Top 10 Books With PERFECT PACING!

[@Shelf-Esteem]

What would you add or subtract from this list?

[@jdsantibanez]

Almost no one covers "Noir" novels on Booktube. It would be very interesting to see a Best 10 Noir books list.

[@Shelf-Esteem]

@@jdsantibanez oh man I wish I read enough noir novels to make a list like that! Any ones you’d recommend?

[@jdsantibanez]

@@Shelf-Esteem Dennis Lehane (His Kenzie & Genaro series) Ghostman by Roger Hobbs, Lawrence Block (His Keller series)

[@DanGilleo]

There’s a guy that does that stuff. Channel is Criminolly (guys name is Olly). It’s a good channel.

[@Alicia-606]

Great list! I was hoping to see Best Served Cold here 👀 I totally agree with all of these. The ones I’ve read anyway. I would also add Shadow of the Gods & Hunger of the Gods. I’m looking forward to reading Faithful and the Fallen!

[@Shelf-Esteem]

Thanks Alicia! 😊 I remember us talking about Best Served Cold, isn’t it amazing?! One of the best fantasy books I’ve ever read too. I can’t wait to read Hunger - I think you’ll absolutely adore Faithful and The fallen! The characters in that I connect with even more than Bloodsworn (so far at least!)

[@Alicia-606]

@@Shelf-Esteem I love Shivers 🥶 I just know I’ll love Gwynne’s other books. I’ll find out early next year!

[@alelimascks]

I like your recommendations. I just restarted reading this June and there is a lot of interesting histories that I’m interested about.

[@Shelf-Esteem]

Thanks so much! I'm so glad you're here, and hope the videos help inspire some more reads! I had stopped reading for a while in my 20s, and then started up again and there was no turning back after that haha :)

[@CliffsDarkGems]

An excellent list Nikhil! Swan Song is a perfect example of a book that you cannot put down. Dark Matter sounds very interesting. Project Hail Mary is on my tbr and a sci-fi book I want to explore. I would have to think carefully about the most perfectly paced King book. My first thought is The Shining. That is one of my favorite Harry Potter books. Awesome video my friend! 😃

[@Shelf-Esteem]

Thanks so much buddy!

[@BookishChas]

So happy to see this Nikhil! I was really surprised to see Shogun on this list, but I’m glad. I’m a little less intimidated by it now. 😂 Words of Radiance is my favorite Stormlight book, and Storm of Swords is my favorite ASOIAF book. Glad to see Dark Matter on here too.

[@Shelf-Esteem]

Thanks Chas! :) Man Shogun was such a surprise to me too, I thought I'd have to slog through it a bit, but it was riveting from beginning to end - a smooth ride all the way through! Hope you enjoy it man :) Are you going to read Wind and Truth in december?

[@BookishChas]

@@Shelf-Esteem thank you! I’m definitely considering reading Shogun at some point. I will definitely be reading Wind & Truth on release day. 😁

[@Shelf-Esteem]

@@BookishChas Wahoo!! Will join you at the starting line! :) Can't wait man, I just want to take off work that week hahah

[@BookishChas]

@@Shelf-Esteem oh I know right? I’m so excited!

[@Chance.Dillon]

Howling dark was a great mention-because yes it feels like the best paced sun eater book I’ve read

[@Chance.Dillon]

Overall great list dawg. Some choices bumping up my TBR, others I read that I’m getting a new perspective on

[@Shelf-Esteem]

Thanks so much Chance! :) Isn't it fantastic?? The Sun Eater series is among my all time favorites right now. Would you say Howling Dark is your favorite? Mine is a tossup between that and Disquiet Gods - though Howling Dark is even better paced! So glad you liked the video!

[@Amethyst678]

Only read two of the books on your list but have another 5 on my bookshelves. I loved Project Hail Mary and thought it was perfectly paced too. Was always enough going on to make you want read the next page 😊

[@Shelf-Esteem]

Oh that’s awesome! So glad you liked Project Hail Mary too! 😊 Which of the 5 you currently have are you most excited about?

