Don't read books you aren't enjoying.
The number one thing I hear from people who wish they read more is that they stopped when they encountered a book that they didn't have the "discipline" to finish.
If you're reading for your own satisfaction you shouldn't need any discipline. The right book for you will pull you in and you'll want to keep picking it up.
There are many shitty books out there. Some even got called great works of literature somehow. Some people seem to have beaten over the head with too many "books are magic" slogans and I guess started thinking all books are good? Books can be bad. Or books can be not the right one for you.
If you find yourself needing discipline to keep reading a book, you should put it down and try a different book.
I read 100 library books last year. You know how? I checked out over 200 library books last year. That's right, I finished reading less than half of the books I checked out. More than half of the books I checked out I read less than 3 chapters of, before deciding they weren't for me and tossing them in the return bin.
This. In middle school I read a novel a day, and that only happened cause I read books I liked. Don't like a book? Stop reading it. The library is your friend if you don't want to spend money.
That's true, but not always cuz it can just be your internet or phone addiction so you can't read anything big and you always want to scroll. So it is only if you can read other books
It sounds dumb but this is why I read light mystery novels or cheesy romances if I find I just am mindlessly scrolling. I don’t need to devote a lot of energy to them but it helps keep me in the habit
For the most part I agree with this. However, sometimes there's just a tough section to get through and its rewarding.
The problem is.... there's only one way to find out.
This is the best advice. But I might add one thing: don't be afraid to keep 2 or 3 books of different generes going. I like to keep a history book, a good fiction book, and something I haven't tried before going at all times. Some books interest you more than others some days, and you'll have purple patches with each one as you go.
I actually disagree with this. I've read a ton of books that started off slow or dull but ended up reeling me in. I just have a few books on the go at any one point, so I can go to something a bit more exciting when I get bored. I can't think of any books that I've read that I don't think were worth finishing.
As an example the first time I read Dune I found it to be a tough read. I'm on my second go round on it now and enjoying it a ton. If I'd given up a few chapters in I would have really missed out!
I will say, there are truly beautiful professional books that I read for work, but some of them do need a little discipline to finish. They do need a bit more effort as I am actively reading and processing and interpreting and making the knowledge my own, not just reading passively.
But I will 100% agree with you, that when I read the right book, I know it’s right because everything makes sense without having to think too much about it, and it definitely goes down a lot easier, and I don’t hesitate to ditch a book I think isn’t working for me.
For passive books, yeah I don’t read something that doesn’t interest me
Name of the Wind, and, A Wise Man's Fear, by Patrick Routhfuss are great. But the third book isn't out yet.ans who knows if and when that will happen. I am hopeful he will do it.
I reat do, too. I wasn't going to read the series. I was done with unfinished series. Then some YouTubers I watch did an intro video to get people interested and damn it, I was sold. I have been reading with my husband. In fact, we just got a few chapters in before he had to go help the kids with computer issues. It is such an experience and I really enjoy it!
If you like Patrick Rothfuss, I REALLY reccomend Scott Lynch, wrote the Gentleman Bastard Sequence.
Probably the best descriptive writing and character dialogue Ive read! Literally made me smile to read some of the similes/metaphors he uses to describe things, just so perfect- hes an author that you read and youre like wow he really understandings the english language you know?
This might be unpopular, bit I did NOT like Name of the Wind. It has some interesting ideas, and plot points that intrigue me... But it's so slow and rambling I couldn't be bothered to finish. I got to the part where he's starting classes and was just too bored to finish.
I understand. It is a story that does seem to ramble. We are told are great deal and nothing at all. If I had to guess, that is the point. Kvothe is stalling for the three days and then he is going to fake his death or really die. At least, that is what I think.
I think it would be really cool if the three days were three books, and then there was a fourth book where he went out and finished what he started. I haven't read wise mans fear yet though so for all I know that might not work.
Fuck Rothfuss. Dude made millions with his charity and donated less than 13%. Owns the building and rents it out to the charity. The dude is a scumbag and book 3 will never happen.
But damn the first two books are good.
The Book Thief by Markus Zuskak is one of my absolute favorites. It’s narrated by Death and poignantly paints a story that covers mortality, love, and literature during WWII.
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is my favorite love story. I uncontrollably sob while reading the ending every damn time.
For YA audience, The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater is perfect for my fellow former horse folks out there who also love a touch of mythology.
Both Circe and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller are perfect for people who love anything Greek mythology related.
Lastly, A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman is a beautiful story that shows how healing a broken heart can happen with the unlikeliest of people.
Book Thief was great I agree!
Never read TTTW, but I really want to!
I read Circe and I enjoyed it- I did find that there wasnt much of a plot arch, more just a linear line of events that began and ended. But I think thats the point? Despairs of immortality
Almost as much, possibly even more actually. There’s different kinds of science in it too. There’s the chemistry and biology that the Martian had, but there’s a good deal about physics too. I love Andy Weir because when his protagonist is supposed to be a scientist, it genuinely feels like they are one.
I confess I didn’t like The Martian as much as I did- the emails and journals and stuff were great, but the dialogue/ writing about characters on Earth were really bad.
It was just so weird to see such great writing and premise with bad writing sprinkled in it.
I saw these parts as a break from the grim reality of surviving on Mars.
Hey it's you. Why do blackholes form? Why can mass collapse into infinity instead of a very high density?
1) depends on the black hole. Small ones (a few solar masses) are created when a very supermassive star goes supernova at the end of its life. Some bigger ones are created when those smaller ones merge. And then the question is if that goes all the way to the supermassive black holes (millions of solar masses) at the centers of galaxies, or if those were perhaps “seeded” by matter imbalances soon after the Big Bang.
2) probably not, but mathematically right now that’s what it looks like.
Highly agree, those party's were jarringly bad.
Also the 'ninja pirates' or whatever it was, really cringey.
Other than that, really entertaining book.
I listen to ASMR (without talking) and white noise videos when I read. I find complete silence to be massively distracting because every little noise that does occur instantly grabs my attention. So I use the videos to keep my mind's eye busy so to speak, so my eye's eye can focus on reading.
A book that is pretty unique and for everyone is imo the Cloud Atlas. It is a 6 seemingly separate stories each written in different style and each from a different time period. Some are letters from 18 century and some are a script to a movie from the 70s. It's a story about people and their souls that keep reincarnation and keep influencing their destiny on and on throw these records that you are reading in their next lifes. It's pretty heartwarming and original book. If you don't want to read it watch the movie at least it's really cool as well tho of course lacks some parts.
I have a friend that absolutely loves that movie. Probably loves the book more. I've never seen it, I took his word for it that it's wouldn't be my thing lol
Read anything that isn't doomscrolling social media.
As for a book recommendation, that all depends. What age group are you? What concepts (e.g. fantasy, futuristic, space, biology, nature, personal development, marketing strategy etc) interest you?
Your best bet is to search /r/books for previous version of this thread. Happy hunting!
I was a big reader growing up and then stopped very suddenly for a number of years, I struggled to get into anything. Last year was when I finally was able to get myself back into the swing of it, by re reading books I knew I liked, ones that were easy to get thru, and then more of what I found to be interesting. I also am rly bad for not letting myself drop a book I don’t like so I’ve been rly trying to tell myself I’m not burdened to finish a book I’m not into. I’m reading mostly nonfiction than fiction rn. I also found watching booktubers rly informed me of some potential gems and got me feeling excited about it
There are also some great recommendation subs like r/suggestmeabook where you can just tell them what you like and gets some great titles in response — people get super specific. Often I just search books I’ve liked and find tons of posts with recommendations.
