That quote from Tomorrow x3 made me SOB when you read it. I don’t have chronic pain, but I see my husband deal with it every day. He needs to read it just based on that quote. He might find some comfort in it.
This year I read 28 books. Probably more than I ever read in my life 😂. I often struggled with reading throughout my life. This year I found my love for reading and this channel really helped me to keep going. And I‘m ready for more. Take it slow friends and enjoy the journey. Happy new year❤
i'm glad you included a honorable mention category for neurodivergence characters! I want to read more books out there with those types of characters. Also Allison, I want to wish you a happy New Year i'm so glad I found your channel in 2022 and you have quickly become my favorite book tuber
A few books with neurodivergent characters -The Rosie Project, The Rosie Effect, and The Rosie Result by Graeme Simsion. -The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon -Convenience Store Woman by Murata, Sayaka -Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus: by Dusti Bowling -The Maid by Nita Prose
this is unrelated to the books because we dont really read the same genre but i found your channel recently and wow wow wow not only are you so comforting but your videos are so inspiring. they're really that hug from a friend i need, to say "youre alive and thats just fine" so thank you ❤🩹
My favorite books in 2022 was T.J. Klune’s Under the whispering door & The house of the cerulean sea They both had me with there Middle Aged queer characters who are stuck and need to be gently taught how to live life again. They both had me rethinking relationship, life values and death in a sense. My uncle is dealing with a lot health issues and there have been so many times we’re I thought I lost essentially my father figure so Under the Whispering Door really helped me just be less scared of death, with just the idea that there is a little tea shop waiting for us and someone waiting to guide us. It just warmed my heart.
Alright, you've fully convinced me to read A Psalm for the Wild-Built!! My faves this year were: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern The White Road by Sarah Lotz I'm Glad my Mom Died Spinning by Tillie Walden A Little Life (reread it this year and it's still an all-time favorite) Here's to more reading in 2023 🎉🥳
i listened to Braiding Sweetgrass this year thanks to your recommendation and hearing Kimmerer narrate was such a lovely experience🦋 one of my faves this year!!
The tea dragon society was one of my favorite reads of the year too! So excited for the next year of reading. Sending all of y'all the best of vibes. Thank you so much Ally for brightening my Sundays in 2022! 🥰
My top five books for 2022 The Wall by Marlen Haushofer Stoner by John Williams The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe Trust by Hernan Diaz ♥️
I read 131 books this year, mostly audiobooks with a handful of poetry books and graphic novels. I have never in my life read this much, and I have you and Sally to thank for it. There were so many good recommendations, and the readathons were so helpful.
I’m halfway through a Psalm for the Wild Built! It’s not a book I would naturally gravitate towards, so I am SO thankful you talked about it!! It’s so soothing and layered and beautiful 🥹
My top reads of 2023 were "Beloved" by Toni Morrison, "Older Sister, Not Necessarily Related" by Jenny Heijun Wills, "Braiding Sweetgrass" by Robin Wall Kimmerer, and "We Need to Talk" by Celeste Headlee. Almost half of my favorite reads of the year came from the Ally Stack 🌱Thank you for introducing us to such a variety of books and authors! You've truly cultivated the coziest corner of the internet. Here's to more cozy and good reads in 2023!
I am so so thankful for your channel. I'm currently lucky enough to be in Sweden for a month to visit/meet my best friend for the first time and I'm so grateful and happy but boy if the anxiety hasn't been hitting in the dark afternoons and evenings. We found you while we were watching some bookish videos together and you've quickly become my favorite and comfort booktuber. All of your recommendations are consistently getting added to my TBR, and I love your philosophy about just existing; very excited to pick up some of the books that reinforce that. It's also been really nice to have an open neurodivergent creator that has the same ~vibes~, if that makes sense. Just. Thank you for being a safe space, for the content you make, and I hope you have a magical 2023!
my new year's resolution for 2023 is to read more, and to record my reads (i'm using storygraph). this list gave me 7 new reads and i am so excited! the time that i'm gaining through my gap year (compared to senior year in 2022) i really hope will be filled by beautiful books! and also the pinned quote is stunning, thank you allison! this was the first video of yours that i've ever watched - my cousin is very much into booktube, and is very much my role model for this year of reading (they took their gap year in 2022), and they recommended you!
Just found your channel and I’ve immediately subscribed! I love the way you speak about books and the quote selections you’ve chosen. Thank you for sharing! Please be careful with sharing graphic novel art as it’s against copyright 😩😩😩 I’ll be watching your backlog 😁😁
I picked up Pure Color at the book shop this week. It was on the staff picks shelf and the book came into my hands and never left! Really excited to read it.
Happy New Year, Allie! My favorite read of 2022 was I Who Have Never Known Men, followed by The Raven Cycle. The first shook my life, the later series made me love reading again. I also read The Fifth Season, and it was amazing!
I picked up the Tea Dragon Society set because of your recommendation and am so happy I did. I felt so warm and cozy reading them and cried tears of joy. I've since painted some of the characters to recapture that experience and also I loved the art work!
My favorite books this year: - Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin (such good depiction of mental illnesses with a funny relatable main character- check content warnings) - Out There by Kate Folk (if the x-files monster of the week episodes were about dating) - All The Living and the Dead by Hayley Campbell (if you like Caitlin Doughty, this book is for you- enjoyed the audiobook)
I often watch best book videos and don't add a single book to my tbr. But your videos make me so hyped and excited to read and I always find something I need in my life. Also my favorite books of the year were Once There Were Wolves and The Goblin Emperor, both books that I think you might enjoy!
