Favourite Reads of 2021
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- Опубліковано 6 лют 2025
- HELLO AGAIN :)
~~~Books Mentioned~~~
The Sentence - Louise Erdrich
Crossroads - Jonathan Franzen
Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbon
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek - Annie Dillard
The Turquoise Ledge - Leslie Marmon Silko
The Dawn of Everything - David Graeber & David Wengrow
The Dispossessed - Ursula K. LeGuin
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain - George Saunders
In the Skin of a Lion - Michael Ondaatje
Possession - A.S. Byatt
The Transit of Venus - Shirley Hazzard
The Oresteia - Aeschylus (trans. Grene & Lattimore)
An Oresteia - trans. Anne Carson
~~Videos Mentioned~~
Agamemnon: • Oresteia - Agamemnon p...
Dark Academic Reading Playlist - • a dark academia playli...
So glad you didn't let the 6-month-old break stop you! I was looking forward to hearing your faves :)
Thanks for returning back and checking out my list! It would be a crime not to come back and tell the world about these great books haha :)
The best booktuber in all of booktube is back! Woohoo!
Aww thanks-- it is good to be back! Thanks for returning :)
Omggggg best notif everrrrr
Thanks for returning to my channel! :}
I love the books you read. Please keep making these videos.
Yessss only halfway through, but SO glad to see a video from you, Alex! I have The Sentence and Crossroads on my TBR (I think I'm finally ready to dip into Franzen for the first time?!), and between your list and Jennifer's from Insert Lit Pun - I now need to put Cold Comfort Farm on there, too! Also, Medicine Walk was one of my favorite reads of the year, and I first heard about it on your channel (along with Indian Horse), so...this is a many-years-late thank you for that recommendation, too! Always love hearing what books you're reading and loving - and the way you talk about them makes me want to pick up everything! :)
Hey Claire! Franzen comes across as much more pleasant on the page than he does with his ornery public persona haha. I'm so glad to hear you're enjoying reading Richard Wagamese... I truly dread the day when I run out new books of his to read. I've got your year end favourites list in my watch later and I'm really looking forward to seeing your full list! :)
Omg I’ve been missing your videos!!! Lemme get a beverage and luxuriate in this video✨✨✨
Haha I hope your drink/video combo worked out! Hope you've been well :)
Very inspiring lady! 😊
I always appreciate your book reviews and analysis. Your enthusiasm is inspiring!
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the video! There's something so exciting about seeing all the year's favourites together in one stack!
So happy that you posted. I always enjoy your videos. I read The Oresteia last year too and loved it. It's so incredibly tragic and it really stuck with me. I know it is something that I will re-read many times in my life.
So glad to see you back!
So glad I found you. You’re a terrific reviewer. Thank you for adding many books to my tbr.
Cheers from NY!
I am so glad to find this video. I’ve missed hearing from you. One of my favourite novels is Possession and I’m old enough to have read it when it was first published. I still really love it and it’s ending made me cry and not just once! I read the Annie Dillard last year and really enjoyed that. This years reading has been enjoyable but I don’t feel my world view has been changed except that I read Shogun for the Mammoth March and got a great deal from that. I am starting my own Proust journey but I’m looking for books to help me on my way.
Please don’t wait another 6 months - you are so good at explaining quickly and clearly the texts that you read. Thank you so much 😊💐🌺
Oh yes, that ending got me too! That is so great to hear Possession has stuck with you over time-- I imagine it would only get better with each read. I hope you have the best time with your Proust journey!!! :)
You are smart, delightful with good recommendations. Please post more often.
Thanks so much for the encouragement-- I'll try my best! :)
glad to see u back !!!! ❤️❤️❤️
I'm hoping to get it together for 2022!! Thanks for checking out the video :}
Thank you for sharing your best of 2021 list! Your videos are always so informative. After watching your channel, I always come away with such a satisfying sense of the vast web of connections that you showcase across the diverse selection of books that you share with us. Thank you for taking the time to provide quality reviews that go above and beyond.
Thanks so much for the kind words! I was out of practice with filming and feeling kind of nervous about it, so it means a lot to hear you enjoyed the reviews :)
So excited to have you back! Can't wait to watch
YES!!!!! So happy to see you back on YT and your list did not disappoint. I love hearing your insight and passion for books. Hope you are well and looking forward to seeing more of you in the near future!
