghua university (most prestigious university in China) library, and then saw that Emma was reading it too, so I went and read it as well. It is way beyond my expectation, especially since I'm not usually into Sci Fi and this is my first one. The trilogy is Sci Fi, but not simply Sci Fi, to me it's more like putting humanity and human society under the extremes and imagining how it would behave, like projecting the human history into the future under this Sci Fi backdrop. The science part is very fun to read as well, my high school physics came back to me a bit. Towards the end, the story almost felt like it was going in a direction I didn't like, but it worked for me in the end, it was gentle and cruel at the same time. There are certain aspects of the book that I don't fully like, but I'm totally willing to ignore cuz this trilogy is just amazing! It opened me up to seeing the world beyond how things are today, and ultimately makes me love humanity and this blue marble that we have more than before.
my top read this past year was “jane eyre”, i read it twice and it was so magical to me! and a nonfiction, “quiet” by susan cain. ❤️
“The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah!!! My favourite book for 2021! (probably for all time) I cried a lot because of this book, it was very emotional🥺
I picked up Nevernight on a lark and ended up falling in love with the world myself. I've heard a lot of readers don't care for the footnotes, but I adore them.
Adding a few of these to my ever-growing TBR! I’ve started reading again in the last 3-4 months after probably 8 years of barely reading any books at all, and passionate readers like you on TH-cam make me feel so excited to explore new books. Thank you 😊
Yayy we have some overlap in our favorites list, I also ADORED The Girl Who Drank the Moon and The Enchanted Sonata. I picked up The Enchanted Sonata based on your recommendation and I'm so glad I did, it's one of the best YA books I've ever read. I can't wait to read Entwined now! My other absolute favorites of the year were;
1) A Snowfall of Silver by Laura Wood, which is a historical romance set in 1930s London, it's about this young girl who dreams of becoming an actress and she goes on tour with a theatrical troupe. It was sooo cozy, it's literally hot chocolate in book form!😭
2) The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, this is hands down the best gothic novel I've ever read and has become one of my all time favorite novels in general. This is one of those books that once you start reading it you physically can't stop reading. It was like going into a trance, Diane Setterfield must be a witch or something.
3) The Fruit of Knowledge by Liv Strömquist, this one's nonfiction and it's a graphic novel about the history of the vulva. I learned so much from this book, it was such an empowering read and it's also seriously one of the funniest books I've ever read. I think this should be required reading for everyone.
there is something about watching the pure joy you have for these books that not only makes me so genuinely happy, but also makes me want to pick up every book I own and not stop till I've finished them. also, my favorite books of 2021 were The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Phantom of the Opera, Malibu Rising, The Song of Achilles and Horrid! 🖤
my favs for the year are "Jane Eyre"
"davinci code"
"the little prince" re-read
"Christ Recrucified"
"Carmilla"
Yesss! So glad to hear about Jane Eyre! I reread it again this year and was able to appreciate more than when I had to study it for school~♡
@@Rara-zm2ps I enjoyed it so much and i am sure that someday I'll be reading it again! Maybe in English this time because i read it in Arabic
Are you even a follower of Emma, she said she felt bad for people who quote Dan Brown's book as their favourite
I read Jane Eyre in 2021 as well and it was my favorite as well! I am obsessed with it!
@@teajarbiscuits people enjoy different things, we shouldn't care what others think of the books we love. We're all here to talk about books and have fun
my absolute favourite book of the year was "on earth we're briefly gorgeous" by far like i adore this book with my whole heart but i also really really loved (in no particular order) "the priory of the orange tree" by samantha shannon, "normal people" by sally rooney, "human acts" by han kang, "autobiography of red" by anne carson (which i read after your recommendation), "the fifth season" by n k jemisin and "mister impossible" by maggie stiefvater!! and another general favourite of my reading year was reading romance and even though this list is lacking on it it's only because i haven't found a romance novel that is as beautifully written as these books here (even though a lot of them include or mainly revolve around romance and genre isn't a monolith anyway)!
thats so funny because I found Ocean Vuong's on earth we are briefly gorgeous" to be one of the worst books Ive read two years ago. I found him trying to hard to have a sophisticated and poetic prose and his writing seemed too scattered to me. I see why people may find his writing to be wonderful but I thought him overrated. I might have to read some of his poetry though but my opinion still stands on his memoir.