I just found your channel (and subscribed) and really enjoyed this video. I don't think I finished a book for over 20 years and last year (2022) I got back into reading and ended up reading 25 books. I enjoyed Before The Coffee Gets Cold and have the 2nd and 3rd books in the series on my TBR. Some books I loved this year include: A Man Called Ove, Anxious People, Gone To See The River Man, The House Across The Lake, Educated, The Housekeeper and The Professor, The Midnight Library, and Honeybee. I've added a few books you mentioned to my TBR and look forward to reading a lot more in 2023! Great video, and thanks.
Loveeee that you include quotes! Always curious how books are written and favorite quotes by each reader so having the quotes helps me want to read them! I’ve been looking for youtubers who do this and I’ve only found you thus far 💕 thank you!
your scream about the tea dragon society trilogy woke my cat up lmao but I agree the tea dragon society is amazing and so so cute. my fave book of the year was luster by raven leilani, so fucking good highly recommend
I just stumbled on your channel and I really appreciate what you’ve said about not letting others influence your reading. At times I find myself second guessing my favorite books because of the other thoughts I’ve heard, I can’t imagine how many books I’ve missed that would’ve been amazing for me because I let different opinions get to me. This isn’t to say that different opinions are bad, I’d say the discourse is always welcome but I think a small amount of people give their recommendations in an objective manner rather than subject.
I rarely comment on videos but firstly i cannot stop watching your videos and safe to say as a newly diagnosed autistic woman i’ve never found a safe space that feels as comforting and magical as this corner of the internet! Thank you for being you & all you do 🥰✨
OMG thanks to you the I read and loved the monk and robot duology too! My other favorites were the author, Freya Simpson's two books: The Last Chance Library and The Lost Ticket. I loved how both were comforting and focused more on friendship and community. Highly recommend!
I just added all these books to my tbr! I always wanted to find a shorter book with great cozy vibes, and I can say that you are my go to booktuber for great recs!
Loved the wrap up! I have a few favourites I read this year that I think you would really enjoy. Brambley Hedge by Jill Barklem, which is a beautifully illustrated book series about mice who live inside trees (but inside the tree it's like a miniature house). The plots revolve around seasonal events like birthdays, weddings, winter celebrations etc. it's so cosy and I love it so much. I also loved Dream Work by Mary Oliver, which is such lovely nature poetry. In terms of neurodivergent reads, Neuroqueer Heresies by Nick Walker was amazing, but it's nonfiction and quite academic so I think you have to be in the right mood for it. You can dip in and out though, as it's an essay collection.
Out of the 51 books I read, My Evil Mother made the most impact on me despite being so short. House in the Cerulean Sea is my coziest read. Popisho was the most "movie" like. And Shuna's Journey was a great graphic novel. Overall, thank you for your videos this year, they kept me motivated just as much as the books did.
I just adore you and your warmth :') my favorite books of the year included Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell, Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller,, Say Nothing by Patrick Keefe, and A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara!
This video was just recommended to me and I’m so happy I found your channel! You seem like such a sweet person and I love that you recommend books that are not nessecarily trendy (the kind of books that every booktuber talks about and there‘ s nothing wrong with that, but it does get kind of boring) but just mean a lot to you! This inspired me to really pick up whatever book that sounds interesting to me, without any judgement towards myself. Your channel truly feels like a safe space on the internet 🌞
I have a book you should add to your 2023 TBR! How Far The Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler. Your love of Braiding Sweetgrass pretty much cements that you’ll love this book as well. It’s beautiful and heart wrenching and also informative about different sea creatures. Thought of you when I read it a few days ago. Hope you have a great New Year!
I think my favorite book of the year was Greywaren by Maggie Stiefvater because it wrapped up not only the Dreamer Trilogy but everything since the The Raven Cycle, and I just didn't expect it to bowl me over so hard. But some other favorites of mine were A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, Humankind: A Hopeful History, Nimona, Hey Kiddo, We Ride Upon Sticks, Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe, and Something Wilder.
This video made me feel so so good, and reminded me of one of the things I most love about reading - the cozy comfort of slowing down. Thank you for this list, which is so different from all the other lists I've seen in this wrapup season. Braiding Sweetgrass was my favourite book of 2020 and I've bought about 6 more copies and been giving them to people as gifts ever since. You really captured the exact way it reached out and touched me. I also fell in love with On a Sunbeam, and am interested in reading more by Tillie Walden (an artist whose Tarot Deck, the Cosmic Slumber Tarot, I've treasured for many years). Extremely looking forward to reading Psalm & Legends and Lattes, and the tea dragon trilogy seems like everything I love in a comfort read as well. Thank you thank you thank you and I hope you have a wonderful year ahead :) Some of my favourites this year were Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi (a story of two twin sisters who come back to their childhood home in Nigeria to be with their aging mother, and they untangle the knots in their relationship that formed after a childhood trauma. It has magical realism aspects to it but mostly its just a slow and poignant character study of these three very different women. Just beautiful prose. TW for CSA) ; The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak (the story of a fig tree, an immigrant girl finally learning about her estranged family, and over many timelines, the love story of her parents - a greek man and a turkish woman during and after the civil war in Cypress. also gorgeous and poignant, lots of nature-based allegory because one of the main POV characters is literally a tree. TW for war) ; one last stop by Casey McQuiston (this book was just an explosive celebration of queerness and queer friendship and queer love in all its forms and it was just so so so so fun and delightful and also sexy but damn it was just such a joyful read. There's a whole sci-fi mystery also, and an exploration but thats just moving the plot along - the real strength of this book is in its characters, who all feel so interesting, colourful and quirky, and also feel completely real).
