Board 8 > I've obtained a library card! Recommend me some of your favorite books.

(+) Yeah! (+)

I used to read a bunch in high school, but I've barely read anything since then. Don't know why, just kind of stopped. I decided on a whim to get a library card a few months ago, and I'm trying to start reading as a hobby again.

So hit me with some recommendations, please. They can be classics, new releases, long, short, poetry, prose, fiction, nonfiction, whatever. I almost certainly haven't read it! I'm open to most genres. I'm still trying to figure out what types of stories I like to read the most.

I particularly enjoyed Recursion by Blake Crouch this year, though I listened to the audiobook

You should also check if your library has video games. A lot do.

Infinite Jest

Or for a less daunting task, House of Leaves

Brando Sando
Wheel of Time
Malazan

Red Mars
Three Body Problem
The Expanse

Chaeix posted...

I particularly enjoyed Recursion by Blake Crouch this year, though I listened to the audiobook

Seconded, although I liked his book Dark Matter even more

Also recommend anything by Stuart Turton (especially The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle) and V.E. Schwab's Shades of Magic series

@NFUN beat me to the punch on several things! Ill think up a bunch of recs later.

Congrats on the library card!

See if theres a book club or something there and roll off with that

Some good writers are Colson Whitehead, Madeline Miller, Haruki Murakami, and Cormac McCarthy for general. Neal Stephenson, China Melville, William Gibson for scifi, fantasy Dark Materials is pretty easy to get into, Abercrombies pretty well contained in his trilogies too if you want to try that.

Chaeix posted...

I particularly enjoyed Recursion by Blake Crouch this year, though I listened to the audiobook

Sounds interesting! I'll add it to my list.

mnk posted...

You should also check if your library has video games. A lot do.

I'm pretty sure they do, but I have such a big backlog I'm not sure I'd ever check one out.

FFDragon posted...

Infinite Jest

Or for a less daunting task, House of Leaves

1088 pages...that definitely would be a challenge, though the book does seem intriguing. The longest book I've read since I got my library card was 570ish pages (The Lincoln Highway), which took me about two weeks to read. The checkout period is 20 days, so I'd have read about 54 pages a day to read Infinite Jest without renewing it. Which I probably could do easily, unless some other crazy person put it on hold lol

House of Leaves seems like a good October book. I'll add it to my list.

NFUN posted...

Brando Sando
Wheel of Time
Malazan

Red Mars
Three Body Problem
The Expanse

I've heard of most of these. I'm not sure if I'm looking to start a long series anytime soon, but I will keep Brando Sando in mind.

Thanks for all the recs so far! Keep 'em coming.

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

House of Leaves is so good it makes almost any other book look lame in comparison.

Depending on what else you're into or if you list some titles you've liked before, I could maybe give more specific recs.

Regardless I think short story collections are a good starting point. You can sample like 2 or 3 to see if you vibe with them and it's not as much of a time commitment.

I would rec Flannery o connor if you haven't read. Good Country People or A Good Man is Hard to Find are good starting points.

Or What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (collection) by Raymond Carver

Snake5555555555 posted...

Houses of Leaves is so good it makes almost any other book look lame in comparison.

this is straight facts though

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

NFUN posted...

Brando Sando
Wheel of Time
Malazan

Red Mars
Three Body Problem
The Expanse

Clearly someone of exquisite tastes ;) Wheel of Time is 14 books though, so it'll take a long while to read. Eye of the World (the first book) is good but definitely a bit formulaic of many fantasy novels, so definitely at least read through The Great Hunt before giving up.

I've not read Malazan but I've heard good things.

Brandon Sanderson is the Stephen King of fantasy novels; just stupidly, ridiculously prolific. I fell off him a few years back because it was simply too much but he's an easy recommend. Elantris is his first book, so I'd either start there or with the first Mistborn trilogy.

Since I brought up Stephen King...I'd recommend The Dark Tower series (7 books total) The Stand, It, and for a newer release I was a big, big fan of 11/22/63. His earlier short story collections are really good too and could be a good way to break up the gigantic fantasy tomes that will inevitably get recommended here.

Also seconding Madeline Miller

LiquidOshawott posted...

