Madness was a demon and it lived in a world of helpless need, a thousand desires unanswered, a world without resolution. Madness, yes, she had known that demon. They had bargained with coins of pain, and those coins came from vault that never emptied. She’d once known such wealth. Crippled god…
Tricked might not be an exact word, but I have recently read The Discovery of Witches and let me tell you... it was one of the biggest disappointments on this year so far. YouTube, goodreads reviews, friends from a bookclub I am part of - all recommended it to me on the premises of urban fantasy,…
My fucking god what a delicious fucking book that went above and beyond anything I could've dreamt of. This book is the fattest, juciest heartthrob I've ever read. Don't be afraid of reading Marcel Proust! He's only talking about shit we've all experienced before! I was intimidated with the purple…
I just finished the last audiobook, including “New Spring”. I feel... like I’ve lost a loved one. People have been telling me for years that I needed to read it. My obstinate self didn’t listen. As a woman, at the time I was obsessed with female authors like Anne McCaffrey and hated the way male…
I just talked to someone who read three novels in a single day, and I was amazed as a dreadfully slow reader (it takes me a month to finish a standard length novel sometimes). I've only read graphic novels in one day. I guess reading a book in one day is probably a more immersive experience. I'd…
Recently an episode of WandaVision had this dialogue that had a very profound effect on me. It made me feel comfort and strange at the same time. It also made me realise that some words when strung together have a huge impact on people. As someone who constantly writes about her life experiences,…
I know it's a vague question but here's an example: two or more character are having a conversation, one says something questionable and the author goes "Bob looked at Ted for a few minutes". HOW?!? Do they know how long a single minute of staring at someone is? Now i have to picture this guy…
It's been months since I last read a back cover. Why won't I read them ? They want to intrigue you and make the plot look appealing and therefore they systematically reveal little twists (or unforeseen development) that I would have rather experienced reading the book. It's very comparable to movie…
To give a bit more detail I picked up reading after literal years and started with Kafka on the Shore based on how many people loved it and my general curiosity for the supposed metaphysics elements and the author. Without spoiling, I'm at chapter 40 and cannot find the will to finish the last…
I just finished this book and in fear of forgetting what this book meant to me, I am currently reading while I still have tears streaming down my face. This book made me feel the grief with him, made me fall in love with all of the characters and I'm not quite sure how to move on. I'm grieving from…
So I had always heard Catch-22 was one of the great WW2 novels and finally decided to actually experience it. I don’t know what I expected going in, but it certainly wasn’t what I actually ended up reading. The book feels like seeing someone else’s dream at times, jumping across time and distance…
Here [https://imgur.com/a/3pWVRY1] is the guide. Place the book with its back on the table. Let the front cover down. Then the back cover. Then a few at the back, alternating front to back, gently pressing them down until the center is reached. Do this to her three times in order to limber up…
Does it ever happen to anyone, like you started reading a book and you are halfway there. You're so impressed with it, you want to see how others love it. So you check out Goodreads and find some negative reviews and read it, they point out some of the things you didn't consider before, now you are…
So I purchased this book on a whim in a thrift store. I only recall hearing about it when I was a kid, and purposely didn't read the back summary. So stoked I did. I'm normally a hard scifi, fantasy, etc type of guy, but this book opened a whole other amazing world. I think it's technically…
I’m a woman with pretty small hands and it’s always a pain to sit for hours and hours holding a giant book. It cramps my hands and wrists. I know I sound like a sissy but it does get hard after awhile. They’re also easier to travel with, cheaper to purchase, and more comfortable. I just have a…
As an avid walker and reader who lives near Powell's in Portland, I used to regularly browse through that book store multiple times a week. There are plenty of other decent bookstores in the city, but Powell's simply has the best collection due to its tremendous size. Well they shut down on March…
I have this thing sometimes, after I finish a long book, or a book that I particularly got caught in. Basically I just feel like I don't have much more to do, as if my life doesn't have a meaning anymore. Generally, it feels just sad and empty without the book I've just read. I am having this…
I just completed Douglas Adams, "The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul." I selected the book from my local library purely because of the name attached to it. Adams wrote one of my all-time favorite book series, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," and I was /invigorated/. I was halfway through the…
