My Top 10 Reads of Last Year | Finally Uploaded!
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- čas přidán 1. 07. 2024
- Anitha, don't pretend like you can predict the order.
Come see what books I liked best last year.
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I thought this was a gaming channel
🤣🤣🤣
Guess we're never playing BG3 again
Hahaha 😂
@@TheLibraryofAllenxandria The Dark Urge must be satisfied tho
Best read of 2024 dialogues in baldurs gate 3
Say one thing for Allen: Say he doesn't go along with the crowd. Releasing a "Top Ten Books of 2023" video that he recorded in March of 2024 in July of 2024 . . . The man walks his own path, and we love him for it! And we got some booshes!
Hahahahahaha what can I say
Ah leave him alone im just glad to see him back, hes probably been recording your audiobook for you hence hes had no time WELCOME BACK ALAN!
Allen, you are the king of inducing FOMO for books no one else is talking about! 😄
Hahahah thanks, Johanna!
Exactly Johanna!!
That moment when you haven't uploaded a video in years but continue like everything's normal 😆
To be fair, it's been months, not years 😛
Time warp - I agree that it’s still March. I approve
A new Allen video?? This must be how the Europeans felt whenever Shakespeare released a new play!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHA
Amazing callback
@@TheLibraryofAllenxandriais it like sarcastic Hahaha?
@@yelisieimurai it is not....it's a play on a Goodreads user saying the same thing when they found out RF kuang was coming out with a new book
Love that you posted this no matter how “late” it is 😆
@@LiteratureScienceAlliance I'm like the post office. Neither rain nor sleet nor it being July
Dude! I've been watching you for a long time, and beartown is my favorite book ever and made Backman become my favorite author. You have no idea how excited i got when you mentioned it!
Pretty sure I noticed a few sneeze edits in this one 🤧 good to be back! Past Allen did us a solid by recording, present Allen edited and hit the upload button. Go team! 😆
I always have to shout out everyone who gives love to the Empire Trilogy! I also enjoyed Judas Blossom very much. Thank you for sharing your faves Allen✨💖📚
Let’s FRICKENNNN goooo!!!!!! The emperor has returned!!!!
Yes, and I'm keen to punish those who have erred in my absence!
Thanks for the mention, Allen! I hope you and the family are well.
We are! I'm hoping to read Blood-Dimmed Tide soon!!
The good thing about this going up so late is the discussion on these books feels super fresh!! I can barely remember any of them. 🤣 Time to lengthen my TBR, though!!
Awesome!
Oh how The Parker suddenly moved up my TBR.🎉
ACTIVATION ENERGY! Love this is up!! Man, you are so great at this. (I also thought this was a gaming channel, Jimmy)
My first actual Allen video, after listening to days worth of his Chatting with Nutts appearances!
Habahababah thanks for watching!
This is exactly the type of video I needed after a long day at work 😄
You never fail to pique my interest!!
My top 2 books of 2023 were A Brightness Long Ago and The City of Saints and Madmen. They tied, for me.
I want to read Brightness so bad!
I love how passionately you talk about books, the concise but in-depth analysis always sells them very well.
I bought Imperium from a used bookstore a while ago but haven't gotten to it, but I want to now.
Good to see you back!
Thank you! Imperium is so good!
Just got The Daughter of the Empire today. Definitely looking forward to reading it after hearing you liked it so much.
Sounds like you need to bring back series readalongs since a book from all of them made your top 10 list of 2023!
My top 3 of 2023 were Assassin’s Fate by Robin Hobb, Don Quixote by Cervantes, and House of Open Wounds by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
Oh they're coming back and I may even bring Monarchies of God as one of them
Great to see ya back, look forward to your 2024 midyear tag in January 2026!
YEEEESS he's back!! Love that list, I have many titles on my TBR, and Daughter of The Empire and the Cicero trilogy were also among my favorite reads of 2023. I loved Dictator the most, but it wouldn't have been the case without the build-up from the other two installments (I gave 5⭐ to each of them), and now that it's been a year, you made me so excited to pick it up again so I can read them with my husband! Though we just started Shogun (I had read part I and put it down so we could read it together and he was finally convinced 💪) and reading it out loud will take quite a few months I'm sure. 😅
Craddock's series sounds 100% up my alley, I can't wait to give it a chance, as well as K. J. Parker (I have Folding Knife on my Kindle patiently waiting) and some swashbuckling. 👌I've also slowly been working my way through LPQ (I read A Betrayal in Winter in May I think, and though I wish the political intrigue was more fleshed-out, I'm still thinking about it -- you know when there's a situation in a novel you can apply to real life circumstances... well that was perfect timing) and will be continuing soon. I seem to always enjoy the books you recommend, though I've been putting off Mistress of the Empire because I have a feeling I'll be disappointed (book #2 after all this time was just fine to me and I know you weren't a fan of the epilogue 😬).
