What's IN and OUT for Books in 2024?

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#booktube #2024 #reading

[@janethansen9612]

I don't do tiktok, instagram, twitter things, almost done with facebook because they are not good for my mental health but I love my booktubers. Thank you for deleting the hate from the comments, I always feel like this is a safe space.

[@auntyharry]

Same for me and I totally agree. Additionally I don’t use Facebook either. KZbin and particularly the Bookish, Budgeting and Thrifting content bring positivity to my life and support my mental health, I think.

[@XOXOLOLA100]

Hi 😊 Just wanted to say that one of the reasons I fell in love with this channel is because of how unique and versatile your book taste is - so please never apologize for doing whatever you want to do with it ( I know you didn’t, and not that you need my approval 😅, I just don’t understand people who make complaints about the content). Also I wanted to say that you inspired me to make my first purchase of a book by a queer author ( “The spirit bares its teeth” ) and I wanted to give horror a try so it’s a double whammy as far as I’m concerned. Thank you 🙏🏻 You are awesome 💐

[@GentleReader01]

I rise in support of my honorable colleague commenter.

[@badger-1984]

I saw a tweet where a Chinese American author said they were going to start telling people to read the four classic Chinese novels whenever they were told to read something from the western canon. I thought it was a really valid point. So one of the ways I'd like to decolonise my bookshelf is by reading classics from around the world a bit more

[@dracaryslace]

"That doesn't mean to throw out all your Charles Dickens" 😂😂😂 I'm totally with you on diversifying on reading more authors from other cultures! I live in Oklahoma and am lucky to be in a city with a great independent bookstore that hosts a lot of Indigenous authors, so reading more from them is a big priority for me as well this year. ❤ Also if you haven't read Killers of the Flower Moon, I highly suggest you do!! It's a terrible part of American history everyone should know.

[@maureenvannistelrooij]

For the 10+ years I have been watching KZbin videos I have mostly been a silent viewer. 2024 is the year I want to change that and try to comment more on videos/creators that I love. So here is me doing just that! I am looking forward to your 2024 content Willow! Let's hope that even though you want to check comments a bit less, you still see this ;)

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Thank you so much! 💜

[@Barryislarge]

For NZ indigenous, we have a bunch of great Māori authors! I would suggest "Auē" by Becky Manawatu, or "The Parihaka Woman" by Witi Ihimaera! Kia ora from Aotearoa!

[@rachaelburr8821]

I love the idea of decolonising my bookshelf - one of my goals for this year is to read more diversely. Can't wait to discover some new books!

[@kitsunex1366]

I’m going to miss your gothic recommendations, but looking forward to some new sci-fi books!! 🌸 Glad you’re looking out for yourself and your mental health, social media can be so draining

[@val.daffodils]

First, wow, I absolutely love your "INS", and I'm going to follow you and try to decolonize my bookshelf! Can't wait to pick up your great recommendations. Your channel is my best discovery of last year! Second, I'm so f*cking sorry to hear about your experience on social media. It's absolutely terrible. Never forget that algorithm will show you extreme things because that's what people react to (negatively or positively). Most people are not stupid and we love and support you! Have an amazing year Willow!

[@ReinReads]

Love your decolonized reading concept. I’d recommend Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice. The audiobook is a well done collaboration with an indigenous speaker. Any of James Baldwin’s many impactful works would be perfect too.

I like this idea! Also love the 'decolonising the bookshelf' goal 🙌🏼

[@ellenabbott1214]

Never Whistle At Night is a fantastic, dark short story collection by Indigenous authors. 🙂 I love, love, love your channel Willow, thank you. 🖤

[@Naraya1981]

I would love to see you talk about different prizes, especially the Women's Prize.

[@zeynepzee]

really looking forward to your book recs going into 2024!!!we're in for a treat with all of these!!!!! ✨

[@patrycjaszacho-guchowicz4345]

I just want to say that I love your channel, I appreciate your job and I love the way you speak about books! Don't stop! Lots of ❤!

[@fionahogben8110]

As an Australian, I would like to recommend a queer, YA, Indigenous Australian novel called The Boy From the Mish by Gary Lonesborough. It covers a few of your reading goals for this year and is such a great book.

