when y'all reviewed How Beautiful We Were initially, I just knew it was a book I had to read. it was actually the first book I bought when I started my job at the bookstore. This was right before I went back to university after six years off, so my fall was dedicated to adjusting to student life and I haven't read it, but I can tell it's one of those books that will tell me when it is ready to be read, and I'm ready for it to call me when the time comes. I am so thankful for the care you put into your recommendations; because of y'all, I have become a better reader, more empathetic and also more adventurous and willing to step out of my comfort zone in terms of genre. y'all are a beautiful soul and I'm so excited to follow your reading journey in 2022!
You're making me want to try again with A Lesson in Vengeance! The way you talk about books is so beautiful and it's nice to see how these books are special to you :)
@@JesseOnTH-cam mostly for the same reasons about the plot you pointed out! and yesss have so many books on my TBR but you're reading most of them soo quickly !
Jesse out here serving us some Loooooks! Also, The Thirty Names of Night is now borrowed from the library and I am so excited to dive into it! Thank you as always for your great and poignant reviews!! 🎤🎤
The thirty names of night seems so beautiful. The way you described the writing- I am sold!! Also the way you describe book is just so beautiful. You wording is so perfect and I love how passionately you talk about the book!! 😭😍
Wow, the way you just sold me on Razorblade Tears - I reserved the audiobook so fast from my library. I want to read so many on this list but I feel like this was the biggest surprise for me 🎙 I don’t have a single favorite book of the year but two of my top reads were Evicted by Matthew Desmond and The Death of Vivek Oji - Dear Senthuran also BLEW ME AWAY but Vivek Oji torn my heart out in a special way and made me cry (I don’t think any other book I read last year made tears fall).
When y’all talked about reading such a beautiful sentence that you have to pause and put the book down!!!! Def relate to that. One book off the top of my head is Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous ✨🎙
Your videos are too good for this world 😊 you have a wonderful vibe and i love the way you talk about books, it makes me so excited to read them. the way maggie o'farell wrote about hamnet was so good. Hope you have a good 2022 💕
Adding so many of these to my TBR, but most excited to read The Sweetness of Water And I’ve seen Hamnet so many times but never felt intrigued enough to pick it up…until now! Lol thanks for another awesome video!
That's how I felt about Hamnet. It has so many things in a book that normally would not be of interest to me. But it pulled me in and made me feel like I really knew these people. Beautifully written. And even though I knew what had happened to Hamnet going in, I still cried at the end. Highly recommend the audio book.
I read How Beautiful We Were in part from your recommendation and it was AMAZING. Like I'm still in awe that someone so insightful and talented is living alongside us and creating stories this haunting, like Imbolo Mbue is a gift
I know what you mean about feeling that way about a book, that it's going to be something special. Thank you for putting it into words. I also sometimes pick up a book and soft DNF it because it's not the right time. I'm glad to know that other people have those feelings.
Dear Senthuran was my favorite book of 2021. I revisit a lot of the passages still, that book will stay with me forever. Deeply personal to me as well. I started Son of the Storm last night , because of you! And because i've been eyeing it for quite some time now. 😊
Dear Senthuran will always be imprinted on my soul. So glad it feels that way for you too. What a work. I really hope you end up enjoying son of the Storm!
I saw this drop and got so excited because I HAD to know Jesse’s favorite books and immediately add them to my TBR! My favorite book of 2021 was Strange the Dreamer! A book that surprised me I think would be The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu bc it’s so different for her but she absolutely nailed it.💙🎤
@@JesseOnTH-cam I think you’ll love strange the dreamer. It’s one of my favourites of all time and means so much to me. The writing is beautiful and the story is so multifaceted
You’ve definitely sold me on The Thirty Names of Night and How Beautiful We Were 🤩 The book that made me stare off into space and thing about the editing this year was How Do You Live? by Genzaburo Yoshino…my god. Heard nothing but amazing things about Razorblade Tears as well…definitely adding to my TBR :)
Dream country has been on my list of books to get since your wrap up. I also love when you think a book is just above mediocre and then it hits hard and blows you away! A map to the sun just made it to my to read list. I have a copy of how beautiful we were and am looking forward to reading it :) I have to admit though I'm not a big fan of the US cover, I think they did the book dirty :') You've convinced me to give son of storm a shot as well. I was a bit unsure but you got me with that review. YES HAMNET SO GLAD IT MADE YOUR LIST. I have read it and loved it too - also made my favourites of the year list. Hamnet is much more celebrated and popular among UK booktubers and readers. Agree Barthomollew was the best
Love this list, I picked up A Map to the Sun because of you and loved it! I have How Beautiful We Were on my shelf but can’t bring myself to read it because it hits too close too home being from a small mining town in South Africa that has been stripped bare. Loved this too 10 list! 🎙
Yessss, I completely believe that sometimes, you pick up a book and you can *feel* that it’s going to be special for you. I adored Hamnet as well, it’s an incredible book. Fab list, your number 1 was no surprise but it’s been such a joy watching you discover these books in the last year ☺️💛🎙🎤
pausing at the start of the video bc if yalls fave is not Dear Senthuran i will be amazed and shocked! Ok edit 🎙 My favorite book of 2021 was also an Akwaeke Emezi book! It was Pet and I honestly would've read their entire backlog the minute I finished Pet if I was in a better headspace for heavier stuff, but now I cannot wait for their romance coming out this year!! My most surprising book of 2021 was Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo because I had heard that people obviously enjoyed it when it came out, but I wasn't expecting the main paranormal adventure plot to be everything I wanted from a book. Like, I'm now just scrambling for other "paranormal adventures that take place at college" books to satiate me until book 2 is out!
