2024 Reading Wrap Up || Favorite Books of the Year!
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- It is time to close out the year that was 2024. I am sharing my reading stats and ALL 34 of my favorite books! What are some of your favorite books of last year?
I upload new videos on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and occasionally on Sundays.
Videos Mentioned:
Emma M. Lion Readalong Announcement - • ANNOUNCING The 2025 Em...
Lord Peter Wimsey Series Wrap Up - • VLOGMAS 2024 - RANKING...
BOOKS MENTIONED:
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower - amzn.to/4fLVNKf
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman - amzn.to/403BvWS
The Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder - amzn.to/3DLZsuk
Looking Forward (Chadwick Family Series) by Marcia Willett - amzn.to/401XJbL
Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin - amzn.to/4095MU2
The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher - amzn.to/40kAD1l
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - amzn.to/4gIox81
Some Writer by Melissa Sweet - amzn.to/40725OB
Hooked by Sutton Foster - amzn.to/405z2ez
Letter from New York by Helene Hanff - blackwells.co....
Devotions by Mary Oliver - amzn.to/3BVrXFi
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare - amzn.to/3DWBcFC
Regarding the Fountain by Kate Klise - amzn.to/3DVwrfx
A Kind of Paradise by Amy Rebecca Tan - amzn.to/3DHbbdn
Heidi by Johanna Spyri - amzn.to/40mTrgj
Exiles by Jane Harper - amzn.to/4gFoMRd
Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers - amzn.to/3C1fqjz
Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers - amzn.to/3DKTPMZ
The Lady of Shalott by Alfred Lord Tennyson - amzn.to/4fI1qsU
Someone At A Distance by Dorothy Whipple - amzn.to/3PpCED5
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins - amzn.to/4h3Nfzl
The Diary of A Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield - amzn.to/40m0Nkf
Middlemarch by George Eliot - amzn.to/40o6Ip5
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson - amzn.to/4h5cVf6
Frances and Bernard by Carlene Bauer - amzn.to/4h44sZp
The Blue Bedroom and Other Stories by Rosamunde Pilcher - amzn.to/4gF5f3e
Vittoria Cottage by D.E. Stevenson - amzn.to/3W7ynIe
Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry - amzn.to/422wJv6
Darling by India Knight - amzn.to/3BXBJqm
Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy - amzn.to/3PnoxhN
Love & Saffron by Kim Fay - amzn.to/421wLU8
Near Neighbors by Molly Clavering - amzn.to/3PpSw8A
Peace Like A River by Leif Enger - amzn.to/4fN2kEx
*Please note that the links above may be affiliate links. This does not affect your cost but does help me grow my channel if you click through and make a purchase. Thank you for your support!
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2025 READALONGS
Jane-uary 2025 Announcement: • Jane-uary 2025 Announc...
Emma M. Lion Readalong Announcement: • ANNOUNCING The 2025 Em...
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Email: jensreadinglife@gmail.com
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COZY READER BOOK CLUB
2025 CRBC Schedule: • Cozy Reader Book Club ...
To join the Cozy Reader Book Club, please email me at the above address to get you added to our distribution list!
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#booktube #books #reading #2024favoritebooks #2024wrapped
Thank you for sharing so many wonderful books with us! I loved hearing you talk about books I read as a child, and it makes me want to read them again as an adult! I have so many memories of books I loved as a child/young adult. I need to reread them in the coming years!
Revisiting childhood books is so wonderful. I have so much nostalgia for them. I’m so glad I’ve become a rereader because it has enriched my reading life so much! Thank you for watching. 😊
Jen, I was confident you'd love Peace Like a River. Still, I'm so glad that you love it like I do. My father, when he was still living - about age 91 - read Peace Like a River at my request and was caught up in the story, just as you described it. Propulsive, great word!
Propulsive really describes it…but also slow and meandering. It’s such a unique and wonderful book. You were right that I would love it! 😁❤️
First of all, that blouse is so pretty! 😊
Did you not read Farmer Boy during your Little House reading last year? Even though it’s about Laura’s husband’s childhood, not hers, it’s still a good one to pick up. Fun and cozy, with the most mouth-watering descriptions of the food Almanzo’s mother cooks. If you haven’t read it yet, I recommend it.
You read so many good books in 2024! Very many of which are on my own TBR, shock. 😂
Thank you! The blouse was a Christmas gift from my mom…she has excellent taste!
