I think that the tick thing has ended up being a myth. There’s this link I found real quick but I don’t remember where I saw it originally.

My favorite is probably The Books of the North of The Black Company series. The rest are good too but the first 3 are great.

Currently I’m reading the bakemonogatari series just finished kizu. Only started because my friend sent me a screenshot of him listening to the audio book but then he gave up cause it’s too complicated to listen to in the background.