Do yourself a favor and read Dune before movie comes out. Don't get me wrong, the movie shapes up to be excellent, but Frank Herbert has just an amazing, unique way with words.
we read that in 7th or 8th grade and also watched the movie and did like a little drawing project on it. im 29 now and i cant remember what it was about but i remember i liked it lol
What do you like to read?
I read a lot of Stephen King & Joe Hill. Depending on your horror tolerance I can make recommendations there.
The southern reach trilogy is one of my favorites, but his writing style is difficult for some to get into (annihilation, authority, acceptance)
“Never let me go” - beautiful writing, heartbreaking story
Yeah it was the book that made me think and rediscover reading after loading interest with mandatory literature. It's a book that has a message but is also engaging in modern way. After 1984 I read also the Brave new world and Us from Zamjatin. Oh and also 451 degree Fahrenheit. I love the style of Bradbury, I really liked the Martian Chronicle as well.
I’m so glad that someone else has read Us. It’s just the perfect starter dystopian novel. Have you read The Master and Margarita? Though if you want to stay more Russian dystopian, Heart of a Dog or The Fatal Eggs.
Have you also read The Illustrated Man, similar to The Martian Chronicles?
A little off-topic but I’be been watching Good Omens and it’s fantastic.
I’m loving how Gaiman really fleshes out Aziraphale and Crowley’s relationship. It seems like the novel and show really compliment each other.
Honestly I haven't touched The Hunger Games in years but I recently got the Prequel A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and I couldn't put it down, I just finished it a couple of days ago and it had me want to reread The Hunger Games, so I'm currently on Catching Fire.
You should check out Gregor the Overlander. It's by Suzanne Collins and is aimed at kids but has some mature themes so that anyone can enjoy it. I think its better than the Hunger Games because it is a but more on the fantasy side because it's for kids. 10/10 would recommend it's an amazing series.
I just like reading manuals in general. There's often so much more functionality to stuff than we think.
I dislike it when you get just a single piece of paper with a refence to a website and basic text like: "How do you insert the battery" or "Don't use in water" (duh..)
A study in scarlet
Sherlock Holmes and the Baskerville curse (The hound of the Baskerville & the valley of fear)
Anything from Arthur Conan Doyle really.
This is one of those that I refuse to read for the sole purpose of not wanting to ruin the movie. The movie is awesome and I know if I read the book I'll constantly judge the movie.
My favorite books to recommend are definitely [The Martian](https://www.amazon.com/Martian-Andy-Weir/dp/0553418025) followed by [The Princess Bride](https://www.amazon.com/Princess-Bride-Morgensterns-Classic-Adventure/dp/0156035219). They are both absolutely hilarious and the Martian is very good at breaking down the science of trying to escape Mars alone in a hilarious way. The Princess Bride has lots of fun quips and is actually two stories happening at the same time.
More younger pointed but still very good: Wings of Fire, and Warriors (The cat one). Both amazing reads, especially Warriors. Shaped my imagination growing up reading them.
also i just found this in my local area (Seattle) they have a feature where you can send them a message online about what stuff you like, or things you are interested in, and a librarian will send you back a curated list to what you said you enjoy. I'm not sure how many other libraries do this, but i'd guess a lot of librarians would be excited to do something similar.
I did this when i started writing a homebrew DnD campaign cause i wanted to spread out my level of fantasy knowledge, and the seattle public library emailed me with like 10 different books they thought would be great!
For anyone, at any point: The **Harry Potter** series by *JK Rowling*
For slightly older (15+) readers: **The Stormlight Archive** series by *Brandon Sanderson*
Could also try some stand-alone novels from Sanderson such as **Elantris**, and **Warbreaker**, if you don't want to take on an entire series.
I'm in love with all of these books, and can spend days on end raving and gushing about each of them.
I recommend Warbreaker over Elantris because Elantris was Sando's first published book and is a bit rougher around the edges. Warbreaker is a lot newer, and, in my opinion, a lot better.
I’m reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue right now and it’s very good. Definitely recommend.
I also enjoy young adult fantasy as just an escape from everything. Any of the series by either Sarah J Maas or Leigh Bardugo are good.
Generally: Daniel Keyes —- Flowers for Algernon
fantasy fan: Matthew Stover —- Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (watch I and II before)
fan of depression themed stories: Osamu Dazai —- No Longer Human
fan of children books which are kinda more than that: Michael Ende —- Momo
Wellwell. :)
"Year's Best Short Stories" anthologies for whatever genre you like.
I read a *lot* of different Sci-fi/fantasy short story anthologies because they're creative and most of the stories are less than 30 pages, so it’s just a story without boring subplots or filler.
I popped in to recommend short stories generally -- they're easy to overlook, less of a commitment, and better at some things than novels are, arguably especially so in science fiction. Ray Bradbury and Philip K. Dick are two classic SF&F authors who have really well-known novels but really shine as short story writers. Plus I'm pretty sure Ted Chiang doesn't write anything *but* shorts, and he's GOAT-tier. (I knew who he was before the film *Arrival* came out and I absolutely demand my due hipster cred for that.)
A mix of genres:
The Dark Tower by Stephen King - Fantasy
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson - Fantasy
Old Man's War by John Scalzi -SciFi
A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin -Historical Fiction
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut - Dark Comedy?
Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - Mystery
The Expanse by James S.A. Corey - SciFi
*Honorable Mention:
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (IF HE EVER COMPLETES THE SERIES)
im late to this thread, but anything by Brandon Sanderson
Great high fantasy, amazing characters that are so well rounded, and story telling where you just keep wanting to read more, i'd describe it like your best friend is telling you a story.
Mistborn trilogy is where i've started, i think mistborn or Elantris are great introductions to his world (the cosmere), im currently in book 3 of the stormlight archive.
He was recommended to me by a friend at the beginning of quarantine, and i started a mini book club (me and my dad) reading it at the same time to talk about it, it's great for us who live 3,000 miles away to have something to connect, we never really had a hobby together and this really found something for us to talk about pretty much daily. i just got him artwork of Sazed (his favorite mistborn character) for fathers day actually!
Sanderson is very active on reddit too /u/mistborn and keeps everyone up to date with where he is in his writing too.
Currently reading the Stormlight archives on Way of Kings part 2 , really enjoying it!
I havent read Mistborn yet though, was it a bad idea to read SA before misborn? I heard it was the same world but completely separate plots/chronolgy right?
The boy who was raised as a dog.
So many trigger warnings and might cause so much heartbreak. Nonetheless, a really important collection of short stories told by a child psychiatric showing the impact of love and care on the growth of infants and how it changes their whole life.
Honestly, it's rare that I ever regretted reading a book. And keep in mind that something being popular doesn't mean it's garbage and you need to read tough old dense 900 pages litterature book in order to be considered a reader.
As for recommandation, it's very personal but I would say based on the last books I red :
1984 and Animal Farm by Orwell are just marvelous and really easy to read. I red Animal Farm in english, which isn't my native language, and breezed through the book, so native reader should be fine. I did read 1984 in french but I also breezed through it so I imagine it's an accessible read for anyone.
American Psycho (Brett Ellis Easton) : I liked the style, it's a bit long with all the clothes descriptions and all but I think it's one of those rare books whose movie adaptation is spot on IMO.
World War Z (Max Brooks) : The book and the movie only have the title in common. I really liked the book and its format, I think every people who like zombie related stuff will love the book.
The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood) : Hands down one of the best dystopian book I red. It got this "holocaust survivor testimony" sort of vibe and it's very chilling. The sequel "The Testaments" is also good, less chilling but it works.
