You are literally the best person on booktube!! Im so glad i found your channel this year. Your content and recommendations are so different from the norm & I enjoy them all. Ty for all that u do!
Thank you so much for your enthusiasm in book review which has helped me to explore many fantastic books, especially Japanese literature. After watching your video about Yoko Ogawa, I immediately read the housekeeper and the professor, and I was shocked why I hadn't read any Yoko Ogawa's books before. Keep doing what you are doing 💖
Thank you for a year of wonderful book talk and recommendations! Some favorite recent translations for me this year were Slipping (Arabic/Egypt), The Twilight Zone (Spanish/Chile) and Slash and Burn (Spanish/El Salvador).
I hardly comment on any videos as such but I've been an avid watcher/follower of your videos, and picked up 'Heaven' when I watched your review on it! Just wanted to thankyou so much for your wonderful recommendations and to keep going!
@@aditmaryadi6678 Not particularly. Despite him being a very interesting individual and a decent writer, he was also a straight up fascist so I don't have any interest in promoting his works!
Hi Willow - I've just discovered your channel and I can see we have some cross over with our taste - plus you've got tons and tons of books on your channel that I want to find out more about. I clicked on the video because I'm planning to read more translated works next year after some great finds this year. You review books brilliantly with a clear presentation style and lots of great content. Thanks.
Your ability to keep videos interesting and with such a variety is incredible - I am so glad I stumbled on your channel a few months ago, thanks to you I ended my reading slump which was lasting for too long...now reading 3 books and having a blast - 2 of them you recommended! Will not be surprised to see your channel boom next year - keep it up and happy holidays :)
So many books on this list that I’m hoping to read next year. My favorite translated work of 2021 is Catch the Rabbit by Lana Bastašić, translated from Serbo-Croatian by the author. 🐰💛
It's so lovely to hear how these books have made a personal impact on you. Thank you for sharing wonderful reviews this year (esp of translated books)! Excited for more in 2022! off to watch your Whisper review!😊
I'm particularly happy to see Heaven and Magma make your list! I really must get hold of Cursed Bunny soon, and you've totally sold me on Whisper! Also I agree with future editor Will; your hair does look great xoxo
Ahh, this is such a great set of books! So keen to check out 'Love in the Big City'- I completely missed that one this year! Also, the skits between you and your future self are just *chefs kiss*
I have to read every single book you mentioned I fear. Thank you so much for this video and for having such a diverse taste in literature, I am truly jealous!
all of these sound amazing, idk how i haven't heard of most of them?? or you for that matter, so nice to find a fellow nb booktuber!! this is the first of your videos i found but you're lovely, looking forward to the rest
What a great list! Because of you I picked up Cursed Bunny earlier this year and loved it! It was shocking and gross but also beautiful in parts and I’m itching to re-read it. Heaven is definitely on my list - I also read and loved Lonely Castle in the Mirror and for me this was possibly my favourite translated piece of fiction of 2021 🥰 Thank you for all of your wonderful content - I know you will introduce me to many more gems in 2022! 🤗
Thank you for your wonderful recommendations all through the year! I read a lot of Japanese literature this year and I'm totally in love with the genre. I plan to explore more literature in translation next year. Keep up the good work!
@@WillowTalksBooks Same here! The writing and the atmosphere is so absorbing. I was absolutely stunned by Sayaka Murata's works. Lately, I have also started reading manga and enjoying them a lot. I plan to pick up Dorohedoro soon!
Wonderful! I've been completed absorbed by Blue Period recently: a stunning manga about a young man discovering and pursuing art/painting. Highly recommend!
I am so pleased that I found your channel! I found you a couple of months ago because I was looking for a review of Lemon (which I loved). I have three works of translation which will feature in my top books of the year (not all published in 2021 though): Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Misuki Tsujimura, Revenge by Yoko Ogawa and What We Owe by Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde. Thank you so much for all the great recommendations 😊📚
@@WillowTalksBooks Revenge is an absolute masterpiece! I need to read more Ogawa next year (I have read The Memory Police and The Housekeeper & The Professor).