Please let us know what you're currently reading and if you have any readalong plans this year (I really need to go back to your Discord, sorry), maybe we have some common reads lined up. And most importantly: will you ever be reading The Gentleman Bastards?! I need to read book #2 and knowing you're on board would motivate me even more. 😂
So gooood! Like finding a treat from childhood and enjoying those forgotten feelings! BOOSH! ❤
Boosh indeed!
Lovely to see this pop up on a very nerve wracking day for me personally. Always appreciate you. Excited to finally give Raven’s Mark a go.
2023’s top 3:
A Storm of Swords
Cloud Atlas
Toll the Hounds (please forgive me)
I have read and loved two of the four readalong trilogies you did last year--Empire Trilogy and Engineer Trilogy. I really like the Risen Kingdoms trilogy. And yes, I had read all 3 trilogies before 2023. I have no idea how many times I've read the Empire Trilogy.
Your description of the Cicero trilogy in this video has finally made me add it to my TBR. One of my library apps has books 1 & 2. The other has book 3. No idea when I'll get to it though. Lol
"It is currently March" in July. 🤣💀I actually just bought Judas Blossom last month so I'm excited that it's on this list!
Somewhere Merphy is cheering about Backman.
Cicero 😒
I'm telling you, such a good book
the Risen Kingdoms was a fun series! all 3 books get 4 stars from me
It's nice to see you back!
Thank you!
Agreed, The Ravenmark series is great.
I see a video from my favorite “booktuber,” I watch. Simple as that.
Thank you!
Sea of Rust by Robert Cargill, Feed by Mira Grant, Wool by Hugh Howey, The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo, Elmore Leonard "City Primeval", Susanne Clark Pirates, Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton
Woo hoo, so many new books to add to the tbr!
Yesssss!
Nice list Allen! The highlight of my reading last year was The Books of Babel! Binged the entire series in the fall and they happen to be the reason I found your channel. And yes I binged your Babelverse videos too 😅
Yessssssssssss! So you liked book 4??
@@TheLibraryofAllenxandria I am a PROUD The Fall of Babel defender!! 😁
Loved the vid!! This has me so pumped to try Imperium, Raven’s Mark, Empire trilogy, Risen Kingdoms, Kithamar, and the KJ Parker trilogies. Bear Town does indeed sound miserable but impactful. And if I get to that Paul Kearney series I’ll definitely avoid that final book!
Top-3 of 2023 were Children of Time, Ship of Destiny, and Tiamat’s Wrath!
Imperium is so good and so is Monarchies of God!
I love that all four of your channel readalongs were featured in this video (especially after the disaster of Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne 👀) I really enjoyed reading Daughter of the Empire together (only that first book) and i had a great time rereading Cicero last year!
My number one favorite book of 2023 was Unseelie by Ivelisse Houseman. It's super not a you-book, but it's fantasy with an autistic MC which is just wonderful to see
Man those are some solid picks, and I'm sold on the ones I haven't read that you mention.
Temujin was indeed the weakest POV of Judas Blossom, thankfully he gets a little better in Blood Dimmed Tide.
I think I'm with Pete and Anitha where it comes to Lustrum.
I only recently got into K.J. Parker and have the Engineer trilogy to get to next, so even more excited now!
Oh that's great to hear about BDT!
I did read Beartown, and I have to agree with your opinion.
I came on recently from your black company vids! Stoked to see you’re back
Oh thanks! Glad you're here!
This is a fascinating list that I'm sure will spur many of us on to some new discoveries. I'd love to start K J Parker, although I probably should finish some other series first!
Dooo eeet!
He accertains his relevance!
