Your description of flowers for Algernon is spot on. My dad was a big history buff and would rarely read fiction and that what is his favorite book. After I read it when I was a kid he rented the movie Charly that came out in the 60s. It was based on it and we watched it together. I still have it on my shelf but ever since he passed the pages get too blurry every time I try and read it.

If anybody has not read 1984 you really, really should, I do not consider many books 'must read' but 1984 is such a piece of writing craftsmanship.

Oh no, Flowers for Algernon was a force read in middle school for me, it emotionally scarred me and was my first existential crisis I didn't recover from it. Cannot be in the vicinity of the book

I read house of leaves this year and what an experience!, I loved it and I could not put it down. My family couldn’t talk to me for two weeks. I felt I was going crazy trying to figure this book. Its in my top books of the year too.

So, so, so happy to see Titus Groan so high on the list. It is my favourite of the Gormenghast books and is absolutely beautiful.

Instant like and subscribe for the Miéville mention at the start haha, guy's a genius.

I 100% agree that Deadhouse Gates is a book that "ages" great. you put it down but it just keeps percolating in the back of your mind, it keeps revealing new depth and nuance as you ponder it.

I watched your video and was surprised when you said how many views your video got, Im a first time watcher, and would have thought you have at least 1 million subscribers. Your videos are so good!

Flowers for Algernon is my favorite classic! I read it years ago but reread it a few years ago. Masterful the way it unfolds.

House of Leeeeeaves!! Yes! Poetry book. Art book. Prose story. All wrapped up in one.

Love the video! My top book of the year is the reformatory! Highly recommend 🤩

You made some of my favorite videos in 2024. Yours on sci-fi was one of the best.
I had never heard of Gormenghast before. It looks really great, you totally sold it. And unfortunately I haven't read any of Gene Wolfe's books yet.

My top ten of the year so far, I hope to maybe read one or two more books before the end of the year.

1- Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy 9.5/10

2 - Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson 9/10

3 - The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera 9/10

4 - Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos 8.5/10

5 - If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino 8.5/10

6 - Children of Dune by Frank Herbert 8.5/10

7 - Now Wait for Last Year by Philip K. Dick 8.5/10

8 - Dark Forest by Cixin Liu 8.5/10

9 - Golden Son by Pierce Brown 8.5/10

10 - Neuromancer by William Gibson 8.5/10 (reread, I didn't like it the first time)


Honorable mentions, this has undoubtedly been my best year in terms of reading.

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien (reread)

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by PKD 8.5/10

Dune, Messiah and God Emperor of Dune (the last one being weaker than the other two) by Frank Herbert

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami 8/10

Nova by Samuel R. Delany 8/10

The Witcher: Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski 8/10 (reread)

Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein 8/10

The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson 8/10

The Relic by Eça de Queirós 8/10

The Steppe by Anton Tchêkhov 8/10

War Lord by Bernard Cornwell 8/10

Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene 8/10

Embers by Sándor Márai 8/10

Less than 4 stars ranting, but still good:

The Terror by Dan Simmons 7.5/10
The Black Company by Glen Cook 7.5/10
Exhalation by Ted Chiang 7.5/10
Misery by Stephen King 7.5/10
Death In Venice by Thomas Mann 7.5/10

Love your videos, man! I got drawn in seeing the RE20 on the desk and just loved how crisp your audio is, and you’re talking about some of my favorite books. You’ve had a great reading year!

Agree with you on Murakami. I LOVED his latest. Stayed with me for weeks. I don't care if it is him doing his greatest hits when his hits are so great.

58 is great!! I saw a video where the author stated that they read 900+ books this year. Naturally I clicked on the video because I want to add to my TBR—THEY WERE MOSTLY PICTURE BOOKS FOR KIDS 😑 Rabbits is probably my favorite book this year.

Im so glad someone else loves gardens of the moon!! You are not alone lol. I will tell you though. Memories of ice.. I read it a few months ago and haven’t stopped thinking about it. The final section of that book is without a doubt the most perfect piece of fantasy I have ever experienced. Excited for you to read it.

Great list and great year!! As a Malazan stan, I will say that the experience of the books getting better AFTER you read them is extremely common. I haven’t been able to figure out why exactly, but it’s a pretty cool and unique thing about them

Speaking of which, can’t wait for the Memories of Ice review! You’re gonna love it 😍

I read Flowers for Algernon when I was in high school. It’s still my favorite book and I’m almost 70. My daughter has Down syndrome and was doing wonderfully until she had leukemia when she was 3-1/2 and 7.  She’s 32 now and going great, but is delayed due to the leukemia and brain damage caused by the chemo. So I relate to Flowers for Algernon very much now. She is still the sweetest, kindest, and smartest person I know.

Here are a few of my favorites that I read during 2034:

Two award winners: Percival Everett's James and Samantha Harvey's Orbital.  James is the character Jim, from Huckleberry Finn, and the first half of James tells the story of Huck Finn from James' point of view. The second half diverges, but overall it's an impressive look at slavery and racism.  Orbital is a marvelous, poetic short novel set on the International Space Station, and it's just the impressions, thoughts, and actions of the astronauts and cosmonauts on the station.

I also finally read C. J. Cherryh's Cyteen. It's a long, masterful novel, for which she won the Hugo award.  

I'd also include Robert Harris' Cicero trilogy on my list. The three books are the story of Cicero, as told by his slave/freeman/secretary/friend Tiro.  It does a great job capturing the feel of Ancient Rome and telling of the rise and fall of Rome's great orator.

And if I can include a new translation of something I've read multiple times over my life: Emily Wilson's new translation of Homer's Iliad is marvelous.

Thank you for this! I’m adding some new authors on my tbr👍🏻