What I Read in January 2024

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  • čas přidán 27. 08. 2024

Komentáře • 103

  • @eileennielsen5165
    @eileennielsen5165 Před 6 měsíci +4

    84 Charring Cross Rd. YES! Bought my copy many moons ago! I had Dear Mrs. Bird before I heard Miranda recommend it, but LOST it!! Don't know how, I NEVER loose my books😑 Will have to take it out of the Library. Wrote down a number of your recommendations, thank you. Age Of Innocence is in my huge TBR pile. Enjoyed!

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci

      Thank you for watching, I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I hope you find something you love from my recommendations.

  • @MelissaHolman-kt6oe
    @MelissaHolman-kt6oe Před 6 měsíci +2

    The Age of Innocence is my favorite book!! The ending totally gutted me.
    Martin Scorsese said it was his most violent film and I agree!!

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci

      Oh that's so interesting he said that! I just watched the movie and really enjoyed it.

  • @wendy-bookworm
    @wendy-bookworm Před 5 měsíci +2

    If you've not already come across it I'd like to recommend 'Shedunnit' podcast to you for Golden Age detective fiction. I enjoyed reading 'Home' by Marilynne Robinson a few years ago and didn't realise there were 'more of the similar' so shall add that to my mental what to look out for in charity shops list, thank you. And thank you it's fantastic to find booktubers who are my age.

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 5 měsíci

      Thank you for the reminder about the Shedunnit podcast! I've listened to a few episodes but need to go back and listen to more. Thank you so much for watching!

  • @novelideea
    @novelideea Před 6 měsíci +4

    I added “piano shop” to my list!

  • @bobbyshields4810
    @bobbyshields4810 Před 6 měsíci +1

    I am new to your channel and excited to add to my TBR with many of your recommendations. Good luck with the channel!

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci

      Thank you so much for watching! I hope you find some new books you love!

  • @miriamelizabethreads
    @miriamelizabethreads Před 5 měsíci

    Hi Jen! Just discovered your channel via Kate Howe's middle grade march TBR. You read some wonderful books in January! I just finished reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and loved it!! So so clever. I'm currently reading Dear Mrs. Bird and thoroughly enjoying it! I'm physically reading it while also listening to the audiobook which is really elevating the experience! So many of these books are on my ever-growing TBR!

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 5 měsíci

      I'm so glad you found me through Kate! She is one of the main reasons I started my channel. I hope you love Dear Mrs. Bird, it's such a wonderful book!

  • @darrylfriesen
    @darrylfriesen Před 6 měsíci +2

    I absolutely love The Piano Shop on the Left Bank, Jen!! I recommend it to my piano students all the time-it really celebrates the joy of music making and the beauty of rediscovering creative outlets as adults that we abandoned as children.

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci +1

      Yes! It illustrates that point beautifully. I took piano briefly as a child and now my son is taking lessons. So it was a great book to read to give me greater insight into the piano. I have a new appreciation for it (more so than I already did!).

    • @darrylfriesen
      @darrylfriesen Před 6 měsíci

      @@jensreadinglife 😃🤗🎹

  • @user-bg4ig7rl3d
    @user-bg4ig7rl3d Před 5 měsíci

    Just found you/ this site and I am just mesmerized,!binge watching all episodes that I can find, love your book picks and insightful reviews!

  • @BernasBookishAdventures
    @BernasBookishAdventures Před 6 měsíci +1

    I had a very similiar experience when I reread The Murder of Roger Ackyord and I actually used the same words, the most clever book of Christie ☺️ It is always fun to know more about a fellow Agatha Christie lover 🤗

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci +1

      So, so clever! Rereading it made me appreciate it even more!

  • @cassandra3399
    @cassandra3399 Před 6 měsíci +2

    Hi, I just found you for the first time. I think we love the same books. DE Stevenson is my favorite author. Just wonderful. I have collected all her books in hardback over the years. Of courseMiss Buncle’s Book is my favorite. There are two more about her which are good too. I too do not like Agatha Raison. But I do like her other series.
    Thanks for the reviews. I want to try Gilead, and The Long Shadow. 😊

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci

      Thank you for watching! D.E. Stevenson is just the best, isn't she? I'm so glad you found a few other books to try!

  • @lorrainetaylor9852
    @lorrainetaylor9852 Před 6 měsíci +1

    I adored Gilead - would be in my top 10. I might give Dorothy L Sayers anther go as I started with Whose Body? But couldn’t finish it. But just her reputation makes me think I will like her other books.

