Personally I love that you review and talk about older books. I love a variety of booktube reviewers because each of you brings something fresh to the table. Please keep doing what you’re doing because I love it.
Loved this episode, thanks! My favorite books of the year were The Diamond Eye, System Collapse, Prayers for the Crown Shy, and I Cheerfully Refused. Looking forward to following your reading path in the new year!
Started watching your videos several months ago. Your videos are something I look forward to every week. I love reading and your excitement makes me more excited. This year I read Foster upon your recommendation and many books on your list are on my want to read list. But by far my favorite read of the year is Crime and Punishment. It’s my favorite book of all time now and it isn’t even close.
Great list man, a few recommendations in there for me too so thanks. I can't decide on a favourite from the yeat but it's somewhere between The Secret History, Lonesome Dove, 11/22/63 and The Stand. Honourable mentions for Demon Copperhead and The Book Thief. Keep up the good work mate, looking forward to the next 50 weeks of books being sick!
Thank you for recommending Stoner so many times this year, I read it during the summer and it changed me ! My top 3 for this year is: - Stoner - 11/22/63 - The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece (which I think you could enjoy)
I was unfamiliar with your channel but am genuinely glad I happened upon it tonight. I can tell immediately that you value most in a book those things I myself value most, such as substance, depth, impact, truth, profundity. Thank you for the recommendations.
So thankful I found your channel. I loved reading growing up and picked it back up as a main hobby this year. My favorite read would have to be Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson for revitalizing my love for reading again. Looking forward to more reads in 2025!
I love coming of age books. One of my all time fav books is “Boy’s Life” by Robert McAmmon. It is amazing and right up your alley! I read it over 20 years ago and reread it last year and it held up even more! Love your channel. East of Eden will be my first for 2025!
Fun video! Great top ten! Im getting Stoner delivered tomorrow, quite looking forward to it to say the least. Me too, Steinbeck recently became one of my favorite authors. East of Eden! Cannery Row! Others--- and now halfway thru Grapes. Others on your list ive read or am about to buy. Love your videos, so earnest & friendly. Keep on.
Haven't read all on your list, but have read most, and your choices are definitely high quality selections. Now, I have to add the other books to my tbr. Also, love your reviews: depth of thought coupled with a casual presentation style.
Well, you asked for it: My absolute favorite book I read this year was The Devil and Mrs. Davenport by Paulette Kennedy. I read it during summer vacation and I still think back to soo many scenes and themes in there - will definitely re-read it sooner rather than later. A close second (and a very different genre) for me was Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami, which still haunts me to this day and will for a long time - and third spot will have to be Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle. That one's a wild ride but definitely one that struck a chord with me. (Sorry, I really couldn't just stick to one recommendation, it was a great reading year for me :D ) Happy New Year and keep the recs coming ;-)
Thanks for sharing,.... Your number 7, is I think, my favorite of 2024. I began reading Claire Keegan after watching your discussion of Small Things Like These and just really enjoyed her writing. Foster just hit me in ways that I wasn't expecting and as you say, was an equal dose of heartache and heartwarming. Thanks for the channel, I look forward to 2025.
Okay so I just bought 10 books with Christmas gift money and now I guess I will be going to the bookstore to buy Stoner as well lol!!! What a great list. Definitely putting many of these on my 2025 TBR👏🏽
Found your channel a year ago and been following ever since (and become a Patreon member)! Thank you for all that you do! Definitely added East of Eden to the 2025 TBR list because of you❤🎉
I recently read Stoner with a friend, although I didn't care for it, I'm happy to hear that you got it -- it's about someone who doesn't live their life and doesn't examine their life. So many booktubers gush over this book, praising it as introspective, and I wonder if they have read the same book I read, lol. Nice list!