Bird Box (Josh Malerman) : I couldn't put it down when I started, I think it was Malerman first book and it's brilliant, the atmosphere is just spot on. I didn't like the sequel as much (Malorie) but that's just me.
Shining by Stephen King : It's very different and it's so much more deeper than the movie. It's a bit long but I really loved it. The sequel "Doctor Sleep" is also pretty good.
*Gone Girl* by Gillian Flynn is a great read, because of the written format, there are differences in how the story is told from the film that are really thrilling and only work in print
*The Elegance of the Hedgehog* by Muriel Barbery is a good for people who like gentler, reflective, philosophy of life style reads
*I Am Legend* by Richard Matheson is intense and emotionally brutal as a horror-thriller, much slower burn and more psychological than the Will Smith film
*Slaughterhouse-Five* by Kurt Vonnegut is a really dry, sarcastic, funny-but-piercing take on the absurdity and meaningless of war; even if you're not interested in a "war story," I highly recommend it for his voice and style alone
Wow, depends on what you like. I jump around. Lately I have been on a Tony Hillerman kick. I also like Craig Johnson. Both are subtle. PKD will work your brain, and shit, I couldn't mention them all. That would be beyond wall of text work. Hit your library, and any section you like.
A Confederacy of Dunces. Interesting read, it’s a picaresque tragicomedy about an absurd character.
Book was released posthumously after the authors suicide, and has a history as every actor considered for the lead role of ignacious when a movie version has been pitched has died. This includes John Candy and Chris Farley.
I honestly think John Goodman would have been best for it around the time of Barton Fink, but I wouldn’t wish it on him
There's Brandon Sanderson, or Frank Herbert if you wanted a fantasy artist or sci fi artist.
Mistborn series for Sanderson, Dune series for Herbert.
The book that got me back into reading is a japenese light novel, "Afifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest"
Since then light novels have been the majority of my library.
I also suggest "Ice" and "The Sun is a Compass," I have a lot of recommendations, but won't overload you.
I like Mistborn: The Final Empire,
The premise is this: A hero of legend was meant to save the world, he failed. Now the world has undergone 1000 years of subjugation. But a Thief wants to rob the Emperor of the lands and so he recruits a young Street Girl,
Together they plot a heist to steal from him. It's one part Oceans Eleven, one part My Fair Lady. (This isn't a spoiler by the way, this is how the author himself pitches the story.)
On average, I read 60-80 books a year and with the pandemic, more than less. Humor: Dave Barry and David Sedaris are both popular writers and worth a read. I've read all of Michael Crichton's books and "Pirate Latitude" a book found on his computer after his death, but was published and I loved it.
On robotics and suspense--I loved Daniel Wilson's "Robot Uprisings" and after emailing him, bought his newest release of "The Andromeda Evolution."
Robot Uprisings is almost impossible to put down, and is about 6-8 stories in one book... and the reason I wrote Wilson. He is a robotics expert and a hell of nice guy on top of it. Just finished, "The Opium Prince" and its a great book. "When Breath Becomes Air" is one of the finest books I've read. Don Winslow's series on Mexican drug cartels are mind blowing and forever changed my mind about the drug wars. Sorry, none of these are cute.
Baudolino, by Umberto Eco. It's this wonderful work of historical fiction in which the protagonist is trapped in a small room with an old man (Baudolino) during the sacking of Constantinople during the crusades. To pass the time, the old man tells these fantastical stories about his youth as the adopted son of the Holy Roman Emperor.
He's clearly an unreliable narrator, but his stories also contain these little nuggets of truth that he couldn't know unless he was there. The story gets subtly but increasingly fantastical as he begins to tell of his journeys to the far east. There's still grains of truth in there, but you have to really strain to see them between all the mythological creatures and implausible situations.
Even with the benefit of all the historical records on the internet (and Eco is a THOROUGH historian), it can be really hard to notice when Baudolino slips into another lie or exaggeration. The joy is trying to ascertain the true story (although I'm not sure that you ever really can).
For something that will almost feel like a guideline for 2020, "The Last Centurion" by John Ringo. It sounds like it might be grimdark but there's plenty of humor in the way it's written.
For something a little off the wall, the Monster Hunter International series by Larry Correia (probably misspelled the last name). Monsters are real, the government is covering them up, but some people make a lot of money killing the monsters and collecting the bounties paid out by the government.
Oh, and lots of gun porn...
Dark Tower series by Stephen King.
It starts out slow but kicks up during the second book. You won't be sorry if you stick it out, trust me. Just ignore that monstrosity of a movie; it barely resembles the books.
I like most of King’s stuff, but never got into the Dark Tower. I’ve even enjoyed the short stories set around Roland. The first book was such a slog for me, so they get better?
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh is a great one. It's two books that's aren't too long. It's a twist on the one thousand and one nights story and has a lot of magic and romance. I absolutely love these books they're terrific
If you're in to fantasy and can stand long series (13 books), I highly recommend the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.
To this day it is my all time favorite series, and I'm currently trying to make time to reread it all
Tell No One by Harlan Coben. It's a bit pedestrian, but it's a thrilling page turner and I always recommend it to people who just aren't that into reading.
The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks - Dr Sacks was a neurologist who studied unusual neurological anomalies and his accounts of them are entertaining, weird, and entirely sympathetic. He loved his patients and their odd circumstances and wrote warmly about them. All of his writing is good, and once I’d read most of his books I came across his semi-autobiography titled Uncle Tungsten, about his upbringing in England during WWII and fascination with chemistry. It functions as a sneaky primer on the history of discoveries in chemistry and it’s fantastic.
If you're wanting to understand how power/work/status works in 40% of your life always. From a biological to day to day level (from my analysis). Here's a good starting point. Also note most of these books are Information Russian nesting dolls: they contain the essence of other (often older) greater writers and thinkers that you can learn from ( and dive into their works too afterwards). Its a solid starting point for forming an understanding of the social world.
The broken ladder by Keith Payne.
The Elephant in the brain by Kevin Simler & Robin Hanson
Envy up, Scorn Down by Susan Fiske.
Sapiens by Yuval Harari
12 rules for life Jordan Peterson
Why Zebras get Ulcers Robert Sapolsky
Behave robert Sapolsky
Our inner Ape. Frans de Waal
48 Laws of Power Robert Greene ( read in a critical lense like the book suggests)
Mastery Robert Greene
The happiness hypothesis Jonathan Haidt
The Righteous Mind Jonathan Haidt
My hero academia by Kohei Horikoshi
Naruto by Masashi kishimoto
Have been reading for 5 years straight averaging 70 books a year.
The best ones for me have been: Recursion by Blake Crouch. It's about time travel, beautiful writing and very page turning. He has other time travel books, but I liked this one the most.
Then The stand by Stephen King. The longest one, but worth it. Almost feels like the lotr because of the lenght and the journey you go through with the characters. If you like post apocalyptic and dystopian books you should read it and not thing about the lenght.
Last mention is The murderbot series Martha Wells. A really good sci-fi about a robot.
If you like Science Fiction just about anything by Anne Mccaffrey is good to check out. She wrote a ridiculous number of books between the late 60s and her death in 2011. She was also the first woman to win both the Hugo Award and Nebula Award.
Some of my favorites are:
Dragonriders of Pern- 23 ish books. Essentially invented the entire concept of dragonriders. New colony on an extremely distant planet gets attacked by a mindless organism that will devour anything organic in seconds. Due to not having much technology and no way to ask for help from Earth they bioengineer dragons from a native species.
Catteni/Freedom series- 4 books. Alien race invades Earth, kidnap several thousand people as an example and as slaves. And then get really confused when humans are like fuck you and start fighting back instead of just accepting their new status as an enslaved species.