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci

      Gilead is just amazing! I think Sayers gets better as she goes along. I liked the second book much more than the first!

  • @gretchen6475
    @gretchen6475 Před 6 měsíci +2

    What a great reading month you had! I have enjoyed 84, Charing Cross Road as well and would like to reread it. I am reading Thirteen at Dinner by Agatha Christie right now as part of a project to read through her Poirot and Marple books in publication order. I also read Dear Mrs. Bird in January! I loved it and am looking forward to the others in the series. I also enjoy Mary Stewart's books, but haven't read The Stormy Petrel. I am with you on Flavia de Luce, she wasn't for me. Hope your February is going well!

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci +1

      It sounds like we have very similar reading tastes! If you've enjoyed other Mary Stewart books then definitely put The Stormy Petrel on your TBR!

  • @ADuchessInside
    @ADuchessInside Před 6 měsíci +1

    You had such an amazing reading month! It's too bad Don't Tell Alfred wasn't a big hit for us, but The Age of Innocence definitely made up for that! Such a masterpiece. :)

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci +1

      When bad books happen to good buddy readers! 😂 Oh well, we can’t win them all. And Age of Innocence more than made up for it. And hopefully our book this month will too. 😉

  • @gphill3954
    @gphill3954 Před 6 měsíci +2

    Welcome. Some great titles there. May I recommend “The Lost Art of Letter Writing” by Menna Van Praag. I think it’s your kind of book.

  • @ganeshasr141
    @ganeshasr141 Před 6 měsíci +1

    Hi Jen 🤗 That '84, Charing...' book is a new-year first day rituals to many CZcamsrs. Also, I read this on January 1st.
    Keep reading, You have read so many!!! wow!!

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci

      Charing Cross is never a bad way to start the year! Thank you for watching. 😊

  • @elizabethbrink3761
    @elizabethbrink3761 Před 6 měsíci +1

    The Long Shadow sounds so good! I need to re-read Stormy Petrel. I remember enjoying it! It was one of the first Mary Stewart books I read. Yay I'm so glad Vittoria Cottage was your favorite book of January!! I loved our Age of Innocence buddy read. 🥰

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci +1

      Our buddy read was a highlight of my month! I’m so looking forward to The House of Mirth! Stormy Petrel would
      make a great read in June as it is set then if you are looking for a seasonal reading idea. 😊

    • @elizabethbrink3761
      @elizabethbrink3761 Před 6 měsíci

      @@jensreadinglife Same for The Age of Innocence! Oooh, thank you! I've written that down for June. :)

  • @tiffgooge9206
    @tiffgooge9206 Před 6 měsíci +1

    The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion is becoming a favorite of mine! I just finished Volume 3. Glad you had such a good reading month 😊

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci +1

      I just finished Volume 3 as well. It’s such a fun series!

  • @gillwoolley6515
    @gillwoolley6515 Před 6 měsíci +1

    Totally agree about Agatha Raisin 😅😅Lovely Vlog Jen. Some good book choices. Thank you ❤

  • @MLLatUtube
    @MLLatUtube Před 6 měsíci +1

    We definitely have similar taste! I don't like Agatha Raisin either, among other things. Have you read the sequel to Dear Mrs. Bird? I have not gotten around to it yet. I did buy Vittoria Cottage because of your recommendation and am looking forward to it.

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci

      I've read both the second and third books that follow Dear Mrs. Bird and enjoyed them. I'm so glad you picked up Vittoria Cottage and I hope you love it!

  • @suzannemoore404
    @suzannemoore404 Před 6 měsíci +1

    Wharton and Henry James were basically contemporaries and if you enjoy one, you usually enjoy the other. I love them both and think you might too. The Portrait of a Lady and Washington Square are two good starting novels

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci +1

      I've read The Turn of the Screw and Daisy Miller and enjoyed them both. Thank you for recommending a couple of his other books. I'll add them to my TBR!

    • @suzannemoore404
      @suzannemoore404 Před 6 měsíci

      @@jensreadinglife I would add The Golden Bowl by James since you already know you like him. That one is my favorite ❤️

  • @NeetuSingh-eo4iu
    @NeetuSingh-eo4iu Před 6 měsíci +1

    I loved the book recommendations. I read The Age of Innocence for my book club and it was quite a hit, we all loved it 🤗

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci +1

      It was so good and made for such good discussion! Edith Wharton is now one of my favorite authors.

