For the third year in a row my favorite read of the year is a book recommended by you. This year it is The Book that Wouldn't Burn (Piranesi 2022 and Parable of the Sower 2023). Thank you for all the great videos and the remainder that I really need to read A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
Thanks for all your recommendations! A few of my favorite fantasy reads of 2024 came directly from either one of your videos or from our conversation on my podcast - Piranesi, Ten Thousand Doors of January, and Guards Guards being the main ones that I absolutely loved. I think my favorite fantasy book I read in 2024 was the Lies of Locke Lamora or Wind and Truth. For sci-fi, it was definitely Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion. Absolutely mind blowing. Merry Christmas and happy New Year to you and your fam!
Love that you just did your own thing and chose authenticity for your top 5 reads! Plus, I happen to love one of your honorable mentions, as you know! Excellent video!
It doesn’t make sense on paper but in my head it does 🤣 sometimes I feel I have to give something off because of problems within the narrative, but I FEEL strongly about the book more so then a more perfect book? Idk maybe it makes zero sense ☠️
@@Bookborn And sometimes, those things that make a book so great in the moment turn out not to be so memorable. And likewise, even if a story wasn't perfect, it does sit with you, which can be more important as time goes on.
@@Bookborn That's how I feel about Jade War and Legacy, both 5 star books but I have Wisdom of Crowds (4.5) and The Heroes in my top 5 of the year instead
I am so thankful I found your channel this year! it has been incredible watching you love ASOIAF and particularly fire n blood and the big book. In turn you have recommended some great books. Thank you!!
"Green Mile" is really a fantastic book (the movie is great too). With an author as prolific as King it can be easy to focus on the gory or "meh" books he puts out. But you don't publish 100+ novels without a lot of them being gems. His character work is some of the best out there and on a line-level, his writing is great. There are a ton of non-horror books that I'd recommend but I usually tell people to read "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon." It's short and very endearing. (And obviously "Shawshank Redemption" but if you've seen the movie, you pretty much know the whole story)
Wooooooo Feast for Crows hype!!!!!!!! 💪💪💪💪 Also loved Fire and Blood waaaaay more than I thought I would heading into a fictional history book - GRRM is just compelling in any format! Oh my goodness I’m so happy you’re getting into DCC - you are so not prepared for the emotional freight train that’s coming with the rest of the series.
I'll never forgive the universe for taking Terry Pratchett from us so soon. He had at least 40 books left in him, and they all would have been bangers.
The Green Mile movie is fantastic as well if you haven't seen it. It's my favorite Hanks movie, and one of the best King movie adaptations (lots of great ones to pick from I know) . Highly recommended
My favourite book of the year was Fairy Tale by Stephen King! It was my first book by him and I was blown away. Definitely want to read The Green Mile too.
Always a great day when a Bookborn video pops up!!! Happy holidays to everyone!!! And PLEASE finish "The Stand" I really liked it!! Really liked the 1980's or 90's TV version of it also.. DESPISED the 2020 remake of it..
I love this because MY top three favorite GRRMs are ACoK -> AGoT -> ASoS but watching your videos going through all the others I can totally see why you love them so much.
Looking at my stats, the only new books I read that I gave five stars this year is Rhythm of War, which surprised me because I only gave Oathbringer 4 stars. The other was Happiness Falls by Angie Kim, which is a family drama/mystery that I found thought-provoking and emotional. I’m on pace to finish Wind and Truth on Christmas, but it’s feeling like a 4.5 stars. Feel like there are more dead chapters than Rhythm of Waf but still really enjoying it. A song of ice and fire is on my TBR, but not sure I’ll start it in 2025. Going to finish realm of the elderlings next year.
I also preferred Rhythm of War to Oathbringer on a first read. And, as I gave WaT 4.5...it seems we have very similar feelings about Stormlight books 🤣
Your making me want to reread ASOIAF. People can complain about it not having an end in sight but there is no other series loaded with this many S and A tier characters in all of fantasy.
I think I need a Bookborn review of DCC Book 2! My opinion is that the series gets even better from there, so I'm excited to hear your thoughts as you continue on the journey.
I just looked through my Goodreads to remind myself what I read this year. I think my top books are: Demon in White, Pillars of the Earth, Blackwater Saga, Empire of the Damned, Going Postal, The Butcher's Masquerade, and the entire Age of Madness trilogy. I actually had a hard time deciding which Dungeon Crawler Carl book to put on this list, but book 5 is pretty good.
Just finished warbreaker for the first time and really enjoyed the character work and magic system, so familiar with Sanderson’s style but so different from mistborn! Starting DCC and Stormlight next year!!
