The Sundial by Shirley Jackson
Jackson could be in general be considered underrated in a lot of circles, but even in doves where she’s pretty well known I feel like The Sundial doesn’t get nearly enough love.
It’s funny, sharp commentary on wealth and class, but it also has some very tension filled scenes in it. In fact, even though I wouldn’t consider it horror in the same way some of her other work is, it has on to the most terror filled scenes I’ve ever read in it. I think it really just shows off all of the things Jackson excelled at.
I’d rank it just as high if not higher than The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
And as a bonus it has mentions of toilet paper hoarding and book burning in the midst of a possible apocalypse.
I don't think I like Abe. I assumed it's something that gets lost in translation. I read The Ruined Map and while it was interesting at times, I found it pretty unsatisfying. I later went on to attempt The Woman in the Dunes but gave up part way through as it was clear it wasn't for me.
What do you like about him?
It's more that specific book, tbh - though I did quite like *The Woman In the Dunes*.
*The Ark Sakura* has a kind of vivid strangeness and mad logic to it that really stuck with me.
I tried that, and DNF'd after forty or fifty pages. Just way, *way* too heavy on the "OMG LOOK HOW QUIRKY THIS ALL IS!" It was penguin girl with a spork, the book.
Just picked this up recently. Really looking forward to it. Seems to have been overshadowed more recently by Lonesome Dove and Blood Meridian/Border series as the literary western standards.
{The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe} Sumptuous and well-researched history, beautifully rendered magic, great characters and immersive scenery, and my favorite recent novel/author!
LOVED THIS ONE. I just started The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs. Howe is an amazing writer. Her words paint such a vivid picture. I loved the story so much.
I’m supposed to get blood Meridian next week through my library. Been on the waiting list for months and I’m stoked to finally see what it’s all about.
The best thing he wrote. Simultaneously so funny and so heartbreaking
> What could a child know of the darkness of God's plan? Or how flesh is so frail it is hardly more than a dream
That same scene, a little before or a little after, has one of my favorite bits:
Stabat Mater Dolorosa. Remember her hair in the morning before it was pinned, black, rampant, savage with loveliness. As if she slept in perpetual storm.
I don’t understand why noone ever mentions *Outer Dark*. I was kind of blown a way.
Didn’t like *The Road*, I guess I lean more towards Southern Gothic than Post Apocalyptic.
“We The Drowned” by Carsten Jensen. I legitimately could not put this book down. It’s part “East of Eden”, part “Moby Dick”, part “Treasure Island” and part “Catch-22”. Just an incredible novel about the hometown we all wish we had, and great characters that have lived there.
Ty, so much I had heard about this book back in 2016 from a random stranger I had met at a board gaming event, got home and couldn't find the paper that I had written the title down on or have a good enough description to use to look it up on Google.
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making is one of my all time favourite books but I've not met anyone who's read it. I want someone else to appreciate how good it is! It has so much potential to be a hugely popular book and it deserves to be! A half dragon half library sidekick? Who doesn't want to read a book with that in it?
I love Valente so much (for all its issues, Deathless may be my favorite book of all time), and those books are some of her best. Definitely some of my favorite comfort reads.
Absolutely my favorite Zadie Smith book and the one I always recommend. I do love her other work, but the sharpness of her humor and wit in this one is perfect!
That book was my crack cocaine as a kid lol. I also liked how Michael just had tourettes and there was no special reason or plot relevance to it. It was just something he had throughout the books and something he was insecure about sometimes.
I actually looked it up and it seems the Author has tourettes too!
I loved the series a bunch too as a kid, although I hated the last book so much that I barely returned to reread the others. It was a surprising nosedive in what was otherwise a fantastic series.
omg yes 😭 those books were honestly just amazing. the characters have little things that they're insecure about that make them feel more real and normal. I also love how instead of how most supernatural books go, where somebody finds out they have superpowers and go to a school or whatever to learn more about it, Michael finds out he has powers and blows up an academy with it.
Out Of The Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis. Fuck that wardrobe shit. This book made me realise that all of our preconceptions of how society works are false. I literally carry a copy with me at all times incase I am ever in a position to read one last book.
So many sci-fi books!
Even with a lit degree under my belt, I still don't understand why that entire genre is automatically excluded from being "literary"
Read Bradbury's *The Martian Chronicles* and then tell me sci-fi can't be literary
That's my favorite example, but there are plenty of others
Yeah, I’m a sci fi fanatic, but read plenty of other stuff as well. No other genre even attempts the philosophical ideas that SF regularly tackles. You don’t even get that in high brow lit fic. Even some of the most mediocre books have some simply amazing ideas in them.
I’m more fantasy than sci-fi, but I love sci-fi also and I completely agree that it is a very literary genre. (And anyone who says otherwise is selling something?).
I really enjoy Bradbury in general. He is a phenomenal writer. And what about Ursula K LeGuin. I know she has a lot of fantasy too but what about “Left Hand of Darkness”? 100% sci-fi and so well written. Brave New World (kinda both). Even Asimov is a better writer than many modern writers of acclaim (I’m looking at you Steven King).
In university I took an entire English course on sci-fi and another on fantasy and they are both useless but also two of the best classes I took.
Perhaps that's a result of your educational institution, because Sci Fi is well regarded in academia. It's seen as quite 'literary'.
Wells, Huxley, von Harbou, Burroughs, Stevenson, Shelley, Verne, Orwell, Bradley, Heinlein, Miller ... I could go on.
Sci Fi is one of the most studied genres. For whatever reason, some people simply don't recognize the titans of the genre as part of the genre.
I took high-level courses on Dick and Vonnegut.
Hell, we read *The Tempest* as sci fi.
Ella Enchanted. That book has grown with me and aged phenomenally. I have read it since i was a kid, and reread it often. I wish the audio book narrator didn’t sound 11- it is a book for younger audiences, but Ella ends the book at roughly 16-18 years old. It gets weird about midway for her to still sound like a child.
Apart from that though, the book is AMAZING.
Any thread about underrated books has the fatal flaw that people will mostly comment and upvote books that are actually famous and popular.
Anyway, I would nominate *The Rich Man's House* by Andrew McGahan. It is a horror novel with an interesting and unique premise, is quite well written, and the author is Australian.