I didn’t read Farmer Boy but I picked up a copy last year and it will be the first book I read to continue on with the series.
And it is SHOCKING you have many of these on your TBR shelves! 😂
@ Be sure to have some snacks handy while you read Farmer Boy. It’ll make you want to eat! 😂
@ thanks for the tip! 😆
🌟So many great books in 2024 -- so many I loved as well. 2024 was indeed a great reading year!
I’m so glad you had a great reading year too, Michael! Here’s to another one!
Wow, I admire you for reading 181 books. I read Heidi as well and just adored her. It was such a cozy read. You read a lot of books I would like to check out. Thank you for sharing your favorite books from last year. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I’m glad you enjoyed this! Heidi is just so wonderful, isn’t she? 🥰
Goodness Jenn! I want to get every single book you love!!!!
lol! That’s the danger of Booktube, isn’t it??? 😂
I just finished my first book of the year: What Happened to the McCrays? A wonderful novel. I loved your wrap-up!
I’m glad you enjoyed this! I haven’t heard of that book..I will have to look it up. And it’s always nice to start the year off on a high note! 😊
I just found your channel and I think we might be book kindred spirits! I have just finished Emma M. Lion, am on book 12 of Mrs. Pollifax, love middle grade, and am fairly obsessed with Helene Hanff. I’m so excited to find another booktuber with similar tastes. I added several of your favorites to my TBR. I found you on Goodreads too. Nice to “meet” you!
Welcome,Tamara! 😁 I’m so glad you have found my channel! It definitely sounds like we are kindred book spirits! You clearly have great taste in books! 💕
Absolutely loved Sipsworth too! And DE Stevenson and Dorothy Whipple are favorites as well. ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Thanks for a delightful wrap up! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 😁
Loved this 2024 wrap up. I added way too many books to my overflowing wish list!! You have a wonderful way of presenting new books.
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed this and found more books to add to you TBR! 😊💕
Loved watching this! I also love Hannah Coulter - such a great book! This year I read Leif Enger’s new book I Cheerfully Refuse and really enjoyed that as well!
Oh, and I’m really intrigued by Darling! I read the Nancy Mitford books in college and loved them. This sounds so fun - planning to ask my library to order it!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this. And thanks for the Enger recommendation…I’m adding it to my TBR!
Hi Jen! What a lovely mug! 'On the Banks of Plum Creek' is on my Winter TBR. I love the 'Little House' books. Manderley Press publishes such beautiful books. I love 'Heidi' so much. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Thank you Heather! My mug was a gift from my best friend and is one of my very favorites! The Little House books are just so fabulous as is Heidi. I love discovering books that my childhood self would have loved and my adult self still does! 🥰
It is fun to find a book tube with similar reading tastes and some good recommendations. I read Middlemarch in 2023 while recovering from ankle surgery --it was such a comfort.
Laura and Heidi were my constant companions when I was young in the 70's. Those strong girl who loved nature were perfect friends for my difficult childhood.
I’m so glad you have found me and we have similar book tastes! Bookish kindred spirits are the best. I loved Caddie Woodlawn growing up and I think she made me fall in love with plucky young girls in novels! Books are such a wondrous escape…especially when life is hard. ❤️
Ohh. I loved Caddie too and Anne Shirley. Girls who kept wonder in their hearts.
@@evansbowen6897 that's a great description - kept wonder in their hearts. I'm going to remember that! 🥰
What a great list! I have read several of your choices and loved them too. I will be adding many of these to my TBR. I just love you and your channel … our rates are so similar. I loves Sipsworth this year and Peace Like A River has been a favorite since I read it years ago. I always love spending time with you and look forward to 2025. Thanks, Jen, for a wonderful channel 😍
Thank you so much for your sweet words, Dell! I’m so glad you are here and that you enjoyed my wrap up. 🥰 I’m looking forward to sharing more wonderful books with you all this year!
Wonderful wrap up! I am planning on trying many of these books. Thank you! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you enjoyed this. 😊
I was here! I love your channel and watch them all. Your recommendations are spot on for me.
I am so glad! Thank you for being here. 🥰
My favorite book was The Women! It was great. Got some new books to check out!!
I know lots of people loved that one this past year. I’m glad you enjoyed my video! 😊
Lots of favorites! If you decide to read another Leif Enger, I recommend going to Virgil Wander next. I love his writing!
Thanks for the recommendation! I'll definitely check it out.
Great wrap up!
