I loved 'Stoner' and also 'Augustus' by the same author. 'Flowers for Algernon' broke me (in a good way) and it's a book I keep coming back to years later. 'The Sparrow' by Mary Doria Russell handled first contact with aliens in a way I hadn't read before and also gave me a lot of food for thought.

"On the Beach by Nevil Shute (1957) had this effect on me haha 😂😂 I still haven't found a book that can top the emotional impact that book had on me by the end 😭😭

Awesome video Zara! I really appreciate the honesty about how some of these books impacted you. Of these, I've only read Stoner, but I fully concur with you on it. It really was a great reminder of how a normal life can also be a great life.

Awesome vid! I want to read all of these, though I did read one in the Death of Ivan Ilyich, which also took my breath away

The Company, what you said remains me of something I learned as a kid because I moved around quite often. That is your problems are a function of you, not necessarily your environment. I’m always running into ppl that think it’s where they live is the root of there issues, when clearly it’s just them.

My made me pause book(s) was Cormac McCarthy's duo of The Passenger/Stella Maris, The Road...ok, most of McCarthy's books lol but those two plus The Crossing, Outer Dark, The Sunset Limited, The Stonemason, and Crime & Punishment. A little Anna Karenina too 😅

Great list!! I have several of these on my WTR or own them or added them because of you.

That's a great list. I don't think I've read anything that's made me think quite as much as Discworld has. Pratchett just touches on so many various things over the course of those books . . . you can (and I will) re-read them multiple times over the years and they'll still be impactful.

I honestly don't understand the hate. Is Yarros the best author ever? No, she is not, she doesn't make top 100, she's not even close. However, did i enjoy it? YES!! I went through both books in 3 days, i loled several times with the dragons, i cried when XXXX died!! Would i nominate it for a Hugo award? NEVER, but i don't regret reading it, i enjoyed it a lot. Not everything needs to be Patrick Rothfuss' prose level.

Quadrillogy guys, not quartet. A quartet is specific to music lol.

Usually you hear 1984 under scifi but i thought it was kind of boring and unrealistic. It was of its time i think. Dune would definitely qualify.

Thank you for the guide. I only read "Prosper's Demon" ( in my mind I call him Prospero for some reason) at the beggining of my Fantasy journey and while I enjoyed it, I forgot it. I will re-read it after I explore the other ones you recommended.

One revolution series I'd recommend is Fireborne. It's YA but doesn't read young, and explores the themes of the Russian revolution with dragons. 😂Will definitely add Kavithri to my tbr.

What did you think of Red Rising, if you read it? I read the first two but kind of lost interest.

I definitely need to read Mistborn given that I'm a Stormlight fan, but I never have the time for it. First Law has just so many themes, but as you said, the exploration about classes and their perception of the same society was great. I haven't seen that book from Polasnky; not only the cover is terrific but it has some quite interesting themes right there! I love these compilations, honestly! Would you keep doing them? I think it's perfect for mood readers!

Yeah, I thought Mistborn the first age was a good trilogy. Second, not so much. Other than “Night Watch”, “Interesting Times” is another Discworld book that involves a revolutionary themes. Though not as good as Night Watch. Night watch quote: “But here’s some advice, boy. Don’t put your trust in revolutions. They always come around again. That’s why they’re called revolutions. People die, and nothing changes.”

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Zara with another great video! ❤❤❤

Savage Legion (I think released in the UK under a different but similar name) by Matt Wallace absolutely fits this theme and is quite good.

Please don't ever apologize for such indulgent gushes, I absolutely love it! I honestly can't recall the last time (if ever) that a book has stirred so much passion and emotion in me, so I am either reading the wrong books or not reading deeply and intentionally enough lol. This story sounds incredible, I am definitely going to have to check it out. Anthropology and religion are two topics that interest me to no end, so this should be pure candy for my brain. Thanks for sharing!!

Finished the trilogy. Feels like a dark souls lord of the rings mashup . Tone and language is like blood meridian

I appreciate your opinions but two separate Japanese historical societies, both based in Japan, reviewed this book and found it to be highly accurate in regards to setting and culture of 1600's Japan. I'm sure their papers are still able to be found online. They stated that they found very few errors, and the ones they did find were minor. In fact, the majority of the main criticisms the book has gotten from people in the west (not all, but most) have been proven to be invalid. (Not speaking of narrative here but the culture and setting of the time period as represented in the book.) This is the same situation that happened with the film Apocalypto by Mel Gibson. He wrote a film that took place in the Mayan civilization in the early 1500's. Everyone in the world began attacking him for historical inaccuracies until the Mayan's themselves wrote a paper explaining how extremely accurate his film was.

