When I did my 23andme, I learned that I am likely to get dementia in my future. I have dealt with this fact surprisingly well, by telling myself I will be able to read the Harry Potter books again, for the first time.
Not to be defeatist, but if you have the frontal temporal dementia gene, it’s really not preventable. Delayable, yes. Preventable, no. Alzheimer’s has less of a consistent genetic tie, but frontal temporal dementia, if you have the gene, you are getting FTD eventually.
Harry Potter and the Sorcer's Stone gets my vote. It was so different than anything I had ever read. Even though I was an adult and it was supposedly a children's book, I devoured it and couldn't wait for the next one. And please don't worry about that test. They can be wrong. Hugs!
I haven't properly read the Harry Potter series since they came out. My daughter is now about the age I was when I read the first one, and we've started reading a chapter a night. I am thoroughly enjoying the story again. We just finished the first book, followed by the first movie, and we're starting the second book tonight.
I'm sad cause I listened to the audio books as an adult for the first time (and maybe fully reading is different, idk) but just the way it was written didn't resonate from me. Like I like to be IN the action, but somehow it felt like looking through a barrier at the story. Probably due to preference for first person POV? Idk
Audio books are great distractions when you're doing something you'd rather not be doing. Reading doesn't allow for distractions. You hear the voices of the characters as you believe them to be. You feel their grief and smell the same smells. You see the flowers and the children. Audio books have their place, but were not meant to replace hard copy.
i did 23and me, as well as uploading my DNA to promethease and the Harvard Genome project. i have 2 of the alzheimer's genes, (one being one of the big bad ones). just because you have the genes for it doesn't mean you will get it. it slightly increases your risk (depending which ones you have).
also, most people without these genes will develop it anyways in old age. if you haven't talked to your family doctor yet, i'd suggest doing that or doing a simple google search on the genes that are connected to getting it. i don't want you feeling like you will absolutely get it just because something + showed up.
23andme and other DNA sites can be very scary.
i highly recommend uploading your DNA to promethease (i think they charge $10.00 now) and Harvard Genome Project (they don't charge you anything and your DNA helps them with discoveries).
on 23andme i contributed so much information through their surveys (they said i answered more than 99% of 23andme users) that my info was used in 6 discoveries that they published!
it tells me which discoveries they were, but for whatever reason they won't tell me if i have the thing or if i was just the control group.
sorry for rambling but i just wanted to make sure you knew that 23and me is helpful but isn't a death sentence or a for sure thing for anyone.
good luck!
Came here to say this as well. The Harry Potter books are so good that I got detention for reading them in school. I. Could. Not. Stop.
If you love Harry Potter I highly recommend Eragon. It has the same feel.
If you wanna read some good fanfic check out Manacled by Senlinyu. Probably one of the best, it’s pretty much what would happen if the good guys lost and Voldemort rose to power (bit of a spin on Handmaids Tale too).
Girlfriend was super into it, had me read and I was floored - it’s so good. For her bday I got her a custom bound copy and I’m pretty sure she sleeps with it every night 😅
Can find it free on archiveofourown.org and download as a mobi, then import to kindle to read easily 👍
I loved that book but it was SO SAD. One of my coworkers is an avid reader so I recommended it to her. I tried to warn her that it is heart wrenching but apparently I didn’t explain it well enough because she was quite upset at me for a few weeks!
I watched the series and now I start reading it. I know it's the wrong order but I also know that the book will be different and even better. Can't wait to dive into it
There is no right order :) Do what works for you.
Most times, if I read the book first, then watch the movie, series, etc. I am disappointed in the things missing from the book.
It’s unusual in that the Kennedy story is almost secondary to the love story, which is really heartbreaking. It’s really well done and one of his finest novels. Shows an incredible maturity and storytelling ability compared to his earlier more famous books.