i've been watching every video of top 2022 books recommended to me on my home page and with most i have just been skimming through but with yours i couldn't help myself and watched all of it. i love the way you're so enthusiastic when talking about these books and i appreciated the quotes u shared :') i especially love you dividing them by genre so it was easier to navigate too! i'm definitely adding these books to my tbr. thank you
One of my favourites of last year was What my bones know by Stephanie Foo. It was gutwrenching and raw, but it was also healing? in some way. Highly recommend. Happy new year ✨🎇
My favorites were Take My Hand, A History of Wild Places , Notes on an Execution, The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness and How Fascism Works (I think I found that one because of you). I read 53 books this year (with about 7 DNFs).
I’m so excited to have found you this year! I love your recommendations and you have added many books to my TBR 💜 A few of my favorite reads from 2022 Rant - Chuck Palahniuk Life of Pi - Yann Martel Geek Love - Katherine Dunn Library at Mount Char - Scott Hawkins Black Cake - Charmaine Wilkerson
Braiding Sweetgrass is one of my all-time favorites as well. Nourishing is the perfect word to describe it! The audiobook is one of the most soothing things I've ever listened to and I've made a tradition of revisiting it every spring 🌻
Thank you-my TBR just grew and you convinced me on a few titles that have been swirling in my reading universe for a while-Caste, Braiding Sweetgrass and Before the Coffee Gets Cold. My favorite in 2022 was a tie between Song of Achilles and Poet X. Two very different books telling powerful stories.
absolute favorites include, bright dead things by ada limon (another great poet to be introduced to poetry), everyone in this room will someday be dead by emily austin, our wives under the sea by julia armfield, and kindred by octavia butler (i think about this one like once a week and i read 6 months ago) overall a great year for reading and i’m so excited for much much more in the new year!!
im so thankful that you read the monk & robots and spoke so highly of them, because i think they're my fav reads* of this year too! thank you for being!💕💕 *but like, the rest of my 2022 reads were fast-paced and easy reads to get through my fog of final-year uni... i read so many mick herron novels lol
I'm so thankful that I discovered you this Summer, you truly brought me through this year. And as a fellow Neurodivergent, the comfort you brought me with your reminders to just be and rest sometimes is unreal :') Happy 2023 to you and your little family, Alli!
I read 94 books this year which is exactly as much as I read in the two previous ones together and honestly, it might have been too much! I kinda miss the times where I read less, because it feel like now all the books are blurring together, you know? It's hard to think of favorites like this, but the first three books that came to mind were Know My Name, I'm Glad My Mother Died and Educated. I'm absolutely bamboozled because I've never read memoirs before this year, but I think those three really are it. They all impacted me in a different way, they all gave me something I wouldn't be able to get out of my usual favorite genres :)
Happy new year, Ally! Excited for your content this year. If you can and if you want, I'd love to see more vlogs this year. You help me so much, you don't even know. ❤
i think you would REALLY enjoy absolutely almost by lisa graff. it’s a middle grade about a boy who doesn’t feel like he’s good enough at anything and who learns that that’s okay and he can just be good at being a kind person. it was my favorite book of this year and like the past five years!! love your videos so much btw, they’ve also helped me find books to nourish my soul ❤
i got the tea dragon society books for christmas and i’m so happy to get to read them!! my fave books of the year were upstream by mary oliver, braiding sweetgrass, psalm for the wild-built/prayer for the crown-shy, and all’s well by mona awad!
I picked up A psalm for the wild-built because you talked about it and I almost started sobbing in the grocery shop. I think it was sobbing, it was just a lot of emotions all at once with no way out. I was just picking up two things from the shop and instead I had an EXPERIENCE. Of course I got the sequel and reread both in sequence, but this time I was ready! (bonus: during that shop run I got cookies because it sounded like I was going to need them, I was right) So thank you, they're now two of the favourites of the year (out of 120!) and I only picked them up because you mentioned them.
After watching this I’ve read and LOVED the entire Tea Dragon Society collection and A Psalm For The Wild-Built. I plan on reading A Prayer For The Crown-Shy and Braiding Sweetgrass. MY recommendation for you is the graphic novel Seance Tea Party. I’m sure you will absolutely adore it just as I have ❤️
I am so glad you enjoyed Before the Coffee Gets Cold! I am Japanese and I read that book when it was released in Japanese. I know there is kind of series stuff for that book so I think I am going to get them when I go back to Japan the next! :) If you like cozy Japanese genre, and if you have not read it yet, I highly recommend Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. It is my favorite book and it gives me comfort every time I read:)
My best friend and I read Before the Coffee Gets Cold for our book club and we both enjoyed it. I found it thought provoking and very emotionally beautiful. I really felt for each of the characters. I've read the second book in the series and I'm waiting to read the third book. 😊
I am picking up both Becky Chambers and Braiding Sweetgrass this year - can't wait! My top 5 reads last year were Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (reread), Nevermoor #1 by Jessica Townsend, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman and The Sentence by Louise Erdrich - I want to read more Erdrich this year.