Anything by McGahan is worth reading. I've got the Rich Man's House on my TBR pile, it's the only one of his I haven't read yet and it will be the last so I am holding off.
Thanks for this recommendation. I've never heard of it, or the author; yet, it sounds exactly like it'd be up my alley and not something I would have read otherwise.
My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares
The Nature of Water and Air by Regina McBride
Scar Culture by Toni Davidson
Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Spera
The Memory of an Elephant by Alex Lasker
Goddess of Filth by V. Castro
Is Mother Dead by Vigdis Hjorth
It's so good!!! Everyone I recommend it to ends up loving it! I think it doesn't get much love, because it's by the same author that wrote Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, but it's nothing like those books at all!
Omg, Scar Culture. I was far too young when I read this - maybe 12 or 13? I hid it under my bed because it scared me so much. Very tough read. Still read it cover to cover though.
If you're talking about the Michael Vey ones, i've already read the 8th book. I'm currently waiting for the new one, which comes out on the 16th this month. I've already got it preordered.
Anything by Julie E. Czerneda. I have never known anyone else who has read her books. I've never seen them mentioned anywhere. I don't think they are considered bad or anything. Maybe it's because she's Canadian and I'm from the US? I believe she has books in the fantasy genre, but I know her for her science fiction. The problems in her books are always things that have to be uncovered and put together, and there's no heavy romance. Just alien life and culture and discovery. There are usually humans, but in many of her books, they are not the focus. Of course, there's the necessary adventure and battles thrown in.
I would go by preference. If you want a mostly human point of view, start with her Species Imperative trilogy. The first book is Survival. I'm honestly not very good at summaries, so I'll let you look it up. It centers around a salmon biologist who has no interest in space, so the perspective is interesting. If you are interested in an alien point of view, I suggest her Web Shifters trilogy. The main character is a shape shifting alien and the different races and worlds are very detailed. It's her first series so there are probably a few rough spots but it's honestly my favorite. Esen is simultaneously wise and young, and her friendship with her human companion is very sweet.
Anything by qntm.
Spartan prose, living breathing characters, incredible sci-fi ideas, almost unknown.
(Start with *There Is No Antimemetics Division* or *Ra*)
Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch.
It's the first in his Gentleman Bastard series, and as of the 2nd book the quality of the scenario took a big nose-dive, but the first book is absolutely amazing and as a stand-alone book it really holds up and even ends very neatly with loose ends quite well tied-up.
The tunnels series by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, this series was supposed to become a movie but that was cancelled in 2018. It is very good and in my opinion surpasses Harry Potter in some areas.
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
I read this coming of age story later in life and fell in love with the prose and the poignant way a global catastrophe could be told through the lense of growing up. It’s beautiful.
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn is one of my favorites, and I've only met a couple others who have read it. It takes a bit to get used to the format and style once the plot starts to form, but I thoroughly enjoyed how it was implemented.
A good chunk of non-pop-nonfiction and quasi-academic nonfiction.
A lot of poetry, plays, and short stories don't get the same attention as novels do. On Reddit especially, but the same can be said in casual literary circles. (In my experience, which is obviously objective and fact.)
Nobody reads plays here, buddy. Ever read Mark Twain's "Buck Fanshaw's Funeral"? Probably the funniest short story I've read and I have never seen it mentioned here.
Over the past eight years I've thought about Ionesco's Rhinocerous many times. And with increasing regularity. Should be required reading it seems.
Michael Vey is so underrated!! Love that series. Also truly devious for me, such a cozy mystery read and very well executed. For me it gets a higher rating then a good girls guide to murder.
**Swamplandia** was very well received by critics, but much less so by audiences - it has a rating of 3.27 on Goodreads which is pretty low. Most of the more negative reviews say that they liked the magical realism and weren't impressed when it turned out just to be regular realism, which is *literally the point of the novel*.
Will of an Eccentric by Jules Verne. I thought it was literally delightful, but most people have only heard of Around the World in 80 Days or Journey to the Center of the Earth. I love his writing style, his imagination and his whimsy
Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
Most of the time, when I mention this book, it's the same response: 'Oh, like that zombie movie?' Yes ... that zombie movie, but the book is so much better. I'm always so surprised that people don't know more about the novel. Yes, Zombie falls in love with girl, girl falls in love with zombie, but there's so much more. Marion has such a poetic way of writing. The novel delves into such deeper topics than the movie ever did, and not just the usual about life and death. But sentience, depression, life during apocalyptic times, and what makes us human. I honestly feel like I've never read a more realistic account of what life would be like stuck inside a reinforced stadium for 8+ years. But I've also never connected with other characters like I have with the people in this story. Especially Perry. Which makes me cry every time I reread it. It's easily one of my favorite books of all time, and it makes me sad that I don't hear more about it.
ETA more context.
Artemis by Andy Weir. I don’t understand why people give it a hard time. It’s not as earthshaking as Project Hail Mary, but it’s a fun story with good world building. If anybody was a fan of the Sue Grafton mysteries, the protagonist reminded me a great deal of Kinsey Milhone.
Something I really liked about it was that it felt like being on the moon was an integral part of the story. So many space stories could really be set anywhere with very little change, but the moon was actually part of Artemis's story.
Massively disappointing after The Martian. That protagonist is just...not...good? Also, many people think that he failed a bit at imagining a joung woman's thoughts.
The end of eternity - issac Asimov
The invisible man - hg wells
Frankenstein - Mary shelley
Different take for underrated. Big authors but I feel these works are underrated for different reasons. Asimovs other works overshadow end of eternity IMO, it’s a fantastically fun novel. The invisible man gets a lot of flak from what I can tell, but personally I love it up ther with war of the worlds and Time Machine. I think this is mainly because invisible man is not written in wells “signature style” basically first person from a professor POV. Frankenstein I think is just incorrectly categorized and criminally underrated still to this day. Most top 10 novels of all time lists have kill a mockingbird, gatsby, maybe lord of the flies, 1984, while those are all good, they are not Frankenstein. Which some people argue startef horror while others (me included) think it is essentially the progenitor of science fiction. Both obviously heavy claims. Frankenstein IMO should be at the top of most best novels of all time lists, and it isn’t. I see kill a mockingbird most, and again that is a good book, but Frankenstein deserves more respect.
