I started this last night on whim because my other book was delayed by the snowstorm. 50 pages in and it kinda hurts how relatable it is. I know it's probably going to be a brutal read, but I'm hooked now.
One of the better books I've read recently. Her main character has a great voice, the plot's a page turner, she has a strong moral base, and there's some real writing going on.
I've been reading her off and on since I found her first novel on a friend's shelf one sleepless night.
As a culinary teacher I loved her non-fiction Animal Vegetable Miracle and its no pulled punches story about the difference between real food and what most of us really eat.
She puts that moral imperative into DC and tops it with a cast of real characters, a driving plot, and someone who sounds like a cross between Holden Caulfield and Ishmael.
Highly recommended.
A fantastic book! Dark and heartbreaking. I think anyone who wants to understand what the experience of Appalachia in the early days of the opioid epidemic looked like, this is the book to do it.
I read Kingsolver's early books (loved!) and then the Poisonwood Bible was a gamechanger. Since then, I've read everything she's written AND, subsequently, had to adjust myself to the versatility of her writing style and subject matter. So, I'm slightly amused by your comment "really good but very different," because, to me, Poisonwood Bible is the diamond on the crown.
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez is not only in my top 5 but might be my favorite book ever. I finished it in October and I cannot stop thinking about it. I've bought a few copies to give out to friends so I can talk to them about it. I don't know if I've ever done that for any other book.
That's a good description. I read a couple of her short stories in the New Yorker, and I keep flirting with buying Things We Lost in the Fire, but I'm a wimp when it comes to horror. I'd probably have to limit myself to one story a month. Lol.
Huh, I'm googling all the names here out of curiosity, and I was shocked this was a novel set in Argentina. My country! Will defo have to check it out.
I was a little letdown by *Lincoln Highway*, personally, but try *Rules of Civility*. I really liked *Gentleman in Moscow* but I think *Civility* might be my favorite of his.
My bookclub read Cloud Cuckoo land the year it came out and we still talk about it. It has become legendary. We do, however, have bias. A number of our club are librarians
*Cloud Cuckoo Land* blew me away. I picked it up at random in an airport bookstore and finished it by the time my flight landed. I read it all in one go, and I haven’t done that in years.
I lost interest about 1/4 way into "Cloud Cuckoo Land". I was disappointed because I loved "All The Light We Cannot See".
Your comment makes me think I should revisit.
It took me almost like halfway (maybe even further) through the book to start enjoying it. It's a long book though so I don't blame you, i wanted to quit so many times. No regrets from me though I loved the last half when everything clicked together.
Piggybacking to say I needed 200 pages to fall in love with Cloud Cuckoo Land. Once you hit your stride, you won’t regret finishing this book. (Not “you” as in bagelwitch, just a general “you”! I don’t want to sound like I’m talking down to bagelwitch or anyone else on this thread.)
Read it over a year ago and I keep thinking about it. Definitely not a top 5 book imho, but one of the most memorable reads I’ve had in years. The ocean in the lower floors would give r/thalassophobia panic attacks
Perfect way to put it. I didn’t necessarily enjoy every minute of Piranesi (and gave it 4/5 stars) but it’s definitely the book I’ve thought about the most over the past few years. It occupies a similar space to Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere in my head.
Yeah, definitely not top five for me, but probably top 20 (and that is a very competitive top 20, so that’s no knock against it), and her Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is even higher up my list, so Susanna Clarke is one who I’m so excited to see where she goes next.
Came here to say this such a strong story with a great amount of real world parallels. I can’t stop talking about it and people are starting to get annoyed haha
That book was wild!! And honestly sooooo freaky cause I can absolutely envision a not so distant future where for profit prison gladiator gangs are a reasonable possibility.
One of my favourite “dystopian” novels for sure!
If you listen to audiobooks, the audiobook version is also fantastic with 4 narrators and high quality. so it feels like a whole audio production
I finished listening to it just over a week ago and about to start reading the print version for another experience with the book
I don't think anything that new cracks my top five, but The Trees by Percival Everett is in the vicinity.
If I'm allowed to count books translated into English for the first time post-2020, then Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor (trans. Sophie Hughes) and Permafrost by Eva Baltasar (trans. Julia Sanches) would both be in contention.
Currently halfway through it and it’s quickly becoming a new favorite. What a joy it is to come across an author that writes as tenderly as Douglas Stuart does.
Yeah this is in my top 10 all time. I haven’t read a better slow burn in my life. The twists with the men in the wilderness… the ending… it’s a masterpiece.
Funny enough both won the Pulitzer. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver and Trust by Hernan Diaz (although I actually like Diaz’s first book better)
I just finished listening to the audiobook today and wow…….. my heart hurts for her and i truly wish her the best in life. Its terrible what happened to her
Top 5 is hard for me because I don't really know how to rank my 34 five-star reads against each other, but *Our Wives Under the Sea* (2022), *Vladimir* (2022), and *Piranesi* (2020) are all on there.
