Every year on this day I'm reminded of Kurt Vonnegut's musings on the day from the novel Breakfast of Champions: > So this book is a sidewalk strewn with junk, trash which I throw over my > shoulders as I travel in time back to November eleventh, nineteen hundred and > twenty-two. > > I will come…
I majored in literature, and I often joke it's part of the reason that I "don't read literature." That is not entirely true, I do find that I tend towards genre fiction, young adult stuff, fantasy adventure, light novels, paranormal romances and stuff that puts entertainment over academic merit. At…
One of my all-time favorites. I know the movie was pretty close to the book, but I think it failed to really capture a lot of the subtlety. There's something about the way Hunter wrote that invited a certain slowness for me. More than once I stopped to try to understand references, people, that…
This book was so deep and it just plays with human emotions.The characters are so well written and this story just questions if there is any humanity left in this world.i can't stop my tears running down my cheeks while u get into the last 100 pages.i learned a lot about afganistan from this…
I joined the Harry Potter train late. I first saw the movies and was impressed by them. They are well made entertainment with a lot of heart. I later read the books and found them even better than the movies. The movies breeze past you because they cover a lot in a short span. Whereas the books,…
Hello, I'm looking for books that start out normal, and slowly get completely nuts by the end like House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski and Fanged Noumena by Nick Land. Bonus points if the text itself becomes incoherent!
Unseen Academicals: Sometimes people fool themselves into believing things that aren't true. Sometimes that can be quite dangerous for the person. They see the world in a wrong way. They won't let themselves see what they believe is wrong. But often there is a part of the mind that does know, and…
It’s not hard to see why Jane Eyre is considered a masterpiece. The first that becomes apparent is the author Charlotte Brontë’s deeply beautiful command of the English language throughout the novel, with descriptions of vengeance like: > Something of vengeance I had tasted for the first time. As…
If you're one of those people who "used to read for hours at a time" when you were a kid but now struggle to do even 15 mins straight, consider seeing an optometrist and having your vision checked. Many people's eyesight starts to degrade in their 30s or 40s. You might not notice it in your day to…
Just finished Jane Eyre and it blew me away! The best part of the book is honestly her character because the boldness of her spirit, her passion, and agency really struck a chord in me — it felt so modern for a book set in that era. I can imagine how groundbreaking this must have been. I can totally…
Just not in the mood for anything dark or edgy right now. Edit: My grandma passed away and I just want a warm hug of a book to distract me while I travel to the funeral.
All I could think about while reading these books is what I would do if I had to try and raise my family in one of these countries that are ravaged by the drug trade. The fact that the books are based off of real life events make my soul hurt. I knew it was bad but these books really give you…
i just finished this novel for the first time yesterday and i’m devastated. that ending well and truly killed me off and i don’t think i’m ever going to recover. it’s been such a long time since i’ve connected with a book this much and it’s such a nice feeling, but now everything in my life can’t…
As an Asian, I want to read some books not set in Western countries. Some of such books I really liked, * Shogun by James Clavell (Set in Japan and one of my favourite books ever) * Tai Pan also by James Clavell (Hong-Kong) * A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (I know Russia is considered to…
It is really hard to explain why and I am not sure how to write about it. However, I would like to express my gratitude toward the person who recommended it here in the comment section of r/books [/r/books] a couple(?) of weeks back so I made this little post to maybe make others aware of the book…
I've been trying to look for a book that would at least help me heal. Thank you.
