r/ReadingSuggestions

Guys I wanna start Reading can somebody tell me what to start with? “Books suggestions” please

Thank you in advance 😊

Here are some that hit that feeling hard for me:

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Postwar Barcelona feels so livedin that by the end I could have drawn a map of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books neighborhood from memory. The city is basically a character, and the mystery layers in slowly enough that you just sink.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. Unusual pick because the world is surreal rather than realistic, but I've never read anything that dropped me so completely into an alien place. You're as confused as the narrator at first, and then things click into place in a way that genuinely unsettled me. Short book, massive atmosphere.

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. Almost the entire novel takes place inside one hotel, which sounds limiting, but Towles makes that building feel like a whole universe. I dragged out the last fifty pages because I didn't want it to end.

The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson. Viking historical fiction that most people haven't heard of. It reads like someone who actually lived that life wrote it down. No romanticizing, no gritforgrit'ssake either, just a world that feels completely matteroffact and real.

Salvatore by Federigo Tozzi - if you want something quieter. Rural Tuscany in the early 1900s, and the sense of place is almost uncomfortable it's so specific.

The Zafón and the Towles are probably my top two for that "sat there staring at the wall when it was over" feeling.

I’m just now starting Part 3 and finding it to be a super boring read. Anyone else read it and can vouch for it being worth it to continue?

Hello

I’ve just finished light wielder and it was a slog!! Terrible book - such a shame as I like metal slinger a lot. But this book has taken me three whole weeks to read and I NEED my next read to be captivating or I’ll go into a full slump.

I don’t mind a standalone or a series

My top fave books of the past year are the knight and the moth, road of bones series and the ballad of falling dragons.

I love strong world building. I’m a bit tired of enemies to lovers tropes unless it’s a particularly good one.

I don’t really read Romantasy for the spice so I don’t care about spice rating but I do love me some yearning and slow build romance. I care more about the character plot and world building than the romance. I often guess twists and reveals so I’m interested in books where people really didn’t see the twist coming.

I’m interested in books that are popular so I’ve got spaces to discuss them rather than books no ones heard of.

I’ve not asked for book rec on here before so thanks so much in advance for your help!!

I am obsessed with watching series and movies so I decided maybe I should give books a try.

I need something romantic, with teenage drama, highschool, interesting plot.

I am not looking for complicated books or anything with too dark themes just something light and fun for starters. Ty!

I really like stories where the protagonists are ignored/avoided by the general populations and their partner is the first person who approaches/gets to know them. It might be a forced or a voluntary process and I would prefer books where the man is the lonely one. Alternative recommendations are also welcome!

Thanks

I’m finishing up The Hobbit and reading the AoT manga on the side. My current backlog is-
The Outsiders
Dungeon Crawler Carl
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
11/22/63
The Hunger Games
The Rise of Kyoshi

I always had a love for reading and has passed that love on to my son but now that he’s 8, I would like to know some recommendations. I already added Goosebumps and The Percy Jackson series to some books I would like for him to read next but I would love to get insight on what other parents bought for their kids.

Looking to start reading as a hobby to reduce screen time and also just want to get into the world of books.
Don’t know which genre i would like so open to some good recommendations as first reads.
Any avid readers, would love your suggestions and recommendations.✨

I have three books that I started around 8 months ago but never managed to finish:

- Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

- Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

- The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

I usually read psychological thrillers and absolutely love the genre, but I want to take a break and finally finish at least one self-help/reflective book.

One thing about me is that memorable quotes and thought-provoking lines really motivate me to keep reading. Based on that, which one would you recommend I pick up first, and why?

Also, if there's another book you think would be a better choice for someone trying to take a break from thrillers, please recommend it!

Hi, currently on break. I was wondering if anyone had recommendations for me, im not super picky with books. I wanna read a series, not just one book, so if possible it should be a complete series. I also like reading fantasy mainly, it can have romance too but I prefer that to be a subplot and not the whole point of the book series. Also, please include the reading order, thanks in advance!

I think I've officially become a Freida McFadden addict. From January to June, I've read The Housemaid, The Housemaid's Secret, The Teacher, The Coworker, The Boyfriend, The Tenant, The Intruder, Dear Debbie, Never Lie, the divorce and The Locked Door.

I've also read books by Claire Douglas, B.A. Paris, Lisa Jewell, and Alex Michaelides (The Silent Patient, The Maidens, and The Fury).

I love psychological thrillers, domestic suspense, family secrets, mysteries, and books with a good twist.

Looking for 3–4 must-read recommendations for my July TBR, preferably by authors I haven't explored yet. No self-help, just addictive, unputdownable thrillers!

What should I read next?

Hey y'all!