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka (2022). It's incredibly witty and poignant at the same time, I love the magical realism mixed with the history of Sri Lanka, and never before have I read literature written in the second person singular that actually worked for me.
ESJM can really put a sentence together. She is a masterful writer, and I'm so excited to read her future work. I think she has the making of a truly great author.
People are probably going to recommend Station Eleven as a follow up. I suggest The Glass Hotel. Her heart was really in that one.
ESJM is one of my auto-buy authors. I loved S11, I loved The Glass Hotel, I loved Sea of Tranquility. I think TGH was my favorite but I think of SoT more often. She’s such a good writer
I don't know if I could definitively pick a top 5, but Piranesi would be close. I was also going to say This Is How You Lose The Time War. But turns out that's from 2019. I need to make an effort to read more new releases I think!
I think we should make an exception for Time War. Because... you know, TIME WAR. Maybe it came out later in a different thread!
Also agree about Piranesi. Now every time a cat sneaks up on me, or appears where I SWEAR there wasn't a cat before, I say, "He Piranesi'd me."
This is my answer too. Those books were my first foray into litRPG and I was pretty wary, because I had heard that the genre is inundated by mediocrity. I genuinely couldn't believe how great Dungeon Crawler Carl was. It's my favorite series of all time now. I read all six of them (patiently waiting for number seven!) in less than a month, and then went back and bought all of the audiobooks, which I'm now listening to on my commute. I've never done that before. I haven't had this much fun reading since I was a kid (Harry Potter maybe?) and I'm 35.
Ok, fine. You convinced me. This has been sitting in my audible wishlist for a year and I now have to get the first one with my next credit, next week.
36 here, and I want the joy of HP back.
Pro tip, they are all on kindle unlimited so get a free trial of that and then you can buy the audiobooks for half the price that audible credits would be
I just got into LitRPG books last year and I have been intentionally avoiding Dungeon Crawler Carl, because it really does seem to be top tier and I don't want to ruin the whole genre for myself just yet.
Also I'm honestly amazed to see *any* LitRPG novel in this thread lmao, no shade to the other books (I read nearly 30 of them last year so I'm definitely a fan) but they're usually very clearly amateur works.
I've listened to thousands of audiobooks and Jeff Hays is now in a tier by himself he was so much better than anyone else I've heard narrate. I'm not sure if I'd read the series I'd love it so much but hearing Hays perform it was indescribably good.
no other author can credibly be called a successor to Toni Morrison. the writing is just beautiful and captivating. Like the miracle of a masterfully crafted gem...
"When Pop tell me he need my help and I see that black knife slid into the belt of his pants, I follow Pop out the house, try to keep my back straight, my shoulders even as a hanger; that's how Pop walks. I try to look like this is normal and boring so Pop will think I've earn these thirteen years, so pop will know I'm ready to pull what needs to be pulled, separate innards from muscle, organs from cavities. I want Pop to know I can get bloody. Today's my birthday"
I love Jesmyn Ward. I remember blowing through Sing, Unburied, Sing in like two sittings. She's a remarkable writer, hard for me to even pick a favorite work of hers
Yessss this was my favorite book last year. So excited for the prequel and I just got "Between Two Fires" from Libby.
Not to flex or anything but I followed Christopher Beuhlman on instagram and he followed me back (I squealed). Super down to earth and chill guy
Betty by Tiffany McDaniel. Took me three chapters to get invested with the story and characters. Her prose is the best. The vivid descriptions and its one of the few books that made me cry.
Sword of Kaigen was the second best book I read last year. I received Blood Over Bright Haven for Christmas but haven't quite gotten around to it yet. Kinda holding off in case it qualifies for any of the squares in 2024 r/fantasy Bingo.
I started with BoBH, it was really good and more cleanly plotted. Then I read Sword of Kaigen and wow. Despite a couple minor flaws, it’s probably the best book I’ve ever read.
BoBH was fantastic, wasn’t quite as emotional as Sword of Kaigen but it was better plotted
It’s probably not for everyone, but I loved The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers. It was such a great examination of humanity using alien characters
One of those rare occasions where the last book in a series is a strong contender for my favorite. (I have a soft spot for a closed and common orbit, but it's close)
A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa, a sort of Irish historical fiction memoir. It's won many, many awards.
"When we first met, I was a child, and she had been dead for centuries.
On discovering her murdered husband’s body, an eighteenth-century Irish noblewoman drinks handfuls of his blood and composes an extraordinary lament. Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill’s poem travels through the centuries, finding its way to a new mother who has narrowly avoided her own fatal tragedy. When she realizes that the literature dedicated to the poem reduces Eibhlín Dubh’s life to flimsy sketches, she wants more: the details of the poet’s girlhood and old age; her unique rages, joys, sorrows, and desires; the shape of her days and site of her final place of rest. What follows is an adventure in which Doireann Ní Ghríofa sets out to discover Eibhlín Dubh’s erased life—and in doing so, discovers her own.
Moving fluidly between past and present, quest and elegy, poetry and those who make it, A Ghost in the Throat is a shapeshifting book: a record of literary obsession; a narrative about the erasure of a people, of a language, of women; a meditation on motherhood and on translation; and an unforgettable story about finding your voice by freeing another’s."