@@JesseOnTH-cam It's definitely not for everyone and at points I thought Alex's character arc wasn't perfect but secret societies and magic and ghosts? *chefs kiss* was everything i wanted
Thank yall, because Dear Senthuran is also my favorite book of the year, and yall recommended it, it absolutely changed me and clarified things that I could never put to words, but they did. Also Billy-rae Belcourt was that author who’s writing made me leave my body, incredible writing! 🎤
I picked up How Beautiful We Were because of you! Its amazing and heartbreaking and eyeopening and the way it was told was so unique and I totally agree, more people should read it!
I have been in a reading slump, but I have Thirty Names of Night on my tbr and this got me excited to read it again!!! I definitely want to pick up Hamnet and How Beautiful We Were!!
I appreciate your feedback and reviews for books. I'm still patiently waiting to listen to your suggestion of The Beast's Heart when I wrote on one of your previous posts' I'm reading Beasts and Beauty. Btw your outfit is 🔥🔥👏🏽👏🏽😍 yasssss!!!👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 LOVE IT 🥰
I /definitely/ get those "special book" feelings. Like you just know the second you pick it up that it's going to be perfect for you at that moment and place in time.
Pausing to say. Dear Senthuran has to be on the list if not #1. I just finished it last night, and even though I know it's Emezi's words, I swear I read large chunks of it in your voice.
I got goodreads open as y'all speak ready to add these books to my tbr lol. Im guessing dear senthuran for yalls #1! Also, yalls outfit, piercings, and make up looks super dope today. Yall have 1000% sold me on a map to the sun, the sweetness of water, how beautiful we we were, and razorblade tears!!
These titles sound all great, I'm happy for you for having found and loved them 💖🎤 I read it early in the year but I loved Raybearer. I also managed to finish the Graceling Series this year and adore each book in this series :)
Omg tell me how I still haven’t read Akwaeke Emezi yet?! I need to read all their books this year! I also 100% agree about Olivia’s channel- I always come here or to her channel to hear about the books no one else is talking about that are stunning!😊 I also added so many books to my TBR from this video 😊
I'm a month late to this video, but I finished "How Beautiful We Were" yesterday and I was left speechless. Ever since I first heard ya'll talk about it I've tried to find a copy, but in Norway it was near impossible. Apparently there's only 1 physical copy in only 1 library in all of Norway (???). Clearly we don't have taste. Luckily, libby pulled through (amazing full cast audiobook btw), and now it will undoubtedly be one of my favourites of the year, if not of all time.
Nice to meet you tonight. Emezi truly is a god, with you with you with you, I'll go get the memoir tomorrow! Frankisstein was weird and great last year. The Deep holy wow, and This is how you lose the time war
🎤 so many good books this 2021! I love your list but didn't read the yet...so will have to add them on! 🎤 I can't even pick one in particular but I did enjoy the below:- Invisible LIfe of Addie La Rue VE Schwab Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco Poppy War trilogy by RF Kuang The Blood of Stars duology by Elizabeth Lim the House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (love Under the Whispering Door's premise so it's on this year's TBR for me) Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao Cassidy Blake series by Victoria Schwab Life's Too Short by Abby Jimenez Child of Mine by Karen Grey
I also really enjoyed A Lesson in Vengeance. I loved the mental health rep. I need to read Thirty Names of Night this year! I'm reading all the books with dead moms this year. It's like digging into my soul now. I have to make sure I actually read all these this year! I loved Akwaeke's memoir. That book made me cry. I was on my balcony feeling their words dig into my soul. I have to go back and highlight so many good lines. Because of you all these books are already on my TBR, so one day soon. Obviously, my favorite book of 2021 was Iron Widow. It has a very special place in my heart. It is exactly the kind of story I adore by a literal boss god tier of a human author. The book that surprised me the most was The Space Between Worlds. I went into it expecting a 3 star read and it felt like that till the mid-way point and then it was so strong I couldn't put it down and I was crying. Such a powerful book about space and time and culture and love. Highly suggest both these.
