WHEEL OF TIME FANS To be fair, I'm honestly just impressed that I remembered book four is the one with so much Perrin. These books start to blend together after you read so many. The fact that all I did wrong was hold up book five while I was talking about book for is a win to me 😂
And your only 6 books in! Lol. Wait until u read the other 9. I just started my first re read since 2013. And I'm always suprised how much I've forgotten. This is my fourth time through. (other than the Sanderson books)
I understand your confusion but it still makes my heart hurt. At this point in the series for me it was pretty tight between book four and book five for which was better too so its understandable to get them confused. The best is yet to come. Keep turning the wheel!
@@christopherbacon1077 I love these kind of characters that are so gray it's hard to classify them into anti-heroes or anti-villains. But I think I'll have to reread count of monte cristo now to analyse it again. I read it over a decade ago, so... I don't know how I'd classify Edmond today.
The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my all time favourites! I find it so beautiful in all the ways possible. I have read it more times than any other book, and I still remember the first time I finished it (when I was twelve years old: it was a adaption for kids) and how amazed I was with the conclusion of the story. Not only that: I also had a huge crush on Edmund. Kind of weird but very true.
"my favorite book is book 4" *holds up book 5* "my favorite character is Perrin, so if you have read the series you know why this book is my favorite" *Holds up book with literally 0 Perin* to be fair to you there are a lot of books in the series
The way you described Wuthering Heights it will definitely make me read it this week.The idea of how we become what we hate, oh man I've seen myself going through that phase and how terrible I felt when the I realised it
Hey most people think "Romeo and Juliet" is a romance when it's explicitly listed and most certainly is a tragedy. Hello, both title characters *die*. Don't think I'm spoiling anything there.
People who glorify Katherine and Heathcliff baffle me to no end, as do those that love Romeo and Juliet as relationship goals. No they’re horrible people, doing extremely abusive things to the ones they “love”, they are not something to aspire to.
I like your take on Wuthering Heights. I guess I always viewed it as a tragedy but in a romance point of view. Kind of like how their circumstances then prevented them from being together and having to go through all these things and to that ending.
I love this list, but I confess that when you got to The Troop, I heard worms and skipped to the next book. 😂😂😂 And Wuthering Heights is a brilliant novel. I don’t know why people call it a romance. It’s one of my favorites of all time. It’s a Gothic novel, with some romance, but more obsession. Also I LOVE The Count of Monte Cristo. It stays tied with The Three Musketeers for me. Which I like best depends on when you ask me. 🤷🏽♀️
The Troop was a decent read, Getting made into a movie now And if you liked Pet Semetary you might like other Stephen King works like Salem's Lot, Nightmares And Dreamscapes, Carrie and his latest book The Institute
The Luna books sound right up my alley! I love family themes in books and I’m trying to read more indie and self-published books. The Nightingale is on my tbr for next year, so excited to read it! And YES totally agree with you on Wuthering Heights being a tragedy.
I just started the unabridged audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo. I’m 8 hours in and having never seen any film versions or having no prior knowledge of the plot I’m so happy I picked this one up. It’s so good. I’ll stop this before you get to any spoilers but I can’t wait to get deeper into this book. Absolutely loving it.
I read the Savior’s Champion this year and adored it, you actually recommended it in some video, I just picked it up immediately and fell in love! Thank you so much for the recs♥️
Yaay Fredrik Backman! He is sooo good at capturing the Swedish melancholy and pulls on our heartstrings with both nostalgia and contemporary references 🥰
Just started The Lies of Locke Lamora (based on your recommendation from a different video), and I was doubting it at first while trying to get into the writing style. But I hit about chapter 3 and I'm now so involved in it and loving the writing style!
The Count of Monte Cristo was the first "classic" I've ever read. It was actually the first big book I've ever read on my own (I was 9). Bedridden after an injury, didn't have a lot to do but read. I was enthralled by the premise and by Edmond's character. I still enjoy re-reading it 2 decades later. Interesting to learn that it reminds you of The Lies of Locke Lamora. You just bumped the book up in my "to read" list. :)
WHEEL OF TIME??? Oh my God, I literally NEVER see anyone reading it and I was so happy/surprised/shocked/amazed to see one of the books here! And so amazing to find someone who is reading this book series! Instant sub and like from me!
4:10 I re-read it almost every year, and each time I do, I uncover new sub themes. I enjoy Dumas' take on Faith. The last page is a mantra for me. The Fifth Season is one I'll look out for, you made it sound intriguing. Great channel.
One of my fav classics is The count of monte Cristo. Also i reaaallyy need to hear your thoughts over the Cormoron strike (it gets better with every book). Its crime/investigation but booooiiii.. i love them. Written by jk rowling under the pen name of Robert Galbraith
You always introduce me to so many new books that I want to add to my TBR list which always suffers in the holidays. So glad to see some of these on your list. Also, since you like books that explore grief (and yes, Pet Semetary does that brilliantly) I HIGHLY recommend "Dear Cheyenne" by Joanne Cacciatore-Garard; It's a non-fiction exploring a mother's loss of her child and it is very raw but very honest. I recommend it to a lot of my therapy clients.
ahh, i've been looking for a good time travel book for SO LONG, and on luna time sounds absolutely perfect!! thank you so much! (also, i'm pretty sure a ghost knocks over a book on the shelf at 5:54 but we just not gonna talk about that)
I love Wuthering Heights! It is one of those books where the characters stick with you long after the book is finished. If you ever watch one of the adaptions, my favorite is the 2009 British 2 part TV version.
Based on how much you love character stories, you really need to read The Stand by Stephen King. Some of the greatest most impactful characters in this Stephen King classic!
When you read the Nightingale in the beginning of the year I thought it the perfect gift for my moms birthday and it was! She tore through, gave it to my aunt and by now theyve read like 5 hannah kristen books. Thanks!!