We tend to favor things that leave a good first impression, and as such I think we're more likely to run into things that leave us feeling let down. But what's a book where you've had the opposite experience? Where you started out distinctly not liking it. Perhaps the story took it's time moving…
A while ago I got bored and picked up the first book in the series, Written in Red. I'm not really sure why since it's not the type of book I usually read at all and I assumed it was a werewolf-esque romance (no shame if you like that, it's just not my thing) but it wasn't. It was absolutely amazing…
So, in my mid 40's I finally got around to reading Pride and Prejudice. I have to admit I was very pleasantly surprised by the book. It pulled me in. Never have I been so tempted to Google a book or read the last chapter so that I could find out what happened faster than reading could get me there.…
I don't have a favorite dedication - although I'm sure there are some great/creative ones out there - but my favorite epigraph is the from Steve Koll's Directorate S (2018), which chronicles "The CIA and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 2001-2016" with a focus on the role of…
Hi guys, I'm looking for a book with a detective/macabre crime theme that also deals with reality and deep philosophical insights into Nietzsche and Marquis de Sade and toxic masculinity. I really liked this show but have never read anything like this. Love the HP Lovecraft influence while still…
The Iron Dream is about a hero who finds himself drawn into an epic struggle against an evil empire of mind-controlling mutants who seek to destroy the forces of good. After rooting out one of the mutants, he gets in a fight with a bunch of rogues and wins a powerful, mystical weapon of old that…
A while ago, I read The Only Good Indians by Stephan Gram Jones that was recommended to me by an employee at my local book store. I bought it because it looked interesting and because she said it was good, and I didn't bother finishing it even though I was a hand full of pages left from finishing…
A little background. A while ago, someone posted here asking for advice on how to combat his ignorance through reading. There was comment that really struck a chord with me and inspired me to start reading to increase my understanding of the world and also to value books beyond just for being…
I've recently been hard core binging the outlander series, and I'm looking for other romances that are similar in style. Basically that it's got a plot beyond the steamy stuff, and that the steamy sections are as well-written as the rest of the book. It's real frustrating to be into a romantic/sexy…
I was on r/AskMen [/r/AskMen] this morning reading a post about male stereotypes people feel are untrue and found it very interesting. As someone who’s currently in therapy dealing the the repercussions of certain masculine stereotypes being forced at a young age, I’d be interested in finding a…
For context, I was born in 95 so I was there for the Harry Potter, Twilight & Hunger Games craze, and to be honest I miss it. The closest I can think of would be the mid 2010’s Game of Thrones phenomena, which was due in large part to the very successful HBO show. I know that the world was pretty…
The movie just came out. Part of me wants to wait until I have read the book. I know the Frank Herbert novel is often considered one of the best science fiction books of all-time. But I have also heard some mixed opinions about it. EDIT: To be specific, I only mean the first book.
Not the magical fantasy type though. The super power type. I know this also know this sounds cliche, but I also like the plot where there is one person who is more special than everyone else for some reason (like they might have more powerful abilities, or someone is hunting them for some reason, or…
It's just lazy. I dont care how down to earth or likeable a main character is. When the perspective comes across like every woman they encounter is either lusting after them, or being sized-up and put into different categories of dream-girl archetypes, it turns the otherwise relatable main…
I have read David Copperfield quite a few times so I enjoy reading it before bed. Why? Because I've read it before so there are no surprises. I've tried reading new books but they keep me up because I get excited about what happens next. Then I tried reading boring books and of course then I lose…
Looking for good books where a small town is a big part of the story, almost like another character. Genre doesn’t matter, any good reads???
is how much I like Dolores' character archetype. I absolutely love reading about sassy, bratty, filthy, wild, and naive and yet precocious little girl characters (though I sure don't appreciate the sort in real life all that much). There's something really compelling about these characters in…
Quoth Siddhartha: “What should I possibly have to tell you, O venerable one? Perhaps that you’re searching far too much? That in all that searching, you don’t find the time for finding?” [...] “When someone is searching,” said Siddhartha, “then it might easily happen that the only thing his eyes…
As much as I don’t like to admit this but YA books are my guilty pleasure and I like to read a lot of them. However recently I’ve been wanting to delve into more classic literature but when I try to read it, I find it hard to fully comprehend what I’m reading and understand the plot which makes…
This has become one of my favorite films of all time. And I've read a modest amount of fantasy in the past. Is there anything out there that resembles the tone of this film? Magical, but dark. A protagonist searching for virtue and honor and failing at every turn, etc.
I wanted to open a discussion on how reading has affected your empathy? For better or worse, I'm curious to hear the different perspectives that people have. I was originally going to post this with my opinions and hoping people agreed with me and everything would be fine. So I hope people respond…
My suspicion is that people who are able to envision clearly and imaginatively what they are reading are the ones who continue to read throughout their childhood, teens and adulthood. I've read a few threads on Reddit and there seems to be the typical reader response that in their mind they have an…
Susanna Clarke's book Jonathan strange and Mr. Norell, A fiction book about English magicians in the 1800s. 782 pages. A show was made based off of the book with the same title. The book is well worth reading and the show is well worth watching, however I would suggest reading the book before…
I knew this series was well regarded when I started reading it, and I hate to be hyperbolic, but it exceeded all of my expectations. It was such a unique work of art, so broad and expansive, so imaginative and yet so anchored in realistic possibilities. It's one of those series that's left me sad to…
What was it about the book? Was it sadness? Ecstatic resolution? Maybe a deeply nurtured connection to a character, a bond just slightly transcending the boundary between the reader and the word, severed by the permanence of The End. Only once have I really cried reading, and the book was The Fault…
