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Pick a book to review.

Hey y'all
December is starting to look a little stressful for me as personal commitments pile up and Interview with the Vamp is shaping up to be another long episode to work on. To stave off the burnout I can feel creeping up on me I might have to do two not LiA book reviews in a row (they're SO much easier to write and edit).
Apologies that this is going to put me even more behind on the paid to do list that's already horrifically behind schedule. I feel terrible for making people wait literal YEARS for their requests.
To make up for it a little I thought perhaps you might like to suggest what book to review after Christmas? Leave your suggestions in the comments then I'll put up a poll to vote on the most populer.

Comments

Absolutely anything by Gail Carriger, although I would recommend either Soulless or How to Marry a Werewolf (a novellette [sp?]). They are technically romances, the latter one is a pretty straightforward one at that, but the jokes and sassy bits are absolutely delightful. Soulless is one of my favourite books, and it isn't horribly held back by the romance or all caught up in abs and whatnot the way most are. The audiobook is ok, however I didn't much care for the style of the narrator but that is probably just a matter of opinion (think Nigel Planer vs. Stephen Briggs [my choice] for the TP/D books).

ÆtherialTea

If I could suggest a short story instead of a book, it would be interesting to see your take on "Excerpt from a Letter by a Social-Realist Aswang" by Kristin Mandigma. I'll put a link to it here ( http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/mandigma_10_07/ ).

You don't like it? I have read the books a long time ago and I have seen the god awful big budget movie way back when and am liking the series so far (with reservations). That being said, I would like to know, out of curiosity, what irks you about it? Not attacking you, to be clear.

The Rangers Apprentice series. its really good and i definitely recommend it. id love to see your take on it. its basically about an orphan named will becoming an apprentice to the mid-evil version of a spy/secret service agent/ intelligence officer. i think you should review books 1-4 because they contain the first major story arc.

Either the new Thrawn series by Timothy Zahn or The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski.

Michael Perry Jr.

John MacNab. The book is by John Buchan. It's never been adapted that I know of.

Fabrisse ter Brugghe

Either 'Mistborn: Final Empire' or 'Steelheart' (depending on if you want an adult fantasy or a YA fantasy) both by Brandon Sanderson becuase everyone must be Sandersonised.

Lover craft country by Matt ruff. It very good book

Jenny Erdahl

"The Hogfather" by Sir Terry Pratchett would be great seeing that it's sort of about Christmas.

I'd like to see the Enchanted Forest Chronicles get some love. It's actually 4 separate books, by Patricia C. Wrede, but either the first or last chronologically would do if the whole thing is too much. My own personal head cannon, if they ever made an animated or life adaptation, I would like Whoopie Goldberg to voice the dragon Kazul... specifically I picture her warm, sage role as Guinan on Start Trek Next Gen

If you've read pride and prejudice there is a book called follies past by Melanie Kerr about Darcy, Wickham, and Caroline Bingly's past that is quite enjoyable

Parasite Eve. The book, the movie adaptation, the games.

Ooh or! The Golden Compass. By Phillip Pullman. |I feel like I would very much enjoy seeing you rip this one apart Because.... Yikes.

Kiki Kitten

Stardust!!!

Kiki Kitten

Super Powereds by Drew Hayes. Group of five young adults training to become government sponsored superheroes. It's like Harry Potter meets X-Men.

Michael T. Johnson

Nope! :)

Bailey Cavender

The first Witcher book maybe I’ve been reading it in preparation for the Netflix series and it’s really good at least to me as well as surprisingly funny like the dark twist on Beauty and the Beast really had me cracking up throughout for some reason.

I'd like to suggest the Broken Earh trilogy by N. K. Jemisin or maybe just the first one The Fifth Season?

I love the adventure zone! Just finished balance. All of the feels

An I the only one using this as ideas for new books?

Hes done watchmen

That is a super scary slope, as there are 'romances' about people in love with dinosaurs, air planes, and so much more.

Thats out already?

I'm fairly sure he'd already done Good Omens the book review and confirmed that LiA is coming sometime in the foreseeable future.

Syntia13

Maybe another obscure subgenre of some sort? I quite enjoyed those episodes about the different Romance genres. I'm sure there's more where that came from!