Hey! Perrin has always been my favorite character too! Still loving him just as much on my re read. I bumped Wuthering Heights up my TBR because of you and I absolutely loved it. Some of my new favorites from this year have been Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, Words of Radiance by Sanderson, Love from A to Z by S. K. ALI (YA romance where the characters are just so dang good to each other), Middlegame by Seanan McGuire, Skyward by Sanderson (Starsight is going to join that list. I'm 40 pages away from completing it), Maybe you Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb. Hands down the best nonfiction I've read this year. SUCH A GREAT READING YEAR!
The Best Books I Read in 2019 "The Saxon Shore" by Jack Whyte "The Crimson Petal and the White" by Michel Faber "The Book of Strange New Things" by Michel Faber "Boudica: Dreaming the Eagle" by Manda Scott "Boudica: Dreaming the Bull" by Manda Scott "The Last Dragonlord" by Joanne Bertin "The Devil All the Time" by Donald Ray Pollock "The Size of Everything" by Erin Cole "The Wicked Girls" by Alex Marwood "Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens
Me: Okay, We have very different tastes in books, so I don't think we're going to add a lot of books to this list. Me, six minutes later: I've added all four books talked about so far, why-
If you want a great, classic friendship, read the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser books by Fritz Leiber (most were published in the 60s/70's but their origins go back to the 1930s). The first is Swords and Deviltry. The seven books are a collection of short stories/novellas combined into a chronological narrative by Leiber for publication.
I've made a top of my favourite books this year, but the year hasn't finished. In fact, today is the first day of my winter holidays and I'm looking forward to reading as much as possible. I've got some books that may prove better than my top 3. I cannot reach my goal on Goodreads (200), but I may have about 150 books read by the end of the year. By the way, Merphy, I want to read The Lies of Locke Lamora soon, but probably not in December. I started it some time ago in Romanian and I DNFed it, waiting to get it in English because in many cases it makes all the difference. And I don't mean the Romanian version is incorrect, but sometimes things get lost in translation, failing to convey the atmosphere, the intensity of the events etc The translation of Guy Gavriel Kay's Under Heaven is good. I compared it to the original and it was almost perfect. The Name of the Wind, A Game of Thrones, An Ember in the Ashes, Mistborn - no, no, no! I'm crying out to any Romanian readers who know English: Don't read them in Romanian! Buy them in English! About Wuthering Heights: I own two Romanian versions. The older version is AMAZING!!! Better than the original, if that is even possible! It immerses the reader in the atmosphere immediately, rendering every detail perfectly! I highly recommend it. It may be the reason why so many Romanians love this novel dearly. The more recent version is correct, yet extremely dry, making people lose interest.
I read the Gentleman Bastards series (and branched out of my reading comfort zone) this year after watching your channel! I love your reviews! I’m trying to get faster at reading so I can get to more of the books you are recommending before I die, lol!
Thanks for a year of great recommendations! I really rely on my book tubers to keep me reading. It’s so much more gratifying when you keep reading hit after hit
I've read both The lies of Locke Lamora and Red Seas under red skies this year and I enjoyed both books a lot. I'm also happy to hear that you enjoyed the Shadow Rising, it is one of my favorite WoT books! Many of your top picks of the year sounded really interesting, hopefully I'll get to a few of them during 2020
Wuthering Heights is one of my favorite books of all time. Would love your full thoughts/devoted review on it! I read it every couple of years and I always get something new from it. It’s a brilliant book!
Love the diversity in your reading! Makes more of an enjoyable experience for watching your videos as i like to avoid confining myself to one genre also
I just stumbled on to your channel and am now helplessly charmed with your passionate, animated style and the ruthless manner in which you use those big brown eyes to such innocent, not to mention convincing, effect. My comment concerns your appreciation for the classics, and I being somewhat old, I wonder if you've ever read Ann McCaffery. I'm sure you have, but for those who haven't, she created the Dragon Riders of Pern, as well as a female centered spin- off series in the same vein. She began writing at a time ( the 60's) when sci/fan was more an oddity, and in my opinion created the genre. She brought excellent writing to what had been, previously, utter dreck for the most part. The first three books are the best with the White Dragon an outstanding follow up. After the adjacent Harper Hall Trilogy she became, I hate to say, a rather polished industry. She deserves a posthumous shout out for bringing a female perspective to Science Fantasy, and for raising the bar for all that followed..
Based on your review of Things My Son Needs to Know About the World, I bought it for my colleague (who has a young son) as part of our work secret santa and she loved it!
I don’t know if you’ve ever read this but there’s this wonderful book called Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. It was on a teen reads list so it may be aimed to younger audience but it’s about WWII and it has 4 different point of views. Which could be confusing but it really is beautiful and very interesting because most of it, is true. It’s amazing I recommend this and many, many more honestly! :)
I love The Count of Monte Cristo! My favorite characters are Eugenie and Louise, and I hope you got a translation that didn't cut out their scenes because I've heard some do. On the other hand, I hated the Three Musketeers books, but I really don't like reading about protagonists who are The Worst. If you do, you might like those too.
I love watching your reviews, you make me want to read or reread the same books. You always see so many things I didn't see in books I've read and I find it so interesting. I especially always feel like I want to reread books and see if I get the same things out of them from a reread. Even Tess of the D'Urbavilles - which I absolutely hated when I read it for high school English, which might explain why I hated it!
I, too, read the Count of Monte Cristo this year and COMPLETELY agree with everything you said. Am I crazy that I already want to re-read it? "He's not a good guy, but it's a good book."
Thanks for the recommendation for The Fifth Season. I think I got it as an Amazon First Read a couple of years ago, and it’s just been sitting in my Kindle.
Yes! I love Pet Sematary, The Fifth Season, I Am Legend, and the Troop. I read the Troop this year and reviewed it, and I'm thinking it'll probably make it into my favorites of the year. I've added a few of the other books you mentioned to my TBR :).