Hahahahaha
Our lord ruler! Wonderful to see him once again grace our CZcams feeds! Most of these I guessed though I didn’t try to think of the likely order. The exception was Imperium as this was on my top ten of the year last year as well (thank you for that by the way). 2023 was a bloody good reading year for me. Some of my new favorite books are on this list…,
10 Japanese Inn
9 Hachiko Waits
8 Wolf Hall
7 Herodotus's the Histories
6 I, Claudius
5 Imperium
4 The Last Lion part 1
3 The Samurai’s Garden
2 An Artist of the Floating World
1 Under Heaven
Have a great rest of your day!
Heck yes for Imperium! I need to read Under Heaven for sure
@@TheLibraryofAllenxandria It really was wonderful. As you seem to be interested in Asian based stories it may be of interest to you.
Kind of a slim reading year for me last year, but my top three were:
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
Jonathan Stroud "Bartimaeus", "Day Zero by Robert Cargill
Heyyyyyyy new video
Top 3 books,
1) how to sell a haunted house. (Characters written were basically actual family members lmao)
2) eye of the dragon
3) restaurant at the end of the universe
I loved Eye of the Dragon when I read it many moons ago!
The first 4 Monarchies of God books were $2.99 each on kindle so I of course impulse bought them after watching your video. (The fifth may have been as well, I wouldn’t know as I didn’t even consider looking at the 5th. Someone told me that it’s not needed)
Three of my favorites last year might be:
An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter by Cesar Aura
Hild by Nicola Griffith
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez
Glad to see you back! What would you recommend as an intro to KJ Parker?
Folding Knife or the short collection Academic Exercises if you want to sample some shorter stuff
I really liked Imperium too
I will check out The engineer trilogy, The Risen Kingdom trilogy, Daughter of the Empire and Crowfall
I love this. It would be even better if you dont even mention that you are late. Just roll with it 😂
Damn I thought we were sprinting
This is the first video of yours that I watched. Still processing what I just viewed.
Man don't tell me book 3 of Curtis Craddock's series doesn't stack up! I'm still waiting for the audiobook and ebook to hit Libby! It's taking forever!
It's good! I just didn't love it as much as the others
I tagged those books on Libby over a year ago! Hoopla has the first 2 & Cloud Library has the 3rd audiobook. Sadly I think every library might be different.
But also Slayyyyy, this top ten list literally changed my brain chemistry, Shakespeare got nothing on this tier ranking, favorite booktube video of the year?! lol🤣
@@Bepeuthebookworm hahahahahahahaha such a good callback
"How many can you predict?" You have a lot of confidence in my memory, Allen 😂 I don't even know what I read last year and I can assure you that this was the case in March as much as it is now
Everything I've heard about Beartown suggests it's amazing and that I cannot read it right now. My life (and the world...) is too much already for me, I can't add more misery, lol.
This is a very accurate description
Nice list! Hopefully 2024 will deliver just as well🙏 happy new year's
First half of the year was very slow but I've picked up so I'm hoping it's smooth sailing from here!
I didn't expect to see Beartown that high.
Daurenja - the most fascinating character i ever read. I will reread those books just for him.
Also, I liked Imperium the best. But i definitely liked the second one morethan you.
It's been so long, I literally keep forgetting I had a vid go up today
@@TheLibraryofAllenxandria hahahahaha
Ooh, there you go, bringing class into it again... 😅
My Top Ten from 2023
Tiamat's Wrath
Words of Radiance
Boy's Life
The Final Empire
The Way of Kings
The Never-Ending End of the World
Rhythm of War
Oathbringer
Goldfinger
The Troop
Never heard of Raven's Mark, but sounds like a delicious gumbo!
Top 3 books of last year, in particular order: Piranesi By Susanna Clarke, The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, and a three-way tie between The Prophet of Edan by Proff. Fantasy, Doctor Sleep by Stephen King and The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. Boosh, kept it to 3!
I love the Last Unicorn!
@@TheLibraryofAllenxandria How wise you are. We are not always what we seem, and hardly ever what we dream.
I started reading Dagger and Coin this year. I've only read the first two so far. They're pretty good. I like LPQ and the Expanse better. But I think D & C is heading in a good direction.
It's nice to see a book video from you. If I cared at all about video games, I would watch your recent content. But I just don't. Lol
Hahahaha no worries. I also like LPQ better! I'm trying to restore the habit of posting book videos but I'll still have game stuff bc I play a lot of them!
Boosh!