Jo.Comics

I generally agree with His Dark Materials, though they are quite dense in story and meaning. Another good one would be Good Omens, but at this point that would make more sense as a LiA, wouldn't it? Darren Shan is cool but also a good LiA contendor, even if the movie is just a bit meh. Artemis Fowl I have also seen but since the movie is coming next year (maybe?) it'll probs make more sense as a LiA. Actually, Dark Materials, too. The series started, didn't it?

Jo.Comics

Very long but I agree, too! Very easy reads.

Jo.Comics

I concur with the above statement.

Jo.Comics

Would be great to see what you make of "Anger is a gift" by Mark Oshiro.

Syntia13

Larklight by Philip Reeve -a kids book series but still ones of my favourites

An episode on Going Postal would be awesome

Nathaniel Muscharaf

Watchmen would be AMAZING

kinky28

I really enjoy the book reviews! I also would vote for His Dark Materials, and also the Sandman comic series and Y the Last Man.

FizzPlease

The Saga of Darren Shan series.

Samuel Preston

How about Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer.

David Butt

Call it like it is, you want to hear Dom mispronounce everything. :-D (We all do)

As I have said multiple times, Good Omens, PLEASE. Also His Dark Materials And, not sorry because it is a GEM of a series, Anne with an E.

just a general fan girl episode on any discworld

Amber Pearce

I don't know if it's too late and it's probably too obscure to get many votes, but I'd love to see The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi getting more love from reviewers. It's the best piece of transhuman sci-fi that I've ever read, along with its two sequel novels.

Iago24

I'm not sure if you like whodunits, but if you do, maybe one of the Detection Club's novels would be fun to do (and for us to listen to). I'd recommend the "The Floating Admiral", with its grand list of well-known names from the Golden Age of Detection Novels. :) It would allow you to compare different authors, which I find way more fun than just following the story.

Gerda Strobl

Please, please, pretty please do His Dark Materials. I adore that book series. If it's too much to do all three, please review The Book Thief by Markus Zuzack

Rachel Denham-White

"Evil" by Jan Guillou. After your episode on Stieg Larson, I would love to hear you talk more about Swedish litererature ;)

The Dying Earth (either the first one or all four) would be very interesting.

I think The Lies of Locke Lamora would be right up your alley, it's one of my very favorite books period.

Let's get classical with Pride and Prejudice and the myriad of adaptations: who is the best Mr Darcy? If Thug Notes can do it, I have every confidence you can, Dom. :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Nm61IoNdHg

The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth. A true modern classic.

Björn Ragnar

Don't know if it's well-known outside of Canada, but a book I loved as a kid was "This Can't Be Happening At MacDonald Hall" by Gordon Korman. (The story behind it is almost as good as the book itself. The author wrote it for a 7th grade English assignment, and decided to send it off to Scholastic. They published it, and Korman wound up writing 5 more books before graduating high school. He's still writing today, with more than 80 childrens' and YA books under his belt.)

The Crazed Spruce

The Savior's Champion by Jenna Morecci - it's dark fantasy with loads of bloodshed and some romance, i think you will enjoy it.

Phantom Tollbooth is fantastic ❤️

LiannaBlanca

Please do his dark materials

megaman0781

Perhaps Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins? The first in a well-written and entertaining series that needs more love, a fairly short read, and a way for you to remember you've talked about the book the next time it comes up in a Q&A.

Matt Storrs

Since I have absolutely no idea what book would be good to review... How about one of those weird dinosaur smut books that people find on Amazon?

Lucas Dooley

Voltaire's Candid. So funny!

Jigglypuffer

Even though this is by the same author as the one I have requested for LiA, I recommend The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin. I promise, when I eventually get my next LiA request, it will be from a different author.

E. P. Haury

The only types of books I read are romance. Romance with a real plot, but with vampires and werewolves. My favorite book is the Phantom Tollbooth. It was the first book I was ever able to read since I have horrible dyslexia. So the Phantom Tollbooth is something I recommend, it also has a movie.

Hmm...how about Mercedes Lackys Arrows of the Queen or Piers Anthony A Spell for Chameleon. However be forwarned, Piers Anthony is misogynistic in his Xanth series even if the books are entertaining.

alexmarie500

Get lots of rest Dominic, we really appreciate your videos and we would hate for you to start hating this work you love so much. I would really recommend the Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R King, whether you're reviewing it or not; it's got a very witty, dry sense of humour and an interesting premise involving Sherlock Holmes and the 1920s.