When I think of the Bible, the Quran or the like, I always imagine them being read in churches, mosques, or any place for spiritual congregation. Given that religion has been historically used to oppress people, a growing number of anti-religious views is not surprising. So in effect, these books…
The world is damn sexualised, there are p**n everywhere, the women are super objectified. My first contact with sex and intimacy was p**n. I remember when I was like 13-14 I couldn't even imagine that people actually do that in the real world, like it was something else, something exciting that I…
I'm sure this would be very obvious to most people but reading is much more enjoyable when you slow down and paint a picture in your mind. School conditioned me to strip away all the detail and home in on the main ideas and I'm just now unlearning that 10 years later! Got so excited about it I felt…
It's one of my biggest pet peeves. I love beautiful cover art on books and I hate to say I do judge a book by its cover. There's this book I want its a Swedish horror novel and every single copy I can find the cover is a still from the movie adaption. I hate being this picky but when I know the…
So, I used to read YA books all the time and now all of a sudden it’s incredibly hard for me to focus on them and relate to the characters. Don’t get me wrong, YA/teen books are great it’s just that I’d like to relate to a character more of my age and that’s going through more of what I’m going…
What an absolute journey that book is, I found myself questioning why the book was rated so highly half way through. I kept saying it was good, but was it that good? But by the end I understood. The characters, the love you feel for each and everyone of them, the tragic events that happen to…
I have been devouring short stories lately and I would love recommendations for more, especially collections that are subversive, contain magical realism, or have a wide variety of piece lengths. Here are a few I’ve read recently that I loved: 1. Cat Person by Kristen Roupenian - 5/5 (I think this…
This book is awesome although, I got a little discouraged or frustrated with the way it was written. Sentences never seemed to end and Gaiman kept on adding details over details but in a weird twist, I think this is also one of the books strongest aspects because the world felt that more real and…
Whether it’s YA, adult, thriller, horror, or whatever else they all seem to sound the same. Not with plot but with writing style, they could have completely different plots and authors and yet they sound all the same. It’s all really basic detailed writing, like “as she sat there watching the clock…
Sooo I’ve been documenting my journey of reading Harry Potter for the first time in this subreddit. Again, love the art. Hate the artist. AND FUCK ME, the book is so different from the films. I LOVE IT. AND SHITS GETTING INTENSE MAN. I’m trying to read them as though I haven’t already seen the…
Well loved meaning, highlighting passages, underlining passages/words. Writing notes in the margin, circling words, writing your name on the cover or page edges, drawing on the interior cover, dog earring your pages, cracking the spine, possibly even some water damage/stains etc. I’ve always been a…
At first, I only read books every now and then but with this Kindle Paperwhite, I am in love and use it every day. I love how compact it is and that I can carry my entire library on one device with the sole purpose being for reading. It doesn't strain my eyes and being able to change the font and…
Even if I don’t particularly enjoy a certain book, I can overlook my own judgement and recognize that it’s well written. It’s just not my cup of tea. And that’s okay. You don’t have to feel bad about disliking a book because it’s a classic or because everyone else likes it. Don’t let people…
I love horror, but I hate the way so many horror books seem to slide into this edgy, nihilistic world view where everyone inevitably ends up miserable, even if they don't deserve it (they usually seem to deserve it). I'm reading Salem's Lot right now and it kind of makes me want to blow my brains…
Basically what the title says. Especially if it’s overdone and often executed poorly - I’m planning to write some satire on this haha. My least favorite tropes (most are from YA, but applies to other genres too) are: * Love triangles / squares / other polygons, usually with just one protagonist. …
It happens to me all the time. I finish a book, enjoy it thoroughly, think I learned so much from it, but when I think back six months later, I realize I hardly remember anything from that book. Sometimes it feels like I didn't really finish that book if I didn't truly digest it but I also know that…
It's around 2 am here and I just finished reading The Song of Achilles (I'm gonna use TSOA for convenience). I thought I should write this down before it's diluted by a night's sleep. First off, I'm not a fan of love stories, and I try to stay away from them as much as possible. So I went into TSOA…
So I tried my hand at audioable, and it was good.. Yet one book a month just isn't enough so here's my trick. What I did was download an app called Evie, it is a text to voice app and have quite a few voices to choose from. Then I can download ebooks and read it through the Evie app. My job…
My best friend is 25 years old, and has been in prison since January 2020. She went into prison having never read an entire novella, let alone a novel. She phoned me about 8 months into her sentence telling me that she had just finished reading her first ever novel (The Green Mile, which I think is…