[@pip8202]

Seconded! Also - Ellen van Neerven, a First Nations Australian non-binary author and poet, is definitely someone to add to your lists! Their most recent release is a memoir about Indigeneity, queerness and sport called Personal Score. I really recommend their poetry collection called Throat and their debut story collection Heat & Light.

[@chrissy1510]

As soon as I realised you were on Instagram, I leaped over and started following you. I really love what you put out into the universe, Willow. You and I have slightly different tastes in books (I don’t get sci fi, for example) but that’s one of the reasons I tune in. You turn me on to things that otherwise would not have been on my radar, and I appreciate that, so much. I’m 62, but still love learning, and discovering new things to love. Thank you, and as we say in Australia - maintain the rage! (Look that quote up - I think you’ll like it.) ❤

[@cketh]

Love it! Excited to what's coming ❤

[@megamoonbeam]

I LOVE YOUR HORROR RECS!!! 💕💕💕

[@maiiau]

Looking forward to getting some cool sci-fi recs from you this year!

[@cazx3133]

I’m excited to hear about all the Scottish authors you read 😊

[@cindyr4918]

"It's my channel - I can do what I want" YESSSSS! That is exactly what I was thinking when you were sharing information about people not liking certain things. I love the goals you set for this year; it reminded me that I would like to read more poetry this year as well. I am also going to commit to reading more of the books that are already on my bookshelves. I just saw a video where the person put slips of paper in a jar to pull out the books that she wants to read, and I am going to do that with the books from my bookshelves so I don't forget to read them.

[@estefaniamg]

Decolonizing the bookshelves? Willow you've just won my heart! Yes, yes, yes... love Middle Eastern literature and post colonial studies/literature is one of my favorite genres too!

[@takewhisks8193]

Middle Eastern lit is a real weak spot in my reading. Do you have any starter recs? I read everything 🙂

[@estefaniamg]

@@takewhisks8193 Sorry for the delay! I don't know if they work as an introduction, most books, in general, have some or a lot of political context, here some of my recent favourites: - Frankenstein in Baghdad - Ahmed Saadawi (Iraq) - The Hakawati - Rabih Alameddine (Lebanon) - Season of migration to the north - Tayeb Salih (Sudan) - Mornings in Jenin - Susan Abulhawa (Palestine) - Men in the sun - Ghassan Kanafani (Palestine) - The republic of false truths - Alaa Al Aswany (Egypt) - Memory for forgetfulness - Mahmoud Darwish (Palestine) - Really any book that you would find by Darwish is the best poetry ever. I have to admit that my starter book was One thousand and one Nights (The Arabian Nights) the complete version. Those stories are wild but completely fantastic and timeless...

[@takewhisks8193]

@estefaniamg wow thank you! I remember trying to read "one thousand and one Arabian nights" as a kid and found it a little challenging at the time

[@dcdszgage2125]

Loved this one! Loved the in and out lists. ❤

[@isam.2653]

We have such similar reading goals for 2024! I really want to continue my sci-fi immersion this year and since moving to Scotland I have loved getting into what’s being published here (also works from authors who live here but aren’t originally from Scotland) such as Martin MacInnes, Heather Parry, and Camilla Grudova. It’s also very nice to know that after reading their books it’s likely you’ll be able to see them at the Edinburgh book festival and possibly get a book signed/chat/ ask questions! 😊

[@badfaith4u]

For indigenous books, try No Alphabet in Sight: New Dalit Writing from South India and Steel Nibs Are Sprouting: New Dalit Writing from South India. My parents really enjoyed them. I read and enjoyed Ants Among Elephants by Sujatha Gidla.

[@catmarsh6547]

I started following you for the horror-- a lot of book-based channels that I first came across are very focused on YA, fantasy, and adult contemporary, and I'm mostly a horror reader (and mystery/thriller, fantasy, and sci-fi, when the mood strikes, but I never seem to get into the same fantasy books that I see talked about). It's cool to hear about what different kinds of readers are excited for, and I like knowing what's up in the genres that my sisters and cousins are reading in, but I admit I don't always connect with channels that don't have at least an occasional horror focus. It was just a great bonus that I also saw you focus a lot on Asian authors-- even outside of horror, I know the last great mystery I read was translated from Japanese, and I'm eager to find more. My biggest goal this year is just to get back into making time for reading and getting through the stack of books I have and haven't read yet, but I hope along the way I can also make more headway into decolonizing my own bookshelf. I'm always looking for more queer authors, and have some books by indigenous authors I've been meaning to read, maybe this year is the time to look for more international and non-white queer voices in non-fiction as well as in fiction!