If you decide your 2020 resolution is to give up being sane, "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski is always an option. Watching your decent into madness could be fun.

CJ Spargo

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs. It is a very interesting urban fantasy world!

Oh! Dude! Awoken by Serra Elinson

Beth

The Aventure Zone: Here There be Gerblins? It's a graphic novel so it'd be a quick read and it might be a fun companion to LiA as an adaptation of a podcast (without having to do the full LiA process). If that seems too short, you could also do vol 2, Murder on the Rockport Limited. OR since you liked Percy Jackson, I'm curious how you'd feel about Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard.

Beth

Get weird with it and review something by Jack L. Chalker, a science fiction writer who was mainly known for his transformation based stories. You can did "Midnight at the Well of Souls", the book that broke him out and is about a world that was used as an evolution experiment by ancient aliens; "And the Devil Will Drag You Under" is probably one of his least weird books because it's basically a demo for some ideas he'd do in later stories, so it should allow you to get acquainted with his writing style before getting into his more ambitious stuff; or if you want to do something that is still tangentially related to movie adaptations, you could do a review on "The Wonderland Gambit" trilogy which was almost a movie, but after The Matrix came out it got passed over because the studio thought it was too similar even though all three books came out before the movie and are only similar in that they take place in a virtual world.

Nawf4

1Q84 by Murakami Haruki. One of the more amazing books I've read that isn't Terry Pratchett and/or Neil Gaiman.

Abigail Hilton's 'Hunters Unlucky' is a fabulous book and I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!

How about something not well known like Harry turtldove’s How Few Remain.

Katsumi Neeno

I mean, if you want to try a non-european book. How about Achebe's Things fall apart. It would go along with the different genres you've been reviewing recently.

StoryLover

The book The Penal Colony that was made into the 1994 movie No Escape. Really enjoyable 90s movie with a funny as hell villain and I just started reading the book and its very good, so far, too.

David Phillips

How about one of the Crow novels?

Gelli Elfson

Spinning Silver a fantasy by Naomi Novik. She's a former fan fic writer who went pro and is really GOOD, as opposed to another writer you tortured yourself with.

percysowner

World War Z. It would be interesting to me what you think of the story in general and it would be amusing g to see yo try to act out portions of of the book. There’s that or another romance novel called “The Dark Wife” by S.E. Diemer, it’s one of the hundreds of depictions of the Hades and Persephone and is not as smutty as I thought it was going to be.

Charolette96

Seven Deadlies by Gigi Levangie Grazer. That or Alcatraz vs the Evil librarians. It’s like Harry Potter was meta and self aware.

Curtis Charles

Anything Brandon Sanderson really, if you want to make a funny one maybe try Sarah j Maas, I live for rants reviews about her books

Karine

Storm Front by Jim Butcher, Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch, Hogfather by Sir Terry Pratchett (‘‘tis the season, after all - although you may already have this in mind for an LiA episode.). In which case, Going Postal or The Truth would be my two other STP picks. Any Nancy Drew book. I’d suggest my favourite Poirot books, but they’re all potential LiA episodes.

Don't burn out!!!!! "The Dark is Rising" or "Half magic" were some lovely books I remember reading as a kid, and not too long

Cedarcat

I recommend The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

We gotta be careful about the new COPPA regulations, so while I do love all these children's book recommendations, I'm hesitant to recommend anything along the lines of that. Perhaps something like The Handmaid's Tale? It's science fiction which we all know you like, but not your preferred type of science fiction, so it would be an interesting review

His dark materials would be a cool series to review.

Steven Eyre

Maybe one of the Witcher books? Show's out soon.

LupinThe8th

Please take care of yourself, Dom, we don't want you to burn out on our account! That said, if you want to expand your romance novel reviews into shapeshifter territory (pun intended), might I suggest "Moon Called" by Patricia Briggs? Otherwise I agree with "His Dark Materials" by Philip Pullman and "Sandry's Book" by Tamora Pierce, both favourites of mine in my teen years.

How about “The Giver” by Lois Lowry?

