Welcome back to Book Break! In this video we are looking to the year ahead. I have got a
list of 21 books that we think are going to be big on BookTube in 2021. That's a lot of books!
So this is going to be a bit of a whistle-stop tour, but get your pens and papers to the ready,
or get your Goodreads loaded up on your screen, because you're going to want to remember all of
these names. First up coming in January I have Luster by Raven Leilani. This one has already been
a huge hit in the U.S. so I think U.K. BookTube is gonna go wild for it when it comes out here. This
is the story of a young Black woman falling into a complicated relationship with a married man,
all while struggling to pursue her real dreams of being a painter. Also coming in January is People
Like Her by Ellery Lloyd. This is such a BookTube book, it is all about social media, and look at
this Instagram inspired cover, it's amazing. This is about a mummy blogger who isn't what she seems,
and a fan who knows a secret about her. It's a really page-turning thriller that I just could not
put down. And one more coming in January is Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power. So Rory Power's
last book Wild Girls was a BookTube sensation, so I think this one is going to cause just as much
of a stir. This is a YA horror thriller about a young girl returning to her mother's hometown
to investigate the family secrets, but what she finds gets pretty disturbing. In February
I think BookTube is going to love Brown Baby by Nikesh Shukla. Nikesh Shukla is the editor of
The Good Immigrant which was a very beloved book on BookTube, and Brown Baby is his memoir. It's
written for his daughters and it's his attempt to prepare them for the world, to prepare them for
the sexism and racism that they will unfortunately face, but also to fill them with all of the hope
and optimism that childhood deserves. And this one has had so much praise from early readers.
Also coming in February is Kololo Hill by Neema Shah, and just look how stunning this cover is!
I'm expecting to see this being held up in loads of BookTube videos. This one starts
in Uganda in 1972 when Ugandan Asians were suddenly given 90 days to leave the country,
and so we follow one family moving to Britain to seek refuge there. So it's this really powerful
story of what it takes to start all over again. And then one more for February: Library of the
Dead by T.L Huchu. This is the first in a new series that I think BookTube is going to
love. It's a fantasy series but with strong crossover appeal, so I think readers from all
genres will like this one. Anything with library in the title tends to be a BookTube favourite.
This one's about a girl in Edinburgh who can talk to ghosts, but after investigating a mysterious
message from one of the spirits, she discovers an occult library, and this whole new world of magic
opens up. In March I think BookTube is going to love The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex,
which is a historical fiction mystery set in Cornwall in the 70s. It's based on a true
story and it's about three lighthouse keepers who vanish without a trace from a remote lighthouse.
The door is locked from the inside, the clocks have all stopped, and the weather log describes
this massive storm even though the skies have been clear all week. So what happened? And
then also in March we're getting Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbett, which is the third
book in the Brown sisters series, which has been completely beloved on BookTube so far, The first
two books were Get A Life, Chloe Brown and Take A Hint, Dani Brown. And when we made our huge
spreadsheet of all of the most talked about books on BookTube in a video that I will link to below,
those two were both on there, so I imagine the third book is going to be equally hyped.
In April, literary fiction BookTube is going to adore Of Women And Salt by Gabriela Garcia.
So this one follows five generations of women. We go from Cuba in the 1860s to present-day Miami and
follow a book passed through the generations of women in this family, with an affirmation scrolled
in the margins that says "we are force, we are more than we think we are". In May is coming
a book that the entirety of BookTube has been waiting for and I'm very lucky to have a proof of
it here. That is Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid. So Taylor Jenkins Reid is the author of
BookTube favourites Daisy Jones and the Six, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. And this book
is set in the same universe, you meet quite a few of the same fictional celebrities from both books,
including Mick Riva, who is one of the seven husbands. This book is about his children. And
then another comeback in May from a very exciting author: we are getting Circus of Wonders from
Elizabeth Macneal. So Elizabeth Macneal is the author of The Doll Factory which was this amazing
historical fiction thriller. And her next book is set in the circus. And Elizabeth Macneal is so
good at bringing historical settings to life, so I cannot wait to see what she does with the circus.
