My top 10 reads of 2021 / books that shaped my year 

I’m fully addicted to people’s best books of 2021 videos

1. my dark vanessa - Kate Elizabeth Russel 2. night sky with exit wounds - Ocean Vuong 3. second place - Rachel Cusk 4. bestiary - Julio Cortázar 5. paradise rot - Jenny Hval 6. the secret history - Donna Tartt 7. the master and margarita - Mikhaïl Boulgakov 8. the dangers of smoking in bed - Mariana Enriquez 9. a room of ones own - Virginia Woolf 10. love is a dog from hell - Charles Bukowski

there’s no way i just thought to myself ‘i wonder if dakota uploaded that new vid yet?’, and i check and it was uploaded 30 secs ago.. that’s so funny

My Dark Vanessa was absolutely moving yet so infuriating and tragic. It made me think so much once i finished it and the ending really tied it all together. Definitely my favourite book this year 🤍

I had a chance to visit Bulgakov’s home in Kyiv this summer & it was absolutely one of the most magical homes I’ve ever seen

i wanted to read my dark vanessa but i was reluctant because of the theme. anyway i got it in ebook, read it and cried for hours after i finished it. went and bought a physical copy the next day. this book is so raw.

your content inspires me. i am irrevocably entranced by your way of speaking and the aesthetics of your livelyhood. i’m a fourteen year old girl, born and raised in massachusetts. from the absolute beginning of my life, i was held to the expectation that i would be smart. i won’t bore you with the specifics of the entirety of my life story, but this caused me to read obsessively because knowledge was fed to me as a necessity instead of a horizon to search for solely because i enjoyed learning. i would, and still do, constantly compare myself to others whom surpass me academically, and it absolutely kills me. everything i knew and enjoyed from childhood was twisted into a fierce and horrific competition, which made me despise the things i loved…including reading. your videos have reminded me of how it feels to read because of the simple pleasure it brings as opposed to relentlessly forcing myself to adhere to society’s standard of intelligence and intellectualism. in short, you have brought back one of my deepest passions. i am eternally grateful.

I'm really surprised you don't like Romanticism, it's very beautiful but dark too at the same time. One of my favourite literary movements, plus, it gave birth to Gothic writing.

omg hearing you talk about bukowski just now was a relief. i've been feeling guilty for years for liking his work, at least partially, even though I've always read his books as critically as I can. and I always felt like I couldn't talk about all of these amazing poems I love because people would think somehow that i'm a "bad feminist".

if you enjoy latin american literature, i would recommend 'tales of love, madness and death' by horacio quiroga! i read it in high school and i still remember so many of the stories vividly

Your videos truly inspire me to read. Like a "I'll go get my books right now and be determined to finish then before dawn" kind of inspiration. Sometimes I pause in the middle of your videos just to go take a walk & read my book. I love you for that. Thank you.

Dakota you have quickly become one of my favourite booktubers, as others have said, and so thank you for your content! Just pre-ordered your book and cannot wait to read it.

if you liked cortázar and enríquez i really recommend "final del juego" and "historias de cronopios y de famas" (by him cortázar lmao), "the aleph" by jorge luis borges, "pájaros en la boca y otros cuentos" by samantha schweblin and "things we lost in the fire" (also by enríquez!). all of them are argentinian, maybe that's why they have this "same" vibe :0

a lot already on my to read list and more to add! when I first found your channel it was one of the things that first drove me to discover my love for literature and for that I'll forever be grateful. I'm taking English lit as an a level already (it is my favourite) and plan to pursue it further, before this I wasn't really sure what I'd do but I really feel as though now I have finally found something I love

So many unique recommendations, I adore this channel. Breath of fresh air on the booktube. Adore your eloquence, Dakota ❤️

I love seeing books from my country (Argentina) being read around the world! I'm pretty sure you will like a book called "The Tunnel" by Ernesto Sabato. It's pretty dark and intense; don't want to spoil it too much. But it's a classic here and quite short too!

Every time I watch your videos I have my goodreads app open and just add every single book you mention. I trust u just like u trust staff recommendations!!

thank you so much for the recommendation! i am looking forward to read more in 2022, and your channel is guiding me through that way!

YOUR EYES HOLY MOLLY YOUR MAKEUP IS STUNNING

Absolutely loved this video!! I am so glad I found your channel. Your recommendations are some of my favorites. So I am very excited to read the rest of the books on this list🖤

Omg, I’m in love with your channel, thanks a lot for what you do, it incredibly inspires me!

the way I put all of them in my tbr-

The way you talk about ocean vuong is how I genuinely speak about you to all those around me. I hang on your every word and post until the next one, and can actively say it is until your next post that my motivation lies dormant. However that said, you could mutter wordless nothing that makes no sense and here I would be, trying to decipher a meaning and understand how you even came up with it. So in short, I would do anything to bow before you.

