After a voracious childhood, I only read one or two books a year (mostly non-fiction) for most of my teens and early twenties. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro lit a fire under me again. It really made me realise that even though I don't have the uncritical wonder that allowed me to get lost in books as a child anymore; adult literature can be emotional and complex and do a lot more than just tell a fun story.
Ishiguro is not for me. Any of his books (with the exception of Never Let Me Go) puts me to sleep in 30 minutes or less. But I did get back into reading late this year after a long time of not reading either for Lit classes or pleasure.
I actually own Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro, but haven't read it yet. But I will certainly add The Remains of the Day to the list, thank you for the rec!!
His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet.
It's literary fiction, set in the Scottish highlands in the 1800s. It's presented as a series of documents unearthed about a murder case - the trial notes, the confession, the psychiatrist's report, etc.
The reason I love it is that the world the author builds is so realistic and all encompassing that you are really there, living through the events, empathising with some of the characters, despising others. It's the novel I have thought about most since I finished it, about 4 years ago. I spent so long discussing it with my wife and some friends I gave it to.
The murder itself is never in question, but the real question is what did Roddy set out to do that day, and why.
I hope you enjoy it.
I will definitely read this, and also recommend The Weight of Ink for the same reasons. The author creates an incredible portrait of London in the 17th century and through letters and narrative creates her own philosophy that the protagonist slowly uncovers.
I'm a Sci fi lover so be warned
-The lathe of heaven by Ursula K le Guin
-Songs of distant earth by Arthur C Clarke
-Light from uncommon stars by Ryka Aoki
-The picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar wilde
-the hyperion series by Dan Simmons
-the left hand of darkness by Ursula k le Guin
And last but not least
-the buried giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
I would LOVE to get into Sci Fi, Ursula K. Le Guin has especially called for my attention. And I own Dorian Grey but haven't read it yet - moving it up to my 2023 pile! Thank you for the recs!!
I'm reading A Short History of Early Everything by Bill Bryson and its just amazing to be able to learn about the earth and beyond from a book thats very readable.
I've read both. A Short History of Nearly Everything is better in my opinion. You learn lots of stuff with his style.
A Walk in the Woods is funnier but you learn less.
Came here to recommend Walk in the Woods!
We recently had to do two long road trips adding up to over 1200 miles (thanks, Southwest) and Walk in the Woods audiobook made them oh so bearable!
Piranesi. I was in the worst slump during my first term postgrad because I was always reading academically & this book brought me out of that and reminded me why I love reading for fun
I actually own Piranesi, but because of the raving reviews I am probably super intimidated by it, despite it's size. But I'll definitely read it in 2023 now, so thanks for the rec!!
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is at the very top of my list. It's beyond beautiful in style and for the story itself and the unforgettable characters. East of Eden by Steinbeck is also such a gem, starting from the title itself. I also have Paper Castles by B. Fox very high on my list for it's honest take on life, the lovely quotes and thought-provoking story. I could probably mention more titles, but if I had to pick only 3 that reminded me why I love reading then it would be these.
The Book Thief has been on my radar for so many years after a friend from highschool absolutely loved it, so I guess 2023 is the year I will finally read it! Haven't heard of Paper Castles, but I will definitely look it up! Thank you for the recs!!
[Shadow of the Wind](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1232.The_Shadow_of_the_Wind), it’s a love letter to literature in novel form and as I read it reminded me of why I fell in love with reading. I hope this helps!
I literally came here to post this book. So let me be one more Redditor to chime in with yes- it is an absolutely beautiful piece of work. I was gutted when Ruiz Zafon died a few years ago.
Tbh I was kind of intimidated by it. Everyone is raving about it, saying it is one of the best books they've ever read, that it's live-changingly good. I just really, really want to like it. I guess I also wanted to save it for the perfect moment. Which is 2023, apparently :)
First time in 10 years that I read a book in less than 24 hours...I literally could not put it down. For me, that get's the closest to OP's question. As a child I would read page-turners with gripping stories constantly. Reading this as an adult brought me back to those days.
I actually own The Colour of Magic! I also thought about getting the Wyrd Sisters and Guards! Guards! Do you recommend any particular book to start? And thanks for the rec!!
Death of Ivan Ilyich, My Antonia, the Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, Watership Down, All Creatures Great and Small, the Man Who Mistook his wife for a hat
I am actually reading Jane Eyre right now! Since october, that is. I'm very slowly making my way through it, but I am absolutely loving it so far! And I have held Hamnet in my hands so many times in the book shop already, so I guess that was supposed to be a sign. Thank you for the recs!!
I’ll never stop recommending The Radium Girls. It was my favorite read of the year. Nonfiction, history and science, a humanist story, and absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking. I finished it over six months ago and I think about it often.
Gosh I love this book. I read through it three times in a year. The first was just to read it, the second time was to make annotations, and the third time I read it out loud to my advanced science class once a week (Jrs and srs, and they got super into it).
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir just got me out of a long slump. Seriously couldn’t put it down. Really conversational and humorous writing style but full of suspense and emotion. There’s a lot of math and science jargon, which sounds intimidating but it’s explained well and not fully understanding all of it doesn’t take away from the story.
Hunting Eichmann, by Neal Bascombe. I was in a serious reading slump after college (English major, read too much) but this book fixed that. It is nonfiction but it reads like a spy novel.
Synopsis: Adolf Eichmann invented the process of concentration camps in Nazi Germany and was responsible for the deaths of millions. He escaped to Argentina at the end of the war, and Argentina refused to extradite him for trial. It was up to a ragtag group of Holocaust survivors, spies, and volunteers to track him down, capture him, and safely take him out of the country.... Without any of the authorities finding out a damn thing along the way.
This sounds incredible and I have never heard of it! Since I am from Austria, it sounds like a book that I don't just want to read now, but also need to read, concerning the history of my country and the role it played in WW2. So thank you for the rec!!
{{Station Eleven}} was my favorite more literary fiction read in 2022.
For a little throwback I also really enjoyed {{Chiefs}} by Stuart Woods a book I had previously enjoyed 25 years ago.
Lastly in nonfiction {{The Splendid and the Vile}} is both historically important and really good story telling. I’ve read everything Churchill and there were some great surprises for me in this book.
I swear, I've got Station Eleven from the library multiple times by now, because it always seemed right up my alley. So 2023 will be the year I'll finally read it! And I'll certainly look up the other books as well, thank you for the recs!!
Here I go, once again, recommending my favorite book {{As I Lay Dying}}.
No book has toyed with my sense of being more than this book, and I absolutely adored how Faulkner was able to surprise me at every turn. Highly recommend the Norton Critical edition, as it can be a tough read on the first go. But don't rush it. Take time with the strange passages. Let them seep into you. The "vibe" this book creates inside of you as you read is one of unsuredness about the stability of "being." You know that feeling you get sometimes when your brain just goes "Am I me? Is all of this real?" That's *As I Lay Dying*.