'My Brilliant Life' has been adopted as a movie in 2014 directed by E J-yong. Decently directed and the performances are also good. Give it a shoot if you fancy a good cry lol
Lovely video, many many thanks to the YT algorithm for actually introducing me to another great booktuber with great taste. I didn't read nearly enough translated works this year, but my favorites would have to be Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor, Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, and two books by Cristina Rivera Garza, The Taiga Syndrome and The Iliac Crest (with Too Loud A Solutide by Bohumil Hrabal and Magma as honorable mentions). Can't wait to pick up some of the ones you mention here, you make them all sound incredible!
I just bought half of the Honford Star publications after watching this video...So excited for Whisper!!! I love horror that uses political history (which is why I also love Mariana Enriquez). If you like (horror) video games, I recommend Detention. It's Taiwanese. There's a movie and a Netflix TV show based on the video game as well!
I've had Detention on my radar for years! I even played the demo, but I still haven't picked up the full game. Screw it, now's the time! I'm getting my Switch...
@@WillowTalksBooks It's an absolutely beautiful game. The art and music is phenomenal. I played it last year and I still think about it all the time. I'm excited for you!!!
I've only read Heaven, but I loved it. Btw, I respect that you always try to pronunce the authors' names right. I feel like it's not that frequent on booktube idk
Thank you for the amazing book recommendations throughout the year! I've got quite a few piling up on my bedside table waiting to be read. :) One of my favourite books that I read this year is サラバ！ by Nishi Kanako, Naoki Prize winner of 2015. The author draws her own cover illustrations too, she's really amazing. Unfortunately this book hasn't been translated into English. :( Not sure why? Maybe you could ask your contacts in the publishing and Japanese translation world? I'm being both sneaky and serious at the same time, this novel is a real delight. I look forward to seeing your next video with your favourite English language novels. :) Merry Christmas!
So many of these sound incredible! Between this and your other list of favorites, some of these books are going to be challenging to get here in the US, but you make me want to seek them out. Do I need more books? No, but also yes because I definitely need to get my hands on Whisper.
Thank you and thanks for a great reading year. I would like to thank you for the time stamps and the chapter stamps. I also watch the whole videos but it’s nice to be able to go back to get the title author and translator. I have 4 of these books but haven’t gotten to any of them yet. If we are saying the best book in translation read this year I’d say Before the Coffee gets Cold. Kawaguchi . Drive Your Plow over The Bones of the Dead. Tokarczuk. If we say published this year. I’ll go with Woman in the Purple Skirt. I’m ordering “Slipping “ by Mohamed Kheir and translated by Robin Moger. My understanding it may be a magical realism type thing Hope you check it out
God, Drive Your Plow is such a phenomenal novel. I'm sad I haven't gotten to The Books of Jacob yet but soon! And Purple Skirt is also a book that almost made this list but not quite :)
I swear I only make it a couple of minutes into your videos bc then I order the first book you mention & start reading. 😂 Also, how do you like the Netherlands? (I'm Amsterdam-based)
I love to hear that! I also love the Hitchhiker's reference in your name :) I come to The Netherlands quite often and always base myself in The Hague. I love it here. With the lockdown and the fact that I have a bad cold, I can't do much but it's just nice to be here. Lovely city, lovely country 💜
@@WillowTalksBooks Aw I hope you feel better soon! Den Haag is gorgeous, even with the (outstanding) museums closed. I just read "Intimacies" by Kitamura and had been planning a visit (but then lockdown 😅). Enjoy the holidays!
damn at first i wasn't believing in you when you said that 'heaven' was a deep book, i saw it was less than 200 pages and thought "probably a nice book, something like normal people", but now i'm in ruins after reading what??? 15 pages?? now i get what u said
Oh my gosh, you made me want to read every single one. Thank you so much for this video!!!
You are so very welcome! 💜
Both of you are my favourite booktubers!!
@@utawhocooks me too!!
You are literally the best person on booktube!! Im so glad i found your channel this year. Your content and recommendations are so different from the norm & I enjoy them all. Ty for all that u do!
Thank you so much! I honestly don't watch much booktube so I have no idea what I do differently but I'm glad!
I finally ordered Brickmakers and can’t wait to read it. By the way, have you ever thought of recording audiobooks? Your narration is so wonderful!
I really hope you enjoy it! And actually that's one of my dreams. I even did a few amateur auditions but got nowhere. Might try again one day.
"Raw and angry feminist novel" you should do a video with that concept, it would make a very interesting list.