Murphy's I've read "The Count of Monte Cristo" "The Fifth Season" "Name of the Wind" "Nightingale" I really like all of them. I have also read "Pet Sematary" but I read it when it came out, so I'm due for a re-read.
Fantasy hasn't ever been a favorite genre of mine, but thanks to reading Mistborn, I'm super excited to try more! Also realized that this was my first reading of a hard magic system, and I definitely prefer it over soft magic systems.
Glad yo see that you have enjoyed so many books this year! 😊 My favorite book of the year is most likely(I don't see The Fellowship of the Ring becoming my new fav as I'm currently forcing myself to finish it - Am I the only person who has a strong dislike for Gandalf?😅 ) gonna be Letters to the Lost (thank you so, so much for recommending that book, Merph! ❤), along with Kasie West's By Your Side and my rereads of His Dark Materials and Deltora Quest series. As a primarily fantasy fan, I'm sad that I didn't find any new fantasy story this year to love 😭 The Winner's Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski had a lot of potential, but went downhill for me in the second book because of the inconsistency in characters' intelligence from scene to scene and Brandon Sanderson, sadly, turned out to be a complete miss for me 🙁 So, yeah, sad year for fantasy, but good year for romance for me.
Natasa Gajic I’m not a fan of Gandalf either. Sometimes I appreciate the things he says and I understand the need for his character, but he’s definitely low on my favorite LOTR characters.
The only one of these books I’ve read is Wuthering Heights, which I didn’t love. But two of my favourite books this year I found thanks to you channel: An Unkindness of Magicians and Beartown (tbh I’m not even halway through this one but I can already tell it’s going to be one of my favourite books ever)
For a screen adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, check out the Japanese Animation version. It’s still abridged at ten hours long, but it’s almost as enjoyable as the book.
Since you loved the Count of Monte Cristo, I'd be really curious to hear what you would think of the 1998 tv mini-series of it. It's all in French so you have to read the subtitles (unless you speak French), and I'd recommend watching it over two days, since it is quite long. Also, you talking about Wuthering Heights reminded me of this singer covering Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights song. I really like this cover: th-cam.com/video/tcPrv_6jhRk/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=Karliene
I read The Republic of Thieves in 2019 and it may very well be my favorite book of all time. I absolutely adored it and I read it not knowing there were two books before it lol..... still loved it and I still have to read the first two but my library doesn't have them lol. Gonna get them though!
If you have not already read "The Orphan's Tale" i highly recommend it! (The audible audiobook makes it much better because of the accents). It is probably similar to "The Nightingale". Also, since you had quite a few horror/thrillers on here, have you read "Pretty Girls" by Karin Slaughter? I can't remember if it was you or another booktuber, but i just finished it and i can't even begin to describe how i feel about it. It was one of the most messed up, hard to finish books i have ever read but the story was SOOO incredibly captivating and well written. It is definitely intense and if you are triggered by sexual violence, it probably isn't the book for you, but my god was the book amazing. Like i said, very hard to get through as the author dosen't shy away from the details, but it also doesn't feel like she put things in unnecessarily. Every moment had a purpose in the book.
I really enjoyed reading Pet Semetary. I have actually heard somewhere that is King’s scariest books (really not sure that is accurate). I think I might want to do a reread of that soon. The story that inspired King to write it is really devastating and I see him writing this book as a coping mechanism because grief is and can be extremely difficult to get through.
(Spoilers). . . . . . It has to do with whats "scary" to you. The idea of losing my child then, in a mad state of grief, I bring my child back as an abomination, is fucking terrifying. Losing my children is a tier 1 fear.
I have quite a few of these on my shelf i haven't read. I tried Lies of Locke Lamora, but i had to set it aside as I was struggling to connect with the story. To be fair it was the very start of my several month reading slump and some of the worst depression I've experienced, so makes sense. I just started reading again and picked uo Warbreaker!
I am legend is fantastic. There is a heavy psychological element to it that i will remember until my brain fails me. Haha the way you said 'D'Ubervilles.' Classic!
Book that I probably pick : "On Luna Time". I love time travell, and your taste in Romance sounds very much like mine, so I think I will give it a go. I can't make up my mind: For my first fanasty, I am torn between "Locke Lamora" & "Mistborn". You recommend the latter for beginners, but the former story sounds more appealing. Thomas Hardy: Give "Far from the madding Crowd" a chance. Bathsheba Everdene is an awsome heroine (yes! katnis was named after her) Fun con novel to recommend: "Not a Penny more, not a penny less" by Jeffery Archer. It is fluff, but an awsome one :). It is a great long con book. Things My Son Needs to Know About The World: Drennan needs to know that his Mum is Awsome :)
The way I Am Legend emphasized the feeling of not only being alone but also carrying the weight of the world of being human was incredible. *spoilers ahead for I Am Legend* On the flip side, I’ve seen some credibility lent to the vampires that the problem with the main character is he isn’t willing to follow the times and just join the rank of vampires because his unwillingness to change is his hubris. I think it’s a pretty cool perspective on thinking the protagonist really is kind of an antagonist to the rest of the new society.
And I thought I'm totally weird because: Even while reading so many cool and interesting books at the same time, the one book I cant get enough of and have the main focus on it, is a very old book were I basically already know the premise. The count of monte christo. happy to see that I aint the only one really enyojng the book 😁😁
I got Things my Son Needs to Know About the World for my sister for Christmas. She has a five-year-old boy and from everything you've said I simply couldn't go without buying it for her!
Hey Merphy, happy holidays - video idea request. Could you do a video talking about the books you got the most negative pushback from, for your opinion and how you think about those books now? Also 'The Fifth Season' 👍🏽👍🏽😍😍😍 kinda sad to hear number 1 was your favourite because I'm starting book 2 now...😛
I have read 'The Count of Monte Cristo' 'Weathering Hights' and 'Tess of the D' Ubervilles'. Love the 1st one, don't remember much of the 2nd one, but plan to reread it in 2020 and DNFed the 3rd one, I might try it on audio and see if I manage to finish it.
