November And December Wrap Up 

I'm a 17 year old boy so when my mom recommended Anne of Green Gables I was skeptical but I loved it and was immediately obsessed and read all 8 books in 2 weeks. I think I just needed a change of pace from reading the wheel of time and the stormlight archive all through 2020.

“Skyward set the bar really high, and the rest I’m enjoying” Very well said

I'm so happy you gave Anne of Green Gables a second chance. It's one of my favourite childhood stories. Anne is such a beautiful character and I hope the book remains a classic in years to come

Yes, Unsouled! I loved that book. I’m in book 8 now, and the series keeps getting better!

Do you realise the 3rd Novella is already out? You should definitely get to it, it's my favourite out of all the new releases.

I read the whole Anne of green gables series for the first time in middle school and I absolutely loved it. It is my favorite series of all time.

You NEED to read the rest of the Anne series! At least Anne of Avonlea. So very good!!! It gets more grown up as she does.

I really need to read anne of Green Gables. I grew up watching the 1980's miniseries and I moved to Prince Edward Island this year.

I discovered Cradle last year and it's good. Actually, I'd say it only gets better after the first book including more character development.

I'm really glad that more people are becoming aware of "The Secret History". As someone who lacks much familiarity with dark-academia subculture, I can look at Tartt's story and immediately recognize how it would influence future authors and designers. I also believe that Tartt was operating at a much higher level of intelligence with her debut than she did with her more popular book "The Goldfinch", a book which just didn't click for me. Your take on the style of the Poirot mysteries doesn't surprise me. I intend to read them in chronological order and have gotten through the first one ("The Mysterious Affair at Styles"). My expectations were both met and unmet. It seems that Christie (as a debut author) was on a severe learning curve: for example, a lot of the clues for solving the murder contradict each other. My favorite Christie book is actually a standalone espionage thriller she wrote that no one really talks about: "Destination Unknown", published in the mid-50s as the Cold War was rising.

Merphy is my absolute feelgood channle. It feels so comfortable listening to her talking about books, getting caught in her thoughts and just sharing joy in reading

I'm so happy you enjoyed Anne! The whole series is wonderful, as are the rest of LMM's works Definitely get the whole series, at least for your daughter to collect.

Unsouled is probably the roughest book to get through and then the books keep ramping up from there. One thing I'd try to consider is to treat the first 3 books as almost one big book, or one overall arc. The shorter books allow Will to somehow keep his crazy pace of putting out the 10 Cradle series books in 5 years. The audiobooks are also amazing.

The world of Cradle becomes very fascinating as you go. I'm on the 10th book now and Will Wight's writing increases with each entry.

3:46 You might say Anne is a Kindred Spirit? :D Also super glad you finally read Orient Express! That ending!

Yes! I was looking for your Cytonic review, glad to see it here :)

I love Murder on The Orient Express so much. Especially the ending even though not a huge fan of mysteries as a genre. Anne of Green Gables is my favourite book and I love the series

I fell deep into the whole series after reading Unsouled! I’m fully caught up now and on my second read. Would love to see you review the rest of the series!

Cradle is my favorite series of all time. Please keep reading it

I was soooo happy you loved Anne of Green Gables! It’s one of my favorite things on the planet. I loved loved Mathew, he’s such a dear sweet man. I read it as an adult and loved it lol

Didn't see the video, already liked, that's how much trust I put into your content ahah

I can't wait to read the Bone Shard series, because everyone makes it sound so unique and interesting...but I have such a long TBR that I'm going to wait for book 3. Not sure how I'll do that, but I need to.

First Merphy in 2022, love it

love to read these

Hope you and the family have a wonderful time together Merph

I'm an aspiring author and you and the rest of the viewers are actually my target audience so I use your vids to help me write. Thank you for these videos!

Awesome video as always merph.

Merph I gotta thank you for bringing Bone Shard Daughter to my attention, I loved the programming-like magic system and I'm psyched to read the next one

Thanks for the vid

Great video!