I just wanted to give a quick story about how I got hooked on audiobooks which brought back my love of 'reading' for anyone who this might help. I had heard about these audiobook things for a while but wasn't sure if I'd like them or not. I rarely have time to just sit down and read an actual book,…
I've always struggled with reading my entire life. When it comes to entertainment, I much prefer video games, tv shows, or movies. I struggle to ever just sit down and read a book for longer than 10 minutes before stopping. I think the last book I read from start to finish was in High School and for…
Honestly, if I listen to an audiobook I tell people I listened to the book. I didn’t have the time to actually read the book so I listened to it. And listening and reading isn’t the same. But why do so many feel the need to say they “read” their audiobook? Guys, listening is not worse than reading …
When someone mentioned to me that the film Arrival (Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner) was based on a short story, I was stoked to read it. And I was not disappointed. I loved "Story of Your Life" even more than the movie; I felt I learned so much about language and communication, but it also explored heavy…
I'm a simple guy, I like my classics. Not that I never read modern books, but I tend not to choose them. The wife however, a student of nordic literature, insisted I read a book series of Norwegian author Carl Frode Tiller. I have to tell you, this stuff is dark. I'm half way into the second book of…
Just like everyone else here, I love fiction, and the artistry of a good fiction read can be mind-blowing. But some nonfiction books have been really formative, too. If you have a nonfiction book on any topic that you really want to geek out about or was so interesting you just couldn't put it down…
When I was a lass I would just buy whatever books I found in bookstores that looked interesting, read them, and give them a rating depending on how I felt when I was done. A few years ago I started watching Book Tube (YouTube for book content) and I loved it. I loved hearing other people talk about…
Educated By Tara Westover, wow that book was amazing when I finished it, it felt so odd I wanted to reread it all over again I was so invested, that I read it within 6 hours. In the words of Franz Kafka it both ‘wounded and stabbed’ me and it’s been a while since I picked up a book like that.…
I'd seen the movie before so was hesitant to read the book. Saw many posts/comments recommending it. Wow! Thank you fellow redditors for recommending this. I loved the overall plot. Loved all the intricate ways in which he solves the problems one after the other. But what I was unprepared for was…
My first time posting here so please be kind. I don't know how well known this book is, I literally picked it off my local library so here's what the book's about: The protagonist Dai Wei falls into a deep coma after being shot at the Tiananmen Massacre 10 years earlier and you follow his memories…
I have lost my attention span to read bulky books and I feel I dont relate with the plots of lots of books I normally used to. After going through a plethora of titles, I decided to buy a collection of classical short stories without expecting much of of it. After about reading two or three…
I'll start by saying that I have never liked the "classic" books. Pride and Prejudice, The Great Gatsby, A Tale of Two Cities, whenever I have tried reading these books I could hardly even understand them let alone enjoy it. However, I was recommended The Catcher in the Rye by a really good friend.…
I had remembered some of the episodes of ”Ulysses” by James Joyce because they are in “The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.” Perhaps it is age or my growing senility, but I had not remembered it being so amazing. Joyce has a kind of weird talent of being able to be all voices of all characters…
I have not DNF'd a book in a long time, but I just did it. I DNF'd Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman. This book is so hyped everywhere I look and has a 4.22 star rating on Goodreads. Honestly I don't know what I'm missing. I'm a setting reader. I love immersive and beautiful settings, so I was…
I know I'm going to sound like a grump, so apologies for that, but it always annoys me that whenever someone comes out with a top 100 books to read, the books included are always narrow in their scope of origin. According to these lists 100 Years of Solitude is the only book you need to read from…
I have dislexiya so as a child I found reading confusing and frustrating. This in turn made me avoid it as much as I could so my literacy sufferd too. When I was in my early teens I managed to read a couple of Terry Pratchet books that my Grandad recommended but I was never hooked by them. I found…
"So many books, so little time." Those are the first words people see when they enter into this subreddit. Those words are also capable of overwhelming most readers with a sense of dread. Google estimates that nearly 130 million books have been published in modern history. 130 million! If the…
This sub has several posts about one of the best books of all time, but I'd like to add my observation with a personal anecdote. When I turned 21, the concept of Crime and Punishment excited me to the core! I ordered the book and started reading with high anticipation. However, after just about 50…