Please try out Outlander. I know romance isn't really your thing, but it's not mine either and I really enjoyed the entire series. It's a time travel romance, semi-historical fiction. The relationship is so well realized and feels like a real couple. Plus there's the advantage of the first couple books taking place in Scotland. I found that my brain would think in a Scottish accent for the first day or 2 after finishing each book. Lol and we get to live throughout some major historical events and see them from different perspectives.
@@natasagajic1061 that opening song is so beautiful! I've watched the show too, and love it. My Mom is the one who turned me on to both the books and the show, so we always buddy watch the show as it comes out.
@@lauramcdonald5004 I also watch the show with my mom! 😁 We like to catch up on the show whenever I visit her (along with all the other historical romance BBC shows, we just watched North & South last time I've visited and we loved it to pieces). I love both versions of the opening - original & french ❤
Omg! The Tess of D'urberville! I was so angry how Tess was treated. The book got such a rise out of me! Man. Hate Wuthering Heights! I glad you liked it but I couldn't stand that novel. I definitely want to read all the other ones you have listed. I might pass on The Troop though lol
This made me want to reread Count of Monte Cristo and Wuthering Heights - one of which is one of my favourites (The Count) and the other I really really disliked. However, I am really intrigued by your take on WH. I had always heard that it was the epitome of romance novels etc as a teenager, so when I read it in my early 20s I was shocked. It is definitively, IMO, NOT a romantic novel. I think that my impression of it was so tainted by my expectation of it being this great love story, and I kept waiting for it to happen. I've always been open to trying it again with fresh eyes and a more open mind, and I think approaching it with the idea that it is a tragedy is a great idea, thanks!
Red Seas Under Red Skies? Interesting. I liked it a lot, but it was so much harder for me to get into than the others. I hear a lot of people say they don't love the sailing and piracy part, but I didn't like it until that point. I would say that The Lies of Locke Lamora and The Republic of Thieves are some of the best books I've read in years. While I enjoyed Red Seas Under Red skies a lot, I don't think I could give it quite the same praise as the other two. Excited for Thorn of Emberlain to come out! Locke and Jean is possibly my favorite fictional friendship of all time, now. So. Good. In my opinion, it's up there with Legolas/Gimli and Sam/Frodo. High praise, considering Tolkien is so good at friendships.
yeah it's just a matter of taste. My husband and my dad love book 2 the most of the three. My brother is like you and thought it was good but didn't enjoy the sailing/piracy nearly as much.
Red Seas Under Red Skies gets extra points in my book for having cats in it, and also for them being good luck! I love cats! (I’m not a crazy cat lady though, I only have 2, lol)
@@lyndseymurray8065 Yeah, I was here for all the gruff men who casually carry kittens around. Sad in The Republic of Thieves that Locke and Jean didn't get to keep Royal.
@@merphynapier42 I liked the sailing/piracy! It was the first 200 pages or so that were rough for me. I've heard a lot of people complain about the opposite, but I had to struggle through to the point where they started to learn to sail. Locke and Jean's friendship was what kept me going, but not so much the first act of the plot.
I will always agree with the lies of locke lamora series praise, I love all three books also I wanted to read smthing awesome during the last 10 days of the year nd count of monte christo and fondryside do sound great so yup reading them next!!
Hey Merphy awesome video! Where do you get your pictures of books that you put in your videos? I'm definitely gonna look into a couple of the fantasy reads you listed. Also you look so pretty! 💖💕💗🎄🎁⛄
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WHEEL OF TIME FANS
To be fair, I'm honestly just impressed that I remembered book four is the one with so much Perrin. These books start to blend together after you read so many. The fact that all I did wrong was hold up book five while I was talking about book for is a win to me 😂
And your only 6 books in! Lol. Wait until u read the other 9.
I just started my first re read since 2013. And I'm always suprised how much I've forgotten. This is my fourth time through. (other than the Sanderson books)
I understand your confusion but it still makes my heart hurt. At this point in the series for me it was pretty tight between book four and book five for which was better too so its understandable to get them confused. The best is yet to come. Keep turning the wheel!
Ooooh! So Exciting. The characters just keep getting better. Enjoy!
I hate people nitpicking when half of them couldn't even put out a video with half the quality of yours.
Four*
"He's not a good guy, but it WAS a good book."
best description possible
I love Anti-heroes (and anti-villains) and Edmund Dante is a classic example of the former, although some might consider him the latter.
@@christopherbacon1077 I love these kind of characters that are so gray it's hard to classify them into anti-heroes or anti-villains. But I think I'll have to reread count of monte cristo now to analyse it again. I read it over a decade ago, so... I don't know how I'd classify Edmond today.
That sounds like a great book! I need it to add it to my longggg reading list! 😁
The Count of Monte Cristo is one of my all time favourites! I find it so beautiful in all the ways possible. I have read it more times than any other book, and I still remember the first time I finished it (when I was twelve years old: it was a adaption for kids) and how amazed I was with the conclusion of the story. Not only that: I also had a huge crush on Edmund. Kind of weird but very true.
"my favorite book is book 4"
*holds up book 5*
"my favorite character is Perrin, so if you have read the series you know why this book is my favorite"
*Holds up book with literally 0 Perin*
to be fair to you there are a lot of books in the series
She’s giving me Velma vibes
"Stand up on your own sir!"
I'm trying...it's Saturday morning and I don't wanna.
The way you described Wuthering Heights it will definitely make me read it this week.The idea of how we become what we hate, oh man I've seen myself going through that phase and how terrible I felt when the I realised it
So... They can time travel by jumping from a pier, at midnight, at her/their birthday, If its stormy,How the hell she and her family discovered that?
lol, it's all explained in the book
Have not read it so this is speculation not spoiler but I'm guessing a suicide attempt.