Your videos always put a smile on my face! Thank you for what you do (from a fellow autistic girlie too! xx) 🥰 My favorite books od 2023 were, in order, Babel by RF Kuang (gotta love her and her writing), Beartown by Frederik Backman (i want to read every book he has ever written omg), Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, Jane Eyre, A Man Called Ove by Backman (again), and finally The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (one of the best epic fantasy books/series i've had the pleasure to read). I hope you give one of these a try sometime, but do make sure to check for the trigger warnings, as always :)
I didn’t read as many books as I wanted to, but I read “Unlikely Animals” by Annie Hartnett and it was truly the best book I’ve ever read. I did also read “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” with my bookclub and we had a great discussion. I also read “Severance” and WOW what a thrilling read
Another amazing video! My favorite book of the year was how high we go in the dark by sequoia nagamatsu and I think you would really enjoy it! It's a collection of short stories that all tie together. Its pretty dark but also full of hope and I almost cried because of the talking pig
you’re amazing ! i adore hearing you talk about anything and the exerts you decide to read out loud make me want to read every book on this list. your energy and joy is infectious
Under the Whispering Door definitely made me tear up toward the end. I read Crying in H-Mart and I felt like it ripped my heart out of my chest, but didn't make me cry... I was really hoping it would. Have you read any more of the books in the "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" series? I'm curious if the other books have the same vibe. My top 5 this year in no particular order were, I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Clune, Normal People by Sally Rooney, Braiding Sweetgrass (omg aaaand also Gathering Moss) by Robin Wall-Kimmerer, and Baby & Solo by Lisabeth Posthuma
Absolutely loved your content this year! I was always jealous of you sitting reading with your cats and I just picked up my first cat (Persian Ragdoll) today and I can’t wait to sit and read some of your recommendations with him! Happy 2023!
My top three out of 22 (haha 22 books in 2022 I just noticed) were Braiding Sweetgrass, They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib (he's from my city and the way he writes about it makes me so happy!!!) and It Came From the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror w short stories from lots of authors including Carmen Maria Machado!!! I read tons of nonfiction in 2022 but for this year I really wanna find my cozy fiction niche❤️❤️
Bless your heart for such a great, uplifting video! You are adorable. Most of your favorites were already on my list for 2023, but I have added the graphic novels you recommended along with the Tea Dragon Society. I’m now subscribed and will be checking out your other videos tomorrow.
I love The Little Prince so much, such a great book. Just added Pure Color, Before the Coffee Gets Cold, and Tomb of Sand to my tbr. Sounds like a pretty good reading year. ☺️📚
my favourites this year were: we ride upon sticks by quan barry, piranesi by susanna clarke, against the loveless world by susan abulhawa, i who have never known men by jacqueline harpman (as per your recommendation!) and matrix by lauren groff :) thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you do, your videos are one of the highlights of my week and they always remind me of what's truly important
Happy New Year, Allison and congratulations on your reading goal! My top 5 of 2022 were: "Wintering" by Katherine May (non-fic about coping during the winter months), "The Sentence" by Louise Erdrich (fiction about Indigenous independent bookstore in Minneapolis being haunted), "Autumn" by Ali Smith, "Make Your Art No Matter What" by Beth Pickens (non fic from an art therapist), and the Hakumei & Mikochi manga series by Takuto Kashiki (little folk in a big world living a slow, cozy life).
For a book with a neurodivergent character you might like Willodeen by Katherine Applegate. It's middlegrade and nature is a huge part of it. My last read of 2022 and it was a nice note to end on!
My favorite book I read in 2022 was “Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian)” by Hazel Jane Plante. It is about two trans women best friends, and one has recently passed away. Our narrator works on a project to honor her memory by talking about her dear and troubled friends life through the lens of the late friends favorite fictional, super obscure TV show set on a little coastal island. It’s extremely unique, whimsical, and emotional and has stuck with me since I read it this past summer.
Pick up what you can, pocket what you love, there’s no test afterwards! Absolutely brilliant and I wrote it down!
i'm glad you liked it - i hope it encourages you in 2023. much love
Fabulous!
tea poured ✅ sweatpants on ✅ storygraph open ✅
That quote from Tomorrow x3 made me SOB when you read it. I don’t have chronic pain, but I see my husband deal with it every day. He needs to read it just based on that quote. He might find some comfort in it.
wow the first day of the year couldn't be better
This year I read 28 books. Probably more than I ever read in my life 😂.
I often struggled with reading throughout my life. This year I found my love for reading and this channel really helped me to keep going. And I‘m ready for more. Take it slow friends and enjoy the journey. Happy new year❤
i'm glad you included a honorable mention category for neurodivergence characters! I want to read more books out there with those types of characters. Also Allison, I want to wish you a happy New Year i'm so glad I found your channel in 2022 and you have quickly become my favorite book tuber
A few books with neurodivergent characters
-The Rosie Project, The Rosie Effect, and The Rosie Result by Graeme Simsion.
-The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
-Convenience Store Woman by Murata, Sayaka
-Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus: by Dusti Bowling
-The Maid by Nita Prose
I actually just started before the coffee gets cold today and I'm already halfway through, it's so beautiful I adore it!!!
this is unrelated to the books because we dont really read the same genre but i found your channel recently and wow wow wow not only are you so comforting but your videos are so inspiring. they're really that hug from a friend i need, to say "youre alive and thats just fine" so thank you ❤🩹
My favorite books in 2022 was T.J. Klune’s
Under the whispering door
& The house of the cerulean sea
They both had me with there Middle Aged queer characters who are stuck and need to be gently taught how to live life again. They both had me rethinking relationship, life values and death in a sense.
My uncle is dealing with a lot health issues and there have been so many times we’re I thought I lost essentially my father figure so Under the Whispering Door really helped me just be less scared of death, with just the idea that there is a little tea shop waiting for us and someone waiting to guide us. It just warmed my heart.