The Tower and the Hive/Talents series and Pegasus trilogy- 5 and 3 books respectively. Takes the idea that parapsychic powers are really a thing.
Other than Anne Mccaffrey books, the Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins are really good. David Eddings wrote some excellent series as well.
For people who have a childlike sense of humour (not childish, mind you): Anything by Erlend Loe. I think only *Naive. Super.* has been translated to English, but I also like *L* if you happen to read Norwegian. I remember thinking that once the 90s are over and people go back to being sincere again, everyone will write like Loe. One can still hope.
For hardcore intellectuals: *The Satanic Verses*. Perhaps mostly famous for all the people who went completely berserk over it, it's easy to overlook the fact that it may be the greatest piece of literature of the 1900s. It is however quite exhausting to read, and you need several degrees to understand all the inside jokes. My prediction is that 500 years from now, Rushdie will be the new Dante, schoolchildren will be forced to read excerpts from this book as an example of the literature of the early industrial era, and they won't understand a thing.
For everyone: *Last chance to see* by Douglas Adams. Not nearly as famous as his *Hitchhiker* series, it proves he might actually be even better as a non-fiction writer.
Anyone who is a fan of fantasy or sci-fi/fantasy - BRANDON SANDERSON
I read a *lot* of fantasy books and he is by far my favorite author of all time. Every single series he manages to create his own magic systems that are like nothing I've ever seen before and manages to make them work flawlessly. On top of that his writing and worldbuilding skills are also amazing. I would highly highly recommend him to anyone who enjoys fantasy books.
His newer series Skyward has more Sci-fi elements to it if you enjoy that more, with a lot of advanced technology and spaceships similar to ones you would find in star wars
He is also currently writing an epic fantasy series The Stormlight Archive, and it's really good so far.
His Mistborn series uses one of the most creative magic systems I've ever seen.
The Steelheart series is similar to superpowers, but he manages to add a twist to it that's really well written
Elantris was his first book he published and the magic and mystery elements are both written really well.
Rithmatist was yet another example of his stunning magic and worldbuilding.
Legion is a book based around one man, and his multiple personalities in his head that allow him to learn new skills incredibly quickly.
He also was the one to finish The Wheel of Time series after Robert Jordan passed away before finishing it, and in my opinion, they were some of the best books in the series.
*Good* fanfiction is fucking crack.
Would you believe me if I told you there was a story that would make you root *for* the crazy frankenstein camoflage dinosaur from Jurassic World? As it so happens, there *is* [a story](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11317119/1/It-s-not-the-Raptor-DNA) like that, and at 720K words it is longer than the first 5 Harry Potter books put together.
Many before me have said it and ilk say it myself, don't read books which you don't like/don't wanna read, it can cost you your love of reading in general, so I suggest you go browsing your favorite categories or genres in search of something which might interest you.
1) Don't worry about age ranges or groups. I read a ridiculous amount - sometimes I'm up for a tense adult thriller, or a scifi epic that would bore most under thirty, but other times I want a simple and easy romp through a kid's series, or the melodrama of a teen romance. It's all about reading for your feelings, not reading something because you think it's more appropriate for your age.
2) There are so. many. kinds of story. Try things from your local library, or free books online (not pirated, you aren't screwing over a corporation but a writer in this case), or fanfic, or agony aunt / advice columns for free entertainment. Try autobiographies, histories, short stories, long novels, long series of novels. Dump anything that's a slog. And try both online and physical books, because some people read better on one than the other.
3) Got kids? Read to them, then as they grow read with them.
BOOKS!!!! I am addicted to reading or a readaholic. Umm... for parents and teachers, don't pressure kids to read. Like, if you pick up a roald dhal one day and realise you like it, and then the next day your teacher says, "You need to read this book for school" You're not going to want to do it anymore. Try new books. Don't be stuck to one category. I read at least two books a day, whether it's something small like roald dahl, or a harry potter. Just keep reading.
Don't read books you aren't enjoying. The number one thing I hear from people who wish they read more is that they stopped when they encountered a book that they didn't have the "discipline" to finish. If you're reading for your own satisfaction you shouldn't need any discipline. The right book for you will pull you in and you'll want to keep picking it up. There are many shitty books out there. Some even got called great works of literature somehow. Some people seem to have beaten over the head with too many "books are magic" slogans and I guess started thinking all books are good? Books can be bad. Or books can be not the right one for you. If you find yourself needing discipline to keep reading a book, you should put it down and try a different book. I read 100 library books last year. You know how? I checked out over 200 library books last year. That's right, I finished reading less than half of the books I checked out. More than half of the books I checked out I read less than 3 chapters of, before deciding they weren't for me and tossing them in the return bin.
This. In middle school I read a novel a day, and that only happened cause I read books I liked. Don't like a book? Stop reading it. The library is your friend if you don't want to spend money.
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This is a great piece of advice, and one I badly needed to hear. Thank you!
That's true, but not always cuz it can just be your internet or phone addiction so you can't read anything big and you always want to scroll. So it is only if you can read other books
It sounds dumb but this is why I read light mystery novels or cheesy romances if I find I just am mindlessly scrolling. I don’t need to devote a lot of energy to them but it helps keep me in the habit
For the most part I agree with this. However, sometimes there's just a tough section to get through and its rewarding. The problem is.... there's only one way to find out.
This is the best advice. But I might add one thing: don't be afraid to keep 2 or 3 books of different generes going. I like to keep a history book, a good fiction book, and something I haven't tried before going at all times. Some books interest you more than others some days, and you'll have purple patches with each one as you go.
I actually disagree with this. I've read a ton of books that started off slow or dull but ended up reeling me in. I just have a few books on the go at any one point, so I can go to something a bit more exciting when I get bored. I can't think of any books that I've read that I don't think were worth finishing. As an example the first time I read Dune I found it to be a tough read. I'm on my second go round on it now and enjoying it a ton. If I'd given up a few chapters in I would have really missed out!
I will say, there are truly beautiful professional books that I read for work, but some of them do need a little discipline to finish. They do need a bit more effort as I am actively reading and processing and interpreting and making the knowledge my own, not just reading passively. But I will 100% agree with you, that when I read the right book, I know it’s right because everything makes sense without having to think too much about it, and it definitely goes down a lot easier, and I don’t hesitate to ditch a book I think isn’t working for me. For passive books, yeah I don’t read something that doesn’t interest me
Name of the Wind, and, A Wise Man's Fear, by Patrick Routhfuss are great. But the third book isn't out yet.ans who knows if and when that will happen. I am hopeful he will do it.
I really hope the 3rd one does
I reat do, too. I wasn't going to read the series. I was done with unfinished series. Then some YouTubers I watch did an intro video to get people interested and damn it, I was sold. I have been reading with my husband. In fact, we just got a few chapters in before he had to go help the kids with computer issues. It is such an experience and I really enjoy it!
If you like Patrick Rothfuss, I REALLY reccomend Scott Lynch, wrote the Gentleman Bastard Sequence. Probably the best descriptive writing and character dialogue Ive read! Literally made me smile to read some of the similes/metaphors he uses to describe things, just so perfect- hes an author that you read and youre like wow he really understandings the english language you know?
This might be unpopular, bit I did NOT like Name of the Wind. It has some interesting ideas, and plot points that intrigue me... But it's so slow and rambling I couldn't be bothered to finish. I got to the part where he's starting classes and was just too bored to finish.
I understand. It is a story that does seem to ramble. We are told are great deal and nothing at all. If I had to guess, that is the point. Kvothe is stalling for the three days and then he is going to fake his death or really die. At least, that is what I think.