Thank you! 😊
I read many less books in 2024 but it was still a nice year for me. I have read 13 books in January so 2025 is starting off great. ⭐🌟🌟⭐⭐
That is a great start to your reading year! But truly, however many books you read, you are still a reader. And all reading is good reading! 😁💗
I just finished love and saffron!! Loved it!!
I love your top! Emma M Lion was a favorite of mine as well. I still need to read Books 5-8 but I think I need to get back on Kindle Unlimited. I haven't read Witch of Blackbird Pond since I was a teenager - I should revisit it! Gilead has shown up on my TBR so many times, but I just haven't read it through yet. I need to, though!
Thanks Anne! I think you’d enjoy Gilead. And if you want to read Emma M. Lion with a group, I’m doing a Readalong this year. One book a month…you can join for however many you like! 😊
So many wonderful books!!
I had a very good reading year! 😄
yes I also loved some books on your list like Heidi, the Woman in White and Jane Eyre!
Three of my very favorites! 🥰
What a fabulous list. I haven't heard many people talk about Near Neighbours in discussion of Furrowed Middlebrow titles, so it's great to know that one is so good. Btw, with Marilynne Robinson, I might suggest going to Lila next. I think Home and Jack work best read as a pair (and you can read the books in any order).
I think you will love Near Neighbors, Simon! It’s right up your alley. Plus I leaned the phrase ‘Tea Jenny’ from it and have adopted that as my new nickname. 😁
Thank you for the Marilynne Robinson guidance. I will read Lila next!
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Great wrap up. Heidi is one of my all time favourite books. I read it as an adult after having loved the animated series as a child.
I didn’t know there was an animated Heidi series! I’ve only seen the Shirley Temple movie version. I don’t remember it much but maybe I’ll have to watch an adaptation after my reread in March!
@ It’s a quite old and very hard to find. I believe it was storyboarded by Hayao Miyazaki. I watched an Afrikaans dub as a kid and so did my daughter when she was a toddler. She still remembers the shock of realising they weren’t speaking English.
This is my first video of yours and I loved it! I keep typing out a comment and deleting it as I get further into the video, but I think we have very similar taste and I can't wait to read some of your recommendations! 😊
Welcome Gwen! I am so glad you are here and enjoyed this video. Thank you so much for watching. I hope you enjoy my recommendations when you get to them. ❤️
❤thank you, just found you from Megs Reading Room. Added several to my TBR.
I’ve loved Sipsworth, Heidi, Little House series, Peace like a River and Middle March so feel like your favorites will work for me!
Welcome! I’m so glad you found me through Meg. And I hope you enjoy some of my recommendations. It definitely sounds like we have similar reading tastes. 😊
So many good recommendations here! My TBR just keeps growing! I am also trying to learn crochet and am watching You Tube videos - there are a lot out there.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this! Do you have any crochet UA-camrs you really like?
@@jensreadinglife A few that I have found that I like are simplydaisy, Kristin's Crochet Tuitorials and Bella Coco. Good luck!
@@pennyhouston9959 thank you!
I have a few of your 2024 reads like Darling but I’d forgotten it was a retelling of TPOL which I’ll be adding to my tbr now. A nice and informative review of the books in each of the genres that you’ve read for 2024!😊⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed this video. And I hope you love Darling! 😊
Somehow I missed this video!! 😱Yay, what a super reading year! I always read way less nonfiction too. 😂 My goal every year is 30, but I'm usually in the 20s. I really enjoyed all the nonfiction I read last year though, so that's a win for me.
Thank you for being a big part of making my reading year so great! I always have to push myself to read nonfiction even though I end up enjoying what I do read. I’m just much more drawn to fiction overall.
@@jensreadinglife You're welcome!! It's been such a pleasure!
I still have that witch of blackbird pond! Boy, that takes me immediately back to those times - great reading! ❤
It’s such a good book! And I love books that can transport me back to a specific moment in time. 😊
Excellent wrap-up Jen 😊 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you! 😄 I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
I just read volume one of Emma M. Lion. I loved it.
I’m so glad! It’s a great series. 😊
Wonderful 2024 reading year. 🌟⭐️🙂
It really was! 😊
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Sounds like a wonderful year in 2024! Hope your reading year in 2025 holds as many if not more delights.
Thank you so much! Same to you! 😊
loved this! and always watch to the end :) I need that edition of Heidi, I mean the author and I share first names :)
Thanks Johanna! 🥰 And I always think of you when I see Johanna Spyro’s name. I love the Puffin in Bloom editions…they are beautiful!