Thanks-- I'm glad to hear you enjoyed my list! I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things with youtube this year so thanks for the encouragement :)
I thought you might never return. Thanks for reviewing these intriguing books.
I can't stay away forever it seems-- these books demand to be talked about. Thanks for checking in, Linda! I hope you're doing well :)
I thought you would never upload again. So happy you're back girl ❤️❤️❤️
Really happy to see you posting again! Loved the recommendations, and looking forward to your next ones! Will take up Franzen after many years at the back of my mind.
I'm glad to hear that! Crossroads was such a pleasant surprise :)
Excellent!
Oh my, so glad to see you!!
Hey Karen! Thanks for returning and I hope you're doing well :}
I always love watching your year's favorites 🙂I've seen and loved the movie Possession and several times I thought of picking up the book, I think I will 😊
I should watch the film sometime! I imagine they must have cut a lot of the Victorian poetry sections haha :)
Yes! So excited to see you back!:)
Omg I’ve missed you!!! Your reviews were some of my very favorites. I won’t even admit to how many I’ve checked back in with your channel to see if you’ve uploaded.❤️❤️❤️❤️😅
Haha thank you for not giving up on me! :)
love this !! so happy to hear an update on ur 20th century project too! when you first talked about it i found it so inspiring i now have a spreadsheet where i chart what books i've read from all the years of the 20th and the 19th century !
I'm hoping to make a video for each decade throughout the year. But yes, tracking all the dates is so much fun. It's fun to see what years really stand out! :)
@@bigalbooksforever oh i'd love that!! looking forward to it !
Oh you have made me excited for my TBR. I have Crossroads, The George Saunders and The Sentence all ready to read in Feb. I even have an old second hand copy of The Transit of Venus on my shelf as anyone who reads it reviews it so favourably. Happy reading for 2022 and I hope you pop in occasionally with some more of your wonderful reviews.
WOW I couldn't imagine encountering all of those amazing books in one month! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. And 2022's reading is off to an amazing start so I shall definitely be back again :)
What a fantastic favourite reads!!!! Thank you for sharing ❤️
Glad you enjoyed my list! I hope you had a good reading year as well! :)
I love hearing about your reads because you always choose such interesting things, keep it fresh, and sound so passionate about your experience. Kind of a fun coincidence, you mentioned that you read Ursula K Le Guin (which I shouted in glee when you did) and 2021 was the year I read her fantasy series, Earthsea and LOVED it. Literally the best books I’ve read in years. I’m obsessed with her writing style, world building, social commentary, and the way she depicts love :)
She is a genius! I will need to get to the Earthsea books one day! :)
Please do holiday book gift guide or crazy book lists here, cause it's soooo good
What a list! I'm definitely gonna read A Swim in a Pond in the Rain. It sounds too good to be true!
I got way too excited reminiscing about this book white filming haha, but it is a GEM! :)
so happy you are back! your videos are literally my favorite!
It’s so good to see a new video from you. Haha! It took me a minute to connect the dots that your 20th C Project = 100 Books. I hope it won’t be 6 months before we see you again.
2022 is off to an incredible start in terms of my reading, so I'm hoping that will keep me motivated to make videos more regularly! Thanks for watching! :)
Yay, you’re back! I always look forward to your yearly list of favourite books!
Thanks for checking out my list for another year :}
This video just made my day - I hope we’re in for more videos from you because you have been missed! I now feel like I NEED to read Crossroads, Cold Comfort Farm, and Possession.
My favorite reads from the year were:
- Poor Things by Alasdair Gray (I feel like you would enjoy this strange tale)
- Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
- The White Boy Shuffle by Paul Beatty
- Will and Testament by Vigdis Hjorth
- His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman (first time reading!)