Razorblade Tears was a great book! What I also loved about the book was how he portrayed a mature marriage. You don't see that written as often anymore.
LOL @ the plot has more holes than Swiss cheese. That makes me even more intrigued to read A Lesson in Vengeance. Ok definitely sold on How Beautiful We Were!!
One of my top fav books of 2021 was by far Know my Name by Chanel Miller. This was so impactful and also empowering for me in a way and I think it‘s a must read for everyone!
My favorite book of the year was Black Girls, Silence, and Other Things Made of Gold by Mikey Cody Apollo. This is a mindblowing self-published poetry book from an artist in Milwaukee, WI. The book that surprised me was Mutual Aid by Dean Spade. This is one of my favorite books of the year, and I didn't expect this from such a short nonfiction work. That book really changed my life. 🎤
Freshwater was my favorite book of 2021. I mean wow. Wow. Can't wait to read more of Emezi in 2022. It is also probably my most surprising mostly because I didn't really know a lot about it going in and didn't expect it to affect me so deeply. 🎤
🎤 I did as you recommended, and I have how beautiful we were on order from my library right now 😊 Amazing list!! I want to read all of these. I have Hamnet (unread). It's had a lot of love in the UK and won the women's prize for fiction. I'm not sure why I haven't read it yet! I also loved freshwater and need to read more Emeze. My favourite book of last year was Lonely Castle In The Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura. Thank you for great content and happy new year 🎉
Son of the Storm was already on my list because of the cover and now that it’s on this list it’s definitely going to be more of a priority on my TBR! Have you read The Prophets? It’s absolutely gorgeously written and I think you would love it!
adored the prophets. it was between prophets and sweetness of water, but ultimately went with sweetness because the story touched me more. however the writing in the prophets is definitely otherworldly. easily one of the best written books i've ever read. a classic.
Love the hat, the asymetric earrings, the piercings, the bow and the necklace. 🤩 Y'all convinced me to read Razorblade Tears. Edit: a book that surprised me last year was "The Chosen and The Beautiful" by Nghi Vo bec. I liked it, while most reviewers I followed didnt. Another was "The Beautiful Ones" by Silvia Moreno Garcia bec. I'm not into romance but this one brought me peace I didnt know I needed. Favorite book of the year was "The Secret Chord" a King David's story retelling by Geraldine Brooks. I was raised Christian and it was empowering to read this story from a Liberal Jewish woman perspective.
I love love love how passionately you talk about these books! It makes me want to read all of them ❤ I've heard such good things about Akwaeke Emezi but I still haven't read any of their books. Which one would you recommend starting with? I'm still not sure about my favourite book of the year (even though I already made a video on it lol); I keep going back and forth between Kindred by Octavia E. Butler and The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin. Both were amazing!!
The Thirty Names of Night was my favorite fiction novel! Such an incredible book. I really need to finish Akwaeke Emei's memoir! I love it so far, but I started to read it (a few months ago) when my head was just not ready to wrap itself around complex beautiful writing. I'm very excited to get back to it. How Beautiful We Were is definitely on my TBR too! 🎤
Between y'all's and Jess Owens' reviews, I have my copy of Razorblade Tears on the way and it will be high on my TBR. I read Freshwater in 2021 after seeing you speak about it, and it was unlike anything else I've ever read before and since ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🎤🎙🎤🎙🎤
@@JesseOnTH-cam Just came back to this video because I FINALLY read Son Of The Storm and it was another ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐!!! So excited to read the sequel soon! Sooo many strong characters, so much drama, and I agree that the writing was phenomenal! My one criticism was for Danso too, but not about what he mastered too quickly, I agree with y'all that it didn't feel like that, but I felt that he was too naïve and made many stupid decisions. He had me smh sooo many times! But it's part of his character development, so I forgave it. A new favorite!📚📚💖💖📚📚💖💖📚📚
Fave book was Never Let Me Go, it's part of a literary dystopian genre that I love but it's hard to find books in. 🎤 Really want to read How Beautiful We Were asap.
I was going to say if Dear Senthuran is not number one, then I don’t know you as well as I thought. Side note, I filled in the last two boxes for the 12 books in 12 months challenge with booktube recs and How Beautiful We Were was one of my choices.
A book that surprised me last year was The Love Hypothesis because I normally don't read romance and the love hypothesis was my first adult romance and I loved it so much. My other favorite books of 2021 was If We Were Villains, A Court of Silver Flames and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue but I have a lot more faves!!!
I had a lot of great reads but my favourite by far was Love Unlimited by reese morrison (who is also a favourite author now). Its the finale of BDSM romance series that ends in polyamarous quad between four deaf people, two of them genderqueer/genderfluid. It's emoitonal, beautifully written, the ace rep made me cry.