I wouldn't call Stoner all that introspective but he is rather self-aware. He identifies past mistakes, he understands how they impact his life, and he (often) correctly judges how decisions will pan out into the future. He just doesn't do much with this awareness, and instead acts how he thinks is best in the moment based on his morals and values. I think that makes him an incredibly realistic and relatable character. As a reader, I constantly thought about what he *should* do, and was frustrated when he didn't act accordingly. But what I could usually understand was his rationale in the moment - whether to stand up to something or let it fly, because its not easy to always 'do the right thing' (easy to identify retrospectively, hard to do prospectively). And in that sense, the book felt like a bit of a mirror. What was heroic about Stoner (to me) was how he still managed to find happiness in what was otherwise (from our perspective) a bleak existence. What I appreciated most about the book was its ultimate message: that the path you choose in life doesn't really matter because in the end you die. You can be a genius and die 'pointlessly' in a war. You can be a dullard and become dean of a university. You can lead an average existence with regrets (which most of us will) but all that is rendered unremarkable by the great equalizer. It managed to examine this otherwise trite message in a way that was relatable and natural, IMO. The book makes you reflect on the character: well what if he did this instead of that, would that have changed the last few pages of his life? Would that have made him happier? Maybe, maybe not. It then makes you ask the same questions about yourself: this choice I've made in life, was it the right one? Will I regret it? Will it work out? Do I even know what qualifies each outcome until they happen? Who can say. What Williams' says, in beautiful and compelling prose, is a resounding 'meh'. And I like that. To that end, I think Williams' Stoner beats the shit out of Camus and Hesse. The Outsider, Steppenwolf, and Siddhartha pale in comparison as works of existential literature, IMO. Williams' next book, Augustus, continues the same messaging but ups the ante by using Augustus Caesar as his protagonist, almost to say 'you could be the first emperor of Rome or a nobody English professor; you'll feel the same way on your deathbed'. I highly recommend it. At the very least, its a good book on Rome at the fall of the republic.
Apparently 2024 was the year all my friends read East of Eden (as did I)! Easily my fav of the year, maybe ever. Glad you got into it, too. I haven't read Stoner, so maybe I should add that to my list for 2025. Just as you enjoy coming of age stories, I've found myself loving true stories (not always memoirs) about incredible events and people, often unknown or forgotten individuals. Found some true gems this year. Also... I'm 37, too, and love old books.
I recommend the Secret History to almost everyone who asks me for something a little bit deeper than the usual murder mystery stuff. I really love that book. Theres so many memorable lines and interesting descriptions. Youre right about how the language she uses is so next level.
Hey Nick Merry Christmas. Really enjoy your videos on books it’s ok not to look at us 😂 when your filming I don’t even look at people when I’m right infront of them talking cause eye contact sometimes makes me uncomfortable. Can’t believe it’s been 50 weeks. Been here from the beginning. Cool to see you progress with your videos and how much more comfortable you seem in front of the camera. I took a laughing photo of a camera man at a festival. They make such incredible shots and capture wholesome moments but it so interesting to see how shy they are I front of the camera themselves. Made me remember that memory.
I‘m still glad that your channel popped up in my UA-cam recommendations! Love you content! :) My favorite book of the year is definitely Demon Copperhead. Still thinking about that one for sure. After watching your top 10 I guess I finally have to give Steinbeck a go :D
Same for me - Stoner is definitely my favourite read of the year I'd also put Words of Radiance (re-read) and Hard Rain Falling on the fiction list; with Humankind and Marching Powder on the non-fiction side. All the best to you and yours for the coming new year
I'm so glad that I stumbled onto your channel a while back! I was having trouble making my (modest) reading goal for the year due to a slow start, and your list of crushable books really helped! I finished "Shawshank" (love it) and am in the middle of "Psalm for the Wild Built", which when I finish it, will hit my goal! I was delighted to hear you mention "the End of Loneliness" because I have never met anyone else who has read it. It is good! Since you asked, my favorite read of 2024 was a poetry collection called "Why the Black Hole Sings the Blues" by Ishmael Reed. My favorite novel was "The Fox Wife" by Yangsze Choo.
