That's a wonderful list Tori. With such high praise I feel the need to add Augustus to my wish list now and I still have to get LPQ. My Top Ten books for 2023 are: 1. The Broken Sword - Poul Anderson 2. Nettle And Bone - T. Kingfisher 3. Touching The Void - Joe Simpson 4. The Martian - Andy Weir 5. Children Of Time - Adrian Tchaikovsky 6. If I Die In A Combat Zone - Tim O'Brien 7. The Greatest Beer Run Ever - John Chickie Donohue 8. Dogs Of War - Adrian Tchaikovsky 9. Red Rising - Pierce Brown 10. The Very Best Of Charles De Lint - Charles De Lint
WOW what a list!!! You had an epic reading year too! So glad to see The Martian and Red Rising on it, that makes me very happy. I highly recommend both Augustus and LPQ. Phenomenal books.
Good to hear positive comments on Shogun. I've wanted to read it for years, but the length did intimidate me. Maybe I will tackle it this year. I want to read as much as possible so I can avoid real life as much as possible!
102 books while putting out your own book!? Sheeeeeeesh!! Glad you had a good year. I DNF'd greenbone saga. it felt too much like an asian drama for me. I need to read Rob J Haye's Mortal Techniques. I love asian stuff. Actually my book and series is Meij-Japan inspired. Hopefully 2024 will be another great reading year for you!
I'm not really sure how it happened, tbh. XD I'm sorry Green Bone didn't work for you! I do love a good Asian drama, so that worked well for me. Mortal Techniques is awesome, I hope you enjoy it when you get to it! Best of luck in 2024!
Great List Tori! Jade Legacy will go down as one of my favorite conclusions to series of all time. Tough choice indeed on which book from LPQ to choose and I would go with the Betrayal in Winter myself. Shogun, Spirits of Vengeance, & Augustus (as you saw) are on my highly anticipated reads. Authors Shackle, Warman and Bruno are on the TBR!! - Cheers
Legend is on my list as well as Mike Shackle books. My favorite books were Lies of Locke Lamora, Wolfsong, Ravensong and the entirety of The Iron Druid Chronicles.
I read Green Bone Saga this year too, amazing books! Definitely going to reread them in a few years. I'd like an adaptation but I don't think Hollywood is capable of doing the themes in this story justice. And I'd definitely put Jade Legacy as my number 1, but it was close between that and The 15 Lives of Harry August.
I agree with you, Caleb, I'm not sure how the cinema companies would do it justice, but I'd love it if they could!!! I almost think an animated graphic novel style series would work, like Arcane.
Floem for the win!! Thank you so much for reading and enjoying Down Below Beyond! I am so glad you enjoyed it, and it was super fun chatting with you about it. I hope you have an awesome 2024 and congratulations on your recent book launch!!! Cheers!!
Amazing list!! I was so glad to see Jacqueline Hagen on it. 🎉 My book of the year is Shauna Lawless’ The Words of Kings and Prophets. I’m on the edge of my seat for the third book in the trilogy.
Yeah, «Legend»! 😄 I have «Augustus» on my TBR and «We Are The Dead» on my MBR for 2024! My Top Favorite Read of 2023, is a tie between «Under Heaven» by Guy Gavriel Kay & «The Veiled Throne» («Dandelion Dynasty #3) by Ken Liu: «Under Heaven» should be teached next to «War & Peace» and «Le Miserables» for GGK’s prose and Ken Liu’s Character Work has few if any rivals! A character that has only one scene in «TVT» (though a series veteran in «The Dandelion Dynasty»), earned with that scene alone my favorite character of 2023: Cogo Yelu! Next is another tie between «The Retreat to Avalon» by Sean Poage & «The Winter King» by Bernard Cornwell: Poage has written my favorite take on «A Historical King Arthur» and the Seige of Yves Trebon/St. Michel in «TWK» shows why Cornwell might be the best at writing battles! The next are unsorted: «The Winter Road» by Adrian Selby «The Way of Edan» by Philip Chase (You might have heard about him! 😄) «Bold Ascension» by Vaughn Roycroft «Salammbo» by Gustave Flaubert «The Farthest Shore» by Ursula K. Le Guin «The Name of the Wind» by Patrick Rothfuss «Brigantia» by Adrian Goldsworthy «Tortilla Flat» by John Steinbeck «The Little Emperors» by Alfred Duggan My Honorable Mentions «The Conscience of the King» by Alfred Duggan «Tehanu» by Ursula K. Le Guin «The Black Gods Kiss» (Jirel of Joiry) by CL Moore
I would love to hear more about your meeting Gary Paulson. That is so cool. The Martian made it real high in my list for last year. Loved that book! Williams is a master. Stoner was outstanding. Very cool vid.