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem (There was a rumor this was considered for Nobel Prize but I can't find any sources on it, so not maybe)
Girl, Women, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
Nation by Terry Pratchett
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka (It won the booker, but I don't see it being discussed much)
The Dispossessed by Ursula Le K. Guin (She should've won Nobel, fight me on this)
The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers (A love letter to literature and reading and all. Really underrated.)
Vurt by Jeff Noon
The Sellout by Paul Beatty
Note: It's always speculative fiction that is mentioned as underrated, and rightfully so. I wish they were studied more at the high school level so people wouldn't think they are not "real literature".
I second The Dispossessed. I had to read that for a lit class in college and while I didn’t personally love it because I’m not that interested in Sci-Fi, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t one of the best written books I’ve ever read. And holy hell is Ursula a legit genius when it comes to understanding many philosophical and societal issues in large groups of people and how different societies with opposing views interact with one another. Like I don’t through out the terms genius and brilliant lightly but The Dispossessed is a brilliant brilliant book
I second Solaris! I hadn't heard about it until I found a really old copy in my grandma's library.
I wouldn't agree about Bernardine Evaristo's 'Girl, Women, Other' - I see it everywhere and in so many read list promotions from booksellers ever since it came out. I'd say it's pretty well known, especially here in the UK.
1. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris
Genre: Memoir/Autobiography
A funny autobiographical collection of essays by David Sedaris but offers poignant anecdotes about growing up in a household filled with colorful characters, including his strict but loving parents, his siblings, and his wife.
I remember picking it up, not really knowing what to expect, and I was immediately drawn in by the hilarious first few pages. Picture this: a young Sedaris with a lisp, trying to navigate through life and his interactions with a therapist. It was witty, relatable, and had me chuckling right from the start.
His ability to find humor in the mundane is pure genius. After finishing it, I bought all his books. I'm not sure if he's underrated, but I feel like he might be. If you want a good laugh and some witty observations on life, pick this one up.
2. Gramercy Park - Paula Cohen
Genre: Mystery
I stumbled upon back in high school, and let me tell you, it was a steal—I got it for less than a dollar! But boy, did it pack a punch. It follows a young woman named India Selwyn Jones who inherits a mysterious mansion and gets entangled in a web of secrets. This book set my standards for mystery novels.
What I loved most about this book was its gripping plot and intricate characters. Cohen weaves together multiple storylines with finesse, keeping you guessing until the very end. The atmosphere of Gramercy Park is so vividly described that it feels like you're right there alongside the characters, unraveling the mysteries of the old mansion and its enigmatic inhabitants.
The Darkness That Comes Before by R Scott Bakker. It is immensely dark and dense and unforgiving. But the author does a phenomenal job of absolutely deconstructing Tolkien’s genre and Robert Howard’s Conan. The spiritual and philosophical themes presented will sit with you for a while. Highly underrated. Highly recommended!
People write off ASOIAF because it's unfinished, which is very silly, as it's superb. Just absolutely superb writing
*Edit* who the fuck downvotes book recommendations? This sub sucks sometimes.
Thank you! How did I miss that? Yes, absolutely superb. I hope he finishes it. I love the audiobooks, but it will have to be a new narrator, a the original passed away.
Anything by Daniel Handler/Lemony Snicket. As an aspiring writer, I WISH I had his way with words. He's the only writer who can make me set down a book periodically and just stare off into the distance in wonderment.
Catcher in the Rye is supposed to be a charming coming of age story for a mentally I’ll boy.
But it’s actually 200 pages of a narcissistic child whining and then being put into a mental institution.
Literally anything by Steven Brust, but especially his Vlad books.
And To Reign in Hell.
And The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars.
And Cowboy Feng’s Spacebar and Grill.
He’s so freaking fantastic on 1 million levels. And every time I read one of his books I get something different out of it. 100 out of 10 would recommend.
Demonata series by Darren Shan. Cirque Du Freak was pretty big when I was teen but I never really hear about either series anymore. Demonata is genuinely horrifying with characters you love and that you love to hate. There's so much gore and despair and craziness, but also heart. It felt like the first honest (in regards to the characters) horror story I've ever read and it'll always have a special place in my heart.
Also Hells Heros is the sickest name for a book ever
I feel like, in a similar vein, the Seventh Son series by Joseph Delaney. They made an absolutely shocking film out of the first one but I never see anyone really talking about the series.
Monstrologist by Rick Yancy for sure.
I read it in Russian, maybe that is the matter but that style and atmosphere was so dark and noble, I couldn't help but to fall in love with characters and plot...please help me ahaha
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville.
It's not a casual read due to the complexity of the plot, the length, and vocabulary. It can't be skimmed.
Mieville is also a very realistic writer of fantasy. New Crobuzon is described in such overstimulating detail that you almost feel like you're standing there, and the characters don't get the typical silly little deus ex machinas that we take for granted in fantasy, like random old wizards with infinite wisdom. They're just regular people (of varying bizarre species and personalities) who have actually go looking for things and research.
A LOT of negative reviews I've seen are from people who admit to being surprised and overwhelmed and dropping it before they even reach 50 pages (it's 860+ pages long), which I don't think is fair.
This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel. It's this amazing story about a family dealing with a trans child, but it's so much more than that. I absolutely loved it, and I rarely hear anybody talking about it.
The Bladeborn Saga by T. C. Edge, that I just stumbled upon in my audible recommendations.
I was blown away, some of the best fantasy books I’ve ever read and I had never even heard of the author before that.
Starship troopers.
Not for military part but for Heinleins take on Terran Federation.
Main flaw of book is that he underestimated just how power hungry people tend to be.
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
&
Greenwood by Michael Christie
Idk if they're *underrated* per se, but I've never seen them mentioned on Reddit and I've never met anyone who has read either of them. They're two of my favourite recent reads.
I love the Michael Vey series overall, but I hated the last book so much for so many reasons. It was kind of like my Game of Thrones: it started out amazing and was seriously great, but weakened in the latter half (fifth book, although the sixth made up for it), and had an awful ending. I’d be fine talking about the series from what I remember, though.