  • @helendeacon7637
    @helendeacon7637 Před 6 měsíci +1

    Gilead is a treasured favourite of mine. Once I read that I had to pursue all things Marilynne Robinson. Thank you Jen for these recommendations. Years ago I read 84, Charing Cross Road, after becoming rapt in the Anne Bancroft-Anthony Hopkins movie. Well done on reading eighteen in a month, that's quite an achievement. It's great to go back through your shelves and read and re-read. I have been considering Dear Mrs Bird since Miranda Mills recommended it. Now that you both have I'm more decided. Vittoria Cottage maybe as well, I feel drawn to that and the Celia Fremlin who I think has been featured on Miranda's Comfort Book Club too. Thanks again Jen.🌺

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci +1

      I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the books you are contemplating! And I’m looking forward to reading much more Marilynne Robinson.

  • @joyceredman2136
    @joyceredman2136 Před 6 měsíci

    I have started reading Mary Stewart, always loved the Moonspinners and the Disney movie too. Really wish someone do a biography on her! Loved studying Shakespeare in college, have not started reading Edith Wharton's Custom of the Country which is on my bookshelf to read sometime.

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci +1

      I have always wondered why no one has written a biography of her. I’m tempted to write one myself! 😁

  • @OoLaLaFrenchGirl
    @OoLaLaFrenchGirl Před 6 měsíci +1

    I just finished The Mysterious Affair at Styles a few days ago. It was my first Agatha Christie book and I really liked it. I look forward to reading more of her work. I think I'll add The Long Shadow to my TBR.

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci

      Enjoy reading Agatha Christie! She wrote some really amazing mysteries.

  • @susanmay4215
    @susanmay4215 Před 6 měsíci +1

    What a great month of reading , I enjoyed up every book review. Yes to Hamish, I think I might reread a few this year as comfort reading/listening during walks.
    Thanks for this video, looking forward to the next 💜

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci +1

      I have taken so many walks with Hamish in my ears! Thank you for watching. 😊

  • @mrs_alder_reads
    @mrs_alder_reads Před 6 měsíci +1

    I’m also trying to read from my shelves this year and remember that I was excited to read all of them when I picked them up! I love D E Stevenson and read Mrs Tim of the regiment again in January. Also re-reading Miss Marple and read They do it with mirrors last month. Roger Ackroyd was the first Christie I ever read, when my Aunt gave me a pile of books during a very rainy summer holiday when I was 14, and I still remember my jaw dropping at the solution - started a lifelong love of mysteries for me. Really enjoying your channel, we have similar tastes, I love The pursuit of love & 84 Charring Cross road - I read Hanff’s Letters from New York in Jan and very much enjoyed - Peter Whimsey is very much not for me though!

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci

      We do have very similar tastes! I really want to get a copy of Helene Hanff’s Letters from New York. Manderley Press just put out a beautiful edition.

  • @Thecatladybooknook_PennyD
    @Thecatladybooknook_PennyD Před 6 měsíci +1

    The Age of Innocence 🎉🎉🎉🎉 One of my favorites i read Jan of 2023. I'll be reading Summer this summer😅. I read Ethan Frome in January. I think it needs to grow on me. 😂

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci

      I loved Summer! I just picked up a copy of Ethan Frome and am thinking of reading it this month. I heard it’s very wintery.

  • @shelliclarke5563
    @shelliclarke5563 Před 6 měsíci +1

    I read Dear Mrs. Bird for Miranda's Comfort Book Club and loved it (first read)

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci

      Such a good book! And I recommend the two sequels as well if you want to continue on with Emmeline and friends!

  • @alice-elizabeth
    @alice-elizabeth Před 6 měsíci +1

    Wow that's great, 18 books in one month! 👏 Meanwhile there's me who only read one. 😂

    • @therookerybookery
      @therookerybookery Před 6 měsíci +1

      One is still one more than a lot of people! 😊

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci

      I was also going to say that one is more than many people read! I’ve gone through periods where I read one (or no) book a month!

  • @JacquelineCaron
    @JacquelineCaron Před 6 měsíci +1

    Good reading month! I recently picked up another copy of 84 Charring Cross Rd - I had read it years ago and passed it along - want it for my bookshelves. I want to try to find the companion book - Q's Legacy by Helene Hanff. Can't wait to see what you've read for February!