... Especially if you follow it up with something along the lines of “I didn’t know it was LGBT but I can see why some people who also didn’t know may not like that.” For those of you who sincerely don’t care, I’m just letting you know that those lines are often the talking points and starters of…
I've seen this list going around the internet a few times now, and it got me wondering, is it entirely satirical or is it based on real books? If so, can anyone work out what the books are? EDIT: I will add them as people come up with suggestions. https://the-toast.net/2015/06/11/things-women-in…
For about 10 years I just couldn't cry. Someone told me that it is normal for teenage boys to stop crying due to some hormone thing. I recently found out that that was a myth, and wanted to learn how to do it again, to recover from the trauma that stopped my tears. It was hard. I told myself it was…
I am in this process myself and I am somewhat confused about what it means to be a man right now. My dad hasn't been the best for me and isn't really a role model I look for so I am looking for other options. I've read biographies of men I respect throughout history though like Abraham Lincoln and…
I am currently reading the book and I am amazed by it. I love all of it's twists. I love how you find the same characters in different situations and places and you find out how they are connected in some way or another! Victor Hugo is a genius!!! I really love the character Jean Valjean and…
Not only did I finish it, but I finished it in a winter storm.. at 3 o’clock in the morning. With no power. So there was no screaming at my fellow bookish fiends, or this sub — couldn’t even scream into a pillow because I didn’t want to wake my family. My only choice was to die internally. I know…
On mood disorders: Darkness Visible by William Styron The Noonday Demon by Andrew Solomon An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison On trauma: In an Unspoken Voice by Peter Levine Healing Developmental Trauma by Heller and LaPierre The Tao of Fully Feeling by Pete Walker The Body Keeps the…
Something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently has to do with the sheer magnitude of published books out there. There’s so much to filter through and let’s be honest, not everyone’s ideas are worth dedicating 400 pages to. There’s got to be a way to collect a list of high value books to maximize…
Needless to say, this years Valentine’s Day is very different from years past. With Covid restrictions and overall lack of enthusiasm for the holiday, my wife and I immediately ruled out trying to go out to dinner somewhere and spend a bunch of money. We’re trying to build up our library and read…
I just finished The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, and it’s my favorite book I’ve read so far in 2021. I loved the atmosphere and how kindly written and comforting it was. The kids were so adorable, and I loved the “found family” themes, as well as the moral message about people not being…
Yesterday I re-read one of my favourite books from my childhood and ended up finding out that a lot of books I read as a kid had the same cover artist/illustrator (I was about to cry at this point). This brought me to realise that buying a book only for its cover is not bad. As the saying goes…
The books were just the right mix of things. They are so thrilling I couldn’t stop reading them. You feel yourself attached to certain characters, and the stories are not lacking twists and turns that make you wonder what will happen next. These books are the best I’ve ever read and I recommend them…
Hey everyone, as the title says, I just finished reading the count of monte christo from dumas. It was an amazing experience to say the least. Damn exciting... It sucked me into the story and I couldnt stop reading once I started. I can not recommend it enough! Now I am looking for my next title…
I was an avid reader up until highschool. I fell out of love with it. I over think things and after having to re read so many pages because my mind is somewhere else I got discouraged and I think I became afraid of reading. Tonight I finished The Giver for the first time after my best friend…
Can I just take a quick moment to gush about how good this book is? It’s so well done, it makes me doubt any skill I may have as a writer. Like every now and then when I’m trying to be deep, I remember the chapter where he says “But true war is never really about war. It’s about sunlight. It’s about…
I am a sophomore in high school and I have never really liked reading before. I always felt that the books forced down my throat in school were always uninteresting, which made me not like books in general. Fast forward to sometime last month, I set out to find a book that I found interesting. I…
My new years resolution for 2020 was to read as many books as possible and I gave myself 25 books as a target and when I finished 15 books by June I thought I will increase it to 30. I think this is the only new years resolution I managed to do properly. Anyway this subreddit played a major role in…
I've noticed in that whenever i start talking about asian literature people look at me weirdly and make comments like "oh yeah those weird books aren't for me" when asia (in my opinion) have one of the amazing authors of all time. When i was doing research one literature degrees i couldn't find one…
I’m pretty new to the horror fandom and have been trying to jump into some good horror novels. Which is pretty hard considering I avoid Stephen King at all cost lol. I don’t have any particular topics that I’m avoidant to, however I’m not to fond of books that descriptively depict or that are solely…