Along the line of Little House, JANETTE Oaks (I think) wrote Love Comes Softly and others. A movie was made from Love Comes Softly which I highly recommend! I love your 2024 reads! I’m going to look at ordering some of them.
Thank you for the recommendation. I haven’t heard of Janette Oaks but I will look her up.
And I’m so glad you found some books in this video to add to your TBR! 😊
I just read the book of Laura ingalls letters you’re talking about for epistilary January. You get a glimpse in to Laura’s writing process and letters to kids too!
Now I’m even more excited about reading that one!
This was fun to see your 2024 highlights in this way! I’ve just added “Some Writer!…” to my list. I wasn’t aware of it, so thank you, Jen. All the warm and fuzzy memories of reading “Stuart Little” 🐭 with my son when he was a young boy, and I read “Charlotte’s Web” 🐖 🕷️ with my class each spring when I was still in the classroom. 🥹💗 Truly, what a gift to have had such meaningful experiences being able to reread some of my own childhood favorites. 🙏🏻
Also ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ for you!
Thank you! 🥰 I’m so glad you enjoyed this and hope you love Some Writer! E.B. White is such a wonderful author. It is so fantastic to revisit childhood favorites and rediscover my love for them!
P.S. I too loved Love & Saffron and Sipsworth. Both are on my best of the year list 👍 And I was sitting here, nodding on my sofa because I am a big fan of The Blue Bedroom short stories. Flowers in the Rain is wonderful, too.
Finally,
I'm hoping to read Hannah Coulter this year ☺️. Your review makes me all the more excited.
We are definitely bookish kindred spirits! 🥰 I think you will love Hannah Coulter. Wendell Berry’s writing is luminous.
Thanks Jen! My TBR is quickly growing.
You are welcome, Vero! 😊
I'm so glad you enjoyed Hannah Coulter. 5⭐️ read for sure!
It’s an amazing book! I can’t wait to read more Wendell Berry. 😊
Thank you Jen! I added many of your books to my TBR. Happy New Year! Karin
Happy New Year! I’m glad you enjoyed this. 😊
Wow! My TBR has really grown after watching this. This year I have also read more books than ever. My favorite series I read this year for the first time Miss Read The Fairacre Series. I absolutely loved it and it will definitely be a reread.
I love your idea of writing all the books you have read down and into categories. I will be using that tip this year. Thank you!
With all the books you have read this year which one was your absolute favorite? (This will help me on where to begin on my tbr list 😉)
I hope you have a great New Year!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this! I read the first Fairacre book this year and am looking forward to continuing the series.
It’s really hard to pick an absolute favorite…I think my top three (at least at this moment in time) are Hannah Coulter, Heidi, and Vittoria Cottage. 😊
I read quite a bit of Pilcher in 2024, some more successful than others, but Winter Solstice was the favorite. I’ve been wanting to pick up Devotions for awhile, perhaps 2025 is the year.
Winter Solstice is wonderful. I waver between The Shell Seekers and Coming Home as my favorite of hers. It’s hard to choose! I hope you enjoy Devotions if you decide to pick it up.
🌟⭐️🌟⭐️🌟 Enjoyed your wrap-up!
Yay, thank you! 😊
I also read Heidi this year, a reread for me and also fell in love with it again as I did in my childhood,
It’s such a wonderful book and I’m looking forward to rereading it again this year! 🥰
I just finished 84 charing cross road! So maybe I’ll read letters from New York next!
I learned sooo much more about history while reading LHOP as an adult!… thinking lots just goes over the heads of younger kids! I’ve done deep dive study on topics wi books… did you know there’s a music book that goes w each of the books?… yes!… check library!😁. Looved witch of black bird pond!🤗. Soo endearing of Kit….
I did not know about the music books but I will have to check them out. Part of the reason I love the audiobooks is for the music!
@ love cherry jones!
Just added a kind of paradise to my tbr!
It’s lovely! Enjoy!
I read a lot of Mrs. Pollifax books as a kid, and I remember adding her name to some kind of list for school of "people you'd want on your team in a difficult situation."
My favorites are the first 5 books, followed by books 6-8. Dorothy Gilman also wrote some other very good novels.
This may not apply to large numbers of people on your channel, but for me, books like those in the Mrs. Pollifax series are a much-needed break from my professional field. I'm happy to read things that are depoliticized, but not oblivious!