The "Green Mile" is my favorite book by Stephen King. If anyone is interested I can provide a list of other books by King that I have enjoyed. I am not much of a horror fan, but thankfully King writes in varied genres ranging from horror to crime mystery to SciFi to fantasy, so the books that I have enjoyed are rarely from the horror genre. However, have in mind that being primary a horror writer in all of his books, regardless of the genre, King will include at least a couple of scenes, where he will try to scare or gross you out or both at the same time. ASOIAF is one of my all time favorite series even in its unfinished state! As for Pratchett, I have been going through Discworld books I hadn't already read, at a deliberately slow pace, savoring every bit, as no new books in the series will be coming out. This year I reread "Soul Music" and "Hogfather" (one of my two most favorite in the series so far along with "Small Gods") and read "Going Postal" and "Making Money". I read these four books in particular, because the first two focus on my most favorite Discworld character - Death, while the last two have some of the most notable appearances of my second most favorite character in the series - Lord Havelock Vetinary. "Thief of Time" (reread) and "Raising Steam" (unread) are in my plans for next year. Among the other books that I've read this year are two of Sanderson's secret project "Tress of the Emerald Sea" (which I rather enjoyed) and "The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England" (which was somewhat of a disappointment, probably due to my too high/wrong expectations about it. I expected something similar to "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" by Mark Twain (one of my childhood's favorite classics) and got something very different).
I was in fact surprised by this list, but that is likely because I just started watching/subscribing since your Wind and Truth review. Thanks for the video and Merry Christmas! :)
I still have time to read more, but my year's favorites are looking like: Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion - Beth Brower The Unseen - Roy Jacobsen Thessaly trilogy- Jo Walton Saint Sebastian's Abyss - Mark Haber Doomsday Book - Connie Willis The Ambassadors - Henry James Look at Me - Anita Brookner The Trees - Percival Everett Stranger in Olondria - Sofia Samatar The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison Daughter of Time - Josephine Tey The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August - Catherine Webb
I think the only person that would be shocked by this list would be Bookborn of a few years ago, who claimed she'd never read ASoIaF. This upcoming year I'm going to try to prioritize Pratchett. The only book I've read that he's worked on was Good Omens, and it's time to correct that.
Nice to see Discworld in your list. I also love some Witches books. Witches Abroad, Lords & Ladies & Wyrd Sisters are in my top 5 Discworld books (with Guards Guards & Men at Arms). My next book will be started Tuesday- Hogfather.
new bookborn video?! let’s go!! I remember you saying you were going to read The Lies of Locke Lamora this year, so I’m planning on echoing that - right after I finish The Wise Man’s Fear🙏🏼
Great list! I’m not as huge a ASOIAF fan (I’ve only read the first 3) but I’m sure if I’d read them this year they would have made my list too. My current list is more like a top ten because I read some great ones this year. 1) Wind and Truth 2) DCC Book 7 3) Ship of Magic 4) Will of the Many 5) Suneater book 3 6) Suneater book 5 7) Piranesi 8) Small Gods 9) Sword of Kaigan 10) I’m glad my mom died
Love you unapologetic laugh & choices for top 5! Thanks for sharing your runners-up. :) My top 5 from 2024 in no particular order: The Golden Enclaves (book 3 of The Scholomance trilogy) by Naomi Novik Defiant (book 4 of Cytoverse series) by Brandon Sanderson Morning Star (book 3 of Red Rising trilogy) by Pierce Brown The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (book 1 of Wayfarers) by Becky Chambers The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow Runners-up: The Women by Kristin Hannah The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore Lucy Undying by Kiersten White
Hidden gem I found this year was the Raven Tower by Ann Leckie. It does something really interesting with POV. It's a stand alone book about these ancient gods and how they interact with humans. It starts with one fairly minor gods POV as she starts at the bottom of the ocean during ancient times before life emerges.
Since you are in your GRRM era you should check out his short stories too, he used to do a lot of sci fi. Dreamsongs is probably the best way to go about it, i think between those 2 books you get like.... 80% of his published short stories. There are some that are incredibly expensive just because they only ever printed like 50 copies, but i think most of his best ones are in those collections.
Buckle up for dungeon crawler Carl. While it is admittedly right up my alley, it has continued to blow me away by how just dang good it is. Matt just has an incredible gift for escalation- in terms of zany antics, off beat humor, character development, and greater galaxy-wide implications- it just keeps getting better! My top 5 books for the year are books 5-7 of dungeon crawler Carl, and books 4 and 5 of Malazan. Both Dinneman and Erikson are such incredible authors in terms of emotional stakes, that nothing else is too close for me, though I will say I really enjoyed John Gwynne’s Fury of the Gods as well. While he has a lot of quirks as an author, it was a really enjoyable series for me and I thought he really nailed the ending in terms of overall plot and character development!
I'll finish the fourth book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series before the end of this year. I began the series at the start of 2024 and it's one of my new favorites. Those books just speak to me.
8:10 wait you might have actually convinced me to give book 2 a try! I was wanting more of that bigger story and heart in book 1, and the surface level stuff really bummed me out.
I went on an absolute bender reading Robin Hobb the last half of this year and got through the Tawny Man Trilogy! I hope you read Liveship next year because it's fantastic :) Also loved the Age of Madness Trilogy. If you haven't read either Stoner by John Williams or Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, I highly recommend!
I’m currently in the middle of a dungeon crawler carl binge. Second was absolutely a step up. Third one was sort of a half-step back because I really didn’t like the setting much at all. Currently on the fourth
I agree 100%, though I didn’t catch this until my reread that book 3 is the turning point where the main overarching story of DCC mostly starts with the cookbook. So I loved it a lot more on my reread :)
aFFC on top of everything. Bold but good pick. Good Omen’s by Gaiman and Pratchett is such a cozy blanket for me. I’m sure I’ve commented this before but The Expanse series is amazing. And it’s pretty snappy, I was able to eat up 7 out of nine books in about two months. (The last two weren’t out yet)
Good omens is one of my favorite fantasy stand alones of all time. So good! Expanse has been on my tbr for ages idk when I’ll finally get around to it haha
The whole time you were saying “That’s my truth,” I was thinking, the other “Truth” is “Wind” right? lol. Sadly, not “of Winter”… yet. I still need to read Wind and Truth. I’m excited for it! Also, for Stephen King, Pet Sematary would have to be in my personal top 5.