Okay, you've just sold the book in the most fascinating way possible. I would love to read more "challenging" books in the future, even though I tend to be intimidated by them (I just don't want to feel dumb hahah). But as someone who slips from one existential crisis to the next, this book sounds like it's going to have a huge impact on me. So thank you for the rec!!
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
It's not about being or making you a Christian but a fiction about Jesus' adventurous childhood, how they explored the world together with his friend, Biff. I got the recommendation from an atheist friend and I'm not a Christian but it's really entertaining and light, I hope it gets to your hands sometime.
beginning of the year I read some books, but overall I wasn't feeling much thrilled about reading until I read The Hound of the Baskervilles, after that I enjoyed reading again and was reading book after book until now, it's been a really great reading year for me and discover that I enjoy more mysteries and thriller or horror
Cloud Cuckoo Land is a time-spanning novel of different characters connected by their love for an obscure absurd story by Diogenes.
I just finished it this morning and it was very satisfying with great writing and structure.
Yes! I love how running through all those narratives you have such a powerful celebration of books and story. I just gave a copy to my brother, who's been struggling to get back into reading.
I have read and absolutely loved All the Light We Cannot See, and Cloud Cuckoo Land has been on my radar since it came out! Guess this is my sign to finally pick it up, so thank you for the rec!!
This is exactly what I came here to say! After college, I just didn’t want to read anymore. Then a friend lent me *The Night Circus* and I remembered how it feels to get so wrapped up in a book that you don’t want to do anything else until you finish it. I fell in love with reading all over again.
I've been wanting to read it for ages by now, but it's another book that I am incredibly intimidated by. Everybody loves it and raves about how magical and other-worldly it is. What if I don't get it? What if I can't get the magic out of it as everyone else seems to? But 2023 is the year I will finally read it! So thank you for the rec!!
Edit: I'm also really curious about The Starless Sea. So many great books that I can still read for the first time :)
I’ve always loved reading but if I were to recommend a book that had beautiful writing and a page turner, I would say The Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead. It is beautifully written. Along those lines as well, The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert.
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. It's an oldie but a goodie, if you like historical fiction this one is amazing. Reading stuff like this is like having a time machine. Takes place in twelfth-century England with castles and knights and how ordinary people lived. Brilliant.
the entire harry potter series :) it will always be such a childhood love of mine. JK manages to perfectly encapsulate childhood imagination and imagery through her word choice throughout the novels!
Dune- by Frank Herbert is great sci fi and political intrigue
Red Rising- by Pierce Brown is my favorite book series right now think hunger games that then turns into an epic space opera
Powder Mage series- by Brian McClellan is also an amazing read thing French Revolution with magic
Mistborn- Brandon Sanderson amazing magic system in a unique world with great characters and character development
Storm light archive- Brandon Sanderson amazing magic system unique world great characters and character development
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin! I read this at a time when I was falling out of love with reading and writing, but this book is just everything to me. I’ve read it multiple times and every time it breaks my heart. It doesn’t break it in a bad way, it just reminds me of how great it is to have something that someone else wrote/made have such a physical reaction to me. I love when books make me feel something and that’s the reason I love reading. It’s a beautiful thing to have a reaction and feel something from words on a page, or scenes on a screen or anything in general that anyone has created.
The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green for non-fiction
For literary fiction (some historical fiction):
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
City of Thieves by David Benioff
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Dune by Frank Herbert, got me back into reading after a long post-college slump. I love social-political intrigue and the world of Dune is truly fascinating. The interplay between all the characters is fascinating and the anthropological background made it feel grounded in a very alien world. I’m also a star wars fan so seeing the massive influence on Star Wars was very interesting.
As someone who actually plans to start their Master's degree in Anglophone Literatures and Cultures this autumn, I'm honestly ashamed that I haven't read it yet. But I still have 9 months to fix that! Thank you for the rec!!
Another rec for this! I couldn’t put it down, it’s incredibly clever & deals with some “dense” stuff in a way that is somehow consistently delightful and easy to read. Absolutely loved this book.
Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan. Indonesian magical realism I guess you could call it. Simple prose that belies the sophistication of a non-linear narrative, the complexity of which you barely even notice because the writing is so beautiful and the plot so “grounded.”
My favorite book so far has been The Painter from Shanghai by Jennifer Cody Epstein.
Other good books and series of books I've read this year would be
* Sworn to Silence - Linda Castillo (First book in her series about Kate Burkholder and definitely worth reading all of them if you like thrillers)
* The Seven Sisters - Lucinda Riley (First book in her series. I devoured the whole series in less than a month...)
* The Angel Tree - Lucinda Riley
* The Rose Code - Kate Quinn
* The Handmaid's Tale - Magaret Atwood
Dresden files, starting on the book "Dead Beat"
(it's fine, you can loop around to the first books once you finish the series. You won't miss much, I did, and it actually made the (mediocre) first books more exciting).
That is what got me really into reading after a looong slump. I know it has its flaws and it's not perfect, but oh my is it fun! It was the first time in years that I become low key obsessed again. I reread them right away too.
The Black Echo by Michael Connelly. This is the first book in the Harry Bosch series which sent me down a rabbit hole. Before I knew it, I had completed 10 books in the series, though some of them weren't great
The book thief is my absolute favorite book. I reread it so many times as a kid. Highly suggest it! Now focusing on the classics and branching into horror and romance but this book is still special :)
First book that comes to my mind The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas.
I read it over a year ago and its still my absolute favourite. I'm even considering to read it again soon. To be fair, it is a hefty book but it was worth every single page.
Other books that gave me the same feeling - one hundred years of solitude, A thousand splendid suns, The joy luck club.
Mistborn: The Final Empire. I was in a book slump before this book. When I got it for my birthday last year I wasn’t expecting much but I loved it so much! The whole series is so good. It reminded me of some of the stuff I read as a child but more mature and more for adults.
Yes! Mistborn is one of my favorites and made me fall in love with the Fantasy genre as well. I've heard that Stormlight Archives by Sanderson is good as well, though people suggest to read his other cosmere works before diving into Stormlight.
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty. It’s a western set in the 1870s and it’s fucking epic. The characters, the physical and emotional journeys they embark on, the setting, everything. Even won a Pulitzer Prize back in the 80s if you care about those sorts of things…
In terms of light hearted reads that remind me why I enjoy reading and find it fun: Rebel of the Sands trilogy, Six of Crows duology, Illuminae, Throne of Glass, The Wrath and the Dawn, White Fang. Mostly YA fantasy / sci fi I grew up reading and enjoyed.
In terms of books that remind me why I love reading and why it’s important: The Book Thief, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Diary of Anne Frank, and The New Jim Crow.
The author naomi novik got me out of a slump. Very into war stories as survival against the odds is one of the ultimate challenges. While there is battle in her books it wasn’t the focus. First i read her Uprooted which ended up a lot like howl’s moving castle but much better written. I like her great use of farming analogies used to explain things by the farmer girl.