[@Amethyst678]

@@Shelf-Esteem I can be a bit of a mood reader so at the moment it’s probably between dark matter and shogun. If I had to pick though I’d say dark matter. To be honest I find Shogun a little intimidating - if it was epic fantasy I wouldn’t be at all phased by the page count but it sounds more historical fiction with a dash of fantasy and that makes it just a little bit scary.

[@Crochet.Awhile.and.Listen]

Great list. I have read 8 of the 10 and I would have to agree with you. Haven't Read John Gwynne or Joe Abercrombie yet but, they are on my long long TBR.

[@Shelf-Esteem]

I'm so glad we have so much of the same reading tastes my friend! And so glad we got to connect through this community. I think if you like the books on this list you'll really like both Gwynne and Abercrombie - Abercrombie's humor in the face of the bleakness is so refreshing, and Gwynne nails the classic fantasy vibe whilst still being modern and fresh

[@Crochet.Awhile.and.Listen]

@@Shelf-Esteem Oh I am sure I will, just need the time to get to them lol.

[@DisquietandDragons-lh3zm]

Dark Matter is so good, its a 400 page book that I read as quickly as a novella, not a single wasted page. I've always found Philip Pullman's books to be well paced especially The Book of Dust vol 1. The Other People by C.J. Tudor flies by, I read that in one sitting, you just have to know what happens next. The Cabin in the Woods by Paul Tremblay was really well paced too, I'd sit down to read a chapter and before I knew it 100 pages had gone by.

[@Shelf-Esteem]

Oh man, totally!! I forget if you've read any of Blake Crouch's other works? His wayward pines trilogy is incredible, as is Recursion and Upgrade. I'll check out CJ Tudor - I've seen those books around, but didn't know much about them until now. Another Tremblay pick! I really need to read this author haha :) Is The Cabin In The Woods what the film is based on by chance?

[@DisquietandDragons-lh3zm]

@Shelf-Esteem I've only read Dark Matter by him, I'll read more of his books but there's other science fiction I want to read first. Her first 2 books (The Chalk Man, The Taking of Annie Thorn) are good but then she really hit her stride and everything since has been great, The Burning Girls is my favourite. Yeah Knock at the Cabin is based on the book, the book goes way darker though. If you get chance definitely read some Paul Tremblay, I think you'd like his books.

[@coreenamartinez6114]

Not a lot of books I have read here, but the ones I have are interesting choices, and I totally agree that Project Hail Mary was better than the Martian, good as it was. I remember flying through Shogun, but I was in like 6th grade, so that's about all I remember. I do like Pet Sematary, but there are just a few places that it plods a tiny bit for me. If I had to pick one Stephen King story for perfect pacing, it would be The Running Man, from the Bachman Books. It is soooooo different than the movie, and does something that I think helps a lot when it comes to me being cognizant of pacing, and that's that it does something experimental with structure. The fact that it's a countdown keeps things feeling taut for me throughout. Cloud Atlas from David Mitchell does something similar with it's time hopping elements, as does Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. I thought the pacing in There, There by Tommy Orange was great as a well crafted heist novel. I guess the more tangible the goal in a story, whether that goal is a macguffin or fulfilling a gimmick, the more it hooks me into the narrative. As far as things no one is talking about, I would be really interested to see your take on some top adaptations that aren't movie or tv adaptations. Whether those adaptations are comics, video games (concept albums? I dunno if there are any, but that would be cool if there are) or even other books -it seems like reframing classics has really taken off lately and there are a lot of those out there. Looking forward to your next take. Happy reading!

[@Shelf-Esteem]

OOO I have to re-read the running man! I vaguely remember reading it when I was 15, but don't remember much except for the major plot beats. It was very good though! I really need to read Cloud Atlas! Did you watch the film / what did you think of it? The adaptations that aren't books is actually a fantastic idea, thanks so much for recommending it! I'm putting together an adaptation news for tomorrow, and thinking of including something in the games space. It could be really cool to visit this topic more though!