Happy New Years! Hope you and your family had a wonderful holidays. Love your videos and your take on books.

I just bought The Secret History this week, crazy that we happened to get our hands on it at the same time

Maybe you can try the miss Marple mysteries by Agatha Christie ? You're not following a traditional detective, instead you're staying with a smart old lady from a small town. I think they are brilliant and it might fit your taste better.

Yay! Ive been waiting for unsouled to be reviewed. The series definitely gets better and better!! Please keep reading it. You definitely get time for character development in the next couple books. I believe the first book was written with the intention to be stand alone if it didn’t do well but the rest of the books feel like a series. . He really excels at adding a supporting character(s) in his series that just adds so much to the main character while adding a bit of humor. I think I’ve laughed out loud more often in these books than pretty much any other author’s work. Sorry for the WOT lol. Glad you read this one!

I will cry tears of joy if Merphy reviews the whole Cradle series.

If you want to read a classic, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a great one(Anne Bronte). A young woman moves to a town with her child. And then we get to know her, understand her more and more... Its like a dark Jane Austen novel

This is a random thing to comment on, but I love your new outro music!

Cradle!! Yes I am so happy that you liked it! I think palate cleanser is a great way to describe the series. It is just pure fun, and o hope you continue the series, even if it not right away. The characters do deepen a lot throughout the series. A little like one piece, members are added slowly to the ensemble cast and you do grow to love them. While I don’t think that as a character-driven reader, this will ever be your favorite series, I think there is enough character moments that you will enjoy the ride

Please keep reading cradle! It gets so much better, and you haven’t even met any of the best characters yet

I only figured out last year that Anne Of Green Gables was a series, and that was by far the best thing I heard that year. I read the first book when I was younger, but I feel like it'd be a comforting reread. Glad you liked it lol.

Oh good! The bone shard daughter is on my list for this year so I'm glad to hear the second one was satisfying 😌

so much time since i havent see u on my for you page so i search u myself cuz i missed u

Happy reading in 2022!

I am so so sooo happy you finally read Anne of Green Gables!!! I knew you would like her if you gave her a chance!😄😭😭

I am so happy you liked Anne of Green Gables this go around! I am on Starsight now. I am really enjoying it so far. I put off reading the series because I hate waiting for books in the series. Now that the last book is being released soonish I felt safe continuing on, haha.

I'm so glad you enjoyed Anne of Green Gables this time around! It's one of my absolute favorites and I was a little heartbroken when I discovered you had dnf-ed it.

You summed up my feelings about Cytonic so perfectly, I remembered distinctly why I follow you lol. I almost like the novellas more because I'm more familiar with the characters and their ongoing quests. I thought I was alone with Spensas changes to her character. I get that she is growing up but it almost feels like she is getting a personality transplant sometimes. I hope you read the last novella, its so good.

happy tolkien day merph!

The characters really develop over the series of cradle. Each book is better than the last and this can really be felt by the third book. The fourth book is crazy fun though.

For a murder mystery that is much more about the characters than the mystery, check out Alan Bradley's "The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie". The protagonist is an 11-year old girl, Flavia DeLuce, with a passion for chemistry who lives in a dilapidated manor house in 1950's England with her eccentric family and she is just a hoot!! Despite the age of the protagonist, it is definitely written for adults.

I'm actually way more excited to read Cytonic now!!! I feel like I'm going to absolutely love it! Up until now I've heard nothing but negative things so to hear what you loved about it made me feel soooo much better!!! For whatever reason I am just struggling to get through these novellas though! lol

Aside from Murder on the Orient Express and Anne of Green Gables which I've already read, and One Piece which I think I don't have the means to read yet, I'll be reading every book you talked about here because most of your reccs are amazing. And also the rest of the Anne of Green Gables series because of the comments.

I read the novellas and Cytonic in December as well. I am really enjoying this series! I agree Skyward was the best, but these are not far behind for me. I am waiting on Libby for Evershore!

I can't wait to read the bone shard daughter now !!