This book is about a girl who is sold into the circus by her father because of her unusual
birthmarks, which make her the circus's leopard girl. So she becomes incredibly famous but the
question is who gets to tell her story. And then one more for May, you have heard me talk about
this one before but I just think it's going to be such a BookTube sensation, and that
is Sixteen Horses by Greg Buchanan. So this is a thriller set in a small English seaside town
about hysteria and paranoia setting in in this community after a series of seemingly connected
crimes, and the investigation slowly reveals that there is something deadly lurking in the ground
itself. In June we are getting Witchshadow by Susan Eennard which is a continuation of the
Witchlands series, which has been really popular on BookTube. There's been Truthwitch, Windwitch,
Bloodwitch, and now Witchshadow, in which warfare comes to the Witchlands, and nothing will ever be
the same again. Another big one coming in June is One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston. Casey McQuiston
is the author of Red, White and Royal Blue, which was a BookTube favourite. I heard pretty much
everyone I follow talking about this one. One Last Stop is a time traveling queer romance
set on the New York subway, and it's exploring queer communities through different decades,
so it sounds amazing. I think this one is going to be even more popular than Red White and Royal Blue
was. And then also coming out in June is The Heart Principle by Helen Huang who is the author of The
Kiss Quotient and The Bride Test. Those all work as standalones but they are linked and set in the
same universe, and The Heart Principle is going to be about Kwan, who you will know if you've read
the others is a character that people have just been clamouring to hear a standalone story from.
So I think this one is going to be huge. In July, a book is coming out called She Who Became the Sun
by Shelley Parker-Chan which has been described as Circe meets Mulan, and I can practically hear
BookTube screaming at that description. This one is a reimagining of the story of Zhu Yuanjiang
who was the peasant rebel who became the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty. August is going to be
a great month for BookTube. We're getting Yours Cheerfully by AJ Pearce, which is the sequel to
Dear Mrs Bird, so this is going to be such a cheering book, I think it's going to be
exactly what BookTube needs. Dear Mrs Bird is an absolutely delightful book that I loved,
it's set in London during the second world war, and it's about a young girl called Emmy getting
a job working for an agony aunt, so I cannot wait to see what she's up to in the sequel and see her
grow up a little bit and settle into her new role. The next book I think BookTube is going to love in
August is The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh. So Rosie Walsh's first book, The Man Who Didn't Call
was a twisty mystery love story mashup, and I loved it, and this next book is about a woman
called Emma who loves her husband and daughter but hasn't been totally honest with them.
In fact pretty much everything she's ever told them about herself has been a lie. And then one
more for August is Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner. So Crying in H Mart, you may remember,
was the title of an essay that went viral in 2018 in the New Yorker. It was about Michelle Zauner's
grief after losing her mother, and also how that affected her own sense of identity as Korean. It
was a really beautiful essay and now she is releasing a memoir with the same title, so
everyone who loves that essay is going to want to read this. And Michelle Zauner is also a musician.
If you've listened to Japanese Creakfast, that's her. Next I'm going to skip all the way to the end
of next year when a movie adaptation is coming out of The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. So I
think that will inspire a lot of people to pick up the original book, which is actually already
a fairly talked about book on BookTube. This is a historical fiction novel set in France during
the second World War and it's about two sisters proving their bravery in very different ways.
And finally, book number 21 for 2021 doesn't have a release date yet, but it is rumoured it will be
coming out in 2021, and that is Gillian Flynn's Hamlet retelling. So I think BookTube is going to
be watching with bated breath for an announcement on that one. Gillian Flynn has not published a new
full novel since Gone Girl so it's been almost a decade I think, so I think BookTube is going to
absolutely lose it when that one gets announced. But I would love to know which books you are most
excited about reading in 2021. Do leave a comment below letting us know, as well as which of the
books I've just mentioned you're most excited about, and I'll also leave a link here to a video
we made on BookTube trends, so do click through and have a watch and we'll see you next time!