r/BookRecommendations

Hey everyone, I’m 18F and about to do a solo trip to NYC for a couple of weeks this summer. I’m in a really weird, heavy place in my life right now and I’m desperate for a genuinely good book to take with me. You know the type of book you'll read at Bryant Park.

To give you some context on why I'm feeling this way, I recently lost my entire friend group over some stupid rumors (very dramatic and cringy). On top of that, I just walked away from the youth ministry and Christian church I grew up in after 17 years. Right now, I'm in a gap year, and to be completely honest, I’m depressed.

I feel incredibly lost. I don't know what I'm doing with my life, and I feel like I don't even know who I am anymore. I’m using this NYC trip to figure myself out and finally get away from everything that has spent years putting me in a box. It’s not my first solo trip, but because of everything that’s happened, this one feels different.

What I’m looking for:

• Fiction only. Please no psychology, self-help, or "how-to-fix-your-life" books.
• A story I can actually relate to. It can be about a teenager or an adult, as long as it deals with that specific feeling of isolation, being at a crossroads, or trying to find your identity when everything you knew has crumbled. But I want something subtle. I don't want a book that starts with a loud "God, I hate my life" or constant complaining. I prefer a story where the realization hits you slowly through the atmosphere, the interactions, and the quiet moments where you just feel the weight of what the character is going through without them constantly spelling it out.
• If it helps, my absolute favorite movie is Lost in Translation. I want that exact feeling in book form atmospheric, a little melancholic, but comforting in its loneliness.

I usually only read romance or fanfics, so this whole genre of literary/contemporary fiction is brand new to me. I really want a story to get lost in.

What book saved you when you felt completely lost in the world? Thanks in advance.

Hey guys! I’ve been in such a reading slump lately and I need some good books to completely lose myself in. (Can be romantasty, magical, romantic but I’d prefer romance to be the main plot point)
Here’s what I like in a romance book:

Enemies to lovers
Slow burn
High tension
Best friends brother or brothers best friend
Banter
Flirting
DUAL POV PREFERABLY
Fated mates trope books are welcome as well!

But even if there isn’t some of those things still please comment your fav books because I will always try something once!

I’ll also include a few of my favourite books I’ve read:

Anything by Ana Huang
Wild love by Elsie silver
In which Margo Halifax earns her shocking reputation by Alexandra Vasti
The maple hills series by Hannah grace (although I like the last two more)
Hooked by Emily McIntire

Thank you! I truly look forward to your recommendations!

Hey there! I’m looking for some books to read over summer break. I want a story that’s captivating right from the start. preferably nothing that takes forever to get good. I’m really into historical fiction and fiction in general. I honestly wish I could go back in time and read the Wolf Den series for the first time again. I’m looking for a book (or series) that’s so good I won’t be able to put it down.

I used to read a lot till about 10 years ago, then life happened. I want to get back to it again to 1) disconnect from social media and 2) inspire my 5 month old daughter to pick up reading as she grows up. What books/ authors womud you recommend. Will start reading them 1 by 1. Open for any genre

Will go abroad for a week and the train ride is around 16 hours, so I thought I might finally start reading again.

Looking for a good book in English that’s engaging and not too difficult to read. I haven’t properly read a book in years, but I’d also like something that helps me improve my vocabulary a bit.

I’m into tech/computers, but I’m open to pretty much anything if it’s hard to put down.
Any recommendations?
Thank you!🙏

i’m reading maggie’s grave and feel there’s a few similarities but i want that horror thriller element but that has heart and fantasy

Hi! Someone I know has been through something, and I’m wondering if there are any novels that describe a similar type of dynamic. I think it might help her understand what happened, and it would also be interesting to read a story that feels recognisable.

This is her story (I’ll call her M):

M had been close friends with another woman for a very long time. She originally knew this friend through her husband, because her husband and the friend’s ex-husband are best friends. M has three children, and her friend doesn’t have any.

At some point, the friend starts being mean t M. She dismisses her, laughs at her about sensitive things, and eventually even starts treating her as if she’s invisible. When M confronts her about it, she gets gaslit and told that she's overreacting and all is well between them.

Meanwhile, the friend continues visiting M’s husband at his workplace for coffee, and gradually inserts herself more and more into the family. She gives the children expensive gifts, takes them out for dinner, and starts taking on roles that would normally belong to a mother. She slowly wedges herself into the family dynamic, and M can feel it happening, but her husband doesn’t really take it seriously because it all happens in a subtle, under-the-surface way.

The whole situation caused M a huge amount of stress, and thankfully she eventually ended the friendship. She did it through a text message, 'cause she was too stressed to face her again, and the friend never replied, even though they had been friends for 25 years.

It’s such a bizarre story, right? But at the same time, it feels like such a recognisable type of dynamic somehow. I’m hoping there might be a realistic novel about a similar situation.

I’ve recently been getting into reading, I’ve never really been a big reader but as of late I’ve been reading cosmos by Carl Sagan and I’ve been loving it!

I love subjects about space (especially!), philosophy, history, war, science, politics (kind of) and such. I like reading true stories and real factual information, not much of a fantasy guy when it comes to reading.