Neal Stephenson

I've read a couple of Stephenson. He can be a bit of a tough read at points because he'll get super technical. Seveneves was the one I probably enjoyed the most from him.

LiquidOshawott posted...

His Dark Materials

I'm actually reading this right now, about halfway through the 3rd book. Definitely a bit YA-ish but it's been pretty good.

mcflubbin posted...

Or for a less daunting task, House of Leaves

I mean, House of Leaves kinda is a little daunting but, yeah, that's a really cool one and a definite recommend. You really, really want the physical version of this one though; I don't think Kindle/eBook would do it justice.

I don't think House of Leaves is even available on Kindle

https://youtu.be/lyxEDSnegTU?feature=shared

Good Omens
American Gods
Project Hail Mary

Johnbobb posted...

Seconded, although I liked his book Dark Matter even more

Also recommend anything by Stuart Turton (especially The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle) and V.E. Schwab's Shades of Magic series

Added!

SaveEstelle posted...

Congrats on the library card!

Hey, thanks! When I met up with my family a few weeks ago and excitedly told them about my new library card, they were considerably less enthusiastic.

LiquidOshawott posted...

See if theres a book club or something there and roll off with that

Some good writers are Colson Whitehead, Madeline Miller, Haruki Murakami, and Cormac McCarthy for general. Neal Stephenson, China Melville, William Gibson for scifi, fantasy Dark Materials is pretty easy to get into, Abercrombies pretty well contained in his trilogies too if you want to try that.

I will look into these, thank you. Harukami was actually on my radar already, any specific recs from him? I was looking at Kafka on the Shore, but I figured I should probably read some Kafka first lol

Leonhart4 posted...

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

That's the second recommendation for The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, maybe I should fast track that one on top of my list. I've never read an Agatha Christie novel, so the The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is a good recommendation, too.

Perfume

Theft of Swords by Michael J Sullivan

Long way to a small angry planet

Vatta series by Elizabeth Moon

And Then There Were None
A Murder is Announced
Murder at Orient Express

Guards, Guards!
Hogfather
Monstrous Regiment

Evelyn Hardcastle is outstanding, I support that as well

Congratulations! I'm in a similar boat- I don't read anywhere near as much as I used to.

My favorite book is probably The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe. I can also vouch for the quality of Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. Because I discussed it on this board at some point, I have to mention that Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir was a fun romp. A relative lent me their old sf & fantasy books when I was a kid, so I have a soft spot for Isaac Asimov, Jack Vance, and Fritz Leiber. The Caves of Steel (a detective story with optional sequels) in particular, along with its various optional sequels and his short stories. I consider those three authors foundational to modern fantasy & sci fi. The d&d spellcasting system isn't called "Vancian" for nothing. Anything of his about Rhialto the Marvelous is peak. I thought Glen Cook's The Black Company was the best thing ever when I was a teen, but I'm scared to re-read as it probably wasn't actually all that great.

Recently... The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz was recommended to me and was pretty good. It has a strong voice and salient references, even if I did lose a bit of interest by the end. I finally plunged into Iain Banks's Culture series after decades of recommendations, and it's sporadically very good, even though I dislike that it seems to have been embraced by AI chuds.

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien was my favorite book I was required to read in school.

Inferno by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven (from what I've heard Niven is normally awful but Pournelle kept him reigned down) was another favorite.

I was in a bad spot a few years ago and some litRPGs were a guilty pleasure that burned the time. I'm pretty sure they're not available at libraries and- while I do have a favorite- I'm not sure I'd actually recommend any of them unless someone was already interested in the genre.

Children of Time.

just excellent sci fi

Seanchan posted...

I've read a couple of Stephenson. He can be a bit of a tough read at points because he'll get super technical. Seveneves was the one I probably enjoyed the most from him.

I'm actually reading this right now, about halfway through the 3rd book. Definitely a bit YA-ish but it's been pretty good.

yeah I would start with Snow Crash, its his first and easiest. Stuff like Anathem can get a little overwhelming but good once you sink into it

and yeah YA at least for fantasy isnt bad. Just to get an idea if you like it.

mcflubbin posted...