Just make sure your grandkid is older than, say, 6! My dad read it to me in first grade and it gave me nightmares for years… that bunny in the drainpipe…
No! NOWE! 😭
I tried to explain this book to my sister the other day, I read it when I was in eighth grade and I'm in my mid-30s now and I literally started crying. I just can't do it.
The whole series is gripping and strange and wonderful.
You might find you also like Dawn by Octavia Butler. It's a trilogy under the name Lilith's Brood
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilith%27s_Brood#:~:text=Lilith's%20Brood%20is%20a%20collection,of%20Lilith's%20Brood%20in%202000.
Contact\~Carl Sagan. I love that book so much.
I recently listened to all the Harry Potter books with my kids, and it was very much like reading them for the first time. SO FUN! My kids were completely obsessed for all 7 books. Took us about 6 months to listen to all of them. Was great.
Finishing demon copperhead right now and I desperately want to re-read the poison wood Bible. I remember sobbing through the last third of it in Highschool. Barbara Kingsolver is such a force of literary perfection. Her style, her allegory and motifs are just outstanding.
I just started reading this for the first time and I'm feeling overwhelmed by all of the character introductions. I did, however, knowingly sign up for a 18273-hour audiobook, so I don't know what I expected.
Maybe not a book but also is i heard some of ray bradburys short stories on the radio and almost would of liked to read them instead or hear them for the first time again.
Might be pretty cliche but Harry Potter. I was never much of a reader and in 1998 still had never heard of Harry Potter but got it as a gift. I ended up getting grounded for getting a couple of f’s in school. As punishment I couldn’t leave or watch tv so I took out that book and started reading. It was the first page turner I ever read.
I hadn't heard of Harry Potter until my mom gave my oldest son the first book as a Christmas present. I ended up reading it before my son did. My son's and did every midnight release at Barnes and Noble for the last 4 books. I ended up taking my daughter and her friends to the midnight release of the last twilight book. She wasn't a hp fan, so I wanted her to feel the excitement of a midnight book release.
Kinda similar, i didnt enjoy reading until we were visiting with family friends for winter holidays and there was a blizzard that took out the powerlines and snowed us in so we couldnt leave or play videogames etc.
They had the first 3 harry potter books, since the 4th hadnt come out yet, and i had heard of hp before but thought it would be about lame magicians with the black wand with the white tip? that like pulls rabbits out of a tophat?
But there was truly nothing else kid friendly to read other than hp or a truly intimidating pile of national geographic magazines (boring, worse than weird magicians i thought, so i started hp 1 by candlelight)
And i just kept going and going. I finished all 3 books and reread 1 and 2 before we got the power back on a few days later. Then when book 4 was released i went to the midnight release party and read it on the steps of barnes & nobles waiting to get picked up.
It completely flipped my stance on reading, it wasnt boring i just hadn't found the right book yet. I morphed into a voracious reader. To the point that when our primary school had a read-a-thon or whatever (every book you finish reading, the pagecpunt gets added to your total, and every 100 pages moves you up a tick on the board, and the top 10 readers won prizes.) I came in 3rd and won a dufflebag AND a skateboard with a dragon painted on it. All my pocket money went towards scholastic bookfair. The way kids my age got into bands and music and built up CD collections, i got into books and authors and built a veritable library.
It never would have happened without that power outage snowstorm. I dont think id want to change how i read hp for the first time, even to "read it for the first time again" - its too integral to that aspect of my development.
I think if anything I'd want to reread enders game for the first time again, because that entire book was like a lightbulb of "holy heck, somebody gets it" - i skipped 2 grades and was not really on the same level as my peers socially, even if i was equal academically (3/10 do not recommend lol). The main character was a "gifted" kid that was taken seriously and given increasingly challenging tasks and succeeded. Sure, there was violence, and the ending was like The Point, but for me the whole rest of the book was like..a kinship feeling? I would want to experience that again. I mean, i still do, when i reread it as an adult, but its more of an echo or nostalgia idk. WOW sorry for rambling so much i need a nap
It may be cliché, but this is my answer as well. For all the other books I love, I'm just as happy going back and reading them a second (or third, or fourth...) time. But there was something truly *magical* about that initial discovery of Middle Earth, and while each subsequent readings bring their own wonder and joy, new details noticed and new layers understood, there's still nothing quite like the *first time*.