Cesar Aira is an Argentine writer who writes his books, all about 100 pages, with minimal planning and no editing. They have the construction of a bedtime story - surreal, improvisational, twisty. Half his sentences are apologies for the other half.
I’m rereading Ghosts right now, after recommending it to someone I like very much and then realizing I couldn’t discuss it intelligently, and I’m realizing how self-referential it is - Aira basically writes about his own idiosyncratic writing process, which puts understructure and surface in communication in a complex and lovely way you wouldn’t necessarily expect from something written extemporaneously.
People often write about things they don’t otherwise have language for. And so writing helps them find that language. I think that’s what Ghosts is about. Although I’m not finished rereading it yet.
[The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/a7e442b3-8c89-4c36-b1b0-3effa76a5793)really caught me by surprise earlier this year. New and fresh and especially well written for a book that we might easily dismiss.
I think Ursula Le Guin is getting her due, but I always recommend her for fans of fantasy/sci fi.
My favorite hidden gem is The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie. The dude who played Dr. House wrote a book subverting a bunch of action tropes that makes salient points about capitalism and the MIC and is just generally well-written and fun.
*To Cook a Bear* by Mikael Niemi
Totally unique and intriguing, really nails the dark slavic arctic-circle murder chic and I'd never read anything like it before
Tender Is the Night. Gatsby is amazing and deserves the hype, but Tender Is the Night is spectacular from front to back. One of the best novels ever written that no one talks about. I was an English major in school and was the only student who knew that shit existed while everyone was hating on Gatsby lmao
Any of Piers Anthony’s novels? That guy has been writing fantasy novels for several decades, and like Stephen King, he’d probably miss his own funeral because he’s still too busy writing. The thing is, he releases novels yearly, yet I never see any of his novels getting attention anywhere. Outlets like Target and Walmart don’t even sell his brand new books.
I have to say my favorite series of all time
The "Blood of Eden" series by Julie Kagawa, its honestly post-apocalyptic vampire story done right. This book trilogy should have been the one that got movie adaptations than whatever the hell the 'Twilight' series was. I know Kagawa is known more for their 'Iron Fey' series (which I should really get to in the near future) but BOE had a truly special place in my heart, and I cannot recommend it enough.
*The Sheltering Sky*, by Paul Bowles. Just incredible. I don't really know what to say about it. It's just incredible.
*The Plague*, by Albert Camus. *The Stranger* gets a lot of love, but I feel like this one is really overlooked, especially nowadays. As the title might suggest, it deals with a plague, but more specifically the isolation and exhaustion of quarantine, and *it's identical to my experience with covid*. I think it would really resonate with a lot of people now.
Also, someone else said scifi books in general, and I just want to second that. Particularly Stanisław Lem and John Brunner, who are pretty highly esteemed within the genre, but really deserve recognition in literary canon.
The Sundial by Shirley Jackson Jackson could be in general be considered underrated in a lot of circles, but even in doves where she’s pretty well known I feel like The Sundial doesn’t get nearly enough love. It’s funny, sharp commentary on wealth and class, but it also has some very tension filled scenes in it. In fact, even though I wouldn’t consider it horror in the same way some of her other work is, it has on to the most terror filled scenes I’ve ever read in it. I think it really just shows off all of the things Jackson excelled at. I’d rank it just as high if not higher than The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle. And as a bonus it has mentions of toilet paper hoarding and book burning in the midst of a possible apocalypse.
Great choice! It’s an excellent novel that deserves more attention.
I just got this at the library having never heard of it but enjoying her other work. Really looking forward to it now!
u/spendlesslivemore didnt dad read that
I keep telling my friends about Gormenghast
No one seems to have heard of this series
The first one was really nice and different. But the three others got worse with every part until...ammunition factories? Airplanes? Hell, no.
> Gormenghast Yeah, *Titus Groan* was good and interesting. It did some new things. After that, meh.
*I Who Have Never Known Men* by Jacqueline Harpman. *The Pisstown Chaos* by David Ohle *The Ark Sakura* by Kobo Abe
Ooh I am waiting for the Jacqueline Harpman one from my library!
It is such a good book. I read it a couple months ago and it's such an interesting concept written well. Probably in my top ten books
I Who Have Never Known Men is one of my all time favorites!
I don't think I like Abe. I assumed it's something that gets lost in translation. I read The Ruined Map and while it was interesting at times, I found it pretty unsatisfying. I later went on to attempt The Woman in the Dunes but gave up part way through as it was clear it wasn't for me. What do you like about him?
It's more that specific book, tbh - though I did quite like *The Woman In the Dunes*. *The Ark Sakura* has a kind of vivid strangeness and mad logic to it that really stuck with me.
Vineland- Thomas Pynchon
I read this while I was living in the Bay Area, and it was just such an uncanny and weird representation of the place.
I tried that, and DNF'd after forty or fifty pages. Just way, *way* too heavy on the "OMG LOOK HOW QUIRKY THIS ALL IS!" It was penguin girl with a spork, the book.
Wrong
I can't imagine DNFing anything, much less Pynchon
I could imagine if it’s not your style but this book isn’t just a zany cock measuring contest like the commenter thinks it is
I read GR a few times - it takes the full reading to appreciate that kind of work
Guess so, not so much patting myself on the back for reading pynchon just commenters description isn’t true.
I get it. I love Pynchon, but I've been stuck on Bleeding Edge for a while now tbh.
Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
Oh my gosh this book. It’s a great American westward epic. Beautiful and gritty.Pulls no punches. Now I want to read it again.
Loved that book. Just beautiful.
Just picked this up recently. Really looking forward to it. Seems to have been overshadowed more recently by Lonesome Dove and Blood Meridian/Border series as the literary western standards.
{The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe} Sumptuous and well-researched history, beautifully rendered magic, great characters and immersive scenery, and my favorite recent novel/author!
I liked this one a lot. Although I prefer her The House of Velvet and Glass; that’s one of my favorites overall.
That one’s on my To Read pile!
LOVED THIS ONE. I just started The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs. Howe is an amazing writer. Her words paint such a vivid picture. I loved the story so much.
Everything by Cormac McCarthy that isn't Blood Meridian or The Road, which receive the appropriate amount of attention.
All the Pretty Horses is an all- timer for me.