[@BenRogersWPG]

Great goals! Happy reading in 2024! 📚

[@the_eerie_faerie_tales]

omg Battlestar Galactica !! that is one of my favorite shows ever! I even looked up books that can be compared to that show, so I recommend doing that too if you want some BG vibes via novels. 😊

[@im_a_passenger]

love the idea of decolonizing bookshelves. Personally, I also want to read more books from the Middle East, considering the current situation in Palestine (where they have been struggling with this war for so many years). One of the reasons I like your channel is how intersectional you and the content are. While I do have specific genres of books that I like, I still want to expand my reading to various types if I can. I used to love reading but I got away from it due to busy work and other stuffs. I must say that discovering your channel has helped me get back into the habit of reading because I'm curious about the books you suggest. Please know that I appreciate your content and will be waiting for your book recommendations

[@javawatson1350]

Im sooo here for this. Please never spot reading horror.I too have a real hard time With books over 400pages,Its quite intimidating.Happy new Year Willow! P.S. I love the new channel name

[@scallydandlingaboutthebook2711]

This was exciting to watch as I look forward to some more great recommendations of books in translation or by indigenous authors.

[@aye.p]

I love the idea of decolonise my bookshelf. I have dedicated shelves from different countries but most of them are classics. Great idea! Thank you! 💜

[@martinelanglois3158]

I hope you'll keep reading comments even if they are made hours after you uploaded a new video because I'm in Canada and there is a "small" time difference (6-7 hours?). But I'll keep watching. I love your energy. 🖤

[@Xenomorph788]

As an Australian English teacher we have sooooo many amazing First Nations’ voices for everyone to explore! Also loooove Japanese, Argentinian and French translated books!

[@HappyKnitter2020]

Fantastic plan x

[@readandre-read]

I want to second the recommendation of Moon of the Crusted Snow- it was in my top 12 this year. Indigenous and apocalyptic! Also I'm recommending a graphic nonfiction book called Wake: The Secret History of Female Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall.The author is Black, queer and feminist, and although it is mostly about US history, she does travel to the UK to research the company that insured and profited from slave ships. I learned a lot!

[@marisagettas]

I started decolonizing my bookshelves in 2016 with my “No Books By Straight Cis-Het White Men” rule, which I have kept up ever since. But the summer of 2020 really gave me the push I needed as a white person to put my money where my mouth is. That’s when my decolonizing became intentional. And it has blossomed my reading life in innumerable ways. Diversity always wins ❤

[@codyharrel5269]

I’ve read so many great stories thanks to your recommendations; I really appreciate all the work you do. For an internet stranger, you’ve really done a lot to enrich my life. Thank you, Willow!

[@Ericaaaaaaaaaa]

For queer sci-fi, I love Becky Chambers' "A Psalm for the Wild-Built" and "The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet"! For indigenous authors, Louise Erdrich is my favorite! I loved "The Antelope Wife."

[@jaimee-kate]

Love these! And love that horror is a mainstay for you! What is it about horror that hooks us all so much?

[@mtritt1296]

Sending 🌈❤ from Oregon! Love the “decolonize the bookshelf” concept as an organizing/inspiring idea! As discovered, please especially share any sci-fi by new to you overseas somewhere authors. I recommend 3Body Problem series for so many 🧠 🤯 new ideas, and also b/c of the worldview through Chinese culture’s eyes, AND SO MUCH MORE!

[@user-yq7fm8kn7t]

Yes, avoid hate!