Bookborn - I am about to start my Stormlight journey with the Way of Kings. Any advice for those starting the series? I am a big Sanderson fan, but very slow reader. I am also a veteran of the WOT and swore never to read an epic series (or first part of one) until it was completed! Looking at you GRRM. LOL! Great channel, thanks for the content.
Well since the fifth book is out - which is the ending of the first half - I think it’s a great time to get into it. The first part of way of kings is slow for many people but the pay off is worth it. It’ll take some time but don’t rush!
Just finished Wind and truth yesterday. I am SO beyond conflicted. Like the plot was fantastic and I adored how everything ended but the how it was presented… I have a lot of opinions 😅
My favs this year are Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, Under the Dome and Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King, The Road by Cormac McCarthy
I'm still only halfway through Wind and Truth, so I stopped this video after you said it was a satisfying conclusion. I'll be back when I'm done to this and your review video! I'm hyper sensitive to spoilers😅
No, it was August 2023! I took several months between AGOT and ACOK though, and then after that got so into it that I read the other ones much closer together.
My top books of the year would include the books from the Liveship Traders and Tawny Man 😅 I also loved Blood Over Bright Haven, my reread of the Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, and my most recent 5-star book: Playing Possum, an academic philosophy book about how animals conceive of death.
Have you ever read Tad Williams? One of my personal favorite authors. "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn", "Shadowmarch", "Otherland", "War of the roses" etc. are all so good. He just finished a quadrology that's supposed to be incredible that I haven't gotten to yet, to my shame.
My top 3 this year HAS to be the first Mistborn trilogy. I had never read before a Sanderson's book and I was blown away by his writing... I finished the third book this morning and I already miss these characters. Truly one of the best trilogy I have ever read. Tomorrow I'll start with the Stormlight Archive 🤞🏻
The Green Mile is one of my five favorite books! If you are interested in reading another Stephen King book outside the horror genre, I really recommend 11/22/63
My most satisfying read this year was definitely Ascendance of a Bookworm's final volume, followed closely by Hero of Ages. Hard to beat an excellent ending to one of your favorite series 😅
The strategy in The Hidden Path to Manifesting Financial Power ebook completely shifted my perspective. It's like finding a shortcut to endless wealth!
Just FYI to my other commenters - I think comments like this are spam/a bot. I get them about random books and then they have 70+ likes within 10 minutes, which is super unusual. I usually delete them, but I'll leave this one up for ~exposure~ purposes.
Thanks for the analysis! I have a quick question: I have a SafePal wallet with USDT, and I have the seed phrase. (alarm fetch churn bridge exercise tape speak race clerk couch crater letter). Could you explain how to move them to Binance?
At this point all you need to do is to get a picture with the man, the legend himself. George is pretty chill too, he invited Glidus and Altshift X (Two big ASOIAF youtubers) to eat Tacos!
INteresting that you liked Feast fro Crows the best. To the extent that there is any sort of consensus in the cOmUnIty - that is often either the lowest on ranked or 2nd to lowest. Storm of Swords is usually everyones favourite (and mine as well). But Crows IS severly underrated.
I just so happen to be reading Guards Guards at the moment which is my first Pratchett, though I'm only like 10 pages in so I haven't formed any opinion on it yet.
Oh soemthing super high lmao I didn’t even bother picking it up the night of! Since I already read it, felt like no point in standing in a giant line. Picked up the next morning and got 2000 something I think
Such a rebel not following your own rule ... Heresy ! Love your video. Best of the year for I thiink is In a Lonely Place Karl Edward Wagner. Short "horror", it isn't really scary more like dreadful and tragic endings.
It has been... 35 YEARS?!? since I read The Stand (unabridged), and I can't immediately think of which scene would have grossed you out so badly. There were certainly some very visceral scenes with Captain Trips, and some gross consent stuff with Nadine... but I loved that book. I felt like it was his masterpiece. I also feel like you miss a lot with the collected novelization of The Green Mile. I don't know if it's even possible to pick up the 6 or 7 novelettes anymore, but reading it in serial was an amazing experience. I also disagree with someone else in the comments. Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption offers a great deal that was skipped over in the movie. The interactions with the various wardens over time, and how much time there really was, made the story so much more than the movie. Plus, if you pick up Different Seasons, you get The Body (which has just about my favorite opening few paragraphs in all of literature), and Apt Pupil. The Breathing Method is engaging too, but not as great as the other three. Happy reading, happy holidays, and wishing you all the best.
It was the chapter with The Kid! Also I also felt that even though I had seen a movie, I’d probably like the book a lot still. I usually always like the book more 😂
@@Bookborn Okay. I can confirm that chapter wasn't important to the overall plot. It was one that got removed for the original, abridged version. I might have to go back and read it to find the gross bits though... His foul mouth and psychopathic tendencies are really all I remember.