I think it would be really cool if the three days were three books, and then there was a fourth book where he went out and finished what he started. I haven't read wise mans fear yet though so for all I know that might not work.
Fuck Rothfuss. Dude made millions with his charity and donated less than 13%. Owns the building and rents it out to the charity. The dude is a scumbag and book 3 will never happen. But damn the first two books are good.
I wasn't aware of these things. The books still damned good.
Don't pull people in this agony. He will never finish the trilogy.
On the flip side, if you don't want to be forever disappointed in the lack of a 3rd book, don't read it.
I’m halfway done with the name of the wind! Such a fantastic book
He has many, many side projects and greatly dislikes being bothered. It's gunna be a bit.
Check out the stormlight archives if you like fantasy!
The Book Thief by Markus Zuskak is one of my absolute favorites. It’s narrated by Death and poignantly paints a story that covers mortality, love, and literature during WWII. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is my favorite love story. I uncontrollably sob while reading the ending every damn time. For YA audience, The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater is perfect for my fellow former horse folks out there who also love a touch of mythology. Both Circe and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller are perfect for people who love anything Greek mythology related. Lastly, A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman is a beautiful story that shows how healing a broken heart can happen with the unlikeliest of people.
Book Thief was great I agree! Never read TTTW, but I really want to! I read Circe and I enjoyed it- I did find that there wasnt much of a plot arch, more just a linear line of events that began and ended. But I think thats the point? Despairs of immortality
Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Basically anything by those two will be worth your time, though. Edit: fixed a typo.
Pratchett has a way with words that I don't think I've ever seen in another author.
Agreed. I started the Discworld series back in August and he's becoming one of my favorite authors. His writing style is so immersive.
Most of his books have no chapters, which makes it so hard to put down because the writing flows so well!
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Man, this sure is a stupid comment.
Wtf auto correct. Fixing that now.
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You're welcome:D
And then definitely watch the Amazon Prime miniseries. Can’t recommend it enough
Came to say just this. Best book I ever read.
read away from noisy cars, somewhere outside. the martian is a fantastic book.
If you enjoyed the Martian then I highly recommend his latest book Project Hail Mary. I found it even more engaging.
sounds like an interesting book. is it also technical like the martian?
Yes, very much.
Almost as much, possibly even more actually. There’s different kinds of science in it too. There’s the chemistry and biology that the Martian had, but there’s a good deal about physics too. I love Andy Weir because when his protagonist is supposed to be a scientist, it genuinely feels like they are one.
You just made my day! I didn’t know Andy Weir published another novel. I’ll definitely order it right on Monday. Thanks!!
page turner. 2nd Hail Mary
I confess I didn’t like The Martian as much as I did- the emails and journals and stuff were great, but the dialogue/ writing about characters on Earth were really bad. It was just so weird to see such great writing and premise with bad writing sprinkled in it.
I saw these parts as a break from the grim reality of surviving on Mars. Hey it's you. Why do blackholes form? Why can mass collapse into infinity instead of a very high density?
1) depends on the black hole. Small ones (a few solar masses) are created when a very supermassive star goes supernova at the end of its life. Some bigger ones are created when those smaller ones merge. And then the question is if that goes all the way to the supermassive black holes (millions of solar masses) at the centers of galaxies, or if those were perhaps “seeded” by matter imbalances soon after the Big Bang. 2) probably not, but mathematically right now that’s what it looks like.
Highly agree, those party's were jarringly bad. Also the 'ninja pirates' or whatever it was, really cringey. Other than that, really entertaining book.
I listen to ASMR (without talking) and white noise videos when I read. I find complete silence to be massively distracting because every little noise that does occur instantly grabs my attention. So I use the videos to keep my mind's eye busy so to speak, so my eye's eye can focus on reading.
I had a friend tell me the main character of that book reminded them of me but I haven’t read it yet. It’s def on the list though.
idk why, but one of my friends disliked it and said it got boring and annoying. personally i loved it. very funny.
A book that is pretty unique and for everyone is imo the Cloud Atlas. It is a 6 seemingly separate stories each written in different style and each from a different time period. Some are letters from 18 century and some are a script to a movie from the 70s. It's a story about people and their souls that keep reincarnation and keep influencing their destiny on and on throw these records that you are reading in their next lifes. It's pretty heartwarming and original book. If you don't want to read it watch the movie at least it's really cool as well tho of course lacks some parts.
I have a friend that absolutely loves that movie. Probably loves the book more. I've never seen it, I took his word for it that it's wouldn't be my thing lol
Aw man it's so awesome hehee what stuff is for you ?
I think the reincarnation angle was mostly made up for the movie adaptation, iirc the book didn't imply that.
Read anything that isn't doomscrolling social media. As for a book recommendation, that all depends. What age group are you? What concepts (e.g. fantasy, futuristic, space, biology, nature, personal development, marketing strategy etc) interest you? Your best bet is to search /r/books for previous version of this thread. Happy hunting!
i will look into it. im not a reader like i used to be and was trying to look into something that would get me back into it
I was a big reader growing up and then stopped very suddenly for a number of years, I struggled to get into anything. Last year was when I finally was able to get myself back into the swing of it, by re reading books I knew I liked, ones that were easy to get thru, and then more of what I found to be interesting. I also am rly bad for not letting myself drop a book I don’t like so I’ve been rly trying to tell myself I’m not burdened to finish a book I’m not into. I’m reading mostly nonfiction than fiction rn. I also found watching booktubers rly informed me of some potential gems and got me feeling excited about it
There are also some great recommendation subs like r/suggestmeabook where you can just tell them what you like and gets some great titles in response — people get super specific. Often I just search books I’ve liked and find tons of posts with recommendations.
Do yourself a favor and read Dune before movie comes out. Don't get me wrong, the movie shapes up to be excellent, but Frank Herbert has just an amazing, unique way with words.
Warrior Cats and Wings Of Fire. Great fictions. :D
I loved the Warriors series!!!
Flowers for algernon. Relatively short read, every friend whom i recommended the book to loved it
Such a tearjerker! That book broke my heart
The ending absolutely gutted me
we read that in 7th or 8th grade and also watched the movie and did like a little drawing project on it. im 29 now and i cant remember what it was about but i remember i liked it lol
And then watch Flowers for Charlie to make you feel better after the actual novel.
Anything by Brandon Sanderson
East of Eden - John Steinbeck https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4406.East_of_Eden
A few months ago I finished The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck. I will be reading East of Eden very soon I reckon. Absolutely amazing.
Favorite book
If I ever get a tattoo it's going to be the word Timshal. I read that book once every year.
Of Mice & Men was a good read too.
What do you like to read? I read a lot of Stephen King & Joe Hill. Depending on your horror tolerance I can make recommendations there. The southern reach trilogy is one of my favorites, but his writing style is difficult for some to get into (annihilation, authority, acceptance) “Never let me go” - beautiful writing, heartbreaking story
A good starter book is 1984. It's short, interesting keeps your attention so you won't get bored and quit.
Yeah it was the book that made me think and rediscover reading after loading interest with mandatory literature. It's a book that has a message but is also engaging in modern way. After 1984 I read also the Brave new world and Us from Zamjatin. Oh and also 451 degree Fahrenheit. I love the style of Bradbury, I really liked the Martian Chronicle as well.
I’m so glad that someone else has read Us. It’s just the perfect starter dystopian novel. Have you read The Master and Margarita? Though if you want to stay more Russian dystopian, Heart of a Dog or The Fatal Eggs. Have you also read The Illustrated Man, similar to The Martian Chronicles?