[@Shaegeeksout]

Willow! I hope you know you can block offensive words in your comments, so the second someone is being awful, you just don't have to see it. I've blocked key words that keep the awful people out of my comments, so maybe look into that for yourself. I wish the best for you in 2024 in finding a balance with your comments. I always appreciate the lovely things you reply with, but I also know you need to have boundaries. Boundaries are healthy.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Yeah I know, I’ve blocked a lot of offensive phrases and even “subtle” dogwhistles. But they often still break through, almost always because they can’t spell! So the bad spellings like “your a man” still find they way through 🙄

[@Shaegeeksout]

@@WillowTalksBooks Oh no. Im so sorry Willow. Just know that those comments are more about them than you. 🤗

[@booksmitin]

Love this video concept! I just posted my bookish goals and 2 of ours overlap (reading short books & reading diversely). Healer of the Water Monster by Brian Young is a fantastic YA/Middlegrade novel written by a Navajo individual. The audiobook was wonderful because I loved hearing the Navajo language and the writing was fantastic!

[@tyghe_bright]

Reading from as broad a selection of people as possible really does make a difference in how we experience the world.

[@leonamcmurray6389]

Super excited willow for everything your doing this year i just got fairyloot ya box so im glad youre reading ya aswell as everything else im on board with everything except sci fi i struggle with that also love your name change my big girl is 19 and her names willow after buffy ofcourse😂

[@szalaizsofia7019]

If you take recommendations, I can suggest Power to Yield by Bogi Takács. Its a wonderful scifi short story collection with some hungarian heritage sprinkled here and there, where people turn into plants and culturally appropriated dresses manifest rage.

[@vortexvibes5944]

You should start your indigenous reading list with Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians but Were Afraid to Ask by Dr. Anton Treuer. It's so fantastic and a must read. Even Native people love this book and it's great context for anything you'll read this year I also encourage you to read books about Native people that don't focus primarily on trauma or historical abuse. I don't know if you have time to watch TV but I couldn't recommend more Reservation Dogs the TV series. It's a fantastic true to life series about modern youth and their parents living on a reserve. Also you could seek out a variety of stories from different Native groups for example looking up a reading list by Cree or Ojibwe authors and reading a couple before moving on. You can learn a bit about the history of the particular group before you dive in So excited to see your recommendations!

[@Madjle]

I want to decolonized my readings too. Every year I try but I get caught up in trends😓. I need to challenge myself more. This month I put Richard Wagamase and Assia Djebar in my TBR🤞

[@lucianabonetti8658]

Willow I adore you and your video, you are so smart, so wonderfull. 🖤

[@jacforswear18]

I started my decolonization-in-reading process a few years ago after accidentally reading a horribly disrespectful "historical fiction" book about a Chinese woman written by a White US American man. I just became more conscious of not picking up books about P/WOC written by white people and not picking up contemporary fiction about women written by men, and then all of a sudden most of the authors on my shelf and in my life weren't White, fewer were men, and so many were queer and Indigenous. The stories I'm most interested in were always about people who weren't cis-straight White men and it turns out people who aren't cis-straight White men write those stories best!

[@cosyreadingtimes8857]

Sounds like a very good and promising list. Especially like the out list as I know how hard but also freeing it can be let go of things. Never got Tiktok, knew I would just get lost in it.

[@MsPixieD]

Hi Willow, I'm already decolonizing my reading! Just read Shubeik Lubeik, an Egyptian graphic novel. Last December our library book club read The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones, a Blackfoot horror writer and creative writing professor. Speaking of creative writing professors, one of our old professors Coleman Barks has made a life's work translating (or channeling) Rumi's poetry (in a recent video did you mention wanting to read more poetry?) I'm reading Rumi Bridge to the Soul (2007, do you stick to more recent titles? I found it because over the holidays I saw a confectionery shop on TV named after this Rumi quote - “I am a spoiled parrot who eats only candy. I have no interest in bitter food.”) Coleman includes some interesting travel notes from his trip to Iran.

[@jacforswear18]

I read The Only Good Indians last year without realizing it was a gory horror (whoops) and was going to DNF (which I never do) but the underlying story hooked me so thoroughly I muscled through the gore to see how it resolved and I'm so glad I did. I never thought I'd say that a slasher was beautiful, but dang, it really was beautiful!