This was sooo helpful, I have been at a loss for where to start! Purple & Black sounds like the most appealing place for me to dip my toes in, but I also can't deny that I am morbidly curious about The Company now hahaha. Thanks for sharing!!

thank you so much! I cant find the ebook of purple and black anywhere? Thank you!

I added this to my list when i saw your Goodreads rating.😂 Also..... I'm starting Emma M. Lion tomorrow (Sat, 20th)🎉🎉

I’ve been wanting to read more Endo, since I love Silence. A few years back I listened to a podcast that featured Van Gessel (translator for The Samurai). Apparently he was friends with Endo and that’s how he came to translate a lot of Endo’s books, but not Silence, which had been translated previously. As I recall, Gessel said there’s a major translation error in the climax where a harsher word is used in such a way that he feels it skews the meaning of the scene. Something to watch out for, in case you take issue with the climax in Silence. (It may not be an issue at all, but thought I’d mention it ahead of time.)

Fantastic review, Zara. You've sold me. I'm not a religious or spiritual person (though I was raised Catholic) but i still find religion fascinating.

What an interesting setting and concept!! A Japanese character traveling to New Spain (Mexico) and other regions in 1613!! During the time of Spanish colonialism in Latin America. I am purchasing this book! Thanks for the recommendation!!

Have you read, Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas? If not and you love The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After will grab your heart. Enjoy Carpe Diem

I was a little hesitant to watch the video because I like to go into books like this cold and blind, so I watched far enough to know I DEFINITELY want to read this. His book Silence is the one I am starting as soon as I'm done with my current read, and now this one is on the list too.

As someone who was very deep in religious systems for much of my life, I think you give religion much too easy a pass here. When important aspects of a religion include the subservience of women and the abhorrence of homosexuality (to name a couple of many highly problematic and harmful teachings), it's clear that it's not simply a matter of humans twisting good practices for their own evil designs - rather, the very core is rotten.

Fabulous review! Congrats on 2K subscribers!

I LOVED Shusaku Endo’s Silence and I’m currently reading The Samurai. The exploration of faith and religion is so fascinating. But damn, Silence was very very dark. Can’t wait to read the rest of the Samurai.

Oh cool, congrats on 2K! I like that you open saying you're going to gush for 5 to 10 mins . . . and the video's a half hour long 😂😂😂😂 I already added this to my TBR when you mentioned it in a previous video, but holy crap this sounds incredibly interesting. Definitely sounds like it goes more into the history and social/religious consequences than Shogun does - that was more of a political thriller anyway.

great stuff! - i haven't read any of these yet, but i'm glad they're out there waiting for me. just demolished the engineer trilogy, and after a quick "other authors" break am already on the scavengers. that mixture of technical detail and wry wit is unique :0

Zara, congrats on 2k! Very well deserved 🥳

I recently read the short story collection Under My Skin by KJ Parker. It had some Saloninus stories and Prosper's Demon and a bunch of other stuff. It was totally amazing.

Oh, the audiobook for non-fiction has worked very ocassionally for me... like only thrice (as far as I recall) and in the three cases I ended up purchasing the physical/ebook and rereading it there! Ebooks I think are uncomfortable, for some reason, the medium is less immersive for me; it's like I need the pages! Special editions, I never was too much into it; there weren't many in my home country, and after relocating so much, I try not to get bulky things. I have Dune's special editions and I'll keep ogling Folio's BoTNS because shipping to Aus is outrageous. I agree on hyped books, sometimes they don't really work for me, and I think it's mostly because what hypes a book is generally not what I (subjectively!) prefer to read. It was a great analysis and discussion, Zara, thanks for sharing it!

The Company sounds right up my dark alley. This was a perfect video for me today because I was looking up KJ Parker this weekend trying to figure out where to start. lol. Before this video I was leaning toward The Folding Knife but I The Company sounds amazing. Awesome video Zara.

When you first put KJ Parker on my map a year or so ago I went to GoodReads to skim through a bunch of the reviews of his books, and ultimately decided to put Savages on the TBR. But after not being able to find it anywhere, I then added The Folding Knife as well, and just the other day also added Purple and Black after seeing you talk about it. And now I'll also add The Company, and hopefully will be able to find one of these books somewhere!

Stop giving me reading angst!😂 K J Parker sounds like an author I would really enjoy but there are so many others as well. What to do, what to do?