2017 | A Reading Year in Review

[@booksbyleynes]

My body isn't ready for this. This is honestly my most anticipated video for all of December!

[@ArielBissett]

books by leynes I hope it lived up!! 🦔

[@ivonabilusic]

The passion in your voice and the energy...so refreshing in this season when everyone makes these kinds of lists. But this one is so obviously genuine. I love it 😊📚👍

[@rachelAisme]

The first frame popped up and I gasped and said to myself "Such cute Hair!!"

[@ArielBissett]

Rachel A hahaha thank you!!

[@sankhini2444]

Stephanie Rodriquez Gosh why would you say that calm down

[@reeselansangan]

The first video I ever watched of yours was your book wrap up for 2016. I’ve since then subscribed and have looked forward to all of your videos! My favorite thing about you is how you open up and explore very interesting topics about reading and guiding us through with your distinct voice. You make sure you engage the audience and encourage us to think hard about what we read & what we choose to consume. Your enthusiasm / passion for books is evident and infectious! Never stop creating, writing, and sharing to the world Ariel! I will be the first in line when your book finally gets published! Oh and my favorite books that I read this year are The Encyclopedia of Early Earth & Mostly Void, Partially Stars.

[@strongfemalereads7930]

Thank YOU for 2017! This might be my first time commenting on your channel, but I was in a huge reading slump until your videos. High school and college assigned reading made me fall out of love with books. Then I found your channel in 2016, set a goal in 2017 to read more, and ended up reading 70 books this year! Not that the number matters at all (because reading isn’t a competitive sport!) but my point is only that your enthusiasm for reading and learning helped spark one of my long lost passions. Thank you so so much, Ariel!

[@ArielBissett]

omg i love this comment so much!!!

[@Beccatroid]

My favourite book I read this year was Jane Eyre. It's quite a long book, and because I'm a slow reader, it took me the entire summer to get through, however, it was one of the best reading experiences I've had. It is also my mums favourite book, so in between chapters we would have these book club sessions where I would tell her what part I got up to and we would discuss the themes and imagery in the writing, it was so great!Because I took my time with it I became so immersed in the story and attached to the characters that I cried so much when I finished it, not just because I loved the story and the ending, but because it was over and there was no more Jane to read about. I learned so much from the story. I can't wait for 2018, and for the books I will read. All the best to you for 2018!!

[@ArielBissett]

Rebecca MacAskill This is such a wonderful story, Rebecca!! I’m so glad you found a new favourite, and that you got to share that with your mom! 😍

[@courtneyhendrix433]

that's my favorite book, too!! i literally read several chapters on a bus and couldn't believe it was real life because it was so good!

[@thirdplacereading]

The energy and excitement in your voice and physical movements about books makes me want to read read read under a blanket with some coffee ☕️

[@TheBookHoarder]

On Writing and What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: Probably two of my favorite memoirs EVER. So glad to see them here.

[@LLuna768]

Your videos are so refreshing. I started watching BookTube in 2016 and became completely obsessed, which reminds me of the video when you said that reading is not a sport. I have nearly burned myself out on reading. I've had to take a step back and ask myself why do I read? Your thoughts reinforced my conclusion that we read to find those gems that speak to us. It's not what everybody else is reading, it doesn't have to be what is considered a classic. It's those books that change the way we think, the way we view the world, or just gets us excited. I also love it, that I'm not alone in stumbling on a subject that I can't get enough of. I love your enthusiasm and look forward to your future videos.

[@sk8tie]

You should start stephen king with Misery! It's about a writer, and about writing fiction, and rather than weird horror its more of a psychological type deal

[@ArielBissett]

Katie B. Yes! I’ve seen the film so many times, I’d love to read the book!

[@shaunnolan]

I second this! King is one of my favourite authors of all-time and Misery was the novel I started with and has been my favourite ever since!!

[@NallyGene]

I read this recently with my book club. It was so good!

[@williamberry3502]

It doesn’t matter what the video is about. If it’s yours, I will tap on it P.S. this vid was amazing!

[@ArielBissett]

Jane Berry 🙈🙈🙈🙈🦔

[@antoinettevisagie661]

My Frida Kahlo for 2017 is the Jewish Artist Charlotte Salomon. I stumbled onto David Foenkinos novel "Charlotte" which I loved. It's written in a prose poem format. I also bought a biography on Charlotte Salomon, Mary Lowenthal Felstiner's "To Paint Her life". My favorite other novels for 2017 is Niall Williams' "History of the Rain". I loved the narrator, Ruth Swain's, quirky voice and lens through which she views the world and the fact that it is about love for literature and and and... I also loved Suri Hustveld's novel "The Blazing World" because it made me remember the reasons why I love literature and reading so much.

