Hey, what's up, guys?
A couple of notes before
we get started today.
Number one, thank you so
 much for 100,000 subscribers.
We hit that milestone
on Tuesday of this week,
and it's just absolutely insane.
I can't really think of
words to say right now.
However, there will be a proper
100,000 subscriber
  bonus video coming.
This is not it.
The other thing I want to say
is that I'm veering a
 little bit off course
from my original
   planned schedule,
because in last week's
video on public speaking
I said the next video
   will be on presentations.
Because I'll be flying out
   to Vermont next Wednesday
to give a presentation
 of my own,
I haven't had enough
  time to really put
the quality and preparation
  into that video that I want
and that I think
   you guys deserve.
So I'm going to put that
one off a little bit.
I'm going to get through
that presentation.
Today I still wanted
 to release something,
so I thought it would
 be fun to go through
10 of my favorite fiction books.
This is ostensibly
   a top 10 list.
I know the top three at
least are my top three,
and the rest of them are sort of
maybe in dubious order.
But these are things that
   I really enjoyed reading
and I hope maybe you
  can find something
that you'll enjoy as
  well on this list.
Now, a couple of ground
  rules before we get started.
Number one, I have not
included graphic novels,
because I could probably
fill an entire list
with graphic novels
  on another day.
And number two, no two
  books from the same series.
I'm not saying the same
author is off limits,
but the same series is.
Now, that being said, let's
  get started with number 10,
which is Snow Crash
  by Neal Stephenson.
Just to let you know,
 I am very agnostic
when it comes to the
format of books I read.
I like Kindle books.
I like physical books.
And I like audio books.
So if I don't own
 the physical edition,
I'm just going to pop a picture
up right here like this.
Snow Crash is on
the list because
I absolutely love
  Stephenson's writing
and I love cyberpunk fiction.
This is the book that actually
 coined the term "avatar"
in cyberspace terms.
I really enjoyed it.
There's one other Stephenson
  book that I've read so far
that I like more, which
   is coming up in the list,
but I highly recommend this book
if you like cyberpunk
 fiction at all.
Number nine on my list
 is Ready Player One
by Ernest Cline.
Now this is a book that
  didn't really change my life
or teach me any big
  lessons or anything,
but I just absolutely
enjoyed listening to it.
It's a book about
   basically virtual reality,
a kid who goes into a huge
   virtual reality world,
and there's all
 these '80s video game
and movie and music references.
Even though I wasn't
  born in the '80s,
a lot of it was stuff I
  watched growing up as a kid.
It was just super cool
 to basically nerd out
while listening to this book.
I did listen to it.
I will recommend the audiobook
 version of this book.
While I usually like to
  create the character voices
in my head and
  narrate my own way,
I really liked Will Wheaton's
 narration of this book.
Will Wheaton's
  amazing in general,
and his narration of
  this book is great.
Definitely check it out.
Read it either way, but I
  love the audiobook version.
Book number eight is The Sirens
of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut.
You're probably getting a little
bit of a sci fi vibe here,
and yes, the majority
 of my favorite fiction
is sci fi and fantasy.
But I absolutely
loved this book.
It has a lot of
 themes about free will
and actually made
   me think a lot.
My friend Martin, who
   was actually my roommate,
recommended this book to me,
and I believe it is
  his favorite book.
Didn't really top the
 favorite list for me,
but I did enjoy it a lot,
   so it makes this list.
Book number seven
   is Ender's Shadow,
yes Shadow, not Game.
I absolutely love Ender's Game.
It's also one of
   my favorite books.
However, I thought
Shadow was a little bit
more compelling because
it tells the story
from Bean's perspective
instead of Ender's.
There's a little bit
 more grittiness to it.
There's a little bit
 more of the tactical,
nitty gritty details of
   how they win the battles,
and I really liked
seeing his perspective,
and also that secondary
perspective opened up
a lot of new perspective
on Ender's thoughts.
So definitely check it out
   if you haven't read it.
But I would recommend
  reading Ender's Game first.
Book number six is the
  Desert Spear by Peter Brett.
Now this book is
part of a series
called The Demon Cycle,
and there are currently
   four books out right now.
I've read all four and I'm
eagerly awaiting the fifth one,
which I believe should be
 the conclusion of the series.
Basically it's a story
 about these demons
who come up at night, and
  they're basically invincible
and unkillable to all
 the humans, until ...
Well, you'll just have
 to read what happens.
But it's pretty darn cool.
This is the one book
 on my list that I like
better than the original
start of the series.
I absolutely love the first one,
which is called The Warded Man,
or The Painted Man,
  depending on where you live.
But The Desert Spear has
a much more interesting
setting, in my opinion, and
  some cooler relationships
that are built
  along its storyline.
Definitely recommend
  the entire series,
but the second one is
 my favorite so far.
Book number five I
 actually own in print,
and it is Mistborn
 by Brandon Sanderson.
Now, I'm going to go
 on a limb here and say
that the entire Mistborn series,
at least the first three books,
are my favorite in the
 number five category.
I just arbitrarily
 picked the first one,
because I think I love
 all three equally.
But the reason I
 like Mistborn so much
is, number one, it's just
   a great fantasy series.
But number two, the magic system
is so well thought out,
and it's actually got
  limitations and hard rules.
I think that makes
  for more interesting
character interactions
 and situations
than more arbitrary just
whiz bang magic systems
like more Tolkien-esque
fiction will have.
