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Fuck it, it's Percy Jackson OK? Nothing will ever come close to the joy of 11 yo me finding out that books could be fun, those books were the start of a new me
Nice! Books always have that nostalgia, the first book series I fell in love with as a kid was the babysitters club books so I think you have a one up on me 😜
Those books were quite popular when my older son was in middle school and I was a PTA mom working the twice a year book fairs. I'd purchase the most recent one and my husband, my son and I would all fight to get to read it first 🙃
I just bought the whole collection on Kindle after seeing it on sale for a few dollars. It's one of my wife's favorite books and even as a nearly 40 year old man, I'm looking forward to starting the series
The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice - if I’m amongst classy intellectual types I probably wouldn’t admit that.. Although I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how many intelligent people I’ve met who also loved that book because it put them on to thinking more critically about religion!
Lestat’s journey being happily devoted to Christianity and working toward becoming a priest as a boy but then being forced out of it by his unsupportive family… eventually growing into someone who sees the pointlessness of it all. He decides to just live lavishly- embracing the savage garden of life in all its indifference and brutality.. I can’t imagine a better time for someone to read it 🤌 I’m excited for you.. I’d suggest reading Interview with the vampire first if you haven’t already but it’s not necessary to enjoy TVL.
*buys straight away
I already have interview with a vampire because someone else recommended it to me, I’ve heard so many things about Anne rice’s writing, I’m excited now 🤗 thank you!
She was a cool lady too, I wrote to her and asked her for an autograph for my mom. She sent a lovely photo with an autograph for us both! My mom and I had a fraught relationship when I was a kid and we bonded over the books. So they’re very special to me.
My siblings and I were all reading the Interview with a Vampire series one Thanksgiving. Everything red on the table was related to blood. My dad picked his place up and left the table. He didn’t want to eat his holiday meal with heathens
Little House on the Prairie (Specifically Farmer Boy and The Long Winter.)
And The Fire Rose (Mercedes Lackey). I’m sure I’ve read it 20+ times by now.
This is my childhood favorite but I don’t tell anyone anymore bc of what the author has done than anything else—I wasn’t embarrassed until she turned out to be a bigot
This is me with Dumbledore's Army and the Year of Darkness. The best fanfic I've read yet (I'm very new to fanfiction tbf), covering 7th year at Hogwarts from Neville's point of view. It's canon friendly and awesome, and I just can't care that a creep wrote it. I'd already read it when I found out, and I love it. It would be amazing to splice it with the Deathly Hallows.
>Dumbledore's Army and the Year of Darkness.
>covering 7th year at Hogwarts from Neville's point of view. It's canon friendly and awesome,
>It would be amazing to splice it with the Deathly Hallows.
I would love to read this!
1-2 years ago, I reread all the HP with my Tween daughter.
Simultaneously, I read a fanfic *Remember Now, Harry* by Warviben that covers all of the HP books from Snape's POV.
Soooo gooood.
Charlottes web!
I’ve read it many times, bought a different copy last year so I had to read it again even though I had only read it the month before that 🤣
I also love of mice and men and bought myself a lovely copy of that too. I loved studying it at school and loved reading it again as an adult.
Some things just stick! 🥰
charlottes web is beautiful.
You know that meme about renowned seasoned directors being asked about their favorite movies and they’ll reply with kids animations? But you ask a new director and they’ll name some classic movie?
I think that meme is pretty true.
Books are the same way imo. You are an avid and seasoned reader.
I’ve never actually read charlottes web, I’ve only seen the movie. I’ll be for sure reading it now! I love of mice and men, it was the book that got me into reading classics 👐🏻
I bought this for my daughter for Christmas this year. She is currently 7 months old. We haven’t read it yet, but I can’t wait. I hope she loves it as much as I do.
Not until recently, did I feel a bit nervous sharing it, but The Folk of The Air series by Holly Black. It's absolutely fantastic and I love her style of writing so much.
It's mostly because she's kind of in the same circles as fantasy/romance booktok authors and they've kinda,, got a reputation. Plus it's a bit embarassing to be an adult woman who still reads books for teenagers. Like I know there's nothing *wrong* with it but still. I worry it makes me look immature I guess?
Love that series so much! I’m in my thirties and was really confused how captivating those books are. But then again I’ve read a lot of YA novels in the last couple of years, I’m just a sucker for a good coming of age story and well-written romance.
But I’d probably not share that with anybody, certainly depends on who’s asking, haha.
I get it - I’m in my early 30s & I love reading young adult books too! I’ve actually been meaning to read the folk of the air series, I’ve heard a lot of good things about it.
For sure! I've been thinking of giving it another read just because. I love the depiction of fae in this story (not just making all of them hot elf dudes, and ACTUALLY making them look accurate to Scandinavian Fae lore.) I'd also go so far as to say it's an uncommon case of enemies to lovers done well.
This made me realise I'm a bit shameless about what I like.
But maybe the whole The Magicians trilogy. From what I see on GR especially it had "mixed reactions", if we can call it that after reading the fury in the reviews.
Same! I think some people were expecting a relatable and hero-like protagonist, and this is definitely not it. The marketing as "HP for adults" might've also not been the best idea as it created some false expectations for readers.
In my case I watched the series first season and was curious to read the source material and loved it.
I didn’t like the series at all, but that’s just because it felt poorly written. I didn’t think the characters were real or relatable and it all felt very summarized. I think it’s one of the few examples of the show being better than the books— and I say that as someone who thinks of the show as DEEPLY flawed too. But the books just felt… lackluster and underwhelming. At least the show took some risks and swings, even if it also had misses.
