You said nothing but also said so much.

I’m glad you liked the book John! I personally struggle with Brandon’s writing specifically in the romance and humor department as well as his prose. I’m curious what your thoughts are on that; perhaps it may help me shift my perspective.

I'm just starting day 7 and ooohhh my goodness, I'm loving the journey 🎉 I find the issues a lot of the characters are working through to be so relatable.

Broken Binding UK does a Magnificent job with quite relentlessly talented Artists and there enamoring renditions! As an aspiring Author soon to hopefully become in traditional epic fantasy, these books are absolutely extraordinary! Cannot wait for a possible Malazan, Eragon, Redwall or even Chronicles of Prydain series. Well done! I have both Tier 1 and 2 thus far, without the jacket looks marvelous as well!

Largely agree with all the thoughts on the book- I'm one of the people who's a lot more positive in their overall rating of it. It's become my second favourite book in the series While I do think it has its flaws (Specifically the overexplaining parts in the beginning and parts of the middle of the book), it's an absolutely amazing book overall- and like you said, quite the achievement.

I've only read up to halfway through Oathbringer and it's been so long a re-read of WoK and WoR have been become necessary for me to continue, so it'll be a while (maybe a year or two) before I get to Wind and Truth.

I really enjoy listening to you talk about books and story. I have read some of these, but have many of the others on my tbr list. I am currently reading both The Gallant and To Ride Hell's Chasm. Loving them both. 💜

Happy new year. Amazing Top 10.

I recently discovered your channel and so glad I did!! This was amazing and I’m so excited to pick up these books

I’ve had Stoner on my shelf for like 2 years. Hopefully I can squeeze it in at the end of January. I’m 40% done with Stone of Farewell, then I’m reading Sorcerer’s Legacy (wanted to participate in Janny-uary but didn’t want to start a big series), then Gardens of the Moon. And then if there’s time… then Stoner.

Thank you for recommending City of thieves! My favorite read of the year followed by demon in white.

How much is a subscription? Ive always eanted to get it.

What a beaut!

"The Queen came out on top!" Royal Assassin, A Song for Arbonne, and To Ride Hell's Chasm all in one year? Wonderful! I will have to pick up City of Thieves at some point. I can understand Jakob's love of The Gallant. It captures what I love in the series in a short page count. Happy New Year and happy reading to you, Jakob, and the Mrs.! 🧡

Thank's John. I read A Song for Arbonne when it came out, a million years ago, and I've forgotten it. Defo on the re-read list.

What a year it has been! Will try and keep this brief. Really got back into reading this year thanks to your channel, which I found in the Summer. It has been great to be a small part of the community. I will try and answer the prompts as well though do not have a huge number of books to choose from! Favourite new series: The Southern Reach series by default as did not start any other new series. It was a great first entry. Disappointing read: The Dead Zone. I don’t know, just maybe not what I expected and the payoff wasn’t quite there for me. Some very interesting parallels though with that book and the current climate. Biggest surprise: finding the channel and this corner of booktube. Really just stumbled upon the channel and got me right back into reading for which I am grateful! Favourite new character: I really liked Jake from Ordinary Grace. What a great character he was. Touching moment: could answer Jake again however I have two other contenders. The last entry in Anne Frank’s diary and the last chunk of The Vanished Birds I found particularly haunting. Both will stay with me for a while. All the best for 2025 John and Jakob!

Wow John. What a great list! I don’t think I’ve read a single one of these! But they are all on the tbr already from hearing about them throughout the year. I will say I was also surprised by City of Thieves I was totally expecting Robin Hobb. Though I don’t think I was an active watcher back when you read it. Thanks for a great 2024 John, I can’t wait to get to all my books in 2025!

Yasssssss Oathbringer is so special with that backstory 💪💪💪 And Demon in White let’s goooo!!!!!! One of my all-time favorite books. The sabbatical they all take on the island is one of my favorite sequences in any series. A Song for Arbonne woohooooo!!! I’m so happy we got to buddy read that together, and that was a really special book and book chat we all got to experience together. This vid was just a joy with how fun it is to hear you gush so eloquently and passionately about all these 💪

Very nice 😊

Look at John ignoring your Vanna White impression, Jakob :D The GGK rule strikes again! Heck of a list. Can't wait to see what 2025 brings you :)

Man oh man, Kingdoms of Death was phenominal. I read that last month. Outside of Hobb, the rest are ones I have not gotten to yet and hope to starting some time next year. Here's to Jakob having a top 5 next year! Ranking books in the same series is valid!