Top of mind the best books I read/listened to are Warlord Chronicles, mainly books 2 and 3 and The Will of the Many. I'm sure there's probably a high 4 or 5 star I'm forgetting from early in the year though.
Here are my favorite books of 2024 in no particular order: The Boys in the Boat Ysabel Old Man’s War Any John Sandford novel The Riftwar Saga series The last king of Osten Ard series Ordinary Grace. Probably my #1 Son of the black sword Wind and truth
AFFC 📖 🐦⬛ 🐦⬛ from "as if" from Clueless is what gets me to rev up and actually dust off my paperback of AGOT! Smart recommendation like how folks glow about Robert Jordan's Knife of Dreams? I enjoy GRRM's comic con interview asides about needing Ant-Man (one of the OG Avengers) already in the MCU! That's what endeared me to him personally! 😊 I personally, in my own perspective and hot take, think that the impetus engine has cooled for writing a novel that would either ret-con a certain output ⛳️ or totally 180° on the lore 📚 as is an author's prerogative? At what point does it become a kinda werid territory of almost novelization of wahts been put out to have to complete a show inperfectly! Something of Stone? Like.... a 🚪 door of stone? 😮🤔 I'd also never thought to ask your thoughts (when I get to that point, of course) on Sando's monumental and deservedly lauded task of completing the final three WoT 📚 that is RJ's magnum opus?
I think we can all forgive you for breaking the rules for the best fantasy series of all time :D My top 5 in no particular order is The Forever War, The Dark Forest, The Illiad, Between Two Fires and The Willows :D
Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobooks are insanely good. Everyone should listen to these books instead of reading imo, it is one of the few cases where audiobook is the superior choice.
YOU ONLY DNF'ED 2 BOOKS??? How is that even possible? 😱😱😱 I dnf probably around 40% of books I start 😂 Also your love for asoiaf makes me want to reread the series so bad.
I'm extremely stubborn lmao I just force myself to power through. I probably dnf'd books as a kid, but in my adult life I only dnf'd two, and both for similar reasons.
"So few series that made me so utterly obsessed" ASOIAF does it to all of us.
Glad to be a part of the party now
Not all of us. I’ve never hated two books more than those first two books and I took “statics and dynamics” as well as “probability and statistics”
“I know that’s boring! I know that’s probably not what you wanted to hear!”
You know nothing, Jon Snow.
Ayyyy Fellow A Feast for Crows fans unite!
We are the only ones with taste!
For the third year in a row my favorite read of the year is a book recommended by you. This year it is The Book that Wouldn't Burn (Piranesi 2022 and Parable of the Sower 2023). Thank you for all the great videos and the remainder that I really need to read A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
Stop this is the best comment 😭😭😭
As someone who found you through ASOIAF, I love your takes and hope we get that Catelyn defense video soon!
I've already written like two pages of my defense. I just care a lot about it so I keep waiting until I have a little more time to really finesse it.
@@Bookborn I'll be there, just Catelyn defenders must stand together haha
As someone who grew up in Van, I also love that Dinniman reps the Pacific Northwest.
Not boring at all! Need more ASOIAF content from you! I'm loving this new found obsession
Thanks for all your recommendations! A few of my favorite fantasy reads of 2024 came directly from either one of your videos or from our conversation on my podcast - Piranesi, Ten Thousand Doors of January, and Guards Guards being the main ones that I absolutely loved.
I think my favorite fantasy book I read in 2024 was the Lies of Locke Lamora or Wind and Truth. For sci-fi, it was definitely Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion. Absolutely mind blowing.
Merry Christmas and happy New Year to you and your fam!
I love hearing my recommendations landed! I think I'm going to do Lamora in January. I'm so excited to finally get to it
Girl, we are so vibing on all of these books!!! Yay for a great reading year!🎉😃👍
Love that you just did your own thing and chose authenticity for your top 5 reads! Plus, I happen to love one of your honorable mentions, as you know! Excellent video!
I like how a book that you gave 4.5 stars made it to the top 5 and books you gave 5 stars to made it to the runner-up section 😆
It doesn’t make sense on paper but in my head it does 🤣 sometimes I feel I have to give something off because of problems within the narrative, but I FEEL strongly about the book more so then a more perfect book? Idk maybe it makes zero sense ☠️
@ okay that does make sense to me. I rarely give books 5 stars, so usually 5 stars means that I did feel more (or most) strongly about the book.
@@Bookborn And sometimes, those things that make a book so great in the moment turn out not to be so memorable. And likewise, even if a story wasn't perfect, it does sit with you, which can be more important as time goes on.
@@michaelburke4048 that’s a nice way to put it! ☺️
@@Bookborn That's how I feel about Jade War and Legacy, both 5 star books but I have Wisdom of Crowds (4.5) and The Heroes in my top 5 of the year instead
I am so thankful I found your channel this year! it has been incredible watching you love ASOIAF and particularly fire n blood and the big book. In turn you have recommended some great books. Thank you!!
Thanks for being here!