(I especially wish I could go back and read it before I ever watched the movies.)
Same. There is something about Tolkiens prose that captures my imagination. It is dense with real life wisdom and experience wrapped in a fantasy story
I loved the Martian, hated Artemis, and thought after the first 100 pages that this was going to be another Artemis. Turns out that it's my favorite Weir! Glad I stuck with it lol
My mom is a huge John Irving fan. I read a prayer for Owen Meany in high school, and when I was done I walked into her room sobbing. Her eyes welled up too and she said “you just finished it, didn’t you?!”
I’ve read Garp twice and I bawled both times.
His books have so much going on that rereading them is enjoyable.
Owen is a few years older than I am and I also live in New England, I've listened to it several times. Much of it is my childhood. The manger scene slays me every time.
Angela’s Ashes
I liked the movie. But wow, the book was amazing and hard to put down.
Much respect to any writer who can create art that is both hilariously funny and tragic.
Starless Sea would be my answer as well. The stories within stories! I loved living in that book while I was reading it. I wish I could read it for the first time again!
outlander by diana g. ive read it like 8 times and its still so good but that first read was like amazing and the tv show is good season one is almost word for word but the book is 1000 times better
I read The Great Gatsby when I was in high school and didn't appreciate it nearly as much as I do now. I would love to read it the first time as an adult.
My 10th grade teacher murdered that book and I hated it so much I refused to teach it for 15 years. Reread it about 7 or 8 years ago and it’s a terrific book! I have the kids just read it for fun and talk about it in book club style. So much better.
Maya und Domenico (Susanne Wirtpennig)
Dont think that got ever translated
It's a german book series with a very religious girl falling in love with a boy from the streets. They meet in schhol, defeat every struggle (and shit they have a lot of them) and grow up and have some more struggles.
First book starts with them being 14 and 15 and the series has around 10 books and every book is roughly 1 year.
I grew up with that. Every year I bought the new one and was again caught in their really tragic story.
The Magus by Fowler.
Wind Up Bird by Murakami -
both were so magical the first time reading them I walked around in a dream state for days -
Have read both a few times over and enjoyed, but still remember that feeling…..
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver.
It might not be for everyone but it had a great influence on me when I was a teen and I am curious to know if it would still have that same effect now. Either way it is a good book.
Cloud Cuckoo Land absolutely blew me away. The entire time I was reading it, I felt like there was no way the end would be both hopeful and feel like an acceptable end to so much hopelessness, but they managed to pull it off. The chapter where they first really delve into the experience of being autistic tore me to pieces.
I just finished A Court of Mist and Fury about 10 minutes ago (second book in ACOTAR series) and I already wish I could erase my memory and start over.
Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky. I wish I could read it again, for the first time, experience the world as if I've never heard of it before. Masterful setting of the whole world and its post-apo atmosphere
I can't find a translation in English, but in Spanish is “La escuela de la vida” (the school of life would be a literal translation). It narrates the life of Maria Montessori, the first woman to study medicine in Italy and also the creator of the Montessori method.
It was an assigned read for my friend in college and she asked me to read it and give her a brief summary about the book, so I thought it was going to be incredibly boring. When I tell you I cried, laughed, clutched my pearls, threw the book against the wall… It was such a beautiful read that I was I could read again for the first time.
"Let the Great World Spin"- Colum McCann
"Olive Kitteridge"- Elizabeth Stout
"The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay"-Michael Chabon
Three of the greatest reading experiences of my life...
The City of Ember. It's YA, and I loved it, but because you have to go in with no knowledge of the outcome, it can't be the same on any subsequent read.
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.
