r/BookDiscussions

I need to vent about this because it just ruined a book I was actually excited to read. I have no issue with flawed characters or people making mistakes when the story is told from a third-person perspective. It makes sense because you are watching the disaster unfold from a safe distance. But when a book is written in the first person and uses "I", my brain automatically forced me to look at it as if I am the one doing the actions.

Yesterday I was reading this thriller where the female protagonist suspects someone is tracking her. What does she do? She decides to go for a solo walk in an abandoned industrial park at midnight without telling anyone, and her phone is at two percent battery . While reading her internal monologue justifying this idiotic move, I felt this intense wave of secondhand embarrassment and frustration. I actually had to shut the book and put it face down on my desk.

When it is written as "I walked into the dark alley," it stops being a character study and just feels like I am stuck inside the mind of a complete moron. You are trapped in their headspace, forced to listen to their terrible logic, and you cannot stop them from walking straight into a trap. It completely breaks the immersion for me because my actual internal response is just "no, I would never do that."

Maybe my suspension of disbelief is just broken or I lack the empathy needed for this specific style of fiction. I just cannot stand being cooped up inside a POV that has zero survival instincts.

Does anyone else find themselves strictly filtering out first-person narratives because the secondhand cringe is just too much to handle? Or do you just learn to detach your own logic from the "I" on the page?

so i just started reading pride and prejudice because i LOVED the movie (do know that i started to take an interest in reading last december [i'm more of a dystopian/fictional girl] ) and I feel incredibly dumb 🤦‍♀️. I sometimes get the thought or the gist of the statements in the book but i do not get it fully! everyone likes the book and i wanna like it too but i simply cannot comprehend some of the words and the sentences in it! do y'all experience this too, or am I just unintelligent ??

I'm going to try to read it tonight and will keep a dictionary by my side, lol 🥹

The scene might be going very normally, even transferring to a vulnerable state, you are fully immersed and suddenly, there is a random sex scene out of nowhere.

The way he describes his female characters from the male protagonists' side is so jarring, too. Really pulls me out of the story and sometimes even makes me question if I should keep reading or not.

I recently finished the first book in the DCC series and am obsessed! I desperately want people to talk to about it!

While the book is a really good romp, it's also a fascinating social commentary, tackling topics like capitalism and social media/reality TV.

While there's a very active subreddit for the series, as someone who isn'tvery far into the series, it's really overwhelming and hard to stay away from spoilers, so I'm looking for a place to chat about just the first book.

How do you rate your books?
Because I had a conversation with a friend before and they were a bit confused on why I rate it from 1-7 stars 😭
1-5 is the normal 1-5 everyone uses but 6 becomes more of a favourite a top notch book and I like LOVE or adore the characters and the world its self
However 7 is like I have no flaws on it, and like it’s everything I wanted and more and like it’s just connects with me like no other books or it changed me, hope you get what I’m tryna convey 😭
So I’m curious on what you think of this type of rating and how do you rate yours

I finished reading "I Who Have Never Known Men" by Jacqueline Harpman for a book club meeting, and I just don't get it. How does this have 4.1 on Goodreads? The book is absolutely abysmal. From the technical aspects to character work, nothing about it is good or worthwhile.

The only praise I can offer is the premise. This novel is essentially Lovecraftian Horror. These women are torn from their lives by incomprehensible forces for inconceivable reasons. There is never any explanation for what has happened - things just are. EDIT: This is apparently confusing a lot of people. I AM SAYING THAT THE PREMISE AND LACK OF ANY EXPLANATION ARE GOOD, THE ONLY GOOD THING IN THE NOVEL.

But the premise is barely explored, and the character work is bad. In a cast of 40 women, barely 2 have any character at all - the Child and Anthea. Everyone else is an amorphous blob of interchangeable women. And the author's view of women seems dismal. These women don't have any interests or hobbies. They don't try to make art or teach the Child what they know. They spent a decade in a cage and never once tried playing a game with the Child or each other. But actually growing up in a small cage, undersocialized, understimulated, and with no physical activity has no effect on the Child or really on anyone. Conversely, the guards only exist as cold violence-dispensing masculine automata, like the idealized guards of nazi dreams and unlike the actual real nazi guards. I can't take this novel as a serious examination of humanity when no one acts even remotely human.