Glad you’re reading the Cradle series! I’m just starting the 4th book and have enjoyed it so far. The more you read the better the series gets. The first book was a bit slow to me, but they develop a lot more as you go.

In November I read Firestarter by Stephen king The firekeeper daughter 💙 The broken eye by Brent weeks The final book in the licanius trilogy Just as I am by Cecily Tyson memoir The shaadi set-up God emperor of dune 💙 Sunshine girl by julianna margolis memoir 💙 Reapers gale In a holidaze Soulmate equation Royal by danielle steel 💙 Circe 💙

Completely agree on If the Shoe Fits!

Still hoping for 2022 to be my year of hopping on books I've been holding off on

I just started rereading Anne too!! ...except I'm doing it through audiobook...and in Spanish. It definitely has strong Merph energy XD

Every single word about those 3 Sanderson books flew over my head and it's not because what you said but because I don't know what they are about.

Thanks for the spoiler warning on the Skyward series, Merphy. I haven't caught up on them yet, so I appreciate you giving the warning.

I got JG Ballard's complete short stories for Christmas, favourite so far is The Concentration City, about a student in a giant city who becomes obsessed with the idea of there being open space.

Sweet! I may check out some of these books and by some I mean all of them

You’ve convinced me to read the novellas before Cytonic 😂 Still really excited for it. Also, Anne is one of my favorite childhood characters 🥰

I’ve been hearing so much about Cradle recently. I will probably have to pick it up some time. -T

I read Anne of green gables as a kid in the 90's and it was a fantastic series!. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'll be starting The Drowning Empire this year.

I agree with Lynn- Evershore adds to the story

I agree about the structure of the skyward series. I hope brandon breaks that cycle of “go to new location meet new group of side characters leave” in Defiant- I loved it in Starsight but in Cytonic…. Not so much. You’re right, that part of the book is so obviously a side quest. It’s almost like Brandon was writing it, realized he didn’t have quite enough material, and added that whole section. Like we get it, spensa is amazing at being a leader and being able to mesh with just about any group of people! We don’t need to see it again and again. I did love how much her character grows throughout the book, but the side quest felt so unnecessary.

Anne of Green Gables is truly the best! Matthew is the sweetest caretaker. 💜

Me, seeing the thumbnail: *scrambling for my earbuds* ANNE OF GREEN GABLES 👀👀👀 I will also mention that the least book, Rilla of Ingleside, is my next favorite! I also really love the authors Trilogy Emily of New Moon (more YA than middle grade), and the Blue Castle (for grown-ups, a romance but also about a stifled woman coming into her own - -and one of my all time favorite books)

I recently read Anne of Green Gables and enjoyed it but the series just gets better with books 2-5! (I'm currently on book 6 . . .)

Used Cradle books as palette cleansers like you said and to shake off reading slumps. Just super easy fun and fast reads. Did that until book 6 and then binged 6-10 in like 10 days. it gets so good.

I read The Secret History recently too and it blew me away, it's easily one of my favorite books now but I totally get the disconnect to it that you felt. I don't know that much about Greek tragedy either and there were definitely times reading when I wished that I did. Especially when there would literally be a word or a statement written out in Greek without a translation or an explanation as to what it meant 😂.

that new outro music is S M O O T H

Needing some inspiration from a short reading drought! 📚 just finished two Dune books and starting the dense 9th Outlander novel and hit a wall. I need something different to cleanse the palate!

Need to read AoGG, remember the old TV movies? And your dad has me sold on checking into Cradle series- have 1-8 or 9 downloaded when they were free

Good morning!

M-bot's arc is very interesting to me. If his AI was placed in a security droid, he could grow up to be Murderbot!!

Merphy, I would love if you watched and reviewed Arcane. I know its not a book series, but since I heard you liked Avatar the Last Airbender I think you're gonna like this too! Could be cool to start the year with something a lil different.

I'm so happy for you!!! You adopted! I have PCOS and so chances of miscarriage go way up with that, can't imagine going through that. so I just said I would adopt so it's nice to see other people doing that as well!

