Відео

That may be the best review of orbital I’ve heard and I’ve heard a sh**ton. I also love the book anddd think it definitely deserved the Booker win 📖🪱💚

I haven't read any of the books you mentioned, but I have heard lots about Orbital and was interested at first. Some booktubers read exerpts, and I noticed that to me, it is overwritten. I had the same experience with Hamnet and Open Water. Somehow, my limit of lyrical writing dipping into the overwrought seems to be lower than many booktubers that have similar taste to mine. December was a great reading month for me, as I mostly reread favourite books😊!

I nearly picked up Holiday Romance last month and now I regret leaving it on the shelf! Sounds so fun. By the way, love your jumper - it looks like it's willing the Spring to arrive!

Brava. That's a lot of reading to squeeze in during such a busy month. Me too. I took a road trip and so had quite a bit of audiobook and hotel time. Here's what I finished reading in Dec 2024: "I Am Alien to Life: Selected Stories by Djuna Barnes (intriguing); The Very Best of OHenry (a little goes a long way); A Christmas Carol (every year); A Small Place (ooph); A Child's Christmas in Wales (reread); Wessex Tales by Thomas Hardy (gorgeous prose in sweeter bites); The Gardner Heist (goodish); 84, Charing Cross Road (delightful); Small Things Like These (reread.) Loads of short fiction which fit my attention span and busy days. Now I've buckled down. Reading potential comps for my own novel. marjorieapple.substack.com

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December was one of my better reading months last year. Favourites were Liars by Sarah Manguso, and Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy (and Monstrilio of course). My themes atm seem to be marriage breakdowns and the struggle of parenting 😂

Hi Aisling Holiday Romance is going on my TBR.

I love speculative fiction and climate fiction, therefore Aerth sounds intriguing. I adore The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey (not so much her 2016 novel), and her new release sounds like my cup of tea. I generally am reluctant to anticipate new releases, as we often get them many months later in my local library. Luckily, I still have over 100 books on my tbr to keep me happy. I am looking forward to your reviews, and if they are favourable, the books might end up on my tbr at the end of the year😊!

Thanks for highlighting these new releases - plenty to add to the TBR. I may also take it as a gentle nudge to try and finish the Poppy War trilogy and get to Priory of the orange tree before those authors new releases...plenty of time ☺️ Some others I've come across that have peaked my curiosity are: Disappoint Me, by Nicola Dinan Open Heaven by Sean Hewitt I Want to Go Home But I'm Already There by Roisin Lanigan [love this title] Calls May Be Recorded for Training and Monitoring Purposes, by Katharina Volckmer

Foster was on my best book of 2023. I also loved the quiet girl. I cried at the end of both. I was brought up in New York City, a large Irish population, and the Irish are the best storytellers ever. I’ve read many wonderful Irish novels in my 70+ years on the plan. Aloha from hawaii.

I have a few new releases I’m looking forward to which is weird for me lol A Room Above a Shop - novella by Anthony Shapland. It’s an LBTQIA+ story set in South Wales against the backdrop of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Beartooth by Callan Wink - a story of survival with two brothers in Yellowstone. Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito about a bloodthirsty governess!? The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones - Indigenous horror. The Lamb by Lucy Rose - queer horror. The Pretender by Jo Harkin - historical fiction set in the time of the Tudors. If you’re up for a nonfiction rec, I’m currently reading The Earth Transformed by Peter Frankopan. So interesting and not too dense a read.

East of Eden is on my to-read list for this year. i loved Anna Karenina but have yet to read War and Peace.

I've pre-ordered Everything is TB! And I also loved The Anthropocene Reviewed, I'm very excited to read his latest dip into non-fiction 📚

I have read Jane Eyre, Brooklyn and East of Eden from this list. Steinbeck's books have been on my tbr for the longest of all my books I think! Brooklyn was amazing. Jane Eyre slow, but a masterpiece. I am up to book 3 of acotar. I also have the Thursday murder club to read. Someone gave it to me years ago and I haven't read it yet, despite all the hype!

Thanks for sharing. I will add Solar Bones to my TBR; it sounds great! And wow, the Ministry of Time book cover is so cool!

yep, I'm focusing on my owned tbr as well! good luck with your list, you've got lots of chunky ones!

My big book of 2025 is The Brothers Karamazov, and I plan on finishing it within 4-5 months. Your list is an interesting mix of authors and genres!