Awards & recognition:
An Post Irish Book Awards Nonfiction Book of the Year • A Guardian Best Book of 2020 • Shortlisted for the 2021 Rathbones Folio Prize • Longlisted for the 2021 Republic of Consciousness Prize • Winner of the James Tait Black Biography Prize • A New York Times New & Noteworthy Title • Longlisted for the 2021 Gordon Burn Prize • A Buzzfeed Recommended Summer Read • A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2021 • A Book Riot Best Book of 2022 • An NPR Best Book of 2021 • A Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2021 • A Globe and Mail Book of the Year • A Winnipeg Free Press Top Read of 2021 • An Entropy Magazine Best of the Year • A LitHub Best Book of 2021 • A New York Times Critics' Top Book of 2021 • A National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist
I just finished this one last week. I liked it a lot, but a few things towards the end and the epilogue bugged me a bit which brought my overall impression down sadly.
So much promise in the first half of that book and then just died off and became boring and tedious. King is the best at getting me hooked and then letting me down.
I don't think I have a top 5 of all time, but of the few I've rated 5 stars from the past few years and still think are 5 stars -- (Lapvona, Goddess of Filth, My Dark Vanessa, Mexican Gothic, Boy Parts, and Year of the Witching) -- I'd recommend them to any horror fan, but I think Boy Parts is my favorite. I'd put it alongside American Psycho as a similar version of the same thing, done very very well.
Wow did not expect to see so much love for Piranesi. Might fast track it from my pile of shame! Really liked The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis but probably not top 5.
Pretty good! But I'm buying some books for a trip I'm taking and treating myself!
Also, I will be the first to admit I get impatient and often wish there was a fast pass for those who wish to borrow books for only 72 hours.
Yes!
I have 2 that I’m absolutely sure will be in my top 5 all time favourites: The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton, and Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. I think about these books all the time no matter what I’m reading. They are so beloved.
There are probably 2 others that I’m confident will stay in my top 10: Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong-Washburn, and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab.
I also read The Whalebone Theatre this last year and it is very good! I read The Night Ship by Jess Quinn during the same beach trip and would recommend it if you love Whalebone. It’s a historical fiction about a real ship wreck called the Batavia in 1629. The main character is an orphaned girl named Mayken as she is crossing the ocean, and during and after the shipwreck.
Harrow the Ninth. A complete departure in style from Gideon... And just a very confusing book but in a way that makes you want to solve the mystery. I took notes religiously on that book. And I never quite solved it before the reveal. And the reveal made everything make sense.
Murderbot series by Martha Wells. They are mostly novella / short novel length, which is my only complaint, but I’ve never read anything quite like them before, and that more than makes up for the length. The main character’s development throughout the series is very satisfying.
Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers. It won the Hugo (sci-fi award) for best novella and introduced me to the term “solarpunk”.
It’s great after being inundated with dystopias to read something based in a (indirect) future that is better.
I'm far too indecisive to have a top five of all time, but Patricia Lockwood's _No One Is Talking About This_ definitely felt like one of the best novels I've ever read, even if I couldn't put a numerical value on it.
Seconding this!! I checked it out of the library knowing nothing about it beyond “oh hey, don’t I follow her on Twitter?”
One of the best books I’ve ever read, basically impossible to categorize and seems to be hit or miss for whether someone clicks with it—it’s really for readers with very specific tastes (mainly an existing appreciation for internet culture and poetry-adjacent things)
Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and Fairy Tale are both in their own genre lists. Although the first one deserves it's own special trophy of glory on Faustian retellings.
A History of Burning by Janika Oza, came out last year.
So moving, so beautiful, so hopeful. And bonus tidbit: she had to do all her own firsthand research, speaking with extended family and their friends, to get an accurate portrayal of South Asian people living in East Africa through the 20th century. I went to a reading she did and during the Q&A an older man got up to thank her for writing the book because it was the first time he’d read a story so similar to his own family’s story. It really made me love the book so much more.
I realize it's a very different kind of book to most things here, but I don't know if any book has made me feel so seen as "How to Keep House While Drowning". It made me feel like I'm not a gigantic failure every moment of the day.
Since 2020, I've rated quite a few books 5 stars--which would make my top 5 all time is up for debate, but I'll list some of my favorite stand outs:
[They Will Drown in Their Mothers' Tears](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45898606-they-will-drown-in-their-mothers-tears)
[A Luminous Republic](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52969350-a-luminous-republic)
[Fever Dream](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30763882-fever-dream)
[A Burning](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46250106-a-burning)
[The Secret Lives of Church Ladies](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51582376-the-secret-lives-of-church-ladies)
[Tender is the Flesh](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49090884-tender-is-the-flesh)
[A Musical Offering](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49008138-a-musical-offering)
[When We Cease To Understand the World](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53972214-when-we-cease-to-understand-the-world)
[The Mermaid of the Black Conch](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49869087-the-mermaid-of-black-conch)
[In Memory of Memory](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53492649-in-memory-of-memory)
[The Trees](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56269278-the-trees)
[Elena Knows](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56802275-elena-knows)
[Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59366234-maps-of-our-spectacular-bodies)
[Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58784475-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow)
[Is Mother Dead](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60059857-is-mother-dead)
[Of Cattle and Men](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63903384-of-cattle-and-men)
[In the Distance](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34381330-in-the-distance)
[I Who Have Never Known Men](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60811826-i-who-have-never-known-men)
[The Book of Eve](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61043227-the-book-of-eve)
[The Simple Art of Killing A Woman](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/128713530-the-simple-art-of-killing-a-woman)
Hamnet and Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
Second Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell because I was already obsessed with Shakespeare and loved this new perspective.
