Non-Brandon Sanderson fantasy: The Keepers Trilogy by David Dalglish; my favorite fantasy books of all time! Don’t be fooled by their long page count it’s like popcorn reading. Amazing book series. Also!!! My guy, don’t be freaked out by long videos, this is UA-cam not tiktok, UA-cam is FOR long format videos! I would genuinely love a 30min video from you if you ever get the hankering to put one out! (To everyone reading this I hope you have a good day😊)
oh , and one more thing. I am a book cover designer and I love how you always make remarks on the covers of the books you read/buy and why you chose the one cover over the other etc… Talking about book covers would be a good topic for the second video of the week or as a section for the vlog. It would be really great to hear your thoughts on that.
I'd love to be a book cover designer, but I don't know how to get into that area of work. I'm a graphic designer but I'd love to mesh that skill with my passion for books.
@@biteofdog I am not a huge videographer but maybe I’ll do a video on the subject. and I’ll let you know 😊 but for starters maybe it would be a good idea to pick a few titles that you like, make cover design and send it to some publishers. who knows: may be you are the one they are looking for! ☀️
Hey Nick! I think the vlog style will be cool, look forward to it! I just want to say that as a creator I know it’s difficult to not stress about your releases, but try not to worry too much. I know for a fact we are all here just to hang with you man. We love your videos, your energy, and it’s a comfy place to be on youtube. So thank you for just being you and I hope you have a great week ❤
Butchers crossing by John Williams is so good! Shantaram is a wild ride and one of the top page turners ever. Also, I don’t know why you feel like you need to rush these videos I always feel like you’re trying to go as fast as possible and it’s quite stressful 😂 I don’t think anyone would mind them being longer!
A volg sounds fantastic! Cari can read does those and they are so nice, especially because sometimes you get to see her reactions to what she is currently reading.
Oh my, happened upon Stoner a few weeks ago and read it in a few days. I adored this book. It was a beautiful, quiet book that delved into pain, sorrow, love, tragedy and basically life in a profound but simple way...An amazing story. Highly recommend to anyone looking for an absolutely perfect read.
Love your videos! I will literally watch anything you put out, vlogs, sit downs, whatever. I always look out for your videos, they are so good I want to watch them immediately, but I also want to savor them, so sometimes I’ll wait for a nice downtime “perfect” moment to watch.
A slow walk through a wide world and the spear that cuts through water are my favorite fantasies of this and last year so far that are one offs and I think ya might like based on your reading! I am OBSESSED with them both and can’t stop thinking of them
SHANTARAM!!! Oh boy didn't mean for all caps but I am leaving it because omg that book! I read it about 15 years ago and it is one of my top books ever read for sure!!!! Enjoy!!!!!!!!
I loved Remarkably Bright Creatures soooo much. Also Anxious People. Loved it. And The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs! Absolutely adored it. Sorry. Had to be excited about those. 😂
Some great picks! Also, you can buy stickers specifically designed to cover those permanent streaming stickers on books. Choose your own design and get it covered!
For fantasy recs: I second 2 recommendations I already see in the comments which are Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb & The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin! Jemisin was my intro into adult fantasy and it’s truly a mind blowing SFF series but Hobb has got to be a new favorite author of all time……if you’re okay with a slow burn story! It has amazing twists and turns, plotting, WRITING & realistic character work like truly 1 of 1 in my eyes, but again I don’t mind things a little slower, in fact I really love it!! Strong strong rec for both of those 🩵
Just finished Severance. I read it in 2 days. Totally loved it. Definitely different than most things I have read. The take on "apocalypse"/"dystopian world" is SUPER COOL to me. Very excited to have read this book and to own it. Really excited to see what you think!
My old school fantasy recommendation is The Riftwar Cycle by Raymond E. Feist... I got hooked on those books since finding the first one at a garage sale in the 90s when I was a young teen.
A little while back you did a video in which you gave us a tour of your local library. It was vlog style and I quite liked that one. I am looking forward to seeing what you do with the second video of the week.
felt slightly crazy watching this, we're so aligned with our book reading lmao i finished The Road just recently, and decided to start reading Stoner (on a whim too!). hope you have a good reading month!