Skyward is a favorite of mine as well, but I have yet to get to the novellas and Cytonic. I think I am waiting until we get closer to the 4th book coming out to binge the rest of the series lol

*wonders what character was Merphy between sweet Anne and angry Spensa* 🤣🤣

Glad you enjoyed Anne of Green Gables! But there is another book series by that same author called Emily of The New Moon and it's so much better! It is about a girl who wants to be a poet and a writer. She has an amazing imagination and that sometimes gets her in trouble. When you said how Anne was reminding you when you were growing up, I was nodding because that's exactly how I felt about Emily! It's a heartwarming story that you'll remember for a long time. I am really bad at describing it.... damn it... well, I'm not doing it justice! :D (she has cats? did that convince you? no? well, I tried :D) also really glad that the adoption went well! Have an amazing year 2022!

The Anne of Green Gables is a great series because it matures with her. It never loses the delight she has in the world but it really does touch on some incredible themes. I would highly recommend the entire series.

Cradle is awesome, glad to see it on here! I think that the manga/shonen comparison can be stretched to the characters - they become really wholesome, fleshed out characters, but just like in One Piece (or any other classic shonen anime/manga, you pick!) they start off as one-dimensional entertainment. I will say that Wight gives us some slower-paced books where we actually spend time with our characters, and I thought that was great. He's growing as a writer IMO.

Some of the best insights for writers. It amazes me hearing some of the qualms you and your viewers bring up, not speaking of anything in specific especially in this video, but I don't understand how some books could get published when they commit these writing "sins." Also, Just curious, you guys have a readers group right? I've been wanting to find a couple of people who may be interested in reading the first few chapters of my YA fantasy.

Man, I really need to reread Anne of Green Gables.

I feel like you and I have very similar taste in books. For this reason I recommend Iron House by John Hart to you. It's a thriller with (what I think is) a nice balance between character and plot. It's a found family trope with grey characters throughout.

Unsouled is a Wu Xia novel, maybe your dad will like wu xia type stuff, very similar. Wu Xia literally means "Martial Heroes", it's typically chinese.

If you do continue on with the Anne of Green Gable series, it ages with Anne. The later books are about her children. The last book is a coming of age story anout her youngest daughter Rilla taking place during the first world War. It's a slightly darker tone than the others and one of my all time favorite books. I read all of them as an adult, and they remain one of my most beloved series.

I haven't read it, but I hear the third book of the unsouled series is supposed to be awesome and will make you want to fly through the rest of the series.

I loved the Anne of green gables when I was younger

Audiobooks being expensive feels like it isn't really a problem since so many audio listeners listen enough to benefit from a membership. I was so happy to get the Sanderson novellas with Audible credits, so they were only a little over $11

Honestly, I think it’s worth reading the rest of Anne of Green Gables (although I'm still missing two or maybe three books?). I've never read a series where you see a character literally growing up, and changing so much, yet so believably. Anne truly matures, without ever losing the essence of who she is. It all just feels so real. I think it’s an incredible series that will probably be relatable to readers of any age.

Without having reading it, Unsouled sounds by your description like My Hero Academia.

How you feel about Brandon Sanderson reminds me of how I feel about RA Salvatore now that I have read almost all of Salvatore’s books maybe I should branch out to Brandon next

I knew you'd like Anne if you give it a second chance ☺

I agree that the structure of the series has been rather odd (First one was meet Spenza and have a blast! then Spenza-pretends-to-be-Analik.then Spenza goes down the nowhere rabbit hole). I am looking forward to a newly-confident Spenza for book four. I'm also wondering if the fourth book will have multiple POV's (since the Novella's introduced other POVs) - the scope of the story is getting perhaps too broad for a single POV. Love your comments and insight as always!

Can you make Kaitou Joker review?

Omg yo, merphy. The covers of these books reminded me of animorphs, and i gotta know if you've read the animorph series? Its disguised as a kids series, but its legit darker than game of thrones. Its a fxxxing sci-fi war tragedy series. I'd love to know your opinion on it if you've read them