Hello! I decided to share an opinion on my favorite book cause I rarely see any discussion of it. I like the structure of it: as if someone tries to prove a point using anecdote examples) That makes me connect with the author on a personal level - I also like to start philosophical discussions out…
Hi all, I'm a very keen reader and I've been doing it a lot in lockdown, but I'm also pretty lazy and with the shops shut I have been relying heavily on Amazon to get my books from. I reckon they've got enough money to be going on with, so am looking for good alternative places to buy and learn…
My partner has begun reading the book after putting it off for years, and I plan to when he's finished. He was just telling me about a university acquaintance that he used to drink with occasionally, who was writing his master's thesis on Joyce. He was taking a course that focused solely on Ulysses,…
So I'm pretty sure it was on reddit I saw encouragement of readers to write (living) authors they enjoy to let them know. I've been doing that now for about a couple weeks. I don't read as much as I used to, kids yada yada covid no break, but I do subscribe to a short story collection that is…
I am looking to donate some fictional books to an adult Behavioral Health unit. They specifically cannot have books that have a lot of violence, or really any murder, drugs, sex, and no hyper-focused religious content. If you have any suggestions I would appreciate them! They are severely…
And I gotta say, this book was amazing. I’m a fairly slow reader, and together with being in college it takes me a fair amount of time for me to finish books. I began reading this some time after Christmas, and had only gone through 350/530 pages until yesterday. I finally got a break from school,…
For me I not only rooted for the characters, hoped they can find love and hope, I also rooted for their land Umuofia as well. I wanted them to keep on living as they are and I wanted them to make peace. But I know that could only happen in a perfect world. I felt nothing but anger, and then,…
So I'm about 160 pages into Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy and I'm genuinely loving it. It's beautifully written, has great characters, and is just a great book so far, but dear lord it makes me feel dumb sometimes. I've lost count of how many paragraphs I've had to reread just to try and…
So when I was 15 I went through a phase and read a bunch of Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy, and while I enjoyed myself and I'm definitely glad I did it, I think I can safely say I didn't "get" much of what I was reading at the time. Fast forward more than a decade later, rereading Anna Karenina as an…
I’m a huge history buff. I don’t know how I went through high school and college without having to read it. The accounts of the war were absolutely horrifying and brutally honest. I think the most interesting thing about it being a historical fiction written by an actual WW1 vet is that there are…
These self-help gurus everywhere just keep screaming in your heads "Start reading more books to become rich." or "Every single billionaire out there reads 52 books per year, one book per week, start reading, and you'll become like them". Who doesn't remember the infamous advertisement made by Tai…
For years now, I've told myself that I would branch out and find new things to read rather than just sticking with the Best Books list on GoodReads or Amazon's Best Sellers list. I'll admit that I rarely ever venture out of this scope. However, for 2021, I made it my goal to read things that are new…
I’m almost crying of happiness he’s been through so much and he’s such a good man. He said he’s seen so many people die and I want him to have some distractions when he’s resting up back at home, after everything. He likes authors such as Lee Child and Jefferey Archer. One of his favorite books is…
I started reading Pride and Prejudice last December, but discontinued. I started it again January with a goal to finish it before buying other books. When I am halfway through the book, I can't keep it down. The book is that engaging. The characterization of Darcy and Elizabeth, showing the faults…
So i'm not a native english speaker and recently i decided to start reading sth in english as to learn a bit more and improve my vocabulary (I chose the GoT series) and I wanted to know if u guys do the same with any other language in order to improve or with another purpose and if u find it very…
I try to give my books away to people I think would appreciate and read them, but man, now I wish I had kept some of them because I want to read them again. Specifically my copy of No Country For Old Men I gave to a friend who had lost his copy. So now I find myself scouring the shelves of used…
My father went missing, and after a month an a half of aggressively searching for him, my partner and I supplied information to PD that allowed them to find and identify his body. My father chose to go to a park, and spend his last moments watching the sunset before going off a trail to take his…
Hello! I’m in a bit of a reading slump and I haven’t been able to complete a book for 3 months now. I keep starting books and giving up after a few chapters. I’m looking for something fast and addictive, preferably some fluffy romance, because that usually gets me out of a slump. Thanks!
