Should've gottten my bingo card out, Deadhouse Gates, Morning Star and White Fang would definitely have given me some good points hahahah. Also couldn't agree more with what you said about 7 Names, that made it onto my faves list of this year, so impactful!
Thank you, Tori, for another wonderful video. I love how open you are in discussing mental health, trauma, and healing. The world desperately needs more of you!
Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I try to be as open as I can be comfortably, because the conversation is important. :) The world needs your voice too!
Books that have made an impact on me include Shogun, Frankenstein, 1984, Brave New World, And Then There Were None, & Raymond Chandler's The Lady in the Lake to name a few. And this list keeps getting bigger. Thanks for sharing yours, Tori. Happy reading, everyone.
What a list! Shogun was an incredible read for me as well. I'm hoping to get to And Then There Were None here in 2025! Thank you so much for sharing and for watching. :)
Shallan (Cosmere) in terms of DID, I found her journey to be a perfect representation of how some deal with trauma and theres only so much a person can handle.
I'm actually planning on doing a video on Shallan's representation of DID, hopefully soon. I agree that there is a lot of good trauma representation in her story arc. I do also encourage people not to hold her up as a representation of realistic DID as much as she has been.
I had a series of level-ups. The first was the novelization of Star Wars. This made me wonder about what this speed of light thing they were jumping to all the time and we had encyclopedia at home where I learned just what that was. And then I kept on reading said encyclopedia on a regular basis. Next came The Illustrated Man which gave me a thirst for scifi short stories so I indulged on Clarke and Asimov. Next came Protector by Larry Niven which lead to Ringworld. My biggest level-up came via The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever and I was into my 30's by this time.
The books that had the most impact on me as a child/teenager: Black Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, Charlotte's Web, Little House on the Prairie series, Harriet the Spy, Chronicles of Narnia, Little Women, Nancy Drew, Diary of Anne Frank, Lord of the Rings.
Here, here! The ability to offer a change of perspective is my favorite thing about reading. Also, I read WHITE FANG when I was really young, and it hit me so hard. I've never read it as an adult, and you've made me really excited to return to it after all this time. Thanks!
Wow, what a great video, Tori! You've convinced me for a while to read The Girl with Seven Names, really looking forward to getting into that! I always love hearing people talk about the books that have made them who they are.
While I can't personally relate with DID, due to not having it, I do find it to be an incredible and fascinating topic, and I'm 100% putting Legion on the TBR.
The one that springs to mind most for me is The Fox Cub Bold by Colin Dann - the first book I ever read that didn't have a happy ending (I was six). More than 40 years later, I can still remember with visceral clarity just how devastated I was when I read it.
The travesty is how as children we can read books that absolutely change who we are as human beings; only to go back and read it again as adults and find they're really not great....Youre still going to be dear to my heart (insert embarssing book here) !
Great video Tori, and I love how all these books have had a profound effect on you as a person. In terms of fiction, Sword of Kaigen had a huge impact on me - incredibly cathartic for me in my grief. And in non-fiction, Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond is an extraordinary book that explains in biogeographical terms the differing fates and wealth of different races and cultures throughout history. Incredibly illuminating and deeply thought provoking.
Hey Luke! Thanks so much for watching. I'm looking forward to our chat later this month. Sword of Kaigen has some excellent representation of grief, I'm glad that it resonated with you so much.
Wonderful video! I like L.M. Montgomery too although for me, it is The Blue Castle. As for me, my grandad taught me to read with the help of a Belgian comic featuring one of the first female heroes - Yoko Tsuno (early 70s). Here was a girl that yes could fight or rather defend herself if need be, but who preferred intelligence, wit and courage to solve problems, one who valued life in any shape or form. Through her, I went on mysteries and space/time adventures (where my love of specfic comes from), and learnt I could do anything, be anything.
I've never read The Blue Castle, I'll have to check it out! I love that connection with your granddad, that's so cool. My grandpa is a big reason why I love storytelling too.