I came to this video with my pen ready as I knew it would be jam packed with gems and I was right!! 🎤❤️ My favourite book and most surprising book of last year was The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischwili ❤️
I’ve been eyeing Hamnet for MONTHS. And now I’m definitely taking that leap! I literally almost sent it to Chanelle for Christmas just to force her to read it with me 😂😂
Dear Senthuran was probably the most eccentric book I read in 2021. It was an enlightening experience, but I do admit that some of the book went beyond my personal ability to comprehend. But it was a book that made me aware of myself and those who are different from me.
THE SEQUEL I BEED IT NOW!!!!!! For some reason I sense chanelle is going to hate that book??? Hopefully I’m wrong though. It’s SO beautiful. Razorblade tears belongs in a damn literature museum. Wow. So good
Dear Senthuran. If it's not Dear Senthuran, I have been transported into an alternate dimension where nothing makes sense. It has to be Dear Senthuran... =D
"See how well you were paying attention last year" I DID NOT REALISE THIS WAS GUNNA BE A TEST 😭😭 I thought Razerblade Tears would be y'all fav. I failed y'all test 😭 I'm so sorry. 🎤
My favourite books of the year in no particular order: Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon Red, White and Royal Blue I Wish You All the Best Meet Cute Diary Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig
when y'all reviewed How Beautiful We Were initially, I just knew it was a book I had to read. it was actually the first book I bought when I started my job at the bookstore. This was right before I went back to university after six years off, so my fall was dedicated to adjusting to student life and I haven't read it, but I can tell it's one of those books that will tell me when it is ready to be read, and I'm ready for it to call me when the time comes. I am so thankful for the care you put into your recommendations; because of y'all, I have become a better reader, more empathetic and also more adventurous and willing to step out of my comfort zone in terms of genre. y'all are a beautiful soul and I'm so excited to follow your reading journey in 2022!
This comment means everything. Thank u
listening to you talk in one tab while i quietly add a lot of these to my TBR in another tab. such interesting picks!!!
You're making me want to try again with A Lesson in Vengeance! The way you talk about books is so beautiful and it's nice to see how these books are special to you :)
Why did you dnf? 👀 provide the tea 🫖 let’s buddy read something sometime?
@@JesseOnTH-cam mostly for the same reasons about the plot you pointed out! and yesss have so many books on my TBR but you're reading most of them soo quickly !
Jesse out here serving us some Loooooks! Also, The Thirty Names of Night is now borrowed from the library and I am so excited to dive into it! Thank you as always for your great and poignant reviews!! 🎤🎤
The thirty names of night seems so beautiful. The way you described the writing- I am sold!!
Also the way you describe book is just so beautiful. You wording is so perfect and I love how passionately you talk about the book!! 😭😍
It will break your heart in the best way
Wow, the way you just sold me on Razorblade Tears - I reserved the audiobook so fast from my library. I want to read so many on this list but I feel like this was the biggest surprise for me 🎙
I don’t have a single favorite book of the year but two of my top reads were Evicted by Matthew Desmond and The Death of Vivek Oji - Dear Senthuran also BLEW ME AWAY but Vivek Oji torn my heart out in a special way and made me cry (I don’t think any other book I read last year made tears fall).
When y’all talked about reading such a beautiful sentence that you have to pause and put the book down!!!! Def relate to that. One book off the top of my head is Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous ✨🎙
Your videos are too good for this world 😊 you have a wonderful vibe and i love the way you talk about books, it makes me so excited to read them.
the way maggie o'farell wrote about hamnet was so good. Hope you have a good 2022 💕
🥺🥺🥺🌹🌹❤️🩹
Adding so many of these to my TBR, but most excited to read The Sweetness of Water
And I’ve seen Hamnet so many times but never felt intrigued enough to pick it up…until now! Lol thanks for another awesome video!
Yesss this makes me so happy
That's how I felt about Hamnet. It has so many things in a book that normally would not be of interest to me. But it pulled me in and made me feel like I really knew these people. Beautifully written. And even though I knew what had happened to Hamnet going in, I still cried at the end. Highly recommend the audio book.
Oooo checking out the audio rn!
I read How Beautiful We Were in part from your recommendation and it was AMAZING. Like I'm still in awe that someone so insightful and talented is living alongside us and creating stories this haunting, like Imbolo Mbue is a gift
I know what you mean about feeling that way about a book, that it's going to be something special. Thank you for putting it into words. I also sometimes pick up a book and soft DNF it because it's not the right time. I'm glad to know that other people have those feelings.