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci +1

      Q’s Legacy and The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street are both good follow ups to Charing Cross.
      So far my February reading is shaping up pretty good so stay tuned. 😊

  • @MeMyDogAndBooks
    @MeMyDogAndBooks Před 6 měsíci +1

    Can’t beat a wee bit of Hamish MacBeth especially as I’m Scottish too

  • @lindan2488
    @lindan2488 Před 6 měsíci +1

    I just stumbled across your site and I'm so glad I did! Loved your reviews and recommendations. Will certainly continue to follow you.

  • @melissarebecca8
    @melissarebecca8 Před 6 měsíci

    Ooh, I was so excited to see a Celia Fremlin book! I discovered her a couple of years ago, and want to read more. I will add this one to my TBR!

  • @michaelmccarty
    @michaelmccarty Před 6 měsíci

    What a great reading month!! Dear Mrs. Bird was a reread for me, too -- and yes, the audio is great (Anna Popplewell is amazing -- and I just learned she is Susan in the Narnia movies)! I'm so intrigued by the Beth Brower books.

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci

      I didn’t realize she was Susan! That’s a fun fact. I think you’d like the Beth Brower books. They are a lot of fun!

  • @gracetaylor7351
    @gracetaylor7351 Před 6 měsíci +1

    Love this video Jen! Really want to read vittoria cottage and try the Hamish mcbeth series ! Thanks for video enjoy watching it.❤love Agatha chirstie as well .

  • @reginalemoine5809
    @reginalemoine5809 Před 6 měsíci +1

    I agree with your thoughts on Roger Ackroyd. It’s so inventive! I read the first three Flavia DeLuce books and then was too tired of the character to continue.
    Lord Peter. Oy. I have tried to read Whose Body probably four or five times and always end up DNFing it within the first few chapters. I want to give that series a fair chance, but there’s something I just really don’t get on with in the first book.
    I’m going to give the Hamish Macbeth series a try. I, too, enjoy a good easy read sometimes. I loved Agatha Raisin at first and have listened to a lot of that series, but as the series goes on, I find some of the books to either be somewhat repetitive or tedious.
    I am reading a book that might interest you, The Red Thumb Mark by R. Austin Freeman, 1907. It seems to be a connecting line between Holmes/Watson and Poirot/Hastings. It centers around a diamond theft with the locked safe being a kind of stand-in for the locked room. It’s well-written and so far I am enjoying it a lot.
    Do you, or have you, read Ruth Rendell’s Inspector Wexford series? I love those!

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci

      I completely understand what you mean about Whose Body?. I think you could skip it and start with book 2 without losing out on anything.
      And thank you for the recommendation! I will look up that book. It sounds very good.
      Thank you so much for watching!

  • @user-km7fu7su1d
    @user-km7fu7su1d Před 6 měsíci +1

    Really good video! I have read Mrs Bird and the second but need to get to the 3rd. I also love Hamlisch but not Agatha Raisin. Not even the Agatha Raisin show on tv. Need to watch again to get some recommendations and look forward to you again😊

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci

      Thank you for watching! I’m glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t like Agatha!

  • @nettyknits
    @nettyknits Před 6 měsíci +1

    I read 17 books in January and was going to have an easy February but gifts from friends and book club recommendations have upped the pile. I really don’t like Agatha Raisin - she’s so annoying! Love Hamish ❤
    Thanks for mentioning Mary Stewart. I’ll hunt out some of her books - they sound very interesting. 💕

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci +1

      17 books is fantastic! I hope you enjoy Mary Stewart!

  • @smalltowngirl420
    @smalltowngirl420 Před 6 měsíci

    New to the channel. Love Book Videos. Love to read. Love the Video ❤

  • @cherylemesolella757
    @cherylemesolella757 Před 6 měsíci +1

    Good luck with your new channel. I love your picks. How do you join the Christie Challenge? Sound perfect for me.

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci

      Thank you! 😊 You can join the Christie challenge at officialagathachristie.com and look for Read Christie 2024.

  • @gerridauer9092
    @gerridauer9092 Před 6 měsíci +1

    I loved Charing Cross Road which I read a few months back. D. E. Stevenson is my favorite too! I’ve only been reading her a couple of years but have read quite a few. Stormy Petrel has the most beautiful setting and descriptions. I just wanted to be there with those characters. I liked Dear Mrs. Bird and the sequels. Felt the same about Flavia but was hoping like her if I try another. But I agree with your assessment, so don’t know if that will happen. I may be selling my used copies back. I am totally intrigued by the Beth Brower books. I’ve never heard of them. Thanks! Checking out the Christie group and Stewart group as I’m reading through both. I struggle with Sayers, but am going to finish Gaudy Night and see. Great video!