we dont have a super similar taste in books, but i still love watching your videos! youre so chill and i always enjoy hearing what you have to say. as for my favorite read of the year, i have to go with The Prospects by KT Hoffman. its a queer, trans, sports romance and it hit me right in the soul. its the first romance ive ever read where (as a transmasc person) i felt truly seen and understood. the main character and i have a ton in common and the story will make you laugh and cry and everything else under the sun. also, did i mention its the authors DEBUT novel???? truly such a special book to me
My top 10 books of 2024 East of Eden - John Steinbeck Family Lexicon - Natalia Ginzburg Pereira Maintains - Antonio Tabucchi The Razor's Edge - W Somerset Maugham The Good Soldier - Ford Madox Ford A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M Miller Jr. Macbeth - William Shakespeare Say Nothing - Patrick Radden Keefe Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte The Right Stuff - Tom Wolfe
Stoner’s on my list for next year. Jurassic Park would also make my top ten-just too much fun! Top 3 though, in no order, would be Glorious Exploits-Ferdia Lennon Kitchen Confidential-Anthony Bourdain Against The Day-Thomas Pynchon
Of everything I read this year, I'd say: Great: 1. A Maggot (J. Fowles) 2. Acting Class (Graphic Novel) (N. Drnaso) 3. Our Wives Under the Sea (J. Armfield) 4. Satan In Goray (I.B. Singer) 5. Geek Love (K. Dunn) 6. Life For Sale (Y. Mishima) 7. Death in Midsummer (Y. Mishima) Good: 8. Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (H. Murakami) 9. after the quake (H. Murakami) 10. The Decagon House Murders (Y. Ayatsuji) 11. Heads Will Roll (J. Winning) 12. Horror Movie (P. Tremblay) 13. Hangsaman (S. Jackson) 14. The Ice Palace (T. Vesaas) 15. Pastoralia (G. Saunders) 16. Exhalation (T. Chiang) 17. Nemesis (P. Roth) 18. The Ghost Writer (P. Roth) Alright: 19. The Humbling (P. Roth) 20. Exit Ghost (P. Roth) 21. All Quiet On The Western Front (E. M. Remarque) Meh: 22. My Friend Hitler and Other Plays (Y. Mishima) 23. After Dark (H. Murakami)
My favorite read of the year was Turtles All The Way Down by John Green. This book is filled with rewarding and heart felt Easter eggs for John Green fans. If you’re unfamiliar with John, this is a good YA novel. If you know his work well, this is one of his most personal books - even more than The Fault in Our Stars or The Anthropocene Reviewed
East of Eden is my favorite of all time. I keep waiting for something to unseat it but I don't know that anything ever will. Timshel my friend, timshel
My #1 was The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin! I read Giovannis Room and Go Tell It On the Mountain last year and he's quickly becoming my favourite author
Great! I was the 100th like! Happy holidays and new year! Also, Michael Crighton went to medical school so he’s a science genius. He helped create the show “ER” in the 90’s and injected his medical knowledge into the show. Pun intended. But really he was going to be a doctor before deciding on being an author.
I read Erasure by Percival Everett earlier this year. It is fantastic. It was adapted into American Fiction. Re James, I do recommend reading Huck Finn. A lot of Everett’s genius is subverting that text.
My favorite fiction books from this year that weren’t re-reads are - James (duh) - Brotherless Night - The Bee Sting - Still Life and - The Old Man and the Sea but I also read a lot of amazing nonfiction. Crying in H Mart was one of my favorites when I read it in 2022, so good ❤
I read Stoner at least 10 years ago and it remains in my top favourite books of all time. I still think about him often. This year my number one was The Bee Sting by Paul Murray. It was epic but I loved every minute of it!
Whose Names are Unknown by Sanora Babb is my favourite book of the year. Steinbeck is one of my favourite writers, and Grapes of Wrath one of my favourite books. Babb's book about the Dust Bowl is every bit as beautiful, and more true to the people and times I think.
I must check out some of these books. I have never heard of some of them, which is why I love your channel, you aren’t so main stream with some of your reading. I also love Stephen King. May I ask where you found your bookshelves? Love the white with wood.
Awesome list! Totally agree about Cathy. Holy moly what a woman. I have two books of the year: Lonesome Dove and A Song for Arbonne. I think you've read Lonesome Dove, but have you tried Guy Gavriel Kay? I think you would like him.
I see Between Two Fires back there, my favourite book and if you love it I’d super recommend Hellmouth by Giles Kristian which is a super quick 50 page read and is awesome.
The Secret History (my favourite book of all time) and Stoner (second favourite) are the only two books I gave a perfect score of 10/10. I’ve just finished East of Eden and it was a great book but I ended up giving it a 8.8/10. Books on this list I’ve read this year: Stoner - 10/10 East of Eden - 8.8/10 The Stand - 8.0/10 Small Things Like These - 9.0/10
@ I was telling myself all week that that one would be in your top 10. I was just sure of it! But you have read so many wonderful books that not all of them can make it.
Hey Nic Thanks for your videos, I love listening to your book recommendations, I always have Goodreads open while listen and just keep on adding to my TBR. I have a great book rec for you, it’s a coming of age, the best one I’ve ever read; “the heart’s invisible furies” by John Boyne.
Two books that I can’t stop thinking about that I read this year are Gilead by Marilynne Robinson and Greenwood by Michael Christie. Especially gilead.
number 1 for me: American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin. I know you don't read lots of Non-fiction or Thick books but trust me when I say, it will fit right in with your tastes. The incredibly sad, odd, and cautionary tale of Dr. Robert Oppenhemier's life. There's no science-y stuff in it just a part from what is absolutely relevant to the story. I think you would find it riveting. If you've seen Oppenhemier this book, which is the source material, blows it out of the water.