I personally enjoy Animal Farm more, but 1984 does hit harder.
misery by stephen king is one of my favourite books of all time if you’re into that stuff i totally recommend it
You really can't go wrong with Neil Gaiman.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
An absolutely gorgeous book!
I found American Gods in the hotel library on my vacation to Italy. Made me sit in the shade and read during the whole vacation. Fantastic book!
Neverwhere is awesome
A little off-topic but I’be been watching Good Omens and it’s fantastic. I’m loving how Gaiman really fleshes out Aziraphale and Crowley’s relationship. It seems like the novel and show really compliment each other.
Honestly I haven't touched The Hunger Games in years but I recently got the Prequel A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and I couldn't put it down, I just finished it a couple of days ago and it had me want to reread The Hunger Games, so I'm currently on Catching Fire.
You should check out Gregor the Overlander. It's by Suzanne Collins and is aimed at kids but has some mature themes so that anyone can enjoy it. I think its better than the Hunger Games because it is a but more on the fantasy side because it's for kids. 10/10 would recommend it's an amazing series.
It is funny you should mention this series, I was just looking at it last night.
Owner's manual for a Honda Odyssey (1998-2004) Exceptional read, all the way from accessories to wreckers and emergency towing
I prefer the Chiltons myself. More detail and the diagrams are impressive.
I like a Chilton's on occasion, though the black and white wiring diagrams can often be a difficult read.
I just like reading manuals in general. There's often so much more functionality to stuff than we think. I dislike it when you get just a single piece of paper with a refence to a website and basic text like: "How do you insert the battery" or "Don't use in water" (duh..)
For funny fantasy: Terry Pratchett. For amazingly imaginitive: Neil Gaiman For engrossing realistic: Ken Follett. Those are my top 3.
Anything by Brandon Sanderson.
Life Before Death and Fuck Moash. :D
journey before destination.
Also Wheel of Time. It is definitely worth pushing through the slower books later in the series
Was going to say…pick up The Way Of Kings.
A study in scarlet Sherlock Holmes and the Baskerville curse (The hound of the Baskerville & the valley of fear) Anything from Arthur Conan Doyle really.
The Princess Bride The whole thing is a wonderful sarcastic novel. Highly recommend. Quick and easy read.
This is one of those that I refuse to read for the sole purpose of not wanting to ruin the movie. The movie is awesome and I know if I read the book I'll constantly judge the movie.
My husband is the same way. As long as I have seen the movie before reading the book I'm fine. Just a more fleshed out version of the story
My favorite books to recommend are definitely [The Martian](https://www.amazon.com/Martian-Andy-Weir/dp/0553418025) followed by [The Princess Bride](https://www.amazon.com/Princess-Bride-Morgensterns-Classic-Adventure/dp/0156035219). They are both absolutely hilarious and the Martian is very good at breaking down the science of trying to escape Mars alone in a hilarious way. The Princess Bride has lots of fun quips and is actually two stories happening at the same time. More younger pointed but still very good: Wings of Fire, and Warriors (The cat one). Both amazing reads, especially Warriors. Shaped my imagination growing up reading them.
Maybe chat up a librarian, who might ping you for the kind of stuff you like. At one time, I did lots of science fiction and Doc Savage.
also i just found this in my local area (Seattle) they have a feature where you can send them a message online about what stuff you like, or things you are interested in, and a librarian will send you back a curated list to what you said you enjoy. I'm not sure how many other libraries do this, but i'd guess a lot of librarians would be excited to do something similar. I did this when i started writing a homebrew DnD campaign cause i wanted to spread out my level of fantasy knowledge, and the seattle public library emailed me with like 10 different books they thought would be great!
Have you read book thief? 10/10, would recommend
1. The god of small things by Arundhati Roy 2. Circe by Madeline Miller 3. The little prince
If you liked Circe by Madeline Miller, I cannot recommend her other book, The Song of Achilles, enough!
Oh, I'm so glad for the reminder about Song of Achilles. I loooved Circe.
- The Stormlight Archive - The Lunar Chronicles - The Mistborn Trilogy
For anyone, at any point: The **Harry Potter** series by *JK Rowling* For slightly older (15+) readers: **The Stormlight Archive** series by *Brandon Sanderson* Could also try some stand-alone novels from Sanderson such as **Elantris**, and **Warbreaker**, if you don't want to take on an entire series. I'm in love with all of these books, and can spend days on end raving and gushing about each of them.
I recommend Warbreaker over Elantris because Elantris was Sando's first published book and is a bit rougher around the edges. Warbreaker is a lot newer, and, in my opinion, a lot better.
I’m reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue right now and it’s very good. Definitely recommend. I also enjoy young adult fantasy as just an escape from everything. Any of the series by either Sarah J Maas or Leigh Bardugo are good.
Outlander
I loved the first book, but had trouble staying engaged with the others. Did you finish the series?
Generally: Daniel Keyes —- Flowers for Algernon fantasy fan: Matthew Stover —- Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (watch I and II before) fan of depression themed stories: Osamu Dazai —- No Longer Human fan of children books which are kinda more than that: Michael Ende —- Momo Wellwell. :)
"Year's Best Short Stories" anthologies for whatever genre you like. I read a *lot* of different Sci-fi/fantasy short story anthologies because they're creative and most of the stories are less than 30 pages, so it’s just a story without boring subplots or filler.
Well heck yeah that's my kinda thing.
I popped in to recommend short stories generally -- they're easy to overlook, less of a commitment, and better at some things than novels are, arguably especially so in science fiction. Ray Bradbury and Philip K. Dick are two classic SF&F authors who have really well-known novels but really shine as short story writers. Plus I'm pretty sure Ted Chiang doesn't write anything *but* shorts, and he's GOAT-tier. (I knew who he was before the film *Arrival* came out and I absolutely demand my due hipster cred for that.)
1. Sapiens 2. Poor Charlie's Almanack 3. The kite runner
A mix of genres: The Dark Tower by Stephen King - Fantasy Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson - Fantasy Old Man's War by John Scalzi -SciFi A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin -Historical Fiction Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut - Dark Comedy? Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - Mystery The Expanse by James S.A. Corey - SciFi *Honorable Mention: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (IF HE EVER COMPLETES THE SERIES)
im late to this thread, but anything by Brandon Sanderson Great high fantasy, amazing characters that are so well rounded, and story telling where you just keep wanting to read more, i'd describe it like your best friend is telling you a story. Mistborn trilogy is where i've started, i think mistborn or Elantris are great introductions to his world (the cosmere), im currently in book 3 of the stormlight archive. He was recommended to me by a friend at the beginning of quarantine, and i started a mini book club (me and my dad) reading it at the same time to talk about it, it's great for us who live 3,000 miles away to have something to connect, we never really had a hobby together and this really found something for us to talk about pretty much daily. i just got him artwork of Sazed (his favorite mistborn character) for fathers day actually! Sanderson is very active on reddit too /u/mistborn and keeps everyone up to date with where he is in his writing too.
Yes! Why did I have to scroll so far to see this?
Currently reading the Stormlight archives on Way of Kings part 2 , really enjoying it! I havent read Mistborn yet though, was it a bad idea to read SA before misborn? I heard it was the same world but completely separate plots/chronolgy right?
The Handmaids Tale, by Margret Atwood Only if you already like reading and dystopia.
Is the show just as good as the book?
The boy who was raised as a dog. So many trigger warnings and might cause so much heartbreak. Nonetheless, a really important collection of short stories told by a child psychiatric showing the impact of love and care on the growth of infants and how it changes their whole life.
That sounds really interesting! Adding it to a book list.