but I have discovered one of the greatest disappointments in life is your book club panning the book you chose for them to read. My selection for February was not well received and I don’t know how I will ever come back from this haha. Tell me your book club disappointment stories so I feel less…
I feel like no one really talks about the pillars of the earth when talking about great books but it is the best book I ever read. From start to finish it is captivating and an easy flow. The characters are so well done with so much depth. The storytelling is next level and amazing. Highly recommend
For example, if I want to read about physics I'd like a book that is broad enough to encapsulate almost all physics, but also explicit enough to get a deeper understanding on the subject. Edit: Thank you everyone for the suggestions. Here are some more subjects to make it easier for you: Economy,…
I've noted this many times before: I've played Bioshock [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BioShock] which I've found amazing and heard it was based on Atlas Shrugged [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Shrugged]. "Wow", I though, "this AMAZING game is based on a book, must be doubly amazing, I must…
I only started reading Discworld after Sir Terry and his will said all unfinished books on his hard drive must be run over with a steam roller. I thought. That's my kinda writer. I am hooked. My first book was the Truth, then equal rites then a couple of the watch books then circled back to read 1,…
For years, I was adamant that I would only read physical books. I like the feel, the look, the smell of books. I've always hated reading on my laptop, because the display is so harsh, and I've only ever done it to avoid paying for expensive phsyical textbooks. For all my protests against the digital…
Hey, there. To celebrate my first novel THE LITTLE SLEEP making its way back to bookstores, let’s talk about the book, my long-ish road to publication and re-publication, crime and horror fiction (Is there overlap? How are they related? How are they different? Why do you like parentheticals?) I am…
This semester I’m taking a class which is called “the history of Russia from 1900 forward,” and in that class we have to read a couple of pieces of Soviet literature, one of them being Ivan Denisovich. I’m about half way through with it right now, and I guess I just don’t understand why the Soviet…
For me, oddly enough, it was Dante's Inferno. I had this goofy call-center job that had a lot of downtime in evenings. I eventually installed the kindle desktop reader and bought Dante's Inferno. Would often have 10-20 minutes in between calls and realized the time flew by when I was absorbed in…
This is a book I have planned to read since I was young, I am now twenty three and damn was this an emotional rollercoaster... I seriously think this may be the most heartbroken I have ever felt since reading a book. It's currently 2.30am in England right now and I am struggling to sleep because all…
This isn’t necessarily a book suggestion or request but I just wanted to come on here and wish all of you a great day/week/month/year. You all deserve the very best regardless of who you are. Nothing is easy for anybody right now, but remember how important it is to keep your head up. You serve an…
After seeing and hearing so many people reference 1984 in regards to “the world we are living in”, I figured I should give it a read and compare the world to the source material. Having finished less than 24 hours ago, I am still struggling to wrap my head around some of the topics, but overall…
I finished reading the Lord of the Rings on December 30th. I have just begun reading it again because i love Tolkien so much that my brain is addicted to his writing. Whenever i read LotR, i feel at peace with myself. Even though i ami an atheist and Tolkien was Catholic, reading his books gives…
Hi there! We're Kendra Wells and Sam Maggs, and we co-created a new graphic novel called TELL NO TALES: PIRATES OF THE SOUTHERN SEAS, out today with Amulet! The book itself: * is based on the real-life eighteenth-century pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read * is a swashbuckling adventure with swords…
I just finished The Book Thief and it might rank in my top 10 books. It was so well written. I loved that it was narrarated by death in nazi Germany. The characters were so well rounded and all had wonderful arcs. The end was terribly sad but was redeemed by Max and Liezels ending. Which is how I…
Yesterday I finished reading Mythos by Stephen Fry. I (18/f) have always been interested in the idea of learning about the Greek myths, but never really knew where to start. Most books on the topic seemed a bit daunting, but I believe that Fry has provided a perfect first read. No prior knowledge or…
I cannot understand how fast/focused people can be at reading, I wish I was like that! I'm a slow reader I always have been, a 100,000 word books takes me a month to finish, and I always see people reading 3x that in only a day. How? I'm so jealous, I have piles of books waiting to be read, but…