I’m 38, like you I started reading just over a year and half ago, never read the classics, this year I’ve read some certified bangers that are people’s #1’s of all time and I was shocked that my book of the year was The Catcher in the Rye, was blown away, I wish I read it when most people do in high school, but I definitely got more out of it as an adult and as a father! If you don’t like it, you’re a phony!!
Ahhhhh I am soooo glad you said that!!! IMO The Catcher in the Rye only resonates with you when life has kicked you in the teeth a couple of times-you have to live some life before you can really appreciate it. It is a shame it is force fed to kids in school.
Bad reading year for me, never got on track. Got halfway through 11/22/63 and burned out. Planning to revisit soon. Fav read of 23 was Heavier Than Heaven, Kurt Cobain bio.
Please don’t become another channel reading ‘this years’ books only. It’s so hard to find a channel that’s more individual in their choices, so don’t stop! As I’m on a similar journey of older books and classics and I’m just tired of the majority of channels reading and reviewing the exact same books week after week. Plus, I read Stoner and it’s not only the best of the year, it’s my all time favourite at this point 😁 With Heaven and Hell by Jon Kalman Stefansson coming in second. (Also loving everything by James Baldwin)
I don't think there should be a rush to get to modern literature. We have years and years of excellent literature behind us, and I think it gets overlooked for the newest and greatest. Plus I'm poor and just pick up whatever looks interesting at thrift stores. If that means it's some pulpy 70s paperback for 75¢, so be it.
Also, favorite book of the year was "Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury. I haven't enjoyed being in the midst of a book like that in a really long time.
I found your channel this year and I'm happy for it. I like the diversity of your reading!
Personally I love that you review and talk about older books. I love a variety of booktube reviewers because each of you brings something fresh to the table. Please keep doing what you’re doing because I love it.
I really love the informal format of your videos. Feels like you’ve just sat with a friend to chat about books. So casual. So good. ❤
Just saw this posting and I had to pause everything I was doing to watch it! So excited to see your top for 2024.
Thanks, Nick. Great top 10!
Loved this episode, thanks! My favorite books of the year were The Diamond Eye, System Collapse, Prayers for the Crown Shy, and I Cheerfully Refused. Looking forward to following your reading path in the new year!
Yesss!! The Secret History is one if my faves and your review was very apt 😂 ❤
Yep my favourite book of all time
I look forward to all of your videos because your commentary is so enjoyable. Just added several books to my 2025 tbr. Thanks for the great content!
Started watching your videos several months ago. Your videos are something I look forward to every week.
I love reading and your excitement makes me more excited.
This year I read Foster upon your recommendation and many books on your list are on my want to read list.
But by far my favorite read of the year is Crime and Punishment.
It’s my favorite book of all time now and it isn’t even close.
How refreshing to hear someone discuss older books! You have a new subscriber. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on all these wonderful books.
Great list man, a few recommendations in there for me too so thanks. I can't decide on a favourite from the yeat but it's somewhere between The Secret History, Lonesome Dove, 11/22/63 and The Stand. Honourable mentions for Demon Copperhead and The Book Thief. Keep up the good work mate, looking forward to the next 50 weeks of books being sick!
omg the stand and Jurassic park were such surprisingly good reads for me this year! also ty for adding more to my tbr lmao
Thank you for recommending Stoner so many times this year, I read it during the summer and it changed me !
My top 3 for this year is:
- Stoner
- 11/22/63
- The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece (which I think you could enjoy)
I was unfamiliar with your channel but am genuinely glad I happened upon it tonight. I can tell immediately that you value most in a book those things I myself value most, such as substance, depth, impact, truth, profundity. Thank you for the recommendations.
I get so many get recommendations from your channel. I enjoy all kinds of books so I’m glad you read so diversely.
Yay a new booktuber. Glad YT recommended your channel.
So thankful I found your channel. I loved reading growing up and picked it back up as a main hobby this year. My favorite read would have to be Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson for revitalizing my love for reading again.
Looking forward to more reads in 2025!
I love coming of age books. One of my all time fav books is “Boy’s Life” by Robert McAmmon. It is amazing and right up your alley! I read it over 20 years ago and reread it last year and it held up even more! Love your channel. East of Eden will be my first for 2025!