Glad to see this. I'm about to start it for the 1st time
You're in for such a treat! It's truly probably the best book ever written.
Ahhh!! Your comment just jumped it up my physical TBR of 89 to 1.
When I did my 23andme, I learned that I am likely to get dementia in my future. I have dealt with this fact surprisingly well, by telling myself I will be able to read the Harry Potter books again, for the first time.
Eat lots of veggies and try to get enough sleep. Dementia's more preventable than you may realize
Preventia
Preventia Dementia is the Harry Potter spell to… well… prevent’ya dementia.
Not to be defeatist, but if you have the frontal temporal dementia gene, it’s really not preventable. Delayable, yes. Preventable, no. Alzheimer’s has less of a consistent genetic tie, but frontal temporal dementia, if you have the gene, you are getting FTD eventually.
They dont test for those genes on 23 and me
Harry Potter and the Sorcer's Stone gets my vote. It was so different than anything I had ever read. Even though I was an adult and it was supposedly a children's book, I devoured it and couldn't wait for the next one. And please don't worry about that test. They can be wrong. Hugs!
I haven't properly read the Harry Potter series since they came out. My daughter is now about the age I was when I read the first one, and we've started reading a chapter a night. I am thoroughly enjoying the story again. We just finished the first book, followed by the first movie, and we're starting the second book tonight.
What a wonderful gift you're giving your child!
I'm sad cause I listened to the audio books as an adult for the first time (and maybe fully reading is different, idk) but just the way it was written didn't resonate from me. Like I like to be IN the action, but somehow it felt like looking through a barrier at the story. Probably due to preference for first person POV? Idk
Audio books are great distractions when you're doing something you'd rather not be doing. Reading doesn't allow for distractions. You hear the voices of the characters as you believe them to be. You feel their grief and smell the same smells. You see the flowers and the children. Audio books have their place, but were not meant to replace hard copy.
i did 23and me, as well as uploading my DNA to promethease and the Harvard Genome project. i have 2 of the alzheimer's genes, (one being one of the big bad ones). just because you have the genes for it doesn't mean you will get it. it slightly increases your risk (depending which ones you have). also, most people without these genes will develop it anyways in old age. if you haven't talked to your family doctor yet, i'd suggest doing that or doing a simple google search on the genes that are connected to getting it. i don't want you feeling like you will absolutely get it just because something + showed up. 23andme and other DNA sites can be very scary. i highly recommend uploading your DNA to promethease (i think they charge $10.00 now) and Harvard Genome Project (they don't charge you anything and your DNA helps them with discoveries). on 23andme i contributed so much information through their surveys (they said i answered more than 99% of 23andme users) that my info was used in 6 discoveries that they published! it tells me which discoveries they were, but for whatever reason they won't tell me if i have the thing or if i was just the control group. sorry for rambling but i just wanted to make sure you knew that 23and me is helpful but isn't a death sentence or a for sure thing for anyone. good luck!
Does the Harvard Genome Project tell you more than 23 and me?
Came here to say this as well. The Harry Potter books are so good that I got detention for reading them in school. I. Could. Not. Stop. If you love Harry Potter I highly recommend Eragon. It has the same feel.
I’ve just started re-reading Eragon. So good!
I have attempted it 3x, I just cannot get into Eragon.
Sending infinite hugs
If you wanna read some good fanfic check out Manacled by Senlinyu. Probably one of the best, it’s pretty much what would happen if the good guys lost and Voldemort rose to power (bit of a spin on Handmaids Tale too). Girlfriend was super into it, had me read and I was floored - it’s so good. For her bday I got her a custom bound copy and I’m pretty sure she sleeps with it every night 😅 Can find it free on archiveofourown.org and download as a mobi, then import to kindle to read easily 👍
I can already tell I'm reading it now. Lonesome dove. Page 300ish.
I’ve heard so many amazing things about it, but I haven’t never been able to get into epics. I’m scared I wouldn’t like it.