[@sadiaafrin7603]

My most awaiting and one of the favourite videos ever. A look back to 2017 with your journey to book tour to all your favourite books, authors, shortest,........ Like reviewing the year and reliving the memories. I loved this video so much. Happy new year Ariel.

[@summerd6360]

Your laugh is absolutely contagious! And, of course, I always love hearing you talk about books/your reading!

[@nightreader1264]

I am like a little kid- love the colored pages and covers. This is why I loved The Asylum Series and Ms. Perrigen's series (spelling is wrong, but I love the series.) Hey at 53, I love YA books!

[@carahamelie]

I became obsessed with Haruki Murakami about 9 years ago, so I need to read that last book. NEED TO. thanks

[@linamekawatches214]

I also adored On Writing! After I read that I immediately picked up his novellas, which I think are a great start to King's writing! My favorite is Joyland, but The Colorado Kid and The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon are also amazing!

[@JustANorwichGirl]

Love seeing what you loved reading this year! My favourite book I read this year was the Color Purple 💜

[@katherineleclair945]

My favorite book of the year is a tie between On Writing (read it for a fiction class and fell IN LOVE with it) and A History of Love because I think the story and writing style were just so beautiful. It was a great year of reading for me :)

[@lyssamolinaa]

My favourite book of 2017 was definitely Jo Malone's autobiography. I found it really inspiring to learn about how she built her business from the ground up and just learning about her life was really fascinating. I also found her writing easy to read, which I appreciated.

[@booksforalltime5083]

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running was one of my favourite books of the year as well! So surprising and wonderful!

[@autumnrosedearborn8923]

You had an amazing year Ariel. I've had fun vicariously through all your adventures. I would love to travel someday!

[@xreadingsolacex]

i love how you chose to wrap up the year (and omg yes we are okay is GORGEOUS)

[@stacia72310]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who already wants to reread a book as I'm reading it!

[@brookepape]

I have been watching your videos for a few years now and you are definitely one of my favorite booktubers. Your videos are funny, entertaining, informative, real, honest and down to earth. One thing that I think really stands out for me is that most of the books you enjoy are not ones that I have read or really want to read however I still love watching your video, I think that says a lot about how well you do this! Happy New Year!

[@rachele2838]

What a fantastic way to do a yearly roundup! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Ariel. Happy new year!

[@Ashley-dm7ql]

I'm not much of a commenter. However, I just want to say that I love you don't have the same books as everyone else on booktube! Your excitement for the books you read is contagious and makes me want to pick up books that aren't popular!

[@ilrayali6121]

I love this review style with all of the different categories and how honest and open you are about what you like. Keep it up I love watching these videos!

[@faithelizabeth4110]

I LOVE HER HAIRSTYLE!!!! Also I got a reading journal and it’s amazing! I HIGHLY suggest trying one out

[@CegomezChannel]

You have done so many things this year, you should be so proud!!! 🤩 This year has been my reading year, I found out about BookTube and after a year that I only read 3 books, this one I read 27 (for now)!! Your videos make me happy and excited about books and life 💛 thank you

[@margaretschachte489]

Try reading Stephen King's "Four Past Midnight." It's a colection of short stories, and it is one of my favorites.

[@Vicky-hc4su]

Is that the one with secret window in it? Not sure if that's the title, but it is the title of the movie. Been dying to read that short story! Heard it's really good.

[@mariajosepenayo4874]

I love how excited you are in this video!! My favourite book I read this year was probably Fahrenheit 451.

[@muffinfilms]

I too loved What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. I picked it up at random a few years ago, and enjoyed it so much. Happy New Year, I hope 2018 will be good to you!

[@Barbara4020]

I just started reading What I Talk About When I Talk About Running because of your recommendation and it is definitely a good book to start the new year. Thanks!

[@OjaswiShxrma]

I love how passionate you're Ariel. I admire that, I hope to be like you someday.

[@kerrymurphy4121]

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is one of my absolute favorite books and I am so happy you loved it so much!