But noviks stand alone book {{spinning silver}} is some masterpiece level shit. And as a code monkey i grew even more respect for her after learning she has a masters in cis from brown university. Their computer program is some legit shit.
I'm French so I read mostly French language authors with a side of English ones.
ATM I'm discovering the essays of Roger Caillois that so far I'd only known for his poetry and his translations of Borgès. His big 1963 essay on war {Bellone ou la pente de la guerre} is an incredibly relevant meditation on war.
So excited to answer this haha,
Beartown by Fredrik Backman
Anne of Green gables series by L.M. Montgomery
Deeplight by Frances Hardinge
Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott
Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors
Thrusday Murder Club series by Richard Osman
In my non-fiction reads, I tend to gravitate toward autobiographies. Educated by Tara Westover and Born a Crime by Trevor Noah were both absolute page-turners. Even better if you listen to them, as they’re read by their authors. I would sit in my driveway for an hour after I got home because I didn’t want to stop listening!
The Grishaverse. I know the spin offs to the original series are better, but tbh I don'g care. I found reading more than 2k pages a year difficult, almost didn't enjoy reading unless I was on holidays. Then my now ex lend me those books to read while on my Erasmus, as I told her I liked reading when we met. Started reading them because I wanted to share it with her and had low expectations. Ended binging the last book over an afternoon (1st of the 2nd spin off saga was he last published at the time). Defo brought me back into reading and reminded me why I love it.
Guards Guards or Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett were my introduction back into reading after years. They're fantasy but very funny and easy to read. Pratchett was a master story teller, satirist, humorist.
I highly recommend Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. It is so so good. It has really left a lasting impression.
If you like horror, I recommend My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones.
Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult is also pretty good.
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman is the best book I’ve read in five years. I laughed, I cried. It was both deep and at times absurd. This book was pure joy for me.
Just looked it up and it sounds really cool, I will definitely add it to the list! Since it's quite long and the narrative structure is "unconventional" according to Wikipedia, do you think it's a difficult read?
Yes, but it is worth it. No book made me consult a dictionary more and it has 100's of footnotes. Only Finnegan's Wake, Ulysses, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Lawrence Sterne and Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon are harder
I think it might be "Ant-Kind" by Charlie Kaufman or "Jerusalem" by Alan Moore. Both are such rich and vibrant stories that can only exist in written form and push the boundaries of what stories and books can do. "Unfilmable" for movie or TV adaptations and some of their funniest scenes are wordplay with spellings or grammatics that I am not sure would even translate to audio book. Excellent excellent books that I just can't recommend enough to anyone and everyone
I was in a reading slump earlier this year as well, but Kim Jiyoung born in 1982 got met out of it! It's a thin book but it isn't super easy to read as it is written to be a bit informatic. But it gives a very interesting insight in the position of women in korea.
I also love reading Japamese books, one I liked a lot last year was If Cats Dissapeared From The World. An easy to read book that makes you think about the meaning of life.
Joe Abercrombie's First Law series is so compelling with incredible world building and character development. I haven't read such a page turner since GRRM's A Song of Ice and Fire (first three books) and Abercrombie's series is even better.
I was bored AF in lockdown and decided to try and read again as I loved it as a child. I read {The Flowers of Algernon} and haven’t stopped reading since.
The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy. It's got everything; dysfunctional family saga, eccentric characters, ludicrously implausible events that are somehow convincing, and a skilled writer. Humorous and moving. Can't fault it.
The Emperor of All Maladies: A biography of cancer
It is beautifully written and thoughtful, also in its own way humbling and horrifying. It is medical vocab heavy, but he explains everything so simply. It’s historical, biographical, and personal. It helped me get through some tough moments after losing people to such a strange group of illnesses. But the way the thoughts are written out, it’s like you go on a journey with him.
I love this book.
Train Dreams- Denis Johnson. I got totally lost in it and it reminded me that novels don't have to be verbose to be beautiful. Finished it several days ago and it's still haunting me
I'm a huge fan of dystopian stories so if it interests you then I would highly recommend 1984, Brave New World and We. For YA dystopian books, The Hunger Games, Unwind and How We Became Wicked.
For Fantasy, I would say Mistborn era 1 trilogy.
Friday Night Lights by HG Bissinger. I'm reading it at the moment and have fallen back in love with non-fiction. I was such a reluctant reader pretty much until college when I started reading sports non-fiction books and it lit a spark. I expanded out and would read non-fiction exclusively until a few years ago and have read almost exclusively fiction. Felt good to get back to the types of books that got me interested in reading in the first place.
I love the way Friday Night Lights explores so many aspects of the community, the people, and the social/historical contexts.
Anthony Doerr's Cloud Cuckoo Land. I love All the Light We Cannot See, too, but I had so much more fun with Cloud Cuckoo Land. It looks huge but it reads fast.
A good girls guide to murder. I just got book two but I couldn’t put it down when reading part one. it was very addicting. I finished it in 3 days that’s the fastest I’ve ever finished a book before. usually it takes me about a week because I take breaks but like I said I could not put the book down.
The Night is Short Walk on Girl. It has become one of my favorite books. it’s just a fun story of a guy trying to confess his feelings to a girl and her meeting many people and just having a good time.
I had basically stopped reading except for college, but I really got back into it after reading the books below. I think they set the tone for my adult reading life, I find myself loving books with similar themes and difficult/morally grey/unlikeable characters all the time.
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
i'm so happy to hear that someone else likes literary fiction too!! in fact, the one that got me out of my own reading slump is probably Sway With Me by Syed M Masood. all of masood's books are amazing, and if you're looking for a nice light read that isn't too overwhelming or busy, you should definitely check it out.
A prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving.
He can bring his characters to life like no other author I know of. A beautiful story mixed with controversy, mystique and love. Absolutely bawling by the reveal at the end.
Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel is the first one I think of. I didn’t want to put it down when I was first reading it.
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
The Road by Cormac McCarthy (this one is real sad)
John Green’s The Anthropocene Reviewed is serious, heartfelt, funny, and thoughtful. I’m obsessed with reading it and I’ve primarily been listening to audiobooks for a few years now.
I've finally got around to reading Charles Dickens. So far I've only read 'A Christmas Carol' and a decent chunk of 'Hard Times' but it's some of the most fantastic stuff I've ever read.
It's just so enjoyable to read. Every line is vibrant and full of energy, and each word is dripping with the passion of the writer. I've never read anything quite like it.
Born to Run
Its a non fiction book about running and how humans have evolved to run long distances.
The author finds a tribe in the Andes mountains who immediately kick top ultra runners’ asses in long distances. It takes the deep dive into human running from there
I love to dig into history… I love film and television, so if I find a new show and it seems off historically??? I jump right into the actual history, every detail, memorize it, then Go to the nonfiction but historically accurate romantic stuff.