Recently in the last few years, I've been trying to get back into reading. I've been mostly unsuccessful with novels, but have fallen back in love with graphic novels, comics, and manga. However, due to my lack of enthusiasm for novels, I often feel "less intelligent" or like I'm missing something that others see and I can't. I've tried a good few novels from different reading levels and genres: House of Leaves, Percy Jackson, The Troop, The King in Yellow, I'm Glad My Mom Died, and many more I've likely forgotten the name of, but none of them can seem to enrapture me like they did when I was a kid/teen. The closest I've come to was an audiobook of Tusk Love (the Critical Role tie-in), though I mostly enjoyed the worldbuilding and characters more than the romance/"spice."

So, I'm curious, are there any good novels that really capture that graphic novel/comic/manga feel? Some I've read recently and really enjoyed were:

- Captain America Vol. 1: Our Secret Wars

- Absolute Martian Manhunter

- You'll Do Bad Things

- DC's Kingdom Come

- Batman: Year One, The Long Halloween, & Dark Victory

- Batman: The Court of Owls Saga

- Night Fever

- The Nice House on The Lake

- Goodbye, Eri

- BRZRKR Vol. 1

- Watchmen

- Vote Loki

So im a sophomore in highschool and have always had a high reading and comprehension level (when I was in kindergarten I was reading at 5th and 6th grade level) and im having a hard time finding books to challenge me. I love novels and some of my favorites are turtles all the way down by John Green, look closer (idk the author), and remarkably bright creatures. Im capable of understanding collage level books easily and would just like a little bit of a challenge so im not flying through books and can better myself. Anything helps thanks!

Hi everyone! I'm looking for some nonfiction true crime books. I'm thinking of binge reading something. I want to read something that gets deep into psychology, crime, criminals, murder and patterns, everything.

I would really appreciate the recommendations.

I wrote a short essay after each book I read and finally hit 500 today as I finished a book on The Dreyfus Affair (interesting stuff!). I was reflecting back on my essays (which I can share if folks find it worth discussing any of the titles further)

I gathered most of my reading list from here (reddit r/books) but very often followed certain themes and threads that were related to whatever wavelength I was in at the time. I spent like 4 months on nothing but biblical apocrypha and then another detour into Opera for a good 6 weeks. I read all the Raymond Chandler books in between all of Virginia Wolf's books to keep an oscillating variety because of ADD)....

Speaking of: ADD sufferer for 40 years+ w other fun cognitive comorbidities. Quite intense that manifests in impulsivity which causes my thoughts to dart 24/7 unless I'm completely regimented about overcoming it. I had to train my brain completely to become a good reader, to the point where I kept a sharp pen nearby to poke myself in the arm everytime my mind would wander (sometimes I had to do so with every other word).

Only 2 books I did not finish but made it much of the way through (The Book Thief by Zusak-not because it was bad and The Golden Bowl by Henry James because I found it unreadable after the first half.)

No particular order here but I did indicate at which point in the 500 I read the book) .

A Confederacy of Dunces by Toole (32nd book read):

I didn't expect to laugh at a book like I did at comedy movies until I grabbed this and couldn't stop reading it. I really liked that we get let in on the joke of it all immediately. We're meant to have a good time reading this, it's not hauty and unapproachable for ANY reader. Brilliant editing and writing and the second funniest book I read behind only...

*Catch-22* by Heller (440th book I read):

Tears in my eyes non stop. I had trouble getting through the scene where Yossarian and Orr were talking about why Orr stuffed horse chestnuts in his mouth. I lost it and will probably remember exactly where I was when I came across that passage for the first time. This might be the most *clever*of my 500 reads. So brilliant.

*Siddhartha* by Hesse (9th book I read) :

If for nothing else, Hesse got me deeply into learning about Buddhism, fasting and meditation, and their teachings (not necessarily in practice to this point in my life) ​. I could not believe how prescient and relatable the text was. How easy it was to understand something that should be a "mystical" topic that other writers would try to dress up with too much religious simili. I'd reccommend to anyone who wants to re-examine their life and the world without using substances. This book changed my life, truly. I have used the described method of "rebirthing" your ego at any moment you please. Starting again. I read this in conjunction with Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and they complimented each other super well.

*The Stranger* by Camus (2nd book I read):

I didn't put it down...until I absolutely had to. The final 25 pages or so when he is preparing. ​I felt captured immediately. I put the book down and walked a mile. And this one was not as well loved in this forum when searching for it as some other review areas on the internet. It scared me to death in a profound way and I think because I read it so soon after retirement, it deprogrammed me and my view of life in a way I hadn't expected. I considered myself an existentialist and still do and don't necessarily believe Camus' message is what reddit critics at the top of the algorithm prepared me for. ​

*Rebecca* by Du Maurier (314th book I read:

This was not my genre (I thought) but I got sucked in like being home on the couch and The Notebook starts on TV, and the remote is too far, so you end up knowing it ambiently via a TV screen throughout your life. I'm not sure the sub genre and I didn't go very much deeper into it after Rebecca but I would love your suggestions. I want to say that I absolutely think I prefer women writing about women (not that this should be a controversial take but, wow!, what an insane difference​ and experience after spending my life in a cis male dominated algorithm).