[@maschafestival]

The part where you talked about feeling excited to re-read a book while reading it is how I always feel when I read What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt. My favourite book by far. Had to share the love. Have a happy new year Ariel!

[@maryvandehei]

Thank you for pointing out how absolutely gorgeous We Are Okay is! The cover is probably my favorite period. Haha. Thanks for the great video, Ariel.

[@arletisv]

Haruki Murakami is my favorite author. It makes me so happy that his books are starting to make more of an appearance in lots of booktube accounts!! ☺️ Love that you chose his book as your fav for 2017 !! 😁

[@sophiemcafee]

ARIEL!! I came here from your instagram and I LOVE how extra and enthusiastic you are about books - it gives me life 😂😂😂 this video was so full of cheer and honestly has made my day. I need more book enthusiasts in my life! Happy new year! 💜

[@wandahost]

Happy New Year Ariel.I agree with you about falling in love with a genre,this year I re-fall in love with poetry,so my favorite book this year was Milk&Honey by Rupi Kaur.

[@katgetscozy]

living for these spacebuns

[@TheYABooks]

I’m so excited that you’ve begun reading Stephen King. If you’d like some short story recommendations, I really enjoyed: “The Last Rung on the Ladder,” “The Man Who Loves Flowers,” “The Monkey,” “The Jaunt,” and “The Mist.” Is also recommend the novel The Long Walk, which is my favorite Stephen King novel that I’ve ever read. I’d also love to hear your thoughts on the extremely controversial Rage that inspired several school shootings in the 80s and 90s.

[@incianali]

I wish you a healthy, happy and amazing year, Ariel! Got one recommendation: Earthquakes in London by Mike Bartlett. It's a play that I've read for my Modern Drama class this year, and oh my God! It's phenomenal! I literally gave it 5 stars on Goodreads. It's a play about the environment which has a distopian vibe to it, and the stage directions are untraditional and very interesting.

[@tometimetea6621]

I loved this reading review instead of a list of favorites and least favorites. It really stood out to me. Each year is so different, heck I remember when I was a little kid most of the books I read for one year was about snakes because I was really interested in the topic. This year is all about the Booktube recommendations since I recently joined the community. It’s been fun. :)

[@courtneyhendrix433]

i loved Turtles All the Way Down by John Green because as a person with very severe mental health issues, it made me feel so understood. John as a writer and just in general makes me feel less alone 💚 i also adored Everyone's an Aliebn When Ur an Aliebn, Too by Jonny Sun and i don't know when it was published but The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon was breathtaking

[@ChristyReads]

I read my first Stephen King this year and I went for The Long Walk, I feel like it was a good place to go if you want to start with a novel since it’s under 400 pages! I really loved it and can’t stop thinking about it.

[@booluther]

I read What I Talk About When I Talk About Running this year on your recommendation even though I’m not a runner (or writer!) and I adored it so much! I’m now making my way through Murakami’s novels (which are so good) thanks to you.

[@thefrancophilereader8943]

Wait. What?! Ariel loves Frida Kahlo?!?! Who knew? I totally didn't see that coming...jk Goliath by Tom Gauld was one of my favorite books of 2017, and I hardly ever read graphic novels. Not trying to steal your spotlight but I also have my name in the acknowledgments of a book: In Search of the Christian Buddha by Peggy McCracken and Donald Lopez. I helped in research one summer. Seeing my name in the book never ceases to make me smile. Congratulations on getting your name in the acknowledgments of a John Green book!

[@ArielBissett]

The Medieval Reader ....... I’ve become predictable 😭 haha! And congrats on your name in a book too!! Look at us go!! 🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

[@mamihlapinatapai17]

I've only read 9 books this year but I loved so many of them! The ones that meant the most were probably Tender by Sofia Samatar (collection of short stories I had to read for my major & so excellent!) and The Shining. Both of these books make me so excited to be a writer!

[@nenadzubovic3441]

You seriously cheer me up with every thumbnail, thank you so much, I love how original and unique your videos are!

[@mireillek2841]

I recently started watching your channel and I was immediately drawn to it, I really love your unique perspective and thoughts on everything and I can’t wait for more next year :)

[@StudioLindsay]

My favorite book of 2017 is a tie between The Samurai's Garden and The Street of A Thousand Blossoms, both by Gail Tsukiyama. They were the first two books of hers' that I've read, and I enjoyed them so much. In both books, the characters are what made the story. They seem like real people, and people you'd want to meet. Also, I really want to read What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. I love nonfiction and I want to read more of Murakami's books.