Fun video! Great top ten! Im getting Stoner delivered tomorrow, quite looking forward to it to say the least. Me too, Steinbeck recently became one of my favorite authors. East of Eden! Cannery Row! Others--- and now halfway thru Grapes. Others on your list ive read or am about to buy. Love your videos, so earnest & friendly. Keep on.
Stoner!! I got it too and I am planning to start the year reading it!!
Happy New Year!!🎉
Haven't read all on your list, but have read most, and your choices are definitely high quality selections. Now, I have to add the other books to my tbr. Also, love your reviews: depth of thought coupled with a casual presentation style.
Well, you asked for it: My absolute favorite book I read this year was The Devil and Mrs. Davenport by Paulette Kennedy. I read it during summer vacation and I still think back to soo many scenes and themes in there - will definitely re-read it sooner rather than later. A close second (and a very different genre) for me was Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami, which still haunts me to this day and will for a long time - and third spot will have to be Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle. That one's a wild ride but definitely one that struck a chord with me. (Sorry, I really couldn't just stick to one recommendation, it was a great reading year for me :D ) Happy New Year and keep the recs coming ;-)
Enjoy your enthusiasm for books. I've added some of your recs to my list. Ty ✌️
Thanks for sharing,.... Your number 7, is I think, my favorite of 2024. I began reading Claire Keegan after watching your discussion of Small Things Like These and just really enjoyed her writing. Foster just hit me in ways that I wasn't expecting and as you say, was an equal dose of heartache and heartwarming. Thanks for the channel, I look forward to 2025.
Okay so I just bought 10 books with Christmas gift money and now I guess I will be going to the bookstore to buy Stoner as well lol!!! What a great list. Definitely putting many of these on my 2025 TBR👏🏽
Excellent reads! After years of debate, you’ve inspired me to finally pick up Jurassic Park 😊📚
Me too!! I’m keeping my eyes open for a good used copy.
hey so i like this a lot you’re now my top 10 fav book people thanks have a good holiday
I read Sula and I adored it. The writing style was gripping and intruiging. Thanks for this list. I'm gonna add some of them on my tbr.
This was so fun to watch because I got to guess which book you were going to say next
Found your channel a year ago and been following ever since (and become a Patreon member)! Thank you for all that you do! Definitely added East of Eden to the 2025 TBR list because of you❤🎉
I recently read Stoner with a friend, although I didn't care for it, I'm happy to hear that you got it -- it's about someone who doesn't live their life and doesn't examine their life. So many booktubers gush over this book, praising it as introspective, and I wonder if they have read the same book I read, lol. Nice list!
I wouldn't call Stoner all that introspective but he is rather self-aware. He identifies past mistakes, he understands how they impact his life, and he (often) correctly judges how decisions will pan out into the future. He just doesn't do much with this awareness, and instead acts how he thinks is best in the moment based on his morals and values. I think that makes him an incredibly realistic and relatable character.
As a reader, I constantly thought about what he *should* do, and was frustrated when he didn't act accordingly. But what I could usually understand was his rationale in the moment - whether to stand up to something or let it fly, because its not easy to always 'do the right thing' (easy to identify retrospectively, hard to do prospectively). And in that sense, the book felt like a bit of a mirror. What was heroic about Stoner (to me) was how he still managed to find happiness in what was otherwise (from our perspective) a bleak existence.
What I appreciated most about the book was its ultimate message: that the path you choose in life doesn't really matter because in the end you die. You can be a genius and die 'pointlessly' in a war. You can be a dullard and become dean of a university. You can lead an average existence with regrets (which most of us will) but all that is rendered unremarkable by the great equalizer. It managed to examine this otherwise trite message in a way that was relatable and natural, IMO.
The book makes you reflect on the character: well what if he did this instead of that, would that have changed the last few pages of his life? Would that have made him happier? Maybe, maybe not. It then makes you ask the same questions about yourself: this choice I've made in life, was it the right one? Will I regret it? Will it work out? Do I even know what qualifies each outcome until they happen? Who can say.
What Williams' says, in beautiful and compelling prose, is a resounding 'meh'. And I like that.
To that end, I think Williams' Stoner beats the shit out of Camus and Hesse. The Outsider, Steppenwolf, and Siddhartha pale in comparison as works of existential literature, IMO.
Williams' next book, Augustus, continues the same messaging but ups the ante by using Augustus Caesar as his protagonist, almost to say 'you could be the first emperor of Rome or a nobody English professor; you'll feel the same way on your deathbed'. I highly recommend it. At the very least, its a good book on Rome at the fall of the republic.