[@MsPixieD]

@@jacforswear18 Yes, the first, very short opening section had a writing style I don't like (although, as applies to the whole book, he wrote it very skillfully), so I could have easily dnf'd it. But because it was for a library book club I powered through and so glad I did! Found out that starting with the first full chapter it changed styles to something I really liked. He has the knack as Stephen King classics do of getting you to really care about the characters. That effective tug on the heartstrings is not something everybody can accomplish. Then later I saw the book was divided into sections featuring the varoius members of the group, so it took a minute to understand how the book was structured (all the while increasing my appreciation of what the author was doing). The ongoing lesson for me is to suspend my assumptions until I see where the other person is going with something. That imo is a way to increase communication and expand connection with other people instead of assuming everyone is on the same page. Hence the popularity of trying to decolonize our reading. As for this book club, the librarian had previously mentioned he was surprised by the gore, so I was kind of braced for it. But one lady, not a big reader, came that month because she was native American, and insisted it was a true story, that the Elk Head Woman was real, having objected when I referred to that character (who is immortal and exists interdimensionally) as a magical being. She vigorously insisted no, the book is 100% true and not magical at all. So I wasn't at all prepared for that! Did not know how to respond, so I kept my mouth shut. Sometimes mind open, mouth shut is good practice, so I'm okay with that. But, as a much more experienced reader, I can say with certainty that this book is masterfully crafted by a very skilled, talented author with many writerly tools at his disposal.

[@ReinReads]

SciFi doesn’t have to be long. Nnedi Okorafor‘S Remote Control and Binti novellas are wonderful. One of my favorite short novels is ICE by Anna Kavan which is often classified as SciFi.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I know, I just have a handful of longer SF books on my TBR, that’s all

[@tonihammes33]

I just don’t get people that would follow you and then complain about your continent and your sexual identity/gender identity? Just don’t follow you if that’s a problem. And I hope I’m using those terms right. I’m a 55-year-old white straight woman but I’ve learned a lot from your channel. When I first started following you, I would mess up and tell my daughters, he said, and they jumped all over me about that and now I remember to say she said. So I’m getting better, but still have a lot to learn. Thanks for making great content and just being you and doing what you love and helping me to expand my knowledge about humans and international books in translation. Here’s to more giving ourselves the grace to not be perfect and being more kind. Neither of those things cost us a thing but are very precious indeed.

[@vincent_2232]

Ok love Willow’s opinions and recs! On a completely unrelated note I wanna know her skincare and hair care routine 😂 I’m sorry but her hair and skin is *chefs kiss*

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Hahaha that’s easy I wash my hair every other day with OGX shampoo and conditioner and I brush it a lot I use Cerave cleanser in the shower and then use Cetaphil moisturiser and night cream :)

[@vincent_2232]

@@WillowTalksBooks oh love that!! We love a nice simple routine!! Thanks ❤️ much love to you and happy new year!!!

[@imaginaryfaerie7792]

Thank you so much for this video. Some great goals. I am from Canada and have a few authors to check out for your decolonizing goal Richard Wagamese (beautiful writer, known for Indian Horse but his other work is also great I recommend Medicine Walk), Michelle Good (has both fiction and nonfction), Jessica Johns (Bad Cree), and Joshua Whitehead (Indigenous and Queer).

[@jacforswear18]

Medicine Walk is so beautiful!

[@Xenomorph788]

Also battlestar galactica and deep space nine are incredible 🤣🙋🏻‍♀️

[@MSheekey]

Forgot to suggest on your previous video, poetry collection from Native author called When my brother was an aztec, is really great Am also trying to make my bookshelf more diverse Happy New Year!

[@MSheekey]

The author is Natalie Diaz

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Amazing, thank you!

[@directosdeliteratura]

Hi! I think I've never comment on your videos because I feel I cannot add much to the conversation. But since you're interested in Translated Fiction and Spanish/Catalan is my mother tongue: please, don't miss out Alana S. Portero's debut novel, coming in English in April, Bad Habit. She's a queen. I think you're going to love it, she's one of our finest writers and the book is pretty much based in her experience as a transgender young woman in Madrid in the 80s. And Charco is translating Belén López Peiró's first book in March -Why Did You Come Back Every Summer. I highly recommend both books. Thank you so much for your videos.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I mentioned Portero’s book in my “books of 2024” video a little while ago and I can’t wait for it :)

[@kimberlygonzales5692]

Battlestar Galactica!!! ❤❤❤❤❤

[@user-yq7fm8kn7t]

I also adore horror. Great video topics.