"Green Mile" is really a fantastic book (the movie is great too). With an author as prolific as King it can be easy to focus on the gory or "meh" books he puts out. But you don't publish 100+ novels without a lot of them being gems. His character work is some of the best out there and on a line-level, his writing is great. There are a ton of non-horror books that I'd recommend but I usually tell people to read "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon." It's short and very endearing. (And obviously "Shawshank Redemption" but if you've seen the movie, you pretty much know the whole story)
Wooooooo Feast for Crows hype!!!!!!!! 💪💪💪💪
Also loved Fire and Blood waaaaay more than I thought I would heading into a fictional history book - GRRM is just compelling in any format!
Oh my goodness I’m so happy you’re getting into DCC - you are so not prepared for the emotional freight train that’s coming with the rest of the series.
I just had a feeling that each DCC book would get more emotional. He's SO GOOD at blending humor with emotion!
I'll never forgive the universe for taking Terry Pratchett from us so soon. He had at least 40 books left in him, and they all would have been bangers.
I’m glad someone talking about green mile, one of my most favourite books that left me thinking about it for looonggg time
The Green Mile movie is fantastic as well if you haven't seen it. It's my favorite Hanks movie, and one of the best King movie adaptations (lots of great ones to pick from I know) . Highly recommended
I’ve heard that it’s a super good movie from several people! I’ve def added it to my watch list
My favourite book of the year was Fairy Tale by Stephen King! It was my first book by him and I was blown away. Definitely want to read The Green Mile too.
Fairty Tale is so interesting because of the peopleI know, it's either their favorite book or they absolutely hated it and DNF'd it lol
Love how you broke your rule in this case! Great recommendations. I’m hoping to get back into Discworld soon. Happy Holidays!
Always a great day when a Bookborn video pops up!!! Happy holidays to everyone!!!
And PLEASE finish "The Stand" I really liked it!! Really liked the 1980's or 90's TV version of it also.. DESPISED the 2020 remake of it..
I love this because MY top three favorite GRRMs are ACoK -> AGoT -> ASoS but watching your videos going through all the others I can totally see why you love them so much.
AFfC is my favourite, but I have to say ACoK is the most underappreciated book in the series.
Looking at my stats, the only new books I read that I gave five stars this year is Rhythm of War, which surprised me because I only gave Oathbringer 4 stars. The other was Happiness Falls by Angie Kim, which is a family drama/mystery that I found thought-provoking and emotional. I’m on pace to finish Wind and Truth on Christmas, but it’s feeling like a 4.5 stars. Feel like there are more dead chapters than Rhythm of Waf but still really enjoying it. A song of ice and fire is on my TBR, but not sure I’ll start it in 2025. Going to finish realm of the elderlings next year.
I also preferred Rhythm of War to Oathbringer on a first read. And, as I gave WaT 4.5...it seems we have very similar feelings about Stormlight books 🤣
Your making me want to reread ASOIAF. People can complain about it not having an end in sight but there is no other series loaded with this many S and A tier characters in all of fantasy.
That cosy sweater is everything 😍
I think I need a Bookborn review of DCC Book 2! My opinion is that the series gets even better from there, so I'm excited to hear your thoughts as you continue on the journey.
Agreed! Especially book 5 which was my favorite! Never thought I would love a doll head so much 😆
@@salvadormora3331 Book 5 was also my favorite
I got to be honest, I'm not surprised. 😂 I'm obsessed with ASOIAF.
I just looked through my Goodreads to remind myself what I read this year. I think my top books are: Demon in White, Pillars of the Earth, Blackwater Saga, Empire of the Damned, Going Postal, The Butcher's Masquerade, and the entire Age of Madness trilogy. I actually had a hard time deciding which Dungeon Crawler Carl book to put on this list, but book 5 is pretty good.
Some really good picks in there - obviously I’m a Discworld and age of madness fan!
Just finished warbreaker for the first time and really enjoyed the character work and magic system, so familiar with Sanderson’s style but so different from mistborn! Starting DCC and Stormlight next year!!
The "Green Mile" is my favorite book by Stephen King. If anyone is interested I can provide a list of other books by King that I have enjoyed. I am not much of a horror fan, but thankfully King writes in varied genres ranging from horror to crime mystery to SciFi to fantasy, so the books that I have enjoyed are rarely from the horror genre. However, have in mind that being primary a horror writer in all of his books, regardless of the genre, King will include at least a couple of scenes, where he will try to scare or gross you out or both at the same time.
ASOIAF is one of my all time favorite series even in its unfinished state!
As for Pratchett, I have been going through Discworld books I hadn't already read, at a deliberately slow pace, savoring every bit, as no new books in the series will be coming out. This year I reread "Soul Music" and "Hogfather" (one of my two most favorite in the series so far along with "Small Gods") and read "Going Postal" and "Making Money". I read these four books in particular, because the first two focus on my most favorite Discworld character - Death, while the last two have some of the most notable appearances of my second most favorite character in the series - Lord Havelock Vetinary.
"Thief of Time" (reread) and "Raising Steam" (unread) are in my plans for next year.
Among the other books that I've read this year are two of Sanderson's secret project "Tress of the Emerald Sea" (which I rather enjoyed) and "The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England" (which was somewhat of a disappointment, probably due to my too high/wrong expectations about it. I expected something similar to "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" by Mark Twain (one of my childhood's favorite classics) and got something very different).
I was in fact surprised by this list, but that is likely because I just started watching/subscribing since your Wind and Truth review. Thanks for the video and Merry Christmas! :)
GRRM win!
Finish* reread next year!