Shantaram is one of those books I wish I could erase from my memory just to get to read it again. Really like the audiobook too. Loved Remarkably Bright Creatures. I’ve had Say Nothing on hold via Libby for weeks now. Can’t wait to read it.
Oh, have to add another comment as I watched more of your video: loved PIRANESSI and the DARK TOWER series! You are going to LOVE A SECRET HISTORY!! Love your videos!!!!
I would recommend The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman! It’s such a fun adventure/quest story with plenty of magic, goblins, krakens and thievery!
Fantasy reads: I really liked the darker shades of Magic series, and Priory of an orange tree, if you want a hefty series I think Throne of Glass is an incredible series! There’s 8 books in it (one is a prequel) but I was so sad when it was over haha
Oy, this is a sign that I need to finally read Stoner, I've had it on my shelf for a year now. I'm currently reading 1984 by George Orwell and I'm enjoy it. I have a bit of an overflow problem with my books so I need to read what I have in order to make a dent in my TBR. I've been eying Say Nothing for years now and I think I want to get it, but only if I see it at the thrift store for a decent price.
Say Nothing is a very good book on the troubles but I would strongly recommend Voices from the Grave. It's based on two first hand accounts of from opposing sides of the troubles.
I have such FOMO when it comes to reading (not in terms of social comparison, but just in terms of wanting to consume what sounds like great books). I'm always relieved when I watch videos like this can can say, "thank goodness, I've already read that" - like Remarkably Bright Creatures (yes - smart octopus as character, and it's fantastic), Anxious People (also enjoyable IMO). But you've reminded me that I want to immediately and simultaneously read Stoner as well as The Road, The Stand, Lonesome Dove, and a dozen or so others, including several fantasy series both started and waiting to be started.
Skipping the gunslinger is a really bad idea if you are going to read the whole series. At least skim read. It will make much more sense as the series goes on. Fantasy recommendation - Winternight Trilogy By: Katherine Arden, starting with The Bear and The Nightingale, magical and enchanting.
Fantasy wise I’d recommend the Broken Earth series by NK Jemisin or Brent Weeks Lightbringer series. I don’t recommend them to just anyone, but they might be up your alley.
I doubt you'll see this comment, or care to, but since toward the end you asked for a Fantasy novel - one of my favorite books is The House on the Borderland (1908) by William Hope Hodgson - cosmic horror, very Lovecraftian. Super quick read, usually takes me a couple days. Right off the bat, I can never put it down. The cosmic scenery is amazing.
For fantasy I’d recommend the Gentleman Bastard series by Scott Lynch (heist novel, more fantasy as the series goes on) or The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir (space necromancers, kicks off with a bit of a murder mystery).
Nice to see people looking to get educated on The Troubles. Need to pick Say Nothing up as I’ve found many books on the subject to miss the mark, hope this one is better.
Severance is such a great book!! I hope you enjoy it. Love your channel and your great Canadian vibes. I am thinking about doing a bookstore tour of southern Ontario so would love some recommendations in your area!!
Just finished anxious people a couple days ago after seeing you read Backman and really liked it 👍🏼 Not really about anxious people at all but a great read overall!
Sacrilegious! Gunslinger is so good and so necessary to that series! It also carries the most iconic intro line in a series, and shows you how badass the gunslinger is before he loses those abilities...not to mention meeting the kid! I work in a book store and always tell people the opposite -- that gunslinger is a great standalone and that they can read it and not go further in the series if they don't want
Fantasy recs: Josiah Bancroft's Senlin Ascends, N. K. Jemison's The Fifth Season (I think that's on your shelf? maybe you've read it?). Editing to add: I agree with others' recs of Robin Hobb, and think you might especially like Abercrombie's First Law trilogy (The Blade Itself, etc).
Hi there! Greetings from Mexico City! 😊 Would love to see tours of libraries and book shops in your area! P.S. I used to live in Toronto and love Canada!!! ❤️ Love your channel!
The Gunslinger is absolutely vital to the whole series as it’s referenced throughout all the books. The ending of the series won’t be as impactful if you skip the first book.