The book is also riddled with inconsistencies. They use soap in the cage, but then the Child is baffled to see soap for the first time elsewhere. The Child regularly talks about feeling hungry in the cage, but then another character notes feeling hungry for the first time in decades due to the need for physical exercise. The women are not allowed to touch each other on one page, and are helping an older woman get up on another. Etc., etc.

So, I don't get it. Why does anyone like this book?

I read Outlander over ten years ago. I liked it well enough; I think I gave it 4 stars. I remember the writing being very good and I do enjoy time travel books. Only I clearly didn't like it enough to complete the series. However, with all the hype surrounding the finale of the TV show, which I have also not watched despite always being mildly interested, I'm curious to give the Outlander books another chance. Preferably on audiobook, since I've struggled with bigger books since the pandemic.

Although, before I did that, I figured I would do a little research first, asking other readers. Overall, are the Outlander books worth the read? And what about the audiobooks? What do you all think?

How you ever been so immersed in a book that it makes want to go to that particular destination describe in the book or crave whatever the character is eating. For me it happens with a variety of books that describe a scene so well. Had this happened to anybody? Which book?

I read books that had lighthouses as part of the story line and it gave me the urge to go and see one.

So I finished reading it and I may have missed something but why did natalie randomly freak out one day after 10 years and realize shes living in the 1800's? I hope it's not just "shes insane " and that theres some more depth into why? Also how did she get an 18 year old girl (mary) if clementine took all the kids 10 years back?

Hi everybody,

I frequently get recommended top 10 book lists of all time. They can be fascinating to look through and pick the ones you've read, but always very predictable, so I thought it would be fun to give my own top 10 and see what people think. I'm sorry in advance if this breaks any rules. I tried to make sure in advance, but I feel I've probably missed something. I mostly wanted to make this to talk about novels I really enjoyed and to hear others' opinions, and even see others' own personalised top 10 lists. I wanted to keep this mostly to fiction personally, otherwise I'd just be listing textbooks, but would love to see others with fascinating and diverse takes.

1. Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King

I'm a huge King fan, although admittedly I haven't read all of his work yet, but I have made a start, so I wanted to include one of his on here. I'm a Uni student in my very early 20's and reading this novella collection, especially the eponymous Hearts in Atlantis, really changed how I approached studying and school as a whole. Throughout the collection is a fascinating study of relationships and the cost of adulthood and the fading of innocence. Also got to appreciate tower connections.

2. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Siobhan Dowd

This was an incredibly fascinating story about a child's grief. This book is overflowing with metaphors that lie underneath the surface story of a monster telling stories to a child. This book struck an emotional chord with me that not many books have before. Patrick Ness also does a fantastic job bringing this story to life from Dowd's Idea.

3. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

I'm not familiar with much of Wilde's work, but I did have to read this in high school and enjoyed it right away. This was possibly one of the funniest books I've read. The idea of loving someone because their name is Ernest, will be earnest, just for them to be lying and not be named Ernest at all is inherently the funniest thing imaginable and makes this a mandatory read for that matter alone. The entire play is rife with wit, and an engaging plot definitely kept me captivated, and I could not recommend it more.

4. Othello by Shakspere

I belive shakspere is overrated. Hot take, I know, but I just cannot enjoy most of his work. Othello, however, is in my opinion one of the best tragedies I've read. Iago's soliloquies are so unique and interesting, especially as he reveals his motives for the downfall of Othello.

“I know not if’t be true,

But I, for mere suspicion in that kind,

Will do as if for surety.”

— Iago, Othello, Act 1, Scene 3

This quote alone has led to multiple essays about Iago's true motivation, with some people looking deeper into the words and believing he's merely making an excuse to hate Othello. An interesting dynamic that really draws me into this book.

5. The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

A Famous Collection of three poems (Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso), it is quite possibly the most talked about work in literature, and I doubt I need to say much. A lot of the modern ideals have moved on from the politics and ideology of Dante's time, such as Homosexuality being a sin, but the fantastic rhythm and flow of the writing style is beautiful yet incredibly challenging. Maybe a bit of a generic pick, but the literature and word choices are undeniably beautiful.

6. The Wasteland by T.S Eliot

Arguably more challenging than the Divine Comedy, not for the word choices or age, but for the references and constant changing of language through the poem. Once again, beautifully written with such emotion throughout, with this burden of grief for loved ones and culture in general carried through the entire poem. Reading this with annotations is almost a must, but it excels the experience by miles. One of the most underrated poems, in my opinion.