Since I might be as passionate about philosophy as you are about literature I will recommend you some of the best proze in philosophy: - Schopenhauer as educator - nietzsche - Truth and lie - also Nietzsche Since philosophy is often described to be dry and boring writing (which I do not mind) I decided to recommend Nietzsche. I do not imply that these stories hold the best philosophical content. Rather as a more light, easy read. Furthermore, Plato - Symposion Augustine - confessions Also, keep an eye out for Kierkegaard, he is a magnificent writer but difficult author On the crossroads between philosophy and literature: Iliad & Odyssee - Homer (you’ve probably read this before) Last but not least, have you read fathers and sons by Turgenev before ?

I don't know if you've mentioned it before, since I haven't watched all your videos (guilty as charged) but I think you'd ABSOLUTELY love Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo. It's an enthralling, mystical tale of a lost town in Mexico. I highly, highly recommend.

watching this right before sleeping

Hi I am a Med. Student and I am thankful to find so much good book advice in your videos! I have just begun to delight in the russian writers and completed Doctor Zhivago last year (together with our favourite Algerian/French: Camus *the plague* how appropriate it was) now on to Master and margarita from your tips! And the sisters Brontës works! Also* If I can leave a tip myself to my fellow reader; too much at once can get you overwhelmed, find one you really want to read and read it and so on! I vary my genres also so i also read the Witchers series last year and boy was it some of the best books i ever read, and the complexity of the writing and the language is stunning amd absolutely delicious. So shoutout to Andrzej Sapkowski, polish writers get too little attention these days :)

I’ve also read the secret history, master and margarita and a room of one’s own this year. all of them made to my favorites list! loved the video, always love your recommendations ♡

dakota warren's podcast when

DAKOTACORE OG MEMBERS!!!!! 🙋🏽‍♀️🙋🏽‍♀️🙋🏽‍♀️

your copy of a room of one's own is beautiful! just might need another copy because i love it so

as an argentinian i absolutely loved that you mentioned mariana enriquez and cortazar

I recommend ‘Crush’ by Richard Siken, it has permanently etched itself into my memory. I’m not that poetry savvy but that collection is a pretty damn good one

Love the Woolf back-to-back with Bukowski lol! I hope you intend to read Mrs Dalloway if you haven't already because it is a very enchanting read!

i was so excited to see that you’d posted, so thank you for this video! also, have you read the book “a lesson in vengeance”? it was my favourite book of last year, and i feel like you may adore it!

omg BESTIARY you're the first youtuber i've seen mention it ❤ those stories were my teen nourishment

just wanted to say the eyeshadow look is gorgeous omg

by far the fastest i've ever clicked on a video

I’m obsessed with your taste

If you haven’t please read 100 years of solitude. This is a book that Latinos hold dear to their hearts. The characters are so humans like. The imagery the author evokes is breathtaking and some of his descriptions are the most beautiful.

I love your room and your book recs

Master and Margarita and Room of One's Own are a BIG yes! Side note, your eye makeup is fabulous

Listening to you talk about these books just gives me an overwhelming desire to be your pen pal 🤣🤣

AAAAAAAA i love how you explain everything 💕

Our part of the night by Mariana Enríquez is literally my favourite book, it's so good, everyone should read it

Loved this vidddd!!! Can you make a video recommending your favorite Latin/American literature books??!?

Love to see latin american people in the comments recommending everything we've ever read to Dakota. Los amo a todos che

I can’t get through a single one of your videos without buying a new book

i love your social media so much

i love your makeup!!! it is beautiful!

Video Idea! Can you please make a video listing your favorite romance books? I think it would be perfect just in time for Valentine's day!

cant wait to order ur book when i get money!!! love u

I think you Woolf like Rooftop by Fernanda Trias. It’s super weird and packs a huge punch. Seriously underrated book.

I’m sure you’ve read Clarice Lispector, but, if you haven’t, you would absolutely love her. Her collection of short stories is worth every penny and the perfect nightcap (sure to give you surreal, feminist, philosophical dreams).

my dark vanessa is so addicting . once u pick it up its impossible to put down.

dakotacore & raspy voice

I'm reading Blow-Up by Cortázar right now, which includes many of the same stories as Bestiary, and I'm reaaaally struggling with it. Axolotl was interesting and I enjoyed it, but the other few I've read so far have been difficult to grasp. glad to hear that you enjoyed it so much, gives me some encouragement to power through and hopefully find some more gems.

so u love latin american darkness? u definitely need to try something from horacio quiroga! for some reason teachers made us read him as kids, and i still have nightmares about his work. absolutely magnificent

I have quite a few of these on my own reading pile. The Cortazar book sounds particularly interesting. Secret History is one I've also kind of meant to read for years cos I see it getting cited a lot, and I think that's what's put me off (i.e. the decades of hype) doing so more than the size (though 500+ pages isn't terribly encouraging either).

you look stunning in your eye shadow it's perfection

Great video! Can you also make a video on how/why you take notes on literature?