TWoW is coming! (/sips hopium)
I have a full cup of hopium ☕
Happy Holidays Bookborn! I'm reading Lonesome Crown by Brian Lee Durfee and I'm enjoying it! Over half way through!
I’m glad you had a good review of stormlight. It’s a 9/10 for sure.
That’s exactly what I gave it!!
I still have time to read more, but my year's favorites are looking like:
Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion - Beth Brower
The Unseen - Roy Jacobsen
Thessaly trilogy- Jo Walton
Saint Sebastian's Abyss - Mark Haber
Doomsday Book - Connie Willis
The Ambassadors - Henry James
Look at Me - Anita Brookner
The Trees - Percival Everett
Stranger in Olondria - Sofia Samatar
The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison
Daughter of Time - Josephine Tey
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August - Catherine Webb
I think the only person that would be shocked by this list would be Bookborn of a few years ago, who claimed she'd never read ASoIaF.
This upcoming year I'm going to try to prioritize Pratchett. The only book I've read that he's worked on was Good Omens, and it's time to correct that.
Good Omens is sooo good though so I approve of that being your first one.
Nice to see Discworld in your list. I also love some Witches books. Witches Abroad, Lords & Ladies & Wyrd Sisters are in my top 5 Discworld books (with Guards Guards & Men at Arms). My next book will be started Tuesday- Hogfather.
new bookborn video?! let’s go!! I remember you saying you were going to read The Lies of Locke Lamora this year, so I’m planning on echoing that - right after I finish The Wise Man’s Fear🙏🏼
Great list! I’m not as huge a ASOIAF fan (I’ve only read the first 3) but I’m sure if I’d read them this year they would have made my list too. My current list is more like a top ten because I read some great ones this year.
1) Wind and Truth
2) DCC Book 7
3) Ship of Magic
4) Will of the Many
5) Suneater book 3
6) Suneater book 5
7) Piranesi
8) Small Gods
9) Sword of Kaigan
10) I’m glad my mom died
Love you unapologetic laugh & choices for top 5! Thanks for sharing your runners-up. :)
My top 5 from 2024 in no particular order:
The Golden Enclaves (book 3 of The Scholomance trilogy) by Naomi Novik
Defiant (book 4 of Cytoverse series) by Brandon Sanderson
Morning Star (book 3 of Red Rising trilogy) by Pierce Brown
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (book 1 of Wayfarers) by Becky Chambers
The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
Runners-up:
The Women by Kristin Hannah
The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore
Lucy Undying by Kiersten White
hahaha good on you Bookborn. love it.
Hidden gem I found this year was the Raven Tower by Ann Leckie. It does something really interesting with POV. It's a stand alone book about these ancient gods and how they interact with humans. It starts with one fairly minor gods POV as she starts at the bottom of the ocean during ancient times before life emerges.
Since you are in your GRRM era you should check out his short stories too, he used to do a lot of sci fi. Dreamsongs is probably the best way to go about it, i think between those 2 books you get like.... 80% of his published short stories. There are some that are incredibly expensive just because they only ever printed like 50 copies, but i think most of his best ones are in those collections.
I loved watching you fall in love with ASOIAF, lol
Buckle up for dungeon crawler Carl. While it is admittedly right up my alley, it has continued to blow me away by how just dang good it is. Matt just has an incredible gift for escalation- in terms of zany antics, off beat humor, character development, and greater galaxy-wide implications- it just keeps getting better!
My top 5 books for the year are books 5-7 of dungeon crawler Carl, and books 4 and 5 of Malazan. Both Dinneman and Erikson are such incredible authors in terms of emotional stakes, that nothing else is too close for me, though I will say I really enjoyed John Gwynne’s Fury of the Gods as well. While he has a lot of quirks as an author, it was a really enjoyable series for me and I thought he really nailed the ending in terms of overall plot and character development!
You mentioend A Song of Ice and Fire is your *second favorite* series. What would be your first?
I'll finish the fourth book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series before the end of this year. I began the series at the start of 2024 and it's one of my new favorites. Those books just speak to me.
8:10 wait you might have actually convinced me to give book 2 a try! I was wanting more of that bigger story and heart in book 1, and the surface level stuff really bummed me out.
You should! It really got into some more sentimental beats and explorations of the larger world. It really worked for me.
I went on an absolute bender reading Robin Hobb the last half of this year and got through the Tawny Man Trilogy! I hope you read Liveship next year because it's fantastic :) Also loved the Age of Madness Trilogy. If you haven't read either Stoner by John Williams or Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, I highly recommend!
Top 5 this year:
Sword of Kaigen
Jade Legacy
Wind and Truth
Golden Son
As You Wish (by Cary Elwes)
Ok those first three are fire and soooo true. I haven’t read as you wish - is it a princess bride memoir? Sounds like I need to read it…
Yes, if you’re a fan of the movie it’s a GREAT read! I read it in two or three sittings, it was so fun.
A bunch of fantastic books plus Discworld 😝
And you think I've questionable taste 😂
I always forget what a hater you are and how OBJECTIVELY WRONG YOU ARE
Finally some love for A Feast for Crows!!
Boring? No, intelligence is never Boring; it's very educational and cool to see how much you can fit in your nugget!
I read The Song of Ice and Fire in 2016, it is a series that has really stuck with me awesome choices.