7. The Hobbit

I had to put The Hobbit here. Everyone loves the LOTR and The Hobbit. It's the quintessential fantasy series before Harry Potter and Game of Thrones. Personally, I enjoy The Hobbit far more for Bilbo's snark and reluctance for adventure all the way through. The story is fun and light and easily accessible, and sets up one of the most well-known series of all time. Need I say anymore?

8. The Beast in the Cave by H.P Lovecraft

Now I admit I have been playing fast and loose with the words 'book' and 'novel', but this isn't a list to be taken too seriously its more to allow me to talk about some texts I really like, that is to say, I really like The Beast in the Cave. One of the lesser talked about Lovecraft poems for its distinct lack of cosmic elements, but the existential horror is till there. I mostly like it for how different it is to Lovecraft's other work, and how terrifying he makes the unseen beast and how depressing the seen beast too.

9. Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

I'll keep this one quick cause it's been talked to death. Fantastic writing and the unconventional use of dialogue is fascinating. It is also horrific and delves deep into the worst side of humanity.

10. The Great Train Robbery by Michael Chricton

One of the greatest sci-fi writers of all times western book that gives gunpowder plot and Guy Fawkes vibes with a meeting in secrecy, elaborate plans and high stakes and tension. A fun read and a change of pace from Chricton's usual style of writing. This well-structured heist truly feels set in the 1800's with the attention to detail Chricton gives all his novels. Quite possibly one of his most grounded novels, and incredibly fun.

Honorable mentions

The Iliad/Odyssey by Homer, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Moby Dick by Herman Melville. All fantastic pieces of literature, but for the latter three felt too overrepresented, and for the Iliad and Odyssey, I'm yet to read them, but am excited to.

Thanks for reading, and any criticism of the list in a civil manner is appreciated. I'm also interested in how my top 10 list looks as a reader.

Long days and pleasant nights, everyone.

I’ve noticed a lot of people describe reading fiction as “watching a movie in their head,” while others barely visualize anything at all.

It made me curious how people would feel about books being adapted into cinematic animated episodes that stay faithful to the original story and characters.

Not replacing books, obviously, just another way to experience stories people already love.

Would something like that actually interest you?

My main reservation about Never Let Me Go is its limited worldbuilding. The story stays almost entirely within the school building of Hailsham, the cottages, and similar enclosed spaces, while the wider system that makes all of this possible is left largely unexplained. I kept expecting a broader view of society, institutions, or resistance, especially given how extreme the premise is, but the novel deliberately avoids expanding in that direction. While this narrow focus strengthens the emotional intimacy and keeps everything grounded in the narrator’s memory, it also makes the larger world feel underdeveloped and raises questions about how such a system could function without visible rebellion, alternative narratives, or meaningful external structure.

I also found myself questioning the lack of resistance throughout the story. Even though the characters are fully human, there is very little attempt to rebel or escape their fate, which feels hard to fully accept given how natural rebellion usually is in human behaviour. Being exposed to the outside world, interacting with nurses and doctors, and having access to media and normal society would realistically suggest at least some attempts at resistance, but the novel remains silent on that.

If we assume the clones were deliberately conditioned from childhood to be mentally dependent or limited in imagination, then this becomes slightly more believable. It feels like they are “farmed” and raised to accept their fate early on, almost like conditioned beings who cannot think beyond the world they are given, similar to a chained elephant unaware of its own strength.

On another level, I also started relating the story to real human life, especially urban childhoods. When we are kids, everything feels like a fairytale, but once we enter real life, things become unfair and dreams start to break. In this story, that transition is much more literal and tragic.

Overall, the book feels very intelligently written. It looks simple and explanatory on the surface, but is actually very deep and carefully crafted. The narration feels like memory, with overthinking and repetition, but it never becomes exhausting.

Barbara Kingsolver is one of those authors who I had heard of in passing, but her name dissipated among a big group of women I had not read, like Jennifer Egan and Alice Munro and Louise Erdrich. I am seeking to rectify this, because Donna Tartt was also in this group until I read The Secret History and fell in love with it.

