I'm very excited to get into the Empire of the Vampire stuff myself. For so long, the stigma of vampires has been heavily and negatively affected by Twilight so I'm glad we're getting some new quality gritty vampire stuff as it should be written. That bizarre, nasty, violent, stuff we see in like Castlevania or Blade even. Can't wait.

Oh man I can’t wait to read all these King ones you did this year! (Except Salem’s Lot which I’ve already done). The fact that Return to Edan made you misty eyed has me even more hyped for that series - I’m always hoping to get at least a little emotionally stirred with my reads.

Great list man. My partner just read Salem's Lot for the first time as well and she liked it a lot

Great video Tom! I like your idea for a review vlog. I occasionally do a video with short reviews of several books, so a similar idea. Empire of the Vampire/Damned were just absolutely stellar!

Recently found your channel and really appreciating your content man, keep up the awesome work!

Good luck sorting out the direction you want to take things, that can often be a stressful endeavor!

Hearing that you’re gonna dive into sun eater is awesome

I am also in my Stephen King renaissance right now! His character work is incredible. Also, vlogs are cool! Interested to see how you implement that into the channel!

I finished my first reading of Pet Sematary yesterday. I had goosebumps throughout the whole final act!

I love your longer videos! 😁 And I would like to see vlogs on your channel.

Nice recap Tom! Love your channel and content! Def have taken some recommendations from your reviews. Also so pumped you are liking King so far

What a great year so far! Always love your recaps, Tom. I NEED to get into some King soon. Happy reading!

Solid list. I was expecting Pet Semetary somewhere in the top 3 after that experience you had with it! I say go for the reading vlog, they seem to work out well for Jimmy and Laura, and they're a different format to play with.

Love to see some Empire of the Vampire gushing, I loooove that series as well!! Though Nevernight still has my heart, as that got me back into reading in the first place. Also, I really need to get back into some Stephen King! Looking forward to all you've got in store in the second half of the year, be that reviews or vlogs or any other type of content ;) Happy reading!!

You might wanna check out Friedrich Nietzsche's The Will to Power, Beyond Good and Evil, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and Genealogy of Morals if you like to read more Philosophy.

Awesome first half! Alot of King on the list I can dig it.

Working my way through King in publication order. Just finished up Firestarter this morning