It was super cool, Chris! I taught at an Adult Writer's Conference when I was sixteen, and one of thet other presenters/panelists was Gary Paulsen. He took a break from dog sled races to come down and teach. XD He was a very straightforward, gruff man, but also open and kind. He had a lot of great practical thoughts about writing. It's been sixteen years since that conference, so I don't remember as much as I wish I did!
I bought Augustus based on your previous review. Then i also bought the other 'officially endorsed' novels by John Williams: Butcher's Crossing and Stoner - both of which i have heard other booktubers rave about. I plan to read them in publication order. So far, i've only read Butcher's Crossing. At its best, this novel was a meditaitive and evocative story about the loss of innocence and the onset of maturity, but there were long sections that felt a bit inert and ponderous to me. I'm hoping the two later novels will retain the great aspects of Butcher's Crossing but be a little more economical in the way they are written.
I don't think you'll be disappointed. From what I've heard, Augustus and Stoner are the best of his work according to most people who've read them. Augustus is a masterpiece. I hope you have a really good time with the rest of the books!
Here's my top ten Spare by prince harry The mind series by s.t abby Delilah green doesn't care Reminders of him by colleen hoover Tell me everything by minka Kelly memoir The woman in me by britney spears memoir Someday maybe The fiancee farce by Alexandra belfour Honorable mentions Blood sugar by sacha Rothschild Lucky me by sachi parker memoir The bodyguard by katherine center
Great video Tori! So glad you enjoyed Jade Legacy. That whole series is fantastic. The Martian is amazing as well. I definitely want to read Mortal Techniques and Long Price. Scythe was my number one book of the year.
I'm going to cheat and put a trilogy as my favorite read of 2023. The Last War by Mike Shackle. A masterpiece from start to finish. Each character better than the last but Dren stood out just a bit more than the others.
So many of these books make me so happy to see. Green Bone, Mortal Techniques, LPQ, Augustus! I really can't wait to read Mike Shackle and Wickwire Watch soon!
Shogun. I really suggest to not stop. Tai-Pan worth it. A lot thinks that only the samurai is this epic but it’s wrong. The opium vs tea caused war and the rise of Hong Kong is the foundation of UK in Asia and as a modern empire. Then it gets back to Japan in the era of Nagasaki. It never gets old.
Oof, that's a stacked list of legendary reads!! I love seeing LPQ getting the love it deserves here. And even though that series as a whole is better than the sum of its parts, each of the instalments have all-time fave status for me which just goes to show how amazing it is. I honestly can't wait for you to start Dandelion Dynasty, because it has similar vibes and is the only thing that comes close to me. Also, can't wait to get to Mortal Techniques this year, that's long overdue for me!! And HECK YES for Greenbone & Riverfall, both are so so so incredible and those characters live rent-free in my brain 🤩🤩
Thanks Esmay! LPQ deserves all the awards, it's so good. And I totally agree, it's really the sum of the series as a whole, I have a hard time breaking it down into specific books or characters. I really look forward to Ken Liu's work.
Off the top of my head my favourite reads of the year were: Dandelion Dynasty 2: Wall of Storms Death of Ivan Ilyitch / Leo Tolstoy Flowers for Algernon / Daniel Keyes Liveship Traders 1: Ship of Magic Kithamar 2: Blade of Dream No Country for Old Men / Cormac McCarthy Sandkings / GRRM Stoner / John Williams Under Heaven / Guy Gavriel Kay
That's a wonderful list Tori.
With such high praise I feel the need to add Augustus to my wish list now and I still have to get LPQ.
My Top Ten books for 2023 are:
1. The Broken Sword - Poul Anderson
2. Nettle And Bone - T. Kingfisher
3. Touching The Void - Joe Simpson
4. The Martian - Andy Weir
5. Children Of Time - Adrian Tchaikovsky
6. If I Die In A Combat Zone - Tim O'Brien
7. The Greatest Beer Run Ever - John Chickie Donohue
8. Dogs Of War - Adrian Tchaikovsky
9. Red Rising - Pierce Brown
10. The Very Best Of Charles De Lint - Charles De Lint
WOW what a list!!! You had an epic reading year too! So glad to see The Martian and Red Rising on it, that makes me very happy. I highly recommend both Augustus and LPQ. Phenomenal books.
I LOVED the Martian! T.A. Bruno is on my TBR. Just finished Wickwire Watch Book 1-love it and so excited to read book 2!
I think you’ll love Bruno’s work! Spider Key levels up the Riverfall series so much. I loved it. 😍
Good to hear positive comments on Shogun. I've wanted to read it for years, but the length did intimidate me. Maybe I will tackle it this year. I want to read as much as possible so I can avoid real life as much as possible!
Shogun is absolutely worth the page count. I don't say that about every book but man is this one epic. I hope you love it when you get to it!