She is definitely someone I’d want on my team in a difficult situation. I am glad you find these books to be an escape from your work life! I think more of my subscribers than you think want the same thing. 😊
What a great list! I get so many ideas for good reads from you- thank you! Favorites for me were definitely all the Emma M. Lion books, and The Q by Beth Brower- have you read that one? You must! Take care❤️
I’m so glad you enjoyed this! I haven’t read The Q but it’s on my TBR! 😁
I used to read a ton of Rosamund Pilcher in the 90s and The Shell Seekers was my favorite. Peace Like A River also one of the best books I have ever read. Heidi was a childhood favorite.
You clearly have great taste in books! 😁❤️
Bag-O-Day Crochet has it all!
Thank you! I will check them out.
I noticed you have a very good spoken vocabulary. I assume that has come along from being such an avid reader!
Oh I’m sure! Though I’ve always had a pretty good vocabulary. Being an English major helped for sure. I once had a coworker tell me “you use really big words when you talk.” 😂🤷🏻♀️
@@jensreadinglife I'm another viewer who appreciates your vocabulary.😀
@@MJ-in-Canada Thank you, MJ! I do love words in all their forms! 😁
I'm currently rereading Dervla McTiernan’s Cormac Reilly series. It's a journey into the world of Irish crime, with memorable characters and gripping mysteries. A new one is due out this year.
I love the Cormac Reilly series! I don’t know a new one was coming out this year though so thank you for that! 😁
@jensreadinglife the author announced during her US tour for "What Happened to Nina?". She said it's the most asked question she gets ☺️
⭐ ✨ Thanks for sharing!! ⭐ ✨
Thank you for watching! 🥰
So many good books mentioned in this video! Charlotte's Web is the book that made me a reader. Can't wait to read Some Writer. Have you heard of Q's Legacy by Helene Hanff? I found it at booksale last year and it is on my tbr for 2025.
Enjoy Some Writer, it’s wonderful! Yes, I own and have read Q’s Legacy…it’s another good Helene Hanff book! I need to reread it soon. 😊
******I loved this so much
I am so glad! Thank you for watching. 😊
Ooh! I also read the witch of blackbird pond this year for the first time! But I remember why I didn’t read it as a kid! Because I was mad that it wasn’t a magic witch! I was very in to fantasy then! So I was mad!
😂
Congratulations on reading 171 books!!!
Thank you!! I still can’t believe I read that many! 😁
I hope your 2025 reading year brings you as much joy as 2024. My 2024 reading year was fabulous, as was the year before that. How lucky am I? 🍀As far as poetry is concerned, I place poetry in its own category. Having said that, the Dewey Decimal system houses poetry with nonfiction. Other categories that I personally consider separate are graphic novels, children’s books, and short stories. We all have our own system. Whatever works for you!😀
Thanks MJ! I wish you another fabulous reading year as well…3 for 3! 😁
Some people have very strong feelings about book categorizations but I’m with you! Whatever works!
⭐️ 🌟 💫
Try taking a crochet class at your local Jo-Anns Fabric store or a local yarn shop. The instructors can give you lots of tips and tricks not covered in books.
I wish I had any of those where I am! Our local Jo-Ann’s just closed and rents here where I live make it hard for small businesses like yarn shops to stay open. ☹️ I may try our local city rec departments and see if any of them have crochet classes.
@@jensreadinglifeUA-cam has some outstanding crochet teachers who walk you thru step by step+ if you mess it up, you can just rewatch it until you get the hang of it😊 And a lot of them have completely free instructions for how to make all kinds of crochet items🎉
⭐️ ❤📚
Did you know Heidi has sequels?? I haven’t read them but I want to!!
I didn’t know that! Thanks for telling me. I will have to look for them. 😊
For excellent crochet instructions try “Crocheting in plain English” by Mary Righetti. I recommended it to my grown daughter who is learning to crochet. Hope it helps! 😊❤
Thank you for the crochet book recommendation! I will check it out. 😊
@@jensreadinglife you’re very welcome 😍
The Moonstone was my top read in 2024, followed by Fahrenheit 451 and Marmee.
I’m hoping to read The Moonstone this year! And I’ve heard wonderful things about Marmee!
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Wait!! What?? There’s a sequel to love and saffron???? What’s it called??
It’s called Kate & Frida and it comes out in March! I just read an ARC from Netgalley and LOVED it!
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Great wrap up ✨✨✨✨
Thank you, Susan! 🥰
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