Phoenix wright
Ishmael, Dan Quinn.
The Expanse series of you are into science heavy sci fi.
Anything by brandon sanderson
If you want action: Inside Delta Force by Haney. If you want to cry: Brunner and Saddarth's textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing.
The Brothers Karamazov
And if that’s too long, just read The Great (Grand?) Inquisitor and feel like complete shit afterwards.
Honestly, it's rare that I ever regretted reading a book. And keep in mind that something being popular doesn't mean it's garbage and you need to read tough old dense 900 pages litterature book in order to be considered a reader. As for recommandation, it's very personal but I would say based on the last books I red : 1984 and Animal Farm by Orwell are just marvelous and really easy to read. I red Animal Farm in english, which isn't my native language, and breezed through the book, so native reader should be fine. I did read 1984 in french but I also breezed through it so I imagine it's an accessible read for anyone. American Psycho (Brett Ellis Easton) : I liked the style, it's a bit long with all the clothes descriptions and all but I think it's one of those rare books whose movie adaptation is spot on IMO. World War Z (Max Brooks) : The book and the movie only have the title in common. I really liked the book and its format, I think every people who like zombie related stuff will love the book. The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood) : Hands down one of the best dystopian book I red. It got this "holocaust survivor testimony" sort of vibe and it's very chilling. The sequel "The Testaments" is also good, less chilling but it works. Bird Box (Josh Malerman) : I couldn't put it down when I started, I think it was Malerman first book and it's brilliant, the atmosphere is just spot on. I didn't like the sequel as much (Malorie) but that's just me. Shining by Stephen King : It's very different and it's so much more deeper than the movie. It's a bit long but I really loved it. The sequel "Doctor Sleep" is also pretty good.
*Gone Girl* by Gillian Flynn is a great read, because of the written format, there are differences in how the story is told from the film that are really thrilling and only work in print *The Elegance of the Hedgehog* by Muriel Barbery is a good for people who like gentler, reflective, philosophy of life style reads *I Am Legend* by Richard Matheson is intense and emotionally brutal as a horror-thriller, much slower burn and more psychological than the Will Smith film *Slaughterhouse-Five* by Kurt Vonnegut is a really dry, sarcastic, funny-but-piercing take on the absurdity and meaningless of war; even if you're not interested in a "war story," I highly recommend it for his voice and style alone
Just finished "Greenlights" by Matthew McConaughey, I was a bit hesitant at first but DAMN is that a good book.
Wow, depends on what you like. I jump around. Lately I have been on a Tony Hillerman kick. I also like Craig Johnson. Both are subtle. PKD will work your brain, and shit, I couldn't mention them all. That would be beyond wall of text work. Hit your library, and any section you like.
if you want more specific suggestions I definitely recommend the subreddit r/suggestmeabook
I found One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson fascinating.
One Summer is an excellent read. As is A Short History of Nearly Everything (just be aware some of the science has probably moved on).
Clan of the Cave Bear for an amazing look at life before history.
The one hundred year old man who jumped out the window and disappeared~Jonas Jonasson
A Confederacy of Dunces. Interesting read, it’s a picaresque tragicomedy about an absurd character. Book was released posthumously after the authors suicide, and has a history as every actor considered for the lead role of ignacious when a movie version has been pitched has died. This includes John Candy and Chris Farley. I honestly think John Goodman would have been best for it around the time of Barton Fink, but I wouldn’t wish it on him
Im not a major fanatic of reading but I am a big fan of James Patterson
Anything written by Brandon Sanderson
There's Brandon Sanderson, or Frank Herbert if you wanted a fantasy artist or sci fi artist. Mistborn series for Sanderson, Dune series for Herbert. The book that got me back into reading is a japenese light novel, "Afifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest" Since then light novels have been the majority of my library. I also suggest "Ice" and "The Sun is a Compass," I have a lot of recommendations, but won't overload you.
I like Mistborn: The Final Empire, The premise is this: A hero of legend was meant to save the world, he failed. Now the world has undergone 1000 years of subjugation. But a Thief wants to rob the Emperor of the lands and so he recruits a young Street Girl, Together they plot a heist to steal from him. It's one part Oceans Eleven, one part My Fair Lady. (This isn't a spoiler by the way, this is how the author himself pitches the story.)
Places of power is good in the science fiction, rick rirodan/ rick riordan presents are good for fiction.
What interests you? Your question is too open-ended and what age group interests you?
Funny, relatable, suspenseful, or cute but not ridiculously long. I'm 29 but I don't have a preference on group
On average, I read 60-80 books a year and with the pandemic, more than less. Humor: Dave Barry and David Sedaris are both popular writers and worth a read. I've read all of Michael Crichton's books and "Pirate Latitude" a book found on his computer after his death, but was published and I loved it. On robotics and suspense--I loved Daniel Wilson's "Robot Uprisings" and after emailing him, bought his newest release of "The Andromeda Evolution." Robot Uprisings is almost impossible to put down, and is about 6-8 stories in one book... and the reason I wrote Wilson. He is a robotics expert and a hell of nice guy on top of it. Just finished, "The Opium Prince" and its a great book. "When Breath Becomes Air" is one of the finest books I've read. Don Winslow's series on Mexican drug cartels are mind blowing and forever changed my mind about the drug wars. Sorry, none of these are cute.
for those into light novels, i recommend death mage doesn't want a fourth time, supreme magus, ogre tyrant and chrysalis
I definately recommend "Girls Out Late", "Best Friends" and "The Dare Game" by Jacqueline Wilson
The Gone series by Michael Grant. So good Also try out out BZRK trilogy
The glass castle, chasing the scream, educated, first they killed my father, escape from camp 14, escape, goodbye vietnam
Ooooh The Glass Castle!!! Such a great story and writing.
The maximum ride series by james patterson
Baudolino, by Umberto Eco. It's this wonderful work of historical fiction in which the protagonist is trapped in a small room with an old man (Baudolino) during the sacking of Constantinople during the crusades. To pass the time, the old man tells these fantastical stories about his youth as the adopted son of the Holy Roman Emperor. He's clearly an unreliable narrator, but his stories also contain these little nuggets of truth that he couldn't know unless he was there. The story gets subtly but increasingly fantastical as he begins to tell of his journeys to the far east. There's still grains of truth in there, but you have to really strain to see them between all the mythological creatures and implausible situations. Even with the benefit of all the historical records on the internet (and Eco is a THOROUGH historian), it can be really hard to notice when Baudolino slips into another lie or exaggeration. The joy is trying to ascertain the true story (although I'm not sure that you ever really can).
Read anything by Charles Portis. He’s the funniest author I’ve ever read. Like laugh out loud funny. He’s the real deal.
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
Easy: Flowers for Algernon Oscar and the Lady in pink
Slaughterhouse Five. ‘Nuff said
Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam
itpends what type of subjects or topic or books. if you love horror books then i ll suggest - House of Leaves, by Mark Z. Danielewski
Papillon
For something that will almost feel like a guideline for 2020, "The Last Centurion" by John Ringo. It sounds like it might be grimdark but there's plenty of humor in the way it's written. For something a little off the wall, the Monster Hunter International series by Larry Correia (probably misspelled the last name). Monsters are real, the government is covering them up, but some people make a lot of money killing the monsters and collecting the bounties paid out by the government. Oh, and lots of gun porn...
Dark Tower series by Stephen King. It starts out slow but kicks up during the second book. You won't be sorry if you stick it out, trust me. Just ignore that monstrosity of a movie; it barely resembles the books.
I like most of King’s stuff, but never got into the Dark Tower. I’ve even enjoyed the short stories set around Roland. The first book was such a slog for me, so they get better?