For fantasy: if you haven't already, you should try some Robin Hobb. I started with Assassin's Apprentice. It's a slower paced fantasy but with some amazing character development and great for the animal lovers 🐶
As far as fantasy recommendations, you should try out "Babel" by RF Kuang, since the academia vibe seems to work for you. And don't be afraid to branch out and do different things, like vlogs. People tend to watch a channel for the person's vibe more than very, very specific content. 🙂
Vlog request - more library tours, please 😊 Fantasy book suggestion - A Darker Shade of Magic (trilogy). Or, something else by V.E. Schwab 😊 Keep up the good work! 👍🏻
I’m actually going to recommend ACOTAR as a fantasy, I know loads of people will probably be against it, but I fell in love with fantasy with that series! I’m not well versed in fantasy so I don’t have any real recommendations besides that one lol. Or Crier’s War which I absolutely loved. It’s a duology ☺️
The permanent streaming stickers are the worst! My suggestion is to get your books are sick or spine breaker illustrations made into stickers that will cover them!
Ooh I just listened to the audio book of "Say Nothing". If you do audiobooks I recommend trying it, at least supplementing your physical with the audio. The accent and tone of the narrator are perfect.
I don't read fantasy often but loved Krabat by Otfried Preußler and Stardust by Neil Gaiman.Maybe you want to check these out. Great you picked up Remarkably Bright Creatures, I just started it and I like it's unique style. Stoner is next on my list. Blogs- yes please!
I am still stuck in the middle of Tress of The Emerald Sea and honestly don't know when I will finish it. I have finished other books since I started this one. It's weird because it started so good...Fantasy recs would be Rebecca Ross Divine Rivals or A River Enchanted. Anything Rebecca Ross really.
The Goblin Emperor is a standalone fantasy novel that reads like a court intrigue drama. It's pretty low stakes, but I really loved how unique it was relative to other fantasy, and being standalone is always a nice breather from long series.
I dont know if youve read any Robin Hobb but she is my fave fantasy author! Start with Assassin's Apprentice, it's a coming of age fantasy and soooo good. The first of one of my all-time favorite trilogies
I think the "they find a smart octopus" book you're thinking of is The Mountain in the Sea (though Remarkably Bright Creatures does feature a smart octopus as well)
I see your videos pop up on my feed sometimes and it took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that "week X of books being sick"is a the title of this series and not you being literally sick for a long time. I was thinking last week man this guy is sick I hope he's going to be okay. lol
Vlogs will be very nice! And even if you have a week or day where you don't feel like taking all the video's it's so simple to just twist it into a bookshop with me or read with me that's done in one activity😊
Huge YES for vlogs ! Just received my SpineBreaker t-shirt after a looong trip to the Netherlands 😴 quality is extremely good, congrats to you and the people who worked on it ! I will bring it with me on a road trip in Argentina tomorrow 🤗
I walked in the library yesterday to return a book. I wasn’t going to check out a book until I saw Funny Story facing out on the new stacks. Just like you I grabbed it. I want to be on the upswing of the curve before everybody and their brother talks about it. I’m about 20ish pages in and so far, so good.
Re: fantasy recs... If you haven't read His Majesty's Dragons by Naomi Novik, that would be my suggestion. It's my latest obsession, I cannot stop thinking about this book. It's set in the Napoleonic wars but with dragons. If you like immersion reading, this a good one for it.
I’ve been meaning to recommend this one to you for some time now, but I don’t think I ever got around mentioning it… “Neverwhere” by Neil Gaiman! I don’t remember if you’ve read anything besides “American Gods” but give this one a go at some point 🙌🏻
Everyone wants a vlog from you. Sounds good. Anything. I have Stoner and keep wondering why I haven't read it yet. So you've convinced me. But I'm on this long book "someone" recommended by Stephen King. It'll be awhile. Also have Circe to read which would be a good fantasy probably for you.
i totally agree about the tv stickers on books, id love to read beartown but all the new copies in stores have the hbo sticker. need to check out secondhand places for an older copy without them when i get a chance
you should vlog a run to your local thrift stores to look through used books and what masterpieces can be found for cheap.
Fantasy-Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
Non-Brandon Sanderson fantasy: The Keepers Trilogy by David Dalglish; my favorite fantasy books of all time! Don’t be fooled by their long page count it’s like popcorn reading. Amazing book series.