The Gallant instantly on my TBR now! -A

Jake is correct, the Darth Bane Trilogy is a must read for any Star Wars fan!

Looks like an awesome tbr to start things off in 2025! I’m finally back to regularly reading after several false starts and stops the last 12-15 months. Here is what I have planned/in the middle of: Rise of the Ranger - Paul Quantrill - doing the Echo Saga trilogy readalong with Mike on his server. About half-way and really enjoying it. Reading it immersively with audio and kindle. Battle Mage Farmer book 1 Domestication by Seth Ring. Had never heard of this litrpg, but it was recommended by my friend Madison Goodyear. About halfway through the audio, which is currently free with an Audible membership. Enjoying it so far. Oathbringer re-read - this should have been done last year, way behind. Curse of the Mistwraith - We’ll see, I’d like to jump in on the lives and watch them, so I’m going to try, especially now that we have the audio for book 1 from the amazing Colin Mace. I’ll read it immersively. Quicksilver, book 1 of the Baroque Cycle - really want to get to this historical fiction.

Ok, 3 books added to Amazon. Thanks a lot 😆 📚 Janny Wurts read along book should arrive by tomorrow too.

Can't blame you for not ranking, these books all sound phenomenal in their own right!! I am so excited to get to Sun Eater myself. And allll the love for Farseer, Bound and the Broken, Oathbringer and Best Served Cold 🤩 Idk if you saw the favourites lists I posted in Discord or on my socials, but I had an amazing year with lots of new faves as well. The one that takes the crown for me is Asunder by Kerstin Hall though, just exceptional 🤌 Happy reading for 2025 John & Jakob!!

Nice

That is beautiful

Broken binding?

Love you Jacob .. you remind me of my own son ..allways smiling and soft spoken .....LIKE

I am so excited for more Cahill, Kristoff, Ruocchio, Winter, Hobb, and... Brown... I find myself searching and saying, "Come on, Pierce, give us a New Years update on the release of Red Gold!"... Abercrombie was a surprise for me, and First Law was on my own top 10 of 2024.

Great video and a really great list of books that are on my very long TBR! I Finished The Gallant recently aswell in ready for Jannuary and I agree that Janny does have such a unique voice in her writing it's super impressive. I 'm very much looking forward to getting onto Wars of Light and Shadow :)

I loved the list! My personal one was (If we're not counting rereads) : 1) Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan 2) Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson 3) The Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie 4) Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett 5) This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal-El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone I'm kinda curious what your ranking of Stormlight is after Wind and Truth

I literally sat down and decided on EVERY book I was going to read in 2025.... and you sold me so hard on To Ride Hell's Chasm that I literally went back into the list and replaced one of my choices with that book. I had already made SURE to put A Song for Arbonne and City of Thieves on that list because of your recommendations. Your enthusiasm is so contagious and I was waiting so excitedly for this video. Happy New Year to you both and I'm so excited to see what 2025 has in store!

Great list. You definitely have grown my TBR this year, and for that, I say thank you. Here’s to great reads in 2025!

YES! TO RIDE HELL’S CHASM! I loved Mykkael’s sheer loyalty. The way it is true genuine loyalty because of the way he is willing to disobey but these actions come from the heart of a man who wants to help those around him. OATHRBINGER! While that isn’t my favorite, it is the most powerful Sanderson book for me. I mean there are so many POWERFUL quotes from it. DEMON IN WHITE!!!! Man, the longer I get away from that book the more I love it- and I only really just liked Demon in White when I first read it. believe me when I say that Demon in White gets better looking back from further on in the series. I KNEW SONG FOR ARBONNE WOULD BE HERE! You convinced me to read it early in the year and THANK YOU SO MUCH! Because holy crap that book was absolutely amazing and I was just in love with it. My lord. YES YES YES YES! ROYAL ASSASSIN! I am so happy she resonated with you. Her books have changed me. I feel like they’ve made me a better person and to see that you are LOVING it makes me so happy. I can’t wait for you to read Liveship because, believe me, that trilogy changes you forever. You have so much ahead of you and I CANNOT wait to see how it resonates with you. HOLY CRAP! City of Thieves above Hobb? Ok, I knew you loved it but I didn’t know you loved it that much. I guess I have to move it up on my TBR now. If it’s that good I need to check it out especially if it can go toe to toe with THE Queen of Fantasy.