Apparently 2024 was the year all my friends read East of Eden (as did I)! Easily my fav of the year, maybe ever. Glad you got into it, too. I haven't read Stoner, so maybe I should add that to my list for 2025. Just as you enjoy coming of age stories, I've found myself loving true stories (not always memoirs) about incredible events and people, often unknown or forgotten individuals. Found some true gems this year. Also... I'm 37, too, and love old books.
I recommend the Secret History to almost everyone who asks me for something a little bit deeper than the usual murder mystery stuff. I really love that book. Theres so many memorable lines and interesting descriptions. Youre right about how the language she uses is so next level.
Hey Nick Merry Christmas. Really enjoy your videos on books it’s ok not to look at us 😂 when your filming I don’t even look at people when I’m right infront of them talking cause eye contact sometimes makes me uncomfortable. Can’t believe it’s been 50 weeks. Been here from the beginning. Cool to see you progress with your videos and how much more comfortable you seem in front of the camera. I took a laughing photo of a camera man at a festival. They make such incredible shots and capture wholesome moments but it so interesting to see how shy they are I front of the camera themselves. Made me remember that memory.
I‘m still glad that your channel popped up in my UA-cam recommendations! Love you content! :) My favorite book of the year is definitely Demon Copperhead. Still thinking about that one for sure. After watching your top 10 I guess I finally have to give Steinbeck a go :D
Same for me - Stoner is definitely my favourite read of the year
I'd also put Words of Radiance (re-read) and Hard Rain Falling on the fiction list; with Humankind and Marching Powder on the non-fiction side.
All the best to you and yours for the coming new year
I love list week too! My favorite read of the year was Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. So good!
I'm so glad that I stumbled onto your channel a while back! I was having trouble making my (modest) reading goal for the year due to a slow start, and your list of crushable books really helped! I finished "Shawshank" (love it) and am in the middle of "Psalm for the Wild Built", which when I finish it, will hit my goal! I was delighted to hear you mention "the End of Loneliness" because I have never met anyone else who has read it. It is good! Since you asked, my favorite read of 2024 was a poetry collection called "Why the Black Hole Sings the Blues" by Ishmael Reed. My favorite novel was "The Fox Wife" by Yangsze Choo.
we dont have a super similar taste in books, but i still love watching your videos! youre so chill and i always enjoy hearing what you have to say. as for my favorite read of the year, i have to go with The Prospects by KT Hoffman. its a queer, trans, sports romance and it hit me right in the soul. its the first romance ive ever read where (as a transmasc person) i felt truly seen and understood. the main character and i have a ton in common and the story will make you laugh and cry and everything else under the sun. also, did i mention its the authors DEBUT novel???? truly such a special book to me
My top 10 books of 2024
East of Eden - John Steinbeck
Family Lexicon - Natalia Ginzburg
Pereira Maintains - Antonio Tabucchi
The Razor's Edge - W Somerset Maugham
The Good Soldier - Ford Madox Ford
A Canticle for Leibowitz - Walter M Miller Jr.
Macbeth - William Shakespeare
Say Nothing - Patrick Radden Keefe
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
The Right Stuff - Tom Wolfe
Great recommendations! Michael Crichton autobiography "Travels" was my favorite read this year
New subscriber. “Sula”, “The Secret History”, & “Stoner” are on my list for 2025. 🎉 “James” was incredible!
Stoner’s on my list for next year. Jurassic Park would also make my top ten-just too much fun!
Top 3 though, in no order, would be
Glorious Exploits-Ferdia Lennon
Kitchen Confidential-Anthony Bourdain
Against The Day-Thomas Pynchon
East of Eden was my number one this year. Stoner would have been last years had I not read W&P. Love your channel!
Of everything I read this year, I'd say:
Great:
1. A Maggot (J. Fowles)
2. Acting Class (Graphic Novel) (N. Drnaso)
3. Our Wives Under the Sea (J. Armfield)
4. Satan In Goray (I.B. Singer)
5. Geek Love (K. Dunn)
6. Life For Sale (Y. Mishima)
7. Death in Midsummer (Y. Mishima)
Good:
8. Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (H. Murakami)
9. after the quake (H. Murakami)
10. The Decagon House Murders (Y. Ayatsuji)
11. Heads Will Roll (J. Winning)
12. Horror Movie (P. Tremblay)
13. Hangsaman (S. Jackson)
14. The Ice Palace (T. Vesaas)
15. Pastoralia (G. Saunders)
16. Exhalation (T. Chiang)
17. Nemesis (P. Roth)
18. The Ghost Writer (P. Roth)
Alright:
19. The Humbling (P. Roth)
20. Exit Ghost (P. Roth)
21. All Quiet On The Western Front (E. M. Remarque)
Meh:
22. My Friend Hitler and Other Plays (Y. Mishima)
23. After Dark (H. Murakami)
I love your self-deprecating humor 😂
My favorite read of the year was Turtles All The Way Down by John Green. This book is filled with rewarding and heart felt Easter eggs for John Green fans. If you’re unfamiliar with John, this is a good YA novel. If you know his work well, this is one of his most personal books - even more than The Fault in Our Stars or The Anthropocene Reviewed
Wooo Jurassic Park also made it into my Top 10 as well!