After all, Barbara Kingsolver is a Pulitzer-winning author, and this book (perhaps her most well known) is a story about fundamentalist missionaries in the Congo, something that I have direct experience with and interested in.

This was one of my most disappointing reading experiences to date. I had to stop after about 100 pages.

Perhaps I would have liked it better if I hadn’t lived it, first. I spent several months in my 20’s in Zambia as a missionary, and have spent a long time processing the problematic parts of this endeavor, both as it affected me and the people I met. This book feels like a collection of those early thoughts about missionary work and colonization, filtered through an immature lens and told to an audience with little to no interaction with Sub-Saharan Africa to begin with.

The most glaring flaw is that nothing happens. The book forgot the “show, don’t tell” adage and instead simply told me everything in hindsight. After 100 pages, the daughters were still explaining how life in Africa was so different, how their father was abusive and narcissistic (but in a God-fearing way), how they missed the US so much. But there were very few actual examples or events to speak of in that first fifth of the book.

It would be more forgivable if the prose was engaging, but I found three of the four narrators simply boring. Only Adah (and Orleanna, if you can count that) held my interest. Rachel’s opening chapter was fun with all her malapropisms, but that disappeared the next time we heard from her. The story felt like a chore to read through after just a little while.

I’d love to hear some other perspectives on this book, or any of her other fiction that’s worth picking up. Maybe I’ll give it another try in the future, but for now, this one goes on my (very short) DNF list.

I’ve been wondering why there isn’t really a good “Vinted for books”.

Most book swap websites feel really outdated, and Facebook groups are messy.

Would people actually use a platform where:
• you list books you no longer want
• request books from other readers
• only pay shipping

Or do people generally prefer keeping physical books?

I’m genuinely curious because I’ve started building something around this idea.

I love reading, always have, but after being laid off and not reading on my commute, I stopped for a good 6 months. I look at my home library of novels next on my list and am overwhelmed.

Fortunately, Little Libraries are popular in my area, and I have picked up several whodunit thrillers, adventure novels, and horror books. I am currently reading "Cyclops" by Clive Cussler and couldn't be happier.

Don't judge anyone, nor yourself on their choice of literature. Sometimes we read to think, sometimes to emote, and sometimes to forget.

Before you come at me, let me explain. I love good a trope, I think it is a nice way to know what kind of book you are getting into. But, what I don't like is how a whole book is often described just by the trope not the plot, and also when the tropes get very specific -one bed, forced to kiss ect- like you are spoiling the book. Another thing I hate, is when a booktoker start to tropify a book where the main theme isn't even romance, like this is just spoiling at this point and also very misleading. Take for example "The cruel prince", almost everyone on booktok was calling it "enemies to lovers" when it was a political fantasy with a romance subplot. I get it, giving the trope attract the reader but like it get to a point we only see the same thing over and over again, authors start to get lazy, spitting books only driven by tropes without bothering to give their characters any depth whatsoever, they sprinkle some spicy scenes and that is it. (Even tho I get it some people just want to read a simple cute book without needing it to be to full).

Would love to hear anyone thoughts or opinion on this

I've picked up this book from my local library after it was recommended to me over and over again.

I'm about a quarter in, and honestly? I find the writing style very uningaging. I get that it's supposed to be someone's diary, but it's basically 100% tell instead of show. Tell, then tell again in case you hadn't figured it out the first time.

For example, at some point the narrator mentions that a thousand dollars will buy you about two weeks worth of food. Then goes on explaining how food prices are insane, always going up, never down, how people are complaining about it, etc... it almost reads like YA fiction.

The worldbuilding itself is thoughtful and intelligent, but I find it very difficult to feel engaged with the delivery and feel like I'm being spoon fed every detail of the narrator's world, rather than slowly discovering it and drawing my own conclusions.

I keep seeing people here raving about this author. Am I missing something? Does it get better?

I’ve read around 300 pages of Gone with the Wind so far, but honestly I still haven’t found that emotional pull everyone talks about. The writing and atmosphere are good, and I can see why people admire it, but it hasn’t fully clicked for me yet. Maybe the deeper emotional impact comes later in the story, so I’m still continuing with some hope and curiosity.

Like even my favorite books I just don’t enjoy reading again idk why.

Hey guys enough is enough 😭
I’m done with studying.
I’m looking for my mafia boss in real life where do I sign up for one?