I’ll go first. I prefer my Kindle to the point that I’ll download a book on my Kindle even if we already own the hard copy. A Little Life was ok but not great and did not make me cry. I did not finish Circe by Madeline Miller because it was boring. How about you? What are your unpopular book…
My children miss going to the library. They miss going in and having the freedom to browse and choose their own books. I suspect many other children are the same way...extremely tactile and visual. At this time, our library is only providing pick up service. It has been at least 5 months since I've…
I know, I know, I'm an awful snob. It's just it feels like a system predominantly geared towards the lowest common denominator (which makes sense given that it's owned by Amazon). Anything that dares attempt to be the remotest bit literary gets shunned as pretentious, while every genre and YA novel…
I'm not really the type of guy to read a lot of books or get too attached with the characters, mainly because I forget parts of the books after a while of not reading. However, let me tell you that I will never forget the effect that this book has had to me. I'm quite sensitive in my nature and I…
My wife and I are working on consolidating our book collection and we came across the 1965 Book club edition of Dune. We can't find any major differences between the 2 novels, except for the hardcover. Mine is a bright red and hers is a maroon/grey cover. Is it common for the same edition of a…
I know the descriptions can be a bit long in parts but the world building and story telling more than make up for it. I would have liked to see a bit more of Tom Bombadil and maybe a bit less of the singing. Aside from that I have nothing negative to say. I feel like it is a very well written book…
I can read perfectly out loud, better than others I feel. But, when it comes to reading in my head, I read every single word in either the characters voice, or my voice. If I try to speed up it literally sounds like they or I am speaking quite frantically. If I skim over the words without reading…
Everything about the book, from the way the entire story of Achilles and Patroclus has been retold to the way Miller has weaved each word together to punch you right in the gut, twist it around and then leave you to weep for days has been chief's kiss perfect. It was everything I had hoped for and…
Having read both Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire, I believe Tolkien's mastery of rhetoric and linguistic construction far outshines that of Martin's. Tolkein's utilization of foreshadowing, symbolism, character juxtaposition, etc. are more subtle, nuanced and effective. Toe to toe…
There seems to be so many fantasy stories these days and that's not a bad thing but I have notice that a lot of them seem to take place in medieval times or in an medieval like setting, or at least the stories that get the most attention. Not that I'm complaining, I understand familiarity is an…
I don't mean to paint current historical/period fiction with a broad brush but I think we are at peak WW2 romance novel. I'm looking for something in the vein of Joseph Conrad, Jack London or lesser known BWS who wrote Terribilita. I'd like to get into something gritty and authentic, something with…
We know it feels like work. We know you think the story is boring. It doesn’t matter which story the teacher would have picked, you’d still think that. We just want to teach you how to be a better person, with the skills to be critical and discerning in a world that demands it more and more. Just do…
Not that I'm a total pessimist or anything, but I do tend to read almost exclusively dark, messed up, nihilistic stuff. I made a goal for 2021 to try and read more positive stuff--one "optimistic" book per month. I started last month with The Gucci Mane Guide to Greatness and it was a silly but fun…
Ever since the beginning of COVID, I feel like I've lost all energy and interest in the things I used to love, including books and reading. My entire life has been rooted in a love for books. Get this: I'm a librarian and an English literature professor. Not being able to read anymore is giving me…
Hello! Please suggest fantasy books in terms of quality like the Kingkiller chronicle. I've googled this request and found suggestions like the Farseer trilogy and Gentlemen bastards series. I like them. But overall quality of the language is lacking compared to the Kingkiller chronicle. Series like…
I have biked around my neighborhood so many times and never found a single bookstore. There's not even a library here except in schools, and when there's a library it's treated like a place to babble with your friends. If you see someone say, "I like reading books" it's mostly girls who are obsessed…
I just finished And Then There Were None. Agatha Christie really did that. She really had me there at the end, I will not lie. I have never audibly gasped while reading a book until tonight. It is now 2 hours past my bedtime because I couldn’t put this book down. Now I’m here because I feel a…