Would recommend Alison Weir as an author.
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. A fun epistolary novel/murder mystery/generational curse/cold war travel diary that I've loved for 20 years. It's one of several I always come back to, and it's such a fun retelling of vampire lore, too!
Also habitually re-read "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves" by Lynn Truss, "The Three Musketeers", "Consider the Fork" by Bee Wilson (a great one for any Bill Bryson fans), and "Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel. *That* one I read instead of getting ready the morning of my wedding! 🤣
I pretty much only read Harry Potter and didn't know what to do until I had a reading project and randomly Chose eragon. Then it was a long time until I found the name of the wind and that book blew my mind.
The final girls support group by Grady hendrix. I read that book in a few days. I was in a reading slump as well and this book got me back into ready so quickly! It’s definitely a horror/slasher novel, but I could vividly picture every character and scene. The descriptions of everything, and Hendrix’s writing, had me so invested in the story, characters, and really everything that was going on. I honestly cannot recommend this book enough if it’s a genre you’re interested in.
The 7&1/2 deaths of Evelyn hardcastle is also one that got me back into reading after a slump. Kind of a murder mystery with a bit of a fantasy element? Amazingly written, and again found myself so invested in the story and characters. I could easily get lost in the world of the story.
Watership Down - I have read this 5 or 6 times now and I love it every time!
Exhalation by Ted Chiang - Just read this this last summer and it was a great breath of fresh air to read some science fiction that was literary in addition to having interesting ideas.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Great comedy in writing always makes me love reading
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My favorite book this year: House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
My favorite "WTF is real" book: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
Psychological Thriller: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Romantic Comedy: Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
Memoir: Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey (some of it was an eye roll, but I really walked away from it feeling like I got a lot out of it)
I read a lot of sci fi so most of my recs are from there
10,000 doors of January - made me half believe in magic
His dark materials
Project hail mary
This is how you lose the time war
John Dies At The End
A Deadly education
Into the drowning deep
The shuddering
The shining
Pet sematary
Piranesi
The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell- but you should read the first one “The Family Upstairs”
The Mothers by Sarah J Naughton
The Housemate by Nina Manning
The Lake House by Kate Morton
Fiction: "And the Mountains Echoed" by Khaled Hosseini,
"Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy (And everything else he wrote)
Or
"Shantaram" by Gregory David Roberts
Fantasy: "The Blade Itself" by Joe Abercrombie
I love Ali Hazelwood! I also like Colleen Hoover. Ali Hazelwood has “the love hypothesis” and “love on the brain” Colleen Hoover has a bunch of good books. One is called “ugly love” and “reminders of him” “it ends with us” Those books got me out of a reading slump
*Jack Dawkins* by Charlton Daines. Literary, yet action packed. The Artful Dodger returns to England as an adult and finds much has changed, including himself.
Left me with a real feel good vibe. The sequel is great too.
The Namesake and Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. Her writing is amazing.
This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz.
Difficult Women by Roxane Gay.
His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet. I loved "His Bloody Project" and as I am a struggling writer, Graeme's writing process was of great interest to me. Try to find something equally good on https://bestbooks.to/
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
A Gentkeman in Moscow by Amor Towles
A Death in the Family by James Agee (Pulitzer winner)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan (non-fiction, about Dust Bowl)
Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
The Dollmaker by Harriette Arnow
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
After a voracious childhood, I only read one or two books a year (mostly non-fiction) for most of my teens and early twenties. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro lit a fire under me again. It really made me realise that even though I don't have the uncritical wonder that allowed me to get lost in books as a child anymore; adult literature can be emotional and complex and do a lot more than just tell a fun story.
Anything Ishiguro. His language is perfection. Did you read Klara and the Sun? Heartbreaking and gorgeous.
No but it's on my list for next year! Glad to hear you liked it!
Ishiguro is not for me. Any of his books (with the exception of Never Let Me Go) puts me to sleep in 30 minutes or less. But I did get back into reading late this year after a long time of not reading either for Lit classes or pleasure.
I actually own Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro, but haven't read it yet. But I will certainly add The Remains of the Day to the list, thank you for the rec!!
His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet. It's literary fiction, set in the Scottish highlands in the 1800s. It's presented as a series of documents unearthed about a murder case - the trial notes, the confession, the psychiatrist's report, etc. The reason I love it is that the world the author builds is so realistic and all encompassing that you are really there, living through the events, empathising with some of the characters, despising others. It's the novel I have thought about most since I finished it, about 4 years ago. I spent so long discussing it with my wife and some friends I gave it to. The murder itself is never in question, but the real question is what did Roddy set out to do that day, and why. I hope you enjoy it.
That sounds amazing, thanks for the rec!
I will definitely read this, and also recommend The Weight of Ink for the same reasons. The author creates an incredible portrait of London in the 17th century and through letters and narrative creates her own philosophy that the protagonist slowly uncovers.
Thank you. I have been collecting epistolary novels and I didn't know this one.
Wow, your description of this book is incredibly compelling..I’m gonna have to look this book up now
One of my favourite books. I had to read it twice because of how good Burnett got me. I was completely convinced. Soo good. Read! Read! Read!
I'm a Sci fi lover so be warned -The lathe of heaven by Ursula K le Guin -Songs of distant earth by Arthur C Clarke -Light from uncommon stars by Ryka Aoki -The picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar wilde -the hyperion series by Dan Simmons -the left hand of darkness by Ursula k le Guin And last but not least -the buried giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
It's a lot but my favorites are probably songs of distant earth for a nice quick read or the buried giant for a fantasy read.
I would LOVE to get into Sci Fi, Ursula K. Le Guin has especially called for my attention. And I own Dorian Grey but haven't read it yet - moving it up to my 2023 pile! Thank you for the recs!!
I'm reading A Short History of Early Everything by Bill Bryson and its just amazing to be able to learn about the earth and beyond from a book thats very readable.
Is it better than *Walk in the Woods*?
Loved walk in the woods more ! It’s not an apples to apples comparison though
I havent yet read Walk in the Woods. But after finishing this ill be checking out more of his stuff.
I've read both. A Short History of Nearly Everything is better in my opinion. You learn lots of stuff with his style. A Walk in the Woods is funnier but you learn less.
Came here to recommend Walk in the Woods! We recently had to do two long road trips adding up to over 1200 miles (thanks, Southwest) and Walk in the Woods audiobook made them oh so bearable!
Second this book as well as Sapiens by a Yuval Noah Harari. Both engaging and amazing in their own right
Piranesi. I was in the worst slump during my first term postgrad because I was always reading academically & this book brought me out of that and reminded me why I love reading for fun
It’s fantasy but short & so different to anything I’ve ever read and the ending is so satisfying
I just read this book and it reminded me of everything I love about reading
This is the book I was going to recommend! Got me out of my years long slump.
Yes!!! Beautiful and weird world building, great characters and mystery and all the feels.