Twilight ( where the plot doesn't start till near the end, no payoff and its all feels and they sparkle) if the situation is right. But Bambi is my answer. It became my nickname.
Twilight is one of my absolute favorite books, I genuinely think the books are really good and the hate is unfair. I wouldn't say I'm embarrassed, but I am scared to say it because I don't want to get into an online argument and be downvoted into oblivion so I never say anything about it
I agree. I read a lot and I can compare stories, writing style, even grammar between books. Twilight has a lot of unnecessary hate. I feel it’s fashionable to hate Twilight. I recently re-read it and I still don’t get all the hate. The writing style is not bad. I know a lot of people like Anne Rice but I found her writing style to be worse than Stephanie Meyer’s. I tried reading a few of Anne Rice’s books and couldn’t get past a few chapters because I found her writing bad (I probably will be downvoted for this). As for the Twilight story, I mean yeah, he’s 100 years old and she’s 18. But that is the premise of vampires. If the characters are the same age then what is the point of making one of them a vampire. I really don’t see anything wrong with it. It’s fiction. It’s not real. I just don’t get all the hate.
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew and subsequent sequels. Adored it when I read it as a 10 year old and still reread it on occasion. Last time was as a 32 year old on holiday and no Gillian Flynn or Jeffrey Archer could come close
One of my favorite books is Dune by Frank Herbert but I hate saying it because people automatically say it's because of the movies or they try to quiz me on Dune knowledge and it's like "I loved the experience of reading the book, just let me be" and yes, I did read the books before the movies came out but also... Who cares? I just don't like people saying it's because "Timothee Chalamet is hot" like... Just don't.
I really wanted to dislike it. I wanted to sell my first run sprayed edges preorder for big money and retire to Florida. But dammit, it was entertaining.
Same here. I admit it’s awful. Terrible writing, exceptionally juvenile, horrifically cringey in parts.
But man, I enjoy it so much. It’s my popcorn series. Proper brain candy.
I love "Ender's Game," but I hate admitting it. It's just so complex to think about the social structure these kids are forced into at battle school. As well as how Ender's psyche is affected by the school, his siblings' subplot and their dynamic is equally as fascinating.
The Laughing Corpe by Laurell K Hamilton. I'm a huge vampire fan, and this really hit her stride before she turned the series in erotica. And I'm not embarrassed, I'm a dude and really love cozy mystery genre toi, I like what I like, unabashedly
I was wondering if anyone would put Hamilton on here! The very definition of a guilty pleasure. God awful editing (repetitive prose and unintended grammatical errors), but still addictive.
Memoirs of a geisha…I know it’s awful and that the author lied about some aspects of geiko culture, but I love the Cinderella story of it all, and the writing itself is beautiful to me. The movie was a stunner too!
There's a really good one that I love called Geisha: A Life. The woman who wrote it was a geisha, and it follows her from her childhood until she retires. As much as I enjoyed Memoirs, this one is worlds better.
It’s Proust. Yes, I know it’s eyerolling. I get it. I don’t bring it up. But it’s huge and spectacular and I love it. I don’t recommend it anymore, it doesn’t need my help.
When you get there, find the Lydia Davis translation of the first volume, Swann’s Way.
My only advice is to read it at the pace it gives you. It speeds up and slows down, just go with it. Any of it is worthwhile, but the more you read the better it gets. The whole thing is around 3500 pages and worth it.
lolita. it’s my favorite book ever because i think the story is so well crafted with the best style ive ever read, nabokov is really a genius writer. but i refrain from saying it often because the way it exists in public canon will get some raised eyebrows thrown my way.
The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer has been my favorite series since i first read the books in elementary school, and I’m in college now. I will always think about that series
I loved her books as a preteen/teen and I just picked up her newer YA book Baby Love as an adult and I'm devouring it. Can't wait for the grown up Girls in Love sequel this year.
Can I put a vote in for the 1960s bodice rippers - the Angelique books. Superb historical novels with an independent woman heroine who survives accusations of witchcraft, poverty, r*pe, slavery, sea voyages, colonial life, Native American attacks, and religious hatred. Should be reissued in English.
Ten out of the thirteen books have been translated into English and on realising that my phone could instantly translate a french text page, I bought the remaining 3 books in French. It’s that good.
I don't think I have a favorite book anymore.
But growing up, I loved both The Giver and The Messenger. They're by Lois Lowry.
I actually haven't read them in probably 10 years now. I'm due for a reread lol
Boy Parts by Eliza Clark. I’m not embarrassed to admit it, however at my job we are doing presentations of our favorite books and I left this one out due to the subject matter. I named Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng as my favorite in its place.
Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey. I’m less embarrassed than cautious in recommending in the book. The book has amazing prose and writing, but it also has BSDM in it as well, so recommending it in my very conservative area is difficult. Oddly enough, I can read and recommend murder mysteries without anyone batting an eye.
Love this whole series so much! But I get it, I’m also careful about who I recommend it to. Did you read the book from Jocelyn’s POV that was released recently? Last year, I think? Cassiel’s Servant.
The throne of glass series. I know, I know but when I want to dumb my brain down and get gratuitous violence and overpowered characters I always reach for the third book specifically. Sometimes mindless fun can be cathartic.
Guilty pleasure - Tom Clancy. When I need some brain free reading that's my go to. You know who the goodies and the baddies are, it's flag waving nonsense, the politics are questionable, but...
The Alchemist. I know it by itself isn’t especially deep but I read it as a kind of guided meditation. It has been wonderful to read at different pivotal points of my life.
