May Book Wrap-Up & TOP PICK of the Month! 📚✨

Welcome to a fantastic month of reading fantasy, sci fi, and LitRPG! Here I recap all the books I read in May and share my thoughts on all the videos I made during the month. If you like the vibe of the channel, please consider liking and subscribing!
#booktube #fantasy #sciencefiction #litrpg #bookrecommendations #tbr
Channels Mentioned in Video:
‪@mikesbookreviews‬
‪@Talking_Story‬
‪@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy‬
‪@AndrewsWizardlyReads‬
‪@TheLibraryofAllenxandria‬
‪@ACriticalDragon‬
‪@thefantasynuttwork‬
‪@CNavo.TheNextChapter‬
‪@jakebishop7822‬
‪@Johanna_reads‬
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Want to check out the new Patreon?:
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PO Box 27660
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Amazon Wish List For Books I've Never Read:www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls...
Amazon Wish List For Books I Only Have as an E-Book:www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls...
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Time Stamps:
0:00 Once Upon a Time
0:34 Today's Topic
2:48 Sci Fi May Reads
7:30 Fantasy May Reads
11:50 LitRPG May Reads
16:20 May Videos Recap
24:43 Book of the Month
28:08 One For The Road

[@BrianBell7]

How was your reading month for May?! Let me know if the comments and let's chat!

[@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy]

Thank you for the kind words about the “Analyzing Stories” series with A.P.! We’re having a lot of fun with it!

[@BrianBell7]

I'im glad you are having fun because it's really informative!

[@Johanna_reads]

So true about Allen being a fun, wild card in live streams! 😂I'm so excited The Lions of Al-Rassan was your favorite book of the month. I love what you said about Kay balancing adventure and relevant topics in a non-heavy-handed way. Thank you so much for the shoutout and your kind words! ❤

[@BrianBell7]

Super excited for our talks and getting to know you better!

[@esmayrosalyne]

Thanks for three amazing livestreams this month, I have devoured and loved them all 🤩 Glad to hear you also had a fun reading month, I really need to get to more GGK! And love the new segment at the end, you are just such a great supporter and community builder :) My favourite read of May was Hell for Hire by Rachel Aaron (coming out June 4th), and I think you would have a blast with it as well! Happy reading, Brian!

[@BrianBell7]

Esmay! I don't know how you do it! Your reading is unparalleled! I'm really glad you are enjoying the livestreams! I've got some fun guests coming up this month for June!

[@RedFuryBooks]

Woohoo! GGK FTW! Book of the month!

[@gryftkin]

Supply and Demand, Brian. You're one of the few that covers LitRPG :) And yes, I'm way behind on BookTube videos. I'm catching up :D

[@BrianBell7]

Thanks! I am way behind watching too! It's hard to catch up!

[@ZOMGfantasy]

Awesome wrap up, Brian! I really need to get onto these GGK and Suneater trains, huh? :p Hope your June reading is just as good if not better!

[@BrianBell7]

Thanks! For sure get on those trains!! (whenever you can. they aren't going anywhere)

[@AndrewsWizardlyReads]

You are a part of my found family as well Brian

[@BrianBell7]

100% Andrew!!

[@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy]

Beautifully said about the found family here, my friend!

[@BrianBell7]

Thank you! You are a huge part of it!

[@OnlyTheBestFantasyNovels]

Glad you enjoyed Lions! I 100% agree it's an easier starting place with GGK than Tigana, it's just a bit more accessible and shorter. Tigana's one you want to really savor when you're familiar with his style and can appreciate it even more. A less than stellar opinion of a Sun Eater book? Watch your back, you're committing KZbin apostasy 😂Sounds like a good month all in all!

[@BrianBell7]

Right?! The YT gods may smite me!! Thank you for watching and, yeah, GGK is just a true experience.

[@SciFiScavenger]

Pretty good reading month for me. 12 novels, half a short story collection and the intro to a space opera anthology.

[@BrianBell7]

NICE! That is a major month!

[@laurablakeauthor]

Lions is a spectacular book. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@BrianBell7]

Completely fantastic! I'll be reading his entire catalog. Thanks for checking it out!!

[@CNavo.TheNextChapter]

Lions is my next GGK read, either - June or July. You will love A Song for Arbonne, my first GGK read. Thanks for the invite to your birthday celebration it was a blast! - Cheers!

[@BrianBell7]

I'm excited to talk with you about both books once we've read them both!

[@TomOrange]

What a cover on Dungeon in the Clouds! Looks like a good month overall

[@BrianBell7]

It was fantastic. This year has really been amazing for excellent book choices.

[@BooksWithBenghisKahn]

Oh man I love seeing this reaction to Lions to get hyped for my own read of it soon next month!! Right with you on Ashes of Man being a weaker Sun Eater book, but for me it was still pretty great even so. I just love spending time with Hadrian and you’re always guaranteed to experience some absolutely wild stuff with this series.

[@BrianBell7]

Keep me posted what you think of Lions! It'll be fresh in my mind if you do it this year!