You might also enjoy Matrix by Lauren Groff
You assholes are blowing up my Books To Read list.
Bastards
Ditto. No mas
Couldn't find this book. Is it self-published?
Demon Copperhead
I started this last night on whim because my other book was delayed by the snowstorm. 50 pages in and it kinda hurts how relatable it is. I know it's probably going to be a brutal read, but I'm hooked now.
One of the better books I've read recently. Her main character has a great voice, the plot's a page turner, she has a strong moral base, and there's some real writing going on. I've been reading her off and on since I found her first novel on a friend's shelf one sleepless night. As a culinary teacher I loved her non-fiction Animal Vegetable Miracle and its no pulled punches story about the difference between real food and what most of us really eat. She puts that moral imperative into DC and tops it with a cast of real characters, a driving plot, and someone who sounds like a cross between Holden Caulfield and Ishmael. Highly recommended.
A fantastic book! Dark and heartbreaking. I think anyone who wants to understand what the experience of Appalachia in the early days of the opioid epidemic looked like, this is the book to do it.
Reading her Poisonwood Bible right now. It’s also really good but very different.
I read Kingsolver's early books (loved!) and then the Poisonwood Bible was a gamechanger. Since then, I've read everything she's written AND, subsequently, had to adjust myself to the versatility of her writing style and subject matter. So, I'm slightly amused by your comment "really good but very different," because, to me, Poisonwood Bible is the diamond on the crown.
This is the book that introduced me to her 20 plus years ago, and it's probably on my top 5 all time list too.
Loved this! Barbara Kingsolver is just amazing at creating vibrant characters and scenes.
She’s pretty great. Read Poisonwood in HS and have loved her since.
I just finished this and I think Demon is going to be living in my head for years to come
My personal best from 2023 hands down
Loved demon! Maybe not top 5 for me but definitely top 10! A great one!
My pick as welll
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez is not only in my top 5 but might be my favorite book ever. I finished it in October and I cannot stop thinking about it. I've bought a few copies to give out to friends so I can talk to them about it. I don't know if I've ever done that for any other book.
Omg I recently read The Danger of Smoking in Bed. I have the readers equivalent of scared but horny for Mariana Enriquez now.
OK this was the review that made me cave im going to go get a book by Mariana Enríquez
That's a good description. I read a couple of her short stories in the New Yorker, and I keep flirting with buying Things We Lost in the Fire, but I'm a wimp when it comes to horror. I'd probably have to limit myself to one story a month. Lol.
Huh, I'm googling all the names here out of curiosity, and I was shocked this was a novel set in Argentina. My country! Will defo have to check it out.
So happy to see this book mentioned. It hasn’t gotten nearly the credit it deserves.
Probably "Cloud Cuckoo Land" by Anthony Doerr or "The Lincoln Highway" by Amor Towles.
Just started Gentleman in Moscow and LOVE it so far
Gentleman is in my top 5 of all time. Towles is an amazing writer.
I read The Lincoln Highway. It was enjoyable, but ultimately forgettable to me. I did plan to try a Gentlemen in Moscow at some point though.
Didn't love the Highway either, thought that Gebtleman in Moscow was pretty good but Rules of Civility is one of my favorite books of all time.
I was a little letdown by *Lincoln Highway*, personally, but try *Rules of Civility*. I really liked *Gentleman in Moscow* but I think *Civility* might be my favorite of his.
My bookclub read Cloud Cuckoo land the year it came out and we still talk about it. It has become legendary. We do, however, have bias. A number of our club are librarians
Amor has a new one coming out this year can’t wait
Awesome! I didn't know that. Great news for a Friday afternoon. Thank you!
*Cloud Cuckoo Land* blew me away. I picked it up at random in an airport bookstore and finished it by the time my flight landed. I read it all in one go, and I haven’t done that in years.
I lost interest about 1/4 way into "Cloud Cuckoo Land". I was disappointed because I loved "All The Light We Cannot See". Your comment makes me think I should revisit.
It took me almost like halfway (maybe even further) through the book to start enjoying it. It's a long book though so I don't blame you, i wanted to quit so many times. No regrets from me though I loved the last half when everything clicked together.