[@PsychOnlineAldrian]

I read a Sci fi by a British Black author called More Perfect (Temi Oh) and you might like it.... I wish you luck on your new year!🎉🎉🎉

[@knutthecute]

I think you would really enjoy the science fiction novella in translation “Folding Beijing” by Hao Jingfang, translated by Ken Liu. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette (7,500 to 17,500 words) and the award was given to both the author and the translator!

[@MillennialDandy]

One book I’d recommend if you’re interested in reading indigenous literature is ‘Jonny Appleseed’ by indigenous queer Canadian author Joshua Whitehead. So excited to hear this! I’ve gotten so many great translated recs from your channel in the past, and looking forward to this new(ish) direction!

[@the_eerie_faerie_tales]

I read a wide variety of genres, Horror being one of my favorites so I will always read that, but this year is THE year of SciFi for me as well! I'm also going to be focusing more on Fantasy in addition to SciFi, so I will be reading lots of chonky books and series this year .. so excited!! I just finished the Wayward Pines trilogy by Blake Crouch, and Generation Ship by Michael Mammay. Now reading Nestlings by Nat Cassidy and Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Then onto A Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez and The Founders Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett... The Green Bone Saga.. Red Rising.. Daevabad Trilogy.. The Expanse.. gimme all the series and the chonks 😄

[@Rachel-6016]

YES I’m so excited to see more sci fi!! I’m such a fan of the genre, especially queer and from women authors! The genre such a bad rep sometimes

[@Ponyslice]

If you want to read more shorter books and like Argentinian literature I recommend Pedro Mairal and Sara Gallardo!

[@KowaretaDolll]

Have you been to the Writers Museum in Edinburgh? It’s my favourite museum here and it might be fun for you with your Scottish lit goals ☺️ also recommend Pine by Francine Toon (it’s a Scottish crime/thriller) if you haven’t read it already 💕

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I read Pine in lockdown back in 2020 and loved it! That book really stayed with me. And I haven’t been to the Writers Museum yet but I might visit this weekend actually, along with the Surgeons Hall Museum :)

[@KowaretaDolll]

ah that’s an excellent day out! Hope you like the museums - the surgeons hall is really good too! x oh and pop into Lighthouse Books if you get chance, it’s a radical bookshop and just lovely. Ok I’ll stop sounding like an Edinburgh tour guide now 🤦‍♀️ x

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Haha don’t worry, I love Edinburgh with all my heart and I visit Lighthouse every time I go :)

[@danlhart873]

Julia Armfield Our Wives Under The Sea Kazuo Ishiguro Never Let Me Go T Kingfisher What Moves The Dead I recently picked these 3 up at my library to be future reads. Just wanted input on which you liked best of the 3!

[@antodeinternet]

Chile mentined! yay! Willow, have you read Nona Fernandez' The Twilight Zone? It's a non-fiction book about a member of the secret police of the chilean dictatorship whistleblowing on the crimes that were happening around that time. It's one of my favorite books from a local author of the last few years. Keep up the good work! I love your videos. Thanks for helping me discover Brainwyrms, that was the best book I read last year.

[@Smelly285]

Ooh Farscape gotta try Farscape! Such a fun show

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Yeah I enjoyed it back at uni :)

[@spinstercatlady]

Definitely gonna miss the gothic recs since that's the bread and butter of my reading life. That said, I also need to branch out and try some new genres and more diverse reading in general (my library is 99% American or British female authors), so looking forward to some new recs ❤

[@mabumarnauen7318]

Hello willow! Thank you for your videos, they always make my day 🥰 Is it possible to send you books or suggestions for such?

