ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- It was a great month for reading AND writing in January! I feel like we really kicked off 2025 with a bang, and I am so excited about my book of the month. I don't know that it will surprise anyone who's been following my channel for the past few months. XD
What were your favorites of January?
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What an excellent reading and writing month! Just bought By Blood, By Salt - I look forward to experiencing it. Thanks Tori 🙂
Awesome! I hope you have a fantastic time with it!
First: SO EXCITED for Cold Silver for Souls!!! Second: Really want to read a Lisa See book, that sounds amazing. Third: THANK YOU, I am so honored by your read and review.
THANK YOU! I can't wait to share it with everyone. Lisa See is a phenomenal writer.
You deserve all the accolades, you wrote two amazing books!
Tori, I love how much you're hyping up By Blood, By Salt. I'm super keen to read the series now thanks to you!
And a huge congrats on finishing the draft for Cold Silver. I can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with!
It's SO good, Zammar! I hope you love it when you pick it up.
Thank you so much. I can't wait to share it with everyone!
Congratulations on the new book! "Cold Silver for Souls" the short story was one where, when I had finished it in The Advent of Winter, I immediately thought to myself, "I need more of this." I'm so excited that you've actually written more!! 😊😊
I'm so glad you enjoyed the short story! It was so much fun to write, and I knew as soon as I finished it that I wanted to keep going with Hunter's story. I'm planning a series of 4-6 books right now!
You get me really wanting to read Odoms work
GOOD. 🤨
Aaah I am so excited for Cold Silver for Souls, you know how much I loved the short story. Bring on more Rip heheheh
Also love to hear that you found a few new faves already. I am beyond excited to check out Lisa See's works! And if you end up loving the last two Babel books, I might just reconsider my DNF of that series honestly. Happy reading and writing!! 🤩
AH! I'm so glad you're excited for it! I'm excited too!
You are going to LOVE Lisa See. I predict. I'll keep you posted on the Babel books, we'll see. Everyone thinks I'm going to love 3 and hate 4. XD
Looks like a pretty solid month for you. I wasn’t aware of a few of these books so I have added them to the old TBR mountain.
I am endeavouring to get to your first book this year as well. Heard nothing but good things about it via the community!
Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy The Blood Stones when you pick it up!
Excited to get to the books of Mrs. Odom (I forgot her military rank, apologies! 😅), hopefully already in the later half of this year! 🙌
In January I finished (a rather short list due to (thankfully almost fully receded) pneumonia🤒🤧😅):
«Cort Adeler» by Ole Henrik Gjeruldsen (Historical Biography about the 17th Century Norwegian Sailor & Mercenary turned Highly Decorated & Respected Admiral for the Venetian, Dutch & Danish-Norwegian Navies: For his achievements of multiple acts of courage in combat (including several victories and escapes against superior Turkish Fleets, his skill as a first-rate & hands on cannon commander even after becoming a Fleet Commander, and personally defeating a Ottoman Admiral in hand to hand combat, all verified by multiple sources!) he was made a Venetian Knight of the Order of St. Mark and received a pension (for three generations after him!) rivaling his Venetian Commander in Chief, before returning home to completely reinvent an almost depleted Danish-Norwegian fleet and earning a Noble Title! 😲Clearly, way too over-powered Main Character! 😆)
«Anitra» by Hilde Susan Jægtnes (History Fiction, about an imagined granddaughter of the World Famous Composer Edvard Grieg («In the Hall of the Mountain King», «Morning Mood», «Spring» & «Anitra’s Dance»: IRL his only daughter died in childhood), living in Pre-WW2 Fascist Rome, torn between her creative dreams of creating a Mythological Grand Opera with the support of the totalitarian regime and her love for a female Jewish musician…)
«Hengist» by Sean Poage (Historical Fiction Novella, set during the Anglo-Saxon Invasion of Britain: Poage is about to become one of my favorite Indie Authors who I automatically buy!)
«All the Horses on Iceland» by Sarah Tolmie (Historical Fiction/Fantasy Novella about an Medieval Icelander’s Fantastical Journey to Central Asia)
Cheers Tori!
I hope you have a great time with Jayme's books! They're excellent. I love your thoughtful explanations of the books you read every month! I always look forward to seeing them. And I hope you're feeling better now!
Hey Tori!
Massive fan here from Australia!
Love the videos, love that your not overly main stream and always have books that are not overly talked about.
I have a series that I beg you to check out. Monster blood tattoo by D.M.Cornish even if you just look him up. He has this massive amazing world built for these books, the books have illustrations of the characters inside it’s just so beautifully done.