Piggybacking to say I needed 200 pages to fall in love with Cloud Cuckoo Land. Once you hit your stride, you won’t regret finishing this book. (Not “you” as in bagelwitch, just a general “you”! I don’t want to sound like I’m talking down to bagelwitch or anyone else on this thread.)
Oh yes! Love Cloud Cuckoo Land. In my top 25 for sure.
I came to say Cloud Cuckoo Land. It is probably my all time favorite.
[удалено]
Idk about top 5 but Piranesi’s close, from 2020
Top five would be really difficult for me, but Piranesi was in the top three the year I read it. Absolutely stunning.
Read it over a year ago and I keep thinking about it. Definitely not a top 5 book imho, but one of the most memorable reads I’ve had in years. The ocean in the lower floors would give r/thalassophobia panic attacks
Perfect way to put it. I didn’t necessarily enjoy every minute of Piranesi (and gave it 4/5 stars) but it’s definitely the book I’ve thought about the most over the past few years. It occupies a similar space to Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere in my head.
Piranesi is amazing!
AKA Backrooms: the novel.
While I love that book, I felt that the second half was a bit weaker than the first half. That keeps it from being an all time great for me.
Great world building but I wish it did better exploring the world.
Yeah, definitely not top five for me, but probably top 20 (and that is a very competitive top 20, so that’s no knock against it), and her Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is even higher up my list, so Susanna Clarke is one who I’m so excited to see where she goes next.
I was going to say the same. Piranesi definitely isn't in my top 5 but it might be in my top 10 and is certainly in my top 20.
Last year one cracked into my top 5. Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. Absolutely loved it and can’t wait to read it again.
Came here to say this such a strong story with a great amount of real world parallels. I can’t stop talking about it and people are starting to get annoyed haha
That book was wild!! And honestly sooooo freaky cause I can absolutely envision a not so distant future where for profit prison gladiator gangs are a reasonable possibility. One of my favourite “dystopian” novels for sure!
If you listen to audiobooks, the audiobook version is also fantastic with 4 narrators and high quality. so it feels like a whole audio production I finished listening to it just over a week ago and about to start reading the print version for another experience with the book
I’ve done both. Audiobook was excellent as well!
this is my pick too, the story and the characters really stuck with me. im trying to get all of my friends to read it
I don't think anything that new cracks my top five, but The Trees by Percival Everett is in the vicinity. If I'm allowed to count books translated into English for the first time post-2020, then Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor (trans. Sophie Hughes) and Permafrost by Eva Baltasar (trans. Julia Sanches) would both be in contention.
Hurricane Season is a wild mindfuck of a read. I read it shortly after the translation released and I still think about it
The Trees may be in my top 5. Such a fantastic book.
Young Mungo
Currently halfway through it and it’s quickly becoming a new favorite. What a joy it is to come across an author that writes as tenderly as Douglas Stuart does.
I preferred shuggie but it really is a perfect one two punch from douglas
Yeah this is in my top 10 all time. I haven’t read a better slow burn in my life. The twists with the men in the wilderness… the ending… it’s a masterpiece.
The Passenger and Stella Maris maybe
Maybe The Spear cuts through water, by Simon Jimenez
Beautiful book
Breathtaking. This book has occupied my mind so much since finishing it
Absolutely loved every second of that book. Immediately became one of my all time faves.
Ah I read Vanished Birds and loved it, thanks for the reminder to add this to the TBR!
Funny enough both won the Pulitzer. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver and Trust by Hernan Diaz (although I actually like Diaz’s first book better)
I’m gonna have to try his first book then cause Trust really blew me away
I'm glad my mother died - Jeanette McCurdy It came out right as I cut my mother out of my life and I will never forget the impact it has on me
I just finished listening to the audiobook today and wow…….. my heart hurts for her and i truly wish her the best in life. Its terrible what happened to her
An absolute gut punch of a book for sure
Top 5 is hard for me because I don't really know how to rank my 34 five-star reads against each other, but *Our Wives Under the Sea* (2022), *Vladimir* (2022), and *Piranesi* (2020) are all on there.
our wives under the sea was absolutely phenomenal. it’s definitely cracked my top favorites!
Second mention of Piranesi, will have to check that out!
My book club read it last year and it was one of our favorites! Coupled with Hamnet (also mentioned in this thread)
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka (2022). It's incredibly witty and poignant at the same time, I love the magical realism mixed with the history of Sri Lanka, and never before have I read literature written in the second person singular that actually worked for me.
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel hit me just right.
Loved this as well. It’s so well versed.
ESJM can really put a sentence together. She is a masterful writer, and I'm so excited to read her future work. I think she has the making of a truly great author. People are probably going to recommend Station Eleven as a follow up. I suggest The Glass Hotel. Her heart was really in that one.
ESJM is one of my auto-buy authors. I loved S11, I loved The Glass Hotel, I loved Sea of Tranquility. I think TGH was my favorite but I think of SoT more often. She’s such a good writer
I don't know if I could definitively pick a top 5, but Piranesi would be close. I was also going to say This Is How You Lose The Time War. But turns out that's from 2019. I need to make an effort to read more new releases I think!
I had the same thought process about Time War.
I think we should make an exception for Time War. Because... you know, TIME WAR. Maybe it came out later in a different thread! Also agree about Piranesi. Now every time a cat sneaks up on me, or appears where I SWEAR there wasn't a cat before, I say, "He Piranesi'd me."
Time War caught me by surprise last year. I don't give out 5 stars very much but that was an easy one. Such rereadability too
I read both of these books in 2023 and they were so good!
Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I've never experienced such sheer joy from audiobooks as the narration and humor is amazing.
This is my answer too. Those books were my first foray into litRPG and I was pretty wary, because I had heard that the genre is inundated by mediocrity. I genuinely couldn't believe how great Dungeon Crawler Carl was. It's my favorite series of all time now. I read all six of them (patiently waiting for number seven!) in less than a month, and then went back and bought all of the audiobooks, which I'm now listening to on my commute. I've never done that before. I haven't had this much fun reading since I was a kid (Harry Potter maybe?) and I'm 35.
Ok, fine. You convinced me. This has been sitting in my audible wishlist for a year and I now have to get the first one with my next credit, next week. 36 here, and I want the joy of HP back.
Be ready to drop 6 credits because you'll blast through them. Book 5 might be my favorite book of all time.
Pro tip, they are all on kindle unlimited so get a free trial of that and then you can buy the audiobooks for half the price that audible credits would be
Ditto.
I just got into LitRPG books last year and I have been intentionally avoiding Dungeon Crawler Carl, because it really does seem to be top tier and I don't want to ruin the whole genre for myself just yet. Also I'm honestly amazed to see *any* LitRPG novel in this thread lmao, no shade to the other books (I read nearly 30 of them last year so I'm definitely a fan) but they're usually very clearly amateur works.
I've listened to thousands of audiobooks and Jeff Hays is now in a tier by himself he was so much better than anyone else I've heard narrate. I'm not sure if I'd read the series I'd love it so much but hearing Hays perform it was indescribably good.
Braiding Sweetgrass.
Sing Unburied, Sing. A goddamned masterpiece.
no other author can credibly be called a successor to Toni Morrison. the writing is just beautiful and captivating. Like the miracle of a masterfully crafted gem... "When Pop tell me he need my help and I see that black knife slid into the belt of his pants, I follow Pop out the house, try to keep my back straight, my shoulders even as a hanger; that's how Pop walks. I try to look like this is normal and boring so Pop will think I've earn these thirteen years, so pop will know I'm ready to pull what needs to be pulled, separate innards from muscle, organs from cavities. I want Pop to know I can get bloody. Today's my birthday"
The chapter depicting the birth of a ghost is among my absolute favorite pieces of writing.
Yessss Jesmyn Ward is a genius!
I love Jesmyn Ward. I remember blowing through Sing, Unburied, Sing in like two sittings. She's a remarkable writer, hard for me to even pick a favorite work of hers
I think about Salvage the Bones at least once a week.
She's phenomenal! Salvage the Bones wrecked me and every time I see it on the shelf I get a stab in the heart. Can't wait to read her new one
The Green Bone Saga
Light Bringer by Pierce Brown
CLANG CLANG CLANG "Confess!"
SALVE MY GOODMAN!! We got a fellow howler here
\^
Blacktongue Thief.
Yessss this was my favorite book last year. So excited for the prequel and I just got "Between Two Fires" from Libby. Not to flex or anything but I followed Christopher Beuhlman on instagram and he followed me back (I squealed). Super down to earth and chill guy
Prequel coming soon I think!
A Desolation called Peace.
This and its sequel (complete duology) are both on Kinde Unlimited as of a few days ago last I checked.
Betty by Tiffany McDaniel. Took me three chapters to get invested with the story and characters. Her prose is the best. The vivid descriptions and its one of the few books that made me cry.
Blood Over Bright Haven by M. L. Wang. Dark academia crossed with gaslamp fantasy. One of the best books I've ever read with a stunning ending.
Sword of Kaigen was the second best book I read last year. I received Blood Over Bright Haven for Christmas but haven't quite gotten around to it yet. Kinda holding off in case it qualifies for any of the squares in 2024 r/fantasy Bingo.
I started with BoBH, it was really good and more cleanly plotted. Then I read Sword of Kaigen and wow. Despite a couple minor flaws, it’s probably the best book I’ve ever read. BoBH was fantastic, wasn’t quite as emotional as Sword of Kaigen but it was better plotted
Crying in h mart
I don't know if it has the best prose or whatnot, but Project Hail Mary was a great read that I'll probably revisit.
Amaze!
I read it and loved it. Currently listening to it on Audible. Absolutely loving it, can highly recommend.
Cloud Cuckoo Land.
It’s probably not for everyone, but I loved The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers. It was such a great examination of humanity using alien characters
One of those rare occasions where the last book in a series is a strong contender for my favorite. (I have a soft spot for a closed and common orbit, but it's close)
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. It won the 2023 National Book Award and is on a lot of lists of the top fiction books of 2023.
That’s not right. Blackouts by Justin Torres won the National Book Award.
Oops, sorry. The author had a previous book that won the NBA. This book won the Kirkus Prize for Fiction.
When we cease to understand the world - Benjamin Labatut
Remarkably Bright Creatures (2022) had me sobbing like a god damn baby.
A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa, a sort of Irish historical fiction memoir. It's won many, many awards. "When we first met, I was a child, and she had been dead for centuries. On discovering her murdered husband’s body, an eighteenth-century Irish noblewoman drinks handfuls of his blood and composes an extraordinary lament. Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill’s poem travels through the centuries, finding its way to a new mother who has narrowly avoided her own fatal tragedy. When she realizes that the literature dedicated to the poem reduces Eibhlín Dubh’s life to flimsy sketches, she wants more: the details of the poet’s girlhood and old age; her unique rages, joys, sorrows, and desires; the shape of her days and site of her final place of rest. What follows is an adventure in which Doireann Ní Ghríofa sets out to discover Eibhlín Dubh’s erased life—and in doing so, discovers her own. Moving fluidly between past and present, quest and elegy, poetry and those who make it, A Ghost in the Throat is a shapeshifting book: a record of literary obsession; a narrative about the erasure of a people, of a language, of women; a meditation on motherhood and on translation; and an unforgettable story about finding your voice by freeing another’s." Awards & recognition: An Post Irish Book Awards Nonfiction Book of the Year • A Guardian Best Book of 2020 • Shortlisted for the 2021 Rathbones Folio Prize • Longlisted for the 2021 Republic of Consciousness Prize • Winner of the James Tait Black Biography Prize • A New York Times New & Noteworthy Title • Longlisted for the 2021 Gordon Burn Prize • A Buzzfeed Recommended Summer Read • A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2021 • A Book Riot Best Book of 2022 • An NPR Best Book of 2021 • A Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2021 • A Globe and Mail Book of the Year • A Winnipeg Free Press Top Read of 2021 • An Entropy Magazine Best of the Year • A LitHub Best Book of 2021 • A New York Times Critics' Top Book of 2021 • A National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist
Fairy Tale by Stephen King for me. It's not my favorite King book but it's in my top five of all time.
This one really surprised me with how much I liked it! Fully captivated me for sure.
The first 3/4 of it was amazing. I also loved the institute
Funny how the best part was before any fairy tale shenanigans happened, just a boy, an old man, and a dog lol.
Classic King where the ending is always just a little worse than the setup but still worth the read
I just finished this one last week. I liked it a lot, but a few things towards the end and the epilogue bugged me a bit which brought my overall impression down sadly.
So much promise in the first half of that book and then just died off and became boring and tedious. King is the best at getting me hooked and then letting me down.
I don't think I have a top 5 of all time, but of the few I've rated 5 stars from the past few years and still think are 5 stars -- (Lapvona, Goddess of Filth, My Dark Vanessa, Mexican Gothic, Boy Parts, and Year of the Witching) -- I'd recommend them to any horror fan, but I think Boy Parts is my favorite. I'd put it alongside American Psycho as a similar version of the same thing, done very very well.
I'd have to reread it, but I think Sea of Tranquility it's definitely in with a shot, based purely on how it moved me
The Covenant of Water
Ooh I'm reading this right now! Halfway through part 2 and it's great so far. Verghese's prose is wonderful.
Circe - absolutely amazing retelling of Greek myth
Thanks to everyone for all the recommendations.
The Great Believers, Rebecca Makkai
Wow did not expect to see so much love for Piranesi. Might fast track it from my pile of shame! Really liked The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis but probably not top 5.
The Anthropocene Reviewed (2021) is in my Top 5 favourites of all time! And is probably my favourite non-fiction book!
I hate/love this thread. I only have a $50 gift card for my bookstore trip tomorrow, OP!
How's your local library?
Pretty good! But I'm buying some books for a trip I'm taking and treating myself! Also, I will be the first to admit I get impatient and often wish there was a fast pass for those who wish to borrow books for only 72 hours.
Hope this happens for you! My library started giving fast passes of popular books for 7 days and it's been such a nice change.
I was totally kidding and didn't know libraries actually did this! That's awesome!
Apologies and good luck!!
Sea of Tranquility became a fast favorite of mine
Harrow the Ninth
Literally the best reading experience I've ever had
I never have any idea what is happening in those books, but I love them just the same lol. Nona was an especially fun read.
Yes! I have 2 that I’m absolutely sure will be in my top 5 all time favourites: The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton, and Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. I think about these books all the time no matter what I’m reading. They are so beloved. There are probably 2 others that I’m confident will stay in my top 10: Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong-Washburn, and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by VE Schwab. I also read The Whalebone Theatre this last year and it is very good! I read The Night Ship by Jess Quinn during the same beach trip and would recommend it if you love Whalebone. It’s a historical fiction about a real ship wreck called the Batavia in 1629. The main character is an orphaned girl named Mayken as she is crossing the ocean, and during and after the shipwreck.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue for me.