If you liked "The dangers of smoking in bed" you should definitely read "Las cosas que perdimos en el fuego" (Things we lost in the fire) by the same author, it's fantastic. Also, idk if you have read any latin american poetry but I'd like to recommend to you anything by Alejandra Pizarnik (she's also from Argentina)

alsoo thank you for the book recommendations

OMG GWEN YOU ARE STILL ALIVE?!! Peter is so devastated u need to see him.

Dakota, I love your videos and book recommendations! I notice you always have pages marked no matter what book it is. Can you explain how you make annotations in your books and what you look for?

I read master and margarita for the book club and now I’m obsessed with Russian literature (reading some Dostoyevsky at the moment)

i love this - ive just added literally all of these to my tbr but i was wondering - where do you get you books mainly ?? do you just buy copies of everythig you want to read or borrow them from a library, etc ?? I never know which way to go about sourcing books

I love your mind!

Hello Dakota, I just found your channel and loved it! I have a book reccomendation for you.Since you love wierd philosophical books I would suggest you read Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. It is a soft fantasy with everlasting halls with sculptures and tides with only two people living iin it.But when a third person distrups the House, everything crumbles . This book cured my reading slump. And yes it is first person :)

if you wanna read a book that makes you feel like a 50 year old woman, read Gabrielle Union's memoirs, starting with the first one ofc -- We're going to need more wine is so raw & real, but then you need more & that's where book two comes along!

I love how your lips and eyemakeup match the book 2:30

The way you speak is how I've aspired to speak for as long as I can remember. But, I literally have no idea how to apply it to myself because I feel as though me being neurodivergent gets in the way of that. My brain feels like an empty peanut shell half the time, it's a little tiring.

pleaseeee you need to read “things we lost in the fire” by mariana enriquez!! it is also a collection of short stories and, in my opinion, even better than the dangers of smoking in bed

I love ur eye makeup today. Also u talk like u would be a character in if we were villains (or the secret history). Lol

the aesthetic

This comment section is full of argentinians, omg. I'm gonna jump in and recommend "The Eternaut". It's a classic, dystopian graphic novel. I don't usually like reading graphic novels at all, but this one... I love the ending and the characters. The plot is amazing. I read it for school and it's been one of my favourite books.

as you enjoy latin literature you should really read clarice lispector and machado de assis (brazilian literature), you will like it so much!!! ❤️

i ran when i got the notification

please we want you to talk about books and give us reviews themes and the literary devices this is very enjoyful to watch especially if it you who make such videos!

I totally agree that Second Place (and Rachel Cusk in general) deserves all the hype. There's something Cusk understands about the human condition, but I can't figure out what it is. She's got me by the throat.

Could you also make a list of books you return to again and again?

i wanna read my dark vanessa but i experienced stuff like that :/ so maybe i'll relate as i still be healing as a 22 year old lmao

Take a drink everytime Dakota says deliciously

OMG i see a messy heads magazine ;)

Obssessed with ur videos Love from Canada 🤍

You gotta read some secondary literature on Kantian metaphysics this year.

two argentinian authors in this list, that makes me happy!

Please do top reads of 2022? pretty, please!!!!!!!!!

U have really good taste. I enjoyed the video! Love from Russia

brb i gotta add every book to my tbr (especially bestiary)

The Listeners by Jordan Tannahill made me identify with a middle aged woman, so I recommend that one, too! It's first person narration!

Oh also, if you haven't read it I have a feeling you'd love The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld

Love all your recs Dakota ! but my word, I'm 52% into The Secret History and it's SoOoOo utterly boring. I see so much potential and I just hope it gets a bit more exciting.

I really want to recommend Woe from Wit by Alexander Griboedov, this is a russian comedy, but yk, its more of a tragicomedy as I see it, its hard for me to concretize what it is about bc it actually explores quite a lot of things, but I loved how the author showed the detachment of a single person, annnd the book itself is a satire on the society of napoleonic russia, uhh, im apologizing for possible mistakes, English is not my native language

In 2021 I was in year 9. I liked Furious Thing. I didn’t keep a list of books I read in 2021 📚

your videos are a serotonin booster

i read the first two stories in “the dangers of smoking in bed” but i did not really like them, imo they weren’t that creepy or scary but does it get better? should i give this collection another try?

ive applied to work at metropolis books 3 times, its my dream to work there LOL

i think you’d like The Dark Bride (La Novia Oscura) by Laura Restrepo

you should read saramago!