[@christhewritingjester3164]

I'd have to say that "Call of the Wild" is a book that has stuck with me. I read it back when i was 10-11 years old and it was the first book that felt like a real adventure with an emotional impact. I re-read it last year and it was still as good as i remembered it.

[@BrianBell7]

Very cool. If I'm not mistaken, I think Tori, from ToriTalks also counts Call of the Wild one that has stuck with her for those reasons.

[@christhewritingjester3164]

@@BrianBell7 oh, that's cool! That gives me a bit of a warm fuzzy for when I get to her book.

[@AndrewsWizardlyReads]

I’m excited for Lions!

[@mythologypress9470]

Thanks for the high quality content. Regarding rich prose, with Janny Wurts’s books, I take weeks or even months to get through them, so that I can really savor and immerse myself in the prose. I like the rich meal analogy. -Palmer

[@BrianBell7]

Thank you for the kind compliment. Yeah, I can fully understand the appeal of taking your time with her books. If I can point to one thing that's really the toughest about being a newer booktuber, it's having to fill the calendar with a certain amount of books-read, and that can diminish time spent on works like hers and others.

[@mythologypress9470]

@@BrianBell7 yeah. That’s too much pressure for me lol. I put that kind of pressure on myself with writing. But I also need to take my time with that to create some measure of depth.

[@thedrownedkingdomsaga7847]

Great wrap-up Brian! Can't wait to read Lions of Al-Rassan! Loving my GGK reads so far, he seems destined to become one of my new favourite authors! I really have to get to Suneater...I keep getting FOMO whenever any booktuber I follow notes they are getting into it and loving it! Happy June reading!

[@BrianBell7]

Thank you, P.L. Happy June reading to you as well! I'm positive you are going to love GGK since you have a true appreciation and admiration of Janny's works.

[@julien4327]

Read Empire of Silence in may, and loved it ! Book of the year so far for me. Already read The Lesser Devil as well. I'm hoping to get to book two this month !

[@BrianBell7]

I think books 2 and 3 are a huge step UP in Sun Eater from EoS, so you are in for a treat, IMO!

[@Usernameforsf]

I hadn’t heard about GGK and you totally sold it to me! Definitely going to my tbr (which is waay too long right now lol). Thanks for the video!

[@BrianBell7]

Hope you enjoy it! Thank you for watching the video too!

[@Talking_Story]

My brother from the great white north- what a month!

[@BrianBell7]

It surely was! And you were, once again, a fantastic part of it!

[@mrgauth]

My exact thoughts on Ashes of Man. I will go on with it in spite of not caring where it is going.

[@BrianBell7]

I care, but I'll admit that I care less now than after book 3.

[@BookishChas]

So glad you enjoyed Lions of Al Rassan, Brian! That’s next on my GGK adventure. I just finished Tigana and quite enjoyed it.

[@BrianBell7]

Same! Loved Tigana and this one was terrific too!

[@tgibridays]

I agree with you about Ashes of Man. It was my least favorite of the series. From what I've heard about Disquiet Gods, I'm very excited about getting to it soon.

[@BrianBell7]

my copy of Disquiet Gods just arrived today!

[@elainedejong2806]

Ooooo! I’ll have to read Lions of al-Rassan!

[@BrianBell7]

For sure keep me posted when you do Elaine!!

[@mikesbookreviews]

Just include a recap in your Book Haul videos and do some Book Haul in your recap videos.

[@BrianBell7]

You are trying to confuse me Mike-sama! Lol. I'm confused enough!! :)

[@knotslip8862]

Hello. New subscriber here. In May I read Dark Matter, The Three Body Problem and The Dark Forest. Enjoyed all 3 of them but I will say the 2nd 3BP book is better than the first and Im reading Death's End now and its even better than the second. Dark Matter was crazy. Can't wait to get back to some fantasy next, will be reading Elantris and The Emporer's Soul. I have Suneater and GGK on my TBR and can't wait to get to them. Really enjoying your channel so far. Your upbeat attitude is enjoyable. Thanks!

[@BrianBell7]

Great to have you here! Welcome! Yeah Dark Matter is wild! I hear the Netflix show is good. Keep me posted when you get to Sun Eater or GGK. Interested to know how you like them!

[@N.A.Summur]

I'm mainly reading fantasy right now (currently just about to finish Rhythm of War), but everyone's love for Suneater definitely has me wanting to check it out. I do love me some sci-fi entertainment. Just haven't read much. I have taken your advise by the way and took the plunge into making videos. My first video went up on Sunday and I plan to put up another tomorrow. Just weekly updates for now, but I do have a couple ideas for other videos.

[@BrianBell7]

Congratulations on taking the plunge! I'll check it out tonight! When I first started, my only goal was to just get a little bit better at doing them each time. No more, no less :) You'll be all caught up for Stormlight 5 soon! And yes, Sun Eater is worth the hype.

[@N.A.Summur]

@BrianBell7 thank you! Yes! I'm excited that I'll be caught up in time for Stormlight 5. I'll definitely be trying watch everyone's videos on it and leaving comments to join the conversation. From what I hear, I do expect to enjoy Suneater. I will definitely make sure I place it high in my TBR.