I will look into these, thank you. Harukami was actually on my radar already, any specific recs from him? I was looking at Kafka on the Shore, but I figured I should probably read some Kafka first lol

you actually dont really need to read Kafka, its simply the name of the protagonist.

my favorite is actually wind up bird chronicle, would go with that (Kafka is also very good but a bit abstract, took me like three or four times to get into it haha)

Watchers by Dean Koontz

mcflubbin posted...

Kafka on the Shore, but I figured I should probably read some Kafka first lol

It's a fine start and you def do not need to read Kafka before

You should read Kafka regardless though

Oh whoops I accidentally deleted my post

Great job on getting a library card! I got mine a year ago and it was such an amazing decision

I have a ton of difficulties with burnout and morale, so I would recommend reading shorter books of 400 pages or less rather than epic books of 900 pages or more. Then once you got a rhythm going, you can do the bigger books.

Some shorter books I recommend:

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
The Kingdom of Mattias by Paul E. Johnson and Sean Wilentz

And my recommended epic book is the LBJ 5 book combo by Robert Caro. The Power Broker by Caro is good too.

FFDragon posted...

You should read Kafka regardless though

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/e33c37d1.jpg

kateeeeeeeeeeee posted...

Depending on what else you're into or if you list some titles you've liked before, I could maybe give more specific recs.

Regardless I think short story collections are a good starting point. You can sample like 2 or 3 to see if you vibe with them and it's not as much of a time commitment.

I would rec Flannery o connor if you haven't read. Good Country People or A Good Man is Hard to Find are good starting points.

Or What We Talk About When We Talk About Love (collection) by Raymond Carver

Short story collections are a good idea, I'll check these out. I'm still kind of trying to pin down what I like in a book, but here's the four books I've read since I got my library card:

• Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. Historical fiction. I was able to knock this out in an afternoon. Short and simple, but poignant. Very much worth a read, and a perfectly short novella to ease me back into reading.
• A Better World by Sarah Langan. Satirical dystopian thriller. The writing oscillated between legitimately funny and a bit eyeroll-inducing. Fun read overall, though there were some annoying cliches that popped up in the latter half that took me out of it.
• These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever. LGBT dark academia crime thriller. Really enjoyed it. The main characters were toxic and pretentious af, but some of the internal narration really struck a chord with me. The internal narration about anxiety and self-hatred and other peoples' expectations, not the internal narration about committing violent murder, just to be clear.
• The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. Roadtrip novel set in the 50s. Just finished it last night, still processing it a bit. Told from multiple perspective, lots of interesting characters and scenarios. I very much enjoyed the journey, but the ending was *mood spoilers* surprisingly grim, which I wasn't really expecting and not sure if I liked.

I also read the first few pages of Anxious People by Fredrik Bachman, but I found it to be so obnoxiously unfunny that I dropped it immediately. Yeesh.

Seanchan posted...

Since I brought up Stephen King...I'd recommend The Dark Tower series (7 books total) The Stand, It, and for a newer release I was a big, big fan of 11/22/63. His earlier short story collections are really good too and could be a good way to break up the gigantic fantasy tomes that will inevitably get recommended here.

Stephen King is on my list for sure. My brother just finished The Stand and he recommended it highly, so I can just borrow it from him if I want to get started.

Johnbobb posted...

Also seconding Madeline Miller

Okay, so is Song of Achilles actually worthwhile? I have a passing interest, but the way I've seen people talking about it had me wondering if it's legitimately good, or if it's just gay and tragic enough for the Tumblr crowd to latch on to.

MysteriousStan posted...

https://youtu.be/lyxEDSnegTU?feature=shared

Certified banger.

Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune tell a nice arc. God Emperor is a bit much and very different. I never bothered reading past that point in the series.

The Hobbit and LotR are classics if you havent read themthough I havent gone back to the books since the movies came out.

foolm0r0n posted...

Perfume

I'm pretty sure I've had this one spoiled for me. Do you think it would still be worth reading?

Maniac64 posted...

Theft of Swords by Michael J Sullivan

Long way to a small angry planet

Vatta series by Elizabeth Moon

Added to the list!

banananor posted...

Congratulations! I'm in a similar boat- I don't read anywhere near as much as I used to.