When you were about to introduce The Girl With Seven Faces, I thought for sure you were about to say, Nothing To Envy by Barbara Demick-which is also an intense look at the harsh reality of living in and defecting from North Korea. It absolutely changed my life to read that book last year and I would recommend it to anyone. It's written by a journalist and features a collection of intersecting stories and different perspectives of these defectors, but it is absolutely chilling and humbling and truly one of the best books I have ever read that changed my entire outlook on life. I haven't read your rec, so I'm excited to add that one to my 2025 TBR!
I have Nothing to Envy on my TBR, I'm really interested in reading it soon, thanks for the reminder! I hope you enjoy Girl with Seven Names, it's a really powerful book.
Tori that is so unique that you put Legion on this list. That was one of the first Sanderson books I’ve read and definitely one of his most underrated. Definitely prime for adaptation. Haha
I've been wanting to try Anne of Green Gables for some time - have you read the 9 sequels, and do they hold up to the original? Maybe this year I'll do some Montgomery and some Jack London.
Really good subject and a very impactful video. I'll just list four: "Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective", Donald J. Sobol - I'm sure I got this one from one of the Scholastic Book Fair fliers at school, probably in 2nd or 3rd grade. The idea of a kid solving mysteries by knowing things really resonated with me. And the logic puzzles of the stories were perfect for me when I read it. "The Lord of the Rings", J.R.R. Tolkien - I read this in 1971, when I was in 7th grade, and when there was nothing available like it. I proceeded to read it at least once a year for the next 10 years. I don't think I need to sell this to this audience, but the depth of the narrative and the fight through loss and near despair to final victory has influence me for more than 50 years. "The Gray Lensman", E.E. "Doc" Smith - This is a book I wouldn't recommend for an adult reader; the writing is ... not good. There is not enough purple ink in the world for the prose in this book. But I read it when i was 12 or 13, when my Dad was deployed to Thailand at the end of the Vietnam War and my Mom, sister, and I were living in Moorhead, MN and I was going to the worst school I ever attended. The pure altruism of the protagonist attached to the high adventure of the plot were perfect for me at that age. When you're 12, you don't need nuance, and the Lensman series offered exactly none. But Kimball Kinnison was the man I wanted to be when I grew up. "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", Robert A. Heinlein - The combination of a serious discussion of difficult political questions, sympathetic characters with depth, and perhaps Heinlein's best plot make this still one of my favorite books ever. The climax of the action is brilliant, but it's the denouement that cements this book as one of the best ever. The image of the brass cannon flag blowing forever in the artificial breeze in L City is unforgettable.
Great video! Malazan is also something that stuck with me. I remember the endings of Memories of Ice, and crying. And I remember thinking: I’ll never write anything this good LOL. Also, I’ve only read the original Red Rising Trilogy. I know you didn’t care for Dark Age. Im your opinion, is it worth continuing?
Memories of Ice is a really heavy book, but so good. I often have the same response to Malazan. XD What I've told people about the Red Rising series is this: the original trilogy stands alone. I do think that there are a lot of excellent themes and expansion in the second part of the series, and while IG and DA were not what I had hoped, Lightbringer definitely restored some of my faith and hope for the ending. It's less character focused (imo) than the original trilogy, and I can see where he felt that he'd lost his way with the series after Dark Age. I don't know that that helps you at all XD
Found your vulnerable sharing about Legion very touching. And you're definitely right, it's remarkably under-discussed. I wouldn't have thought it possible that Brandon Sanderson has written a "sleeper", but basically he has. Also, pardon my pessimism, but I hardly believe that true friendship actually exists. I mean it probably does, but I'm not sure it is more common than encountering bigfoot (no joke). God bless you tenderly in 2025.
Thank you so much :) It's important to share (within your comfort level) and discuss mental illnesses. Even in today's culture, many of them are still either sensationalized or stigmatized. God Bless your 2025 as well!