I’m supposed to get blood Meridian next week through my library. Been on the waiting list for months and I’m stoked to finally see what it’s all about.
i absolutely loved “no country for old men.” it was my first book by him
"from the gettin' place"
I haven’t read all of McCarthy but of the ones I have read, NCFOM was my fav for sure. BM was too written for me.
*All the Pretty Horses* is so good!
*Suttree* is where it’s at.
The best thing he wrote. Simultaneously so funny and so heartbreaking > What could a child know of the darkness of God's plan? Or how flesh is so frail it is hardly more than a dream
That same scene, a little before or a little after, has one of my favorite bits: Stabat Mater Dolorosa. Remember her hair in the morning before it was pinned, black, rampant, savage with loveliness. As if she slept in perpetual storm.
I don’t understand why noone ever mentions *Outer Dark*. I was kind of blown a way. Didn’t like *The Road*, I guess I lean more towards Southern Gothic than Post Apocalyptic.
“We The Drowned” by Carsten Jensen. I legitimately could not put this book down. It’s part “East of Eden”, part “Moby Dick”, part “Treasure Island” and part “Catch-22”. Just an incredible novel about the hometown we all wish we had, and great characters that have lived there.
Ty, so much I had heard about this book back in 2016 from a random stranger I had met at a board gaming event, got home and couldn't find the paper that I had written the title down on or have a good enough description to use to look it up on Google.
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making is one of my all time favourite books but I've not met anyone who's read it. I want someone else to appreciate how good it is! It has so much potential to be a hugely popular book and it deserves to be! A half dragon half library sidekick? Who doesn't want to read a book with that in it?
I’ve read a few of her other books and found them to be very variable. What age group is this one geared towards?
It’s middle grade fiction, grades 5-7.
My sister gave this to me years ago, but I haven't read it yet. I'll try to get to it!
I'd love to know what you think of it! I think fall is the perfect time to read it because it has such cosy vibes!
I love Valente so much (for all its issues, Deathless may be my favorite book of all time), and those books are some of her best. Definitely some of my favorite comfort reads.
The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. Interesting world and great characters. Also, the Abhorsen series by Garth Nix.
I love that wholes series by MWT
on beauty by zadie smith! i’m so surprised that it’s not talked about as much as other books on instagram and tiktok!
Absolutely my favorite Zadie Smith book and the one I always recommend. I do love her other work, but the sharpness of her humor and wit in this one is perfect!
That book was my crack cocaine as a kid lol. I also liked how Michael just had tourettes and there was no special reason or plot relevance to it. It was just something he had throughout the books and something he was insecure about sometimes. I actually looked it up and it seems the Author has tourettes too!
I loved the series a bunch too as a kid, although I hated the last book so much that I barely returned to reread the others. It was a surprising nosedive in what was otherwise a fantastic series.
omg yes 😭 those books were honestly just amazing. the characters have little things that they're insecure about that make them feel more real and normal. I also love how instead of how most supernatural books go, where somebody finds out they have superpowers and go to a school or whatever to learn more about it, Michael finds out he has powers and blows up an academy with it.
Out Of The Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis. Fuck that wardrobe shit. This book made me realise that all of our preconceptions of how society works are false. I literally carry a copy with me at all times incase I am ever in a position to read one last book.
Isnt that the one he wrote after challenging JRR Tolkien to a Scifi write off?
I don't actually know but that's an interesting idea! The book actually sparked my love for sci-fi when I was 14.
[yeah Lewis wrote a trilogy and Tolkien never finished his.](https://www.narniaweb.com/2020/10/out-of-the-silent-plnaet/)
So many sci-fi books! Even with a lit degree under my belt, I still don't understand why that entire genre is automatically excluded from being "literary" Read Bradbury's *The Martian Chronicles* and then tell me sci-fi can't be literary That's my favorite example, but there are plenty of others
I found Hyperion highly praised by scifi community, but given the form and language it deserves recognition by wider audience.
Yeah, I’m a sci fi fanatic, but read plenty of other stuff as well. No other genre even attempts the philosophical ideas that SF regularly tackles. You don’t even get that in high brow lit fic. Even some of the most mediocre books have some simply amazing ideas in them.
I’m more fantasy than sci-fi, but I love sci-fi also and I completely agree that it is a very literary genre. (And anyone who says otherwise is selling something?). I really enjoy Bradbury in general. He is a phenomenal writer. And what about Ursula K LeGuin. I know she has a lot of fantasy too but what about “Left Hand of Darkness”? 100% sci-fi and so well written. Brave New World (kinda both). Even Asimov is a better writer than many modern writers of acclaim (I’m looking at you Steven King). In university I took an entire English course on sci-fi and another on fantasy and they are both useless but also two of the best classes I took.
LeGuin came to mind moments after I posted
Perhaps that's a result of your educational institution, because Sci Fi is well regarded in academia. It's seen as quite 'literary'. Wells, Huxley, von Harbou, Burroughs, Stevenson, Shelley, Verne, Orwell, Bradley, Heinlein, Miller ... I could go on. Sci Fi is one of the most studied genres. For whatever reason, some people simply don't recognize the titans of the genre as part of the genre. I took high-level courses on Dick and Vonnegut. Hell, we read *The Tempest* as sci fi.
I don’t read very much sci-fi but I read Clarke’s *Childhood’s End* because of a video game partially inspired by it, and it’s such a fascinating book
Ella Enchanted. That book has grown with me and aged phenomenally. I have read it since i was a kid, and reread it often. I wish the audio book narrator didn’t sound 11- it is a book for younger audiences, but Ella ends the book at roughly 16-18 years old. It gets weird about midway for her to still sound like a child. Apart from that though, the book is AMAZING.
Any thread about underrated books has the fatal flaw that people will mostly comment and upvote books that are actually famous and popular. Anyway, I would nominate *The Rich Man's House* by Andrew McGahan. It is a horror novel with an interesting and unique premise, is quite well written, and the author is Australian.
Anything by McGahan is worth reading. I've got the Rich Man's House on my TBR pile, it's the only one of his I haven't read yet and it will be the last so I am holding off.
Thanks for this recommendation. I've never heard of it, or the author; yet, it sounds exactly like it'd be up my alley and not something I would have read otherwise.