Dear Senthuran was my favorite book of 2021. I revisit a lot of the passages still, that book will stay with me forever. Deeply personal to me as well. I started Son of the Storm last night , because of you! And because i've been eyeing it for quite some time now. 😊
Dear Senthuran will always be imprinted on my soul. So glad it feels that way for you too. What a work.
I really hope you end up enjoying son of the Storm!
I saw this drop and got so excited because I HAD to know Jesse’s favorite books and immediately add them to my TBR! My favorite book of 2021 was Strange the Dreamer! A book that surprised me I think would be The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu bc it’s so different for her but she absolutely nailed it.💙🎤
Ty!!! dying to read strange!
@@JesseOnTH-cam I think you’ll love strange the dreamer. It’s one of my favourites of all time and means so much to me. The writing is beautiful and the story is so multifaceted
Y'all are killing this look! All of these books sound so good. Thirty Names is on my tbr.
Thank you!
You’ve definitely sold me on The Thirty Names of Night and How Beautiful We Were 🤩
The book that made me stare off into space and thing about the editing this year was How Do You Live? by Genzaburo Yoshino…my god.
Heard nothing but amazing things about Razorblade Tears as well…definitely adding to my TBR :)
hi cutie! have you read 30 names of night/how beautiful yet? literally would love love love ur thoughts.
looking up how do you live rn. thank you!!!!!
Dream country has been on my list of books to get since your wrap up. I also love when you think a book is just above mediocre and then it hits hard and blows you away! A map to the sun just made it to my to read list. I have a copy of how beautiful we were and am looking forward to reading it :) I have to admit though I'm not a big fan of the US cover, I think they did the book dirty :') You've convinced me to give son of storm a shot as well. I was a bit unsure but you got me with that review. YES HAMNET SO GLAD IT MADE YOUR LIST. I have read it and loved it too - also made my favourites of the year list. Hamnet is much more celebrated and popular among UK booktubers and readers. Agree Barthomollew was the best
Love this list, I picked up A Map to the Sun because of you and loved it! I have How Beautiful We Were on my shelf but can’t bring myself to read it because it hits too close too home being from a small mining town in South Africa that has been stripped bare. Loved this too 10 list!
🎙
Yessss, I completely believe that sometimes, you pick up a book and you can *feel* that it’s going to be special for you. I adored Hamnet as well, it’s an incredible book. Fab list, your number 1 was no surprise but it’s been such a joy watching you discover these books in the last year ☺️💛🎙🎤
pausing at the start of the video bc if yalls fave is not Dear Senthuran i will be amazed and shocked!
Ok edit 🎙
My favorite book of 2021 was also an Akwaeke Emezi book! It was Pet and I honestly would've read their entire backlog the minute I finished Pet if I was in a better headspace for heavier stuff, but now I cannot wait for their romance coming out this year!!
My most surprising book of 2021 was Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo because I had heard that people obviously enjoyed it when it came out, but I wasn't expecting the main paranormal adventure plot to be everything I wanted from a book. Like, I'm now just scrambling for other "paranormal adventures that take place at college" books to satiate me until book 2 is out!
Cannot wait for Bitter!!!! It’s going to be so good. I’m surprised you like ninth house 🏡 now I want to read it
@@JesseOnTH-cam It's definitely not for everyone and at points I thought Alex's character arc wasn't perfect but secret societies and magic and ghosts? *chefs kiss* was everything i wanted
Thank yall, because Dear Senthuran is also my favorite book of the year, and yall recommended it, it absolutely changed me and clarified things that I could never put to words, but they did. Also Billy-rae Belcourt was that author who’s writing made me leave my body, incredible writing! 🎤
I picked up How Beautiful We Were because of you! Its amazing and heartbreaking and eyeopening and the way it was told was so unique and I totally agree, more people should read it!
LINDA THIS MAKES ME SO HAPPY
I have been in a reading slump, but I have Thirty Names of Night on my tbr and this got me excited to read it again!!! I definitely want to pick up Hamnet and How Beautiful We Were!!
We all know Dear Senthuran has got to be on this list ❤
Loved hearing about your favorite books! 🎤
Ahhh I wanna read Dear Senthuran so bad!! I’ve loved everything they’ve written so far so I’m sure I’ll love it!
I cannot wait to add some of these to my tbr y'all have some of the best recs. 🎤
I appreciate your feedback and reviews for books. I'm still patiently waiting to listen to your suggestion of The Beast's Heart when I wrote on one of your previous posts' I'm reading Beasts and Beauty. Btw your outfit is 🔥🔥👏🏽👏🏽😍 yasssss!!!👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 LOVE IT 🥰
omg the beast's heart is SO GOOD. i forgot all about that book. need to search it out and get a copy somewhere!!!!
I /definitely/ get those "special book" feelings. Like you just know the second you pick it up that it's going to be perfect for you at that moment and place in time.