I’m currently in the middle of a dungeon crawler carl binge. Second was absolutely a step up. Third one was sort of a half-step back because I really didn’t like the setting much at all. Currently on the fourth
My husband has read them all and the third was also his least fav because of the setting, so I’m already expecting that one to be a little step down
I agree 100%, though I didn’t catch this until my reread that book 3 is the turning point where the main overarching story of DCC mostly starts with the cookbook. So I loved it a lot more on my reread :)
aFFC on top of everything. Bold but good pick. Good Omen’s by Gaiman and Pratchett is such a cozy blanket for me.
I’m sure I’ve commented this before but The Expanse series is amazing. And it’s pretty snappy, I was able to eat up 7 out of nine books in about two months.
(The last two weren’t out yet)
Good omens is one of my favorite fantasy stand alones of all time. So good! Expanse has been on my tbr for ages idk when I’ll finally get around to it haha
The whole time you were saying “That’s my truth,” I was thinking, the other “Truth” is “Wind” right? lol.
Sadly, not “of Winter”… yet.
I still need to read Wind and Truth. I’m excited for it!
Also, for Stephen King, Pet Sematary would have to be in my personal top 5.
Bookborn - I am about to start my Stormlight journey with the Way of Kings. Any advice for those starting the series? I am a big Sanderson fan, but very slow reader. I am also a veteran of the WOT and swore never to read an epic series (or first part of one) until it was completed! Looking at you GRRM. LOL! Great channel, thanks for the content.
Well since the fifth book is out - which is the ending of the first half - I think it’s a great time to get into it. The first part of way of kings is slow for many people but the pay off is worth it. It’ll take some time but don’t rush!
Just finished Wind and truth yesterday. I am SO beyond conflicted. Like the plot was fantastic and I adored how everything ended but the how it was presented… I have a lot of opinions 😅
Nice to know I’m not the only one who loved A Feast for Crows. Most people I have talked to rank it as their least favorite.
My favs this year are Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, Under the Dome and Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King, The Road by Cormac McCarthy
I'm still only halfway through Wind and Truth, so I stopped this video after you said it was a satisfying conclusion. I'll be back when I'm done to this and your review video! I'm hyper sensitive to spoilers😅
I thought that you started reading ASOIAF this year. Time goes fast.
No, it was August 2023! I took several months between AGOT and ACOK though, and then after that got so into it that I read the other ones much closer together.
My top books of the year would include the books from the Liveship Traders and Tawny Man 😅 I also loved Blood Over Bright Haven, my reread of the Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, and my most recent 5-star book: Playing Possum, an academic philosophy book about how animals conceive of death.
asoiaf is such an experience... look how far we have come. 😮💨now to buy those new neat editions
Year of Martin!
Have you ever read Tad Williams? One of my personal favorite authors. "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn", "Shadowmarch", "Otherland", "War of the roses" etc. are all so good. He just finished a quadrology that's supposed to be incredible that I haven't gotten to yet, to my shame.
lets pray u can include the winds of winter in next year's vid
From your mouth to Martin’s ears 🙏🙏🙏
I love GRRM books
My top 3 this year HAS to be the first Mistborn trilogy. I had never read before a Sanderson's book and I was blown away by his writing... I finished the third book this morning and I already miss these characters. Truly one of the best trilogy I have ever read.
Tomorrow I'll start with the Stormlight Archive 🤞🏻
I started with Mistborn too! And the ending of hero of ages just BLEW ME AWAY. I’m so glad you loved it!
@Bookborn I guess the only other time that I cried this much was during/after the red wedding. I truly did not expect this ending, but it was amazing!
The Green Mile is one of my five favorite books! If you are interested in reading another Stephen King book outside the horror genre, I really recommend 11/22/63
That's the one that I see recommended the most, so I'm prioritizing that one
My most satisfying read this year was definitely Ascendance of a Bookworm's final volume, followed closely by Hero of Ages.
Hard to beat an excellent ending to one of your favorite series 😅
The strategy in The Hidden Path to Manifesting Financial Power ebook completely shifted my perspective. It's like finding a shortcut to endless wealth!
Just FYI to my other commenters - I think comments like this are spam/a bot. I get them about random books and then they have 70+ likes within 10 minutes, which is super unusual. I usually delete them, but I'll leave this one up for ~exposure~ purposes.
winds of winter is coming!!!
Thanks for the analysis! I have a quick question: I have a SafePal wallet with USDT, and I have the seed phrase. (alarm fetch churn bridge exercise tape speak race clerk couch crater letter). Could you explain how to move them to Binance?
At this point all you need to do is to get a picture with the man, the legend himself. George is pretty chill too, he invited Glidus and Altshift X (Two big ASOIAF youtubers) to eat Tacos!
INteresting that you liked Feast fro Crows the best. To the extent that there is any sort of consensus in the cOmUnIty - that is often either the lowest on ranked or 2nd to lowest. Storm of Swords is usually everyones favourite (and mine as well). But Crows IS severly underrated.
Yes in my review I posted all the reviews/rankings that all had it last. Only I appreciate her as she should be 🤣
I just so happen to be reading Guards Guards at the moment which is my first Pratchett, though I'm only like 10 pages in so I haven't formed any opinion on it yet.