My favorite read from this year was One Hundred Years of Solitude, I am Colombian and this was one of the books that intimidated me, but it is a beautiful masterpiece. Another magic realism book that I loved and recommend is Like Water for Chocolate by Mexican author Laura Esquivel, it is wonderful and beautiful. Love from Colombia
OMG! Emma idk if you gonna able to read this but anyway, you become my favourite one on TH-cam I’m not joking like I’m waiting for the day you upload 🥲😔🤍🤍!! I love you so much and I’m sending you visual hug 😔🫂♥️.
Ah thank you so much:’) Sending you a big hug too💕
I Second this
I third this
I fourth this
If you like L.M. Montgomery as a writer, I can not more highly recommend The Blue Castle. It has been a favourite of mine since I first read it, I have bought three copies of it, it is the first book I ever annotated... it's just phenomenal. Her prose blows me away every time, and I have never fallen in love with characters more than in this book. I've written three essays about it, that's how much I adore this book.
The Bloody Chamber is intense and wonderful. I got into her work when I was 15/16 and thus began my journey with magic realism and all things Angela Carter. Thirty years later I still believe she is one of the best writers ever.
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee is by far my favorite book that I've read in 2020. I highly highly highly recommend you read it if you haven't already! It was the type of book that I had to put down every now and then just so that I don't finish because it was too good.
omg 2021 oops LOL! Can't fathom the fact that it's already 2022 :')
I think my favourite read of 2021 was either Borges' "Ficciones" or Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia". Probably Borges because he basically lifted my brain out of my skull and twisted it into a balloon animal, but Orwell's account of his experiences in the Spanish Civil War is really fascinating and his prose is just gorgeous.
I've had such a great reading year, too! I think War and Peace and Les Misérables might've affected me the most, but there's so many! About Les Mis I wanna say that I think a lot of ppl go into the book expecting the musical which is such a shame! It rly is a very different kind of story. I think if people went into it not expecting anything they'd get to love it much more than they would otherwise. It's the story of Paris as a living being and one of hope despite hope lost. I simultaneously felt like comforting the book and comforted by it. It sustained me emotionally in a big way all year. I don't know how it manages to be so beautiful and hopeful despite all the tragedy. The musical is very different in that. (And it's also valuable, just super different!) It's now almost a year since I finished it and it's one of those books I've been wanting to reread since i first read them.
''The secret History" by Donna Tartt, is my favourite of the year. I LOVEEE ITTT! Highly recommend it!
It's in my top of the year as well. Enjoyed it a lot more than I expected honestly :)
It read like a classic to me
I'm reading this now!
That is a really good one…read it years ago when first published. Creepy too.
you're easily my new favorite channel when it comes to book recommendations! i love how you branch out into so many different and unique types of genres and recommend books ive never heard of before or wouldn't have picked up otherwise. my personal favorite book of 2021 was 'we were liars', i read it twice and i loved it so much more the second time it totally blew me away :)
"I'm Thinking of Ending Things" is my favorite book of 2021. it keeps coming back to me and i still get random sentences from the book stuck in my head even though i've read it months ago. psychological horror is one of my favorite genres to read and this book tackling the subjects of loneliness and getting old in such a profound way is really special to me! also, the movie adaptation of this book was really good for entirely different reasons and i loved that too
I loved Evie Wyld’s The Bass Rock - set in Scotland, witchiness (not fantasy, but a mixture of historical settings and present day), I thought the whole thing was brilliantly done!
Ooh this sounds amazing gonna go look it up👀
I LUV U EMMA!!! My favorite reads of this year are: Piranesi, The Death of Vivek Oji, Tender is the Flesh, Strange Weather in Tokyo, and The Housekeeper and the Professor!
Here’s to another wonderful reading year 💖💖💖 all the best in uni!!!
So much love to you Mae🥰 Ooh so happy Tender is the Flesh made it on your list, can’t wait to pick it up this year! Thank you so much lovely, happy new year💕
I think I'm going to add "The Iliac Crest" and "First love" to my TBR list. I know Russian, but I've only read "Mumu" by Turgenev for school.
I adore Anne of Green Gables. It's one of my favourtie books to reread.
My favourite books from last year were a biography of Frida Kahlo by Hayden Herrera, "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes, "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini and "And then there were none" by Agatha Christie.