Honorable mentions:
- The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer
- The Woodlanders by Thomas Hardy (another perfect Hardy)
- Peace by Gene Wolfe (speculative fiction by a really brilliant man)
Thank you again for this video! 🤍
Thanks for welcoming me back and for sharing your list! Alasdair Gray sounds like such an intriguing author-- will need to check him out soon. And this is a good reminder to check out more Paul Beatty as well! I absolutely adore Will & Testament, His Dark Materials, and The Woodlanders (there is something so special about this one!). I'm glad you found some great favourites :}
I missed your videos so much! So glad to have you back ☺️
Thanks for returning. Also-- I love the Laura Palmer avatar :}
I hope this year you will post more, you are so good at booktube and read such great books and it would be nice to learn about those books in real time. My 2021 all time favorite was Miss Jane by Brad Watson, not a "big" book in terms of Booktube, bute winner of the Harper Lee award and two James Baldwins.....
Thanks for the recommendation-- I haven't heard of it but will look it up! :)
I'm late to your video but absolutely love it! I wasn't aware of The Dawn of Everything; it sounds awesome.
Thanks! It is such a brilliant book-- well worth the long page count! :)
Welcome back!! Just ordered The Sentence. It sounds so good.
Glad to hear that! It is such a good time :')
Awesome! Thanks for sharing this. Definitely going to get the last two books.
Thanks-- I hope you enjoy them as much as I did! :)
Great to see you back! Favourite Booktuber :) really interesting categories/picks as ever. Hope you've been doing well during your break.
I have been well, thanks! Teaching in the pandemic has been quite the roller coaster ride, but at least it keeps things interesting!
Have missed your videos! Just finished The Storyteller by Grohl and laughed when I saw your review on GR. Hope you are well!
AHH yes that book deserved to be mentioned in my "comfort reads" section... so good! :)
You made my morning! I wasn't sure if you were done with booktube or not. I'm going to have to add Crossroads and Possession to my tbr.
Glad to hear it-- they are such immersive satisfying reads! It can be tough getting back into the swing of booktube after a break, but I'm hoping to get my act together in 2022 (fingers crossed!) :)
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain was on best reads of 2021 too. Top books were
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan☘️
Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller
The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage
The Promise by Damon Galgut
A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ni Ghriofa ☘️
We Begin At The End (best thriller)
Standard Deviation (funniest book)
Hidden Valley Road
Empire of Pain
Shelter by Jin Jung
Writers and Lovers by Lily King
Bewilderment by Richard Powers
The Yield by Tara Jean Winch
The Glorious Heresies ☘️
My Policeman by Bethan Roberts
The Vanishing Half
Valentine
The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickles
My Dark Vanessa
Swimming in the Dark
Luster
Memorial
The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle
A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske
Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead
That's an amazing list, Jacqueline! I agree that A Ghost in the Throat was fantastic. I'm hoping to get to Unsettled Ground ASAP :)
You can review a phonebook and I'd be happy to watch it!!
Haha that might be the one type of book that's not in my collection :P
I just found your channel! I love everything you recommended and I'm looking forward to know what you are reading.
Thank you for checking out my video! Glad to hear our tastes align :)
Crossroads was my favorite book of 2021!
It was TOO GOOD! I'm so excited that there will be more :}
YaY. Finally!!
I recommend you The idiot by Elif Batuman, my best read this year ❤️. It's a book about 'academic college girl life' 💞
Ooh yes I read that one back in the day! Isn't there a sequel coming out this year? I'm curious to see where the story goes next! :)
Al!
Heyyy! :)
Have you checked out Lúcio Cardoso book, Chronicle of the murdered house? I'm telling you, this book is really crazy and awesome
Yes! I did end up reading that book on your recommendation last year and I have to say thank you so much for letting me know about it! It was a truly WILD reading experience. So strange and so much fun! I haven't really read anything quite like it before! South American gothic is where it's at! :)
@@bigalbooksforever oh girl, you have no ideia 😅, I'm a Brazilian girl, and believe me, we have lots of insane and amazing crazy books!!! I was so sure you would love it cause of the Wuthering Heights vibe ❤️❤️
Great to see you! Your hair is long and looks good. I didn't know Franzen had a new one. I appreciate your recs, 'cause we have similar tastes. Erdrich is a fav of Brian's @ Bookish, so I need to read her, soon, to boot. Thx, Alex!
Hey! I've been enjoying getting into Louise Erdrich slowly over the past few years. Her early stuff is really great too. I hope you've been doing well and reading some great books :)