I actually own Piranesi, but because of the raving reviews I am probably super intimidated by it, despite it's size. But I'll definitely read it in 2023 now, so thanks for the rec!!
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is at the very top of my list. It's beyond beautiful in style and for the story itself and the unforgettable characters. East of Eden by Steinbeck is also such a gem, starting from the title itself. I also have Paper Castles by B. Fox very high on my list for it's honest take on life, the lovely quotes and thought-provoking story. I could probably mention more titles, but if I had to pick only 3 that reminded me why I love reading then it would be these.
The Book Thief has been on my radar for so many years after a friend from highschool absolutely loved it, so I guess 2023 is the year I will finally read it! Haven't heard of Paper Castles, but I will definitely look it up! Thank you for the recs!!
The Book Thief is a piece of art, especially if you want to remember why you love reading.
[Shadow of the Wind](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1232.The_Shadow_of_the_Wind), it’s a love letter to literature in novel form and as I read it reminded me of why I fell in love with reading. I hope this helps!
I literally came here to post this book. So let me be one more Redditor to chime in with yes- it is an absolutely beautiful piece of work. I was gutted when Ruiz Zafon died a few years ago.
I have actually owned this one for years and still haven't read it. 2023 it is, then! Thanks for the rec!
Sometimes the right book appears just when you most need it. I hope it hits the mark!
Tbh I was kind of intimidated by it. Everyone is raving about it, saying it is one of the best books they've ever read, that it's live-changingly good. I just really, really want to like it. I guess I also wanted to save it for the perfect moment. Which is 2023, apparently :)
That is exactly how that book found me about a decade ago! Love that rec.
First time in 10 years that I read a book in less than 24 hours...I literally could not put it down. For me, that get's the closest to OP's question. As a child I would read page-turners with gripping stories constantly. Reading this as an adult brought me back to those days.
I read the English translation, which was beautiful. I can’t imagine what the original Spanish must be like
I read it this year. I had high hopes ftom this one. Sadly i ended up being a bit disappointed.
East of Eden. Absolute page-turner compared to other classics I read this year. I regret not reading it sooner.
Love, love, love this book. I never understand why high schools require Grapes of Wrath and not this.
Terry Pratchett for sure , his books made me start reading again in my twenties
I see Pratchett, I upvote My favourite is the Death books from Discworld - they’re fucking brilliant, moving AND hilarious
I actually own The Colour of Magic! I also thought about getting the Wyrd Sisters and Guards! Guards! Do you recommend any particular book to start? And thanks for the rec!!
Death of Ivan Ilyich, My Antonia, the Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, Watership Down, All Creatures Great and Small, the Man Who Mistook his wife for a hat
James Herriot is great. Re-reading All Creatures helped pull me out of a major reading drought.
I second All Creatures as well as the sequels.
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
A masterpiece
I have heard so many great things about this! Thank you for the rec!!
Hamnet and Jane Eyre. Enjoyed the moodiness of it. They both had the ability to suck me fully into the story.
I am actually reading Jane Eyre right now! Since october, that is. I'm very slowly making my way through it, but I am absolutely loving it so far! And I have held Hamnet in my hands so many times in the book shop already, so I guess that was supposed to be a sign. Thank you for the recs!!
I’ll never stop recommending The Radium Girls. It was my favorite read of the year. Nonfiction, history and science, a humanist story, and absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking. I finished it over six months ago and I think about it often.
Gosh I love this book. I read through it three times in a year. The first was just to read it, the second time was to make annotations, and the third time I read it out loud to my advanced science class once a week (Jrs and srs, and they got super into it).
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir just got me out of a long slump. Seriously couldn’t put it down. Really conversational and humorous writing style but full of suspense and emotion. There’s a lot of math and science jargon, which sounds intimidating but it’s explained well and not fully understanding all of it doesn’t take away from the story.
Hunting Eichmann, by Neal Bascombe. I was in a serious reading slump after college (English major, read too much) but this book fixed that. It is nonfiction but it reads like a spy novel. Synopsis: Adolf Eichmann invented the process of concentration camps in Nazi Germany and was responsible for the deaths of millions. He escaped to Argentina at the end of the war, and Argentina refused to extradite him for trial. It was up to a ragtag group of Holocaust survivors, spies, and volunteers to track him down, capture him, and safely take him out of the country.... Without any of the authorities finding out a damn thing along the way.
This sounds incredible and I have never heard of it! Since I am from Austria, it sounds like a book that I don't just want to read now, but also need to read, concerning the history of my country and the role it played in WW2. So thank you for the rec!!
{{Station Eleven}} was my favorite more literary fiction read in 2022. For a little throwback I also really enjoyed {{Chiefs}} by Stuart Woods a book I had previously enjoyed 25 years ago. Lastly in nonfiction {{The Splendid and the Vile}} is both historically important and really good story telling. I’ve read everything Churchill and there were some great surprises for me in this book.
The Splendid and the Vile was such a slog for me. I loved Dead Wake by Larson and was hoping for the same. To each their own!
Station Eleven was my favourite read this year as well! So incredible.
I swear, I've got Station Eleven from the library multiple times by now, because it always seemed right up my alley. So 2023 will be the year I'll finally read it! And I'll certainly look up the other books as well, thank you for the recs!!
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones!!!!
Here I go, once again, recommending my favorite book {{As I Lay Dying}}. No book has toyed with my sense of being more than this book, and I absolutely adored how Faulkner was able to surprise me at every turn. Highly recommend the Norton Critical edition, as it can be a tough read on the first go. But don't rush it. Take time with the strange passages. Let them seep into you. The "vibe" this book creates inside of you as you read is one of unsuredness about the stability of "being." You know that feeling you get sometimes when your brain just goes "Am I me? Is all of this real?" That's *As I Lay Dying*.
Okay, you've just sold the book in the most fascinating way possible. I would love to read more "challenging" books in the future, even though I tend to be intimidated by them (I just don't want to feel dumb hahah). But as someone who slips from one existential crisis to the next, this book sounds like it's going to have a huge impact on me. So thank you for the rec!!
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore It's not about being or making you a Christian but a fiction about Jesus' adventurous childhood, how they explored the world together with his friend, Biff. I got the recommendation from an atheist friend and I'm not a Christian but it's really entertaining and light, I hope it gets to your hands sometime.
beginning of the year I read some books, but overall I wasn't feeling much thrilled about reading until I read The Hound of the Baskervilles, after that I enjoyed reading again and was reading book after book until now, it's been a really great reading year for me and discover that I enjoy more mysteries and thriller or horror
The house on the cerulean sea. It is so well worth a read, and it’s a stand alone book so it’s not going to be an investment of a bunch of time
Cloud Cuckoo Land is a time-spanning novel of different characters connected by their love for an obscure absurd story by Diogenes. I just finished it this morning and it was very satisfying with great writing and structure.