I loved This is How You Lose the Time War by El-Mohtar. Favorite read of 2024!
East of Eden is my favorite of all time. I keep waiting for something to unseat it but I don't know that anything ever will. Timshel my friend, timshel
Thank you for saying it's not necessary to read Huck Finn before James... I've hesitated for so long for this reason.
My #1 was The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin! I read Giovannis Room and Go Tell It On the Mountain last year and he's quickly becoming my favourite author
Stoner sounds interesting. Also gonna check out Wallflower. I know it's a movie too but never seen it. Have a great 2025
Great list! East of Eden was also in my top 5, that ending my god. Destroyed!!!!!!!!
Great! I was the 100th like! Happy holidays and new year! Also, Michael Crighton went to medical school so he’s a science genius. He helped create the show “ER” in the 90’s and injected his medical knowledge into the show. Pun intended. But really he was going to be a doctor before deciding on being an author.
I read Erasure by Percival Everett earlier this year. It is fantastic. It was adapted into American Fiction. Re James, I do recommend reading Huck Finn. A lot of Everett’s genius is subverting that text.
My favorite fiction books from this year that weren’t re-reads are
- James (duh)
- Brotherless Night
- The Bee Sting
- Still Life
and
- The Old Man and the Sea
but I also read a lot of amazing nonfiction. Crying in H Mart was one of my favorites when I read it in 2022, so good ❤
I read Stoner at least 10 years ago and it remains in my top favourite books of all time. I still think about him often. This year my number one was The Bee Sting by Paul Murray. It was epic but I loved every minute of it!
The Count of Monte Cristo! May be my favorite book of all time now, at least top 5. Please, please read it!
Whose Names are Unknown by Sanora Babb is my favourite book of the year. Steinbeck is one of my favourite writers, and Grapes of Wrath one of my favourite books. Babb's book about the Dust Bowl is every bit as beautiful, and more true to the people and times I think.
I was fully expecting Lonesome Dove on here
Read that last year ;)
Otherwise it would be on there haha
Manifesting a Paul Auster reading journey for your 2025 🎉
My favourite has to be between the goldfinch by Donna Tartt, Jane eyre by Charlotte Brontë , and the way of kings by Brandon Sanderson !
I love that so many people have discovered Jurassic Park this year
Idk if I could say any order but my top three would be The Secret History, East of Eden, and Hard Rain Falling
I must check out some of these books. I have never heard of some of them, which is why I love your channel, you aren’t so main stream with some of your reading. I also love Stephen King. May I ask where you found your bookshelves? Love the white with wood.
Awesome list! Totally agree about Cathy. Holy moly what a woman. I have two books of the year: Lonesome Dove and A Song for Arbonne. I think you've read Lonesome Dove, but have you tried Guy Gavriel Kay? I think you would like him.
I think "sprinkles of life knowledge throughout this book" is a good way to describe all Stienbeck novels lol
Tender is the Flesh by Augustina Bazterrica is my number 1 (I also loved Stoner & Foster). Happy reading in 2025 😊
I see Between Two Fires back there, my favourite book and if you love it I’d super recommend Hellmouth by Giles Kristian which is a super quick 50 page read and is awesome.
My top fiction was Jade Legacy, and my top nonfiction was a tie between Crying in H Mart and The Book of Hope by Jane Goodall.
The Secret History (my favourite book of all time) and Stoner (second favourite) are the only two books I gave a perfect score of 10/10. I’ve just finished East of Eden and it was a great book but I ended up giving it a 8.8/10.
Books on this list I’ve read this year:
Stoner - 10/10
East of Eden - 8.8/10
The Stand - 8.0/10
Small Things Like These - 9.0/10
Super random question: is that Stoner hardcover smyth sewn?
Although I don’t know for sure, I would guess it’s at least hybrid binding like their (NYRB’s) paperbacks. Not sure if this is helpful at all.