102 books while putting out your own book!? Sheeeeeeesh!! Glad you had a good year. I DNF'd greenbone saga. it felt too much like an asian drama for me. I need to read Rob J Haye's Mortal Techniques. I love asian stuff. Actually my book and series is Meij-Japan inspired. Hopefully 2024 will be another great reading year for you!
I'm not really sure how it happened, tbh. XD I'm sorry Green Bone didn't work for you! I do love a good Asian drama, so that worked well for me. Mortal Techniques is awesome, I hope you enjoy it when you get to it!
Best of luck in 2024!
Hi Tori, regarding The Long Price Quartet, it was book 3 for me. A few years later and I am still thinking about it
It’s so good!!!
coolio! Will add Augustus to my TBR. You've already sold me on LPQ! Yay more books!
I KNEW you needed more books on that TBR stack! You're welcome. :D
Definitely adding Shogun to my TBR. Sounds awesome!
It is incredible!
I'm putting out my best reads of the year tomorrow, just got done recording it as I comment. Great video as always Tori!
Great List Tori! Jade Legacy will go down as one of my favorite conclusions to series of all time. Tough choice indeed on which book from LPQ to choose and I would go with the Betrayal in Winter myself. Shogun, Spirits of Vengeance, & Augustus (as you saw) are on my highly anticipated reads. Authors Shackle, Warman and Bruno are on the TBR!! - Cheers
Betrayal was just SO good. I hope you have a wonderful time reading all those TBR giants, I can't wait to hear your thoughts!
Legend is on my list as well as Mike Shackle books. My favorite books were Lies of Locke Lamora, Wolfsong, Ravensong and the entirety of The Iron Druid Chronicles.
Great choices! Locke Lamora is one of my absolute favorites too!
I read Green Bone Saga this year too, amazing books! Definitely going to reread them in a few years. I'd like an adaptation but I don't think Hollywood is capable of doing the themes in this story justice. And I'd definitely put Jade Legacy as my number 1, but it was close between that and The 15 Lives of Harry August.
I agree with you, Caleb, I'm not sure how the cinema companies would do it justice, but I'd love it if they could!!! I almost think an animated graphic novel style series would work, like Arcane.
Great list! I have a bunch of these on my tbr already but you got me to add Down Below Beyond to the every growing tbr!
Thanks Tom! I hope you enjoy it when you get that far!!! It's a great palette cleanser.
Floem for the win!! Thank you so much for reading and enjoying Down Below Beyond! I am so glad you enjoyed it, and it was super fun chatting with you about it. I hope you have an awesome 2024 and congratulations on your recent book launch!!! Cheers!!
President of the Floem Fan Club right here! I'm so glad I read it this year, I had a blast, thank you for sharing your awesome stories with us!
Amazing list!! I was so glad to see Jacqueline Hagen on it. 🎉 My book of the year is Shauna Lawless’ The Words of Kings and Prophets. I’m on the edge of my seat for the third book in the trilogy.
I can't wait to get to Shauna's work! I'm fully anticipating it being amazing.
Honored to be included in this amazing list! Here's to many more amazing reads in 2024!
Honored to put you guys on it!
Yeah, «Legend»! 😄 I have «Augustus» on my TBR and «We Are The Dead» on my MBR for 2024!
My Top Favorite Read of 2023, is a tie between «Under Heaven» by Guy Gavriel Kay & «The Veiled Throne» («Dandelion Dynasty #3) by Ken Liu: «Under Heaven» should be teached next to «War & Peace» and «Le Miserables» for GGK’s prose and Ken Liu’s Character Work has few if any rivals! A character that has only one scene in «TVT» (though a series veteran in «The Dandelion Dynasty»), earned with that scene alone my favorite character of 2023: Cogo Yelu!
Next is another tie between «The Retreat to Avalon» by Sean Poage & «The Winter King» by Bernard Cornwell: Poage has written my favorite take on «A Historical King Arthur» and the Seige of Yves Trebon/St. Michel in «TWK» shows why Cornwell might be the best at writing battles!
The next are unsorted:
«The Winter Road» by Adrian Selby
«The Way of Edan» by Philip Chase (You might have heard about him! 😄)
«Bold Ascension» by Vaughn Roycroft
«Salammbo» by Gustave Flaubert
«The Farthest Shore» by Ursula K. Le Guin
«The Name of the Wind» by Patrick Rothfuss
«Brigantia» by Adrian Goldsworthy
«Tortilla Flat» by John Steinbeck
«The Little Emperors» by Alfred Duggan
My Honorable Mentions
«The Conscience of the King» by Alfred Duggan
«Tehanu» by Ursula K. Le Guin
«The Black Gods Kiss» (Jirel of Joiry) by CL Moore
What an awesome year of reads! I hope to get to both Ken Liu and GGK soon!