[@frankstudent]

I click on a new Ariel video so damn fast it makes my head spin lol

[@Kisszoe100]

My top three favorite books of 2017 3: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch 2: The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker 1: Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

[@TheReadersAthenaeum]

Haruki Murakami is one of my favourite authors but I've never bothered to read his memoir because, like you, I have zero interest in running. I am absolutely going to give it a read after hearing your recommendation, so thank you! Your enthusiasm for the books you talk about is absolutely infectious! :)

[@marylclayton92]

I love your hair 💛 Jon Ronson's "So You've Been Publicly Shamed" is excellent too!

[@stripedsweater520]

I didn't do a lot of leisure reading a lot this year, but I read 2 books called Chicken with Plums wand Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and currently another book called So long a letter by Mariama Bâ. Persepolis inspired me to read more autobiographies/semi-autobiographies. So 2018 I will work on reading Assata Shakur's biography which I got for Christmas and the books in my room I've never read because lazy lol

[@genesisrch]

Your hair is so cute in this video ♥

[@bublik98]

Awesome video! I'm definitely tempted to pick some of these up now. My favorite book (although I didn't read that many) was definitely The Handmaids Tale. It's been a long time since a book has made me think that much and feel that much, both emotionally and physically.

[@patsy6468]

My favorite book this year was Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running has been on my tbr list for a while now I can’t wait to read it !

[@ArielBissett]

Patsy omg I loved Ari&Dante 😍

[@Tara-kc4yg]

I do the same thing with knowing a book will be a favorite because I already want to re-read it before finishing! This year my favorites were A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, and A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara.

[@shannont3115]

These are my absolute favourite videos of yours, I’ve rewatched the others SO many times!! This year has been an amazing reading year for me - I read Percy Jackson and the Olympians for the first time which is now my favourite series. I read Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman which is my now my all time favourite book. I read Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, entered the fandom, and have made many friends because of it. I FINALLY started reading Harry Potter this December and it has made me SO happy. I read my first classic this year (crazy, I know), and have started collecting them to continue reading in 2018. I’ve started exploring poetry. This year was a particularly bad one, and reading has helped me get through the rough patches countless amounts of times and I’m so thankful. Happy New Year everyone, I hope 2018 brings you all joy & good books

[@leefluty6141]

I looked through so many of your videos just to find What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. I forgot the title and the author but I just remembered that it sounded to interesting. My hunt is complete.

[@stefaniedundovic6790]

I am literally binge watching her vids and sipping hot coco how good can it get.

[@EvenStarRute]

Congrats on the acknowledgement in Turtles All the Way Down! And what a great set of books you've shown here. Definitely with you on the Frida love, she's fascinating. I'm coveting both the Journals and the Graphic Novel Bio. My favourites of the year are split between my reread of His Dark Materials and two new-to-me reads: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (which I already sort of predicted) and Secondhand Time by Svetlana Alexievich (what a great surprise! Didn't really expect it to love it as much as I did).

[@ChristyLou]

I think my favorite book this year was We Are Okay. It just pulled at my heart so much. It's just beautiful .. inside and out!

[@liablair4425]

Christy Lou omg same

[@wordsbyjulia127]

Loved seeing your favorites of 2017!! Mine would be The shadow of the wind and Station Eleven, amazing books!!

[@CaraElea]

Oh I love this short and sweet review of your bookish year 2017! And I also bought a typewriter this year :) If you want to read more books on Frida Kahlo, definitely check out the adult picture book/graphic novel by Benjamin Lacombe - those colours, those paper cut-outs!

[@lexiradjmj]

i’ve wanted to read Murakami for a while now, so thanks for helping me decide what to pick up first!

[@TheCraftBin]

Some of my favorite books I read this year were The Tenth Region of the Night by Taylor R. Marshall, the first three Penderwick books by Jeannie Birdsall, Anne of Avonlea and Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery.

[@whichonespink7]

I am also someone with insatiable curiosity and a lot of whims to follow. That's why I adore your channel! Love to hear what you're passionate about at any given time and where your curiosity is taking you. Your channel really stands out for me in the world of booktube for that reason. Keep it up AB

[@stefert786]

Yes so I am a Stephen King nut and there's only really a couple of short story collections that I'd recommend because the others get kind of mixed reviews, but I'd recommend "Night Shift" and "Skeleton Crew" and there's also a collection of novellas entitled "Different Seasons" which The Shawshank Redemption came from and it's really good stuff. Novel recommendations for newcomers (especially you) would be something shorter (not short because he writes very lengthy stuff) like Carrie, The Shining, Misery, and The Long Walk. I love Stephen King and I can't wait for you to dive into his writing!!