Emezki is my absolute favourite new author, happy I'll be able to read 3 new books from thier collection this year 🎤
YESSS
Razorblade Tears was it. I read it and then listened to it and it was my favorite of the year. I can't wait for his next one.
Pausing to say. Dear Senthuran has to be on the list if not #1. I just finished it last night, and even though I know it's Emezi's words, I swear I read large chunks of it in your voice.
STFU OMGGGG THIS IS AN HONOR
I got goodreads open as y'all speak ready to add these books to my tbr lol. Im guessing dear senthuran for yalls #1!
Also, yalls outfit, piercings, and make up looks super dope today.
Yall have 1000% sold me on a map to the sun, the sweetness of water, how beautiful we we were, and razorblade tears!!
THANK YOU
These titles sound all great, I'm happy for you for having found and loved them 💖🎤
I read it early in the year but I loved Raybearer. I also managed to finish the Graceling Series this year and adore each book in this series :)
Omg tell me how I still haven’t read Akwaeke Emezi yet?! I need to read all their books this year! I also 100% agree about Olivia’s channel- I always come here or to her channel to hear about the books no one else is talking about that are stunning!😊 I also added so many books to my TBR from this video 😊
Loved hearing about your favorite books from the year! 🎙
Thank you!!
I looooved The Thirty Names of Night. Why aren’t more people reading and talking about it?!? The audiobook was pretty amazing too ❤️
Omgg the audio sounds dreamy
I'm a month late to this video, but I finished "How Beautiful We Were" yesterday and I was left speechless. Ever since I first heard ya'll talk about it I've tried to find a copy, but in Norway it was near impossible. Apparently there's only 1 physical copy in only 1 library in all of Norway (???). Clearly we don't have taste.
Luckily, libby pulled through (amazing full cast audiobook btw), and now it will undoubtedly be one of my favourites of the year, if not of all time.
This comment means so much Marte. So sorry just responding now but thank you eternally
Nice to meet you tonight. Emezi truly is a god, with you with you with you, I'll go get the memoir tomorrow! Frankisstein was weird and great last year. The Deep holy wow, and This is how you lose the time war
Yenni!!!! Your comment was so kind. Thank you for the love :) YO you will LOVE that memoir, I’m TELLING U. Pls don’t hesitate to come chat about it!!!
🎤 so many good books this 2021! I love your list but didn't read the yet...so will have to add them on! 🎤
I can't even pick one in particular but I did enjoy the below:-
Invisible LIfe of Addie La Rue VE Schwab
Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco
Poppy War trilogy by RF Kuang
The Blood of Stars duology by Elizabeth Lim
the House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (love Under the Whispering Door's premise so it's on this year's TBR for me)
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
Cassidy Blake series by Victoria Schwab
Life's Too Short by Abby Jimenez
Child of Mine by Karen Grey
Love this episode. You're a wonderful creator.
SCULLY your comments make me happy
My guess for your top book is Dear Senthuran by Emezi
I also really enjoyed A Lesson in Vengeance. I loved the mental health rep. I need to read Thirty Names of Night this year! I'm reading all the books with dead moms this year. It's like digging into my soul now. I have to make sure I actually read all these this year! I loved Akwaeke's memoir. That book made me cry. I was on my balcony feeling their words dig into my soul. I have to go back and highlight so many good lines. Because of you all these books are already on my TBR, so one day soon. Obviously, my favorite book of 2021 was Iron Widow. It has a very special place in my heart. It is exactly the kind of story I adore by a literal boss god tier of a human author. The book that surprised me the most was The Space Between Worlds. I went into it expecting a 3 star read and it felt like that till the mid-way point and then it was so strong I couldn't put it down and I was crying. Such a powerful book about space and time and culture and love. Highly suggest both these.
Razorblade Tears was a great book! What I also loved about
the book was how he portrayed a mature marriage. You don't see that written as often anymore.
Here for this list, excited to pick up so many of these 🎙
LOL @ the plot has more holes than Swiss cheese. That makes me even more intrigued to read A Lesson in Vengeance. Ok definitely sold on How Beautiful We Were!!
One of my top fav books of 2021 was by far Know my Name by Chanel Miller. This was so impactful and also empowering for me in a way and I think it‘s a must read for everyone!
SUCH AN IMPACTFUL BOOK
My favorite book of the year was Black Girls, Silence, and Other Things Made of Gold by Mikey Cody Apollo. This is a mindblowing self-published poetry book from an artist in Milwaukee, WI.
The book that surprised me was Mutual Aid by Dean Spade. This is one of my favorite books of the year, and I didn't expect this from such a short nonfiction work. That book really changed my life. 🎤
Adding Dream Country and How Beautiful We Were to my TBR!
Thank you tya!