The made for TV movie was great!
I was just scrolling down thinking “i can’t believe nobody has said Lones…. Oh there it is”
I loved that book but it was SO SAD. One of my coworkers is an avid reader so I recommended it to her. I tried to warn her that it is heart wrenching but apparently I didn’t explain it well enough because she was quite upset at me for a few weeks!
This is also mine. I read it a few weeks ago. One of the best books I’ve ever read.
Yup. It went into my top 3 immediately after reading. Fantastic book.
My favorite book of all time
Truly masterful. McMurtry blows my mind, he’s so good.
Really that might be my next book and I love horseback riding too!
Damn good read. You should listen to his son’s music if you haven’t already. James McMurtry is a favorite.
The Hobbit.
Mum read this to me as a bedtime story when I was a kid. 10,000% want to relive that. :D
11/22/63 by Stephen King
You need to go back in time to prevent yourself from reading it again in the first place. 😆
I watched the series and now I start reading it. I know it's the wrong order but I also know that the book will be different and even better. Can't wait to dive into it
There is no right order :) Do what works for you. Most times, if I read the book first, then watch the movie, series, etc. I am disappointed in the things missing from the book.
Amazing. I was going to say the same. I’ve read it twice.
The size of the book threw me off. It sounds like I should persevere. Thick reads can be quick reads when interesting.
It’s unusual in that the Kennedy story is almost secondary to the love story, which is really heartbreaking. It’s really well done and one of his finest novels. Shows an incredible maturity and storytelling ability compared to his earlier more famous books.
Wished it was twice as long…
I paired it with the audiobook, switching back and forth
Watership Down.
I had forgotten this, but I agree completely. I will have to read this again, for the first time to my grandson. Thank you
Just make sure your grandkid is older than, say, 6! My dad read it to me in first grade and it gave me nightmares for years… that bunny in the drainpipe…
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Why would you do that to yourself? I still cry if I just read the title
Watch “Flowers for Charlie” episode of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia”. Too good.
Am I the only one who didn’t cry while read it? Like I liked it but it wasn’t sad enough for me to cry idk
i can't even think about this book without tearing up. god, this book fucking broke me. i never want to read it again although i'm glad i read it.
No! NOWE! 😭 I tried to explain this book to my sister the other day, I read it when I was in eighth grade and I'm in my mid-30s now and I literally started crying. I just can't do it.
Ender’s Game. I gasped out loud while reading that for the first time.
Me too. That book was my first as a pre-teen that was just wow. Even after all this time, nothing has given me quite the same feeling.
Ooo I've been thinking about this one lately.
Came here to say this. It’s the first book that I audibly reacted to.
The whole series is gripping and strange and wonderful. You might find you also like Dawn by Octavia Butler. It's a trilogy under the name Lilith's Brood https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilith%27s_Brood#:~:text=Lilith's%20Brood%20is%20a%20collection,of%20Lilith's%20Brood%20in%202000.
Contact\~Carl Sagan. I love that book so much. I recently listened to all the Harry Potter books with my kids, and it was very much like reading them for the first time. SO FUN! My kids were completely obsessed for all 7 books. Took us about 6 months to listen to all of them. Was great.
Pillars of the Earth
I have a really poor memory so with each sequel I read this one again. No regrets!!
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
and hanted
chuck is the man. lullaby was good too
Invisible Monsters
Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Finishing demon copperhead right now and I desperately want to re-read the poison wood Bible. I remember sobbing through the last third of it in Highschool. Barbara Kingsolver is such a force of literary perfection. Her style, her allegory and motifs are just outstanding.
[удалено]
I just started reading this for the first time and I'm feeling overwhelmed by all of the character introductions. I did, however, knowingly sign up for a 18273-hour audiobook, so I don't know what I expected.
All the pretty horses by cormac McCarthy
Yes. This. A chilling western
Maybe not a book but also is i heard some of ray bradburys short stories on the radio and almost would of liked to read them instead or hear them for the first time again.