Awesome list! I need to read The Long Price Quartet, Augustus, and Shogun..all the things really! What an exceptional reading year.
It really was! I hope you have an amazing time with all of those books when you are ready to read them!
I would love to hear more about your meeting Gary Paulson. That is so cool. The Martian made it real high in my list for last year. Loved that book! Williams is a master. Stoner was outstanding. Very cool vid.
It was super cool, Chris! I taught at an Adult Writer's Conference when I was sixteen, and one of thet other presenters/panelists was Gary Paulsen. He took a break from dog sled races to come down and teach. XD He was a very straightforward, gruff man, but also open and kind. He had a lot of great practical thoughts about writing. It's been sixteen years since that conference, so I don't remember as much as I wish I did!
Happy reading to you!! 🎉
Thank you! You too!
I bought Augustus based on your previous review. Then i also bought the other 'officially endorsed' novels by John Williams: Butcher's Crossing and Stoner - both of which i have heard other booktubers rave about. I plan to read them in publication order. So far, i've only read Butcher's Crossing. At its best, this novel was a meditaitive and evocative story about the loss of innocence and the onset of maturity, but there were long sections that felt a bit inert and ponderous to me. I'm hoping the two later novels will retain the great aspects of Butcher's Crossing but be a little more economical in the way they are written.
I don't think you'll be disappointed. From what I've heard, Augustus and Stoner are the best of his work according to most people who've read them. Augustus is a masterpiece. I hope you have a really good time with the rest of the books!
Great List Tori!
Thanks John!
You got me to want to read Mike Shackle. 🎉
I hope you enjoy it, Palmer!
I'll need to try Mortal Techniques again...I DNF'd Never Die last summer for reasons I don't remember.
Here's my top ten
Spare by prince harry
The mind series by s.t abby
Delilah green doesn't care
Reminders of him by colleen hoover
Tell me everything by minka Kelly memoir
The woman in me by britney spears memoir
Someday maybe
The fiancee farce by Alexandra belfour
Honorable mentions
Blood sugar by sacha Rothschild
Lucky me by sachi parker memoir
The bodyguard by katherine center
Great video Tori! So glad you enjoyed Jade Legacy. That whole series is fantastic. The Martian is amazing as well. I definitely want to read Mortal Techniques and Long Price. Scythe was my number one book of the year.
Scythe was a really pleasant surprise! I’m glad you enjoyed it so much.
Congratulations on reading so many books!
Thank you!! 😊
I'm going to cheat and put a trilogy as my favorite read of 2023. The Last War by Mike Shackle. A masterpiece from start to finish. Each character better than the last but Dren stood out just a bit more than the others.
Yes!!! I loved Dren‘s arc!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
So many of these books make me so happy to see. Green Bone, Mortal Techniques, LPQ, Augustus! I really can't wait to read Mike Shackle and Wickwire Watch soon!
There were SO many good reads last year, idk how 2024 is going to beat it!
Shogun. I really suggest to not stop. Tai-Pan worth it. A lot thinks that only the samurai is this epic but it’s wrong. The opium vs tea caused war and the rise of Hong Kong is the foundation of UK in Asia and as a modern empire. Then it gets back to Japan in the era of Nagasaki. It never gets old.
I won't, I definitely want to keep going with the Asian Saga! I'm hoping to read Tai-Pan this year! I'm really interested in King Rat as well.
Oof, that's a stacked list of legendary reads!! I love seeing LPQ getting the love it deserves here. And even though that series as a whole is better than the sum of its parts, each of the instalments have all-time fave status for me which just goes to show how amazing it is. I honestly can't wait for you to start Dandelion Dynasty, because it has similar vibes and is the only thing that comes close to me.
Also, can't wait to get to Mortal Techniques this year, that's long overdue for me!! And HECK YES for Greenbone & Riverfall, both are so so so incredible and those characters live rent-free in my brain 🤩🤩
Thanks Esmay! LPQ deserves all the awards, it's so good. And I totally agree, it's really the sum of the series as a whole, I have a hard time breaking it down into specific books or characters. I really look forward to Ken Liu's work.
What's was the trope that annoyed you in regards to Book 9?
Instalove :)
@@ToriTalks2 yeah that would annoy me too
Off the top of my head my favourite reads of the year were:
Dandelion Dynasty 2: Wall of Storms
Death of Ivan Ilyitch / Leo Tolstoy
Flowers for Algernon / Daniel Keyes
Liveship Traders 1: Ship of Magic
Kithamar 2: Blade of Dream
No Country for Old Men / Cormac McCarthy
Sandkings / GRRM
Stoner / John Williams
Under Heaven / Guy Gavriel Kay
Killer list! I'm planning on getting to a few of those this year! Flowers for Algernon is such a heartbreaking, incredible story.
@@ToriTalks2that ending hit hard 😭