Freshwater was my favorite book of 2021. I mean wow. Wow. Can't wait to read more of Emezi in 2022. It is also probably my most surprising mostly because I didn't really know a lot about it going in and didn't expect it to affect me so deeply. 🎤
So glad you had such a beautiful and moving experience with it 🌹 truly a work of power
🎤 I did as you recommended, and I have how beautiful we were on order from my library right now 😊
Amazing list!! I want to read all of these. I have Hamnet (unread). It's had a lot of love in the UK and won the women's prize for fiction. I'm not sure why I haven't read it yet!
I also loved freshwater and need to read more Emeze.
My favourite book of last year was Lonely Castle In The Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura.
Thank you for great content and happy new year 🎉
Lonely castle in the mirror sounds so good!!!!
@@JesseOnTH-cam it is! How beautiful we were arrived yesterday 😊 thanks for the recommendation 👍🏻
your look is so amazing!!
I can't not audio read Razorblade Tears after that review. Loved this 10 best video 🎤
Thank you!
Son of the Storm was already on my list because of the cover and now that it’s on this list it’s definitely going to be more of a priority on my TBR!
Have you read The Prophets? It’s absolutely gorgeously written and I think you would love it!
adored the prophets. it was between prophets and sweetness of water, but ultimately went with sweetness because the story touched me more. however the writing in the prophets is definitely otherworldly. easily one of the best written books i've ever read. a classic.
@@JesseOnTH-cam this makes me excited to read the sweetness of water! I couldn’t agree more with your thoughts :)
I just put How Beautiful We Were on hold at my library. There's an 11 week wait. Folks are definitely reading it. 😁
omg good for folks reading it but sorry about that wait!!!
Son of the Storm seems so good. I'm not surprised about Dear Senthuran 🎤🎤
Love the hat, the asymetric earrings, the piercings, the bow and the necklace. 🤩
Y'all convinced me to read Razorblade Tears.
Edit: a book that surprised me last year was "The Chosen and The Beautiful" by Nghi Vo bec. I liked it, while most reviewers I followed didnt.
Another was "The Beautiful Ones" by Silvia Moreno Garcia bec. I'm not into romance but this one brought me peace I didnt know I needed.
Favorite book of the year was "The Secret Chord" a King David's story retelling by Geraldine Brooks. I was raised Christian and it was empowering to read this story from a Liberal Jewish woman perspective.
All three are books we want to read!!!
@@JesseOnTH-cam yeah!
Yes, Jesse! Have purchased How Beautiful We Were as per your recommendation!
Omgomgomg
@@JesseOnTH-cam It is a big contender for my February buzzword read 😁
I love love love how passionately you talk about these books! It makes me want to read all of them ❤ I've heard such good things about Akwaeke Emezi but I still haven't read any of their books. Which one would you recommend starting with? I'm still not sure about my favourite book of the year (even though I already made a video on it lol); I keep going back and forth between Kindred by Octavia E. Butler and The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin. Both were amazing!!
The Thirty Names of Night was my favorite fiction novel! Such an incredible book. I really need to finish Akwaeke Emei's memoir! I love it so far, but I started to read it (a few months ago) when my head was just not ready to wrap itself around complex beautiful writing. I'm very excited to get back to it. How Beautiful We Were is definitely on my TBR too! 🎤
Omg u have taste
Between y'all's and Jess Owens' reviews, I have my copy of Razorblade Tears on the way and it will be high on my TBR. I read Freshwater in 2021 after seeing you speak about it, and it was unlike anything else I've ever read before and since ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐🎤🎙🎤🎙🎤
Im so glad you’re going to read it! Such a powerful book
@@JesseOnTH-cam Just came back to this video because I FINALLY read Son Of The Storm and it was another ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐!!! So excited to read the sequel soon! Sooo many strong characters, so much drama, and I agree that the writing was phenomenal! My one criticism was for Danso too, but not about what he mastered too quickly, I agree with y'all that it didn't feel like that, but I felt that he was too naïve and made many stupid decisions. He had me smh sooo many times! But it's part of his character development, so I forgave it. A new favorite!📚📚💖💖📚📚💖💖📚📚
Fave book was Never Let Me Go, it's part of a literary dystopian genre that I love but it's hard to find books in. 🎤 Really want to read How Beautiful We Were asap.
The way Adam Lazarre White narrated Buddy-Lee in Razorblade Tears was everything! I’d find myself grinning excessively! 🎤
YES EXACTLY
You did convince me to buy how beautiful we were! (I haven’t read it yet though, the fontsize of the UK paperback scares me a little)
Yessss yes yes that means so much to me
🎙️ Best book is probably still Happily Ever Afters. Just picked up the sequel this week and can't wait to start it.