Also!!! My guy, don’t be freaked out by long videos, this is UA-cam not tiktok, UA-cam is FOR long format videos! I would genuinely love a 30min video from you if you ever get the hankering to put one out!
(To everyone reading this I hope you have a good day😊)
oh , and one more thing. I am a book cover designer and I love how you always make remarks on the covers of the books you read/buy and why you chose the one cover over the other etc… Talking about book covers would be a good topic for the second video of the week or as a section for the vlog. It would be really great to hear your thoughts on that.
You have a very cool job. 🎨📚♥️
big fan of this idea
I'd love to be a book cover designer, but I don't know how to get into that area of work. I'm a graphic designer but I'd love to mesh that skill with my passion for books.
@@biteofdog I am not a huge videographer but maybe I’ll do a video on the subject. and I’ll let you know 😊 but for starters maybe it would be a good idea to pick a few titles that you like, make cover design and send it to some publishers. who knows: may be you are the one they are looking for! ☀️
“I haven’t been to the bookstore in 6 or 7 days” I feel seen 😂😂
Hey Nick! I think the vlog style will be cool, look forward to it! I just want to say that as a creator I know it’s difficult to not stress about your releases, but try not to worry too much. I know for a fact we are all here just to hang with you man. We love your videos, your energy, and it’s a comfy place to be on youtube. So thank you for just being you and I hope you have a great week ❤
Oh my gosh STONER!!!! One of the best books of all time. I love me a quiet and moving book. Looking forward to your vlog style video!
for Fantasy - read N.K. Jemisin's Broken Earth Trilogy! One of my favorite all-time series. Masterfully written.
The Fifth Season is one of my favourite books ever
Butchers crossing by John Williams is so good! Shantaram is a wild ride and one of the top page turners ever. Also, I don’t know why you feel like you need to rush these videos I always feel like you’re trying to go as fast as possible and it’s quite stressful 😂 I don’t think anyone would mind them being longer!
A volg sounds fantastic! Cari can read does those and they are so nice, especially because sometimes you get to see her reactions to what she is currently reading.
Oh my, happened upon Stoner a few weeks ago and read it in a few days. I adored this book. It was a beautiful, quiet book that delved into pain, sorrow, love, tragedy and basically life in a profound but simple way...An amazing story. Highly recommend to anyone looking for an absolutely perfect read.
Remarkably Bright Creatures is FANTASTIC
vlog is cool idea. please talk about your photography too!
Love your videos! I will literally watch anything you put out, vlogs, sit downs, whatever. I always look out for your videos, they are so good I want to watch them immediately, but I also want to savor them, so sometimes I’ll wait for a nice downtime “perfect” moment to watch.
A slow walk through a wide world and the spear that cuts through water are my favorite fantasies of this and last year so far that are one offs and I think ya might like based on your reading! I am OBSESSED with them both and can’t stop thinking of them
Oh my God! Shantaram!!!!! Read it years ago and I still remember so vividly some of the things that take place in that one. So good.
SHANTARAM!!! Oh boy didn't mean for all caps but I am leaving it because omg that book! I read it about 15 years ago and it is one of my top books ever read for sure!!!! Enjoy!!!!!!!!
I loved Remarkably Bright Creatures soooo much. Also Anxious People. Loved it. And The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs! Absolutely adored it.
Sorry. Had to be excited about those. 😂
Some great picks! Also, you can buy stickers specifically designed to cover those permanent streaming stickers on books. Choose your own design and get it covered!
For fantasy recs: I second 2 recommendations I already see in the comments which are Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb & The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin! Jemisin was my intro into adult fantasy and it’s truly a mind blowing SFF series but Hobb has got to be a new favorite author of all time……if you’re okay with a slow burn story! It has amazing twists and turns, plotting, WRITING & realistic character work like truly 1 of 1 in my eyes, but again I don’t mind things a little slower, in fact I really love it!! Strong strong rec for both of those 🩵
I really enjoyed Stoner. One of my favorite Classics.
Just finished Severance. I read it in 2 days. Totally loved it. Definitely different than most things I have read. The take on "apocalypse"/"dystopian world" is SUPER COOL to me. Very excited to have read this book and to own it. Really excited to see what you think!