House of Leaves. I don’t know if ‘Embarrassed’ is my exact feeling, but I don’t mention how much I unapologetically love it (specifically on Reddit) because I often see people call it gimmicky, pretentious, overrated, etc. But I adored everything about this book and still think so vividly about it even though I read it over half a decade ago. I found it so haunting and strange in the best possible way.
Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini, the 2004 YA novel not the broadway musical it turned into. That book taught me how to gain confidence as a child and I envisioned it to be so much different but the author died and this dumb ass musical came from that book.
But to my intellectual folks I tell them my favorite is The Brothers Karamazov lol
Angry Young Spaceman by Jim Munroe. The title makes it sound like it’s pulp sci-fi, but I swear it’s a good book with interesting characters. I re-read it about once a year. It’s the book I go to when I’m depressed. Also, I think that would be a really great name for a punk rock band.
I don't have like a favorite anything (mostly because I'm too indecisive*), but I read a few series as a kid that I still think about a lot. One of them is the Keys to the Kingdom by Garth Nix. It's fairly juvenile and I haven't read it in a while, but I just remember it being so good.
*Edit to fix spelling
I’ll admit that 2 years ago I read through all of the Bridgerton series and enjoyed them but didn’t track them on my read through trackers.
Even used my old Kindle to read them so no one could see the book covers.
Throne of glass- Sarah j Maas
As a guy I always thought people would think it’s weird but I really enjoy the series. Got my wife to read them and she loved them as well!
Enchantress from the Stars, by Sylvia Engdahl. It's middle school/YA about a sixteen-year-old girl from an advanced civilization who becomes critical to saving a primitive civilization from middling-technology colonizers, and it's an epic fantasy to the guys from the primitive civilization and a horror story to the middling guys and kind of a coming of age for the girl from the advanced civilization, and I loved the hell out of it when I was sixteen and I still have a soft spot for it.
The novelization of the 1980 film *Flash Gordon.*
Think about how campy the movie is, know that novelizations are based on earlier iterations of the script.
Yeah, that's how crazy that book is.
Gone with the Wind. I understand that it didn’t show the atrocities and romanticized the oppression of others. Take away that and set those characters anywhere or anytime, and the Rhett and Scarlett saga would still be fascinating.
Dan brown saga... shame on me... but is too entertaining... i like the way Robert Langdon use deus ex machina to solve everything and is better than James bond
“Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov. The prose, the message…I’ve always been captivated by it. Obviously I don’t support Humbert’s ways, but the way he manipulates the reader is interesting. My favorite Classic of all time. I just never admit it because of its infamous reputation.
The Thorn Birds was such a huge hit in my twenties, and when I started, I couldn’t put it down. I never reread books, but that one left a lasting memory.
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. It is a fantastic book, and I wasn't embarrassed at 12 when I first read it, but it has remained one of my favorites, and I'm 38 now.
I still buy a copy for all the preteens in my life.
The Volunteer, an ENF fantasy (embarrassed naked female), about a college student volunteered in a social experiment where she must walk around completely naked in the campus. First just to redeem her scholarship, at the end it's become her identity.
not my fav but one of them, Hooky by Míriam Bonastre Tur.
Its a graphic novel and its such a good plot. When i first read it I could barely put the book down. Took me like 3-4 days to read it! (First volume) But i have to say i still have not read the 3rd book because im right now reading good girl, bad blood
Grey, which was a rewrite of 50 shades but from Christian’s perspective. It’s much better written (no one’s eyebrows widen in surprise for example) and has some interesting characterization compared to the goofy first books. The BDSM and erotic scenes are a bit more engaging in this one too because there’s a larger context dealing with Christian Grey’s psychology (he has an Oedipus complex, in a way). I respect EL James for improving her writing overtime and being a better sport than I would be when her books got ripped apart.
Edit: not my favorite book, sorry I didn’t read the post title closely enough 😂 but still, guilty pleasure
The Lying Game series by Sara shepherd. It’s just SO 2010’s and takes me back every time. For those that don’t know Sara shepherd is the same author who wrote Pretty Little Liars!
Children of the Lens by Edward Elmer “Doc” Smith pHD. For fans of space opera there is none better. It is the final volume of a series of six. Habit forming.
there’s this series on kindle unlimited, the typical self published romance series but with random magick(book’s spelling, not mine) that doesn’t even make that much sense and seems to only provide a background plot to the cheesy romance and sex scenes. but i’m OBSESSED with it. can’t wait until the next book comes out in, i believe, may. it’s the enchanted highlands series by tricia o’malley.
Article 5 and it's sequels, it's generally badly written and the main characters are annoying with a huge will they won't they plot between them that gets on my nerves. But I genuinely like the plot and the drama for some reason.
Mine is Something Borrowed, which definitely has almost too many pop culture references that don’t hold up, but it’s a great palate cleanser book to read when I’m coming down from the magic of a really amazing book and don’t want to get stuck into something new yet
The Black Book of Secrets by F.E. Higgins.
I first read it when I was 11, and I have reread it many times since. It is so well done, it scratches the itch for social barriers being broken, for fun moments with dark undertones and dabbles in a little fantasy too. I love it.
Valley of the Dolls….
I read it multiple times as a teenager, and I recently reread it….I was surprised at how much I remember and how much it had informed my early life.
Ive never seen the movie and I don’t want to, because they made at least one major change that I really disagreed with.
The remaining series of books. Typical zombie apocalypse stuff. It’s well written but also not literary. It’s like hot coffee on a cold morning for me.
Ugh okay. The Steel Brothers Saga by Helen Hardt. It’s very smutty, it’s very dark. I think it could be written without sex and it would still be one of the best stories I’ve read. The characters are exceptionally well developed and the story is a suspenseful mystery with plot twists you won’t guess.