D. Thomas

I'd love to see another romance review at some point, possibly one from the early days of modern romance novels, like an early Harlequin publication. You and I feel similarly about romance novels, so your take on them makes me laugh. While I love the suggestion of Nancy Drew, it might be an interesting twist on the adaptation series since the early books were rewritten to be more palatable for modern audiences in the late 50s, early 60s. The 1930s versions of the novels were 25 chapters and definitely a product of their time. The revised novels are 20 chapters and modernised in both language and technology.

Kenna

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison. Recently listened to the audiobook version, and it was a fantastic story.

The Maze Runner?

Robin Isomaa

Definitely a great book!

LiannaBlanca

It would be fun to see your thoughts on The Martian, Andy Weir

Vampire academy by richelle mead would be my choice-one of my favourite books and 1st in a six book series

The Wardstone chronicles would be really cool

I would suggest Sandry's Book, the first in the Circle of Magic quartet by Tamora Pierce. It's short and a fairly easy reading level, but it's also a fantastic story with a fascinating world and magic system. As I was in high school when the Percy Jackson books came out (still loved them) these books were sort of like that series for me as far as intense subjects being dealt with and very cool interesting lead characters, but also with great diversity as well. That said, if it's not popular enough to make the cut, I would also endorse the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede that someone mentioned up there, they are fantastic.

His Dark Materials books, to tie in with the show!

Buc Reviewer

Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett. Without it the Phantom of the Opera series would remain unfinished :)

The Picture of Dorian Gray

WillRigby

People keep recommending good books, so I'm gonna suggest something even worse written than 50 Shades: Lani Sarem's "Handbook for Mortals".

Skemono

Hm... I have a lot of possible ideas. Namesake volume 1 by Isabelle Melançon and Meagan Lavey-Heaton is probably what I'd most recommend to anyone. Classic Literature nods are found all throughout the comic, though volume 1 would mostly be an... interesting sequel to Wizard of Oz (Though promises at least a few other well-known tales will play their part)

Memento Moe

Since you just did Phantom of the opera, why not make something about sir Terry's take on it?

Paweł Kacprzyk

The Difference Engine by William Gibson. I really wanted to like that book, but the rampant mysogyny was such a turn-off that instead it became one of the few books I didn't finish.

Feed by Mira Grant (Seanan McGuire pen name). It's set 40 years after the Rising and there's no apocalyptic wasteland, cause we won against the zombies. And while there are zombies, it is not a horror novel. Downside for that book, it's the first in a trilogy. So if you go with a short story from the same series - Last Stand of the California Brown Coats. One of the best short fiction I have ever read. Also, not horror (which I know isn't totally your jam)

Would be cool to hear your thoughts on Treasure Island

Lethurblaka

I just recently read The Rook by Daniel O’Malley, or rather listened to it, and found it to be an amazing book. Thoroughly loved it. It’s stood out to me, because of the unique story idea. Also the three books I had listened to before then got so boring that I actually research the ending before hand. I don’t tend to do that. Some of my favorite books would be The Diamond Throne by David Eddings, anything by Jolie Byrne (One of my best friends, and all of her books are short stories.), or the Dresden files. I can also suggest controlled descent by KM Herkes, or Excelsior by George Sirois. I also know these authors and they’re pretty awesome. Heck if you wanted to review a very short story, you could look up mine. It’s about 30 pages long... And in need of another edit, but yeah.

I think I'd enjoy hearing the scathing commentary for the objectifying intro description for every single woman in that book.

LiannaBlanca

That's actually one of the few Eddings books I haven't read.

Or for something shorter, The Emperor's Soul?

LiannaBlanca

The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede are a fun series

How about a classic like a Jane Austen? Or the latest Jane Eyre with Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender?

Hayley Nystrom

The Painted Man by Peter van Brett, an absolutely fascinating Series, though the thickness of the Books is on par with GRRM

Saiyasha

Redemption of Althalus (David and Leigh Eddings) would be my first pick, followed closely by Magician (Raymond E. Feist) and then anything by Garth Nix, but preferably Sabriel.

douledamn

Super out of your wheel house but might be fun to review a food based book. I would love for you to review: Salt Fat Acid Heat, MILK!, or SALT Others I would love to see you review: A short history of nearly everything; Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

Amy Poli

I dont think you've done urban fantasy yet. How about storm front by jim butcher

I’ve been hoping you’d check out some Brandon Sanderson, like Mistborn.

cosmotron

Redemption of Althalus would be great. Plus we could maybe get a Dom Sketch of him trying to carry one of cats in a hood like Emmy.

douledamn

I second this!