I'm reading Before the Coffee Gets Cold right now and loving it! I figured it was the perfect way to start the new year.
Alright, you've fully convinced me to read A Psalm for the Wild-Built!!
My faves this year were:
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
The White Road by Sarah Lotz
I'm Glad my Mom Died
Spinning by Tillie Walden
A Little Life (reread it this year and it's still an all-time favorite)
Here's to more reading in 2023 🎉🥳
i listened to Braiding Sweetgrass this year thanks to your recommendation and hearing Kimmerer narrate was such a lovely experience🦋 one of my faves this year!!
My best friend keeps recommending Braiding Sweetgrass. After this video I have no excuse I have to read it. I'm convinced!
The tea dragon society was one of my favorite reads of the year too! So excited for the next year of reading. Sending all of y'all the best of vibes. Thank you so much Ally for brightening my Sundays in 2022! 🥰
My top five books for 2022
The Wall by Marlen Haushofer
Stoner by John Williams
The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka
Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe
Trust by Hernan Diaz ♥️
I read 131 books this year, mostly audiobooks with a handful of poetry books and graphic novels. I have never in my life read this much, and I have you and Sally to thank for it. There were so many good recommendations, and the readathons were so helpful.
I’m halfway through a Psalm for the Wild Built! It’s not a book I would naturally gravitate towards, so I am SO thankful you talked about it!! It’s so soothing and layered and beautiful 🥹
My top reads of 2023 were "Beloved" by Toni Morrison, "Older Sister, Not Necessarily Related" by Jenny Heijun Wills, "Braiding Sweetgrass" by Robin Wall Kimmerer, and "We Need to Talk" by Celeste Headlee. Almost half of my favorite reads of the year came from the Ally Stack 🌱Thank you for introducing us to such a variety of books and authors! You've truly cultivated the coziest corner of the internet. Here's to more cozy and good reads in 2023!
I have never seen a youtuber relate to the books I read in the same way that I do like this, thank you for sharing your love of books with us!
I am so so thankful for your channel. I'm currently lucky enough to be in Sweden for a month to visit/meet my best friend for the first time and I'm so grateful and happy but boy if the anxiety hasn't been hitting in the dark afternoons and evenings. We found you while we were watching some bookish videos together and you've quickly become my favorite and comfort booktuber.
All of your recommendations are consistently getting added to my TBR, and I love your philosophy about just existing; very excited to pick up some of the books that reinforce that.
It's also been really nice to have an open neurodivergent creator that has the same ~vibes~, if that makes sense. Just. Thank you for being a safe space, for the content you make, and I hope you have a magical 2023!
my new year's resolution for 2023 is to read more, and to record my reads (i'm using storygraph). this list gave me 7 new reads and i am so excited! the time that i'm gaining through my gap year (compared to senior year in 2022) i really hope will be filled by beautiful books!
and also the pinned quote is stunning, thank you allison! this was the first video of yours that i've ever watched - my cousin is very much into booktube, and is very much my role model for this year of reading (they took their gap year in 2022), and they recommended you!
I loved this list :) as a fiction lover, braiding sweetgrass definitely sounds like the nonfiction book for me to dip my toes into!
yes! i think it’s perfect even if you’re not a big non fic person. hope you love it! 🌱
I love how you included quotes from the books! It’s super helpful for me to decide which ones I’m interested in reading :)
Just found your channel and I’ve immediately subscribed! I love the way you speak about books and the quote selections you’ve chosen. Thank you for sharing! Please be careful with sharing graphic novel art as it’s against copyright 😩😩😩 I’ll be watching your backlog 😁😁
I picked up Pure Color at the book shop this week. It was on the staff picks shelf and the book came into my hands and never left! Really excited to read it.
Happy New Year, Allie!
My favorite read of 2022 was I Who Have Never Known Men, followed by The Raven Cycle. The first shook my life, the later series made me love reading again. I also read The Fifth Season, and it was amazing!
I picked up the Tea Dragon Society set because of your recommendation and am so happy I did. I felt so warm and cozy reading them and cried tears of joy. I've since painted some of the characters to recapture that experience and also I loved the art work!
My favorite books this year:
- Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin (such good depiction of mental illnesses with a funny relatable main character- check content warnings)
- Out There by Kate Folk (if the x-files monster of the week episodes were about dating)
- All The Living and the Dead by Hayley Campbell (if you like Caitlin Doughty, this book is for you- enjoyed the audiobook)
i love how you talk about books so tenderly, automatically subscribed
I often watch best book videos and don't add a single book to my tbr. But your videos make me so hyped and excited to read and I always find something I need in my life.
Also my favorite books of the year were Once There Were Wolves and The Goblin Emperor, both books that I think you might enjoy!
Really enjoyed the video. I put half the books on my TBR. Here's to a great reading year!
I just found your channel (and subscribed) and really enjoyed this video. I don't think I finished a book for over 20 years and last year (2022) I got back into reading and ended up reading 25 books. I enjoyed Before The Coffee Gets Cold and have the 2nd and 3rd books in the series on my TBR. Some books I loved this year include: A Man Called Ove, Anxious People, Gone To See The River Man, The House Across The Lake, Educated, The Housekeeper and The Professor, The Midnight Library, and Honeybee.
I've added a few books you mentioned to my TBR and look forward to reading a lot more in 2023! Great video, and thanks.