[@WillowTalksBooks]

That’s very sweet of you! Feel free to give me recommendations and I’ll check the books out if I like the sound of them 💜

[@JenniferRDonohue]

for shorter scifi, I'd like to recommend Premee Mohamed' "These Lifeless Things." The print run was limited, but it's available in ebook and audio (and was just reprinted in Cataln with her WFA-winning novella "And What Can We Offer You Tonight")

[@ValerieHowell-ly6of]

If you love sci fi, check out the television series Babylon 5. It is a well written, amazing sci fi gem. The budget wasn't always spectacular, but the story, the characters and the humor were fantastic.

[@krisprepolec5616]

I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on the Indigiqueer novel that won Canada Reads, Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead, and compare it to the celebrated Five Little Indians by Michelle Good. The first looks at the life of a modern indigenous queer Canadian, and the second is about the horrors of Residential Schools, and how that has coloured the lives of people living today. Hi from Canada :-)

[@Guguchina]

So excited for some recommendations from your channel as always! I love your taste in books and I'm living for some sci-fi and translated recommendations. I loved Disorientation last year: its about asian americans in academia and asian studies in the US. I found it so relatable (im white but doing a humanities PhD so can relate to the main character and the culture of academia) and thought provoking on orientalism. Legendborn by Tracey Deonn I also loved - its YA fantasy about a black main character who joins a secret society on King Arthur. It's so good it got me into YA fantasy again and talks about themes such as grief, slavery and personal growth. I also want to read to read Tiny Moons by Nina Minja Powles: a short book on her chinese malaysian/mixed heritage through short essays on food. Her other essay collection is great too. I'm also going to read Undivided by Vicky Beeching as I'm so interested in her Christian LGBTQ identity and the trials she faced when she came out as lesbian as a popular christian music artist. And also the Secret Lives of Church Ladies which is a short story collections about black church ladies tackling their identities in religion as LGBTQ people, PoC and women. I'm also not making myself feel bad about reading short books. I tried (and succeeded) in raising my average pages per book. But for 2024, I really don't care that I've been into Eisner award winning YA and middle grade graphic novels. I'm not going to apologise for it!

[@halimamuslimah]

The Death of Vivek Oji by Novel by Akwaeke Emezi is a very moving book you might enjoy.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Emezi is a genius writer and I haven’t read that one yet, thanks :)

[@scal2025]

Voyager is fine, but DS9 is the best star trek of all time imo. You'll love it when you get there!

[@EvieM1]

Comment for the algorithm. Carry on.

[@UncleBuck3t]

2 things- 1: The Written in Melanin Library is an excellent but under appreciated library for black authors. 2: Have you considered offering a feedback service for the authors in your subscribers? (If you don’t already LOL) I know I would pay a pretty penny for that.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I don’t know what that second point means

[@UncleBuck3t]

@@WillowTalksBooks oh! Sorry for the poor phrasing! I meant, there are writers in your subscriber base and it can be hard to find people to get solid feedback from. You might offer a patreon service where people pay you to read their books (not as a video) and you give a few pages of feedback. Like a developmental editor. Your perspective as a professional reader (and past as a teacher) would be fantastic for a lot of people. Hope that clears up my point!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

It certainly does, and that’s a really lovely idea! I’m tempted to try and set something like that up, thank you!

[@UncleBuck3t]

@@WillowTalksBooks if you do, I'll be first in line! i've noticed the average rate for an 80k word book is around $1,000.00 USD give or take a hundred dollars. could be a great side gig!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Wow, that’s a very good rate! I’m already planning it!

[@sambell2743]

Have you read Deep Wheel Orcadia by any chance? Watching your video it struck me how this novel ticks several of your ‘in’ boxes for this year: science fiction, verse novel, written in Orkney dialect (with a parallel translation given in English).

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I have and I utterly adore it 💜

[@m.bertram2274]

Deep Space Nine ❤️

[@angelamccollister]

I love Enterprise. It started to get its stride by the 3rd season but Rick Berman sabotaged the show by having character from TNG show up. The series finale was enraging. Despite that, it was a very good show.