Amy Poli

The man is stressed for time and you suggest divine comedy? You sadist! I like you already

The Murderbot Diaries by by Martha Wells. It's four novellas currently and one short story. And the short story is free here: https://www.wired.com/story/future-of-work-compulsory-martha-wells/ It's intelligent sci/fi with humor and all from the 'bot's' point of view for once.

How about ”My Grandmother sends her regards and apologises” by Swedish author Fredrik Backman. I felt great kinship with the Harry Potter-loving know-it-all main character. Perhaps you will too?

Robert A. Heinlein, Piers Anthony or Philip José Farmer are some good authors to check out. Plenty of novels and short stories to choose from.

How about some more Percy Jackson with The Titan's Curse? Nice follow up to your old LiA episodes without being an LiA since I don't remember it getting a movie. Alternatively, The Divine Comedy could be fun.

Colton

McKinley is fantastic

I suggest The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson.

Okay, I need to check this out! It sounds awesome!

Yes!

I second Nancy Drew, you could do several amazing Lost in Adaptation episodes for it. If you wanted to do an indie book I’d send you one of my novels. Otherwise I would really like to hear you talk about Royal Replicas by Micheal Pierce. Or the Selection by Keira Cass.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell, maybe? Regency voice, English magic (of the old school variety), ... footnotes!

Might not be popular enough to review but you might enjoy: The Redemption of Althalus by David and Leigh Eddings Naomi Novik's Uprooted or Spinning Silver None are short but they play with tropes well. Never going to hold it against you for having busy holidays! Enjoy them. (Granted I'm not one who's had a request waiting for ages but life happens)

LiannaBlanca

For something a bit different can i suggest Nancy drew and the secret of the old clock or really any nancy drew book

Emma Holt

I'd love to see you review Diary of a Wimpy Kid. It would be great to see you eventually do a LiA on it too someday.

Jace Banelu

I've been reading a weird little mystery series from the 60's about a crime-solving Rabbi that has been a fun one. Friday the Rabbi Slept Late is the first in the series, and easiest to pick up.

My favorite book series of all time is the Old Man's War series by John Scalzi, even with some of its logic flaws. If you love sci-fi, I think this would be an excellent series for you to try out. You could just review the first book. My favorites are the second and the fourth.

SwamplingLvr

Or maybe The Hero and the Crown or The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley.

Bailey Cavender

The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel. I really liked it growing up, but I'm not sure if it's actually good or just my nostalgia. Might be too long though...

Tierney Grim

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the His Dark Materials book trilogy, but three books is probably way too much, so how about just the first? Since you're British, I'll of course tell you the British title: Northern Lights. But also because you're British you might have already read them.

Sanne

I'd say Secondhand Time, a great oral history about the fall of the Soviet Union.

the Lies of Locke Lamora by scott Lynch

Given you've tackled a couple different teen dystopian novels now, I'd love for you to take a look at the Unwind Dystology by Neal Shusterman... but given you asked us for a singular book and not a series, I assume something else will pique your interest more.

Cody Smith

Well, one of my favorites is the first in a series called Johannes Cabal The Necromancer. It's about, well, a necromancer who wants to get his soul back from Satan. To do that he finds he has to run a carnival and needs the help of his brother, Horst, who he accidently got turned into a vampire. It's a bit steampunky and has it's comical moments. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002DOSBL6/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 Kindle version is fairly cheap or you could just borrow it from the library.

Will save the Galaxy for Food

Animorphs

Anything by Tamora Pierce

Get Carter could be fun

Virals series by Kathy Reichs

Naomi Skilling

Artemis Fowl in preparation of the movie coming in March!

Since it'll be nice and topical by the time christmas rolls around, how about Chuck Wendig's Star Wars Aftermath?

John David Tibbetts

"The Rivers of London". You might enjoy it and they are making a TV series

Ettore


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