Loveeee that you include quotes! Always curious how books are written and favorite quotes by each reader so having the quotes helps me want to read them! I’ve been looking for youtubers who do this and I’ve only found you thus far 💕 thank you!
your scream about the tea dragon society trilogy woke my cat up lmao but I agree the tea dragon society is amazing and so so cute. my fave book of the year was luster by raven leilani, so fucking good highly recommend
I just stumbled on your channel and I really appreciate what you’ve said about not letting others influence your reading. At times I find myself second guessing my favorite books because of the other thoughts I’ve heard, I can’t imagine how many books I’ve missed that would’ve been amazing for me because I let different opinions get to me. This isn’t to say that different opinions are bad, I’d say the discourse is always welcome but I think a small amount of people give their recommendations in an objective manner rather than subject.
I rarely comment on videos but firstly i cannot stop watching your videos and safe to say as a newly diagnosed autistic woman i’ve never found a safe space that feels as comforting and magical as this corner of the internet! Thank you for being you & all you do 🥰✨
OMG thanks to you the I read and loved the monk and robot duology too! My other favorites were the author, Freya Simpson's two books: The Last Chance Library and The Lost Ticket. I loved how both were comforting and focused more on friendship and community. Highly recommend!
I’m definitely reading most of these this year! Especially a psalm for the wild built 😻😻🖤 I trust your taste ✨
I read the Monk & Robot duology because of your recommendation and both books ended up on my top books of the year!! Such lovely and cozy vibes 😭💖
I just added all these books to my tbr! I always wanted to find a shorter book with great cozy vibes, and I can say that you are my go to booktuber for great recs!
Loved the wrap up! I have a few favourites I read this year that I think you would really enjoy. Brambley Hedge by Jill Barklem, which is a beautifully illustrated book series about mice who live inside trees (but inside the tree it's like a miniature house). The plots revolve around seasonal events like birthdays, weddings, winter celebrations etc. it's so cosy and I love it so much. I also loved Dream Work by Mary Oliver, which is such lovely nature poetry. In terms of neurodivergent reads, Neuroqueer Heresies by Nick Walker was amazing, but it's nonfiction and quite academic so I think you have to be in the right mood for it. You can dip in and out though, as it's an essay collection.
im literally adding every single one of these to my tbr, I LOVE tillie walden so much and I love ur energy :))
I read the monk and robot novellas because of you and I love them so dearly
I have so many of this books on my TBR right now thanks to you.😂
I don’t know where to begin!
Out of the 51 books I read, My Evil Mother made the most impact on me despite being so short.
House in the Cerulean Sea is my coziest read.
Popisho was the most "movie" like.
And Shuna's Journey was a great graphic novel.
Overall, thank you for your videos this year, they kept me motivated just as much as the books did.
I just adore you and your warmth :') my favorite books of the year included Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell, Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller,, Say Nothing by Patrick Keefe, and A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara!
This video was just recommended to me and I’m so happy I found your channel! You seem like such a sweet person and I love that you recommend books that are not nessecarily trendy (the kind of books that every booktuber talks about and there‘ s nothing wrong with that, but it does get kind of boring) but just mean a lot to you! This inspired me to really pick up whatever book that sounds interesting to me, without any judgement towards myself. Your channel truly feels like a safe space on the internet 🌞
I have a book you should add to your 2023 TBR! How Far The Light Reaches by Sabrina Imbler. Your love of Braiding Sweetgrass pretty much cements that you’ll love this book as well. It’s beautiful and heart wrenching and also informative about different sea creatures. Thought of you when I read it a few days ago. Hope you have a great New Year!
I think my favorite book of the year was Greywaren by Maggie Stiefvater because it wrapped up not only the Dreamer Trilogy but everything since the The Raven Cycle, and I just didn't expect it to bowl me over so hard.
But some other favorites of mine were A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, Humankind: A Hopeful History, Nimona, Hey Kiddo, We Ride Upon Sticks, Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe, and Something Wilder.
This video made me feel so so good, and reminded me of one of the things I most love about reading - the cozy comfort of slowing down. Thank you for this list, which is so different from all the other lists I've seen in this wrapup season. Braiding Sweetgrass was my favourite book of 2020 and I've bought about 6 more copies and been giving them to people as gifts ever since. You really captured the exact way it reached out and touched me. I also fell in love with On a Sunbeam, and am interested in reading more by Tillie Walden (an artist whose Tarot Deck, the Cosmic Slumber Tarot, I've treasured for many years). Extremely looking forward to reading Psalm & Legends and Lattes, and the tea dragon trilogy seems like everything I love in a comfort read as well. Thank you thank you thank you and I hope you have a wonderful year ahead :)
Some of my favourites this year were Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi (a story of two twin sisters who come back to their childhood home in Nigeria to be with their aging mother, and they untangle the knots in their relationship that formed after a childhood trauma. It has magical realism aspects to it but mostly its just a slow and poignant character study of these three very different women. Just beautiful prose. TW for CSA) ; The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak (the story of a fig tree, an immigrant girl finally learning about her estranged family, and over many timelines, the love story of her parents - a greek man and a turkish woman during and after the civil war in Cypress. also gorgeous and poignant, lots of nature-based allegory because one of the main POV characters is literally a tree. TW for war) ; one last stop by Casey McQuiston (this book was just an explosive celebration of queerness and queer friendship and queer love in all its forms and it was just so so so so fun and delightful and also sexy but damn it was just such a joyful read. There's a whole sci-fi mystery also, and an exploration but thats just moving the plot along - the real strength of this book is in its characters, who all feel so interesting, colourful and quirky, and also feel completely real).