[@koalasbooks2496]

Yay! I'm glad to see people who realize that King is more than just a horror writer. Always happy to see new Constant Readers! I hope you have a great 2018!

[@tatteredreader2163]

I think Rose Madder is a good place to start with King, knowing your preferences. More of literary fiction than horror and not a long book .... highly enjoyable

[@NallyGene]

I just have to say, I really enjoy your content! I love your enthusiasm and unbiased opinions. And I love that you read similar stuff to myself, off-the-beaten-track type of books. Side note; this year I got to visit the graves of Orwell and Tolkien. Classics are so great! 💜

[@cozymonica]

Super interested to check out some of your favorites from this year - Birds Art Life Death sounds particularly great. Happy New Year!

[@ArielBissett]

Birds is so excellent!!! Happy New Year, Monica!

[@melaphant2149]

I absolutely love Haruki Murakami. His writing is beautiful. I need to read that book. Also, because of you, I actually bought Frida Kahlo’s diary, and now I’m buying that biography. Your excitement for her has gotten me very excited too. Especially since she is such an iconic hispanic figure

[@awodeee]

This video was EVERYTHING!! Here's to more years of fun reading to ya! xx

[@EricKarlAnderson]

Yay Books Unbound podcast! Great summary of your year - Happy New Year, Ariel!

[@nicoletracy6757]

I love this video so much. I'm really new to Booktube, and your enthusiasm about reading is just the best. I'm definitely going to read What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. This year, my favorite books were The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters, The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, and Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann.

[@shell1338]

I was late to the party but Homegoing was my favorite book of 2017. It blew me away.

[@springonion8124]

i got my dad the haruki murakami running book for his birthday btw, he loves running, doesn't necessarily care about writing, but he enjoyed it too

[@LauraDFTBA]

My favourite this year... last year, was "From Here to Eternity: Travelling the World to Find the Good Death" by Caitlin Doughty; it looks at the attitudes towards death and mourning around the world, the author is a mortician so she also asks to what extent the Western approach to death (hide, deny, beautify) is damaging to people who are grieving.

[@springonion8124]

loved the weird lighting in this video :) it was really pretty and it's so nice to be reminded that some youtube vids are filmed in the real world, where the sun can be annoying sometimes

[@hannaho9471]

I didn't read a many books not for class this year, but I did find one of my new all time favourite books (like just below Harry Potter favourite) in A Long Way To Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. Much like you said, I can't stop thinking about it and I was two chapters in and already couldn't wait to reread it. It is brilliant scifi, but it's also so much more than that. It made such interesting observations on humans and our culture and that's really what mad em live it so much!

[@ArielBissett]

Hannah O oh man!! I own that book and have been meaning to read it! I hope I like it as much as you did!!

[@BetwixttheBooks]

I read on writing as well this year but from the perspective of someone who already loved Stephen King so much. When it comes to where to start with King people will argue day and night. Some say read chronologically (start with Carrie it was his first book) some say read his "best book" first (usually attributed to The Stand which is a beast of a novel). It really depends on what you want though. He is so prolific and writes on so many different topics. I started with his short story collection Four Past Midnight and when I recommend King to people I usually recommend short stories just because jumping into something like The Stand can be daunting, it is so long and you aren't sure if you will like it yet. Short stories are great in that you can read a lot of different things, get a feel for his style and a feel for what sort of story you want to look at. I really like his collection Skeleton Key, it has The Mist in it for folks who are fans of the movie which also jas a mini series being made currently I believe. If you want to start with a novel I usually recommend The shinning because it is objectively a better novel than Carrie but not too physically daunting. It is equally famous for its film and also famous because Stephen King hated the film. There is some interesting background research to be done which is something I also love. If you want something without horror, 11/22/63 Is essentially a romance with time travel elements and one of my favorite books of this year. It is also obscenely long and took me months to finish, worth it in my opinion but be aware. I love King (and his son Joe Hill who jas written one of my top 5 books of all time) so spending time doing the research and finding the right book for you is important. I hate hearing people say that they don't like King when they clearly started with the wrong book and just didn't jive with it. Hopefully you find a good one though!