It actually caught my attention too. ;)
@@christopherbacon1077 oh no it's a really light book. It's all wrapped up in magic and a family gift
At least they didn't also have to be naked? (shrug)
Oh, I hate it when Wuthering Heights are advertised as a romance.
Hey most people think "Romeo and Juliet" is a romance when it's explicitly listed and most certainly is a tragedy. Hello, both title characters *die*. Don't think I'm spoiling anything there.
People who glorify Katherine and Heathcliff baffle me to no end, as do those that love Romeo and Juliet as relationship goals. No they’re horrible people, doing extremely abusive things to the ones they “love”, they are not something to aspire to.
@@EvaraLia YES.
I like your take on Wuthering Heights. I guess I always viewed it as a tragedy but in a romance point of view. Kind of like how their circumstances then prevented them from being together and having to go through all these things and to that ending.
Okey this is my tbr for next year
report back on if you liked any that you try!
Merphy Napier I will I am planning on reading The Nightingale and The Fifth Season as soon as I can
I love this list, but I confess that when you got to The Troop, I heard worms and skipped to the next book. 😂😂😂 And Wuthering Heights is a brilliant novel. I don’t know why people call it a romance. It’s one of my favorites of all time. It’s a Gothic novel, with some romance, but more obsession. Also I LOVE The Count of Monte Cristo. It stays tied with The Three Musketeers for me. Which I like best depends on when you ask me. 🤷🏽♀️
The Troop was a decent read, Getting made into a movie now
And if you liked Pet Semetary you might like other Stephen King works like Salem's Lot, Nightmares And Dreamscapes, Carrie and his latest book The Institute
The Luna books sound right up my alley! I love family themes in books and I’m trying to read more indie and self-published books. The Nightingale is on my tbr for next year, so excited to read it! And YES totally agree with you on Wuthering Heights being a tragedy.
I just started the unabridged audiobook of The Count of Monte Cristo. I’m 8 hours in and having never seen any film versions or having no prior knowledge of the plot I’m so happy I picked this one up. It’s so good. I’ll stop this before you get to any spoilers but I can’t wait to get deeper into this book. Absolutely loving it.
I just got to where you say an abrupt change. Video paused and I’m gone. But so far I agree about how good this book is.
Merphy: I love Perrin and book 4 is my favorite because of Perrin (holds book 5 where Perrin is absent) 😂
The Nightingale is such a phenomenal novel! Highly recommend "The Great Alone" by the same author, which I loved even more :)
I read the Savior’s Champion this year and adored it, you actually recommended it in some video, I just picked it up immediately and fell in love! Thank you so much for the recs♥️
I can’t believe I’ve never read “The Count of Monte Cristo” I’m adding it to my tbr!!
Definitely must read.
Yaay Fredrik Backman! He is sooo good at capturing the Swedish melancholy and pulls on our heartstrings with both nostalgia and contemporary references 🥰
Have you read Anxious People?
Just started The Lies of Locke Lamora (based on your recommendation from a different video), and I was doubting it at first while trying to get into the writing style. But I hit about chapter 3 and I'm now so involved in it and loving the writing style!
it only gets better, i read it sooner than i expected
The Count of Monte Cristo was the first "classic" I've ever read. It was actually the first big book I've ever read on my own (I was 9). Bedridden after an injury, didn't have a lot to do but read. I was enthralled by the premise and by Edmond's character. I still enjoy re-reading it 2 decades later. Interesting to learn that it reminds you of The Lies of Locke Lamora. You just bumped the book up in my "to read" list. :)
WHEEL OF TIME??? Oh my God, I literally NEVER see anyone reading it and I was so happy/surprised/shocked/amazed to see one of the books here! And so amazing to find someone who is reading this book series! Instant sub and like from me!
That is so sweet and awesome! That book really does sound amazing!
4:10
I re-read it almost every year, and each time I do, I uncover new sub themes. I enjoy Dumas' take on Faith. The last page is a mantra for me.
The Fifth Season is one I'll look out for, you made it sound intriguing.
Great channel.
I want to add that Backman book to my TBR! Also to finally read The Name of the Wind. Thank you for sharing your list with us
One of my fav classics is The count of monte Cristo.
Also i reaaallyy need to hear your thoughts over the Cormoron strike (it gets better with every book). Its crime/investigation but booooiiii.. i love them. Written by jk rowling under the pen name of Robert Galbraith
Completely agree on favorite duet ever:
1. Locke & Jean
2. Max & Wayne. (Mistborn)
3. Kalam & Quickben (Malazan)
You always introduce me to so many new books that I want to add to my TBR list which always suffers in the holidays. So glad to see some of these on your list. Also, since you like books that explore grief (and yes, Pet Semetary does that brilliantly) I HIGHLY recommend "Dear Cheyenne" by Joanne Cacciatore-Garard; It's a non-fiction exploring a mother's loss of her child and it is very raw but very honest. I recommend it to a lot of my therapy clients.
ahh, i've been looking for a good time travel book for SO LONG, and on luna time sounds absolutely perfect!! thank you so much!
(also, i'm pretty sure a ghost knocks over a book on the shelf at 5:54 but we just not gonna talk about that)
I love Wuthering Heights! It is one of those books where the characters stick with you long after the book is finished. If you ever watch one of the adaptions, my favorite is the 2009 British 2 part TV version.
Based on how much you love character stories, you really need to read The Stand by Stephen King. Some of the greatest most impactful characters in this Stephen King classic!
When you read the Nightingale in the beginning of the year I thought it the perfect gift for my moms birthday and it was! She tore through, gave it to my aunt and by now theyve read like 5 hannah kristen books. Thanks!!
awe I love that!
Just discovered your channel and you sound/kind of look like Linda Cardellini and I'm all here for it!