[@mariadr7607]

I started 2024 with “Girl, Woman Other” by Bernardine Evaristo and loving it so far ❤

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Great choice! When I think “feminist fiction” that’s literally the first book that comes to mind

[@mariadr7607]

@@WillowTalksBooks Hi Willow! Just finished the book and it´s become a favourite. Would you be able to recommend similar books, specially if they´re set in the UK? Thanks :)

[@bookofdust]

One In for the year you should consider are graphic novels. I feel we are really in a golden age of graphic novels, especially nonfiction and memoirs. It does have the added benefit of being shorter, or at least easier and quicker to read, so that circles back for you and also many of the strong voices emerging in the genre are women, Queer and many diverse and international voices. I challenge you add at least one graphic novel to your monthly reading for the year.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Yeah I’ve been getting back into comics lately :)

[@sophiethepegasus]

WILLOW! YOU HAVE TO READ THE LOCKED TOMB! YOU WILL LOVE IT!

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I read Gideon and did indeed love it. I’ll get to the rest soon :)

[@sophiethepegasus]

@@WillowTalksBooks Fantastic! Did you make a video on it, or do you plan on making one video for all 3 (that are out so far)? I also highly recommend the short stories that are available for free on Tor books. The Mysterious Study of Dr. Sex is the one that goes with GtN, while Harrow has As Yet Unsent and Nona has The Unwanted Guest. HIGHLY recommend.

[@panikiczcock2891]

Good call on ditching TikTok. While I use the app to look at cute videos of cats, I avoid booktok like the plague. Most of the book stuff the app tried to show me (""spicy"" books...), didn't fit my tastes at all.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Yeah all I ever saw on booktok was “romantasy” stuff and I cannot abide that lol

[@jacforswear18]

If I never see or hear a book referred to as "spicy" again it will be too soon.

[@miyayume_eclectic_dream]

😂😂😂 Battlestar Galatica is the only sci-fi series that I could not finished so I DNF it 🙈 And I love SF. I will say what most fans don't like hearing: I watch Start Trek. I watch Star Wars. I love Mandalorian. I re-watcht 10x time Lost in Space series. Sorry I started talking series and this is BOOK channel.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Ok

[@beththebookworm]

So late to this video, but in relation to your last one about more feminist non fiction, don't forget the Women's Prize is launching their non fiction award this year.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Good to know!

[@max4pne]

DS9 is good shit. It also effectively sort-of has a trans character in one of the main character roles.

[@max4pne]

Also, if you haven’t already watched it, Lower Decks is easily some of the best Trek, massively recommend.

[@eliotopian]

BSG is the best show that’s been on television.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Glad you agree :)

[@rachel1021]

If you ever want to read a good horror short story collection by an Indigenous writer then check out Anoka by Shane Hawk :)

[@WillowTalksBooks]

Thank you! There’s a lot of great indigenous horror out there and I love it. Bad Cree by Jessica Johns was also brilliant

[@rachel1021]

@@WillowTalksBooks That's on my radar! Oh and there's also Butcherbird by Cassie Hart :D

[@BandysBooks]

Omg! You have to get to Deep Space Nine. It’s sooo good and way under appreciated. Enterprise is so bland and boring. You can definitely skip it. Great in and out list!

[@Codyline]

Team ADHD! 🤘 Also why is it that so many of us are also trans/non-binary? (yknow besides being "forced" into being more introspective and open)

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I’m pretty sure studies are being done into the massive statistical overlap between queerness and neurodiversity

[@hadeel_K]

Yes to DECOLONISATION 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@kellyhauber7891]

My heart races when I think of reading comments about something I've put out on social media. You have been a glutton for punishment. Glad you are moving away from that. I'm in a different place with reading goals as I haven't read many of the classics. This will not stop me from enjoying your content though.

[@alexagopian904]

You want to decolonize your brain? And focus on sience fiction? Ten there is NO way to get around The Expanse TV Series. Its literary the theme of this serie. Do yourself a favor and watch it. It took multiple starts for me and my initial response was meh but than it hit me hard. I think its now considered as an instant classic. Feminist? Indiginous? Black? Yes, yes and yes. Besides that this is going to be an exiting year with you! Cant wait.

[@WillowTalksBooks]

I’ve got the first Expanse book on my TBR and I’ll be getting to it soon :)

[@alexagopian904]

​@@WillowTalksBooks This is the first time i recommend watching the series first, but of course its up to you. Have fun either way! ❤