I wish I could say that this is a surprise, but, I mean.. I can't really 😂 ASOIAF is awsome.
Enjoy the Holidays!
Extremely predictable 😂
3:48 I’m curious what number did you get? 😮
Oh soemthing super high lmao I didn’t even bother picking it up the night of! Since I already read it, felt like no point in standing in a giant line. Picked up the next morning and got 2000 something I think
@ same here, ordered 5000#
I don’t mind a high number. Since most of us can’t stand in line😂
before the video even started, i already was like "it's just gonna be asoiaf and wind and truth" 😅
Such a rebel not following your own rule ... Heresy ! Love your video. Best of the year for I thiink is In a Lonely Place
Karl Edward Wagner. Short "horror", it isn't really scary more like dreadful and tragic endings.
ASOIAF is a masterpiece
I loved the Stand but King's best book is Pet Semetary
Dance over Storm of Swords is really suprising to me
Storm was last year
Dance isn't over storms! I read AGOT-STORM last year. Every single ASOIAF book I read, except for World of Ice and Fire, made my top list.
It has been... 35 YEARS?!? since I read The Stand (unabridged), and I can't immediately think of which scene would have grossed you out so badly. There were certainly some very visceral scenes with Captain Trips, and some gross consent stuff with Nadine... but I loved that book. I felt like it was his masterpiece.
I also feel like you miss a lot with the collected novelization of The Green Mile. I don't know if it's even possible to pick up the 6 or 7 novelettes anymore, but reading it in serial was an amazing experience.
I also disagree with someone else in the comments. Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption offers a great deal that was skipped over in the movie. The interactions with the various wardens over time, and how much time there really was, made the story so much more than the movie. Plus, if you pick up Different Seasons, you get The Body (which has just about my favorite opening few paragraphs in all of literature), and Apt Pupil. The Breathing Method is engaging too, but not as great as the other three.
Happy reading, happy holidays, and wishing you all the best.
It was the chapter with The Kid!
Also I also felt that even though I had seen a movie, I’d probably like the book a lot still. I usually always like the book more 😂
@@Bookborn Okay. I can confirm that chapter wasn't important to the overall plot. It was one that got removed for the original, abridged version. I might have to go back and read it to find the gross bits though... His foul mouth and psychopathic tendencies are really all I remember.
Top of mind the best books I read/listened to are Warlord Chronicles, mainly books 2 and 3 and The Will of the Many. I'm sure there's probably a high 4 or 5 star I'm forgetting from early in the year though.
I don't know how, I have gone this long and had no idea the green mile was about death row inmates 🙈 instant tbr add thanks 😊
I mean I only have an idea of what like 3 stephen king novels are about and this wasn't one of them, so I was totally with you lol
Here are my favorite books of 2024 in no particular order:
The Boys in the Boat
Ysabel
Old Man’s War
Any John Sandford novel
The Riftwar Saga series
The last king of Osten Ard series
Ordinary Grace. Probably my #1
Son of the black sword
Wind and truth
I read Game of Thrones in like 2018 and binged it, I was so hooked. But never ended up finishing book 2…maybe I will give it another go 🤔
You definitely should. Clash is slower, but book 3 is straight sprinting from start to finish.
@ that’s good to know, thank you!
GRRM is the GOAT. It’s honestly not even close.
Surprised you are just now reading Song of ice and Fire in 2024. Deferred gratification. 😉
AFFC 📖 🐦⬛ 🐦⬛ from "as if" from Clueless is what gets me to rev up and actually dust off my paperback of AGOT! Smart recommendation like how folks glow about Robert Jordan's Knife of Dreams? I enjoy GRRM's comic con interview asides about needing Ant-Man (one of the OG Avengers) already in the MCU! That's what endeared me to him personally! 😊 I personally, in my own perspective and hot take, think that the impetus engine has cooled for writing a novel that would either ret-con a certain output ⛳️ or totally 180° on the lore 📚 as is an author's prerogative? At what point does it become a kinda werid territory of almost novelization of wahts been put out to have to complete a show inperfectly! Something of Stone? Like.... a 🚪 door of stone? 😮🤔 I'd also never thought to ask your thoughts (when I get to that point, of course) on Sando's monumental and deservedly lauded task of completing the final three WoT 📚 that is RJ's magnum opus?
I think we can all forgive you for breaking the rules for the best fantasy series of all time :D
My top 5 in no particular order is The Forever War, The Dark Forest, The Illiad, Between Two Fires and The Willows :D
Oh man the dark forest is sooo good huh
@ Oh yeah, half year later and I still think about it
Have you read the rest of The World of Ice and Fire yet? It is absolutely fascinating
i tore through the series. it kinda kills me that Martin wont finish it.
George rr Martin becoming the Tom Brady of the Bookborn channel
Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobooks are insanely good. Everyone should listen to these books instead of reading imo, it is one of the few cases where audiobook is the superior choice.
YOU ONLY DNF'ED 2 BOOKS??? How is that even possible? 😱😱😱 I dnf probably around 40% of books I start 😂
Also your love for asoiaf makes me want to reread the series so bad.
I'm extremely stubborn lmao I just force myself to power through. I probably dnf'd books as a kid, but in my adult life I only dnf'd two, and both for similar reasons.
So not shocked.
Which is the most favourite series of all time?
Stormlight archive!