My Favourite Books of 2021!
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- čas přidán 5. 07. 2024
- Hello and happy Friday! In today's video, I'm sharing my favourite reads from 2021. I read many spectacular books, from modern novels to children's books, memoirs, thrillers and short-story collections. Here's a round-up of my favourites. Do you have a top read from 2021? Enjoy your weekend!
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SUPPORT: No pressure at all, but if you would like to support my work by making a donation to my channel, you can 'buy me a tea!': www.buymeacoffee.com/mirandam...
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BOOK CLUB: I host the Comfort Book Club with my Mum, and every month we pick a comforting read and discuss it on the last Friday of the month. Everyone is very welcome to read along with us (January's read is Dinner with Edward by Isabel Vincent). Learn more about the Comfort Book Club here: mirandasnotebook.com/the-comf...
#TheComfortBookClub
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BOOK LINKS:
(Affiliate links used for Blackwells)
A Boy at the Hogarth Press by Richard Kennedy: foxedquarterly.com/shop/hogar...
Q's Legacy by Helene Hanff (out of print)
A Chelsea Concerto by Frances Faviell: blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
English Climate: Wartime Stories by Sylvia Townsend Warner: persephonebooks.co.uk/product...
Yours Cheerfully by A J Pearce: blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
The Feast by Margaret Kennedy: blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
The Country of Others by Leila Slimani: blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
Sally on the Rocks by Winifred Boggs: blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
Cousin Harriet by Susan Tweedsmuir (out of print)
Thank Heaven Fasting by E M Delafield (out of print)
Good Behaviour by Molly Keane: blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi: blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
China Court by Rumer Godden: blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro: blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
The Country Child by Alison Uttley: blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
The Vanderbekers by Karina Yan Glaser: blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
East of Hounslow by Khurrum Rahman: blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
The Wild Isles, edited by Patrick Barkham: blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro... - Zábava
Miranda, you have been such a big influence on my book choices this past year. I could almost fill a bookcase of books you've recommended. My reading has changed so much, in the best way, I can't thank you enough for your channel. Because of you I've discovered Dean street press and Rumer Godden, E. M. Delafield, D.E. Stevenson, Elly Griffiths, Elizabeth Jane Howard and Persophone books. Four books you spoke about today are going on my list to read soon. So thank you!! I look forward to seeing you each and every time. 👍📚💕💕
Oh, I’m so thrilled to hear that, Diane! Thank you so much ❤️📚😊
Thank you for sharing, Miranda! It is always a pleasure to listen to you talking about the books you enjoyed. After this video I just want to shut myself in the library and read all the rest of the weekend.
Thanks so much, Angela!
Miranda, I very much enjoyed your insights and enthusiasm as you discussed these books. You have a gift for making each book come alive. I have always been an avid reader, but since following your channel, my reading life has been enriched. Thank you for introducing me to so many new authors, in particular women writers from earlier generations. They certainly deserve recognition and admiration. "Sally on the Rocks" was a favorite read in 2021. It seamlessly combined humor and some very serious themes, in addition to paying much attention to the character's inner lives. I loved Sally and the book's extremely satisfying ending. Wish someone would make it into a movie. All of the Comfort Book Club choices were also favorites as was "Yours Cheerfully". I adore Emmy Lake and her friends. Now I'm off to order "A Chelsea Concerto". Have a fabulous weekend!! (Love your floral arrangement - looks like a beautiful still life painting.)
Thank you so much for your lovely comment, as always, Nancy! I’m delighted you enjoyed several of my recommendations. ‘A Chelsea Concerto’ is a fabulous read! Have a lovely weekend 📚💕
I have found some wonderful new favorite authors and books thanks to you and Donna and especially the comfort book club. I’ve learned to grab a notebook and pen before I click on a new video as there’s bound to be books I’m adding to my wish lists. And I’ve also learned to comment early so I can sit back and listen intently to your reviews and wrap ups. So for now I’ll say thank you, Miranda and I’m excited to hear more about all the books you enjoyed. 💕
Oh, I had to pop back in to comment I read also Before the Coffee Gets Cold. I loved it! So much that I read the second book, Tales From the Cafe. I borrowed both from the library but I will buy my own copies to have as I know I’ll reread these. They were beautiful stories.