My old school fantasy recommendation is The Riftwar Cycle by Raymond E. Feist... I got hooked on those books since finding the first one at a garage sale in the 90s when I was a young teen.
Love your channel! Some other video ideas I personally would enjoy for the second weekly video: book organization, rankings, book tags, quizzes 😊
Loved The Glass Castle! Hope you enjoy it! …. Also, yes to vlogs, please! Love your content no matter what it is about.
All of Williams’ books gave me Great American Novel vibes in very different ways. Augustus is a masterpiece, and more than a worthy next stop.
A little while back you did a video in which you gave us a tour of your local library. It was vlog style and I quite liked that one. I am looking forward to seeing what you do with the second video of the week.
Assassins Apprentice! It’s an easy start to a fantasy series. The main character is so easy to root for.
I second this!!!
Anxious People was SO GOOD! I love the story. Characters are quirky and great! Enjoy!
felt slightly crazy watching this, we're so aligned with our book reading lmao i finished The Road just recently, and decided to start reading Stoner (on a whim too!). hope you have a good reading month!
No way lol! Pretty sweet one two punch eh? How are you liking Stoner?
Shantaram is one of those books I wish I could erase from my memory just to get to read it again. Really like the audiobook too.
Loved Remarkably Bright Creatures.
I’ve had Say Nothing on hold via Libby for weeks now. Can’t wait to read it.
Oh, have to add another comment as I watched more of your video: loved PIRANESSI and the DARK TOWER series! You are going to LOVE A SECRET HISTORY!! Love your videos!!!!
The Lies of Locke Lamora! You’ve mentioned it before and I’ll never stop recommending it to you until you read it! It’s so good!
I would recommend The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman! It’s such a fun adventure/quest story with plenty of magic, goblins, krakens and thievery!
Fantasy rec The Lies of Locke Lamora first in the Gentlemen Bastards sequence. It's so good. Seriously. 😍
Loved STONER! I really liked SEVERANCE and yes, ANXIOUS PEOPLE is also good. Have fun!
I am currently reading Remarkably Bright Creatures. Marcellus is such a grump, but very entertaining. Loving it so far!
Fantasy reads: I really liked the darker shades of Magic series, and Priory of an orange tree, if you want a hefty series I think Throne of Glass is an incredible series! There’s 8 books in it (one is a prequel) but I was so sad when it was over haha
Yes! Bring on the vlogs! So exciting. Looking forward to starting The Secret History as well!
The Will of the Many by James Islington. Just finished that one recently and I loved it. Mix of Fantasy, Mystery and politics.
Fantasy is my favorite!
Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon
The Bone Season - Samantha Shannon
Legendborn
Children of Blood and Bone
I would second the recommendation for trying the First Law trilogy for a great fantasy read!
So excited for you to read Shantaram!!!!! It’s incredible… 1000% best book of the year so far for me!
Oy, this is a sign that I need to finally read Stoner, I've had it on my shelf for a year now. I'm currently reading 1984 by George Orwell and I'm enjoy it. I have a bit of an overflow problem with my books so I need to read what I have in order to make a dent in my TBR. I've been eying Say Nothing for years now and I think I want to get it, but only if I see it at the thrift store for a decent price.
Say Nothing is a very good book on the troubles but I would strongly recommend Voices from the Grave. It's based on two first hand accounts of from opposing sides of the troubles.
I have such FOMO when it comes to reading (not in terms of social comparison, but just in terms of wanting to consume what sounds like great books). I'm always relieved when I watch videos like this can can say, "thank goodness, I've already read that" - like Remarkably Bright Creatures (yes - smart octopus as character, and it's fantastic), Anxious People (also enjoyable IMO). But you've reminded me that I want to immediately and simultaneously read Stoner as well as The Road, The Stand, Lonesome Dove, and a dozen or so others, including several fantasy series both started and waiting to be started.
Skipping the gunslinger is a really bad idea if you are going to read the whole series. At least skim read. It will make much more sense as the series goes on. Fantasy recommendation - Winternight Trilogy By: Katherine Arden, starting with The Bear and The Nightingale, magical and enchanting.