That's a very good idea! I have an idea for a video on "punk" literature, so I may do this as well
Thank you so much for your enthusiasm in book review which has helped me to explore many fantastic books, especially Japanese literature. After watching your video about Yoko Ogawa, I immediately read the housekeeper and the professor, and I was shocked why I hadn't read any Yoko Ogawa's books before. Keep doing what you are doing 💖
Yay, always happy to turn someone into an Ogawa fan! She's wonderful.
I bought Magma because of you. I'm going to read it on the plane this week.
I really hope you enjoy it! (Though enjoy might be the wrong word)
Yayy I’ve been waiting for this! ✨
I've been excited to make it!
Really expected heaven to be your numero uno! Now ill have to order the three above x happy Christmas to me
I did too, for a long time! These things surprise even me!
Thank you for a year of wonderful book talk and recommendations! Some favorite recent translations for me this year were Slipping (Arabic/Egypt), The Twilight Zone (Spanish/Chile) and Slash and Burn (Spanish/El Salvador).
The Twilight Zone was on my list of books to read! Thanks for reminding me. And thanks for pointing me to two more!
I hardly comment on any videos as such but I've been an avid watcher/follower of your videos, and picked up 'Heaven' when I watched your review on it! Just wanted to thankyou so much for your wonderful recommendations and to keep going!
I really appreciate that! Thank you so much. Comments like yours are what keep me going :)
Oh please I'm not ready for this. I mean my wallet isn't ready yet. But.... somehow Heaven still in my top priority wishlist.
Haha you're welcome but also I'm sorry for doing this to you. And this is only half my list as well! Video #2 is coming soon...
@@WillowTalksBooks Haha curious about your upcoming 2nd list. By the way, do you have any plan for talking about Yukio Mishima books?
@@aditmaryadi6678 Not particularly. Despite him being a very interesting individual and a decent writer, he was also a straight up fascist so I don't have any interest in promoting his works!
@@WillowTalksBooks aah... yes I understand
Hi Willow - I've just discovered your channel and I can see we have some cross over with our taste - plus you've got tons and tons of books on your channel that I want to find out more about. I clicked on the video because I'm planning to read more translated works next year after some great finds this year. You review books brilliantly with a clear presentation style and lots of great content. Thanks.
Wow, thank you so much! Those are very kids words, and I'm so happy that you're planning to read more world literature next year!
My favourite booktuber. Seriously, you are amazing!
omg to flatter me, thank you 🥺😭
Your ability to keep videos interesting and with such a variety is incredible - I am so glad I stumbled on your channel a few months ago, thanks to you I ended my reading slump which was lasting for too long...now reading 3 books and having a blast - 2 of them you recommended! Will not be surprised to see your channel boom next year - keep it up and happy holidays :)
That is such a compliment, thank you! I am so so thrilled that you're enjoying reading again 💜
Love in the big city yess, I adored it. You described it in such a great way!
Yay, always makes me happy to see more love for the books I love!
So many books on this list that I’m hoping to read next year. My favorite translated work of 2021 is Catch the Rabbit by Lana Bastašić, translated from Serbo-Croatian by the author. 🐰💛
I'll be sure to check that one out! Books translated by the author are rare, too!
Ironically, your #1 is the book I’m least likely to read 😂 But I am so sold on Heaven after this. 100%
Coward!
@@WillowTalksBooks You’re not wrong
Pretty coward :)
It's so lovely to hear how these books have made a personal impact on you. Thank you for sharing wonderful reviews this year (esp of translated books)! Excited for more in 2022!
off to watch your Whisper review!😊
Thank you so much for watching, and I hope Whisper tickles your fancy!
I'm particularly happy to see Heaven and Magma make your list! I really must get hold of Cursed Bunny soon, and you've totally sold me on Whisper!
Also I agree with future editor Will; your hair does look great xoxo
Omg you're the only one to reference the part of the video I'm most proud of lol 🥺💜
Oh wow! THANK YOU
No, thank YOU for publishing some of the best books of the year!
Ahh, this is such a great set of books! So keen to check out 'Love in the Big City'- I completely missed that one this year!
Also, the skits between you and your future self are just *chefs kiss*
Haha thank you! I was so proud of that dumb little skit lol
Am so please that Taiwanese book is your top one pick for 2021😊😊
Enjoy your holiday in the Netherlands ☺️
As am I! And thank you 💜
I have to read every single book you mentioned I fear. Thank you so much for this video and for having such a diverse taste in literature, I am truly jealous!