So glad you enjoyed them too, Sandy! ❤️📚
Solely because of Miranda Mills, this past year, I read both Dinner With Edward and 84 Charing Cross Road. I ESPECIALLY loved 84 Charing Cross Road ... and have sent several of my friends down the enjoyable path of reading "84" too. I will be reading Q's Legacy soon!
Oh wonderful! Hope you love Q’s Legacy too! 📚❤️
I want to read this one (84 Charing Cross Rd) because I LOVE the movie with Anthony Hopkins
Miranda you really make videos that we can all catalog, the variety of books and the information you give on the Authors makes the reading experience so enjoyable 🥰🥰🥰....I wasn’t going to comment because I don’t want my comments to sound like flattery but facts are facts....📚📚🥰
You’re always so lovely and kind, Kiki! Thank you!! Hope you’ve got a good weekend ahead, with a bit of reading time! 😘
I am so happy I found this channel. I discovered wonderful authors and timeless books I had never heard of. Right now I am enjoying “Sally on the rocks” and a couple of books from the British Library Crime Collection. Thank you so much, Miranda, for all your suggestions! Greetings from Rome.
Thank you for the lovely comment! I’m so glad you enjoy my book recommendations 😊📚💕
Hello Miranda. Last year was one of my most enjoyable reading year, because of you. You have opened my eyes to so many authors
I’m so happy to hear that, Glenda! Thank you very much! Xxx
Snap.
Thank you Miranda because your wonderful channel has helped me a lot since I first met you on CZcams ❤️ Thanks to you I've begun to read much more, I've beautifully organized my book shelves and best of all, I've begun to do more plans with my mum! You are a precious treasure in a crazy world!! I loved "Dinner with Edward" and I'm already reading "Miss Buncle's book"!
That’s such a lovely comment to read, thank you! I’m so glad 📚💕
@@MirandaMills Thank YOU 🥰🥰🥰🥰
So lovely to hear your favourite books of the year - and once again I've added many to my list! One of my favourites from last year was The Skylarks' War by Hillary McKay which is recently written middle grade but reads like a classic, all about a teenager's experience of life on the home front during WW1.
Hilary McKay is such a great writer. Happy to have given you some for your list.❤️📚
Thank you Miranda - yet again I come away from one of your videos with a list! I am literally with a book at all times these days, thank you for your lovely videos. I also love your beautiful flowers x
I’m so glad, Sue! Thank you very much. These flowers are definitely brightening up the January days for me 💐
Your enthusiasm for each book is contagious - thank you 🙏
Oh thank you! I so enjoyed all of these 😄
Some lovely recommendations as always and beautiful flowers in the background :) I really loved The Feast. In the Country of Others sounds fascinating. I hadn't heard of it before though I feel I probably should have! My favourite book this year was How Green Was My Valley, which just completely blew me away. I also read a poetry collection by Hazel Hall that was delightful and has stayed with me most of the year.
Thank you! The Country of Others was such a memorable read - I’m looking forward to the others!
You're an inspiration in terms of reading and you have definitely put many of your followers in the path of wonderful books. Thank you for that.
Thank you, Miranda, for your favourite reads, the selections were so well-considered and inspiring. It is so cheerful to recognise so many of them (Uttley's 'The Country Child' is my favourite new discovery of last year; thank you CBC). My top reads of 2021 also included Laski's 'Tory Heaven', Dorothy E. Smith's 'Miss Plum & Miss Penny', and Tash Aw's 'Strangers on a Pier'. And my top re-read was Olivia Manning's 'Fortunes of War'. As always, thank you for helping me to discover new books and inspiring me to read more. Best wishes, Jason
Thank you so much, Jason! I’m so glad you loved The Country Child so much! I love many of the books you mentioned too - it sounds like you had a fabulous reading year! Here’s hoping for lots more great reads in 2022! 📚💫
We love a comprehensive list of books 🔥
Hi Miranda! You had a great reading year in 2021. I read only 8 books last year and the best ones were 2 books by Stefan Zweig, an austrian writer who I really recommend. Have a nice weekend!