My favorite book I have read this year is Anne of Green Gables. I first watched the series Anne with an E and was HOOKED. Unfortunately, that show got cancelled. However, my bestie gifted me the 1st book and I immediately read it. Now I own the whole series (total of 8 books). Currently in book 4. I love this series so much, gave me much happiness and comfort that I definitely needed at that time. Kind of like this channel 😚😚 Love you emma
I am so looking forward to the next 51 minutes of my life. The cosiest time of day ☕️ thank you! ♥️ oh, and not a first read but I was absolutely *consumed* by Alex Garland’s novels this year; The Beach has been my go-to rec for the last 6 months+ and the audio book got me through *many* a stressful coursework sesh
My year of rest and relaxation! I needed this during a very difficult second quarantine.
I loved Jane Eyre, the book is famous, I new already a lot about it but I did not expect it to be so good. The internal monologue is amayzing.
Third this
for the last 2 years i’ve used this as my ultimate cosy relaxed video that i put on and even though i’m behind, i’m slowly but surely working my way through all these books ❤
I read one hundred years of solitude in 2021 because of you and your recommendations are sooooo good
AHHHHH amazing, I cannot wait to reread it this year, something I'm most looking forward to:')
best book i read last year was "the rules of attraction" by bret easton ellis, which i'd highly recommend to anyone who likes campus novels with a darker twist and tone. especially if you like the secret history, as donna tartt and ellis are friends, and i'm pretty sure it's implied both are set at the same university? it's something along those lines.
@e it's got a very similar style to american psycho, characters talk about really specific things like music playing and stuff, but not as verbose as patrick bateman does, but it has a very simplistic, minimalistic and cold matter of fact style just like AP, and the protagonist is even patrick's brother (plus patrick even narrates a chapter) so i'ld definitely recommend
@e I loved it too, it's a wild ride. similar to AP with it having a lot of ellis's very dark satirical humour and super apathetic and trashy characters, but the themes and message are quite different. instead it's a load of desperate horny university students who have no idea what a healthy relationship looks like, which allows for some pretty great but also tragic scenes. and a LOT of 80s music. the movie adaptation is also fantastic
@@adamrowett6423 the movie is soo good, i’d argue it beats out AP as the best adaptation of ellis’ work. i mean, less than zero and the informers are hardly competition, unfortunately
My favorite book of the year is the second book from “The Scythe” trilogy. I was not much impressed with the first book but the second book was SO good. I was anxious to open the book to read, what the main antagonist will do to the protagonists. I cannot describe it really good but it was one of the best books that gave me emotional tension. I hope the third book will be as good as the second.
Your way of describing each book is so convincing that i feel restless untill i can get my hands on all of them! Cannot wait to read.
Much love, x
Always love hearing you talk about books you love; I can not wait to read some of these.
This past year I truly fell in love with classics and read so many that I absolutely loved.
My favorite books of the year that I read for the first time are:
17. A Long Fatal Love Chase by Louisa May Alcott (A very underrated gothic Alcott novel.)
16. Six of Crows Duology by Leigh Bardugo (Not generally a fan of YA fantasy, but I loved these two books.)
15. Animal Farm by George Orwell
14. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (Incredibly weird.)
13. The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
12. Medea by Euripides (Perfect revenge plot.)
11. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
10. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas (A ton of fun and my introduction to Dumas. Can not wait to try out The Count of Monte Cristo.)
9. Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (A brilliant Russian novella that focuses on the Lady Macbeth archetype but in Russia.)
8. The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis
7. The Metamorphoses by Ovid (This is basically the perfect classic collection of Roman myths.)
6. Passing by Nella Larsen (A very underrated and powerful story by a black woman author.)
5. Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
4. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
2. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (Despite being so old, it was surprisingly relatable, humorous, and emotional.)
1. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (I loved this one so much; it was so emotional, epic, and beautifully written.)
I read the Castle in the clouds because of you and had the exact same feelings. Such a cozy and nice read!
My favorites of the year were 'Blood Meridian' by Cormac McCarthy, 'Pachinko' by Min Jin Lee, and 'Shuggie Bain' by Douglas Stewart... all three are masterpieces in their own special way!
Thank you emma for staying dedicated with reading and books no matter how big your channel gets. And also, you delicately "forced" me to read classics. I also have to thank you for that. ❤️
I love the atmosphere of your videos so much. I really appreciate you. I’m currently getting into reading proactively for the first time, you’re helping a lot!
happy new year, emma!