Hey! Perrin has always been my favorite character too! Still loving him just as much on my re read. I bumped Wuthering Heights up my TBR because of you and I absolutely loved it. Some of my new favorites from this year have been Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, Words of Radiance by Sanderson, Love from A to Z by S. K. ALI (YA romance where the characters are just so dang good to each other), Middlegame by Seanan McGuire, Skyward by Sanderson (Starsight is going to join that list. I'm 40 pages away from completing it), Maybe you Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb. Hands down the best nonfiction I've read this year. SUCH A GREAT READING YEAR!
The Best Books I Read in 2019
"The Saxon Shore" by Jack Whyte
"The Crimson Petal and the White" by Michel Faber
"The Book of Strange New Things" by Michel Faber
"Boudica: Dreaming the Eagle" by Manda Scott
"Boudica: Dreaming the Bull" by Manda Scott
"The Last Dragonlord" by Joanne Bertin
"The Devil All the Time" by Donald Ray Pollock
"The Size of Everything" by Erin Cole
"The Wicked Girls" by Alex Marwood
"Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens
Pet Semetary is one of the few books that actually scared me.
Stephen King said it was the only story he wrote he was scared of.
@@redlikeroses1062 He said he was horrified by what he wrote!!
Me: Okay, We have very different tastes in books, so I don't think we're going to add a lot of books to this list.
Me, six minutes later: I've added all four books talked about so far, why-
If you want a great, classic friendship, read the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser books by Fritz Leiber (most were published in the 60s/70's but their origins go back to the 1930s). The first is Swords and Deviltry. The seven books are a collection of short stories/novellas combined into a chronological narrative by Leiber for publication.
I've made a top of my favourite books this year, but the year hasn't finished. In fact, today is the first day of my winter holidays and I'm looking forward to reading as much as possible. I've got some books that may prove better than my top 3. I cannot reach my goal on Goodreads (200), but I may have about 150 books read by the end of the year. By the way, Merphy, I want to read The Lies of Locke Lamora soon, but probably not in December. I started it some time ago in Romanian and I DNFed it, waiting to get it in English because in many cases it makes all the difference. And I don't mean the Romanian version is incorrect, but sometimes things get lost in translation, failing to convey the atmosphere, the intensity of the events etc The translation of Guy Gavriel Kay's Under Heaven is good. I compared it to the original and it was almost perfect. The Name of the Wind, A Game of Thrones, An Ember in the Ashes, Mistborn - no, no, no! I'm crying out to any Romanian readers who know English: Don't read them in Romanian! Buy them in English! About Wuthering Heights: I own two Romanian versions. The older version is AMAZING!!! Better than the original, if that is even possible! It immerses the reader in the atmosphere immediately, rendering every detail perfectly! I highly recommend it. It may be the reason why so many Romanians love this novel dearly. The more recent version is correct, yet extremely dry, making people lose interest.
I read the Gentleman Bastards series (and branched out of my reading comfort zone) this year after watching your channel! I love your reviews! I’m trying to get faster at reading so I can get to more of the books you are recommending before I die, lol!
Thanks for a year of great recommendations! I really rely on my book tubers to keep me reading. It’s so much more gratifying when you keep reading hit after hit
I've read both The lies of Locke Lamora and Red Seas under red skies this year and I enjoyed both books a lot. I'm also happy to hear that you enjoyed the Shadow Rising, it is one of my favorite WoT books! Many of your top picks of the year sounded really interesting, hopefully I'll get to a few of them during 2020
Wuthering Heights is one of my favorite books of all time. Would love your full thoughts/devoted review on it! I read it every couple of years and I always get something new from it. It’s a brilliant book!
Love the diversity in your reading! Makes more of an enjoyable experience for watching your videos as i like to avoid confining myself to one genre also
I’ve been reading the Wheel of Time this year and book 4 is one of my favorites so far as well.
I just stumbled on to your channel and am now helplessly charmed with your passionate, animated style and the ruthless manner in which you use those big brown eyes to such innocent, not to mention convincing, effect. My comment concerns your appreciation for the classics, and I being somewhat old, I wonder if you've ever read Ann McCaffery. I'm sure you have, but for those who haven't, she created the Dragon Riders of Pern, as well as a female centered spin- off series in the same vein. She began writing at a time ( the 60's) when sci/fan was more an oddity, and in my opinion created the genre. She brought excellent writing to what had been, previously, utter dreck for the most part. The first three books are the best with the White Dragon an outstanding follow up. After the adjacent Harper Hall Trilogy she became, I hate to say, a rather polished industry. She deserves a posthumous shout out for bringing a female perspective to Science Fantasy, and for raising the bar for all that followed..
Hello, thank you for the recommendation! I don't believe I've read any of her work but I'll be keeping an eye out for her now! Thank you so much 😊
Yesss so so glad to see Tess on this list, my favorite classic of all time and I think it's so underrated!
Based on your review of Things My Son Needs to Know About the World, I bought it for my colleague (who has a young son) as part of our work secret santa and she loved it!
I hope she enjoys it!
4:06 this book has an Anime adaptation if you are interested and its amazing.
I don’t know if you’ve ever read this but there’s this wonderful book called Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys. It was on a teen reads list so it may be aimed to younger audience but it’s about WWII and it has 4 different point of views. Which could be confusing but it really is beautiful and very interesting because most of it, is true. It’s amazing I recommend this and many, many more honestly! :)
That sounds like an interesting story. Does it read very young? 🤔☺️
I love The Count of Monte Cristo! My favorite characters are Eugenie and Louise, and I hope you got a translation that didn't cut out their scenes because I've heard some do. On the other hand, I hated the Three Musketeers books, but I really don't like reading about protagonists who are The Worst. If you do, you might like those too.
I love watching your reviews, you make me want to read or reread the same books. You always see so many things I didn't see in books I've read and I find it so interesting. I especially always feel like I want to reread books and see if I get the same things out of them from a reread. Even Tess of the D'Urbavilles - which I absolutely hated when I read it for high school English, which might explain why I hated it!
I, too, read the Count of Monte Cristo this year and COMPLETELY agree with everything you said. Am I crazy that I already want to re-read it? "He's not a good guy, but it's a good book."