Killer Angels, John Imboden, but unfortunately I am aggressively NOT proud of that connection and wish he had been less successful. Glad your connection is so much more positive.
Frankenstein is a really weird one for me. I read it earlier this year and didn't really enjoy it. Not a big fan of early 19th century writing and then the story itself is NOTHING really like what all the movies/shows/cartoons are like, which really threw me for a loop. I will say, the story itself...the themes....have stuck with me though and I think about it from time to time, so the more I sit on it the more I think I do enjoy it at least a little more than I did when I first finished it...still not an amazing read, but I may go back and reread it and see how it sits knowing the writing is .... old...and the story is what it is and not expect it to be like the cartoons I used to watch way back when.
Frankenstein is definitely not like the pop culture version, you're right. I don't think a reread later on is a bad idea, especially if the themes are sticking with you. But I can also completely understand if people don't jive with the writing style. 19th century style can be tough.
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
Should've gottten my bingo card out, Deadhouse Gates, Morning Star and White Fang would definitely have given me some good points hahahah. Also couldn't agree more with what you said about 7 Names, that made it onto my faves list of this year, so impactful!
You know me well! XD I'm so glad you enjoyed 7 Names.
Thank you, Tori, for another wonderful video. I love how open you are in discussing mental health, trauma, and healing. The world desperately needs more of you!
Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I try to be as open as I can be comfortably, because the conversation is important. :) The world needs your voice too!
Books that have made an impact on me include Shogun, Frankenstein, 1984, Brave New World, And Then There Were None, & Raymond Chandler's The Lady in the Lake to name a few. And this list keeps getting bigger. Thanks for sharing yours, Tori. Happy reading, everyone.
What a list! Shogun was an incredible read for me as well. I'm hoping to get to And Then There Were None here in 2025! Thank you so much for sharing and for watching. :)
Kurt Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions really got me with several lines. “Wait, what?” followed by a completely new way of looking at things.
Love that!
Shallan (Cosmere) in terms of DID, I found her journey to be a perfect representation of how some deal with trauma and theres only so much a person can handle.
I'm actually planning on doing a video on Shallan's representation of DID, hopefully soon. I agree that there is a lot of good trauma representation in her story arc. I do also encourage people not to hold her up as a representation of realistic DID as much as she has been.
I had a series of level-ups. The first was the novelization of Star Wars. This made me wonder about what this speed of light thing they were jumping to all the time and we had encyclopedia at home where I learned just what that was. And then I kept on reading said encyclopedia on a regular basis.
Next came The Illustrated Man which gave me a thirst for scifi short stories so I indulged on Clarke and Asimov.
Next came Protector by Larry Niven which lead to Ringworld.
My biggest level-up came via The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever and I was into my 30's by this time.
Great list! Star Wars was such a revolutionary story in its time. Thank you so much for sharing your inspirations!
The books that had the most impact on me as a child/teenager: Black Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, Charlotte's Web, Little House on the Prairie series, Harriet the Spy, Chronicles of Narnia, Little Women, Nancy Drew, Diary of Anne Frank, Lord of the Rings.
All fantastic reads! Black Beauty was a big one for me as well. Thank you so much for watching.
Add to this on the books that enchanted me: Call of the Wild, Heidi, Huckleberry Finn, Five Children and It, The Crystal Gryphon (Andre Norton).
Here, here! The ability to offer a change of perspective is my favorite thing about reading. Also, I read WHITE FANG when I was really young, and it hit me so hard. I've never read it as an adult, and you've made me really excited to return to it after all this time. Thanks!
I hope you love the reread! It’s such a good book. 🙌🏻
Wow, what a great video, Tori! You've convinced me for a while to read The Girl with Seven Names, really looking forward to getting into that!
I always love hearing people talk about the books that have made them who they are.