Happy New Year. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on these and other books this year. Would you listen to audio in tandem with print? That helped me through East of Eden and The Wind up bird chronicle. I really enjoyed both 😊

Happy New Year! That's a great list of books you got there. I'm sure you'll love Thursday Murder Club - read it last year and totally adored the characters 🥰 I tried reading David Mitchell's The Bone Clock but couldn't finish I think he's way too 'smart' for me! Hope you'll have better time with him this year ❤

I wasn’t a fan of Cloud Atlas but I’m going to give David Mitchell another go this year as I have The Bone Clocks and Slade House on my kindle. I’m currently reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - just over a third of the way through and enjoying it a lot but I’m definitely feeling the length of it. I’m hoping to get to Brooklyn this year too. I haven’t read any Toibin before so I’m looking forward to it. My biggest goal though is to finish rereading The Farseer Trilogy and smash out The Liveship Traders too.

Happy New Year! Hope 2025 is a great reading year for you, and great in other ways too. I'm also planning to read from my shelves this year. I've got about 50 unread books, which is up from last year, because I did spend quite a bit on books at the end of the year. But it's all good, because I've plenty of reading material now, so I don't plan to be shopping for books for quite a while. I'm so looking forward to your thoughts on The Count of Monte Cristo.

I'm interested to hear how a lot of these go for you! Also, I thought of a cozy mystery series you might like to check out: The Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series by Louise Penny. I've only read the first one, called Still Life, a year or so ago, but I think it was nice. The friend who recommended it has read more of the series and thought it continued well. My current 25 for '25 (and about 75% of them are on my shelf, impatient to be read!): Have started and want to finish: Stoner by Williams Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace Series to finish/continue: Tawny Man Trilogy (I'm counting as one) Rain Wild Chronicles (counting as one) One Final Turn by Ashley Weaver Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey Classics (leaning Russian): Notes from Underground by Dostoevsky Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck (also, hopefully East of Eden, but don't know if I can get to so many long books in one year!) A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle Other Fiction: The Answer is No by Fredrik Backman We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson Breakfast with Budda by Roland Merullo Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr The Fisherman by John Langan North Woods by Daniel Mason Klara and the Sun by Ishiguro The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang Nonfiction: When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi On Writing by Stephen King The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre

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I have Utopia Avenue to read. I really need to read from my shelves.

Hi Aisling 🧡 My intention is to read from my shelves this year too. However I’m not off to a very good start - I bought three books back from the library yesterday and reserved two more. So that’s January sorted 😊 Great list and lovely video as always.

Best wishes for 2025. I hope you get some great stories.

Did you just sell me on three Irish books in one video😂? I am happy that Our Share of Night made it in your top books of 2024! Note that the authors name is Enriquez 😉! Assassin's Apprentice, Cloud Cuckoo Land, and On earth we're briefly gorgeous are on my 2025 TBR, thanks to you😊.

So many good books and such RANGE 🙏

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All five of the nonfiction that you showed are excellent. The Salt Path is trying because you feel so much empathy for the couple. Sweetgrass and Entanglement are excellent nature focused books. You might also enjoy Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.

Your voice is so perfect and soothing, and your pronunciation is so clear to my ears, especially since English is not my first language. I’m new to the bookish community and just subscribed to your channel.❤

One five star read all year, wow!! I have the Ocean Vuong book, Intermezzo, ministry of time and Assassin's Apprentice on my tbr 😊 I'm going to add solar bones to my audio wishlist, sounds great. I think in conversations with friends, Rooney also talked about chronic pain as Frances has endometriosis, so maybe this is something it's important for her to represent. Have a fabulous 2025 reading year!!

The Colony was so good. I still don't know how something so plot-less and slow-going became such a page-turner for me, I couldn't stop reading. It's the kind of writing that just flows from paragraph to paragraph, grabbing my attention all the way, which is what Irish literature often does to me haha .Maybe like you said, it's the underlying violence and tension that keep the novel feel "urgent".

Happy New Year to you 😊

Best of luck with your reading aims in 2025! I’m thinking about my priorities for the new year at the moment so hearing about yours has got the cogs turning! x

Sounds like a great reading year! I am adding Solar Bones to my tbr rn, I cannot get enough of quintessential Irish books 😄 Happy new year when you get there 🎉 and lots of good reading wishes for 2025 😊

Thanks for your best-of list! Coincidentally, I just finished I Who Have Never Known Men this morning. It really was something! I think you represented it well. I've had Cloud Cuckoo Land on my want-to-read list for awhile, but I think you've convinced me to move it higher up the priority ranks. 😊

Hi Aisling The Coleny is going on my TBR. My top ten books are The Tiffany Aching series by Sir Terry Pratchett (MG fantasy), The Dean's Watch, The Scent of Water, and Gentian Hill (modern classics by Elizabeth Goudge), Rewitched and The Girl who Drank the Moon.

