Top 5 Fiction Books of 2021

Today I'm discussing my top 5 fiction books of 2021!

💄My Makeup 💄

📺 Reviews/Videos/Other Things Mentioned 📝

Previous Years’ Fiction Favorites

📚 Books Mentioned 📚 (NOT in the order they appear in the video!)

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[katecollins]

This lewk on you (the shirt, the eyeshadow, the lipstick!!!) is * chefs kiss *

[bookofdust]

What a magnificent book to wrap up your list with. I had heard of Hurston from reading about Alice Walker searching for her long lost grave and from an exquisite photograph of her by noted Harlem Renaissance photographer Carl Van Vechten. They inspired me to read “Eyes” in the early 1990s and it was a gut punch of a book, powerful and heartbreaking. I didn’t know how much so until 25 years later when I was in St. Augustine, Florida to visit the grave of another literary (illustration) genius Randolph Caldecott, who of course the medal is named after.

Afterwards, I was driving around town before being on my way and I was drawn to one of those big blue historical markers and pulled over and got out to read it. It was for Hurston who had once lived in rented rooms in the building and worked hard all day earning a living, so that she could come home and do her own writing at night alone in her room.

I just burst out in tears, that struggle to write, becoming famous, then forgotten in her own lifetime, only to be resurrected by a new generations who truly embraced her work and all this despite the odds of all the writers who lives and works have fallen through the cracks over time. Then to find this sign and location honoring her was just the emotional button to have that all wash over me and it had seemed weirdly fated that I should stumble upon that site.

[columbusmoore]

Love hearing your passion for Their Eyes Were Watching God. It’s one of the very few books I’ve ever read multiple times and will no doubt continue to read again in coming years. I’m always finding something new when I read it. That storm scene is simply classic!

[Readitandeat]

Ohhh Five Tuesdays in Winter has been on my wishlist for a while!!

[ruthg]

I love Evvie Drake! It's such an underrated book. I think it's the one that started my preference for the second chances trope in both romance and contemporary fiction. And YES to Their Eyes Were Watching God. It was one of my three five star reads this year and I can easily see myself reading this over and over again.

[CasperLCat]

I appreciate your enthusiasm for good books. It’s so easy to just be a critic. Your love of reading is a very valuable thing that I hope persuades young people to take it up as a very healthy lifelong habit.

[stacey__withanE]

Mary Jane and Their Eyes were Watching God made my top reads of the year as well!! I picked them up after watching your reviews, and absolutely adored them both!

[Brendanstop]

Five Tuesdays in Winter blew me away as well! I've never loved short story collections but each story was so impressive.

[TheREADhead]

This is the first end of year favorites video where I've desperately wanted to read every book by the end! I have already read, and loved, their eyes were watching God, but you better believe the rest are going straight to my tbr! Thanks Olive!

[activatingabundance]

Think its cool that your shirt sort of matches the first book cover ☺

[JenKayna]

Just discovering your channel and am looking forward to following you from here on out. I’ve been looking for a booktuber who reviews more than just YA and who I can relate to more. Thanks for the recommendations!

[LinnaAP]

Oh I also absolutely adored evvie drake starts over! And I read a lot of romance this year, so for this one to stick out... although it is quite light on the romance part so there's that. It's a case of the title says it all, which I love, in this case doubly bc the translated title was also perfect

[KatieReadsRants]

I adored Mary Jane! I read it on your recommendation and absolutely inhaled it.
Five Tuesdays in Winter sounds very interesting. I don’t typically love short story collections but I read Love in Color this year and had very similar feelings towards that as you did to Five Tuesdays in Winter.

[mistylbell]

I was waiting to see if you did the audible of Mary Jane. I thought it was such a good audio!

[prairierose]

Thank you for all of the wonderful recommendations in 2021. Happy New Year!

[FullyBookedMelissa]

I also read their eyes were watching God this year, and while it didn't make my top list, I agree with everything you said about it. It also wasn't at all what I was expecting. Happy 2022!

[krzysamm]

Their Eyes Were Watching God was fantastic. It was a book a picked up at a library booksale on a whim and very glad that I did.
Happy New Year

[maitreyeed]

Happy new year 2022 Olive :) You have sold me on Their eyes were watching God.

[gretchenmctavish]

Thanks for such splendid sounding titles. So glad you discovered the Hurston classic, one of the favorite books I had the privilege of teaching for years. This week has been a rich one watching great discussions of favorite books. Carry on! You are much appreciated.

[gemalasita]

¡Hi Olive! Yes, it's amazing the reason which you read your best book of the year! 🤗💖 I love this kind of thing 🥰. Kisses from Spain! 📚📖💜