Yay! I think you'll really appreciate it, Zammar. I love hearing about people's bookish influences too. :)
While I can't personally relate with DID, due to not having it, I do find it to be an incredible and fascinating topic, and I'm 100% putting Legion on the TBR.
I hope you enjoy the read! Thank you so much for watching. :)
Thank you for sharing Tori. This was a wonderfully deep topic to explore and a great reminder of what power books hold.
Thanks Kris! I agree.
The one that springs to mind most for me is The Fox Cub Bold by Colin Dann - the first book I ever read that didn't have a happy ending (I was six). More than 40 years later, I can still remember with visceral clarity just how devastated I was when I read it.
I bet! Those first big "shifts" in reading are so impactful.
Great list Torri.
Thanks John!
The travesty is how as children we can read books that absolutely change who we are as human beings; only to go back and read it again as adults and find they're really not great....Youre still going to be dear to my heart (insert embarssing book here) !
Great video Tori, and I love how all these books have had a profound effect on you as a person. In terms of fiction, Sword of Kaigen had a huge impact on me - incredibly cathartic for me in my grief. And in non-fiction, Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond is an extraordinary book that explains in biogeographical terms the differing fates and wealth of different races and cultures throughout history. Incredibly illuminating and deeply thought provoking.
Hey Luke! Thanks so much for watching. I'm looking forward to our chat later this month. Sword of Kaigen has some excellent representation of grief, I'm glad that it resonated with you so much.
Wonderful video! I like L.M. Montgomery too although for me, it is The Blue Castle.
As for me, my grandad taught me to read with the help of a Belgian comic featuring one of the first female heroes - Yoko Tsuno (early 70s). Here was a girl that yes could fight or rather defend herself if need be, but who preferred intelligence, wit and courage to solve problems, one who valued life in any shape or form. Through her, I went on mysteries and space/time adventures (where my love of specfic comes from), and learnt I could do anything, be anything.
I've never read The Blue Castle, I'll have to check it out! I love that connection with your granddad, that's so cool. My grandpa is a big reason why I love storytelling too.
When you were about to introduce The Girl With Seven Faces, I thought for sure you were about to say, Nothing To Envy by Barbara Demick-which is also an intense look at the harsh reality of living in and defecting from North Korea. It absolutely changed my life to read that book last year and I would recommend it to anyone. It's written by a journalist and features a collection of intersecting stories and different perspectives of these defectors, but it is absolutely chilling and humbling and truly one of the best books I have ever read that changed my entire outlook on life. I haven't read your rec, so I'm excited to add that one to my 2025 TBR!
I have Nothing to Envy on my TBR, I'm really interested in reading it soon, thanks for the reminder! I hope you enjoy Girl with Seven Names, it's a really powerful book.
Tori that is so unique that you put Legion on this list. That was one of the first Sanderson books I’ve read and definitely one of his most underrated. Definitely prime for adaptation. Haha
Totally agree, it's amazing to me how few people even know about it!
I've been wanting to try Anne of Green Gables for some time - have you read the 9 sequels, and do they hold up to the original? Maybe this year I'll do some Montgomery and some Jack London.
I haven't read past Anne of Avonlea, and that was a long time ago, but I would like to at some point. :D
Awesome video!
Thank you!
Really good subject and a very impactful video.
I'll just list four: "Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective", Donald J. Sobol - I'm sure I got this one from one of the Scholastic Book Fair fliers at school, probably in 2nd or 3rd grade. The idea of a kid solving mysteries by knowing things really resonated with me. And the logic puzzles of the stories were perfect for me when I read it.
"The Lord of the Rings", J.R.R. Tolkien - I read this in 1971, when I was in 7th grade, and when there was nothing available like it. I proceeded to read it at least once a year for the next 10 years. I don't think I need to sell this to this audience, but the depth of the narrative and the fight through loss and near despair to final victory has influence me for more than 50 years.