My favorite book is probably The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe. I can also vouch for the quality of Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. Because I discussed it on this board at some point, I have to mention that Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir was a fun romp. A relative lent me their old sf & fantasy books when I was a kid, so I have a soft spot for Isaac Asimov, Jack Vance, and Fritz Leiber. The Caves of Steel (a detective story with optional sequels) in particular, along with its various optional sequels and his short stories. I consider those three authors foundational to modern fantasy & sci fi. The d&d spellcasting system isn't called "Vancian" for nothing. Anything of his about Rhialto the Marvelous is peak. I thought Glen Cook's The Black Company was the best thing ever when I was a teen, but I'm scared to re-read as it probably wasn't actually all that great.

Recently... The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz was recommended to me and was pretty good. It has a strong voice and salient references, even if I did lose a bit of interest by the end. I finally plunged into Iain Banks's Culture series after decades of recommendations, and it's sporadically very good, even though I dislike that it seems to have been embraced by AI chuds.

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien was my favorite book I was required to read in school.

Inferno by Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven (from what I've heard Niven is normally awful but Pournelle kept him reigned down) was another favorite.

I was in a bad spot a few years ago and some litRPGs were a guilty pleasure that burned the time. I'm pretty sure they're not available at libraries and- while I do have a favorite- I'm not sure I'd actually recommend any of them unless someone was already interested in the genre.

Thanks for all the recs! I will look into these further when I have a chance.

LiquidOshawott posted...

you actually dont really need to read Kafka, its simply the name of the protagonist.

my favorite is actually wind up bird chronicle, would go with that (Kafka is also very good but a bit abstract, took me like three or four times to get into it haha)

Maybe not, but I would like to! I'll add the Wind Up Bird Chronicle to my list as well.

Cavedweller2000 posted...

Watchers by Dean Koontz

Added. This cover is fucking amazing lmao
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/bd50c667.jpg

notdave posted...

Children of Time.

just excellent sci fi

I actually picked this one up and started reading it for a few pages, then realized I wasn't really in the mood for a big ol' sci-fi novel. I plan on circling back to it eventually.

yeah discworld was correct. I'm on the Colour of Magic first train but Guards Guards is fine

Piranesi

Raka_Putra posted...

And Then There Were None
A Murder is Announced
Murder at Orient Express

Guards, Guards!
Hogfather
Monstrous Regiment

So Discworld is the setting for a bunch of books in the same universe? You can read them in any order?

PeaceFrog posted...

Piranesi

I already have this on hold at the library! Seems really interesting.

Holy Bible

mcflubbin posted...

So Discworld is the setting for a bunch of books in the same universe? You can read them in any order?

no, there are many reading orders and some even are correct. I'll post a chart of the arcs here tomorrow if I don't get beaten to it. Basically there are subseries that have to be read in order, with some connections between them

my preferred order is
(first two books): Colour of Magic, Light Fantastic
If you enjoyed those a lot, keep reading the Wizard arc
If you want a change, alternate between Watch and Death (Guards Guards then Mort then Men at Arms, etc)
Then Wizards if you hadn't finished, Witches, and read the side stories whenever

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/a395a44b.jpg

I also read the first few pages of Anxious People by Fredrik Bachman, but I found it to be so obnoxiously unfunny that I dropped it immediately. Yeesh.

I had the same feeling but powered through. Last half of the book saves it hard; it made me tear up.

Vigor Mortis

this book is not in libraries

I've been reading Edward Ashton's sci-fi a bunch lately - Mickey7 (yes, the one the movie's based off), Antimatter Blues (its sequel,) and Mal Goes to War. They're very quick reads and I found myself powering through them in a night each.

Lol that cover for Watchers is not something I've ever seen! It's usually just a picture of a cabin/house as viewed from some underbrush

mcflubbin posted...

I already have this on hold at the library! Seems really interesting.

Susanna Clarke has written two novels and they're two of the best novels ever (The other is Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell)

mcflubbin posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/bd50c667.jpg

this is some Goosebumps TV intro shit right here

(great book btw)

Denji posted...

Susanna Clarke has written two novels and they're two of the best novels ever (The other is Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell)

I'm literally just about to start her first novel! Would've read it on my last trip, but my kindle had some kind of issue with the file. Everyone hypes it up, and I'm a little scared of being let down. No spoilers please, I'm gonna read it for sure