Your voice is soothing. I absolutely love the Nightingale.
Thanks for the recommendation for The Fifth Season. I think I got it as an Amazon First Read a couple of years ago, and it’s just been sitting in my Kindle.
Agree! Gentlemen Bastards is a fantastic series, absolutely love it!
Yes! I love Pet Sematary, The Fifth Season, I Am Legend, and the Troop. I read the Troop this year and reviewed it, and I'm thinking it'll probably make it into my favorites of the year. I've added a few of the other books you mentioned to my TBR :).
Read Sixty Days by Hernan Jaen , 5 stars, AMAZING BOOK
Oh my, I am so happy you have The Count of Monte Cristo on your list. That is one of my all time favorite books!!!
Murphy's I've read "The Count of Monte Cristo" "The Fifth Season" "Name of the Wind" "Nightingale" I really like all of them. I have also read "Pet Sematary" but I read it when it came out, so I'm due for a re-read.
Fantasy hasn't ever been a favorite genre of mine, but thanks to reading Mistborn, I'm super excited to try more! Also realized that this was my first reading of a hard magic system, and I definitely prefer it over soft magic systems.
Glad yo see that you have enjoyed so many books this year! 😊 My favorite book of the year is most likely(I don't see The Fellowship of the Ring becoming my new fav as I'm currently forcing myself to finish it - Am I the only person who has a strong dislike for Gandalf?😅 ) gonna be Letters to the Lost (thank you so, so much for recommending that book, Merph! ❤), along with Kasie West's By Your Side and my rereads of His Dark Materials and Deltora Quest series. As a primarily fantasy fan, I'm sad that I didn't find any new fantasy story this year to love 😭 The Winner's Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski had a lot of potential, but went downhill for me in the second book because of the inconsistency in characters' intelligence from scene to scene and Brandon Sanderson, sadly, turned out to be a complete miss for me 🙁 So, yeah, sad year for fantasy, but good year for romance for me.
Natasa Gajic I’m not a fan of Gandalf either. Sometimes I appreciate the things he says and I understand the need for his character, but he’s definitely low on my favorite LOTR characters.
I loooooved Name of the wind 💙
The only one of these books I’ve read is Wuthering Heights, which I didn’t love. But two of my favourite books this year I found thanks to you channel: An Unkindness of Magicians and Beartown (tbh I’m not even halway through this one but I can already tell it’s going to be one of my favourite books ever)
For a screen adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo, check out the Japanese Animation version. It’s still abridged at ten hours long, but it’s almost as enjoyable as the book.
Wuthering Heights it's on my list of favorites too, but my life favorites
Since you loved the Count of Monte Cristo, I'd be really curious to hear what you would think of the 1998 tv mini-series of it. It's all in French so you have to read the subtitles (unless you speak French), and I'd recommend watching it over two days, since it is quite long. Also, you talking about Wuthering Heights reminded me of this singer covering Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights song. I really like this cover: th-cam.com/video/tcPrv_6jhRk/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=Karliene
love your voice and love listening to you talking about books♡
I read The Republic of Thieves in 2019 and it may very well be my favorite book of all time. I absolutely adored it and I read it not knowing there were two books before it lol..... still loved it and I still have to read the first two but my library doesn't have them lol. Gonna get them though!
If you have not already read "The Orphan's Tale" i highly recommend it! (The audible audiobook makes it much better because of the accents). It is probably similar to "The Nightingale". Also, since you had quite a few horror/thrillers on here, have you read "Pretty Girls" by Karin Slaughter? I can't remember if it was you or another booktuber, but i just finished it and i can't even begin to describe how i feel about it. It was one of the most messed up, hard to finish books i have ever read but the story was SOOO incredibly captivating and well written. It is definitely intense and if you are triggered by sexual violence, it probably isn't the book for you, but my god was the book amazing. Like i said, very hard to get through as the author dosen't shy away from the details, but it also doesn't feel like she put things in unnecessarily. Every moment had a purpose in the book.
I am simple man. I see recommendation for Count of Monte Cristo, I give thumbs up.
Your hair is so beautiful! Would you do a video on how you style it. I know that’s not really on brand lol. But I would think it would be helpful
I really enjoyed reading Pet Semetary. I have actually heard somewhere that is King’s scariest books (really not sure that is accurate). I think I might want to do a reread of that soon. The story that inspired King to write it is really devastating and I see him writing this book as a coping mechanism because grief is and can be extremely difficult to get through.
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It has to do with whats "scary" to you. The idea of losing my child then, in a mad state of grief, I bring my child back as an abomination, is fucking terrifying. Losing my children is a tier 1 fear.
I am now reading the Lies of Locke Lamora thanks to your recommendation and I'm loving it so far.
I'm so glad you're loving it!
@@merphynapier42 thank you so much for the recommendation. I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas
I have quite a few of these on my shelf i haven't read. I tried Lies of Locke Lamora, but i had to set it aside as I was struggling to connect with the story. To be fair it was the very start of my several month reading slump and some of the worst depression I've experienced, so makes sense. I just started reading again and picked uo Warbreaker!
I am legend is fantastic. There is a heavy psychological element to it that i will remember until my brain fails me.
Haha the way you said 'D'Ubervilles.' Classic!
Book that I probably pick : "On Luna Time". I love time travell, and your taste in Romance sounds very much like mine, so I think I will give it a go.
I can't make up my mind: For my first fanasty, I am torn between "Locke Lamora" & "Mistborn". You recommend the latter for beginners, but the former story sounds more appealing.
Thomas Hardy: Give "Far from the madding Crowd" a chance. Bathsheba Everdene is an awsome heroine (yes! katnis was named after her)
Fun con novel to recommend: "Not a Penny more, not a penny less" by Jeffery Archer. It is fluff, but an awsome one :). It is a great long con book.