"The Gray Lensman", E.E. "Doc" Smith - This is a book I wouldn't recommend for an adult reader; the writing is ... not good. There is not enough purple ink in the world for the prose in this book. But I read it when i was 12 or 13, when my Dad was deployed to Thailand at the end of the Vietnam War and my Mom, sister, and I were living in Moorhead, MN and I was going to the worst school I ever attended. The pure altruism of the protagonist attached to the high adventure of the plot were perfect for me at that age. When you're 12, you don't need nuance, and the Lensman series offered exactly none. But Kimball Kinnison was the man I wanted to be when I grew up.
"The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", Robert A. Heinlein - The combination of a serious discussion of difficult political questions, sympathetic characters with depth, and perhaps Heinlein's best plot make this still one of my favorite books ever. The climax of the action is brilliant, but it's the denouement that cements this book as one of the best ever. The image of the brass cannon flag blowing forever in the artificial breeze in L City is unforgettable.
Thank you so much for watching and sharing! Great list of books.
Great video! Malazan is also something that stuck with me. I remember the endings of Memories of Ice, and crying. And I remember thinking: I’ll never write anything this good LOL. Also, I’ve only read the original Red Rising Trilogy. I know you didn’t care for Dark Age. Im your opinion, is it worth continuing?
Memories of Ice is a really heavy book, but so good. I often have the same response to Malazan. XD
What I've told people about the Red Rising series is this: the original trilogy stands alone. I do think that there are a lot of excellent themes and expansion in the second part of the series, and while IG and DA were not what I had hoped, Lightbringer definitely restored some of my faith and hope for the ending. It's less character focused (imo) than the original trilogy, and I can see where he felt that he'd lost his way with the series after Dark Age.
I don't know that that helps you at all XD
I've read In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park and really enjoyed it....i may also try A Girl with Seven Names to see how they compare and differ.
Good idea! I'd like to do a video comparing all the different North Korean memoirs I've read once I have a few more on the "Read" list.
Found your vulnerable sharing about Legion very touching. And you're definitely right, it's remarkably under-discussed. I wouldn't have thought it possible that Brandon Sanderson has written a "sleeper", but basically he has. Also, pardon my pessimism, but I hardly believe that true friendship actually exists. I mean it probably does, but I'm not sure it is more common than encountering bigfoot (no joke). God bless you tenderly in 2025.
Thank you so much :) It's important to share (within your comfort level) and discuss mental illnesses. Even in today's culture, many of them are still either sensationalized or stigmatized. God Bless your 2025 as well!
Killer Angels, John Imboden, but unfortunately I am aggressively NOT proud of that connection and wish he had been less successful. Glad your connection is so much more positive.
Can you please elaborate? I am not familiar with the controversy.
I'm sorry, that's tough. But that's the power of being able to break the cycle. Our ancestry doesn't determine our value! :)
Frankenstein is a really weird one for me. I read it earlier this year and didn't really enjoy it. Not a big fan of early 19th century writing and then the story itself is NOTHING really like what all the movies/shows/cartoons are like, which really threw me for a loop. I will say, the story itself...the themes....have stuck with me though and I think about it from time to time, so the more I sit on it the more I think I do enjoy it at least a little more than I did when I first finished it...still not an amazing read, but I may go back and reread it and see how it sits knowing the writing is .... old...and the story is what it is and not expect it to be like the cartoons I used to watch way back when.
Frankenstein is definitely not like the pop culture version, you're right. I don't think a reread later on is a bad idea, especially if the themes are sticking with you. But I can also completely understand if people don't jive with the writing style. 19th century style can be tough.
NO! Stealing my video ideas before I even make them! (I haven't watched the video yet 😅)
-T
Ok. I’ve watched it now.
Haha! Sorry, T. You should still make your own version of this, it's awesome to see the conversation continue.
@ don’t worry, I will. I need all the video ideas I can get. 😆