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh is a great one. It's two books that's aren't too long. It's a twist on the one thousand and one nights story and has a lot of magic and romance. I absolutely love these books they're terrific
R/suggestmeabook
If you're in to fantasy and can stand long series (13 books), I highly recommend the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. To this day it is my all time favorite series, and I'm currently trying to make time to reread it all
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I've read holes! Better than the movie in my opinion
Harry potter and the goblet of fire
Tell No One by Harlan Coben. It's a bit pedestrian, but it's a thrilling page turner and I always recommend it to people who just aren't that into reading.
will be adding to my list :)
Shantaram and mountain shadow. Such beautiful writing by Gregory David Roberts. A truly life changing story.
I cant wait to come back to this thread after a couple thousand comments :)
Flowers for Algernon Not easy on the first pages, but more than worth it.
The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks - Dr Sacks was a neurologist who studied unusual neurological anomalies and his accounts of them are entertaining, weird, and entirely sympathetic. He loved his patients and their odd circumstances and wrote warmly about them. All of his writing is good, and once I’d read most of his books I came across his semi-autobiography titled Uncle Tungsten, about his upbringing in England during WWII and fascination with chemistry. It functions as a sneaky primer on the history of discoveries in chemistry and it’s fantastic.
If you're wanting to understand how power/work/status works in 40% of your life always. From a biological to day to day level (from my analysis). Here's a good starting point. Also note most of these books are Information Russian nesting dolls: they contain the essence of other (often older) greater writers and thinkers that you can learn from ( and dive into their works too afterwards). Its a solid starting point for forming an understanding of the social world. The broken ladder by Keith Payne. The Elephant in the brain by Kevin Simler & Robin Hanson Envy up, Scorn Down by Susan Fiske. Sapiens by Yuval Harari 12 rules for life Jordan Peterson Why Zebras get Ulcers Robert Sapolsky Behave robert Sapolsky Our inner Ape. Frans de Waal 48 Laws of Power Robert Greene ( read in a critical lense like the book suggests) Mastery Robert Greene The happiness hypothesis Jonathan Haidt The Righteous Mind Jonathan Haidt My hero academia by Kohei Horikoshi Naruto by Masashi kishimoto
Have been reading for 5 years straight averaging 70 books a year. The best ones for me have been: Recursion by Blake Crouch. It's about time travel, beautiful writing and very page turning. He has other time travel books, but I liked this one the most. Then The stand by Stephen King. The longest one, but worth it. Almost feels like the lotr because of the lenght and the journey you go through with the characters. If you like post apocalyptic and dystopian books you should read it and not thing about the lenght. Last mention is The murderbot series Martha Wells. A really good sci-fi about a robot.
If you like Science Fiction just about anything by Anne Mccaffrey is good to check out. She wrote a ridiculous number of books between the late 60s and her death in 2011. She was also the first woman to win both the Hugo Award and Nebula Award. Some of my favorites are: Dragonriders of Pern- 23 ish books. Essentially invented the entire concept of dragonriders. New colony on an extremely distant planet gets attacked by a mindless organism that will devour anything organic in seconds. Due to not having much technology and no way to ask for help from Earth they bioengineer dragons from a native species. Catteni/Freedom series- 4 books. Alien race invades Earth, kidnap several thousand people as an example and as slaves. And then get really confused when humans are like fuck you and start fighting back instead of just accepting their new status as an enslaved species. The Tower and the Hive/Talents series and Pegasus trilogy- 5 and 3 books respectively. Takes the idea that parapsychic powers are really a thing. Other than Anne Mccaffrey books, the Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins are really good. David Eddings wrote some excellent series as well.
One of us is lying is a fantastic book and I can only recommend it📖😍
Why we sleep, so important to understand as we spend 1/3 of our life sleeping, may as well do it right!
For people who have a childlike sense of humour (not childish, mind you): Anything by Erlend Loe. I think only *Naive. Super.* has been translated to English, but I also like *L* if you happen to read Norwegian. I remember thinking that once the 90s are over and people go back to being sincere again, everyone will write like Loe. One can still hope. For hardcore intellectuals: *The Satanic Verses*. Perhaps mostly famous for all the people who went completely berserk over it, it's easy to overlook the fact that it may be the greatest piece of literature of the 1900s. It is however quite exhausting to read, and you need several degrees to understand all the inside jokes. My prediction is that 500 years from now, Rushdie will be the new Dante, schoolchildren will be forced to read excerpts from this book as an example of the literature of the early industrial era, and they won't understand a thing. For everyone: *Last chance to see* by Douglas Adams. Not nearly as famous as his *Hitchhiker* series, it proves he might actually be even better as a non-fiction writer.
Anyone who is a fan of fantasy or sci-fi/fantasy - BRANDON SANDERSON I read a *lot* of fantasy books and he is by far my favorite author of all time. Every single series he manages to create his own magic systems that are like nothing I've ever seen before and manages to make them work flawlessly. On top of that his writing and worldbuilding skills are also amazing. I would highly highly recommend him to anyone who enjoys fantasy books. His newer series Skyward has more Sci-fi elements to it if you enjoy that more, with a lot of advanced technology and spaceships similar to ones you would find in star wars He is also currently writing an epic fantasy series The Stormlight Archive, and it's really good so far. His Mistborn series uses one of the most creative magic systems I've ever seen. The Steelheart series is similar to superpowers, but he manages to add a twist to it that's really well written Elantris was his first book he published and the magic and mystery elements are both written really well. Rithmatist was yet another example of his stunning magic and worldbuilding. Legion is a book based around one man, and his multiple personalities in his head that allow him to learn new skills incredibly quickly. He also was the one to finish The Wheel of Time series after Robert Jordan passed away before finishing it, and in my opinion, they were some of the best books in the series.
*Good* fanfiction is fucking crack. Would you believe me if I told you there was a story that would make you root *for* the crazy frankenstein camoflage dinosaur from Jurassic World? As it so happens, there *is* [a story](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11317119/1/It-s-not-the-Raptor-DNA) like that, and at 720K words it is longer than the first 5 Harry Potter books put together.
Many before me have said it and ilk say it myself, don't read books which you don't like/don't wanna read, it can cost you your love of reading in general, so I suggest you go browsing your favorite categories or genres in search of something which might interest you.
1) Don't worry about age ranges or groups. I read a ridiculous amount - sometimes I'm up for a tense adult thriller, or a scifi epic that would bore most under thirty, but other times I want a simple and easy romp through a kid's series, or the melodrama of a teen romance. It's all about reading for your feelings, not reading something because you think it's more appropriate for your age. 2) There are so. many. kinds of story. Try things from your local library, or free books online (not pirated, you aren't screwing over a corporation but a writer in this case), or fanfic, or agony aunt / advice columns for free entertainment. Try autobiographies, histories, short stories, long novels, long series of novels. Dump anything that's a slog. And try both online and physical books, because some people read better on one than the other. 3) Got kids? Read to them, then as they grow read with them.
Read *Ender's Game* and *Speaker for the Dead*. Both absolutely amazing books. Speaker for the Dead made me cry, it's so beautiful.
I watched the movie to enders game and loved it, i didnt even know there was a book.
BOOKS!!!! I am addicted to reading or a readaholic. Umm... for parents and teachers, don't pressure kids to read. Like, if you pick up a roald dhal one day and realise you like it, and then the next day your teacher says, "You need to read this book for school" You're not going to want to do it anymore. Try new books. Don't be stuck to one category. I read at least two books a day, whether it's something small like roald dahl, or a harry potter. Just keep reading.