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
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.
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!!
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 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!
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 🎉🥳
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! 🥰
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 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!
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 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!
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 🥰✨
If you haven't read or heard of the book "Water For Elephants" by Sara Gruen, it was my number one this year. The story is captivating as it follows our main protagonist, Jacob, as both an elderly man and as a young person navigating his life after loss. I'm a crier, but even this book had me jumping out of my seat at the end because it's just so.. triumphant!! It helps if you love the circus.
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’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 🥹
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)
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 😁😁
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.
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 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.
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!
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 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!
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 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 :)
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.
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!
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. ❤
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 🌻
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 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.
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
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!
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
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 ♥️
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.
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.
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 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
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
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 :)
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
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!
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!
Based on your favorite books of the year I think you would really enjoy, Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad which was my favorite Non-Fiction of the year! Between Two Kingdoms takes us to the weeks before Suleika’s 23rd birthday and a diagnosis of leukemia. When most young adults are starting life, finding careers, living alone, forming romantic relationships, having fun and making mistakes Suleika's life was put on hold to go through Chemo. Four years later she walked out of the cancer ward labeled cured….but the life she left at age 23 did not leave with her. So, she decided to take a 15,000 mile cross country road trip to connect with strangers who had written to her during her time in the hospital. This is a memoir about how we survive and learn to move forward through life’s interruptions. These interruptions do not have to be only cancer…we all experience interruptions throughout our lives. We can all begin again over and over. I also think you would enjoy checking out The Isolation Journals website started by Suleika during the early days of the pandemic. It's a weekly creative journaling prompt! Sorry for such a long comment! Thank you for sharing your favorite reads of the year and for being absolutely amazing! Happy New Year!
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.
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
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.
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).
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!!
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. ☺️📚
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 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 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 book (series) is not new. But i will never cease trying to get people to read the girl who circumnavigated fairyland in a ship of her own making by Catherynne Valente! It is autumn on pages, it is magic and friendship, it is like reading a cup of warm cider! Fantastic story with gorgeous illustrations. I Know you would love it.
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.
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 ✅
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
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.
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.
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!
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 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!
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 actually just started before the coffee gets cold today and I'm already halfway through, it's so beautiful I adore it!!!
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! 🥰
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 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!
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!
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 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!
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 🥰✨
If you haven't read or heard of the book "Water For Elephants" by Sara Gruen, it was my number one this year.
The story is captivating as it follows our main protagonist, Jacob, as both an elderly man and as a young person navigating his life after loss. I'm a crier, but even this book had me jumping out of my seat at the end because it's just so.. triumphant!! It helps if you love the circus.
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’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 🥹
I love how you included quotes from the books! It’s super helpful for me to decide which ones I’m interested in reading :)
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)
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 😁😁
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.
Really enjoyed the video. I put half the books on my TBR. Here's to a great reading year!
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 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 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 😭💖
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!
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 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!
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 talk about books so tenderly, automatically subscribed
I have so many of this books on my TBR right now thanks to you.😂
I don’t know where to begin!
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 was waiting for this video 😍
I love that you’ve been using disclaimers at the beginning of your recent videos. You are so aware, 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 :)
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.
Those little sound effects I need those for editing my videos! Knew I was gonna love your video after I saw the thumbnail 🎀
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!
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. ❤
im literally adding every single one of these to my tbr, I LOVE tillie walden so much and I love ur energy :))
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 🌻
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 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.
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
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!
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
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’m definitely reading most of these this year! Especially a psalm for the wild built 😻😻🖤 I trust your taste ✨
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.
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.
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!
so much overlap!!!!!
i have added so many more books to my list after this 🥰
Your music and sound choices omg
The pokemon stadium for the top 5 ❤
Ugh love love love LOVE it.
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
Not ashamed to admit that when I need body doubling I always put on one of ally’s videos, her vibes are very comforting and maximise my productivity 😂
i do this with others' videos too!
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
I hadn't really heard much about The Shadows before watching this video, but it's definitely been added to my storygraph TBR now!!!
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
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.
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
I read the monk and robot novellas because of you and I love them so dearly
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!
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!
Based on your favorite books of the year I think you would really enjoy, Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad which was my favorite Non-Fiction of the year!
Between Two Kingdoms takes us to the weeks before Suleika’s 23rd birthday and a diagnosis of leukemia. When most young adults are starting life, finding careers, living alone, forming romantic relationships, having fun and making mistakes Suleika's life was put on hold to go through Chemo. Four years later she walked out of the cancer ward labeled cured….but the life she left at age 23 did not leave with her. So, she decided to take a 15,000 mile cross country road trip to connect with strangers who had written to her during her time in the hospital. This is a memoir about how we survive and learn to move forward through life’s interruptions. These interruptions do not have to be only cancer…we all experience interruptions throughout our lives. We can all begin again over and over.
I also think you would enjoy checking out The Isolation Journals website started by Suleika during the early days of the pandemic. It's a weekly creative journaling prompt!
Sorry for such a long comment! Thank you for sharing your favorite reads of the year and for being absolutely amazing! Happy New Year!
Great video
oooh thank you for this rec and sharing all this about it. really inspired me to add to my tbr :-)
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.
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
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.
My favourite book favourites video so far! thank you for putting this together! books have been added to the library list!
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!!
Allie UA-cam recommended this video 😍 and I am so glad I clicked. Absolutely love your vibe 💗🥰
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).
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!!
on a sunbeam looks amazing. and i love the little prince
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. ☺️📚
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?
top book, i'm buying it!! i need this!! especially with all this new years pressure rn. thank you!
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.
It’s the kingdom hearts music in the background for me ❤
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! 🥰
Your videos bring me so much joy, I'm excited to see what the new year brings! 💜
Wow! You do amazing reviews. I want to read them all and I so glad I found your channel. Going to watch them all :)
I really love your book taste and how you review each book!! Added so many books to my tbr. Thank you ❤
I have added pretty much all of them to my TBR 😍thank you! I absolutely love how you speak about the stories and themes they discuss!
Never met anyone else who had Psalm For The Wild Built as a favorite!!! Made me so excited!!!
We have before the coffee gets cold common in our top 10 list 🤗 happy reading
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 love all your videos , I look forward to the days you upload so I can watch it
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)
The colour purple spoke to me. It made it to my top three of all time.
Yay! Happy 2023 ally!!!!!
You gorgeous-gorgeous human being! Love you so much, Alli’. Continue shining, striving and being you!
❤️
This book (series) is not new. But i will never cease trying to get people to read the girl who circumnavigated fairyland in a ship of her own making by Catherynne Valente! It is autumn on pages, it is magic and friendship, it is like reading a cup of warm cider! Fantastic story with gorgeous illustrations. I Know you would love it.
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.