[@leilaluqman]

oooommmmmggggg the second you pulled up murakami's book i smiled and teared up. MY FAVOROTE BOOK OF ALLLLLL TIME. i relate to everything you said. GOD it's such a good book.

[@thatclassygirl5094]

This video was definitely my favorite of the year! I just love to watch you share some of your amazing thoughts with us. Thank you for an amazing year of videos, podcasts and overall stunning creativity. I was wondering if you have read any other books by Murakami, I have heard amazing things about him (someone close to me read a 900-paged book by him in two or three days!) Thank you Ariel!

[@ArielBissett]

That Classy Girl Thank you so much!! I’m so glad you like the stuff I make 💕 I’ve read most of the Wind Up Bird Chronicles and enjoyed it, but it was for school and I didn’t get a chance to finish it!!

[@kathleenwrigley6358]

Watching this almost a month later so don't mind me.... but I am super interested in your #1 and #2 favorite books. I'm currently a second year law student in the United States and this semester I'm taking a course called "Writing about Law for a General Audience." The professor has assigned a lot of different articles and essays that have something to do with the law, but mainly to do with writing, style, technique, etc. Our final assignment is to write about a legal case but with a... you got it! general, nonlegal audience. I typically haven't read books about writing before, but now I'm like REALLY into it. I find it so fascinating to see what celebrated authors have to say about writing itself, because the actual process of planning and writing and revising is so different from what we as readers think it is. Long story short, I'll definitely be taking a look at Stephen King's "On Writing"!

[@spookydulcet1322]

I would recommend Everything’s Eventual as a Stephen King starter. It’s a short story collection and literally every one of them are perfect, there are no weak points. It’s the first thing I ever read by King when I was 14 and I’ve been obsessed ever since. I’ve reread it I think 4 times now. 😊

[@KathyDubs]

I literally get what you mean about focusing on certain topics. I just went through my Goodreads year in review and I started the year with books about Scientology (surprising for me) and ended with a focus on Scandinavian culture (hygge and lagome books). Also a surprising amount of memoirs. So strange where we choose to focus sometimes!

[@Hello_Kristie]

Yes! I love this! Stephen King’s “Sleeping Beauties” was on my list for December, but at over 800 pages, it just wasn’t a reality. I do have to say that the book I read this year that I can’t stop thinking about is “Stone Mattress” by Margaret Atwood. It’s about old people, but man, those short stories are so well told and have such interesting themes. I definitely recommend it.

[@wizard217]

My favourite book I read in 2017 was The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson. It is so beautifully written, and Jackson is a master in setting an atmosphere and turning it over its head with just a couple phrases. It was the first of her books I've read, and made such a strong impression on me I went out and bought a biography on Jackson called A Rather Haunted Life. I'm not going very fast at all through it (I'm not a very non-fiction guy in general), but we'll see how that goes!

[@MrNoha11]

My Frida Kahlo this year was DALIDA. She was an Egyptian-Italian singer who is such an iconic force as her artistry houses songs in a diverse set of languages. I mean, I’ve always known her, but seeing the recent film depicting her life was the straw that delved me to be invested in her craft with an appreciation to her resilience. My favorite songs of hers are: Salma ya Salama( the arabic version) & Paroles, Paroles. Check her out! ❤️

[@CompletelyMelanie]

I started my very own booktube channel this year and it has been so much fun! My favorite book this year has to be A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares by Krystal Sutherland. I loved this book so much and suggest it to everyone.

[@billybobjoebobjoe193]

YES to all of this. My top three were The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu, The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren, and at number one, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (so good I wanted to gobble it up).

[@carmenleigh1320]

I am so excited for the new direction you are taking with your channel. I will say the reason I subscribed was because I loved your more conversational videos, I loved hearing your thoughts on bookish topics. I think my favourite videos were actually "books i want to read that nobody cares about". Maybe those videos are my favourite /because/ you are so passionate about something in them. Keep being you and share that passion

[@stephanieyoung9289]

Girrrrrrl!!! Dark Tower series, and The Shining are my favorite Stephen King books.

[@TeaAndDragons]

This year I was introduced to the writing of Laini Taylor by reading Strange the Dreamer and I just...GUH oh my goodness I loved it. I then of course went out and picked up the entire Daughter of Smoke and Bone and series and loved that as well. But Strange the Dreamer is my number one of the year.