Looking for fiction books that are best read without reading the synopsis first or knowing anything about it. Someone recommended I read We Need to Talk About Kevin this way, and the added mystery/shock value was super satisfying.
I am actually planning to build a hidden door with a bookshelf (don't tell anyone!) and I'm looking for recommendations that make a clever comment with the author / title combo like No one here gets out alive by Jim Morrison or something that only makes sense to those that have read the book like…
Question 1: What if I read Catcher in The Rye, didn't understand that it was about a mentally ill child, and hated it because of how 'whiny' Holden was? Question 2: What if I read Dune, didn't understand that it was about the ethical ramifications of the actions of 'great and powerful men' and…
I just finished listening to The Road and damn I have not had a book consume me like that in a long time! I literally started it during my morning workout, listened to it on my commute to work, and listened to it while at work, and finished it when I got home. I literally sat in silence for 30…
Soooo I finished Lolita, and I gotta say... it's easily a 7 or 8 out of 10 (it emotionally fucked me up), buuuuut I don't understand how people can possibly misconstrue this book. Humbert Humbert was an egotistical, manipulative asshole, and I just don't understand how he can draw in real life…
I usually read horror/thriller books, or crime mysteries. I'm currently reading hideaway by dean koontz and I think after this one I've had my fill of being disturbed for a while lol. The books I've enjoyed the most had a lot of action and suspense. Especially crime mysteries, psychological…
My nephew (23 yo) is now in the Minsk jail. I received a letter from him where he wrote mini-reviews of the books that he read. I thought that someone might be interested in his thoughts about books and I could pass on your comments to him. Johann Wolfgang Goethe - "Faust" Immortal classic of…
Looking for a story that takes place across 80-100 years, specifically one that effectively jumps long periods of time while maintaining the plot's momentum.
I have read several books by Nigerian authors and loved them. Also recently I read Yaa Gyasi who has Ghanaian roots, have some idea about South African authors, Egyptian. Beyond this, I haven't read much while Africa is a vast continent with diverse cultures and dynamic histories. Please suggest…
Who was going to tell me this book is hilarious? I'm only in chapter 21, but Eliza and Darcy unconsciously flirting by screwing with each other; the straight man comedy duo of Mr. and Mrs. Bennett; Mr. Collins' pomposity and just bullheaded self assurance (i.e.deciding he totally can introduce…
I did not expect such abuse and cruelty to be written out so plainly. Even the death of Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge by literally crushing them was not on course with my expectations. "There was a crunch. And then there was silence. The peach rolled on. And behind it, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker lay…
I have read the first page of Anna Karenina in five different translations now (Bartlett, Garnett, Garnett revised, Maude and P&V) and I have realized that the original Garnett translation is the only one that does not read like a translation but rather as a book originally written in English. And I…
Books that tackle such longing, such feeling of worthlessness. Books that change one's point of view, mind-blowing. ((Very specific situation ofc I'm referring to a friend pffff))
I wanted to toss this recommendation out there, because I saw Chambers getting recommended over in PrintSF for like a few years now. I finally gave a few of her books a shot and they're among the best I've read all year. She deals in smaller-scale stuff--no grand space operas, no worlds at…
Not only bad books, with a weird writing style, bad plot and horrible characterisation, but also books that you’ve started thinking they were going to be great, and were instead quite underwhelming. I’ve had a few of those recently, and it always makes me so unreasonably upset. Books that were…
Mistborn: The Final Empire is on sale for Kindle, so I am debating whether to buy it or not.
I want to read any and all.
Does anyone know what the driving instructor scene in the book is supposed to mean? The girl is telling the story so does that mean that Jake doesn’t remember? Jake also doubts the memory and thinks it’s mostly falsified. Is this scene about someone who abused Jake? There’s also a call in this…
(No spoilers) Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is a deep, wonderful, page-turner of a fantasy novel that evokes feelings of loneliness, liminality, and tension at the same time. The novel is largely about one’s connection with the world around them, about slowing down and appreciating the world, whatever…
Reading books has always been a joy to me and during my life, it seems to me that I have found many gems in every field, but only recently have I plunged into audiobooks. Before that, I needed time and a suitable silent environment to enjoy reading. Chores which previously were occupying my time are…
A friend of a friend knew that I was approaching an application for a PhD in computational linguistics and their roommate had a bunch of similar books they were looking to get rid of. Their extra books turned out to be about $538 in books that I don’t have to buy but many of them say authorized…
Why is that the case? Jemisin is a relatively prevalent author. I can see no reason why her series would not be readily published in hardcover, much less why prices would be so astronomical. Does anyone have any insight regarding this, (or any obscenely overpriced books for that matter)? I should…
Has anyone else read this one? I’ve never hear anyone mention it, and that’s disappointing, because this is one of the most unique and fun books I’ve ever read. It really did give me the same feeling as Hitchhiker’s Guide and Discworld, while also standing on its own. I’m surprised with all the…
Something I've noticed lately are highly trafficked low karma threads that all have titled along the lines of "X popular work is garbage", and the OP generally makes huge and sweeping generalizations about the genre of the work, the people who enjoyed it, and really anything they can. The OP…