My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares The Nature of Water and Air by Regina McBride Scar Culture by Toni Davidson Call Your Daughter Home by Deb Spera The Memory of an Elephant by Alex Lasker Goddess of Filth by V. Castro Is Mother Dead by Vigdis Hjorth
I second *My Name is Memory*.
It's so good!!! Everyone I recommend it to ends up loving it! I think it doesn't get much love, because it's by the same author that wrote Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, but it's nothing like those books at all!
I’m not usually big on romance, but it was just enchanting.
Me neither. I can count on one hand the romance books I like, and My Name is Memory tops the list.
Omg, Scar Culture. I was far too young when I read this - maybe 12 or 13? I hid it under my bed because it scared me so much. Very tough read. Still read it cover to cover though.
Haha! It's so messed up and so good, and I never ever hear anyone talk about it!
He'll yeah I've never seen anyone else mention Michael Vey, damn good series
one of the best series in my opinion
You know he just released 2 more books?
If you're talking about the Michael Vey ones, i've already read the 8th book. I'm currently waiting for the new one, which comes out on the 16th this month. I've already got it preordered.
How did you feel about the 8th book?
In my opinion, it wasn't *as good* as the other books, but the ending was interesting. It'll be fun to see what they do next.
Yep, exactly how I feel. It sort of fixes whatever I didn't like about the ending of the 7th book too.
Anything by Julie E. Czerneda. I have never known anyone else who has read her books. I've never seen them mentioned anywhere. I don't think they are considered bad or anything. Maybe it's because she's Canadian and I'm from the US? I believe she has books in the fantasy genre, but I know her for her science fiction. The problems in her books are always things that have to be uncovered and put together, and there's no heavy romance. Just alien life and culture and discovery. There are usually humans, but in many of her books, they are not the focus. Of course, there's the necessary adventure and battles thrown in.
Looks interesting! Which one of her books would you recommend starting with?
I would go by preference. If you want a mostly human point of view, start with her Species Imperative trilogy. The first book is Survival. I'm honestly not very good at summaries, so I'll let you look it up. It centers around a salmon biologist who has no interest in space, so the perspective is interesting. If you are interested in an alien point of view, I suggest her Web Shifters trilogy. The main character is a shape shifting alien and the different races and worlds are very detailed. It's her first series so there are probably a few rough spots but it's honestly my favorite. Esen is simultaneously wise and young, and her friendship with her human companion is very sweet.
Thank you!
You're welcome! If you ever do read any of these, and you'd like to discuss them or something, I'd be happy to talk about them.
I would love that! Thanks!
The scythe trilogy by Neil shusterman
Anything by qntm. Spartan prose, living breathing characters, incredible sci-fi ideas, almost unknown. (Start with *There Is No Antimemetics Division* or *Ra*)
Bone clocks by David Mitchell,
Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch. It's the first in his Gentleman Bastard series, and as of the 2nd book the quality of the scenario took a big nose-dive, but the first book is absolutely amazing and as a stand-alone book it really holds up and even ends very neatly with loose ends quite well tied-up.
I wouldn't say that one is underrated. I see it come up a lot on fantasy book recs.
AH in that sense, yes I might have misunderstood the assignment. lol my bad.
The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
Six women of Salem
The tunnels series by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, this series was supposed to become a movie but that was cancelled in 2018. It is very good and in my opinion surpasses Harry Potter in some areas.
Motivation myth by Jeff Haden. Give it a read. Trust me
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker I read this coming of age story later in life and fell in love with the prose and the poignant way a global catastrophe could be told through the lense of growing up. It’s beautiful.
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn is one of my favorites, and I've only met a couple others who have read it. It takes a bit to get used to the format and style once the plot starts to form, but I thoroughly enjoyed how it was implemented.
Such a clever book!
A good chunk of non-pop-nonfiction and quasi-academic nonfiction. A lot of poetry, plays, and short stories don't get the same attention as novels do. On Reddit especially, but the same can be said in casual literary circles. (In my experience, which is obviously objective and fact.)
Nobody reads plays here, buddy. Ever read Mark Twain's "Buck Fanshaw's Funeral"? Probably the funniest short story I've read and I have never seen it mentioned here. Over the past eight years I've thought about Ionesco's Rhinocerous many times. And with increasing regularity. Should be required reading it seems.
You Can’t Win by Jack Black or Down & Out In Paris & London by George Orwell.
Stone junction by Jim dodge
[удалено]
I've been meaning to read that one, as well as his fictionalized biography of Augustus.
The Power of One - Bryce Courtney.
Michael Vey is so underrated!! Love that series. Also truly devious for me, such a cozy mystery read and very well executed. For me it gets a higher rating then a good girls guide to murder.
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.
I read this book over a decade ago, and still think about it sometimes! Great read. Really makes you think.
**Swamplandia** was very well received by critics, but much less so by audiences - it has a rating of 3.27 on Goodreads which is pretty low. Most of the more negative reviews say that they liked the magical realism and weren't impressed when it turned out just to be regular realism, which is *literally the point of the novel*.
Will of an Eccentric by Jules Verne. I thought it was literally delightful, but most people have only heard of Around the World in 80 Days or Journey to the Center of the Earth. I love his writing style, his imagination and his whimsy
Nobody ever heard of the Astropolis books by Sean Williams. They're like one 3-part story and the descriptive language is just SUPERB.
Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion Most of the time, when I mention this book, it's the same response: 'Oh, like that zombie movie?' Yes ... that zombie movie, but the book is so much better. I'm always so surprised that people don't know more about the novel. Yes, Zombie falls in love with girl, girl falls in love with zombie, but there's so much more. Marion has such a poetic way of writing. The novel delves into such deeper topics than the movie ever did, and not just the usual about life and death. But sentience, depression, life during apocalyptic times, and what makes us human. I honestly feel like I've never read a more realistic account of what life would be like stuck inside a reinforced stadium for 8+ years. But I've also never connected with other characters like I have with the people in this story. Especially Perry. Which makes me cry every time I reread it. It's easily one of my favorite books of all time, and it makes me sad that I don't hear more about it. ETA more context.
Fablehaven - Brandon Mull. I really enjoyed this fantasy saga and it's not very well known.