Aw thank you so much! I only hope you love what you find 💜
Your video not only educates me but also inspires me.
Thank you, and cheers to you and all the great work you shared in this challenging year!
Thank you so much, I really appreciate that!
Thank you for this delightfully inspiring list!! Love from Seoul 🎄🥰
My love back to Seoul! I miss that city every day :)
Great video! I have longlisted almost all of these for my TBR next year. Thanks!
Wow that's awesome, I'm happy to hear that!
all of these sound amazing, idk how i haven't heard of most of them?? or you for that matter, so nice to find a fellow nb booktuber!! this is the first of your videos i found but you're lovely, looking forward to the rest
Thank you for such interesting recommendations for 2022! Can't wait to pick up some of these books.
You're very welcome! 2022 also has a lot of great books on the horizon!
What a great list! Because of you I picked up Cursed Bunny earlier this year and loved it! It was shocking and gross but also beautiful in parts and I’m itching to re-read it. Heaven is definitely on my list - I also read and loved Lonely Castle in the Mirror and for me this was possibly my favourite translated piece of fiction of 2021 🥰 Thank you for all of your wonderful content - I know you will introduce me to many more gems in 2022! 🤗
I agree with every word about Cursed Bunny! And Lonely Castle almost made my list. It's probably my number 11 :)
Yay! I wonder if you’ll do an honourable mentions list? 😇
What an great list! Cursed Bunny sounds the most intriguing 😃
That's a fine choice! And I'm glad you enjoyed :)
I've been waiting for this! 😍
I've been waiting to make it! 💜
Thank you for your wonderful recommendations all through the year! I read a lot of Japanese literature this year and I'm totally in love with the genre. I plan to explore more literature in translation next year. Keep up the good work!
I'm so glad to hear that! My favourite books all come from Japan :)
@@WillowTalksBooks Same here! The writing and the atmosphere is so absorbing. I was absolutely stunned by Sayaka Murata's works. Lately, I have also started reading manga and enjoying them a lot. I plan to pick up Dorohedoro soon!
Wonderful! I've been completed absorbed by Blue Period recently: a stunning manga about a young man discovering and pursuing art/painting. Highly recommend!
ALL OF THESE JUST SOUNDS GREAT! 😭💗
They all are, I promise! 💜
I am so pleased that I found your channel! I found you a couple of months ago because I was looking for a review of Lemon (which I loved). I have three works of translation which will feature in my top books of the year (not all published in 2021 though): Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Misuki Tsujimura, Revenge by Yoko Ogawa and What We Owe by Golnaz Hashemzadeh Bonde.
Thank you so much for all the great recommendations 😊📚
Lonely Castle narrowly missed my list as well! It definitely takes my number 11 spot :) And Revenge is an absolute masterclass, isn't it?
@@WillowTalksBooks Revenge is an absolute masterpiece! I need to read more Ogawa next year (I have read The Memory Police and The Housekeeper & The Professor).
This is so awesome!! I've been waiting for thiiiis 😍 already got a few of them thanks to your recommendations! Thank you so much 🙌
You're so welcome! Thanks for being hyped 💜
Hi! Love to see you recommended Mariana Enriquez! I just finished "our part of night" and it was wonderful. Greetings from Argentina.
She's one of my absolute favourites! I love Argentina's women writers so much 💜
💕💕💕 happy holidays!!! thank you for this video and for everything you do!!! so glad I discovered your channel this year!!!
You're so welcome! And thank you for the appreciation! It means the world to me 💜
'My Brilliant Life' has been adopted as a movie in 2014 directed by E J-yong. Decently directed and the performances are also good. Give it a shoot if you fancy a good cry lol
HI WILLOW
OMG HI WILLOW AGAIN
LOL!
Lovely video, many many thanks to the YT algorithm for actually introducing me to another great booktuber with great taste. I didn't read nearly enough translated works this year, but my favorites would have to be Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor, Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, and two books by Cristina Rivera Garza, The Taiga Syndrome and The Iliac Crest (with Too Loud A Solutide by Bohumil Hrabal and Magma as honorable mentions). Can't wait to pick up some of the ones you mention here, you make them all sound incredible!
Oh god Drive Your Plow and Hurricane Season are two of the finest novels I've ever read, period!