He has currently just done a reprint for his books with money he raised which is so well deserved. The books are so unique steampunk/historical fantasy but in a world of it own. 😊
Hi Jamie! Thank you so much, that means a lot to hear! I would love to visit Australia someday. I will definitely look into the recommendation, thank you so much for sharing!
By Blood, By Salt was my #2 book for 2024 as well! So glad to hear your thoughts on A Haunt for Jackals!
NICE! Yes, A Haunt for Jackals is also amazing. The plot meanders a little bit more than the first one, but I'm so invested in the characters that it wasn't enough to sway me away from the story.
Sounds like a great month of reading Tori! I really need to get to By Blood By Salt soon. Thanks for keeping the hype up!
Is Cold Silver likely to be late this year or next year? (Or should I wait patiently for another update? 😅😅)
Definitely pick up By Blood, By Salt!
Cold Silver will most likely be dropping in the first half of 2025 ;) Stay tuned.
Congrats on the new book! That’s so exciting 😊
Thank you so much! 🙌🏻
Yay for reading sequels! And yay for finishing the first draft! 🥳🥳
🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
I read Lady Tan's Circle of Women not too long ago and enjoyed Lisa See's writing so much that I bought 3 of her earlier books including The Island of Sea Women and The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane. I'm glad you enjoyed them so much. I'm looking forward to reading them!
YES! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Isn't Lisa brilliant? I'm planning on reading Lady Tan this year as well. Both of the other two you picked up are phenomenal books. I hope you have a great time with them.
Congratulations on Cold Silver for Souls! I think it’s wonderful to take different pathways with our creativity, and I loved hearing how that project paid off for you! Happy reading and writing!
Thank you so much, Johanna! It was definitely a much needed reset.
I’ve seen the +ve commentary for the Odom series and you are adding to the hypewagon here - in a good way I hasten to add 😆 I did note your reference to military fantasy, which I know from Zucker’s “Nomads of the Sea” is a fave of yours, but *character driven* is what hooks me in here.
I had to look up what +ve is 😂
Yes!!! All aboard the hypewagon! Jayme's got a really special series going here. I'm dying waiting for book 3. XD
I do love some military fantasy, but ONLY if it's character-driven. I need to be immersed and right next to those characters.
another 5 star video - and That's a Fact!
Thanks Brian… errr… Rick… 🤔😂
Wow Tori,
What an amazing achievement, I can't wait to hear more about the book and story!
Also, now that you've hyped up Odom so much, I'll have to promote book 1 on my tbr, but no pressure or anything...
Definitely push that book up the TBR, it's so good!
And thank you so much. I can't wait to share Cold Silver with everyone. :D
It's so sweet how you read with your husband. Very intentional marriage building and I appreciate it.
Your excitement makes me excited 😆 I'm waiting until Land of Exile is completed before reading, but you are making it harder for me to resist! Lol
Congratulations on your writing as well! 🎉 I'm looking forward to the read!
We love reading together. :) It's a wonderful connection point for us. Thank you!
I hope you love Land of Exile when you pick it up! I'm on the struggle bus waiting for that third book.
@ToriTalks2 you're welcome!
I'm sure I will considering all the high praise it's receiving 😁
Lol that's why I don't start unfinished series! I'm incredibly impatient and too lazy to reread and get a refresher when the sequels do come out.
Have me really wanting to check out By Blood By Salt and A Haunt for Jackals! Also, awesome news on Cold Silver! Sounds pretty cool!
YES! Please do, they’re fantastic.
And thank you! I’m very excited for it to come out.
@ has been thrown onto the ever-expanding TBR! 😂
Congratulations on completing your first draft. I'm still stuck in the editing phase. Stay safe and happy reading.
You'll get there! Everybody's pace is different. Wishing you luck for finishing!
A Haunt For Jackals being a banger makes me even more excited, I'm doing a group read of By Blood, By Salt end of February! Made 7 dudes buy the book because.....I could. xD
HECK YES. I love to hear that! I hope you guys have a fantastic time with it, and I'm so thrilled to hear the support for Jayme. She deserves it.
Agreed about Arm of the Sphinx being an important expansion of the story character-wise. I know the singular "boring" POV character of Senlin Ascends has made some folks stop at book 1, thinking it's going to stay that way, and I feel like, when recommending the series, it's important to mention it improves.
I think Senlin is more "cautious and thoughtful" than boring, and I think a lot of people (like you said) perceive it that way even though he's just not a typical fantasy protagonist. I do think having additional POVs in book 2 helps a lot with the pacing.