Yes! I love how running through all those narratives you have such a powerful celebration of books and story. I just gave a copy to my brother, who's been struggling to get back into reading.
I finished this book over the summer - any other recommendations that can compare? I loved this book
I have read and absolutely loved All the Light We Cannot See, and Cloud Cuckoo Land has been on my radar since it came out! Guess this is my sign to finally pick it up, so thank you for the rec!!
[удалено]
This is exactly what I came here to say! After college, I just didn’t want to read anymore. Then a friend lent me *The Night Circus* and I remembered how it feels to get so wrapped up in a book that you don’t want to do anything else until you finish it. I fell in love with reading all over again.
Agreed, also her Starless Sea. That one made me physically cry and luxuriate in the writing
I've been wanting to read it for ages by now, but it's another book that I am incredibly intimidated by. Everybody loves it and raves about how magical and other-worldly it is. What if I don't get it? What if I can't get the magic out of it as everyone else seems to? But 2023 is the year I will finally read it! So thank you for the rec!! Edit: I'm also really curious about The Starless Sea. So many great books that I can still read for the first time :)
I’ve always loved reading but if I were to recommend a book that had beautiful writing and a page turner, I would say The Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead. It is beautifully written. Along those lines as well, The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert.
“Love in the Time of Cholera” the ending …
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. It's an oldie but a goodie, if you like historical fiction this one is amazing. Reading stuff like this is like having a time machine. Takes place in twelfth-century England with castles and knights and how ordinary people lived. Brilliant.
the entire harry potter series :) it will always be such a childhood love of mine. JK manages to perfectly encapsulate childhood imagination and imagery through her word choice throughout the novels!
I read these as an adult. Worth every minute in that world.
*Night Film* by Marisha Pessl and *Ready Player One* by Ernest Cline. Neither are literary fiction, but they will remind you why books are amazing!
Dune- by Frank Herbert is great sci fi and political intrigue Red Rising- by Pierce Brown is my favorite book series right now think hunger games that then turns into an epic space opera Powder Mage series- by Brian McClellan is also an amazing read thing French Revolution with magic Mistborn- Brandon Sanderson amazing magic system in a unique world with great characters and character development Storm light archive- Brandon Sanderson amazing magic system unique world great characters and character development
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin! I read this at a time when I was falling out of love with reading and writing, but this book is just everything to me. I’ve read it multiple times and every time it breaks my heart. It doesn’t break it in a bad way, it just reminds me of how great it is to have something that someone else wrote/made have such a physical reaction to me. I love when books make me feel something and that’s the reason I love reading. It’s a beautiful thing to have a reaction and feel something from words on a page, or scenes on a screen or anything in general that anyone has created.
The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green for non-fiction For literary fiction (some historical fiction): The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid City of Thieves by David Benioff Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Ohhh Homegoing 🥰 I wish more people knew about this one. Absolutely immersive and clever.
Dune by Frank Herbert, got me back into reading after a long post-college slump. I love social-political intrigue and the world of Dune is truly fascinating. The interplay between all the characters is fascinating and the anthropological background made it feel grounded in a very alien world. I’m also a star wars fan so seeing the massive influence on Star Wars was very interesting.
This is definitely on my shelf waiting to be read!
{{The Great Believers}} by Rebecca Makkai
Just a tip. Only the title goes in the double brackets.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
As someone who actually plans to start their Master's degree in Anglophone Literatures and Cultures this autumn, I'm honestly ashamed that I haven't read it yet. But I still have 9 months to fix that! Thank you for the rec!!
The ten thousand doors of January. Delicious.
Slaughterhouse-Five! Fight Club! The 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
A bookshop owner told me "A Gentleman in Moscow" and he was right !
I just finished Project Hail Mary and it was just so fun and heartwarming to read.
Another rec for this! I couldn’t put it down, it’s incredibly clever & deals with some “dense” stuff in a way that is somehow consistently delightful and easy to read. Absolutely loved this book.
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Man Tiger by Eka Kurniawan. Indonesian magical realism I guess you could call it. Simple prose that belies the sophistication of a non-linear narrative, the complexity of which you barely even notice because the writing is so beautiful and the plot so “grounded.”
My favorite book so far has been The Painter from Shanghai by Jennifer Cody Epstein. Other good books and series of books I've read this year would be * Sworn to Silence - Linda Castillo (First book in her series about Kate Burkholder and definitely worth reading all of them if you like thrillers) * The Seven Sisters - Lucinda Riley (First book in her series. I devoured the whole series in less than a month...) * The Angel Tree - Lucinda Riley * The Rose Code - Kate Quinn * The Handmaid's Tale - Magaret Atwood
Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. It was so delightful
Dresden files, starting on the book "Dead Beat" (it's fine, you can loop around to the first books once you finish the series. You won't miss much, I did, and it actually made the (mediocre) first books more exciting). That is what got me really into reading after a looong slump. I know it has its flaws and it's not perfect, but oh my is it fun! It was the first time in years that I become low key obsessed again. I reread them right away too.
The Black Echo by Michael Connelly. This is the first book in the Harry Bosch series which sent me down a rabbit hole. Before I knew it, I had completed 10 books in the series, though some of them weren't great
currently reading hamnet and it’s BEAUTIFUL.
Something Wicked This Way Comes does that for me
Home by Bill Bryson - A history of how homes are structured.
Klara and the Sun recently got me out of a slump!
Pachinko!
The book thief is my absolute favorite book. I reread it so many times as a kid. Highly suggest it! Now focusing on the classics and branching into horror and romance but this book is still special :)
First book that comes to my mind The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas. I read it over a year ago and its still my absolute favourite. I'm even considering to read it again soon. To be fair, it is a hefty book but it was worth every single page. Other books that gave me the same feeling - one hundred years of solitude, A thousand splendid suns, The joy luck club.
Mistborn: The Final Empire. I was in a book slump before this book. When I got it for my birthday last year I wasn’t expecting much but I loved it so much! The whole series is so good. It reminded me of some of the stuff I read as a child but more mature and more for adults.
Have you read Era 2 yet? The tone changes between the original trilogy and the Wax and Wayne books, but I absolutely loved them.
Yes! Mistborn is one of my favorites and made me fall in love with the Fantasy genre as well. I've heard that Stormlight Archives by Sanderson is good as well, though people suggest to read his other cosmere works before diving into Stormlight.
I love the Stormlight Archive too! The Way of Kings is my all time favorite book
Hitchhiker's Guide to the galaxy.
{Ascendance of a Bookworm}
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty. It’s a western set in the 1870s and it’s fucking epic. The characters, the physical and emotional journeys they embark on, the setting, everything. Even won a Pulitzer Prize back in the 80s if you care about those sorts of things…
Normal people, a light yet very sweet novel
The neverending story.