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci +1

      I need to know your favorite DE Stevenson books!
      It’s hard sometimes to give up a series that lots of people like but just isn’t working for you. I think that’s why I tried Flavia again. But now I’m done with her for sure!

    • @gerridauer9092
      @gerridauer9092 Před 6 měsíci

      @@jensreadinglife My favorites so far are The Four Graces, The Young Clementina and The House on the Cliff. The last one, was probably the weakest plot, but was such a cozy read with such likable characters, it’s still a favorite. I agree re: Vittoria Cottage also. Looking forward to the rest. Have you read Near Neighbors by Molly Clavering? (Dear Hugo was nice too.) Another favorite that reminds me of Stevenson is Elizabeth Fair (loved Brampton Wick and Seaview House). Read my first Elizabeth Cadell last month Iris in Winter. I immediately picked up another of hers. She’s light and fun and a much better writer than I expected. I’m reading my way through all these authors, plus Barbara Pym, Dorothy Whipple and Mary Stewart and some others. What are your favorites?

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci

      @@gerridauer9092 I have The Four Graces on my shelf and the other two are on my TBR. Molly Clavering and Elizabeth Fair are both on my TBR as well! And I'm reading my first Elizabeth Cadell for my book club in March. I also love Barbara Pym and Mary Stewart. Some of my other favorites are Margery Sharp, Angela Thirkell, and Stella Gibbons.

  • @victoriaclarke1911
    @victoriaclarke1911 Před 2 měsíci

    Just found your channel hi from Australia

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 2 měsíci

      Hello and welcome! I’m so glad you are here. 😊

  • @cathy2142
    @cathy2142 Před 6 měsíci +2

    Great reviews! Great job reading off your bookshelves! I need to do more of that❤. Do you read physical copies or prefer only audio

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci +1

      I mostly read physical books. Only those I mentioned as being audiobooks were read that way. I think four out of my 18 books were on audio last month. I definitely prefer a physical book but enjoy some things, like mysteries and nonfiction, on audio.

    • @cathy2142
      @cathy2142 Před 6 měsíci

      @@jensreadinglife 🙂

  • @nadineaugustyn130
    @nadineaugustyn130 Před 6 měsíci +1

    Agatha Raisin is annoying. Each and every time I read one of the books in that series I ask myself why I continue reading them. I've read 29 of them and so it's probably momentum and wanting a sense of completion? I prefer Hamish Macbeth. I almost gave up on the Macbeth series at book #33. It was a poorly written hot mess. We now know it was written at the end of M.C. Beaton's life. With her passing, the series continues with a new writer and he does a really nice job giving us the Hamish stories we've come to enjoy. You talked about some books that have peaked my interest and so my want-to-read list has grown. Thank you for sharing!

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci

      Thank you for watching! I’m glad to find someone else who finds Agatha Raisin annoying. Hamish is so much better! I’m enjoying slowly working my way through them.

  • @MMjones6459
    @MMjones6459 Před 6 měsíci

    FYI I was distracted by the glare off the cover of the books you held up. The others that you didn’t physically have were very clear.

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci

      Thanks for the feedback. I’m still working on my lighting and set up and I definitely need to figure out how to remove the glare.

  • @thomasceneri867
    @thomasceneri867 Před 6 měsíci +1

    Oh man! I can’t stand Agatha Raisin either!

  • @lisabailes1065
    @lisabailes1065 Před 6 měsíci +1

    I have never read Mary Stewart but you make her sound fascinating. Where should I start? Also, I loved the Dering trilogy! The last two are so very good!

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci +1

      I think either Madam, Will You Talk?, The Moonspinners or My Brother Michael are excellent to start your Mary Stewart journey.

  • @carolin8645
    @carolin8645 Před 6 měsíci +1

    18 books? wow. when are your reading times??

    • @jensreadinglife
      @jensreadinglife  Před 6 měsíci

      18 books is well above average for me! I usually read when I’m eating breakfast and lunch and always before bed. I try to squeeze in as much reading time in my day as I can…even if just a few minutes here or there. I also listen to audiobooks on my walks and in the car so that helps too. 😊