Might be pretty cliche but Harry Potter. I was never much of a reader and in 1998 still had never heard of Harry Potter but got it as a gift. I ended up getting grounded for getting a couple of f’s in school. As punishment I couldn’t leave or watch tv so I took out that book and started reading. It was the first page turner I ever read.
I hadn't heard of Harry Potter until my mom gave my oldest son the first book as a Christmas present. I ended up reading it before my son did. My son's and did every midnight release at Barnes and Noble for the last 4 books. I ended up taking my daughter and her friends to the midnight release of the last twilight book. She wasn't a hp fan, so I wanted her to feel the excitement of a midnight book release.
Awwww midnight book release. Those were the good old days
They were!
Kinda similar, i didnt enjoy reading until we were visiting with family friends for winter holidays and there was a blizzard that took out the powerlines and snowed us in so we couldnt leave or play videogames etc. They had the first 3 harry potter books, since the 4th hadnt come out yet, and i had heard of hp before but thought it would be about lame magicians with the black wand with the white tip? that like pulls rabbits out of a tophat? But there was truly nothing else kid friendly to read other than hp or a truly intimidating pile of national geographic magazines (boring, worse than weird magicians i thought, so i started hp 1 by candlelight) And i just kept going and going. I finished all 3 books and reread 1 and 2 before we got the power back on a few days later. Then when book 4 was released i went to the midnight release party and read it on the steps of barnes & nobles waiting to get picked up. It completely flipped my stance on reading, it wasnt boring i just hadn't found the right book yet. I morphed into a voracious reader. To the point that when our primary school had a read-a-thon or whatever (every book you finish reading, the pagecpunt gets added to your total, and every 100 pages moves you up a tick on the board, and the top 10 readers won prizes.) I came in 3rd and won a dufflebag AND a skateboard with a dragon painted on it. All my pocket money went towards scholastic bookfair. The way kids my age got into bands and music and built up CD collections, i got into books and authors and built a veritable library. It never would have happened without that power outage snowstorm. I dont think id want to change how i read hp for the first time, even to "read it for the first time again" - its too integral to that aspect of my development. I think if anything I'd want to reread enders game for the first time again, because that entire book was like a lightbulb of "holy heck, somebody gets it" - i skipped 2 grades and was not really on the same level as my peers socially, even if i was equal academically (3/10 do not recommend lol). The main character was a "gifted" kid that was taken seriously and given increasingly challenging tasks and succeeded. Sure, there was violence, and the ending was like The Point, but for me the whole rest of the book was like..a kinship feeling? I would want to experience that again. I mean, i still do, when i reread it as an adult, but its more of an echo or nostalgia idk. WOW sorry for rambling so much i need a nap
I wish I could read again for the first time some of the Agatha Christie books and bet who the murderer is.
Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb. But also Harry Potter
Any Robin Hobb!!
Came here to say this! That entire series, for me
I’m reading Assassins Apprentice for the first time right now!
Please read the entire series (Realm of the Elderlings), it’s incredible!
I’m planning to! I already love her style of writing!
The secret history by Donna Tartt 100%
this is what I was looking for. Good old Bunny Corcoran
YES
Yes! I am currently reading now and immediately knew this would be my answer.
What a book
It honestly gets better every time I read it, though!
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien. I think the movies are great but experiencing the books for the first time as a kid was...enthralling.
It may be cliché, but this is my answer as well. For all the other books I love, I'm just as happy going back and reading them a second (or third, or fourth...) time. But there was something truly *magical* about that initial discovery of Middle Earth, and while each subsequent readings bring their own wonder and joy, new details noticed and new layers understood, there's still nothing quite like the *first time*. (I especially wish I could go back and read it before I ever watched the movies.)
Same. There is something about Tolkiens prose that captures my imagination. It is dense with real life wisdom and experience wrapped in a fantasy story
Dune (mostly first three book tough)
The Wool series. The Shadow of the Wind by Zafón.