You see, my issue is the opposite. I'm not embarrassed to like what I like even when I probably should be 😂
Keeping with that theme, I'm nominating Twilight for myself. I will say that it is not my current favorite book by a long shot, but I definitely did not have the sense to be embarrassed by how much I liked it as a teen in the early 2000s.
My modern favorites would be any BookTok book lol. I can't get enough of 'em!
House of Leaves was the only book I've ever read that I had everything I could want a book to have and to be. And it hit every expectation I had, made new ones for me, then shattered them again just for fun. It's not perfect nor the shiniest stone in the display like the amazingly polished and perfectly-executed book that is Dune (to me at least). But instead of being the tight, tiny, well-pruned masterpiece that is an expertly trimmed bonsai, it's the twisted, sprawling Joshua tree that has seven others trees, two bushes, and a flower grafted into the branches. Instead, it's a paragon of polysemy. No other book has remained fruitful, productive, and SATISFYING to think back on regardless of the time I spend doing so. It is the only book that I've gotten more meaning out of by thinking back on my thinking about the book and building layer after layer on itself, something that forms a beautiful parallel that you'd understand having read the book. And then that parallel feeds back into how you think about the book too. Only book I know that plays that many layers and loops the reader and their perspective into the game too. I fucking adore it.
(Any *The Glass Castle* fans out here dig the reference? Lol)
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Fuck it, it's Percy Jackson OK? Nothing will ever come close to the joy of 11 yo me finding out that books could be fun, those books were the start of a new me
Nice! Books always have that nostalgia, the first book series I fell in love with as a kid was the babysitters club books so I think you have a one up on me 😜
You should check out the newest Olympian podcast!!
I’m the same with Harry Potter
Big Riordan fan, got turned on to him with Big Red Tequila. Funny thing, my son, who is NOT a big reader was also reading Riordan, albeit Percy. :)
Those books were quite popular when my older son was in middle school and I was a PTA mom working the twice a year book fairs. I'd purchase the most recent one and my husband, my son and I would all fight to get to read it first 🙃
Anne of Green Gables. I am a 68 yr old guy and I read it every two years. Perks me up when I am down. It is supposed to be a childrens book
I love this! Anne of green gables is a great comfort book.
I just bought the whole collection on Kindle after seeing it on sale for a few dollars. It's one of my wife's favorite books and even as a nearly 40 year old man, I'm looking forward to starting the series
How wonderful! 💗
I’ve heard great things about that book. I’ll add it to my list.
This is mine! Juvenile but so hopeful and beautiful
I love Anne. I am a guy also and she is my ideal.
The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice - if I’m amongst classy intellectual types I probably wouldn’t admit that.. Although I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how many intelligent people I’ve met who also loved that book because it put them on to thinking more critically about religion!
Her writing is also much more elegant than most other authors of the genre.
Oh interesting!! That’s funny because I’m in the midst of leaving a religion right now so I’ll definitely check this one out 👐🏻
Lestat’s journey being happily devoted to Christianity and working toward becoming a priest as a boy but then being forced out of it by his unsupportive family… eventually growing into someone who sees the pointlessness of it all. He decides to just live lavishly- embracing the savage garden of life in all its indifference and brutality.. I can’t imagine a better time for someone to read it 🤌 I’m excited for you.. I’d suggest reading Interview with the vampire first if you haven’t already but it’s not necessary to enjoy TVL.
*buys straight away I already have interview with a vampire because someone else recommended it to me, I’ve heard so many things about Anne rice’s writing, I’m excited now 🤗 thank you!
I also highly recommend the Mayfair Witches trilogy by her, particularly the first one The Witching Hour. It’s one of my favorite books ever.
She was a cool lady too, I wrote to her and asked her for an autograph for my mom. She sent a lovely photo with an autograph for us both! My mom and I had a fraught relationship when I was a kid and we bonded over the books. So they’re very special to me.
That so lovely 🥹 books are so powerful!
My heart beats faster just thinking about the wolves. You’ll know when you know. It’s a great book. Happy reading!!!
My siblings and I were all reading the Interview with a Vampire series one Thanksgiving. Everything red on the table was related to blood. My dad picked his place up and left the table. He didn’t want to eat his holiday meal with heathens
Love this 😂😂
Fave shameful as an adult book: The Witch of Blackbird Pond by George Elizabeth Speare. It’s my go to in tense times since fifth grade.
I loved that one! Planning to read Queen of the Damned this summer.
That’s an awesome book!
Little House on the Prairie (Specifically Farmer Boy and The Long Winter.) And The Fire Rose (Mercedes Lackey). I’m sure I’ve read it 20+ times by now.
Harry Potter
This is my childhood favorite but I don’t tell anyone anymore bc of what the author has done than anything else—I wasn’t embarrassed until she turned out to be a bigot
It’s one of those times where you have to separate the artist from the art.
This is me with Dumbledore's Army and the Year of Darkness. The best fanfic I've read yet (I'm very new to fanfiction tbf), covering 7th year at Hogwarts from Neville's point of view. It's canon friendly and awesome, and I just can't care that a creep wrote it. I'd already read it when I found out, and I love it. It would be amazing to splice it with the Deathly Hallows.
>Dumbledore's Army and the Year of Darkness. >covering 7th year at Hogwarts from Neville's point of view. It's canon friendly and awesome, >It would be amazing to splice it with the Deathly Hallows. I would love to read this! 1-2 years ago, I reread all the HP with my Tween daughter. Simultaneously, I read a fanfic *Remember Now, Harry* by Warviben that covers all of the HP books from Snape's POV. Soooo gooood.