For this month I have read The Farseer Trilogy and am currently doing a slow reread through the Complete poems of Charlotte Smith, an 18th century author whose poems often hit much the same that Robin Hobb’s Farseer books do. There is no hope, all is lost, resentment reigns.
I am also reading a translation of a Middle English long form poem called The Romance of William and the Werewolf. I finally got this book early last month after having contributed to a crowd funding campaign for it 2-4 years ago.
Wow! That's impressive. I hope the long form poem lives up to the expectations for you!
So excited for Cold Silver for Souls! Have you read Pachinko by Min Jin Lee? If you love Lisa See you should totally check out Pachinko.
I did read Pachinko! Quite a while ago, I think, maybe in 2020? It was really good, I remember enjoying most of it a lot.
I think I read about 100 pages of Wind and Truth this month. I just can’t seem to focus enough to read. Hopefully life and the world can stabilize a bit and I can get back to reading more again!
Wishing you some good reading time this next month!!!
Here's what I read
Under your spell by Laura wood
A fire Endless by rebecca ross
My name my is Barbra by Barbra Streisand memoir
A winter in new York by josie silver
The teacher by frida McFadden
You like it darker by Stephen king
Things we left behind by Lucy score
Bride by ali hazlewood
Nice! Which one was your favorite?
@ToriTalks2
Under your spell by Laura wood it's a romance read I totally recommend this
A winter in new York by josie silver
Things we left behind by Lucy score
My least favorite is the teacher by frida McFadden I do not recommend this book
I also find shape shifters an interesting concept in fantasy. :)
Gah! So excited for Cold Silver. However, I don’t appreciate how you keep adding new books to my TBR. 🙄 It’s long enough as it is.
-T
Sorry not sorry. XD At least you've already read part of it?
January was a great reading month full of 5 star reads. Best book of January was The Mechanical by Ian Tregillis. Other great books I read during the month were: The Wickwire Watch, Foundryside, The Folding Knife, and books 1 - 3 of the Spellslinger series.
My most anticipated new release is now Bloodstones #2, I loved the first book and can't wait to see what happens next.
We love a 5-star reading month! That's awesome. I'm so glad you enjoyed The Wickwire Watch too!
And thank you so much, I'm thrilled you had a good time with The Blood Stones. As soon as my new book Cold Silver for Souls comes out, I'll be turning all my attention to Bruhai #2 this summer, and I can't wait!
I have never fantasized as much about living on an airship than after I read Arm of the Sphinx.
SAME! The airship sequences were SO cool. :D
Me too!
Since you like shapeshifters, have you ever read Chronicles of the Cheysuli by Jennifer Roberson. They are high fantasy, not paranormal romance. I reread this series so many times as a kid/young adult. Haven't reread them in a while, so I don't know how they hold up. I read them as they came out in the 80s and early 90s. Back when I would read books as they came out instead of binging when complete. Lol
I haven't! I'll check out the synopses, thank you so much for the recommendation. :D
Will you do an updated Top fav series after you finish the "By Blood, By Salt" trilogy?
Absolutely ;) The third book won't be out in time for my updated list this year, but in 2026? You best believe it'll be on there.
Started Gene Wolfe's Latro in the Mist books, and read Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman. Both probably four stars.
Yessssss!!!! Between Two Fires is so bonkers!!! And even though I like Wolfe, I have yet to read his Latro books.
Nice! I've heard a lot of people liking Between Two Fires.
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BRAND NEW BOOK BRAND NEW BOOK BRAND NEW BOOK
I’m thinking “The Isle of the Sea Women “ might be a good pick for our book club too, what kind of content warnings are in it? I don’t think our club would like detailed depictions of rape but other stuff would probably be fine
There are no rape descriptions on screen, but there is mention of sexual violence in past tense, as told by the survivor. In terms of other content warnings: child death, violence (both domestic and war), torture, death, etc. It's heavy, but Lisa See handles all of those heavy topics in a way that does not glorify or sensationalize. She's unapologetic, but respectful. Hopefully that helps! It's the kind of book that elicits a lot of discussion, so I hope your book club finds it meaningful if you decide to pick it up! My copy has book club discussion questions in the back as well.
*judges you for annotating your books*
Haha go right ahead! I’ve been loving the process.
Fantastic news, Tori!! 🎉❤📚 this is amazing!! Can’t wait for it to come out.✨🫶🏼
Thanks friend!! I’m excited about it!