1. Best book so far in 2024: «A Brightness Long Ago» by Guy Gavriel Kay (Fantasy inspired by the Mercenary Wars of Renaissance Italy) & «Imperium» by Robert Harris (Cicero Trilogy #1, Historical Fiction about the Eponymous Roman Politician)! 2. Best sequel so far in 2024: «Brother Red» by Adrian Selby (Grimdark Fantasy, standalone «midquel» to «Snakewood» & «The Winter Road»), «Howling Dark» (Sun Eater #2) by Christopher Ruocchio (Space opera) & «The Fort» (City of Victory Trilogy #1, sequel to the «Vindolandia» Trilogy) by Adrian Goldsworthy (Historical Military Fiction set during Emperor Trajan’s Campaigns)! 3. New release I haven't read: «Disquiet Gods»(Sun Eater, #6) by Christopher Ruocchio (Space opera): A bit cheating, as I have not yet read book 3 to 5, but yeah, really looking forward to the next novels! 4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year: Book #3 of «The Sundered Nation» Trilogy by Vaughn Roycroft, the Standalone Sequel of the «Edan» Trilogy by our dear Philip Chase & «The Fury of the Gods» (#3 in the «Bloodsworn Saga») by John Gwynne! 5. Biggest disappointment: I feel I am a bit spoiled, as I have not read any truly bad novels or have given up reading any books for a long time, but «Idoru» by William Gibson (Bridge Trilogy #2, Cyberpunk) was, while not bad, still a small letdown from book #1, «Virtual Light» (a 3.5 out of 5, compared to «VL»’s 4.5). 6. Favorite new author: Christopher Ruocchio & Tad Williams 7. Biggest surprise: «Islands in the Net» by Bruce Sterling ((Post-)Cyberpunk), a really pleasant surprise, as I had prepared for a good cheesy 80s Cyberpunk story: Is there Hackers, Data Pirate Havens and Rastafarians? Sure, but unlike most dystopian Cyberpunk novels, this broke from the norm by having the 30-something mother of a toddler as the protagonist and interesting concepts such a Economic Democratic Cooperations (almost reminiscent of the ideas floating by Kim Stanley Robinson in his Sci Fi Novels, if not utopian then at least not at all the usual Techno/Neo-Feudalism of most Cyberpunk!) and genuine energy solutions ideas that might benefit smaller nations, as well as a use of psy-ops and drones that made it a lot more forward minded than I expected! 8. Book that made me happy: I have to say «Imperium» by Robert Harris: I had read Harris only once (his alt-history novel «Fatherland», set in a 1960s where the US did not join WW2 (but defeated Japan) and the World is divided into a Cold War between the USA and N@zi Germany: Great read, but obviously not full of laughs) but he not only nails the history and politics of Ancient Rome, following the ups and downs of Cicero is at times borderline satirical (but also serves as an encouraging) take on Modern Politics as well. 9. Newest fictional crush: I guess I have to say Laura Webster from «Islands in the Net», but I also have to give a shout out to Cicero’s Wife in «Imperium» (such a fun contrast but also weirdly fitting her husband! ) and to the Old Couple in «The Buried Giant» by Kazuo Ishigaro: So wholesome and heartbreaking! 10. Newest favorite character: Undoubtedly Cicero from «Imperium» 11. Book that made me cry: «Når landet mørknar» (Approximately «When The (This?) Land Darkens») by Tore Kvæven, Historical Fiction set during the 13th Century decline of the Norse Settlements of Greenland, think of it as a Norse John Steinbeck! Well-worthy winner of the 2018 Brage Prize for Best Norwegian Novel! But will also shoutout «Stonehenge» by Bernard Cornwell (Man, the Human Sacrifice of Children hit me!) and «The Buried Giant» by Kazuo Ishigaro: Heartbreaking! 12. Most beautiful book so far this year: The new cover of my e-book copy «Queen Amid Ashes» (Sun Eater, #2.5) by Christopher Ruocchio, is gorgeous! Also: While it is visually very plain, obviously my inherited copy of «Brothers Karamazov» by Dostoevsky from my late Aunt have immense sentimental value! 13. What books I need to read by the end of the year? After the novels I mentioned in point 4, I have to say the rest of the «Cicero» Trilogy by Robert Harris, the final «Memory, Sorrow & Thorn» «Trilogy» novel(s) by Tad Williams, the final novel in the «Prince of Nothing» Trilogy by R. Scott Bakker, the final two novels in the «City of Victory» Trilogy by Adrian Goldsworthy and the final novel in «The Expanse» by James S. A. Corey! Cheers!

Awesome check in, Tom! I really need to get on this Stephen King train, don't I? Where would you recommend starting? I'd enjoy vlogging videos! I always enjoy your takes on books so the format doesn’t bother me too much 😊

I read authors in chunks a lot of times. Love longer series and I don't like jumping around either so usually my top 10 lists will only feature a few authors as well. Mine so far this year actually has 4 authors on it. Here is my current top 10: 10. Half the World by Abercrombie 9. The Wheel of Osheim by Lawrence 8. The Prince of Fools by Lawrence 7. Alloy of Law by Sanderson 6. Emperor of Thorns by Lawrence 5. The Martyr by Ryan 4. The Bands of Mourning by Sanderson 3. The Traitor by Ryan 2. King of Thorns by Lawrence 1. The Lost Metal by Sanderson The top 2 are basically tied for my favorite book of the year; it will depend on my mood on which I say is in first place, lol. All these are at least a 4.5 star in my opinion with the top 4 being 5 star books.

Really nice video, some good readings :) Would really like seeings vlogs here

I gotta pick up Edan so I can get to that discussion😂

Great 6 months of reading! King is King. Can Dark Tower be far in your future? Btw, the colorway, layout, and overall esthetics of Daniel Greene's book are stunning!

Looks like a great start to the year! I need to get into King at some point. Would you suggest any of the ones mentioned here as a starting point?

Which are the two of your least favorite books McCarthy wrote?