I was waiting for this video 😍
ive read a psalm for the wild built and just got the email that my hold is ready for a prayer for the crown shy! im so excited!!
i've been watching every video of top 2022 books recommended to me on my home page and with most i have just been skimming through but with yours i couldn't help myself and watched all of it. i love the way you're so enthusiastic when talking about these books and i appreciated the quotes u shared :') i especially love you dividing them by genre so it was easier to navigate too! i'm definitely adding these books to my tbr. thank you
Your music and sound choices omg
The pokemon stadium for the top 5 ❤
Ugh love love love LOVE it.
so much overlap!!!!!
i have added so many more books to my list after this 🥰
One of my favourites of last year was What my bones know by Stephanie Foo. It was gutwrenching and raw, but it was also healing? in some way. Highly recommend.
Happy new year ✨🎇
I love that you’ve been using disclaimers at the beginning of your recent videos. You are so aware, Alli!
My favorites were Take My Hand, A History of Wild Places , Notes on an Execution, The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness and How Fascism Works (I think I found that one because of you). I read 53 books this year (with about 7 DNFs).
I’m so excited to have found you this year! I love your recommendations and you have added many books to my TBR 💜
A few of my favorite reads from 2022
Rant - Chuck Palahniuk
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Geek Love - Katherine Dunn
Library at Mount Char - Scott Hawkins
Black Cake - Charmaine Wilkerson
Braiding Sweetgrass is one of my all-time favorites as well. Nourishing is the perfect word to describe it! The audiobook is one of the most soothing things I've ever listened to and I've made a tradition of revisiting it every spring 🌻
Thank you-my TBR just grew and you convinced me on a few titles that have been swirling in my reading universe for a while-Caste, Braiding Sweetgrass and Before the Coffee Gets Cold. My favorite in 2022 was a tie between Song of Achilles and Poet X. Two very different books telling powerful stories.
The colour purple spoke to me. It made it to my top three of all time.
Those little sound effects I need those for editing my videos! Knew I was gonna love your video after I saw the thumbnail 🎀
I read On A Sunbeam in 2021, and while I haven't read anything by Walden since, it's definitely one of my favourite graphic novels
absolute favorites include, bright dead things by ada limon (another great poet to be introduced to poetry), everyone in this room will someday be dead by emily austin, our wives under the sea by julia armfield, and kindred by octavia butler (i think about this one like once a week and i read 6 months ago) overall a great year for reading and i’m so excited for much much more in the new year!!
im so thankful that you read the monk & robots and spoke so highly of them, because i think they're my fav reads* of this year too! thank you for being!💕💕
*but like, the rest of my 2022 reads were fast-paced and easy reads to get through my fog of final-year uni... i read so many mick herron novels lol
i'm HERE for your #1 pick they were my favorite of the year too. my second favorite was The Great Believers, made me cry.
I'm so thankful that I discovered you this Summer, you truly brought me through this year. And as a fellow Neurodivergent, the comfort you brought me with your reminders to just be and rest sometimes is unreal :') Happy 2023 to you and your little family, Alli!
I read 94 books this year which is exactly as much as I read in the two previous ones together and honestly, it might have been too much! I kinda miss the times where I read less, because it feel like now all the books are blurring together, you know?
It's hard to think of favorites like this, but the first three books that came to mind were Know My Name, I'm Glad My Mother Died and Educated. I'm absolutely bamboozled because I've never read memoirs before this year, but I think those three really are it. They all impacted me in a different way, they all gave me something I wouldn't be able to get out of my usual favorite genres :)
My favourite book favourites video so far! thank you for putting this together! books have been added to the library list!
Happy new year, Ally! Excited for your content this year. If you can and if you want, I'd love to see more vlogs this year. You help me so much, you don't even know. ❤
i think you would REALLY enjoy absolutely almost by lisa graff. it’s a middle grade about a boy who doesn’t feel like he’s good enough at anything and who learns that that’s okay and he can just be good at being a kind person. it was my favorite book of this year and like the past five years!! love your videos so much btw, they’ve also helped me find books to nourish my soul ❤
i got the tea dragon society books for christmas and i’m so happy to get to read them!! my fave books of the year were upstream by mary oliver, braiding sweetgrass, psalm for the wild-built/prayer for the crown-shy, and all’s well by mona awad!
It’s the kingdom hearts music in the background for me ❤
I picked up A psalm for the wild-built because you talked about it and I almost started sobbing in the grocery shop. I think it was sobbing, it was just a lot of emotions all at once with no way out. I was just picking up two things from the shop and instead I had an EXPERIENCE. Of course I got the sequel and reread both in sequence, but this time I was ready! (bonus: during that shop run I got cookies because it sounded like I was going to need them, I was right)
So thank you, they're now two of the favourites of the year (out of 120!) and I only picked them up because you mentioned them.
this makes me so happy! awww hell yeah! loved this story (the cookies were a good shout)
After watching this I’ve read and LOVED the entire Tea Dragon Society collection and A Psalm For The Wild-Built. I plan on reading A Prayer For The Crown-Shy and Braiding Sweetgrass. MY recommendation for you is the graphic novel Seance Tea Party. I’m sure you will absolutely adore it just as I have ❤️
omg yes! i have this on my TBR shelf thank you for hyping it up cannot wait to read :-)
I am so glad you enjoyed Before the Coffee Gets Cold! I am Japanese and I read that book when it was released in Japanese. I know there is kind of series stuff for that book so I think I am going to get them when I go back to Japan the next! :)
If you like cozy Japanese genre, and if you have not read it yet, I highly recommend Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. It is my favorite book and it gives me comfort every time I read:)
My best friend and I read Before the Coffee Gets Cold for our book club and we both enjoyed it. I found it thought provoking and very emotionally beautiful. I really felt for each of the characters. I've read the second book in the series and I'm waiting to read the third book. 😊
I borrowed Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto from my library. Any other recommendations?