Based off what I’ve told you, what do you recommend I eventually read? Can you please state what kind of book it is if you have the chance, like what subject. I’d prefer the mainstream “must reads” since I’m still newer to reading as a hobby and I’d rather read the classics than read more niche novels.

Trying to lose my mind this summer. Psychological horror, thriller, cosmic horror, wtv. Need to feel like I've discovered something others have not and its driving me mad trying to conceptualize it but no matter how hard I try I can't get it right

I would like to read them and get to know them. I would very much prefer translation and renditions as close as possible to the originals as you can get into English. Thank you 🙏

Hi,

I’m an author and have a few spare UK/US Audible codes for my novel Helen and the Grandbees (“Uplifting” - UK National Press), which has just come out in audio.

It’s fairly quiet, character-focused literary fiction — more about family, identity, and emotional recovery than plot-heavy stuff.

The audiobook is narrated by Helen Day and runs about 8 hours.

Happy to send codes to anyone who might genuinely be interested — just comment or message me with UK or US.

No pressure around reviews or anything like that, though of course they’re always appreciated.

i’m looking for a book where the main character is in a toxic relationship where their partner/friend keeps doing things that hurt them, but they still stay with them. and they’re actually begging the one who hurt them to stay. a trope of one sided love. are there any books where that type of relationship is shown? thanks so much:))

Hey y’all! I’ve been going through some really trying times in my personal life that have me just.. sad.

Recommend a book for me that

1. Is incredibly sad and will let me shed the tears that I probably need to.

And

2. A book that is HILARIOUS! I love when books literally make me laugh out loud. And I could use some laughter.

Thank you

I’ve fallen into a massive reading slump. I have books to read on my shelf but can’t seem to pick one up. I have Kindle Unlimited, but I don’t seem to tap the app either. All of the books recommended to me just don’t hold me the way others have.

For reference, I’ve read 12 books this year. Last year I read 87, and the year before that I read 110, so it’s a massive drop.

Anyway, I need something that can hold my attention. I’ll read standalones, duets, trilogies, and series. I love a romance subplot, but I want it to be more than just that.

Past reads I’ve loved are: anything by Rina Kent, Fourth Wing, and the Edge of Darkness trilogy. I’ll also read shifter-books, vampire books, etc.

I’m open to other genres too — those are just examples. Please just give me something.

(Also, I’m a bit of a lover of gay romance books)

I LOVE Frieda McFadden. I can read one of her books in one day. Apparently she deliberately writes her books using simple sentences so that teenagers and even children can read them. I have pretty bad ADD and some other issues and I struggle to read most books written for adults. Looking for authors similar to her, in terms of writing style. Short sentences. Plot focused. No detailed descriptions of environment or thought processes. Lots of mini cliffhangers. Thanks in advance!

I’m looking for a funny book that will make me laugh. In the past A Confederacy of Dunces and Catch-22 have made me cackle. I generally have a pretty irreverent sense of humor and love shows like Curb your Enthusiasm and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. But I’m open to suggestions and wouldn’t mind something lighter.

Suggest me some must-read books regarding maturity in emotions and behaviour

Hey y'all, I've found it suprisingly difficult to find books I like written by a woman. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ that could be a personal fault. Could be that the local library is too small to organically find very many books that fit me.

Things I like:

- conspiracies

- horses

- woodcraft

- soft or hard magic as long as it makes narrative sense or is treated like a tool

- the military/the sea/travel

- animals and plants (but not something that resembles one of Disney's "dogs")

- Drew Hayes' way of dealing with politics. All the discrimination is in world and isn't used to take potshots at ppl he disagrees with in the real world. I want this to be a book I can share with just about anyone without any "just keep in mind... ", "before u read it you should know..."

Things I don't like:

- sudden and unwilling undressing

- sudden/very detailed or unwilling intimacy

- school (sorry HP :/)

- breaking the fourth wall to talk about a political point

Book I loved:

- the green rider (book 1)

Books I liked:

- Graceling series

I want to put that I like the supernatural too, but my experience with that kind of book has been that it is smut. 100% of the two times I gave it a chance.

Also also also, I am an avid reader, and I'm wanting to be able to list like a dozen or so books off the top of my head written by women that I would recommend. Because with male authors I have the opposite problem. There are too many books I could recommend

Need a book where VILLAIN worships his woman and acts like his world revolves around her and her only.

Please help so that I can escape hell

hi all! i absolutely LOVE werewolf books and things that come along with that theme (pack bonding, the deeper-than-words internal communication that happens, the dynamics of alphas / betas / omegas, coming of age, “coming out” as a werewolf, etc etc). i saw that everybody online suggested wolfsong by tj klune so naturally i started reading it. i absolutely LOVED it! up until i realized the main romantic pairing was an age-gap dynamic that i personally wasn’t really into… totally my fault for not looking up a trope list beforehand!

does anyone have any reccs for werewolf books similar to wolfsong without the younger-ended age gap relationship? i’m fine if it’s an age gap between adults! like 20+ being the youngest upon first meeting. i’m of course also fine if the main pairing are the same age as children haha.

hopefully my request isn’t too niche. thank you! <3