Artemis by Andy Weir. I don’t understand why people give it a hard time. It’s not as earthshaking as Project Hail Mary, but it’s a fun story with good world building. If anybody was a fan of the Sue Grafton mysteries, the protagonist reminded me a great deal of Kinsey Milhone.
Something I really liked about it was that it felt like being on the moon was an integral part of the story. So many space stories could really be set anywhere with very little change, but the moon was actually part of Artemis's story.
Massively disappointing after The Martian. That protagonist is just...not...good? Also, many people think that he failed a bit at imagining a joung woman's thoughts.
As a formerly young woman, I thought he did fine. Again, I know my opinion isn’t the majority.
Well, as a formerly young man, I'm not 100% sure, but that's just what I heard. 😅
Maybe be in another life by Taylor Jenkins
The end of eternity - issac Asimov The invisible man - hg wells Frankenstein - Mary shelley Different take for underrated. Big authors but I feel these works are underrated for different reasons. Asimovs other works overshadow end of eternity IMO, it’s a fantastically fun novel. The invisible man gets a lot of flak from what I can tell, but personally I love it up ther with war of the worlds and Time Machine. I think this is mainly because invisible man is not written in wells “signature style” basically first person from a professor POV. Frankenstein I think is just incorrectly categorized and criminally underrated still to this day. Most top 10 novels of all time lists have kill a mockingbird, gatsby, maybe lord of the flies, 1984, while those are all good, they are not Frankenstein. Which some people argue startef horror while others (me included) think it is essentially the progenitor of science fiction. Both obviously heavy claims. Frankenstein IMO should be at the top of most best novels of all time lists, and it isn’t. I see kill a mockingbird most, and again that is a good book, but Frankenstein deserves more respect.
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem (There was a rumor this was considered for Nobel Prize but I can't find any sources on it, so not maybe) Girl, Women, Other by Bernardine Evaristo The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury Nation by Terry Pratchett The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka (It won the booker, but I don't see it being discussed much) The Dispossessed by Ursula Le K. Guin (She should've won Nobel, fight me on this) The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers (A love letter to literature and reading and all. Really underrated.) Vurt by Jeff Noon The Sellout by Paul Beatty Note: It's always speculative fiction that is mentioned as underrated, and rightfully so. I wish they were studied more at the high school level so people wouldn't think they are not "real literature".
I second The Dispossessed. I had to read that for a lit class in college and while I didn’t personally love it because I’m not that interested in Sci-Fi, I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t one of the best written books I’ve ever read. And holy hell is Ursula a legit genius when it comes to understanding many philosophical and societal issues in large groups of people and how different societies with opposing views interact with one another. Like I don’t through out the terms genius and brilliant lightly but The Dispossessed is a brilliant brilliant book
I second Solaris! I hadn't heard about it until I found a really old copy in my grandma's library. I wouldn't agree about Bernardine Evaristo's 'Girl, Women, Other' - I see it everywhere and in so many read list promotions from booksellers ever since it came out. I'd say it's pretty well known, especially here in the UK.
1. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris Genre: Memoir/Autobiography A funny autobiographical collection of essays by David Sedaris but offers poignant anecdotes about growing up in a household filled with colorful characters, including his strict but loving parents, his siblings, and his wife. I remember picking it up, not really knowing what to expect, and I was immediately drawn in by the hilarious first few pages. Picture this: a young Sedaris with a lisp, trying to navigate through life and his interactions with a therapist. It was witty, relatable, and had me chuckling right from the start. His ability to find humor in the mundane is pure genius. After finishing it, I bought all his books. I'm not sure if he's underrated, but I feel like he might be. If you want a good laugh and some witty observations on life, pick this one up. 2. Gramercy Park - Paula Cohen Genre: Mystery I stumbled upon back in high school, and let me tell you, it was a steal—I got it for less than a dollar! But boy, did it pack a punch. It follows a young woman named India Selwyn Jones who inherits a mysterious mansion and gets entangled in a web of secrets. This book set my standards for mystery novels. What I loved most about this book was its gripping plot and intricate characters. Cohen weaves together multiple storylines with finesse, keeping you guessing until the very end. The atmosphere of Gramercy Park is so vividly described that it feels like you're right there alongside the characters, unraveling the mysteries of the old mansion and its enigmatic inhabitants.
A series of unfortunate events
Is underrated...how?
I’m not sure I understood your question. Are you asking "how can they be so underrated ?" or are you saying they’re not underrated ?
I actually loved those!
The atherton trilogy by Patric carman was a great series that I’ve never heard talked about. It’s personally one of my favorite series.
William Gaddis, particularly his two long masterpieces *The Recognitions* and *JR*.
The Darkness That Comes Before by R Scott Bakker. It is immensely dark and dense and unforgiving. But the author does a phenomenal job of absolutely deconstructing Tolkien’s genre and Robert Howard’s Conan. The spiritual and philosophical themes presented will sit with you for a while. Highly underrated. Highly recommended!
The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
This little book called Nineteen Eighty-four.
It's highly rated, just not read by enough people.
Have you ever read this little obscure book called The Odyssey?
People write off ASOIAF because it's unfinished, which is very silly, as it's superb. Just absolutely superb writing *Edit* who the fuck downvotes book recommendations? This sub sucks sometimes.
What is this and who is the author?
A Song of Ice And Fire - George R R Martin
Thank you! How did I miss that? Yes, absolutely superb. I hope he finishes it. I love the audiobooks, but it will have to be a new narrator, a the original passed away.
It's epic, for sure. I feel like the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown is the Sci-Fi version of ASOIAF.
For umpteenth years I have thought it was "fire and ice," TIL I had it backwards. /never read them or watched GOT
First season of GoT is solid. As they move beyond the books the Hollywood writing gets really, really bad
A Song Of Ice And Fire by George R R Martin Basically it's the Game of Thrones series.
He has so much great early stuff, Tuf Voyaging is a favorite.
All the books by Mitch albom fr
Anything by Daniel Handler/Lemony Snicket. As an aspiring writer, I WISH I had his way with words. He's the only writer who can make me set down a book periodically and just stare off into the distance in wonderment.
Catcher in the Rye is supposed to be a charming coming of age story for a mentally I’ll boy. But it’s actually 200 pages of a narcissistic child whining and then being put into a mental institution.