Fantasy wise I’d recommend the Broken Earth series by NK Jemisin or Brent Weeks Lightbringer series. I don’t recommend them to just anyone, but they might be up your alley.
I doubt you'll see this comment, or care to, but since toward the end you asked for a Fantasy novel - one of my favorite books is The House on the Borderland (1908) by William Hope Hodgson - cosmic horror, very Lovecraftian. Super quick read, usually takes me a couple days. Right off the bat, I can never put it down. The cosmic scenery is amazing.
For fantasy I’d recommend the Gentleman Bastard series by Scott Lynch (heist novel, more fantasy as the series goes on) or The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir (space necromancers, kicks off with a bit of a murder mystery).
Nice to see people looking to get educated on The Troubles. Need to pick Say Nothing up as I’ve found many books on the subject to miss the mark, hope this one is better.
Severance is such a great book!! I hope you enjoy it. Love your channel and your great Canadian vibes. I am thinking about doing a bookstore tour of southern Ontario so would love some recommendations in your area!!
Off the top of my head a few favs in Hamilton are City and the City books, PickWick Books, Grimsby Books, and The Printed Word!
Also China Mieville for fantasy! I'm looking forward to starting The Scar.
For fantasy, I recommend the blade itself by Joe Abercrombie
Just finished anxious people a couple days ago after seeing you read Backman and really liked it 👍🏼 Not really about anxious people at all but a great read overall!
The Glass Castle is amazing. Of the hundreds of books I've read, this one is like bubble gum on my shoe...
Highly highly recommend Patrick Radden Keefe. You’d find Empire of Pain fascinating too. He is a masterful writer
Sacrilegious! Gunslinger is so good and so necessary to that series! It also carries the most iconic intro line in a series, and shows you how badass the gunslinger is before he loses those abilities...not to mention meeting the kid! I work in a book store and always tell people the opposite -- that gunslinger is a great standalone and that they can read it and not go further in the series if they don't want
Fantasy recs: Josiah Bancroft's Senlin Ascends, N. K. Jemison's The Fifth Season (I think that's on your shelf? maybe you've read it?). Editing to add: I agree with others' recs of Robin Hobb, and think you might especially like Abercrombie's First Law trilogy (The Blade Itself, etc).
I’m from Derry in Northern Ireland and looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the book!
A fun pick up and quick read is Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology is fantastic!
Hi there! Greetings from Mexico City! 😊 Would love to see tours of libraries and book shops in your area! P.S. I used to live in Toronto and love Canada!!! ❤️ Love your channel!
The Gunslinger is absolutely vital to the whole series as it’s referenced throughout all the books. The ending of the series won’t be as impactful if you skip the first book.
For fantasy: if you haven't already, you should try some Robin Hobb. I started with Assassin's Apprentice. It's a slower paced fantasy but with some amazing character development and great for the animal lovers 🐶
As far as fantasy recommendations, you should try out "Babel" by RF Kuang, since the academia vibe seems to work for you. And don't be afraid to branch out and do different things, like vlogs. People tend to watch a channel for the person's vibe more than very, very specific content. 🙂
Bookshop vlogs would be awesome! Take us with on your weekly book hauls. We can vicariously browse with you.
Vlog request - more library tours, please 😊
Fantasy book suggestion - A Darker Shade of Magic (trilogy). Or, something else by V.E. Schwab 😊
Keep up the good work! 👍🏻
I’m actually going to recommend ACOTAR as a fantasy, I know loads of people will probably be against it, but I fell in love with fantasy with that series! I’m not well versed in fantasy so I don’t have any real recommendations besides that one lol. Or Crier’s War which I absolutely loved. It’s a duology ☺️
The permanent streaming stickers are the worst! My suggestion is to get your books are sick or spine breaker illustrations made into stickers that will cover them!
Ooh I just listened to the audio book of "Say Nothing". If you do audiobooks I recommend trying it, at least supplementing your physical with the audio. The accent and tone of the narrator are perfect.
I don't read fantasy often but loved Krabat by Otfried Preußler and Stardust by Neil Gaiman.Maybe you want to check these out. Great you picked up Remarkably Bright Creatures, I just started it and I like it's unique style. Stoner is next on my list. Blogs- yes please!
im about 90 pages into severance right now. seems like it will be one of my favorites
I highly recommend Trent Dalton, specifically Boy Swallows Universe.