I absolutely love kick starting this year listening to you rant about your favourite books of the year. my favourite books of 2021 are (in no particular order) untold night and day, the crocodile (this is a short story by dostoevsky but I loved it nonetheless), dog songs, dombey and son, the girl who wrote loneliness, and the band played on, and a pale view of hills.
happy new year!! ah amazing untold night and day made it to your list too and ah that makes me so much more excited for Dombey and Son this year haha
@@emmiereads i think about untold night and day at least once a day. aaah i hope you end up liking dombey and son ♡
Anne of Green Gables made it to my top 10 last year as well! I think you should definitely read the whole series, although there are some books that aren’t as good as the first one, I absolutely love the brilliance of LM Montgomery writing and detailed description of nature elements, ughhh, so adorable ❤️
aah, my favorite read of this year's definitely been 'No Longer Human' by Osamu Dazai. I wouldn't even really know how to explain it well, it's not really plot nor character driven, mostly feels like following inner thoughts. Very sad and heartbreaking, especially when you learn more about the author, but in the end it can seem hopeful as well
no longer human is on my list for this year! i read dazai's novella schoolgirl and was swept away by his writing
Yes! “No Longer Human” was one of my favorites that I read this year as well!!! And it’s so hard to describe because it reads like a fictional memoir. It is so beautifully written (albeit could do without the misogyny)
@@zooopies ty for the heads up!! looking forward to reading it soon :)
A setting sun by him is so much better than no longer human in my opinion! I recommend it 100%
@@lucycottam5578 thank you for the recommendation! I liked his style of writing so I wanted to read some more of his work, I'll make sure to check it out :D
I started the year with Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison and finished it with House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski - great bookends. Crime and Punishment was very affecting. I also read the Harry Potter series for the first time - I'm 43! What an experience! It's unlocked the world(s) of fantasy fiction for me: currently reading The Hobbit and plan to read the LOTR trilogy this year (I have the same gorgeous box set as you). This channel was such a good find and has inspired me to finally dip into classical mythology. Happy reading.
Thank you, Emmie, for so many wonderful videos and countless great recommendations this year! My top five books were The Secret Life of Bees, The Phantom of the Opera, Girl in Landscape, Trainspotting, and the Shining! Honorable mention to The Gunslinger
I think my favorite was the house in the cerulean sea. Thank you for all the lovely videos and book recs last year; as a librarian I am never short of books I want to read but you have made my tbr list grow so much. And thank you for creating such a safe and comforting place :)
Cerulean is a fluffy blanket of a novel. Confort for the soul in paper format.
@@antonellabassi3466 such a great description for the book!!! a fluffy blanket - love that!
I just got a Nevernight tattoo :) I loved that entire series so much. It just keeps getting better.
the girl who drank the moon is one of my favorites for the year! I loved it so so much I got a lil dragon tattooed on my arm so I always have fyrian with me
Omg I just read “the girl who drank the moon” last week and it’s so so good! Everyone should read it. It was way better than I even thought it would be, it just wonderful
The Dispossessed by ursula Le guin was my favorite this year. I finished it in june and it hasnt left my mind since. It’s so incredible i think everyone should read it once in their lives
i added the iliac crest to my reading list because i literally fell in love with your description
My favorites of 2021 in no particular order were Alias Grace (Atwood), Tale of Two Cities (Dickens), The Night Circus (Morgenstern), Transcendent Kingdom (Gyasi) and The Blind Assassin (Atwood)
This year I’m trying to read as much Margaret Atwood as I can
People don't talk about The Blind Assassin enough, it's such a good book!
The night circus is one the most well-written books there ever is. No book I have ever read came close to the way the subject of the book is so intricately infused into the writing, my god
I definitely preferred The Night Circus over The Starless Sea.
The best book I’ve read this year was the Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I had it on my shelf for years and I finally decided to take out and read it. Absolutely stunning book. I am surprised not many people have read this book. I think it should be on everyone’s to read list.
I read this book several years ago before I took a trip to Spain and re-read it last year. This book is amazing!