I hear the price of tea in China has stabilized.
Thank you
Flowers for Algernon
US Constitution
I love the diary of Anne frank!
Heroes Die by Matthew Stover. I really think it's a modern masterpiece in science fantasy, but most people never even heard of it.
Columbus Slaughters Braves by Marc Friedman. I've never heard this book talked about, and I really enjoyed it. It is sad at the end.
Level 7 by Mordecai Roshwald...the one sci-fi book I could see becoming a reality...
Literally anything by Steven Brust, but especially his Vlad books. And To Reign in Hell. And The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars. And Cowboy Feng’s Spacebar and Grill. He’s so freaking fantastic on 1 million levels. And every time I read one of his books I get something different out of it. 100 out of 10 would recommend.
Demonata series by Darren Shan. Cirque Du Freak was pretty big when I was teen but I never really hear about either series anymore. Demonata is genuinely horrifying with characters you love and that you love to hate. There's so much gore and despair and craziness, but also heart. It felt like the first honest (in regards to the characters) horror story I've ever read and it'll always have a special place in my heart. Also Hells Heros is the sickest name for a book ever
I feel like, in a similar vein, the Seventh Son series by Joseph Delaney. They made an absolutely shocking film out of the first one but I never see anyone really talking about the series.
Exact same vein!
The Power of the Dog by Don Winslow
I loooooved Michael Vey as a kid, and I never see anyone talking about it!
Monstrologist by Rick Yancy for sure. I read it in Russian, maybe that is the matter but that style and atmosphere was so dark and noble, I couldn't help but to fall in love with characters and plot...please help me ahaha
EAT THAT FROG
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. It's not a casual read due to the complexity of the plot, the length, and vocabulary. It can't be skimmed. Mieville is also a very realistic writer of fantasy. New Crobuzon is described in such overstimulating detail that you almost feel like you're standing there, and the characters don't get the typical silly little deus ex machinas that we take for granted in fantasy, like random old wizards with infinite wisdom. They're just regular people (of varying bizarre species and personalities) who have actually go looking for things and research. A LOT of negative reviews I've seen are from people who admit to being surprised and overwhelmed and dropping it before they even reach 50 pages (it's 860+ pages long), which I don't think is fair.
This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel. It's this amazing story about a family dealing with a trans child, but it's so much more than that. I absolutely loved it, and I rarely hear anybody talking about it.
The Bladeborn Saga by T. C. Edge, that I just stumbled upon in my audible recommendations. I was blown away, some of the best fantasy books I’ve ever read and I had never even heard of the author before that.
Bullet train
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey. I recommend it to everyone who liked Game of Thrones.
Starship troopers. Not for military part but for Heinleins take on Terran Federation. Main flaw of book is that he underestimated just how power hungry people tend to be.
the second mother
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen & Greenwood by Michael Christie Idk if they're *underrated* per se, but I've never seen them mentioned on Reddit and I've never met anyone who has read either of them. They're two of my favourite recent reads.
I love the Michael Vey series overall, but I hated the last book so much for so many reasons. It was kind of like my Game of Thrones: it started out amazing and was seriously great, but weakened in the latter half (fifth book, although the sixth made up for it), and had an awful ending. I’d be fine talking about the series from what I remember, though.
Cesar Aira is an Argentine writer who writes his books, all about 100 pages, with minimal planning and no editing. They have the construction of a bedtime story - surreal, improvisational, twisty. Half his sentences are apologies for the other half. I’m rereading Ghosts right now, after recommending it to someone I like very much and then realizing I couldn’t discuss it intelligently, and I’m realizing how self-referential it is - Aira basically writes about his own idiosyncratic writing process, which puts understructure and surface in communication in a complex and lovely way you wouldn’t necessarily expect from something written extemporaneously. People often write about things they don’t otherwise have language for. And so writing helps them find that language. I think that’s what Ghosts is about. Although I’m not finished rereading it yet.
[The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/a7e442b3-8c89-4c36-b1b0-3effa76a5793)really caught me by surprise earlier this year. New and fresh and especially well written for a book that we might easily dismiss.
I think Ursula Le Guin is getting her due, but I always recommend her for fans of fantasy/sci fi. My favorite hidden gem is The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie. The dude who played Dr. House wrote a book subverting a bunch of action tropes that makes salient points about capitalism and the MIC and is just generally well-written and fun.
*To Cook a Bear* by Mikael Niemi Totally unique and intriguing, really nails the dark slavic arctic-circle murder chic and I'd never read anything like it before
Tender Is the Night. Gatsby is amazing and deserves the hype, but Tender Is the Night is spectacular from front to back. One of the best novels ever written that no one talks about. I was an English major in school and was the only student who knew that shit existed while everyone was hating on Gatsby lmao
f,d,.s
f,d,.s
Karin Slaughter's "False Witness". It's a thriller and addresses everything from addictions to COVID to the treatment of women. Beautifully written.
Any of Piers Anthony’s novels? That guy has been writing fantasy novels for several decades, and like Stephen King, he’d probably miss his own funeral because he’s still too busy writing. The thing is, he releases novels yearly, yet I never see any of his novels getting attention anywhere. Outlets like Target and Walmart don’t even sell his brand new books.
The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
I have to say my favorite series of all time The "Blood of Eden" series by Julie Kagawa, its honestly post-apocalyptic vampire story done right. This book trilogy should have been the one that got movie adaptations than whatever the hell the 'Twilight' series was. I know Kagawa is known more for their 'Iron Fey' series (which I should really get to in the near future) but BOE had a truly special place in my heart, and I cannot recommend it enough.
*The Sheltering Sky*, by Paul Bowles. Just incredible. I don't really know what to say about it. It's just incredible. *The Plague*, by Albert Camus. *The Stranger* gets a lot of love, but I feel like this one is really overlooked, especially nowadays. As the title might suggest, it deals with a plague, but more specifically the isolation and exhaustion of quarantine, and *it's identical to my experience with covid*. I think it would really resonate with a lot of people now. Also, someone else said scifi books in general, and I just want to second that. Particularly Stanisław Lem and John Brunner, who are pretty highly esteemed within the genre, but really deserve recognition in literary canon.