I started empire of vampire, so far i love the writing of this story..i like how dark and grim the story is... but the words its like art 🎨

Nettle and Bone is next on my list to read. And now I just added City of Thieves to a loooooonnnngggggg list of books to be read. 😂

John just casually dropping the longest top 10 in youtube history 🤣

No entendi en puesto numero 1 pero bueno ... saludos desde Colombia

Love you both. This is my favorite BookTube channel. Loved youur list!

Well John now I have to read City of Thieves haha but I finished Oathbringer and man definitely my number 1. Such a great story with excellent pros. I also finished The Justice of Kings before the end of the year and it was fantastic! I hope you read book 2 very soon!

So agree with your No. 1, read it early in 2024 and it really stayed with me.

What an awesome year of reading! Would not have expected your pick for your book of the year but its always nice to have be surprised.

I’m so very glad you two had such a great year, on the reading front and beyond. It was a bit wild for me and I didn’t get to read as much as I did last year but I think 2025 might be a great time to explore more, particularly as I passed my exam a few days ago that I have been studying for a few months now. My list would include, of the 133 books I read in 2024……….. 10. The Old Capital by Kawabata 9. The Tale of Princess Fatima, The Arabic epic of Dhat at-Himma 8. Season of Storms by Sapkowski 7. Fire and Blood by George RR Martin 6. Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden KeefE 5. The Art of the Ghost of Tsushima by Sucker Punch Productions 4. The Sarantine Mosaic by Guy Gavriel Kay 3. The King Must Die by Mary Renault 2. The Tale of the Heike 1. Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky I spent several months thinking the Sarantine Mosaic was going to be my book of the year so I am shooketh that it is #4. I adored this duology! I think what knocked it ever so slightly down was the very put of place adult scenes that just seemed put in for no reason and didn’t even really make sense and the fact that Kay copied history at times so closely that he actually has his fictional characters quoting word for word their real world counterparts which took me out of the story a bit. Such a great set of books though. I’m also quite surprised I had three fantasy books on here. I’m not the biggest fantasy person as history is usually my escape but sometimes you just need to have a change of pace. I also have an art book on this list because it was beautiful and brought me great joy. I have been inspired to learn more about the time period it takes place in which I don’t know much about at all. Read quite a few Japanese books this year and The Tale of the Heike and The Old Capital. Kawabata is probably my “favorite new author to me” of the year and The Take of the Heike is an incredible epic. Incredible that we still have these preserved. Children of Time was my book of the year because I have read nothing like it and can’t wait to finish the trilogy so I can reread it. This author is amazing and I have Empire of Black and Gold on my list for January. Would love to see you guys give it a try. Here’s a toast to the Booktube Fellowship and the happiest of new years to all! Fianna

This is such a killer list! Richard Swan is on my list for early 2025! I had Station Eleven and Cloud Cuckoo Land hit my top 7 of the year because of your recommendations! Cloud Cuckoo Land is an all time favorite now!

This is the year I got into reading and mostly because of you guys, the way you talk about those books makes me want to just buy them and read them. Only read 4 this year, and Grace of kings is my favorite I can’t wait to get to the rest

A good list uncle. I can't say I'm shocked that City of Thieves was your top pick, a fine choice nonetheless. It really is a fantastic book. I hope more people remember Benioff for this book. Keep up the good work, can't wait for 2025!

A Song For Arbonne was my first GGK. Blew me away and its not even his best. The Fionavar Tapestry holds that position at the moment but I have a few more of his to read. Incredible writer

Awesome list John! Empire of the Damned and Tainted Cup are my top 2 of the year. Royal Assassin is such a great book.