I loved this book. Kind of fell in love with it. As an object. ​It gave me butterflies in my stomach, the story, the prose was exactly my style.

*Underworld* by Don Delillo: (155th book I read)

Another introduction to a genre I hadn't considered I would enjoy before. Post-modern, breadth across the story as opposed to depth (being 900 pages, this was deep too), historical fiction with a "slice-of-life" so a modern reader could relate to any point in the books timeline. I would deem this a retirement read and I would recommend reading a short bio on Delillo beforehand too and if it seems line you're style, make sure you have lots of time. It's so rich and what I would be as a writer, were I a writer. I could speak/rap/chant the text at times because of how well I found the ethereal timeliness connecting.

Don is a fun writer. I read everything else of his immediately afterward. Probably my favorite author if I ever had to pick one?

*Love In The Time of Cholera* AND *100 Years of Solitude* by Marquez (85th and 86th books read):

How could I not? After my first 6 favorites, how could this guy not just capture me for a weekend. I don't like typing a lot out about his work because I really just want people to be patient with the first parts of each book as Marquez builds the story. They don't become true top 10 brilliance until you see all the magical realism come together at the end.

*The Warmth of Other Suns* by Isabel Wilkerson (369th book read)

I'm an American and wanted to learn about my neighbors. Although I had already appreciated many Colson Whitehead books, I wanted something even more historical and citable. But not about the usual names in history. So I dug a little deeper here and picked this epic up about 3 of our neighbors who made the Great Migration to the northern parts of the US. Although one of them turned out to be the physician of Ray Charles, these were just our neighbors. What it took for them to get to where they are today and the story of everything in between. Probably my top recco for anybody who wants to start out with what the experience of black history is to be lived by those beyond the news. It's real because it's not a hero like Rosa Parks or MLK, it's real because any American can related to one of the three stories, they span the country and decades post Jim Crow)

*Housekeeping* by Marilyn Robinson (459th book I read)​:

I dont fully understand why either. The book soaked me. Obviously I'm playing on the water imagery in the book but I had a very personal connection to Ruth and her experience. I guess just a personal selection that I don't necessarily want to psycho analyze. I can say, this is the book for me is when I clearly decided I would only read women writing about women for now. I'm sure a rule like that could be limiting but i had to buy physical copies of this book because I wanted it close by. It made me feel so many emotions about life, and being a rather transient, young emancipated person mysel, this is one I'll certainly find some passages to save for eulogies (possibly even to be read at my own). I wish I could meet Marilyn Robinson and talk to her as a psychiatrist and not an excellent writer.

*The Rings of Saturn*by W.G. Sebald (312th book read):

I wanted a book to read while enjoying stargazing and a fat bowl of thc and this was great for that. Actually. Perfect. It's not quite as trippy as Aldoux Huxley and some of his psychedelic fever dream writings but it's just a thread through time and space without being as deep and non-sequitas as Ulysses or Infinite Jest which I haven't finished either of yet. I wanted to pick something more off the radar, over the standard reccos I see and put something forward I found to be a bit avant-garde and worth discussing more in greater circles. ​

That was 11. Be well and keep reading please.

I'm currently seventeen and a student in high school. I've always really loved poetry and literature since I was young, but only recently started reading more of the classics in the past two years. 

My grandmother recently passed from cancer and my mother was just diagnosed with leukemia a few days ago. It’s got me reflecting a lot more on my life and how fleeting our time on earth is. Both my mother and my grandmother loved literature but were both so busy with their careers that they never really got the chance to read as much. 

I’ve realized the importance of spending my time doing/experiencing the things I enjoy while I can, so I'm looking to expand my horizons as far as possible. Please recommend me your painfully beautiful, life-altering, absolute favorite must-read books or anthologies!

I would really appreciate any and all recommendations!!

I've been on a bit of a reading kick lately and realized that the books I end up loving most always have one thing in common: sharp, clever dialogue between characters that actually makes me laugh out loud or grin like an idiot on the bus. Not slapstick humor, but that kind of quick backandforth wit where you can tell the characters really know each other, or are just naturally quick on their feet.

I recently finished something that had almost none of that and felt the absence badly. It made me realize how much I rely on banter to stay emotionally invested in a story and its characters.

So I'm curious what books you'd consider the gold standard for this. Could be any genre honestly. Romance, fantasy, literary fiction, mystery, whatever. If the dialogue crackles and the characters have genuine chemistry through the way they talk to each other, I want to hear about it.

Bonus points if the humor sneaks up on you rather than feeling forced or written in just for comic relief. I want it woven into who the characters actually are.

What are your holy grail picks for banter done right?

Hiiiii, new here.

I just finished reading lady Susan, my very first Jane Austen book and I loved it.

Granted, I could read it again cause I only read while I walk out when I'm on a bus, so I got a bit lost with all the letters between characters, but I want a new story.

So, any other Jane Austen book recommendations? Maybe something similar?

I don't have much reading habit so suggest some good novel which seems to be interesting and I won't feel bored while reading