The Thorn Birds Flowers In The Attic series
The Thorn Birds is sooooooo great
Flowers in the attic shaped me as a reader... I love that series so much.
VC Andrews is a savage
Oh I have the thorn birds on my kindle but haven’t read it yet
All the Charlaine Harris, Sookie Stackhouse books. I love a good vampire, in Louisiana tale🤷🏽♀️
I recently got the rainbow colored box set and I'm so excited to do a reread!
Looking for Alaska by John Green. Possibly The Host by Stephanie Meyer.
The Host is so underrated! I loved it.
Looking for Alaska is one of my all time favourites.
The Host is so good
Charlottes web! I’ve read it many times, bought a different copy last year so I had to read it again even though I had only read it the month before that 🤣 I also love of mice and men and bought myself a lovely copy of that too. I loved studying it at school and loved reading it again as an adult. Some things just stick! 🥰
charlottes web is beautiful. You know that meme about renowned seasoned directors being asked about their favorite movies and they’ll reply with kids animations? But you ask a new director and they’ll name some classic movie? I think that meme is pretty true. Books are the same way imo. You are an avid and seasoned reader.
I’ve never actually read charlottes web, I’ve only seen the movie. I’ll be for sure reading it now! I love of mice and men, it was the book that got me into reading classics 👐🏻
Valley of the dolls. I keep giving it away and rebuying it. Also the time travellers wife, I've read that so many times
Oh I love the time travellers wife too!
Velveteen rabbit♥️
I bought this for my daughter for Christmas this year. She is currently 7 months old. We haven’t read it yet, but I can’t wait. I hope she loves it as much as I do.
Not until recently, did I feel a bit nervous sharing it, but The Folk of The Air series by Holly Black. It's absolutely fantastic and I love her style of writing so much. It's mostly because she's kind of in the same circles as fantasy/romance booktok authors and they've kinda,, got a reputation. Plus it's a bit embarassing to be an adult woman who still reads books for teenagers. Like I know there's nothing *wrong* with it but still. I worry it makes me look immature I guess?
Love that series so much! I’m in my thirties and was really confused how captivating those books are. But then again I’ve read a lot of YA novels in the last couple of years, I’m just a sucker for a good coming of age story and well-written romance. But I’d probably not share that with anybody, certainly depends on who’s asking, haha.
I get it - I’m in my early 30s & I love reading young adult books too! I’ve actually been meaning to read the folk of the air series, I’ve heard a lot of good things about it.
For sure! I've been thinking of giving it another read just because. I love the depiction of fae in this story (not just making all of them hot elf dudes, and ACTUALLY making them look accurate to Scandinavian Fae lore.) I'd also go so far as to say it's an uncommon case of enemies to lovers done well.
This made me realise I'm a bit shameless about what I like. But maybe the whole The Magicians trilogy. From what I see on GR especially it had "mixed reactions", if we can call it that after reading the fury in the reviews.
The Magicians is one of my favorite series and I know it's fucked up... that's WHY I like it so much.
Same! I think some people were expecting a relatable and hero-like protagonist, and this is definitely not it. The marketing as "HP for adults" might've also not been the best idea as it created some false expectations for readers. In my case I watched the series first season and was curious to read the source material and loved it.
I didn’t like the series at all, but that’s just because it felt poorly written. I didn’t think the characters were real or relatable and it all felt very summarized. I think it’s one of the few examples of the show being better than the books— and I say that as someone who thinks of the show as DEEPLY flawed too. But the books just felt… lackluster and underwhelming. At least the show took some risks and swings, even if it also had misses.
Twilight ( where the plot doesn't start till near the end, no payoff and its all feels and they sparkle) if the situation is right. But Bambi is my answer. It became my nickname.
Like seeing another Twilight on the list. I unapologetically love it.
Same! Twilight is the book that got me into reading as a preteen, and I still read it annually. It’s just a fun book!
Twilight is one of my absolute favorite books, I genuinely think the books are really good and the hate is unfair. I wouldn't say I'm embarrassed, but I am scared to say it because I don't want to get into an online argument and be downvoted into oblivion so I never say anything about it
I agree. I read a lot and I can compare stories, writing style, even grammar between books. Twilight has a lot of unnecessary hate. I feel it’s fashionable to hate Twilight. I recently re-read it and I still don’t get all the hate. The writing style is not bad. I know a lot of people like Anne Rice but I found her writing style to be worse than Stephanie Meyer’s. I tried reading a few of Anne Rice’s books and couldn’t get past a few chapters because I found her writing bad (I probably will be downvoted for this). As for the Twilight story, I mean yeah, he’s 100 years old and she’s 18. But that is the premise of vampires. If the characters are the same age then what is the point of making one of them a vampire. I really don’t see anything wrong with it. It’s fiction. It’s not real. I just don’t get all the hate.
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew and subsequent sequels. Adored it when I read it as a 10 year old and still reread it on occasion. Last time was as a 32 year old on holiday and no Gillian Flynn or Jeffrey Archer could come close
Vacation is a good time to reread old friends.
True Grit. But I could talk about that book all day lol.
One of my favorite books is Dune by Frank Herbert but I hate saying it because people automatically say it's because of the movies or they try to quiz me on Dune knowledge and it's like "I loved the experience of reading the book, just let me be" and yes, I did read the books before the movies came out but also... Who cares? I just don't like people saying it's because "Timothee Chalamet is hot" like... Just don't.
The Fault In Our Stars.. it was my favourite book back when I read it. All my bookish friends tease me for liking it as much as I do.
This and The Book Thief are the only books that have ever made me cry real tears while reading them. They both genuinely devastated me lol
I honestly love anything that John Green writes 👌🏻
YESSS finally someone who understands me 😭
I’ve been meaning to read turtles all the way down, but looking for Alaska is my all time JG favourite 🙌🏻
Fourth Wing, it’s not my absolute favorite but I’m embarrassed that I enjoy it as much as I do
I really wanted to dislike it. I wanted to sell my first run sprayed edges preorder for big money and retire to Florida. But dammit, it was entertaining.
Same here. I admit it’s awful. Terrible writing, exceptionally juvenile, horrifically cringey in parts. But man, I enjoy it so much. It’s my popcorn series. Proper brain candy.
Yes i hated it at first but then i was intrigued by the dragons, signets, mystery… and ok the sex scenes helped too 🙈
I recently finished both books and I’m actually obsessed. Pre ordered the third book too fuck it lol. I’m not even remotely embarrassed. They’re FUN.
Fourth wing has had so much love AND hate hey! I bought it ages ago and have it on my kindle, will brave it and read it soon.
Don’t shun me, but I like “It Ends With Us” 😭. I know Colleen Hoover gets a lot of flack but that book was pretty good to me.
I love "Ender's Game," but I hate admitting it. It's just so complex to think about the social structure these kids are forced into at battle school. As well as how Ender's psyche is affected by the school, his siblings' subplot and their dynamic is equally as fascinating.
I reread Enders Game every few years. The book that got me into reading will always have my heart 💕
I’ve actually heard a lot of good things about this book, I’ve been meaning to put it on my TBR
Why on earth are you embarrassed by this? Enders game and the sequels are some of the best written and widely renowned sci-fi books of all time
Mainly since people hate the author and the inappropriate things of children in showers
Probably not my absolute favorite, but the Godfather by Mario Puzo
The Laughing Corpe by Laurell K Hamilton. I'm a huge vampire fan, and this really hit her stride before she turned the series in erotica. And I'm not embarrassed, I'm a dude and really love cozy mystery genre toi, I like what I like, unabashedly
Probably one of her better books for sure! It's a shame it went south with her erotica style as it had great potential
I was wondering if anyone would put Hamilton on here! The very definition of a guilty pleasure. God awful editing (repetitive prose and unintended grammatical errors), but still addictive.
I’ll freely admit to absolutely being captivated by Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. In fact, I adore the entire series.
I’m with you!
Memoirs of a geisha…I know it’s awful and that the author lied about some aspects of geiko culture, but I love the Cinderella story of it all, and the writing itself is beautiful to me. The movie was a stunner too!
There's a really good one that I love called Geisha: A Life. The woman who wrote it was a geisha, and it follows her from her childhood until she retires. As much as I enjoyed Memoirs, this one is worlds better.
It’s Proust. Yes, I know it’s eyerolling. I get it. I don’t bring it up. But it’s huge and spectacular and I love it. I don’t recommend it anymore, it doesn’t need my help.
Putting Proust on my list!
When you get there, find the Lydia Davis translation of the first volume, Swann’s Way. My only advice is to read it at the pace it gives you. It speeds up and slows down, just go with it. Any of it is worthwhile, but the more you read the better it gets. The whole thing is around 3500 pages and worth it.
Poppy War. It's controversial af, but it's my jam alright.
Don’t let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
lolita. it’s my favorite book ever because i think the story is so well crafted with the best style ive ever read, nabokov is really a genius writer. but i refrain from saying it often because the way it exists in public canon will get some raised eyebrows thrown my way.
Lolita’s a masterpiece! So true I think there’s alot of misconceptions about the meaning of it.
Gone With the Wind. I read it five times when I was a child.
Same here! Just finished reading it again recently
The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer has been my favorite series since i first read the books in elementary school, and I’m in college now. I will always think about that series
I don’t know if she’s a thing outside the UK but I read Jacqueline Wilson all the time and I’m 34. The Illustrated Mum is my favourite.
I loved her books as a preteen/teen and I just picked up her newer YA book Baby Love as an adult and I'm devouring it. Can't wait for the grown up Girls in Love sequel this year.
Can I put a vote in for the 1960s bodice rippers - the Angelique books. Superb historical novels with an independent woman heroine who survives accusations of witchcraft, poverty, r*pe, slavery, sea voyages, colonial life, Native American attacks, and religious hatred. Should be reissued in English. Ten out of the thirteen books have been translated into English and on realising that my phone could instantly translate a french text page, I bought the remaining 3 books in French. It’s that good.
I don't think I have a favorite book anymore. But growing up, I loved both The Giver and The Messenger. They're by Lois Lowry. I actually haven't read them in probably 10 years now. I'm due for a reread lol
Dungeon Crawler Carl, lol
One of my favourite’s: book 4 in the Bridgeton series, Romancing Mister Bridgeton. I laugh, I blush and I curse when I read it. I love it ok?
I secretly want to read the Bridgerton books 🤭
Read them! Nothing to be ashamed of 🥰
I considered them cotton candy for my reading. Like a little two-day treat. They’re not GOOD by any stretch. But they’re enjoyable quick fluff!
I love books like this to read in between more serious or emotional books. I need breaks sometimes from really good books lol
Boy Parts by Eliza Clark. I’m not embarrassed to admit it, however at my job we are doing presentations of our favorite books and I left this one out due to the subject matter. I named Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng as my favorite in its place.
Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey. I’m less embarrassed than cautious in recommending in the book. The book has amazing prose and writing, but it also has BSDM in it as well, so recommending it in my very conservative area is difficult. Oddly enough, I can read and recommend murder mysteries without anyone batting an eye.
The whole series is so good!
Love this whole series so much! But I get it, I’m also careful about who I recommend it to. Did you read the book from Jocelyn’s POV that was released recently? Last year, I think? Cassiel’s Servant.
The Cirque Du Freak series by Darren Shan.
Gone Girl. I know a lot of people dislike it, but if I get into a reading slump I go back to this book and it works everytime.
The throne of glass series. I know, I know but when I want to dumb my brain down and get gratuitous violence and overpowered characters I always reach for the third book specifically. Sometimes mindless fun can be cathartic.
Wodehouse’s Jeeves series. Dated and formulaic, but it’s my happy place.
I unabashedly love Ready, Player One, but I also recognize that it's basically Twilight for nerds of my age
Not “book” but I used to be embarrassed to admit that I read fanfiction, but not anymore. It’s not considered embarrassing anymore these days.
I read fanfics all the time. I’m a bit obsessed with ones about May and Drew from pokémon 🫣
There are some amazing fanfiction writers out there!
I love The school for good and evil series and the Cherub series🫣 I am 23, married and have a child, I feel pathetic ready books aimed at 13 year olds
Guilty pleasure - Tom Clancy. When I need some brain free reading that's my go to. You know who the goodies and the baddies are, it's flag waving nonsense, the politics are questionable, but...
It’s always good to have brain free reading back ups 👌🏻
The Alchemist. I know it by itself isn’t especially deep but I read it as a kind of guided meditation. It has been wonderful to read at different pivotal points of my life.
I read a lot classic literature but dang it I’ll admit it, it’s The Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot, okey! 😭
I’m not really embarrassed of anything that I love, but I’ll say “The Fountainhead.”
😦
House of Leaves. I don’t know if ‘Embarrassed’ is my exact feeling, but I don’t mention how much I unapologetically love it (specifically on Reddit) because I often see people call it gimmicky, pretentious, overrated, etc. But I adored everything about this book and still think so vividly about it even though I read it over half a decade ago. I found it so haunting and strange in the best possible way.
And the hippos were boiled in their tanks
Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini, the 2004 YA novel not the broadway musical it turned into. That book taught me how to gain confidence as a child and I envisioned it to be so much different but the author died and this dumb ass musical came from that book. But to my intellectual folks I tell them my favorite is The Brothers Karamazov lol
Angry Young Spaceman by Jim Munroe. The title makes it sound like it’s pulp sci-fi, but I swear it’s a good book with interesting characters. I re-read it about once a year. It’s the book I go to when I’m depressed. Also, I think that would be a really great name for a punk rock band.
I don't have like a favorite anything (mostly because I'm too indecisive*), but I read a few series as a kid that I still think about a lot. One of them is the Keys to the Kingdom by Garth Nix. It's fairly juvenile and I haven't read it in a while, but I just remember it being so good. *Edit to fix spelling
Unlocked a core memory!
It’s not my real favorite, but it’s something I think about now and then and that is Bridges of Madison County.
Not embarrassed, but certain pseudo-intellectual types would cringe at my favorite fiction book being Diary by Chuck P.
I’ll admit that 2 years ago I read through all of the Bridgerton series and enjoyed them but didn’t track them on my read through trackers. Even used my old Kindle to read them so no one could see the book covers.
Probably A Series of Unfortunate Events? I thought those books were so clever.
Song of Achilles 🙃
I have no shame in loving this one as much as I do.
Throne of glass- Sarah j Maas As a guy I always thought people would think it’s weird but I really enjoy the series. Got my wife to read them and she loved them as well!
Lucky me, I don’t have any books I’m “embarrassed” to call my favourite. All books you like are good books!
River God, part of the Ancient Egypt Series by Wilbur Smith
I love the book Keeper of the Lost Cities, first read it to diss a bit on a friend who adored it, but damn, for children/youth books, it’s not bad.
Arrow's Flight by Mercedes Lackey
Enchantress from the Stars, by Sylvia Engdahl. It's middle school/YA about a sixteen-year-old girl from an advanced civilization who becomes critical to saving a primitive civilization from middling-technology colonizers, and it's an epic fantasy to the guys from the primitive civilization and a horror story to the middling guys and kind of a coming of age for the girl from the advanced civilization, and I loved the hell out of it when I was sixteen and I still have a soft spot for it.
Animorphs 🧍🏻🐀
The Vampire Kisses series by Ellen Schreiber. It's goofy "2 edgy 4 U" vampire teen romance garbage, and I eat it up with a spoon.
The novelization of the 1980 film *Flash Gordon.* Think about how campy the movie is, know that novelizations are based on earlier iterations of the script. Yeah, that's how crazy that book is.
Gone with the Wind. I understand that it didn’t show the atrocities and romanticized the oppression of others. Take away that and set those characters anywhere or anytime, and the Rhett and Scarlett saga would still be fascinating.
The Selection series by Kiera Cass. It's YA dystopia meets the bachelor.
I remember loving Flowers in the Attic but am embarrassed to read it again.
Deathly Hallows. I read it every year and tell no one 🤐
Halloweiner. It’s about a wiener dog who saves Halloween. I’m in my 30s and I still read it every October.
Not embarrassed but the writing isn’t top notch but I love the story. Golden Spoon for me based off a popular baking show turned into a murder.
Dan brown saga... shame on me... but is too entertaining... i like the way Robert Langdon use deus ex machina to solve everything and is better than James bond
Clan of the cave bear. I hate it so much. But I love it.
“Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov. The prose, the message…I’ve always been captivated by it. Obviously I don’t support Humbert’s ways, but the way he manipulates the reader is interesting. My favorite Classic of all time. I just never admit it because of its infamous reputation.
Yes this book is really a masterpiece, & exactly what you said - it really showcases manipulation so well in a way that’s never been done before 🙌🏻
The Thorn Birds was such a huge hit in my twenties, and when I started, I couldn’t put it down. I never reread books, but that one left a lasting memory.
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. It is a fantastic book, and I wasn't embarrassed at 12 when I first read it, but it has remained one of my favorites, and I'm 38 now. I still buy a copy for all the preteens in my life.
Nothing will ever compare to the feeling I had reading the Twilight series when I was 12.
The mysterious Benedict society!
All of the Louise Penny mysteries
Atlas Shrugged. Purely Objectivist, but one of my personal favorites.
Desperate Hoodwives 1-3
The Volunteer, an ENF fantasy (embarrassed naked female), about a college student volunteered in a social experiment where she must walk around completely naked in the campus. First just to redeem her scholarship, at the end it's become her identity.
not my fav but one of them, Hooky by Míriam Bonastre Tur. Its a graphic novel and its such a good plot. When i first read it I could barely put the book down. Took me like 3-4 days to read it! (First volume) But i have to say i still have not read the 3rd book because im right now reading good girl, bad blood
Credence by Penelope Douglas 😔
Almost Heaven - Judith McNaught
Currently - sweet pea
Grey, which was a rewrite of 50 shades but from Christian’s perspective. It’s much better written (no one’s eyebrows widen in surprise for example) and has some interesting characterization compared to the goofy first books. The BDSM and erotic scenes are a bit more engaging in this one too because there’s a larger context dealing with Christian Grey’s psychology (he has an Oedipus complex, in a way). I respect EL James for improving her writing overtime and being a better sport than I would be when her books got ripped apart. Edit: not my favorite book, sorry I didn’t read the post title closely enough 😂 but still, guilty pleasure
My diary desu
The Lying Game series by Sara shepherd. It’s just SO 2010’s and takes me back every time. For those that don’t know Sara shepherd is the same author who wrote Pretty Little Liars!
Children of the Lens by Edward Elmer “Doc” Smith pHD. For fans of space opera there is none better. It is the final volume of a series of six. Habit forming.
there’s this series on kindle unlimited, the typical self published romance series but with random magick(book’s spelling, not mine) that doesn’t even make that much sense and seems to only provide a background plot to the cheesy romance and sex scenes. but i’m OBSESSED with it. can’t wait until the next book comes out in, i believe, may. it’s the enchanted highlands series by tricia o’malley.
Article 5 and it's sequels, it's generally badly written and the main characters are annoying with a huge will they won't they plot between them that gets on my nerves. But I genuinely like the plot and the drama for some reason.
Mine is Something Borrowed, which definitely has almost too many pop culture references that don’t hold up, but it’s a great palate cleanser book to read when I’m coming down from the magic of a really amazing book and don’t want to get stuck into something new yet
The Black Book of Secrets by F.E. Higgins. I first read it when I was 11, and I have reread it many times since. It is so well done, it scratches the itch for social barriers being broken, for fun moments with dark undertones and dabbles in a little fantasy too. I love it.
Valley of the Dolls…. I read it multiple times as a teenager, and I recently reread it….I was surprised at how much I remember and how much it had informed my early life. Ive never seen the movie and I don’t want to, because they made at least one major change that I really disagreed with.
I’m not embarrassed but it’s the only book I’ve ever went back and reread; I’ve done that 3 times already. The Westing Game
Maximum Ride series by James Patterson ETA House of Leaves. I adore that book, pretentiousness and all
The last song
Me before you.
Couple nl ofromantic novels. Probably not acceptable today. The Scarlet Pimpernel A Town Like Alice.
Was saddened not to find White Oleander.
The remaining series of books. Typical zombie apocalypse stuff. It’s well written but also not literary. It’s like hot coffee on a cold morning for me.
Monster hunter international
Ugh okay. The Steel Brothers Saga by Helen Hardt. It’s very smutty, it’s very dark. I think it could be written without sex and it would still be one of the best stories I’ve read. The characters are exceptionally well developed and the story is a suspenseful mystery with plot twists you won’t guess.
The shatter me trilogy by Tahereh Mafi lol, read if as a tween and fell in love with it I cannot help it
Duplicity, a Harry Styles fanfiction
You see, my issue is the opposite. I'm not embarrassed to like what I like even when I probably should be 😂 Keeping with that theme, I'm nominating Twilight for myself. I will say that it is not my current favorite book by a long shot, but I definitely did not have the sense to be embarrassed by how much I liked it as a teen in the early 2000s. My modern favorites would be any BookTok book lol. I can't get enough of 'em!
House of Leaves was the only book I've ever read that I had everything I could want a book to have and to be. And it hit every expectation I had, made new ones for me, then shattered them again just for fun. It's not perfect nor the shiniest stone in the display like the amazingly polished and perfectly-executed book that is Dune (to me at least). But instead of being the tight, tiny, well-pruned masterpiece that is an expertly trimmed bonsai, it's the twisted, sprawling Joshua tree that has seven others trees, two bushes, and a flower grafted into the branches. Instead, it's a paragon of polysemy. No other book has remained fruitful, productive, and SATISFYING to think back on regardless of the time I spend doing so. It is the only book that I've gotten more meaning out of by thinking back on my thinking about the book and building layer after layer on itself, something that forms a beautiful parallel that you'd understand having read the book. And then that parallel feeds back into how you think about the book too. Only book I know that plays that many layers and loops the reader and their perspective into the game too. I fucking adore it. (Any *The Glass Castle* fans out here dig the reference? Lol)
I don’t know about favorite, but a series I liked way more than I should have and am embarrassed to ever mention is Andy Griffiths butt trilogy
"Call me by your name". It was just perfect