Hello Miranda, it was fun looking at the books you read, picking up ideas and finding common ground in your review of books I have read too. Thank you for sharing this with us as it is clearly a lot of work and I, for one, am very grateful you did. Happy reading, Teresa 📚
Thanks so much, Teresa! Happy reading to you too!
I was able to find Q's Legacy at Barnes and Noble in the USA. Just for any other American viewers.
Fabulous video and wonderful recommendations - thank you, Miranda! Can't wait to read many of the books you've chatted about here! Lisa xx
Thanks so much, Lisa! 📚💫
I listened to The Feast and enjoyed it a lot. I’m tempted by many of your recommendations and I try to remember the most appealing ones by downloading the free excerpts to my kindle! So many books, not enough time 😁
So glad you enjoyed The Feast! Keeping excerpts on your kindle is a great idea!
Oh, goodie, more books to add to my ever growing list! I love that you have such depth in discussing these books. I agree with others that you have influenced many of my choices not only on new books to buy that never would have crossed my awareness, but your enthusiasm is just wonderful. I am so glad to learn of English women writers and I have loved learning about Persephone and Slightly Foxed books. So far, I am thinking I will buy almost all of the recommended books from World War II, and The Feast was next on my list. Many thanks for your brilliant selections.💜
Thank you so much for your lovely words! I’m so glad you enjoy my book recommendations. Hope you love The Feast too! 😊📚❤️
Such a great idea to let your followers know what your favourite reads were for 2021. I was actually thinking of some of getting some of the books you mentioned and this is a great way to get these books onto my Wishlist. Thanks Miranda for influencing my book picks… it’s always such a joy.
Thanks so much for your lovely comment, Yumi! Very glad you found this video helpful 📚❤️
So enjoyable to hear about your favourite books, Miranda. An eclectic and inspiring mix, as always. Like you, I read The Boy at the Hogarth Press this year, and loved it, great to hear your comments about it. Looking back at the books I've loved this year, memoirs featured highly - Ferdinand Mount's Kiss Myself Goodbye was fascinating and I loved Dinner with Edward and so pleased you've chosen it as a comfort read. My favourite book about books was Jacob's Room is Full of Books by Susan Hill. My favourite novels included Lissa Evan's V is for Victory, The Feast, Green Hands by Barbara Whitton and Ann Weissberger's The Glovemaker. I have you to thank for recommending Kate Saunders' Laetitia Rodd books - loved them, and Beswitched! My favourite re-read was Mary Stewart's Thornyhold. I would also recommend the David Downing Station books, as someone else has commented. And for anyone who has liked those I'd suggest Jane Thynne's series of Clara Vine books. And I'll echo Donna in highly recommending the Mick Herron Slough House series, so entertaining! Looking forward to the next video!
Wonderful ! Thank you so much. I read " The Feast", it was a good read. Love novels of that era.
So glad you enjoyed it too!
Some wonderful reviews and recommendations Miranda, thank you !
Thank you so much ❤️📚
Just want to say how much I enjoy your cozy book chats. There's a couple you've mentioned here that I am looking forward to finding and reading. And your video about 84 Charing Cross Road brought back the pure enjoyment I got reading that book many years ago. I hadn't thought about it in years, but now I want to re-read it! My favorite books that I read in 2021 was the Station series by David Downing. He really brought pre-WW2 and wartime Berlin to life via his character, an English reporter working in Berlin during that time period. Zoo Station is the first in the series. David Downing is an historian and captures that era so well. I'm reading the 4th in the series as I write this.
Thank you for the recommendation! I haven’t read that series, and it sounds fab 😊📚
This was a great video, so interesting to see your favourites. Among my favourite reads last year were Yours Cheerfully, The Fortnight in September and China Court. It’s hard to remember all the books I read though, maybe I’ll keep a list this year to look back on! Thank you so much for all your wonderful recommendations, I often prefer older books to contemporary ones (although do love lots of modern books too), and I love that you recommend lots of older books too and not just the new releases. Your videos have added so much to the pleasure and enjoyment I get from books, even though I’ve always been a bookworm! I love hearing you talk with such enthusiasm about books, my family and friends have quite different reading tastes to me, or they don’t read much, and they just aren’t into talking for ages about books so it’s a real treat for me to listen to you!