I am picking up both Becky Chambers and Braiding Sweetgrass this year - can't wait! My top 5 reads last year were Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen (reread), Nevermoor #1 by Jessica Townsend, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman and The Sentence by Louise Erdrich - I want to read more Erdrich this year.
top book, i'm buying it!! i need this!! especially with all this new years pressure rn. thank you!
Your videos always put a smile on my face! Thank you for what you do (from a fellow autistic girlie too! xx) 🥰 My favorite books od 2023 were, in order, Babel by RF Kuang (gotta love her and her writing), Beartown by Frederik Backman (i want to read every book he has ever written omg), Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, Jane Eyre, A Man Called Ove by Backman (again), and finally The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (one of the best epic fantasy books/series i've had the pleasure to read). I hope you give one of these a try sometime, but do make sure to check for the trigger warnings, as always :)
How did you like Sorrow and Bliss? I have that next on my TBR.
on a sunbeam looks amazing. and i love the little prince
I didn’t read as many books as I wanted to, but I read “Unlikely Animals” by Annie Hartnett and it was truly the best book I’ve ever read. I did also read “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” with my bookclub and we had a great discussion. I also read “Severance” and WOW what a thrilling read
Added Pure Color to my TBR 😊 Babel by RF Kuang was my favorite of 2022. 💖
Another amazing video! My favorite book of the year was how high we go in the dark by sequoia nagamatsu and I think you would really enjoy it! It's a collection of short stories that all tie together. Its pretty dark but also full of hope and I almost cried because of the talking pig
you’re amazing ! i adore hearing you talk about anything and the exerts you decide to read out loud make me want to read every book on this list. your energy and joy is infectious
I really love your book taste and how you review each book!! Added so many books to my tbr. Thank you ❤
Under the Whispering Door definitely made me tear up toward the end. I read Crying in H-Mart and I felt like it ripped my heart out of my chest, but didn't make me cry... I was really hoping it would. Have you read any more of the books in the "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" series? I'm curious if the other books have the same vibe. My top 5 this year in no particular order were, I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Clune, Normal People by Sally Rooney, Braiding Sweetgrass (omg aaaand also Gathering Moss) by Robin Wall-Kimmerer, and Baby & Solo by Lisabeth Posthuma
i haven't read the others yet but they're on my tbr!
Happy New Year! My final count for 2022 was 61 books 😲I just added some of these to my Storygraph TBR list. I wish you an amazing 2023! 🥰
I hadn't really heard much about The Shadows before watching this video, but it's definitely been added to my storygraph TBR now!!!
Absolutely loved your content this year! I was always jealous of you sitting reading with your cats and I just picked up my first cat (Persian Ragdoll) today and I can’t wait to sit and read some of your recommendations with him! Happy 2023!
My top three out of 22 (haha 22 books in 2022 I just noticed) were Braiding Sweetgrass, They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib (he's from my city and the way he writes about it makes me so happy!!!) and It Came From the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror w short stories from lots of authors including Carmen Maria Machado!!! I read tons of nonfiction in 2022 but for this year I really wanna find my cozy fiction niche❤️❤️
Bless your heart for such a great, uplifting video! You are adorable. Most of your favorites were already on my list for 2023, but I have added the graphic novels you recommended along with the Tea Dragon Society. I’m now subscribed and will be checking out your other videos tomorrow.
I love The Little Prince so much, such a great book. Just added Pure Color, Before the Coffee Gets Cold, and Tomb of Sand to my tbr. Sounds like a pretty good reading year. ☺️📚
my favourites this year were: we ride upon sticks by quan barry, piranesi by susanna clarke, against the loveless world by susan abulhawa, i who have never known men by jacqueline harpman (as per your recommendation!) and matrix by lauren groff :)
thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you do, your videos are one of the highlights of my week and they always remind me of what's truly important
We have before the coffee gets cold common in our top 10 list 🤗 happy reading
Happy New Year, Allison and congratulations on your reading goal! My top 5 of 2022 were: "Wintering" by Katherine May (non-fic about coping during the winter months), "The Sentence" by Louise Erdrich (fiction about Indigenous independent bookstore in Minneapolis being haunted), "Autumn" by Ali Smith, "Make Your Art No Matter What" by Beth Pickens (non fic from an art therapist), and the Hakumei & Mikochi manga series by Takuto Kashiki (little folk in a big world living a slow, cozy life).
I think you would love the middle-grade graphic novels Garlic and the Vampire and Garlic and the Witch!! They are so cute and cozy and wholesome
For a book with a neurodivergent character you might like Willodeen by Katherine Applegate. It's middlegrade and nature is a huge part of it. My last read of 2022 and it was a nice note to end on!
Omg i just saw a psalm for the wild built on kindle I was intrigued!!! Def gonna get it now
My favorite book I read in 2022 was “Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian)” by Hazel Jane Plante. It is about two trans women best friends, and one has recently passed away. Our narrator works on a project to honor her memory by talking about her dear and troubled friends life through the lens of the late friends favorite fictional, super obscure TV show set on a little coastal island. It’s extremely unique, whimsical, and emotional and has stuck with me since I read it this past summer.
Allie TH-cam recommended this video 😍 and I am so glad I clicked. Absolutely love your vibe 💗🥰