One of my all time favorite books. I have recommended it to so many people who also loved it!!
my favorites of the 2021 are definitely "Despair" by Nabokov (I read this in January and I still think about it 👀), "Kafka on the shore" by Murakami and "Never let me go" by Ishiguro! 🌻🌞
I read Jane Eyre for the first time in '21 and it was my favorite one. I am obsessed and cant wait to re-read it this year
My favourite books i’ve read this year were Educated, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Cat’s Eye, the House in the Cerulean Sea, Where the Crawdads Sing, Anne of Green Gables and East of Eden which really solidified Steinbeck as maybe my favourite author, what an amazing read that was
Yessss east of eden was amazing
@@DjDj-tc7tv The House in the Cerulean Sea was so charming!! really warmed my heart
Educated was a top fave of mine for this year too! Where the Crawdads Sing was also a great read
Where the Crawdads Sing was one of my favourites of 2020
@@nickel_0 I've heard such great things about that book!!
Your videos are wonderful. I am 64 years old and have been an avid reader all my life. Anne of Green Gables is a re-read favourite from childhood and I love the whole series. This year I finally tried more L M Montgomery and loved Emily of the New Moon (a trilogy) and The Blue Castle (a stand alone novel). Thank you for your enthusiasm and for introducing me to many more authors and books.
Thanks to you for being in our lives
this video really makes me wish i found your channel sooo long ago. some of the books that you have talked about that i didn't recognize made me realize there was so much of you and your channel that i missed. you have become one of my fav youtubers and truly inspire me to read more and expand my reading. thank you for popping up on my recommended this year because it has been a highlight. cannot wait for 2022.
some of my fav reads from 2021 would be:
"In watermelon sugar" - read this after seeing it here and it was so strange but so so amazing!
"Piranesi" - another strange one that had me reading very late into the night
"Pride and prejudice" - really helped me get into classics
"The picture of Dorian Gray" - read this for school and really loved it!
oh and there are so many more, too many to list ahaha - I'm so excited for this next year in hopefully just as great books 🥰💜
Got really randomly recommended Piranesi and it was just wonderful!
Emma, you have to try Where the crawdads sing! It is very atmospheric and the writing is beautiful. The moment I picked up this book, my mind went "Emma will enjoy this". I also recommend A man called Ove because it really is a very heartwarming book that you can cozy up with a nice cup of tea. Both of them are my fav read of 2021.
It's impossible to express how good Ove is.
@@jamesduggan7200 yes! i have been on the search for more books like that. I just love that one so so much
For me the top books of the last year were definitely The Picture of Dorian Gray and Anne of green gables. It was through your channel that I finally picked them up and read them. Thank you Emma! 🌼
My favourites this year were a little life, drive your plow, never let me go, after dark, and the book thief. I've spent this year really trying to get into books. It started just to help me as my english (in school) was quite poor as well as to try and impress my parents lmao, but I ended up discovering something that now I don't know what I would do without, that is now a huge part of my everyday life and has allowed me to discover so many new things. You have been a huge part of that as well and I'm so thankful, as you encouraged me to indulge in books that aren't just ya literature but also that it's okay if sometimes I want to relax and read something not so difficult.
after dark by haruki, right?
@@galerights8983 yes haruki murakami. One of the best books I love how it’s written almost as if in the perspective of a camera thought it was really interesting.
1984 has to be my best book of the last year. So glad could finally get my hands on it and omg, I loved it and howwww. Special mention to The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, loved to see that you mentioned it in your top 14 too.
Aw I'm so glad that Anne made it on to your list! I think it tops my own list from this year. Either that or The Song of Achilles. They both really made my summer.
The Shadow of the Wind was definitely my favorite of the year. Funny story is that I misread it as The Name of the Wind, so I thought I was reading a fantasy book😭, but I continued it anyway coz I'm hooked and ended up being my fav
oh no haha I get those two mixed up all the time! so glad it ended up being a wonderful coincidence
I read it too! So good!
The Shadow of the Wind is a great book. Carlos Ruiz Zafón's other books are also really immersive.
The way you talk about Anne of Green Gables, is exactly how I feel about the Secret Garden!
my favorite books of the year were “a lesson in vengeance”, “the bell jar”, and “the picture of dorian gray”. but all of these that you mentioned in the video are going on my tbr!
I love the Bell Jar
Hi Emma! Soo glad you're reading Latin American works :')) I'm starting Pedro Páramo this month, which is a Mexican novel that I've had on my tbr for a while and I'm really excited. I'm also reading And Then There Were None and 1984. I hope you have a great 2022!! Love your videos; your channel made me get back into reading 🌻
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones was my favorite of 2021, I’m already contemplating reading it again! It’s definitely a comfort read ❤️
Not me watching this video and aggressively adding the books to my cart. I was just mesmerised by your description of the books, had to add all of them to my tbr. Thank you for existing in our lives too Emma, much love.🥰❤
The Iliac Crest really sounds like my kind of book! You describe it so wonderfully.
ah Milena I think you would absolutely love it!!