Like a lot of people on here, I enjoyed reading as a kid but didn’t stick with it when high school got busy. I decided to start it up again as a freshman in college. It’s only a start but compared to my complete absence of reading last year, I’m happy. This subreddit continues to motivate and offer…
Holy hell, it took me 7 months and so many hours. With reading 628 pages of core texts I've read 1700-2000 pages of side materials. And all I can give you here is small tips of all kinds: - Joyce by Ellmann is THE only obligatory side book here. Helped me so much. - I prefer Campbell as "key" book…
I finished this book as I sat at the car dealership and I found myself tearing up. I probably would have had wet stuff on my cheeks had I been home reading, but between my glasses and my mask I held back. It's simply a beautiful tale of a woman who is certain her life means nothing to anyone she…
You can’t beat it. It’s so easy to purchase books online and get them at your door within a few days. Sometimes that’s our only option (especially in these times), but I’d still happily spend my time roaming around a second hand book store. The atmosphere just hits differently too. You might not…
This has probably been said a hundred times before, but it’s 2 in the morning, I’m feeling sad, and I needed to say something. I’ve always been a reader, but during the pandemic I’ve been reading a lot more. It’s helped me so much, and without this love of mine this pandemic would have been a lot…
My fiancé just brought home the Sandman omnibus volumes 1 and 2. I haven’t had a full set of the sandman comics since before my ex, and this is one of the best gifts fiancé could have given me. He was worried I would be upset that the volumes are pretty beat up. He works at a library and both…
In today’s era they say success is not based on what you do but who you know. Are there any stories or books out there that show success can be achieved by introverts and lone wolves like me? I have big dreams and ambitions but I am just not the type to be chummy with people. In fact, I’d rather be…
After every book I read, I always go to goodreads or here to see opinions. Then I see interpretations of the book that are far broader than mine, that the book is far richer than I realised. Somehow many of the underlying motives completely miss me, and I feel gulty for not fully comprehending the…
My Kindle has a "vocabulary builder" function that saves words I've looked up the definition for. Many of them are words I'd had a somewhat hazy understanding of already, but a surprising number are ones I don't recall encountering before. Maybe I need to read more classics :) Random interesting…
I absolutely adored this book. I am a huge fan of Michael Crichton, and this gave me very similar vibes. The attention to scientific detail and humor is everything. I loved how much detail was provided when Mark Watney solved problems, and how he used a realistic tone to explain how he was feeling.…
He still says there are a couple hundred more to go before the book is finished and brought to a satisfying conclusion: > I wrote hundreds and hundreds of pages of THE WINDS OF WINTER in 2020. The > best year I’ve had on WOW since I began it. Why? I don’t know. Maybe the > isolation. Or maybe I…
(Sorry for my bad english in advance) I love to use Youtube as a source for discovering books. I have a few channels I follow that mostly talk about books within the genres I like. But I really find it hard to find booktubers that doesn’t only talk about YA books. There’s NOTHING wrong with YA and…
When I finish a really good book, I will 'quit' reading for a while. My brain is like:"Hey buddy, let's not start the next one now. Let's wait a little." I feel like I have to recover. So many things go trough my mind about that book that if I would start another one, I just wouldn't be interested…
There may be spoilers. And sorry if any formatting issues, on mobile and not too savvy with paragraph breaks on Reddit. I cannot believe how much I enjoyed Mother Night by Vonnegut, and how I haven’t read it until recently. I’m wondering what some of your thoughts are concerning Campbell Jr., as a…
PLEASE IGNORE THE MISSPELLING OF THE AUTHORS NAME! Now that, that is a goddamn novel! I genuinely struggled to put it down, I refused to do anything until I finished my chapter and then when I did, I’d move onto the next and blitz through that one too, and then...well, you get the picture. This is…
I love books where the hero and villain fall in love, but they so rarely end up together. The hero usually settles for the bland, boring milquetoast love interest instead. So if anyone could recommend a book or series with a hero/villain relationship that has a happy ending I would really appreciate…
What a read. This is such a beautifully written book. I am familiar with the more science fiction works by Le Guin (Hainish Cycle) and this was my first venture into her take on fantasy, so I wasn't sure what to expect. First of all, this is a very simple story. This isn't a book about magic…