LOVE THAT BOOK
I was going to say if Dear Senthuran is not number one, then I don’t know you as well as I thought. Side note, I filled in the last two boxes for the 12 books in 12 months challenge with booktube recs and How Beautiful We Were was one of my choices.
At 17:32 I still want to read it if some boudy read it with me it might will help read it
A book that surprised me last year was The Love Hypothesis because I normally don't read romance and the love hypothesis was my first adult romance and I loved it so much. My other favorite books of 2021 was If We Were Villains, A Court of Silver Flames and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue but I have a lot more faves!!!
loveeeeed the love hypothesis!!!!! it SHOCKED THE HELL OUT OF ME
🎤I'm thinking I need to pick up Hamnet and Dear Senthurian this year. Also cannot WAIT for You Made A Fool of Death with Your Beauty later this year.
It’s going to be amazing Emily
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado was my favorite book of 2021! Loved this video, I'm totally interested in picking up your top five! 🎤
This means so much!!!
Have you seen the new cover for the paperback edition of How Beautiful We Were?
No omg need
I had a lot of great reads but my favourite by far was Love Unlimited by reese morrison (who is also a favourite author now). Its the finale of BDSM romance series that ends in polyamarous quad between four deaf people, two of them genderqueer/genderfluid. It's emoitonal, beautifully written, the ace rep made me cry.
I came to this video with my pen ready as I knew it would be jam packed with gems and I was right!! 🎤❤️ My favourite book and most surprising book of last year was The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischwili ❤️
I just bought a copy of a lesson in vengeance 😏 I was waiting for razorblade tears 👀
Yoooooooo
thirty names of night is also on my top 10!
Yessss omg omg
What was #1?!
@@JesseOnTH-cam hood feminism!
My fave of the year was - guess what - ANNIE ON MY MIND BY NANCY GARDEN
Omg gonna look it up
I'm predicting Akwaeke Emezi will be the author of your top book.
I think my favourite book of 2021 was the last one I read "A Psalm for the Wild Built" by Becky Chambers 🎤
I am looking forward to the sequel to son of the storm. It had very creative world building
I’ve been eyeing Hamnet for MONTHS. And now I’m definitely taking that leap! I literally almost sent it to Chanelle for Christmas just to force her to read it with me 😂😂
Razorblade tears was SO GOOD.
Dear Senthuran was probably the most eccentric book I read in 2021. It was an enlightening experience, but I do admit that some of the book went beyond my personal ability to comprehend. But it was a book that made me aware of myself and those who are different from me.
THE SEQUEL I BEED IT NOW!!!!!! For some reason I sense chanelle is going to hate that book??? Hopefully I’m wrong though. It’s SO beautiful.
Razorblade tears belongs in a damn literature museum. Wow. So good
I was surprised to see A Lesson in Vengence on here!
Yo same
my tbr is weeping, both in joy and in fear 😂
HAHA
loved the video 🎤
Ty!!
my guess: dear senthuran and how beautiful we were
🎙🎙 kicking myself for not guessing a map to the sun when i literally read that cause of y’all 😂
Holy shit ur amazing ily
Dear Senthuran has to be #1!!!
🎤 awesome video!
I like the hat and make-up 😄😅😄
Thank you!
Dear Senthuran. If it's not Dear Senthuran, I have been transported into an alternate dimension where nothing makes sense. It has to be Dear Senthuran... =D
Dear Senthurian
"See how well you were paying attention last year" I DID NOT REALISE THIS WAS GUNNA BE A TEST 😭😭
I thought Razerblade Tears would be y'all fav. I failed y'all test 😭 I'm so sorry.
🎤
omggggggg lmao!!!!! youre so precious. def did not fail us. we lOVED razorblades tears so so deeply it may as well have been the top spot.
I knew Dear Senthuran was your favourite book of the year. I just knew it.
My favourite books of the year in no particular order:
Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon
Red, White and Royal Blue
I Wish You All the Best
Meet Cute Diary
Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig
Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig
🎙️
YOU KNOW ME SO WELL. cant wait to read beyond the gender binary someday
@@JesseOnTH-cam I hope we can read it for the enby book club bc that would be a great pick and plus it's quite short but there's so much to discuss
Jesse is such a beautiful handsome individual 😍
This comment is love
Thank you
Paused to guess: Dear Senthuran?
Favorite book was Ledfeather by Stephen Graham Jones. 🎤
Omg haven’t heard of that one
Love him
@@JesseOnTH-cam it's pretty damn awesome. I don't want to give too much away but the ending is amazing.
Good titles, good delivery, but the sound was waaay too quiet ☹
Ohhhh thank you for telling me!!!!
🎙🎙🎙
I'm Messy Jessy this is Ravenclaw and you're watching.. 💜🥰
OMG I LOVE THAT U REMEMBER HOLY SHIT I ADORE U
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