Thank you for your kind words, Naomi! Xxx
Miranda, you have been my go-to for book recommendations in recent years and every one of them have been inspiring and enriching. We seem to share a similar taste and many of your favourite reads from last year have been mine too. I particularly enjoyed The Feast and will be on the lookout for more titles by Margaret Kennedy. Thank you again! xx
Thank you very much, Karen! So happy you enjoy my videos and that you loved The Feast too! Xxx
I always walk away from your videos heartened, inspired and in anticipation of wonderful reads. My wallet doesn't thank you, but I most certainly do! 💕
Thanks so much, Pamela! Sorry about the wallet 😂
Let’s continue that post. Oops. So many authors I had not heard of. I read so many of your recommendations, including the Comfort Book Club selections. Thank you so much for your videos and recommendations. 2022 should be another enjoyable reading year!
Haha thank you! Yay! Here’s hoping for another great reading year ahead 📚💫
I just found your channel this month, and have read (and loved) Dinner With Edward and China Court because of your recommendations. I adore you and your mother. So glad I found you.
Oh that’s wonderful! Thank you 📚💕
Thanks, Miranda, for inspiring me to re-read 84 Charing Cross Road last year. I had read also the Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, but Q’s Legacy was new for me too and I enjoyed it very much. It was also a great surprise to read a long quotation from Q’s book at the end of Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own! This was also a re-read, but this time I could fully appreciate who Q was, and it made me love Helene Hanff’s books even more. So, thank you.
Oh I loved reading this comment, thank you! You’ve made me want to reread A Room of One’s Own now 😄💕📖
@@MirandaMills It never disappoints!
Dear Miranda, such a wonderful list! You have inspired me to discover many British authors in 2021: Elizabeth Jane Howard, Elizabeth Taylor, Barbara Pym, Margaret Kennedy., AJ Pearce... I loved The Feast, Excellent Women, Dear Mrs Bird. But my favorite author of 2021 was Leila Slimani. The Country of Others is amazing and I'm so looking forward for the next chapter! I also read The Perfect Nanny and it's also very deep in the way she analyses the limits of the human nature. So thank you Miranda for inspiring me 📚 I love your enthusiasm and the way you describe the books! My wish list grows after each video :) 2022 is just starting and I think it's going to be a wonderful year with amazing books! Looking forward for your next video! 😘❤
So happy to have helped you find some new favourites, Teresa! 😘📚❤️
Great books 👌🏾
Thank you!
I have only read three of the books on your list, so I'm excited to discover some new books from your list! My top five books of the year were My Antonia by Willa Cather, Daniel Deronda by George Eliot, Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens, China Court by Rumer Godden, and the Letters of Dorothy Sayers: 1899-1936. China Court was due to the Comfort Book Club, so thank you Miranda! I loved it, and I am so excited to read more Rumer Godden in 2022.
So happy you loved China Court too, Elizabeth. You read some wonderful classics in 2021.
I got to know about so many lovely authors through your channel ✨
I’m so glad! 📚💫
Q's legacy was wonderful
always enjoy seeing your favorite book choices tfs . .enjoy your weekend take care ❤️ 🙋♀️
China Court and The Country Child were two I loved last year entirely thanks to you. 💜
I’m so glad! Thank you!
Yes same. Loved them both.
So glad you included Molly Keane. She’s one of my favourite authors. May I recommend Time After Time? I’m reading Sally on the Rocks now and love it.
She’s a wonderful writer indeed. I’ll move Time After Time up my list. Thank you!
Miranda ,another lovely informative video.I saved this for my Sunday treat.So many wonderful some on my list of favorites such as Q’s Legacy&The Feast.I’ve added some to my tbr list&have requested some at my library.Hope you and your Mom have a wonderful week.
Thanks so much, Rhonda! You too!
Miranda thanks for all the recommendations!
Thank you Miranda for your passionate book recommendations! You always make me so curious to read and know much more about an author! I have just read the Leila Slimani book and found it very special! I wish you a lot of new book discoveries for 2022! Greetings from Germany! 💝
I have just discovered your channel and your book choices are so interesting and different from other booktubers ... and there is something so soothing and relaxing about your voice (and the way you describe each book). I just had to subscribe. Sending love from Manchester. ❤
Thank you so much for following & for the lovely comment! 📚❤️
Dear Miranda, Stumbling upon your channel has been like discovering a magical portal holding the secret list of all the literature I have been longing to read. Thank you. My book wish list(s) are quite long now! Thank you as well for the links - I use them enthusiastically.