No Hard Rain Falling? 😮 Stoner is the book of my life, tbh. Absolutely brilliant!
Hard rain falling was a tough one to leave off !
@ I was telling myself all week that that one would be in your top 10. I was just sure of it! But you have read so many wonderful books that not all of them can make it.
I didn’t read enough to have a top 10 but my top 3 are: 1. Stoner 2. Tender is the fresh 3. Annihilation
A good friend sent me Aztec by Gary Jennings and I’m super excited to get into it after Lonesome Dove!
I have heat 2 have you read it yet
Hey Nic
Thanks for your videos, I love listening to your book recommendations, I always have Goodreads open while listen and just keep on adding to my TBR.
I have a great book rec for you, it’s a coming of age, the best one I’ve ever read; “the heart’s invisible furies” by John Boyne.
It didn’t win the Booker but it did win the National book award here in the US 😃
My favorite read of the year was North Woods by Daniel Mason
Beyond the Wand by Tom Felton and Spare by Prince Harry are great memoirs. Especially as audiobooks
Two books that I can’t stop thinking about that I read this year are Gilead by Marilynne Robinson and Greenwood by Michael Christie. Especially gilead.
number 1 for me: American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin. I know you don't read lots of Non-fiction or Thick books but trust me when I say, it will fit right in with your tastes. The incredibly sad, odd, and cautionary tale of Dr. Robert Oppenhemier's life. There's no science-y stuff in it just a part from what is absolutely relevant to the story. I think you would find it riveting. If you've seen Oppenhemier this book, which is the source material, blows it out of the water.
My top two of the year has to be:
1. Piranesi
2. The Bodyguard (Katherine Center)
I’m 38, like you I started reading just over a year and half ago, never read the classics, this year I’ve read some certified bangers that are people’s #1’s of all time and I was shocked that my book of the year was The Catcher in the Rye, was blown away, I wish I read it when most people do in high school, but I definitely got more out of it as an adult and as a father! If you don’t like it, you’re a phony!!
Ahhhhh I am soooo glad you said that!!! IMO The Catcher in the Rye only resonates with you when life has kicked you in the teeth a couple of times-you have to live some life before you can really appreciate it. It is a shame it is force fed to kids in school.
Dude no way. I literally read all of these this year for the first time also
It’s a tie between 11/22/63 and Beartown. I just recently read 11/22/63 but it was so so good. But Beartown might have hit my harder
The Stand is my favorite of Stephen King’s.
While I didn't like the Lost World movie I really enjoyed the book. You should check that out if you liked Jurassic Park.
Nick I need a booksaresick bumper sticker
WHERE CAN I FIND THE FAN THEORIES FOR PERKS 😭🤲🏼
Bad reading year for me, never got on track. Got halfway through 11/22/63 and burned out. Planning to revisit soon.
Fav read of 23 was Heavier Than Heaven, Kurt Cobain bio.
I’m hoping to read The Goldfinch in 2025, but I’m super hesitant and intimidated. 😬 we’ll see if this is the year
Please look in the camera 😉
I think the movie came after the book of Jurassic Park didn’t it? I really want to get to it.
P.S haven’t decided what my top book is yet! 🙊🙈
You should watch a movie called, Paterson.
Modern reading list dates back to 1500s, you have a lot yo read in this time frame
It's crazy. You look like a much more healthy bam margera
There's a 1950's movie of East of Eden starring James Dean. Seems like you somehow didn't know that. It's good.
Please don’t become another channel reading ‘this years’ books only. It’s so hard to find a channel that’s more individual in their choices, so don’t stop! As I’m on a similar journey of older books and classics and I’m just tired of the majority of channels reading and reviewing the exact same books week after week.
Plus, I read Stoner and it’s not only the best of the year, it’s my all time favourite at this point 😁 With Heaven and Hell by Jon Kalman Stefansson coming in second. (Also loving everything by James Baldwin)
Yes, it is nice to find channels that have unique selections !!! ❤ I like to think that I am one of them!!😂
@ Oh wonderful! I’ve just subscribed 😁
@@jamgart Ooooh thank you!!!!!😍
I don't think there should be a rush to get to modern literature. We have years and years of excellent literature behind us, and I think it gets overlooked for the newest and greatest. Plus I'm poor and just pick up whatever looks interesting at thrift stores. If that means it's some pulpy 70s paperback for 75¢, so be it.
Also, favorite book of the year was "Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury. I haven't enjoyed being in the midst of a book like that in a really long time.