I just bought half of the Honford Star publications after watching this video...So excited for Whisper!!! I love horror that uses political history (which is why I also love Mariana Enriquez). If you like (horror) video games, I recommend Detention. It's Taiwanese. There's a movie and a Netflix TV show based on the video game as well!
I've had Detention on my radar for years! I even played the demo, but I still haven't picked up the full game. Screw it, now's the time! I'm getting my Switch...
@@WillowTalksBooks It's an absolutely beautiful game. The art and music is phenomenal. I played it last year and I still think about it all the time. I'm excited for you!!!
I've only read Heaven, but I loved it. Btw, I respect that you always try to pronunce the authors' names right. I feel like it's not that frequent on booktube idk
I didn't have a really great reading year, but the translated highlights for me are Heaven, Kitchen, Sailor Moon and Junji Ito's Cat Diary.
I try my best! I'm confident in my pronunciation of Japanese and Korean names, but less so in most other languages but I do try!
Oh Kitchen is wonderful! Turned me into a lifelong Yoshimoto fan!
Thank you for the amazing book recommendations throughout the year! I've got quite a few piling up on my bedside table waiting to be read. :) One of my favourite books that I read this year is サラバ！ by Nishi Kanako, Naoki Prize winner of 2015. The author draws her own cover illustrations too, she's really amazing. Unfortunately this book hasn't been translated into English. :( Not sure why? Maybe you could ask your contacts in the publishing and Japanese translation world? I'm being both sneaky and serious at the same time, this novel is a real delight.
I look forward to seeing your next video with your favourite English language novels. :) Merry Christmas!
I read Heaven by Mieko Kawakami and I liked it a lot. Always open for Japanese suggestions, so Kyoko Nakajima is in my notebook now.
Very glad to hear that! Nakajima's works are really somethig special :)
So many of these sound incredible! Between this and your other list of favorites, some of these books are going to be challenging to get here in the US, but you make me want to seek them out. Do I need more books? No, but also yes because I definitely need to get my hands on Whisper.
I'm so glad you're interested in Whisper! The horror of that book seems to have turned a few readers away but it's so damn good, I swear.
@@WillowTalksBooks I don't read much horror but I'm very open to it, as is my partner, so I hope we both enjoy it.
My favourite translated book was The Rooftop by Fernanda Trias, a Uruguayan author. Mind you, it is weird. Very weird. But, oh so, good.
Thank you and thanks for a great reading year. I would like to thank you for the time stamps and the chapter stamps. I also watch the whole videos but it’s nice to be able to go back to get the title author and translator. I have 4 of these books but haven’t gotten to any of them yet. If we are saying the best book in translation read this year I’d say Before the Coffee gets Cold. Kawaguchi . Drive Your Plow over The Bones of the Dead. Tokarczuk. If we say published this year. I’ll go with Woman in the Purple Skirt. I’m ordering “Slipping “ by Mohamed Kheir and translated by Robin Moger. My understanding it may be a magical realism type thing Hope you check it out
God, Drive Your Plow is such a phenomenal novel. I'm sad I haven't gotten to The Books of Jacob yet but soon! And Purple Skirt is also a book that almost made this list but not quite :)
I swear I only make it a couple of minutes into your videos bc then I order the first book you mention & start reading. 😂 Also, how do you like the Netherlands? (I'm Amsterdam-based)
I love to hear that! I also love the Hitchhiker's reference in your name :)
I come to The Netherlands quite often and always base myself in The Hague. I love it here. With the lockdown and the fact that I have a bad cold, I can't do much but it's just nice to be here. Lovely city, lovely country 💜
@@WillowTalksBooks Aw I hope you feel better soon! Den Haag is gorgeous, even with the (outstanding) museums closed. I just read "Intimacies" by Kitamura and had been planning a visit (but then lockdown 😅). Enjoy the holidays!
💜Thanks!💜
damn at first i wasn't believing in you when you said that 'heaven' was a deep book, i saw it was less than 200 pages and thought "probably a nice book, something like normal people", but now i'm in ruins after reading what??? 15 pages?? now i get what u said
You are my favorite non-binary CZcamsr!!!!
This is my new favourite comment!!
Have you read My Year Abroad by Chang-Rae Lee?
I've never read any of his novels.
Catpalooza
Indeed!