For fantasy, I think you'd enjoy the Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski. You can start with The Last Wish, which is a short story collection.
I am still stuck in the middle of Tress of The Emerald Sea and honestly don't know when I will finish it. I have finished other books since I started this one. It's weird because it started so good...Fantasy recs would be Rebecca Ross Divine Rivals or A River Enchanted. Anything Rebecca Ross really.
The Goblin Emperor is a standalone fantasy novel that reads like a court intrigue drama. It's pretty low stakes, but I really loved how unique it was relative to other fantasy, and being standalone is always a nice breather from long series.
Dwarves by Markus Heitz is a great fantasy series. A little gruesome at times but brilliant
I dont know if youve read any Robin Hobb but she is my fave fantasy author! Start with Assassin's Apprentice, it's a coming of age fantasy and soooo good. The first of one of my all-time favorite trilogies
I think the "they find a smart octopus" book you're thinking of is The Mountain in the Sea (though Remarkably Bright Creatures does feature a smart octopus as well)
The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu or Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio. Grace of Kings is fantasy and Empire of Silence is Science/Fantasy
I think a vlog video is a great idea! You should totally do that.
I see your videos pop up on my feed sometimes and it took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that "week X of books being sick"is a the title of this series and not you being literally sick for a long time. I was thinking last week man this guy is sick I hope he's going to be okay. lol
Vlogs will be very nice! And even if you have a week or day where you don't feel like taking all the video's it's so simple to just twist it into a bookshop with me or read with me that's done in one activity😊
Huge YES for vlogs ! Just received my SpineBreaker t-shirt after a looong trip to the Netherlands 😴 quality is extremely good, congrats to you and the people who worked on it !
I will bring it with me on a road trip in Argentina tomorrow 🤗
My recs to you: Fantasy " The Lies of Locke Lamora"and my favourite book this year so far, ficiton: "Notes on an Execution"
Next up for me is Between Two Fires by Christopher Beuhlman from a Michael Kist rec
My fantasy recs are: The Madship Trilogy by Robin Hobb, Scythe by Neal Shusterman, anything by NK Jemisen.
I walked in the library yesterday to return a book. I wasn’t going to check out a book until I saw Funny Story facing out on the new stacks. Just like you I grabbed it. I want to be on the upswing of the curve before everybody and their brother talks about it. I’m about 20ish pages in and so far, so good.
The Beartown series was freaking amazing!!!
Boy Swallows Universe by Tren Dalton.
You're welcome!
Do “A Wizard of Earthsea” for fantasy! Read it the year and loved it. Super cozy, easy to breeze through.
Say Nothing I read as an audiobook and enjoyed it so much that I bought the hard copy to reread later.
We just love spending time with you. So do the vlog ! And make these chats longer if you can.
Re: fantasy recs... If you haven't read His Majesty's Dragons by Naomi Novik, that would be my suggestion. It's my latest obsession, I cannot stop thinking about this book. It's set in the Napoleonic wars but with dragons. If you like immersion reading, this a good one for it.
I’ve been meaning to recommend this one to you for some time now, but I don’t think I ever got around mentioning it… “Neverwhere” by Neil Gaiman! I don’t remember if you’ve read anything besides “American Gods” but give this one a go at some point 🙌🏻
Very much looking forward to the vlogs!
Say Nothing is excellent! It really covers "the troubles" very well. Basically, it's Protestants fighting Catholics and has been going on forever.
Omg I gasped when you said you can skip the gunslinger hahahaha. But I get it. Drawing of the three is soooo good!
Fantasy recs: Adrian Tchaikovsky, Joe Abercrombie, Daniel Abraham.
Everyone wants a vlog from you. Sounds good. Anything. I have Stoner and keep wondering why I haven't read it yet. So you've convinced me. But I'm on this long book "someone" recommended by Stephen King. It'll be awhile. Also have Circe to read which would be a good fantasy probably for you.
i totally agree about the tv stickers on books, id love to read beartown but all the new copies in stores have the hbo sticker. need to check out secondhand places for an older copy without them when i get a chance