❤📚📚❤️ I just started my big book for January, February The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. Cloud Cuckoo Land was my second choice! It will definitely be chosen for March-April!

I never feel like your channel is a "content mill", I really enjoy your videos 😊 The 2€ idea is a great one! Cant help with monte cristo as haven't read it!! One of my fave nature books is waterfalls of stars by Roseanne Alexander ✨ Merry Christmas 🎄

Great goals! I read the Count of Monte Cristo in high school. It may be the least intimidating "door stopper" of a book that you'll ever encounter - it's really fun and engaging, a classic adventure novel and the OG "revenge" tale. You enjoyed War and Peace - you will love Monte Cristo. I hope you're doing well over the holidays and Happy New Year!

What are your reading goals for 2025? I have many! •Read 12 of each: African, non- fiction, fantasy&sci-fi, favourite re-reads. •Read 6 classics. •Read 72 books or 30000 pages •Avoid US authors (exept minorities) as much as possible •Read one poetry collection Do you reward yourself for hitting goals? No Any non-fiction recommendations? During Lockdown i read Utopia for realists by Rutger Bregman, which started me on a non- fiction binge. I basically read one book that was referenced, and one thing led to the next😊. Happy holidays!

🌻 Another enjoyable video Aisling - left with ideas, inspiration and a reminder of why I love books/book chat. I've really enjoyed and appreciated your videos this year, joining you each week has been a real solace. I like your €2 a book idea as definitely motivation for reading books on my shelf are needed - I just don't have much change these days so I wonder if I could use revolut vault 💰 for a digital equivalent... This year I tried having a system of reading five of my own books before I could borrow a library book or buy a new book but I didn't stick to it!! I managed a few months of reading five of my own but the library requests and shopping treats piled up. My owned book pile is larger now than it was last year despite reading more than I've ever read in a year before!! I had wanted to read 100 books this year - to see if I could and what that would be like - I've read 117 and hope to hit 121 - I liked the sense of achievement but I think at times I reached for slimmer books for the sake of numbers rather than focusing maybe on quality. In 2025 I'm planning to read more books in translation, classic - The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Ann Bronte, more cozy fantasy, non-fiction and once again more books from my own shelf!! Most of all to continue enjoying reading and all it offers. I enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club - I hope you do too. I don't know any other cozy mysteries - Agatha Christie is often recommended and I've heard good things about Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers and 'Happy Bloody Christmas'. Non fiction recommendations from my reading this year: Others Like Me by Nicole Louie, Strong Female Character by Fern Brady(memoir), This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein and Something Dark by Lemn Sissay (poetry). Looking forward to hearing your favourites from 2024. Wishing you a lovely and restful christmas break 🎄

Hi Aisling. I typed a long comment yesterday, but apparently didn't save/submit it. Oh well - here are a couple highlights on take-2. I would be interested to watch your classics-reading vlogs. I get the feeling that we have similar reactions to reading classics. In many cases I tend to either DNF them or find them lacking - my inability to appreciate what they have to offer, I'm sure. Maybe hearing what you think about some will help me appreciate them more. (Anna Karenina, for example - a few months ago I got through it, but never did get why it's considered such a masterpiece - maybe you'll convince me!) Count of Monte Cristo, though - I loved that one. I don't think you need any tips on how to manage it. For me, nothing intimidating there except the length - just fall into the story and enjoy it! I would like to read "The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year" but I've been on a long waitlist at my libraries for weeks and don't think I'll get my hands on a copy until after Christmas. If you're interested in another Christmas rom-com (and Irish!), I'm about 2/3 through Snowed In by Catherine Walsh and enjoying it. I like your book fund idea. Nice to think about spending that because of, and for, reading! One of my 2025 reading goals is to get back into Robin Hobb. I'm only two trilogies in, so doubt I'll finish the whole thing, but maybe at least the next 2-3 series. Happy Christmas and New Year!

Christ. That blanket looks so sweet and cozy. Congrats! 🎉