[@MattonBooks]

It’s funny: I’m a HUGE fan of Bladerunner, the original movie, and because of that I’ve kind of avoided Dick’s book. I don’t want to compare the movie to anything I guess. That may be silly. 🤔 I’d agree Ashes of Man was one of the lower points of Sun Eater. Not *bad*, but not as good as some earlier books. The next one’s overall a step up again though, I’d say. Really excited for the finale! 😀 And yeah mate, the new setup’s really working! 🙂👌🏻

[@BrianBell7]

Thanks, Matt! I try to mention you whenever someone asks me about the lighting! I think you'd enjoy Do Androids Dream as a "curiosity-read" more than anything else.

[@stjepanvaresevaccobets]

Lions are a great book👍😀

[@BrianBell7]

Great minds think alike Stjepan!

[@MacScarfield]

Awesome to hear you loved “The Lions of Al-Rassan” so much, and GGK is definitely a delightful writer well worth spacing out: I read “Tigana”, “Lions” and “A Song For Arbonne” in 2021, “The Sarantine Mosaic” Duology of “Sailing to Sarantium” & “Lord of Emperors” in 2022 and “Under Heaven” & “River of Stars” last year, all of those years I have had a GGK novel as my read of the year!😄 Have you read other Cyberpunk classics, such as “Neuromancer” or “Snowcrash”? Read the “Marid Audran” trilogy by George Alec Effinger last year, set in an unnamed Middle Eastern Metropolis in a Balkanized 22th Century, and “Island in the Net” by Bruce Sterling this year, both of which I can recommend!

[@BrianBell7]

that's excellent Mac, that you have all that GGK under your belt! Yes, I've read both Neuromancer and Snow Crash. Maybe I'll add those other two to TBR Mountain now!

[@heidi6281]

One for the Road Review: Deathstalker by Simon R. Greene. Do you want to laugh out loud? Do you want to go on an adventure? Entertainment with a capital E is this space opera! It is everything I wanted Suneater to be! Kings of the Wyld in space, a love letter to Dune, Star Wars & Star Trek. There absolutely no waxing poetic but there is a void device, something that destroys entire solar systems. There is an aristocrat with super powers but instead of reminding me of Fitz Farseer he is more like Prince Orso & Logan Ninefingers combined. If Joe Abercrombie & Frank Herbert had a baby it would be Deathstalker!!!

[@BrianBell7]

very cool, Heidi! Is it a series or a standalone?!

[@heidi6281]

@@BrianBell7 8 books but I only read the first two. You can just the read the first one. The audio-narrator, Gildart Jackson is on the same level as Stephen Pacey . I am using the series as a palette cleanser when I need humor after a grim dark tome. I have to say Chapter 2 in Deathstalker: Rebellion ( book 2) was so much like a Star Trek Episode that Strange New Worlds should try to borrow it. Brian Durfee has the best review on his channel.

[@Zivilin]

@@BrianBell7 It's not really a chonky series. Only about 400-500 pages.

[@thatsci-firogue]

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Lions of Al-Rassan are some of my favourite books of all-time. GGK has been dominating my reading for June since I only have three of his non-Fionavar connected works left after my current read. My book of the month of May was Dennis Lehane's Shutter Island. Fantastic psychological mystery thriller

[@BrianBell7]

very cool. Lehane is on my summer TBR with Mystic River. Just ordering another GGK book now!

[@BeardofDarkness]

Once upon a time.....I think you felt lucky!

[@BrianBell7]

ha, I did! And I was! That camera could've died at any moment.

[@mikekay9529]

Definitely NOT here for lit-rpg content. But I much enjoy everything else you talk about. Keep up the good work

[@BrianBell7]

Thank you! It's really nice to hear that even though the LitRPG isn't your jam, you like the rest!

[@mikekay9529]

@@BrianBell7 I watch a lot of book tubers …Along with Mike, Allen, Jimmy, the Mintons etc…you are by far one of my favs

[@BrianBell7]

@@mikekay9529 I can’t think of better company to be included in. 🔥⚡️

[@mrgauth]

I have been wanting to read a GGK, but I can not stand being preached at. If he is subtle and not preachy, I will at least consider it. Not being really fantasy is a turn-off, though. Hmmm, I dunno.

[@BrianBell7]

I haven't found the two books I've read of his too preachy other than to not be entirely selfish.

[@dubhmoore575]

Ladyhawke, are u flesh or are u spirit? And she replies to Mouse, I am sorrow. I read that as a child, and even though I didn't really understand it, I felt the truth of it and I have never forgotten it.

[@BrianBell7]

powerful for sure.

[@PreppinShootinLivin]

Disquiet Gods is more of the same really and probably one of my least favorite. The series as a whole is what makes the latest couple books better than they would be otherwise I think.

[@BrianBell7]

I agree with you that without books 1-3, 4 and 5 are pretty tough. But, I'm hopeful that I'll at least like 6 a bit better. Just picked it up and will begin probably mid-June. Which one did you like best?

[@PreppinShootinLivin]

@@BrianBell7 I'm a sucker for beginnings so I really enjoyed the first more than most people...but I'd agree with you that the first 3 are definitely the best...not really sure which is my favorite, they are all 3 pretty close.