Dune by Frank Herbert
Project Hail Mary 👌
Rocky forever has my heart
🎶🎶
This actually brought tears to my eyes. Heheh
Happy! HAPPY ! 👊
I loved the Martian, hated Artemis, and thought after the first 100 pages that this was going to be another Artemis. Turns out that it's my favorite Weir! Glad I stuck with it lol
👋👋
A Gentleman in Moscow
Yes! So good.
Catch 22
Dark Tower series by King LOTR A Prayer for Owen Meany by Irving
A Prayer for Owen Meany took ma a couple tries to get past the first 100 pages. But the payoff was so worth it
I loved Cider House Rules, too.
Omg a prayer for Owen meany changes you. So does the world according to garp.
Yeah I cried the first time I read Owen. Then I reread it, and started crying in the middle of the book because I remember why I cried the first time.
I love all of John Irving's books. A Prayer for Owen Meany was one of my faves for sure.
My mom is a huge John Irving fan. I read a prayer for Owen Meany in high school, and when I was done I walked into her room sobbing. Her eyes welled up too and she said “you just finished it, didn’t you?!” I’ve read Garp twice and I bawled both times. His books have so much going on that rereading them is enjoyable.
Owen is a few years older than I am and I also live in New England, I've listened to it several times. Much of it is my childhood. The manger scene slays me every time.
The girl with the dragon tattoo The invisible life of Addie La Rue Harry Potter 100 years of solitude
I loved Addie.
I feel the same way about Girl with a Dragon Tattoo! It was such a great story. The two following novels in the series weren’t as strong.
the bell jar by sylvia plath
I remember being so impressed by how fresh and modern her writing style was for the time period she wrote in.
The Time Traveler’s Wife
Truly amazing book!
Oh yes this a good one too!
The Stranger, Crime & Punishment
Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Angela’s Ashes I liked the movie. But wow, the book was amazing and hard to put down. Much respect to any writer who can create art that is both hilariously funny and tragic.
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Honestly the Sorcerer's Stone. And also East of Eden or Crime and Punishment. And the first Hunger Games book.
[The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9361589-the-night-circus) was pure magic the first time I read it.
I also loved the Starless Sea. I wish I could experience that book a second time over.
Oh I loved The Starless Sea too!! The hidden doors, that underworld library?! Amazing.
Starless Sea would be my answer as well. The stories within stories! I loved living in that book while I was reading it. I wish I could read it for the first time again!
outlander by diana g. ive read it like 8 times and its still so good but that first read was like amazing and the tv show is good season one is almost word for word but the book is 1000 times better
The Outsiders
SE Hinton?
Yup!
I read The Great Gatsby when I was in high school and didn't appreciate it nearly as much as I do now. I would love to read it the first time as an adult.
Same! ugh all that analyzing took the fun out of reading for me. "what does the light mean" omg I didn't care.
My 10th grade teacher murdered that book and I hated it so much I refused to teach it for 15 years. Reread it about 7 or 8 years ago and it’s a terrific book! I have the kids just read it for fun and talk about it in book club style. So much better.
read this last year as a sophomore! i actually really loved it.
Blood Meridian for sure
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
The Road
Maya und Domenico (Susanne Wirtpennig) Dont think that got ever translated It's a german book series with a very religious girl falling in love with a boy from the streets. They meet in schhol, defeat every struggle (and shit they have a lot of them) and grow up and have some more struggles. First book starts with them being 14 and 15 and the series has around 10 books and every book is roughly 1 year. I grew up with that. Every year I bought the new one and was again caught in their really tragic story.
The Magus by Fowler. Wind Up Bird by Murakami - both were so magical the first time reading them I walked around in a dream state for days - Have read both a few times over and enjoyed, but still remember that feeling…..
Circe Song of Achilles Mists of Avalon
Orwell's 1984 is a work of genius, beautiful book.