That's why I love them.
I also note that there is a
  new series of Mistborn books
called The Wax
   and Wayne Trilogy,
which there are two of
 those out currently,
and those ones are
   usually shorter.
I think they're like half -
each one's is like
   half the length
of a normal Mistborn book.
But they're also really
great fun to read.
So I'd recommend
 basically everything
 in the Mistborn series
and pretty much everything
   Brandon Sanderson
has wrote is great.
Book number four is The
Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson,
and yes, this is the
 second recommendation
from Neal Stephenson
  on this list.
Over on my bookshelf
  right there I have
pretty much every other
book Neal Stephenson
has written since then,
except for Seven Eves,
which is his newest one.
I have yet to get through
   those ones because,
well, reading can be tough
   when you run a business.
But I did get through both
  Snow Crash and Diamond Age.
I think I liked The Diamond
  Age a little bit more,
probably because of the
character interactions,
but also because his
   mixture of the cyperpunk,
ridibulous future
   nanotech setting,
mixed with a resurgence of
 Victorian fashion and ideals,
was just awesome.
Everything Neal Stephenson
 dreams up in that head of his
is just super cool
   to read about.
Now, this was another
 one that I did
in audiobook format.
I'm not sure if the audiobook
 version was as compelling
as the Will Wheaton narration
 of Ready Player One,
but I really did like it.
So if you're into
 audiobooks, I would recommend
the audiobook version of this.
Though if you're not, reading
 it would be cool, too.
Book number three on this list?
Well, if you've been
  drawing conclusions
about my taste based on the
  other books on this list,
you've probably been wondering
if this one's going
  to come up, and yes,
it is The Name of the
   Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.
I absolutely love this book.
This was recommended
  to me on a whim
from my friend Carly.
I read nothing
   about it going in.
Honestly, I think
   that's the best
book-reading experience
you can have.
I like just taking things
   on blind recommendation
if they are good.
I got lucky with
this one because
it is absolutely amazing.
Like Mistborn, it has
  incredibly well thought out
magic system with physical
  properties and limitations.
But also, I just like
 the characterization
a little bit more than the
   characters in Mistborn,
and that's why this book
gets a little bit higher
spot on the list from me.
All right, moving on to the
 penultimate pick on this list,
and this might be
   where any dislikes
for this video comes from,
 because my pick for number two
is Harry Potter and the
Methods of Rationality,
which is a fan fiction, yes.
Now, this fan fiction
 story was written by
an artificial
intelligence researcher
named Eliezer Yudkowsky,
who's also written a lot
on rationality and
   critical thinking.
This book is
 basically his attempt
at teaching rationality
and critical thinking
without you really realizing it.
This book basically
  imagines a universe
where Harry Potter,
 instead of just being
a normal 11-year-old boy,
is essentially a genius
who thinks through
everything rationally
 and like a scientist.
What I love about this book is
all the other characters
  are adjusted to match Harry.
So it's not like he's
 just going through
and having an easy
  time of everything.
All the other characters
are much smarter.
If you like things like
Sherlock or Death Note,
or more rational, cerebral
   pieces of fiction,
then I think you'll
  really enjoy this.
I'm not going to
  say you're going to
enjoy it more than cannon.
I personally do, but
  I don't want to say
that it's better than cannon,
because obviously it builds upon
already excellent foundation
  of story and setting
and characters that
J.K. Rowling has built.
I absolutely love the cannon.
But for me, I
  think I enjoyed MOR
a little bit more.
Also, it got me into
   reading about rationality
and reading about
   critical thinking skills,
and heuristics, and
  biases, and things
that have made me
   a better thinker.
This is one of those
 rare pieces of fiction
that has made a tangible
change in my life,
and that's why it gets such
  a high place on this list.
But it's not in the top
   pick, because that one is
The Hitchhiker's Guide
   to the Galaxy, of course.
Now, if you've read the About
 section on my YouTube channel
or any of the pages
  on my website,
you've probably noticed the
  references to this book,
and it's no secret that
this is my absolute
favorite piece of fiction,
   which is why I have
the faux leather
  cover bound edition
of all five of the books.
I absolutely love
  these books so much.
They are ridiculously
 imaginative.
I just love the
   dry British humor
that Douglas Adams
   puts into them.
Just read these books
 no matter who you are.
They are fantastic.
They're weird.
If you watched the movie
and didn't like it,
well, I absolutely
   loved the movie,
so we're kind of on opposite
  sides with that thing.
But I will say that the book
version is just so much better.
I grew up listening to the
 audiobook version of this book
every night for years.
There are actually
   multiple versions.
There's a version that is
   read by an entire cast,
where every character has
   their own voice actor.
That one's pretty cool.
Steven Fry has his
 own narration version,
which I believe is
   the most popular.
That one's awesome.
But the one I recommend,
if you can find it,
is the one that is read
   by Douglas Adams himself.
His narration is just amazing.
It's just awesome.
I will try to find
  that and link to it
in the description below.
But if I can't,
 well, it is up to you
to Google it, I suppose.
So those are my top 10
favorite fiction books,
at least at this
   point in my life.
I'm curious to
  know what you think
of the books on this list.
Do you like some of them?
Do you dislike some of them?
I also want to know, based
   on what I've told you
about my favorite fiction books,
what should I read next?
All right, guys, that's
   it for this week's video.
Thanks so much for watching,
and I will see you,
 as always, next week.
(upbeat music)