For years I've been neglecting various common areas of my life (health/self care etc), and I know this isn't the subreddit for that stuff, but I hope this post about my struggles with reading is okay, as I've recently been trying to capitalize on these small moments when I want to make change. To…
I’ve got a baby girl on the way in January. (I’m dad) I want to build a small library of books to read to her as she grows and hopefully cultivate a love of reading in her as well. I love fantasy, such as the princess bride and the last unicorn. I’d love suggestions from any genre though. Mostly…
I can totally see why this book is either a love it or hate it with no in between. But personally, I loved the book for how much there is going on. Here are just some of my general thoughts and insights: * I loved Catherine's character a LOT considering how I primed myself to dislike her given…
I really loved the World War Z because it tells stories before and during the outbreak. There were tense moments where society was on the brink of a total collapse. And boy I really love the panic and dread on a society scale. Is there any book that are great at depicting such situations, whether…
Like the title says will reading improve grammar? My grammar is honestly terrible and I need to improve it since I’m in year 11 now. I already have books and I enjoy reading. But stoped reading books about 2 years ago. I’m planning to read a book (Sherlock Holmes) for 30 minutes a day. If I read for…
Project Gutenberg [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?sort_order=downloads] is a great online resource for free public domain ebooks. These books are mostly older text since they are no longer under copyright. If you'd like more free books check out r/FreeEBOOKS [/r/FreeEBOOKS] * 1 - Famous…
The topic of translations is something that has been discussed many times and still interests me. How much of a work, and which parts, are lost when reading it in translation? For instance, plot and themes tend to translate pretty well. You'll have essentially the same experience reading 1984 or…
So my favorite book is a Week of Mondays. It's a YA novel so it's basically a written teen movie. It's about a girl who has a fight with her boyfriend and the next day she gets broken up with. She has to repeat that day 7 times til she "gets it right." Spoiler alert she ends up with her bestfriend…
I’m a New York Times bestselling author. I wrote my first book in 1974 when I was twenty-one, while at Stanford. Some of my notable novels include Aquamarine, Practical Magic, The Museum of Extraordinary Things, The Marriage of Opposites, and Faithful. Reese Witherspoon picked, The Rules of Magic,…
a book or author you absolutely love but not that many others seem to know about for example, I love Magda Szabo, highly recommend her work! she's very famous in Hungary, I believe, but I haven't come across that many people who know of her (I'm British, found out about her because an American…
Not books picked up because you had the author recommended to you or because you recognize the title, but geniune random picks off the shelf of a bookstore or library that you found yourself gravitating to for whatever reason and just wanted to read, sight unseen. There have been plenty of duds in…
Can be anything, but winter, snow and cold have to play some role in it. Not just be there, but also doesn't have to be the main thing. Like it was in Pandemic by Jana Wagner. Edit: thank you to everyone in comments. Looked through your recommendations and some look really good
If you don’t know booktok is TikTok but focused on books and reading.Which in itself is great-a lot of my friends are on it and they seem into it and hey more and more people are reading so thats all good BUT …. Literally 8 in 10 books ‘recommended’ are complete and honest trash.I decided to try a…
I'm so proud of myself. I finished the entire Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series in 6 days. There are 6 books in the entire series so one book per day. Never thought I'd be able to achieve this. But I did and I'm very happy. Just wanted to let someone know about this. To those of you who…
Looking for some solid time travel recommendations. I’ve read: Doors of Sleep, In Times Like These Series, Threshold Series, Paradox Bound, Here and Now and Then, Recursion, and The Midnight Library. Would love something similar. Hit me with them.
I've read Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel so far, and loved both, especially the latter. The way she writes reminds me so much of Kurt Vonnegut * the books are mainly about characters - the setting is a side point, even if it is the future or post-apocalypse as in Station Eleven * all of…
That's amazing to me and I'm jealous. If I don't know a word that I've just read I'll look it up and figure out it's meaning and then move on past it to continue reading. I'm unable to learn words that way because I'll simply forget whatever word I looked up in a short time. If I wanted to learn a…
Have I ever been more annoyed by all the characters in a book? Probably not. Have I ever sympathised more with all the characters in a book? Also probably not. This book created such situations when I didn't know what I should feel for someone, one page I was enraged with them, the next one I was…
I always love when the heroine in my books get into some life or death situation and I’m sure a lot of people feel the same. I also know the large majority don’t like heroines who can’t think for themselves and make stupid decisions, almost getting themselves killed until the hero swoops in and…
One of my rare very beautiful hardcover books had somehow been invaded by ants. I pulled it out and realised there were ants coming from somwhere. I shook it on the floor and ants fall out. I realised they had quite a small army nestled in the neck of the book. When i open it the space between the…
Hard back for $2 at thrift
I just finished We Need to Talk About Kevin, and now I feel a need to talk about it. How did you interpret it? Was Kevin really born evil? Or did he become evil? When reading reviews I feel like most intrepted Kevin as evil or at least a mean child. But with the exception of the murders at the…