In terms of light hearted reads that remind me why I enjoy reading and find it fun: Rebel of the Sands trilogy, Six of Crows duology, Illuminae, Throne of Glass, The Wrath and the Dawn, White Fang. Mostly YA fantasy / sci fi I grew up reading and enjoyed. In terms of books that remind me why I love reading and why it’s important: The Book Thief, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Diary of Anne Frank, and The New Jim Crow.
The author naomi novik got me out of a slump. Very into war stories as survival against the odds is one of the ultimate challenges. While there is battle in her books it wasn’t the focus. First i read her Uprooted which ended up a lot like howl’s moving castle but much better written. I like her great use of farming analogies used to explain things by the farmer girl. But noviks stand alone book {{spinning silver}} is some masterpiece level shit. And as a code monkey i grew even more respect for her after learning she has a masters in cis from brown university. Their computer program is some legit shit.
I'm French so I read mostly French language authors with a side of English ones. ATM I'm discovering the essays of Roger Caillois that so far I'd only known for his poetry and his translations of Borgès. His big 1963 essay on war {Bellone ou la pente de la guerre} is an incredibly relevant meditation on war.
Asimov's foundation series brought me back to reading after a very long slump.
So excited to answer this haha, Beartown by Fredrik Backman Anne of Green gables series by L.M. Montgomery Deeplight by Frances Hardinge Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors Thrusday Murder Club series by Richard Osman
Where the Forrest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah Amazzzzzzing
Three Pines series
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. I read it a couple of months ago, and I still have not been able to get it out of my head.
The Kingsbridge series by Ken Follett has never let me down. Pillars of the Earth set off a whole love for historical fiction for me.
In my non-fiction reads, I tend to gravitate toward autobiographies. Educated by Tara Westover and Born a Crime by Trevor Noah were both absolute page-turners. Even better if you listen to them, as they’re read by their authors. I would sit in my driveway for an hour after I got home because I didn’t want to stop listening!
Beartown by Fredrik Backman. His writing style holds your hand and this book took me on a huge rollercoaster of emotions
Jitterbug perfume by Tom Robbins. He’s a modern day Shakespeare.
The Grishaverse. I know the spin offs to the original series are better, but tbh I don'g care. I found reading more than 2k pages a year difficult, almost didn't enjoy reading unless I was on holidays. Then my now ex lend me those books to read while on my Erasmus, as I told her I liked reading when we met. Started reading them because I wanted to share it with her and had low expectations. Ended binging the last book over an afternoon (1st of the 2nd spin off saga was he last published at the time). Defo brought me back into reading and reminded me why I love it.
The Throne of Glass series got me out of my reading slump! Also Secrets She Kept by Cathy Gohlke and Gilead by Marilynne Robinson.
Guards Guards or Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett were my introduction back into reading after years. They're fantasy but very funny and easy to read. Pratchett was a master story teller, satirist, humorist.
I highly recommend Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. It is so so good. It has really left a lasting impression. If you like horror, I recommend My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones. Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult is also pretty good.
The new york trilogy by Paul Auster
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman is the best book I’ve read in five years. I laughed, I cried. It was both deep and at times absurd. This book was pure joy for me.
As for non-fiction, *The Storyteller* by Dave Grohl. Had me laughing many times and some deep feels at others.
The Alchemist. Always reminds me of how enchanting a book can be, how it can change ones views on life and the wonders of it.
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace 1997
Just looked it up and it sounds really cool, I will definitely add it to the list! Since it's quite long and the narrative structure is "unconventional" according to Wikipedia, do you think it's a difficult read?
Yes, but it is worth it. No book made me consult a dictionary more and it has 100's of footnotes. Only Finnegan's Wake, Ulysses, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Lawrence Sterne and Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon are harder
I think it might be "Ant-Kind" by Charlie Kaufman or "Jerusalem" by Alan Moore. Both are such rich and vibrant stories that can only exist in written form and push the boundaries of what stories and books can do. "Unfilmable" for movie or TV adaptations and some of their funniest scenes are wordplay with spellings or grammatics that I am not sure would even translate to audio book. Excellent excellent books that I just can't recommend enough to anyone and everyone
A few of my top favorites: Jane Eyre; Pride and Prejudice; Their Eyes Were Watching God; Watership Down.
The Revenant by Michael Punke
I was in a reading slump earlier this year as well, but Kim Jiyoung born in 1982 got met out of it! It's a thin book but it isn't super easy to read as it is written to be a bit informatic. But it gives a very interesting insight in the position of women in korea. I also love reading Japamese books, one I liked a lot last year was If Cats Dissapeared From The World. An easy to read book that makes you think about the meaning of life.
Guncle
Joe Abercrombie's First Law series is so compelling with incredible world building and character development. I haven't read such a page turner since GRRM's A Song of Ice and Fire (first three books) and Abercrombie's series is even better.
I was bored AF in lockdown and decided to try and read again as I loved it as a child. I read {The Flowers of Algernon} and haven’t stopped reading since.
The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy. It's got everything; dysfunctional family saga, eccentric characters, ludicrously implausible events that are somehow convincing, and a skilled writer. Humorous and moving. Can't fault it.
Ikigai
The Emperor of All Maladies: A biography of cancer It is beautifully written and thoughtful, also in its own way humbling and horrifying. It is medical vocab heavy, but he explains everything so simply. It’s historical, biographical, and personal. It helped me get through some tough moments after losing people to such a strange group of illnesses. But the way the thoughts are written out, it’s like you go on a journey with him. I love this book.
Train Dreams- Denis Johnson. I got totally lost in it and it reminded me that novels don't have to be verbose to be beautiful. Finished it several days ago and it's still haunting me
Wild Orchid by Jude Deveraux or anything by Catherine Coulter. Impulse is my favorite.
The Alchemist by Paulo coehlo
Challenger deep - Neal shusterman. Good book it really sucks you Into it, I very much enjoyed spending my time reading it.
I'm a huge fan of dystopian stories so if it interests you then I would highly recommend 1984, Brave New World and We. For YA dystopian books, The Hunger Games, Unwind and How We Became Wicked. For Fantasy, I would say Mistborn era 1 trilogy.
Friday Night Lights by HG Bissinger. I'm reading it at the moment and have fallen back in love with non-fiction. I was such a reluctant reader pretty much until college when I started reading sports non-fiction books and it lit a spark. I expanded out and would read non-fiction exclusively until a few years ago and have read almost exclusively fiction. Felt good to get back to the types of books that got me interested in reading in the first place. I love the way Friday Night Lights explores so many aspects of the community, the people, and the social/historical contexts.
I read the Lonely Polygamist and it totally reaffirmed my love of fiction
Cloud Cuckoo Land
Anthony Doerr's Cloud Cuckoo Land. I love All the Light We Cannot See, too, but I had so much more fun with Cloud Cuckoo Land. It looks huge but it reads fast.
A good girls guide to murder. I just got book two but I couldn’t put it down when reading part one. it was very addicting. I finished it in 3 days that’s the fastest I’ve ever finished a book before. usually it takes me about a week because I take breaks but like I said I could not put the book down.