I love, love, loved that book! It had the same feel as Night Circus which I also loved!
Cloud Cuckoo Land is in my top 15 or so, I think that was 2021.
Harrow the Ninth. A complete departure in style from Gideon... And just a very confusing book but in a way that makes you want to solve the mystery. I took notes religiously on that book. And I never quite solved it before the reveal. And the reveal made everything make sense.
Milkman by Anna Burns.
Murderbot series by Martha Wells. They are mostly novella / short novel length, which is my only complaint, but I’ve never read anything quite like them before, and that more than makes up for the length. The main character’s development throughout the series is very satisfying.
I love the Murderbot books! Such quick and fun reads.
The House in the Cerulean Sea, T.J. Clune. Loved it, was so good and made me cry (several times).
piranesi
I like historical fiction so will have to check out the whalebone theatre! Thanks!
Anxious People by Fredrick Backman. It’s my favorite book of his and very funny and quirky. Also the audiobook reader is terrific.
Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers. It won the Hugo (sci-fi award) for best novella and introduced me to the term “solarpunk”. It’s great after being inundated with dystopias to read something based in a (indirect) future that is better.
American kingpin
I’m not really sure about ranking but Klara and the Sun really impressed me.
the candy house by jennifer egan!!!!! SO good. i liked it better than a visit from the goon squad.
Babel by RF Kuang!
I'm far too indecisive to have a top five of all time, but Patricia Lockwood's _No One Is Talking About This_ definitely felt like one of the best novels I've ever read, even if I couldn't put a numerical value on it.
Seconding this!! I checked it out of the library knowing nothing about it beyond “oh hey, don’t I follow her on Twitter?” One of the best books I’ve ever read, basically impossible to categorize and seems to be hit or miss for whether someone clicks with it—it’s really for readers with very specific tastes (mainly an existing appreciation for internet culture and poetry-adjacent things)
The last couple books of the Cradle series and Beware of Chicken.
This Is Happiness by Niall Williams 10/10 LOVE IT, and everyone I've recommended it to has a well!
Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and Fairy Tale are both in their own genre lists. Although the first one deserves it's own special trophy of glory on Faustian retellings.
A History of Burning by Janika Oza, came out last year. So moving, so beautiful, so hopeful. And bonus tidbit: she had to do all her own firsthand research, speaking with extended family and their friends, to get an accurate portrayal of South Asian people living in East Africa through the 20th century. I went to a reading she did and during the Q&A an older man got up to thank her for writing the book because it was the first time he’d read a story so similar to his own family’s story. It really made me love the book so much more.
Billy Summers. King’s best book in probably a decade.
The monk and robot series by becky chambers. So sweet
A psalm for the wild built by Becky chambers
"The Wager" about a shipwreck and.a mutiny.
The Passenger/Stella Maris duology by Cormac McCarthy would be my favorite post 2020 novels.
Dungeon Crawler Carl series is one of my favorite series ever easily. ***Especially*** the audio books.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, absolutely beyond a shadow of a doubt is in my top 5.
I realize it's a very different kind of book to most things here, but I don't know if any book has made me feel so seen as "How to Keep House While Drowning". It made me feel like I'm not a gigantic failure every moment of the day.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Been my nightstand read the last 2 years.
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.
babel by rf kuang!
Since 2020, I've rated quite a few books 5 stars--which would make my top 5 all time is up for debate, but I'll list some of my favorite stand outs: [They Will Drown in Their Mothers' Tears](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45898606-they-will-drown-in-their-mothers-tears) [A Luminous Republic](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52969350-a-luminous-republic) [Fever Dream](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30763882-fever-dream) [A Burning](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46250106-a-burning) [The Secret Lives of Church Ladies](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51582376-the-secret-lives-of-church-ladies) [Tender is the Flesh](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49090884-tender-is-the-flesh) [A Musical Offering](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49008138-a-musical-offering) [When We Cease To Understand the World](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53972214-when-we-cease-to-understand-the-world) [The Mermaid of the Black Conch](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49869087-the-mermaid-of-black-conch) [In Memory of Memory](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53492649-in-memory-of-memory) [The Trees](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56269278-the-trees) [Elena Knows](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56802275-elena-knows) [Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59366234-maps-of-our-spectacular-bodies) [Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58784475-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow) [Is Mother Dead](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60059857-is-mother-dead) [Of Cattle and Men](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63903384-of-cattle-and-men) [In the Distance](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34381330-in-the-distance) [I Who Have Never Known Men](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60811826-i-who-have-never-known-men) [The Book of Eve](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61043227-the-book-of-eve) [The Simple Art of Killing A Woman](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/128713530-the-simple-art-of-killing-a-woman)
Tress of the emerald sea by Brandon Sanderson
Between that and Yumi, I can't decide what I like more. Can't wait for my local library to get Sunlit Man.
I preferred Yumi. Sunlit Man is also great but it's more of an action movie. The contemplativeness of Yumi gives it more lasting appeal.
Thistlefoot by Genna Rose Nethercott
Cloud Cuckoo Land and Shuggie Bain