[@coreenamartinez6114]

Cloud Atlas is one of my favorite movies as well as my favorite books. I saw it in the theater and I think the friend I saw with and I talked about it for about 4 hours afterwards. I love how different it is from the book. It's like the written version was the best possible way to tell that story in prose and the film version the best visual expression. And it was the first time I really had an idea of what a chameleon Hugh Grant could be. I had always thought of him as just the rom com guy. Who knew he could be a convincing and terrifying cannibal king? I hope I phrased it right when I was talking adaptations. It wasn't so much that I was thinking of things like video games that get turned into movies (although that adaptation news is interesting, it just didn't occur to me since your channel is a literary one). I was thinking more along the lines of, for example, The Dark Tower comic books coming from the Dark Tower novels, or the book Julia that was published last year which was a retelling of 1984 from the perspective of a different character (same as Daughter of Dr. Moreau retelling Island of Dr. Moreau). If you already got that and I'm overexplaining myself for no reason, I apologize. Whatever you do, it will be awesome. :)

[@epiphoney]

Brad Thor's Lions of Lucerne is pretty fun all the way through. I like the Arliss Cutter books but I skip the villain chapters, who needs it.

[@Shelf-Esteem]

Good to know, thanks for the recommendation! I actually see Bradley Thor’s books all the time at library book sales, I’ve never picked one up though yet. I’ll def check it out!

[@jdsantibanez]

"Recursion" is a better Blake Crouch novel.

[@Shelf-Esteem]

@@jdsantibanez fair point! I loved Recursion even more than Dark Matter, but the mind bending stuff made me have to slow down and really think about what I was reading - not a bad thing by any means! But that’s why I put Dark Matter on here - but Recursion could just as easily go on this list!

[@abcdeqwerty123]

Some books I can think of are; 1) We are the Dead (Mike Shackle) 2) The Silverblood Promise (James Logan) 3) Hunger of the Gods (John Gwynne) 4) The Rage of Dragons (Evan Winter) 5) Of Darkness and Light, and 6) Of War and Ruin (both by Ryan Cahill)

[@Shelf-Esteem]

Oh man this is awesome! Thanks!! I’ve been wanting to get to Ryan Cahill and Mike Shackle - will probably start my journey early next year. Appreciate you chiming in with these!

[@abcdeqwerty123]

@@Shelf-Esteem I think you will love them. Mike Shackles books are dark and fast paced, perfect for this time of year. Ryan Cahill's became my favorite modern fantasy series, classic feel but in a modern voice. Thanks for the video, I added some new books to my list. Also, I'll be with you for the "War of Light and Shadow" read along.

[@Shelf-Esteem]

@@abcdeqwerty123 So glad to hear that! Man I wish there were more hours in a day (or I could just get paid to read full-time hahah). So happy to hear you're down to readalong with Wars Of Light and Shadow! While I have you, would you prefer to start January, or earlier? I'll ask some of the others who expressed interest as well

[@abcdeqwerty123]

@@Shelf-Esteem Definitely not enough hours in a day when work is not reading for fun lol. Personally, I'm okay with January, only because of Wind and Truth in December. Although I still need to read Oathbringer and Rhythm of War before than, as well as Fury of the Gods lol. I will do it whenever others are able to though. I am just afraid I will have a hard time keeping up when I get the Jannys books without audiobooks, because I'm a slow reader when doing physical only and her writing makes me slow down even more.

[@mattpaul5441]

I agree that pet sematary is perfectly paced. That and dreamcatcher 😉

[@Shelf-Esteem]

@@mattpaul5441 hahah oh Dreamcatcher, perhaps I should give it another shot during my re-read of King! Had a similar thing happen to me with Insomnia, and absolutely loved it the second time around

[@mattpaul5441]

​@Shelf-Esteem one extremely poorly paced stephen king book is the tommyknockers. But it has the best last four pages he has ever written. Good book but a lot of deep breaths along the way