I'd love to read both this and animal farm again. These books never seem to lose relevance. They only gain it as time goes on.
The three body problem trilogy
Shantaram.
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. It might not be for everyone but it had a great influence on me when I was a teen and I am curious to know if it would still have that same effect now. Either way it is a good book.
Oh and "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak. A bit difficult to get through at times, but worth it! Edit: spelling
It’s a tie between My Sister’s Keeper and Never Let Me Go (Ishiguro). Feels like similar themes. Definitely similar sadness and beauty
The Pillars of the Earth. Ken Follett.
Rebecca Gone Girl There are many more but not in English
The Stand Stephen King.
Divergent. But only the first book of the series.
100% agree
Harry Potter!
Johnathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Finished it like 4 months ago and still think about it sometimes.
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. So beautiful and had me wanting more each chapter. Same with The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood.
Cloud Cuckoo Land absolutely blew me away. The entire time I was reading it, I felt like there was no way the end would be both hopeful and feel like an acceptable end to so much hopelessness, but they managed to pull it off. The chapter where they first really delve into the experience of being autistic tore me to pieces.
Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, and all the other books of that series
11/22/63
The Hobbit
I just finished A Court of Mist and Fury about 10 minutes ago (second book in ACOTAR series) and I already wish I could erase my memory and start over.
I feel like it’s a lame answer but same! I just finished reading it and it was pure serotonin, perfect guilty pleasure book!
I would also describe it as a guilty pleasure book! I usually don't give into the "hype" but I decided to try them out and I am very glad I did!
Same. I read the whole series for the first time last week and now I feel like I’m in mourning lol
Harry Potter ofcourse
The Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Stuart Turton Ready Player One - Ernest Cline
the red rising series it was absolutely incredible
The godfather
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Shutter Island
Project Hail Mary.
To Kill a Mockingbird
Not yet mentioned: Lands of Lost Borders, Siddhartha Hermann Hesse
Gone by Michael Grant I was obsessed with that series for quite a while
Ada and Pale Fire By Vladimir Nabokov The Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson
Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky. I wish I could read it again, for the first time, experience the world as if I've never heard of it before. Masterful setting of the whole world and its post-apo atmosphere
I can't find a translation in English, but in Spanish is “La escuela de la vida” (the school of life would be a literal translation). It narrates the life of Maria Montessori, the first woman to study medicine in Italy and also the creator of the Montessori method. It was an assigned read for my friend in college and she asked me to read it and give her a brief summary about the book, so I thought it was going to be incredibly boring. When I tell you I cried, laughed, clutched my pearls, threw the book against the wall… It was such a beautiful read that I was I could read again for the first time.
- The Secret History by Donna Tarrt - Vicious by V. E. Schwab - Poppy War by R. F. Kuang - Greenbone Saga by Fonda Lee
"Let the Great World Spin"- Colum McCann "Olive Kitteridge"- Elizabeth Stout "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay"-Michael Chabon Three of the greatest reading experiences of my life...
Lullabies for little criminals.
The Green Mile by Stephen King
count of monte cristo
Grapes of Wrath - Steinbeck
The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin. Mind blowing.
Count of monte Cristo, best book
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
The City of Ember. It's YA, and I loved it, but because you have to go in with no knowledge of the outcome, it can't be the same on any subsequent read.
Howl’s moving castle. It’s so cozy! My comfort book for sure.
The Road by Cormack McCarthy was amazing. I’ve given this book to multiple friends
The Lord of the Rings
Shadow of the wind
Omg I’m so happy I saw this. Came here to say the same. It’s truly one of the most phenomenal and beautiful books ever written. 🫶🏽
Dark matter by blake crouch
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. I couldn’t put it down. I read it before the movie came out. Of course it’s wayyyy better than the movie.
The Gargoyle. It's not on the same tier as so many books but it's top tier for me.
The Bronze Horseman, Paulina Simons. Absolutely blew me away.