Alright. You've convinced me to add your top 3 to my tbr even though they're not really my style. Your excitement over explaining them is infectious! I might try out the three-body problem and first love too.. They all sound so good!
Thank you Emma for sharing your passion for the books! It’s so contagious and cozy! I really love you videos. My favorites of 2021 was “tender is the flesh” and gone with the wind. I already bought the iliac crest thanks to your comments 😉 feliz Año Nuevo from México 🇲🇽
I read The Secret Garden and A Little Princess this year. I loved the movies as a kid so it was about time.
51 minutes of Emma. Splendid!!!
ahhhhhh i could listen to your voice all day
some of my favorites of 2021 are a little life, the picture of dorian gray, the girl who drank the moon and normal people! i also read lots of norwegian books and my favs were kinderwhore by maria kjos fonn, tollak til ingeborg by my fav norwegian author tore renberg and unnskyld by ida hegazi høyer 🥰 great video, as always !!
I've only tapped into this place (where you're so immersed it feels like the book attracted you to some isolated garden) once in middle school. I picked up one book after another for a period of 4 months.
Soon after, it felt like I had lost that new-found passion , then highschool and collage came along, so I've never been able to reenter that place again since.
This day I've been incessantly watching your videos in hopes of rekindling that spark I once felt in middleschool, and I've just picked up a book and finished it already, "The Alchemist" (I have mixed opinions about it).
I hope to keep watching your wonderful videos, and along with it keeping reading more and more books so I could enter that lovely place again. Keep up what you do, I absolutely love it.
Finally read my first Ishiguro novel this year, and he’s definitely one of my favourite authors now! The Remains of the Day is the best book I read in 2021, and probably one of the best I ever read
I read it too this year. It is pretty good. I wanna read one more book by ishiguro. Didnt decide which one to go on yet
Aahh I've been watching your videos for almost a year and a half now and it's been such a joy to see this little corner of the internet grow so wonderfully in 2021! I love your videos so much, can't wait to see how you grow this new year
Emma, first of all : your blouse is gorgeous! Second: Yes, The Enchanted Sonata is a dream. I loved it, thanks for the recommendation. And third, others of my best books of 2021: Les Miserables (Victor Hugo), The Phantom of the Opera (Gaston Leroux) and Daughter of the Forest (Juliet Marillier). 😘💖✨
My favorite books from last year are The mill on the floss and Lonesome dove, two terribly long reads but I enjoyed them both very much felt a lot of emotions during and after reading. My recommendation for anyone who is looking for a tough but humanizing journey to embark on!
Thank you Emma for your videos! Happy new year!
my favorites of the year are, and in no particular order:
- Lord Of The Flies
- Project Hail Mary
- I saw ram allah - although I've read it in Arabic- I'm sure that its translated version is excellent !
In my next year I'm hoping to read some famous titles like 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Dune, The three body problem trilogy, the iliac crest wich you recommended :), and many other books
I'm hugely optimistic about this year !
I love Project Hail Mary so much and I’m so happy to see someone else talk about it
My fave of the year was hands down The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain. I read it in January and it kept its spot the whole year! It's a mother-daughter story with a time travel twist and has the most compelling writing.
Other amazing fiction books I loved were:
- The Appeal by Janice Hallett (a murder mystery told entirely through mails, chat logs and messages)
- Foe by Iain Reid (a mind bending experience)
- Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau (coming of age set in the 70s, revolving around music)
- Maybe This Time by Jill Mansell (a heart warming love story)
- A Piece of The Word by Christina Baker Kline (historical fiction set around a real painting, telling the story of a woman that's on it)
My favorite book (and also the first one) I read in 2021, also my favorite book ever definitely is "the book thief" by Markus Zusak. Omg the love I have for this book and how emotional it made me and also how beautiful it was, it is just amazing.
It's a wonderful book. I read it in 2008 when I was living in the UK (I'm aussie).
Read transcendent kingdom. I’m currently reading it, about 85% of the way through, and I just don’t want it to end. It is amazing.