Things My Son Needs to Know About The World: Drennan needs to know that his Mum is Awsome :)
The way I Am Legend emphasized the feeling of not only being alone but also carrying the weight of the world of being human was incredible.
*spoilers ahead for I Am Legend*
On the flip side, I’ve seen some credibility lent to the vampires that the problem with the main character is he isn’t willing to follow the times and just join the rank of vampires because his unwillingness to change is his hubris. I think it’s a pretty cool perspective on thinking the protagonist really is kind of an antagonist to the rest of the new society.
And I thought I'm totally weird because: Even while reading so many cool and interesting books at the same time, the one book I cant get enough of and have the main focus on it, is a very old book were I basically already know the premise. The count of monte christo. happy to see that I aint the only one really enyojng the book 😁😁
I got Things my Son Needs to Know About the World for my sister for Christmas. She has a five-year-old boy and from everything you've said I simply couldn't go without buying it for her!
I bought the Frederick Backman book for my son who is expecting his first son in April based on your review ❤️
awe... good luck to your son
Hey Merphy, happy holidays - video idea request. Could you do a video talking about the books you got the most negative pushback from, for your opinion and how you think about those books now? Also 'The Fifth Season' 👍🏽👍🏽😍😍😍 kinda sad to hear number 1 was your favourite because I'm starting book 2 now...😛
I have read 'The Count of Monte Cristo' 'Weathering Hights' and 'Tess of the D' Ubervilles'. Love the 1st one, don't remember much of the 2nd one, but plan to reread it in 2020 and DNFed the 3rd one, I might try it on audio and see if I manage to finish it.
Please try out Outlander. I know romance isn't really your thing, but it's not mine either and I really enjoyed the entire series. It's a time travel romance, semi-historical fiction. The relationship is so well realized and feels like a real couple. Plus there's the advantage of the first couple books taking place in Scotland. I found that my brain would think in a Scottish accent for the first day or 2 after finishing each book. Lol and we get to live throughout some major historical events and see them from different perspectives.
I really like the TV series! The opening song is beautiful as well 😊
@@natasagajic1061 that opening song is so beautiful! I've watched the show too, and love it. My Mom is the one who turned me on to both the books and the show, so we always buddy watch the show as it comes out.
@@lauramcdonald5004 I also watch the show with my mom! 😁 We like to catch up on the show whenever I visit her (along with all the other historical romance BBC shows, we just watched North & South last time I've visited and we loved it to pieces).
I love both versions of the opening - original & french ❤
Omg! The Tess of D'urberville! I was so angry how Tess was treated. The book got such a rise out of me! Man.
Hate Wuthering Heights! I glad you liked it but I couldn't stand that novel. I definitely want to read all the other ones you have listed. I might pass on The Troop though lol
Pet Sematary is amazing! So is Misery hope you check that one out. I, like you, wasn't wowed by the Shining. Have a happy new year.
My favorite books this last year were pretty much all of the awaken online books. I really love that series.
This made me want to reread Count of Monte Cristo and Wuthering Heights - one of which is one of my favourites (The Count) and the other I really really disliked. However, I am really intrigued by your take on WH. I had always heard that it was the epitome of romance novels etc as a teenager, so when I read it in my early 20s I was shocked. It is definitively, IMO, NOT a romantic novel. I think that my impression of it was so tainted by my expectation of it being this great love story, and I kept waiting for it to happen. I've always been open to trying it again with fresh eyes and a more open mind, and I think approaching it with the idea that it is a tragedy is a great idea, thanks!
Red Seas Under Red Skies? Interesting. I liked it a lot, but it was so much harder for me to get into than the others. I hear a lot of people say they don't love the sailing and piracy part, but I didn't like it until that point. I would say that The Lies of Locke Lamora and The Republic of Thieves are some of the best books I've read in years. While I enjoyed Red Seas Under Red skies a lot, I don't think I could give it quite the same praise as the other two. Excited for Thorn of Emberlain to come out!
Locke and Jean is possibly my favorite fictional friendship of all time, now. So. Good. In my opinion, it's up there with Legolas/Gimli and Sam/Frodo. High praise, considering Tolkien is so good at friendships.
yeah it's just a matter of taste. My husband and my dad love book 2 the most of the three. My brother is like you and thought it was good but didn't enjoy the sailing/piracy nearly as much.
Red Seas Under Red Skies gets extra points in my book for having cats in it, and also for them being good luck! I love cats! (I’m not a crazy cat lady though, I only have 2, lol)
@@lyndseymurray8065 Yeah, I was here for all the gruff men who casually carry kittens around. Sad in The Republic of Thieves that Locke and Jean didn't get to keep Royal.
@@merphynapier42 I liked the sailing/piracy! It was the first 200 pages or so that were rough for me. I've heard a lot of people complain about the opposite, but I had to struggle through to the point where they started to learn to sail. Locke and Jean's friendship was what kept me going, but not so much the first act of the plot.
I'm a King Lear fan and I'm just now realizing I need to read more classical tragedies and modern tragedies.
I’ve been looking forward to this video!!! Yay!!
I will always agree with the lies of locke lamora series praise, I love all three books also I wanted to read smthing awesome during the last 10 days of the year nd count of monte christo and fondryside do sound great so yup reading them next!!
I read the Count of Monte Cristo this year too and LOVED IT!!!!
if you loved the troop i think you’d love wilder girls by rory power too!!
Hey Merphy awesome video! Where do you get your pictures of books that you put in your videos? I'm definitely gonna look into a couple of the fantasy reads you listed. Also you look so pretty! 💖💕💗🎄🎁⛄
The OG "I am Legend" very cool to see it on your list. Its a very solid book.
I got The Count of Monte Cristo as my birthday present. Next book on my reading list
Have you ever read The Dresdon files ? If not I recommend you give it a try.
I am just a fan of you maam . I love each and every book you recommend. I am going to try on Luna time.
YES I love I Am Legend!!! (And I'm totally with you; body horror is awesome)