I miss Jeopardy! 😭😭😭
Read both «The Judas Blossom» & «Imperium» earlier this year, both are in my Top 10 reads of this year so far («Imperium» is even in Top 3)!
My Top Favorite Read of 2023, was a tie between «Under Heaven» by Guy Gavriel Kay & «The Veiled Throne» («Dandelion Dynasty #3) by Ken Liu: «Under Heaven» should be teached next to «War & Peace» and «Le Miserables» for GGK’s prose and Ken Liu’s Character Work has few if any rivals! A character that has only one scene in «TVT» (though a series veteran in «The Dandelion Dynasty»), earned with that scene alone my favorite character of 2023: Cogo Yelu!
Next is another tie between «The Retreat to Avalon» by Sean Poage & «The Winter King» by Bernard Cornwell: Poage has written my favorite take on «A Historical King Arthur» and the Seige of Yves Trebon/St. Michel in «TWK» shows why Cornwell might be the best at writing battles!
The next are unsorted:
«The Way of Edan» by Philip Chase (You might have heard about him! 😄)
«Bold Ascension» by Vaughn Roycroft
«The Winter Road» by Adrian Selby
«Salammbo» by Gustave Flaubert
«The Farthest Shore» by Ursula K. Le Guin
«The Name of the Wind» by Patrick Rothfuss
«Brigantia» by Adrian Goldsworthy
«Tortilla Flat» by John Steinbeck
«The Little Emperors» by Alfred Duggan
My Honorable Mentions of 2023:
«The Conscience of the King» by Alfred Duggan
«Tehanu» by Ursula K. Le Guin
«The Black Gods Kiss» (Jirel of Joiry) by CL Moore
I have got to read more GGK!
Also 100% bought imperium with your passion for it 😂
Yesssss, it's one of the best political thrillers I've read
I also like the Escapement the most. The COLD SPOT supremacy
Bad take
I hate how the Engineers Trilogy is not available on Kindle.
Please for the love of god use the chapters feature youtube gives access too to everyone when you make a top 5 orr 10 or however many video.
Better late than never 😊
Glad I checked to see if anyone else had made this comment...
I would try and predict the order but at this point I definitely can't remember which book you read in 2023 so just going along for the ride, and will air any grievances as a reply to this comment. (happy festivus)
I love grievance airing!
@@TheLibraryofAllenxandria I have noticed this with my keen observational skills over the years.
Just a slight correction; Constantinople was conquered by the Ottomans and not the Arab Caliphate
Thaaat's right...thanks!
So can we expect your 2024 mid year freak out vid around Thanksgiving or Valentine's Day?
Me going into the video: no idea who Paul Kearney is
Me leaving the video: i do not need to read the fifth book in the Monarchies of God, Ships from the West
let it be known I was not let down by the Last Uncharted sky, except that we didn't get a Windcaller love triangle
That's awesome. I enjoyed it significantly less tho
@@TheLibraryofAllenxandria yeah, the indiana jones/lara croft/ exploration into the unknown vibes just hit for me
I read 417 books last year LOL pick 3? I could pick 50! 😆🤗
Hahahaha you read too fast!
@@TheLibraryofAllenxandria and I have sooooo many favorite books 😁
Interesting. Can writers not write a friggin standalone anymore? I do not want to be bogged down in series any longer or read thru poor 1st book to get to good 2nd or read thru whole series only fir series to end on pitiful last book. I also liked Daughter of the Empire as well. Read it as a standalone. Will not continue series. Was fantastic. Going to check Imperium for sure.
What's this guy's name?
Allen with a top 10 vid. Selling out for clicks, he betrayed us!
What a hack!!
Hahahahahahahaha
What year was this from again?
😂😂😂
Shut up 😛
@@TheLibraryofAllenxandria 🤣
@@TheLibraryofAllenxandria The Saevus Corax books are on my birthday wish list. And I read the Empire trilogy in the middle of reading the riftwar series and thinking how much better they were, but I think it was all Janny and very little Feist...
Allen stop copying my unreleased video.
to clarify: #1
Hahahahahahahaha
:D
I had no idea how much I had missed the "SO GOOD" until this video 🤍
Heeeck yes for Jean-Claude and Isabelle, I love them! And I really need to read Age of Ash already dammit!
I have all the feels with so many people happy with a return of my vids!
@@TheLibraryofAllenxandria bask in that joy!! and yeah, we really aren't lying when we say we love and miss you on here ;)))