I love A Chelsea Concerto. So interesting. Thanks for talking about your favourite reads - really nice.
Gorgeous recommendations as always Miranda, thank you so much for introducing me to some real hidden gems! 😍
So glad you enjoyed them! Thank you xxx
Just found your channel and trying to find books at my library here in USA. Found a few! Yay! Love your descriptions and your other videos where you write a letter. You have a lovely persona ❤️🫖🦋
That’s very kind of you! Thank you and welcome!
Your inclusion of those WWII era books inspired me to place an interloan request just now for "Slacks and Calluses" by Constance Reid. This is a story about two young teachers who in 1943 decide to help the war effort by spending their summer vacation working on a B-24 production line at a San Diego bomber plant. The Willow Run plant here in my state of Michigan played a huge part in wartime production of bombers, so I am looking forward to reading this book. My favorite read of 2021 was "The Motion of Puppets" by Keith Donohue. It is about a woman spending the summer in Quebec working as a circus acrobat who, in an attempt to evade someone following her on the street one night ducks into a toy store where she is changed into a puppet. It sounds kind of weird, but the story was really gripping once her husband decides to try to track her down. The last few chapters had me racing through the pages to find out what would happen!
Hello Miranda! Thank you very much for the wonderful recommendations! I make Diane C's words my own: you are a big influence on my reading preferences now. I have enjoyed particularly The Feast by Margaret Kennedy. Amongst my favourite reading of 2021 (thanks for asking!) I would single out Tove Ditlevsen's Copenhagen Trilogy. A big thank you! Happy 2022!
Thank you for those very kind words!
I so enjoyed watching this video of your favourite books of 2021 thank you Miranda! I've added to my to be read pile thanks so much! I was introduced to the Tannie Maria mystery stories by Sally Andrews and read the first 2 in the series last year, thoroughly enjoyed them!
Thank you! Will have to look those up. ❤️📚
I really enjoyed "Before the Coffee Gets Cold." It was a rather quirky and strange read but it was such an interesting premise. I read the second one as well. I am constantly having to reheat my coffee and tea so...that would be it for me if I were in the story!
Nice video keep it up watching from dubai
I've just finished reading "The Lark" by E.Nesbit and if you haven't read this, I would recommend it. It is right up your street.
I have read it, and so agree; it’s a lovely book!
Some of these titles are already on my list (thanks to you) and I will be adding Sally on the Rocks, Cousin Harriet and Q's Legacy. Before the Coffee Gets Cold is the book I want to read next, I just have to buy it! I don't think I've asked you before (apologies if I have), but have you read the Jalna series by Mazo de la Roche? A long family saga spanning 1854 - 1954 and set in Canada. They were written from 1927 to 1960 but weren't published in chronological order; Jalna, written first is actually the 7th book in the series and several others are published out of order too. Anyway, if you have read them I'd just like to know your opinion.
Thanks so much, Karen! I haven’t read the Jalna books yet (though my mum has read them).
An excellent channel !
🙏🏼💯
Braiding sweetgrass by robin wall kimmerer
Thank you, Miranda, for another lovely video and for introducing me to new authors. :) My TBR list just keeps growing and getting better because of your recommendations. Some of my favourite reads for 2021 include: Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Enchanted Garden and Elizabeth's Garden both by Elizabeth Von Arnim, A Room with a View by E.M. Forster, Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, China Court by Rumer Godden, The Diary of a Provincial Lady by E.M. Delafield, Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkein, 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Sorry if this list is too long.
Also, I am wondering how you choose what to read next?
Thank you, Janice! It depends often it's a seasonal read or something within a theme I'm reading books in, or sometimes a recommendation or even on a whim! So many lovely reads!
that's TBR for A Chelsea Concerto
Since you enjoy books that take place during WW2 years I thought I'd mention a classic movie called "Mrs Miniver" made during that time. I believe it is based on a novel. You might already be familiar with it. Thanks.
Thanks! Yes, I know the film & book and like them both very much.