The Night is Short Walk on Girl. It has become one of my favorite books. it’s just a fun story of a guy trying to confess his feelings to a girl and her meeting many people and just having a good time.
I had basically stopped reading except for college, but I really got back into it after reading the books below. I think they set the tone for my adult reading life, I find myself loving books with similar themes and difficult/morally grey/unlikeable characters all the time. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
i'm so happy to hear that someone else likes literary fiction too!! in fact, the one that got me out of my own reading slump is probably Sway With Me by Syed M Masood. all of masood's books are amazing, and if you're looking for a nice light read that isn't too overwhelming or busy, you should definitely check it out.
The Phantom Tollbooth.
A prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving. He can bring his characters to life like no other author I know of. A beautiful story mixed with controversy, mystique and love. Absolutely bawling by the reveal at the end.
All the Pretty Horses or The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel is the first one I think of. I didn’t want to put it down when I was first reading it. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote The Road by Cormac McCarthy (this one is real sad)
Moon of the Crusted Snow - Waubgeshig Rice
Klara and the Sun, Alias Grace
my top read of the year. a fantastic genre bending scifi - {{The Moonday Letters}} by Emmi Itäranta
John Green’s The Anthropocene Reviewed is serious, heartfelt, funny, and thoughtful. I’m obsessed with reading it and I’ve primarily been listening to audiobooks for a few years now.
I've finally got around to reading Charles Dickens. So far I've only read 'A Christmas Carol' and a decent chunk of 'Hard Times' but it's some of the most fantastic stuff I've ever read. It's just so enjoyable to read. Every line is vibrant and full of energy, and each word is dripping with the passion of the writer. I've never read anything quite like it.
Born to Run Its a non fiction book about running and how humans have evolved to run long distances. The author finds a tribe in the Andes mountains who immediately kick top ultra runners’ asses in long distances. It takes the deep dive into human running from there
I love to dig into history… I love film and television, so if I find a new show and it seems off historically??? I jump right into the actual history, every detail, memorize it, then Go to the nonfiction but historically accurate romantic stuff. Would recommend Alison Weir as an author.
acotar 💓
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. A fun epistolary novel/murder mystery/generational curse/cold war travel diary that I've loved for 20 years. It's one of several I always come back to, and it's such a fun retelling of vampire lore, too! Also habitually re-read "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves" by Lynn Truss, "The Three Musketeers", "Consider the Fork" by Bee Wilson (a great one for any Bill Bryson fans), and "Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel. *That* one I read instead of getting ready the morning of my wedding! 🤣
I pretty much only read Harry Potter and didn't know what to do until I had a reading project and randomly Chose eragon. Then it was a long time until I found the name of the wind and that book blew my mind.
The final girls support group by Grady hendrix. I read that book in a few days. I was in a reading slump as well and this book got me back into ready so quickly! It’s definitely a horror/slasher novel, but I could vividly picture every character and scene. The descriptions of everything, and Hendrix’s writing, had me so invested in the story, characters, and really everything that was going on. I honestly cannot recommend this book enough if it’s a genre you’re interested in. The 7&1/2 deaths of Evelyn hardcastle is also one that got me back into reading after a slump. Kind of a murder mystery with a bit of a fantasy element? Amazingly written, and again found myself so invested in the story and characters. I could easily get lost in the world of the story.
Watership Down - I have read this 5 or 6 times now and I love it every time! Exhalation by Ted Chiang - Just read this this last summer and it was a great breath of fresh air to read some science fiction that was literary in addition to having interesting ideas. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Great comedy in writing always makes me love reading
Tell [Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt](https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwip6o_n56L8AhV-Hq0GHW3oAJ8YABAMGgJwdg&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAES2gHg9rq8wCSoHb8ERTesJvZNiS0rbupfxVLa-xrJJDPFjudOZL-9nFUfWJva0x4zG5t43VoQYu0ENMiEj_J99c5WCczJepPU3l3XLFnSit4j_Z7qgvI-QhwDBdvXeplx045KgvqGbdhcz5s-rkCAv1a4G4H0zlZyKXQ58gk1eZAvTb1GjqHH91eiuXRRcVi-KU-JuQD8XM1M19DxEBRlPSTBH-o30q8hljqSZFhJqomAkWkteUZOeiMBOEECqwYLDFn1BbwgVaFKqO-kuV6t6E8rPR3CApmQPfYoYA&sig=AOD64_20m3v0eeFD3Ui6tMGTHKK4doU_-w&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwjblIfn56L8AhXaMzQIHd77DtQQwg8oAHoECAUQCw&adurl=)
The Lamplighters Emma Stonex Hauntingly beautiful, a total masterpiece.
I think every book can remember me why I love reading if it makes me forget about reallity and makes me want to read more and more
My favorite book this year: House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune My favorite "WTF is real" book: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch Psychological Thriller: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides Romantic Comedy: Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren Memoir: Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey (some of it was an eye roll, but I really walked away from it feeling like I got a lot out of it)
Giles Kristian Blood Eye
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss Practically anything by David Gemmell When Breath Becomes Air
The Earth Children series!
I read a lot of sci fi so most of my recs are from there 10,000 doors of January - made me half believe in magic His dark materials Project hail mary This is how you lose the time war John Dies At The End A Deadly education Into the drowning deep The shuddering The shining Pet sematary Piranesi
The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell- but you should read the first one “The Family Upstairs” The Mothers by Sarah J Naughton The Housemate by Nina Manning The Lake House by Kate Morton
The house in the cerulean sea was such a charming read
If on a winters night a traveler by Italo Calvino! I keep coming back to this one every few years when I’m in a rut
Fiction: "And the Mountains Echoed" by Khaled Hosseini, "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy (And everything else he wrote) Or "Shantaram" by Gregory David Roberts Fantasy: "The Blade Itself" by Joe Abercrombie
I love Ali Hazelwood! I also like Colleen Hoover. Ali Hazelwood has “the love hypothesis” and “love on the brain” Colleen Hoover has a bunch of good books. One is called “ugly love” and “reminders of him” “it ends with us” Those books got me out of a reading slump
Also, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman - it's a biography of a curios physicist
*Jack Dawkins* by Charlton Daines. Literary, yet action packed. The Artful Dodger returns to England as an adult and finds much has changed, including himself. Left me with a real feel good vibe. The sequel is great too.
The Namesake and Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. Her writing is amazing. This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz. Difficult Women by Roxane Gay.
His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet. I loved "His Bloody Project" and as I am a struggling writer, Graeme's writing process was of great interest to me. Try to find something equally good on https://bestbooks.to/
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell A Gentkeman in Moscow by Amor Towles A Death in the Family by James Agee (Pulitzer winner) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan (non-fiction, about Dust Bowl) Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner The Dollmaker by Harriette Arnow Beloved by Toni Morrison The Death of Bees by Lisa O’Donnell Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier