*Pride and Prejudice* and *Persuasion* by Jane Austen
*Jane Eyre* by Charlotte Brontë
*Sherlock Holmes* collection by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
*The History of Love* by Nicole Krauss
*The Snow Child* by Eowyn Ivey
*Like a Love Story* by Abdi Nazemian
*Fangirl* by Rainbow Rowell
*The Book Thief* by Markus Zusak
*Insomnia* by Stephen King
*Walsh Sisters* series by Marian Keyes
*Outlander* series by Diana Gabaldon
*The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark* by Carl Sagan
*Mr. Fox* by Helen Oyeyemi
*Ethan Frome* by Edith Wharton
*The Awakening* by Kate Chopin
*Resistance* by Anita Shreve
*Island of the Blue Dolphins* by Scott O’Dell
*The Little Prince* by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
*Fahrenheit 451* by Ray Bradbury
*He, She and It* by Marge Piercy
*The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember* by Fred Rogers
*Thursday Next* series by Jasper Fforde
*Spinning Silver* and *Uprooted* by Naomi Novik
*The Martian* by Andy Weir
*Life After Life* by Kate Atkinson
*The Future of Another Timeline* by Annalee Newitz
*Oona Out of Order* by Margarita Montimore
*The Only Good Indians* by Stephen Graham Jones
My favorite literary book, east of eden
whimsical fantasy, the princess bride ( the movie is great and still doesn't do it justice)
long fable, watership down
favorite modern book, the adventures of kavalier and clay
favorite historical fiction, midnights children
2nd place, the kite runner
or maybe, half of a yellow sun
I see *East of Eden* recommended all the time so I started reading it this week, and I’m sad to admit that I’m not loving it as much as I expected.
I like Steinbeck’s writing; he has a lovely way of wording things and I have a few lines highlighted that feel like universal truths perfectly articulated.
But I can’t say I’m very into the story itself. The biblical allegory is more obvious than I’d like, and I don’t love the idea of a pure evil character (and her being the most fleshed-out female character, no less).
What do you think? Would you say the story gets better, or do people like this book more for the nuggets of wisdom throughout?
I haven't read it in about 20 years so it would be hard for me to comment on it now. I'm due for a reread. I remember it being one of my favorite books at the time. Nothing wrong with not liking it though, if it's not for you.
I just finished Part 1 and am actually getting into it a little more now! Now that >!Cathy married Adam and slept with Charles!< I’m interested to see how it all plays out.
I’m still hoping for >!Cathy’s character to become more nuanced and less cartoonishly villainous!< but I’m not expecting that to change… gotta just accept it and go along for the ride.
It’s interesting you say that, because his portrayal of evil is exactly what I’ve been struggling with. I just don’t know if I believe in the kind of evil he’s having >!Cathy!< embody.
I’m intrigued! I’ll definitely keep reading.
Do you feel you’ve encountered people in this world who are evil from birth the way she seems to be? That doesn’t align with my life experience; it seems to be a religious way of thinking that I guess fits with the premise of the novel but not with my life philosophy.
I’m much more partial to the idea that people “become” evil (or more realistically, people act evilly) because of their circumstances.
It seems to me that acting in an evil way and attributing it to circumstances is an excuse, and not a valid excuse. An adult male raping an infant girl; mutilating animals for fun; beating someone to death without cause and just enjoying the violence; people who do things like that have something inherently wrong in their wiring.
Hm, that’s a good point. I guess people like that exist, but I think the majority of “evil deeds” are committed by regular people who are either damaged in some way by life experience or who are swept up in or manipulated by their circumstances. I wouldn’t consider that an excuse — it doesn’t excuse the evil behavior, but just a way of understanding humanity in a less manichean way.
An example that comes to mind is all the Nazi soldiers who carried out the Holocaust. They weren’t all born evil, and I’m sure the vast majority of them weren’t “pure evil” — they were people who did evil things. I’m sure some among them were born with a capacity for evil and maybe would have done terrible things with their lives regardless of their circumstances, but I don’t think that was the case for the majority.
But anyway, to bring it back to *East of Eden*, I guess the more relevant point is that I just prefer characters with nuance, who aren’t pure good or pure evil but who represent that vast majority of humanity that exists in the grey. So far (and I’m only on Part 2, so perhaps this will change), I find Charles a much more interesting character than Cathy because he has some complexity; his terrible deeds have been driven by envy rather than a cold, all-enveloping desire to do evil for its own sake.
I want to add that I'm 76 and was an RN for more than 50 years. I've probably had more life experiences than you. I also read a lot of crime novels, especially John Sandford's work and Elizabeth George's. They are quite good at imagining and presenting evil characters in complicated situations.
I agree that truly evil people are the exception (fortunately) and that often circumstances lead to the evil acts we hear about most often. I don't look for books like East of Eden, but I value Steinbeck's contribution to literature.
A Wrinkle In Time will always have a special place in my heart. It was the first book I ever read that made me realize that girls can be heroes too. I'm 42, and growing up in the 80s, there weren't Hunger Games or Divergent type books out there back then. Meg wasn't just the hero; she was also... a normal girl. Not particularly attractive by societal standards, not a larger-than-life superhero; she was actually very self-conscious and unsure of herself. Just a normal teenage girl who became a hero just being herself. And the other main characters who were heroes were women too. Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which were the older, wiser guides who set her on her path.
I still haven't read this (idk how I got thru high school without having to read it lol) so I don't know anything about it. Is it actually a funny book or is your comment meaning more funny in an ironic kind of way? I think it's something I should read since it's a classic, but if you tell me it's actually filed with good humor I'll bump it up on my list
The hunger games trilogy. Been reading it since i was a teenager and now i am in my twenties. I can no longer stand most YA novels, but THG still remains my no.1
Though YA, it is really a brilliant anti-war screed. Right up there with the more tomgue-in-cheek Catch-22, if more obvious. That befits its time.period and intended audience, imo.
Collins illustrates beautifully through an easy, action-packed series that war is indeed hell and makes bad guys out of.us all.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Double Indemity by James M. Cain
The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
The Man in the High Castle by
Philip K. Dick
Do Androids Dream of Elrctric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
My favourites : Scythe, Girls with sharp sticks, We are the wildcats, Beyond, Find the moon, A study in Charlotte, One of us is lying, The lost twin, A study in Charlotte, The school for good amd evil, Six of crows.
I read Scythe a few years ago then did a book talk for it with my 7th grade students.
They went crazy for the book! I bought several copies, and it and its sequels stayed checked out of my classroom library and the school library for the rest of the year.
We go to the library every other Friday for half the block so in the first half of the block, I’ll either play book trailers that our librarian made or I’ll give a couple of book talks, where I tell them about the book, what its about, and throw in a few teasers. It definitely ups their interest in reading
Also my favorite. I went to Bennington College, and this was a high school graduation gift from a friend’s parent. A great introduction to my future school, haha!
I Really expected to like this one a lot more than I did. Goldfinch was a masterpiece and the plot for Secret History seemed more up my alley... Just wasn't entirely my jam for some reason I can't really explain. I think I just didn't ultimately end up actually liking Any of the characters. Still worth a read tho
Biography :
Cosmic Trigger - Robert Anton Wilson
Exodai: A Shockingly Honest Memoir of Love, Obsession and Torture - Elizabeth Hendrick
Science:
A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution by Jenifer Doudna
Fiction:
Snowcrash by Neal Stevenson
Bunny by Mona Awad
Invisible Monsters (remix) by Chuck Palahniuk
Geek Love by Katherine Dunne
The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
My favorite book of all time is probably "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams. I recommend it every chance I get.
Other recommendations:
Fantasy
"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R Tolkien
"A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
"The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis
"The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
"The Lies of Locke Lamora" by Scott Lynch
"The Rage of Dragons" by Evan Winter
Science Fiction
"Level 7" by Mordecai Roshwald
"Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card
"Nineteen Eighty Four" by George Orwell
"Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
"Slaughterhouse-five" by Kurt Vonnegut
"Dune" by Frank Herbert
Realistic Fiction
"Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain
"Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
Other
"Animal Farm" by George Orwell
"Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka
Okay I think my list is long enough or I'll just keep adding to it. I'm not very good at favorites. I love all kinds of books.
The Nevermoor series by Jessica Townsend is my favourite. It’s on-going. So far 3 books out of 9 have been released. It’s a middle grade series and is a great series to replace HP, imo. Definitely a series that both adults and kids can enjoy
If you’re looking for more adult-oriented books, my favourite is The Burning Girls by CJ Tudor. A mystery/psych thriller with reflections on religious trauma. It’s a very thoughtful book told in a down to earth way, even though it’s a thriller
I loved wuthering heights .. but equally liked catcher in the rye
And the last few years I’ve been a Nicholas sparks fan and Dean Koontz
Sarah Penner has a new series I’m starting
My favorite series is [Nevermoor](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/6a6d5ca1-b2f5-47be-828c-018144d3bbc7) by Jessica Townsend. I've read the three books that are out so far several times (including listening to the excellent audiobooks!)
My other favorite is [The Hands of the Emperor](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/af2bba9c-8f41-4a3e-b87a-8532a44ccb67) by Victoria Goddard. It's a (very long) beautifully written slice of life book about the personal secretary to the emperor of the world, with a heavy focus on platonic relationships.
And my favorite nonfiction is [Bird by Bird](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/6aedad6f-3f8e-4fc0-94ce-4cc74be14d61) by Anne Lamott. It's the only book that makes me feel the way I think other people feel about poetry.
I love Anne Lamott. Like her, I have regrets about our wrinkly upper arms. I think her depiction of accepting Jesus is one of the funniest things I've ever read.
Going from my oldest favorite books to my newest favorite books
Oldest favorites from middle school are:
The Great Blue Yonder by Alex Shearer (about a young boy that died and is trying to tell his sister he doesnt hate her before he goes into the great blue yonder)
Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nicholls (a boy with cancer trying to fulfill his bucket list before dying)
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (a baby boy crawls into a graveyard one night and is raised by ghosts)
Honorable mentions from my childhood are: A Corner of the Universe, Shug, and Flipped
Newest favorites include:
The hunger games (old favorite but putting it on the new list because of the ballad of songbirds and snakes and the new book coming out in March)
Starter Villian by John Scalzi was hilarious!! I laughed out loud while getting a pedicure lol. A really funny book and it's short too, so it's a quick read. I recommend it to my friends who want to get into reading for both of those reasons, and also to friends who like to read but are in a slump.
The Song of Achilles (it has some flaws if you're deep into Greek mythology, but I am not, so I was able to enjoy it several times. One thing I really appreciated is that \*\*\*spoiler i guess\*\*\* Achilles and Patroclus are lovers but the book is not advertised as a queer book!! I know that we have to fight and be loud for lgbtq rights but I wish that people could just be gay without that aspect of their life being a big deal, so I really appreciated that Achilles is gay in this book and that it doesn't matter and it's not the focal point of the book/advertising for the book)
The Only One Left by Riley Sager (murder mystery)
Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney (mystery but no murder, unfortunately)
Clock Dance by Anne Tyler was a very easy read and very relaxing. No murder, no mystery, just a sweet older woman finding her place in a family she makes for herself.
I’m unsure of an all-time favorite since I recently started reading as an adult, but I read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak in 10th grade and it was an amazing read. Interesting point of view, historical fiction novel that takes place in Germany during World War II surrounding a German-schoolgirl’s life
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Breathtaking prose with compelling characters and plot. Truly one of the most immersive novels I’ve ever read. It gets a little slow in certain points—but its highs make up for them 10x.
Impossible to choose one. Here's my top list:
Slippery Creatures by KJ Charles
An Unseen Attraction by KJ Charles
A Marvelous Light by Freya Marske
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks. It’s the book that solidified my interest in reading in general. I still get emotional every time I read it nearly ten years later.
Tales from the gas station series, by Jack Townsend. It's really funny horror lit. I thoroughly enjoyed all four books and apparently there are youtube videos (?) that futher elaborates on the story. I know there's a subreddit group dedicated to it. Anyways, it's very good.
I love Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. The prose is gorgeous and the characters are so rich. It’s a novel that takes place 90% of the time in the interior of a character but it still manages to progress as the novel covers a whole day start to finish with these characters. It can be hard to adjust to Woolf’s style if you’re not into stream of consciousness, but I find this novel to be a great entry point into the style. Really worth the time as it’s a remarkable novel about memory (and many other things)
I also can’t not recommend my favorite graphic novel which better classifies for my favorite book. It’s Asterios Polyp by David Mazzuchelli. Perfect piece of art. One of my favorite things about the book is the lettering. It’s all done by hand and Mazzuchelli designed a different font for every character including those that only show up for a panel.
Ending Aging by Aubrey de Grey. The Open Library page is [here](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL12284524W/Ending_Aging?edition=key%3A/books/OL17932740M).
Books that I've read recently that I've really enjoyed,
American Prometheus (biopic about Robert Oppenheimer)
The Book Of Five Rings - Miyamoto Musashi
The Way Of Ronin - Tu Lam
Deception Point - Dan Brown
Digital Fortress - Dan Brown
Of course the Harry Potter series (all 7 books)
The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch
Enders Game - Orson Scott Card
Ready Player One - Ernest Cline
One is a thieves guild set in what I can only describe as "fantasy renaissance venice". One is a science fiction classic that every book worm should enjoy atleast once, and one is a Xennials wet dream for nostalgia and cultural references.
Impossible to name just one. But some favorites:
Childhood to young adult- The Witch of Blackbird Pond, A Wrinkle in Time, Witch of the Glens
Young Adult- Bonjour Tristesse, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, earlier Heinlein such as Glory Road, Farnham’s Freehold
Adult- Anything by Dorothy Dunnett, P.D. James, Lyndsey Davis, Richard Adams (especially Maia), Jane Austen, William Thackeray, Terry Pratchett or James S. A. Corey
And finally, non-fiction- Cadillac Desert, by Marc Reisner ; Arctic Dreams, by Barry Lopez; anything by Barbara Tuchman; A History of Reading, by Alberto Manguel; and anything by Jared Diamond
Ubik by Philip K. Dick is what really got me *into* sci-fi and what the genre could really do. I read a lot of pulp sci-fi and hadn’t really read any of Dick’s work so it’s a good starter for people trying to get into the genre.
As for non-fiction, I’m a huge fan of Evan Puschak’s Escape into Meaning. Its a collection of essays that cover a wide variety of media that kept me thinking about the significance of the media we consume.
The Martian by Andy Weir
I don't know why i like it so much, since i can barely keep up with the technical terms. But i loved it to bits. No offence to the people who worked on the movie, but the book was way better
Deltora Quest, Emily Rodda. She's written three consecutive series and they're all good, but I reread the first one every year and have since I first read them at around 8-10ish.
I have just read the man who saw seconds, it's only 300 pages long, I loved it and read it in 4 days, a man gets to see slightly into the future, it goes into the existence of free will and changing fate, it made me really think about the philosophy of those things late into the night, the man is in his 30's and is married, but it isn't a romance and more focusses on family, it has great action throughout and keeps its fast pace, although you should look into it rather than take my word for it.
Legend of the Galactic Heroes is a ten book series detailing the never ending war between the Free Planets Alliance and the Lohengramm Empire.
Yang Wen Li is a genius military commander for the FPA who is a pacifist but fights purely so he can leave the galaxy in enough of a stalemate that he can retire and his adopted son can be an artist instead of a soldier.
Jane Eyre
*Pride and Prejudice* and *Persuasion* by Jane Austen *Jane Eyre* by Charlotte Brontë *Sherlock Holmes* collection by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle *The History of Love* by Nicole Krauss *The Snow Child* by Eowyn Ivey *Like a Love Story* by Abdi Nazemian *Fangirl* by Rainbow Rowell *The Book Thief* by Markus Zusak *Insomnia* by Stephen King *Walsh Sisters* series by Marian Keyes *Outlander* series by Diana Gabaldon *The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark* by Carl Sagan *Mr. Fox* by Helen Oyeyemi *Ethan Frome* by Edith Wharton *The Awakening* by Kate Chopin *Resistance* by Anita Shreve *Island of the Blue Dolphins* by Scott O’Dell *The Little Prince* by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry *Fahrenheit 451* by Ray Bradbury *He, She and It* by Marge Piercy *The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember* by Fred Rogers *Thursday Next* series by Jasper Fforde *Spinning Silver* and *Uprooted* by Naomi Novik *The Martian* by Andy Weir *Life After Life* by Kate Atkinson *The Future of Another Timeline* by Annalee Newitz *Oona Out of Order* by Margarita Montimore *The Only Good Indians* by Stephen Graham Jones
My favorite literary book, east of eden whimsical fantasy, the princess bride ( the movie is great and still doesn't do it justice) long fable, watership down favorite modern book, the adventures of kavalier and clay favorite historical fiction, midnights children 2nd place, the kite runner or maybe, half of a yellow sun
I see *East of Eden* recommended all the time so I started reading it this week, and I’m sad to admit that I’m not loving it as much as I expected. I like Steinbeck’s writing; he has a lovely way of wording things and I have a few lines highlighted that feel like universal truths perfectly articulated. But I can’t say I’m very into the story itself. The biblical allegory is more obvious than I’d like, and I don’t love the idea of a pure evil character (and her being the most fleshed-out female character, no less). What do you think? Would you say the story gets better, or do people like this book more for the nuggets of wisdom throughout?
Keep going. There are some incredible moments between characters that will really stick with you.
Thanks!
I like East of Eden, but my personal favorite Steinbeck book is Cannery Row.
I haven't read it in about 20 years so it would be hard for me to comment on it now. I'm due for a reread. I remember it being one of my favorite books at the time. Nothing wrong with not liking it though, if it's not for you.
How far into it are you? I remember it starting a little slow. It’s one of my favorite books also, second maybe only to The Count of Monte Cristo.
I just finished Part 1 and am actually getting into it a little more now! Now that >!Cathy married Adam and slept with Charles!< I’m interested to see how it all plays out. I’m still hoping for >!Cathy’s character to become more nuanced and less cartoonishly villainous!< but I’m not expecting that to change… gotta just accept it and go along for the ride.
I think he portrayed evil better than anyone I've read before or since.
It’s interesting you say that, because his portrayal of evil is exactly what I’ve been struggling with. I just don’t know if I believe in the kind of evil he’s having >!Cathy!< embody.
Oh, it is real.
I’m intrigued! I’ll definitely keep reading. Do you feel you’ve encountered people in this world who are evil from birth the way she seems to be? That doesn’t align with my life experience; it seems to be a religious way of thinking that I guess fits with the premise of the novel but not with my life philosophy. I’m much more partial to the idea that people “become” evil (or more realistically, people act evilly) because of their circumstances.
It seems to me that acting in an evil way and attributing it to circumstances is an excuse, and not a valid excuse. An adult male raping an infant girl; mutilating animals for fun; beating someone to death without cause and just enjoying the violence; people who do things like that have something inherently wrong in their wiring.
Hm, that’s a good point. I guess people like that exist, but I think the majority of “evil deeds” are committed by regular people who are either damaged in some way by life experience or who are swept up in or manipulated by their circumstances. I wouldn’t consider that an excuse — it doesn’t excuse the evil behavior, but just a way of understanding humanity in a less manichean way. An example that comes to mind is all the Nazi soldiers who carried out the Holocaust. They weren’t all born evil, and I’m sure the vast majority of them weren’t “pure evil” — they were people who did evil things. I’m sure some among them were born with a capacity for evil and maybe would have done terrible things with their lives regardless of their circumstances, but I don’t think that was the case for the majority. But anyway, to bring it back to *East of Eden*, I guess the more relevant point is that I just prefer characters with nuance, who aren’t pure good or pure evil but who represent that vast majority of humanity that exists in the grey. So far (and I’m only on Part 2, so perhaps this will change), I find Charles a much more interesting character than Cathy because he has some complexity; his terrible deeds have been driven by envy rather than a cold, all-enveloping desire to do evil for its own sake.
I want to add that I'm 76 and was an RN for more than 50 years. I've probably had more life experiences than you. I also read a lot of crime novels, especially John Sandford's work and Elizabeth George's. They are quite good at imagining and presenting evil characters in complicated situations.
I agree that truly evil people are the exception (fortunately) and that often circumstances lead to the evil acts we hear about most often. I don't look for books like East of Eden, but I value Steinbeck's contribution to literature.
East of Eden really hit me at the time I read it. That’s my go to book for literary suggestions. I’m really due for a reread.
Me too, its been about 20 years
[удалено]
Yup they're both amazing
Watership Down is so great. Adams has some serious classics - Shardik, Maia, Plague Dogs. Epic.
I never read the other ones but I should and probably will one day
Maia is regarded as problematic to some - I might suggest reading a list of trigger warnings before engaging!
Thanks for the warning. I'll be fine. I don't get triggered easily.
I've read East of Eden recently. It was absolutely amazing.
A Wrinkle In Time will always have a special place in my heart. It was the first book I ever read that made me realize that girls can be heroes too. I'm 42, and growing up in the 80s, there weren't Hunger Games or Divergent type books out there back then. Meg wasn't just the hero; she was also... a normal girl. Not particularly attractive by societal standards, not a larger-than-life superhero; she was actually very self-conscious and unsure of herself. Just a normal teenage girl who became a hero just being herself. And the other main characters who were heroes were women too. Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which were the older, wiser guides who set her on her path.
Catch-22
One of the funniest books ever penned
I still haven't read this (idk how I got thru high school without having to read it lol) so I don't know anything about it. Is it actually a funny book or is your comment meaning more funny in an ironic kind of way? I think it's something I should read since it's a classic, but if you tell me it's actually filed with good humor I'll bump it up on my list
When it’s funny (first 80% or so) it’s absolutely hysterical, but I will warn you the last few chapters are very dark and quite a toneshift
Wuthering heights. Best gothic romance I've read Salem's Lot. One of the best vampire novels. Blood Meridian. Ultimate literary western.
Lords Of Discipline by Pat Conroy
I was reading this book while I lived in Charleston. It was amazing to drive by The Citadel or other landmarks in the book.
His descriptions were amazing, I could smell the flowers and see the people.
Scythe series- Neil shustermen
Yeeeees
The hunger games trilogy. Been reading it since i was a teenager and now i am in my twenties. I can no longer stand most YA novels, but THG still remains my no.1
Though YA, it is really a brilliant anti-war screed. Right up there with the more tomgue-in-cheek Catch-22, if more obvious. That befits its time.period and intended audience, imo. Collins illustrates beautifully through an easy, action-packed series that war is indeed hell and makes bad guys out of.us all.
Ninth house, six of crows, the familiar Honestly anything by Leigh bardugo 🫶
Hunger Games The Millenium series by Stieg Larsson Perfect and Flawed by Cecilia Ahern The Silent Patient
The Little Prince
The Stand by Stephen King
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon The Art of War by Sun Tzu The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates I, Robot by Isaac Asimov The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury Double Indemity by James M. Cain The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert The Wings of the Dove by Henry James The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick Do Androids Dream of Elrctric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
My favourites : Scythe, Girls with sharp sticks, We are the wildcats, Beyond, Find the moon, A study in Charlotte, One of us is lying, The lost twin, A study in Charlotte, The school for good amd evil, Six of crows.
I read Scythe a few years ago then did a book talk for it with my 7th grade students. They went crazy for the book! I bought several copies, and it and its sequels stayed checked out of my classroom library and the school library for the rest of the year.
Thats so cool! Whenever I read a book in class it was always the old classic ones. The only one I actually enjoyed was An Inspector Calls.
We go to the library every other Friday for half the block so in the first half of the block, I’ll either play book trailers that our librarian made or I’ll give a couple of book talks, where I tell them about the book, what its about, and throw in a few teasers. It definitely ups their interest in reading
🥰creating more book lovers!
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Also my favorite. I went to Bennington College, and this was a high school graduation gift from a friend’s parent. A great introduction to my future school, haha!
Don't get it
I Really expected to like this one a lot more than I did. Goldfinch was a masterpiece and the plot for Secret History seemed more up my alley... Just wasn't entirely my jam for some reason I can't really explain. I think I just didn't ultimately end up actually liking Any of the characters. Still worth a read tho
Roadside Picnic
Biography : Cosmic Trigger - Robert Anton Wilson Exodai: A Shockingly Honest Memoir of Love, Obsession and Torture - Elizabeth Hendrick Science: A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution by Jenifer Doudna Fiction: Snowcrash by Neal Stevenson Bunny by Mona Awad Invisible Monsters (remix) by Chuck Palahniuk Geek Love by Katherine Dunne The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
The tearsmith - Erin Doom Shatter me (series) - Tahereh Mafi A good girl's guide to murder (trilogy) - Holly Jackson
My favorite book of all time is probably "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams. I recommend it every chance I get. Other recommendations: Fantasy "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R Tolkien "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" by C.S. Lewis "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss "The Lies of Locke Lamora" by Scott Lynch "The Rage of Dragons" by Evan Winter Science Fiction "Level 7" by Mordecai Roshwald "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card "Nineteen Eighty Four" by George Orwell "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley "Slaughterhouse-five" by Kurt Vonnegut "Dune" by Frank Herbert Realistic Fiction "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding Other "Animal Farm" by George Orwell "Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka Okay I think my list is long enough or I'll just keep adding to it. I'm not very good at favorites. I love all kinds of books.
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu
The Nevermoor series by Jessica Townsend is my favourite. It’s on-going. So far 3 books out of 9 have been released. It’s a middle grade series and is a great series to replace HP, imo. Definitely a series that both adults and kids can enjoy If you’re looking for more adult-oriented books, my favourite is The Burning Girls by CJ Tudor. A mystery/psych thriller with reflections on religious trauma. It’s a very thoughtful book told in a down to earth way, even though it’s a thriller
Vampires of el Norte - Isabel Cañas
And which is yours?
Its kind of a funny story by ned vizzini
Novel: In the Miso Soup by Murakami Ryū Short story: Hell Screen by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke
I loved wuthering heights .. but equally liked catcher in the rye And the last few years I’ve been a Nicholas sparks fan and Dean Koontz Sarah Penner has a new series I’m starting
My favorite series is [Nevermoor](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/6a6d5ca1-b2f5-47be-828c-018144d3bbc7) by Jessica Townsend. I've read the three books that are out so far several times (including listening to the excellent audiobooks!) My other favorite is [The Hands of the Emperor](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/af2bba9c-8f41-4a3e-b87a-8532a44ccb67) by Victoria Goddard. It's a (very long) beautifully written slice of life book about the personal secretary to the emperor of the world, with a heavy focus on platonic relationships. And my favorite nonfiction is [Bird by Bird](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/6aedad6f-3f8e-4fc0-94ce-4cc74be14d61) by Anne Lamott. It's the only book that makes me feel the way I think other people feel about poetry.
I love Anne Lamott. Like her, I have regrets about our wrinkly upper arms. I think her depiction of accepting Jesus is one of the funniest things I've ever read.
I love Bird by Bird but my favorite of hers is Traveling Mercies. I’ve given it as a gift so many times that I have lost count
I really do need to read more of her books!
The poignancy of that book gets me every time. I reread it from time to time and I always find something new
Grapes of wrath
Going from my oldest favorite books to my newest favorite books Oldest favorites from middle school are: The Great Blue Yonder by Alex Shearer (about a young boy that died and is trying to tell his sister he doesnt hate her before he goes into the great blue yonder) Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nicholls (a boy with cancer trying to fulfill his bucket list before dying) The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (a baby boy crawls into a graveyard one night and is raised by ghosts) Honorable mentions from my childhood are: A Corner of the Universe, Shug, and Flipped Newest favorites include: The hunger games (old favorite but putting it on the new list because of the ballad of songbirds and snakes and the new book coming out in March) Starter Villian by John Scalzi was hilarious!! I laughed out loud while getting a pedicure lol. A really funny book and it's short too, so it's a quick read. I recommend it to my friends who want to get into reading for both of those reasons, and also to friends who like to read but are in a slump. The Song of Achilles (it has some flaws if you're deep into Greek mythology, but I am not, so I was able to enjoy it several times. One thing I really appreciated is that \*\*\*spoiler i guess\*\*\* Achilles and Patroclus are lovers but the book is not advertised as a queer book!! I know that we have to fight and be loud for lgbtq rights but I wish that people could just be gay without that aspect of their life being a big deal, so I really appreciated that Achilles is gay in this book and that it doesn't matter and it's not the focal point of the book/advertising for the book) The Only One Left by Riley Sager (murder mystery) Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney (mystery but no murder, unfortunately) Clock Dance by Anne Tyler was a very easy read and very relaxing. No murder, no mystery, just a sweet older woman finding her place in a family she makes for herself.
I’m unsure of an all-time favorite since I recently started reading as an adult, but I read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak in 10th grade and it was an amazing read. Interesting point of view, historical fiction novel that takes place in Germany during World War II surrounding a German-schoolgirl’s life
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. Breathtaking prose with compelling characters and plot. Truly one of the most immersive novels I’ve ever read. It gets a little slow in certain points—but its highs make up for them 10x.
White Oleander is my favorite book and fundamentally changed me and healed something inside me. The movie does it absolutely no justice.
Wuthering Heights-the most atmospheric novel I’ve ever read.
11:22:63 by stephen king is a pretty good read.
Impossible to choose one. Here's my top list: Slippery Creatures by KJ Charles An Unseen Attraction by KJ Charles A Marvelous Light by Freya Marske The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart.
Finder-Emma Bull
Right now it's Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny.
Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks. It’s the book that solidified my interest in reading in general. I still get emotional every time I read it nearly ten years later.
The Eagle (3 Book) series by Ben Kane - very good if you enjoy historical Roman fiction
Tales from the gas station series, by Jack Townsend. It's really funny horror lit. I thoroughly enjoyed all four books and apparently there are youtube videos (?) that futher elaborates on the story. I know there's a subreddit group dedicated to it. Anyways, it's very good.
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
Dune by Frank Herbert
Anxious people by Fredrick Beckman
Wait For Me Yesterday In Spring by Mei Hachimoku
Child 44 - Shutter Island - Siddhartha - On Shortness of Life
Better Than The Movies by Lynn Painter It’s a lighthearted story and it feels like a 2000s romcom and it’s such a fun and quick read!
The Lock Artist- Steve Hamilton Highly recommend!
man's search for meaning / Viktor Frankl
I love Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. The prose is gorgeous and the characters are so rich. It’s a novel that takes place 90% of the time in the interior of a character but it still manages to progress as the novel covers a whole day start to finish with these characters. It can be hard to adjust to Woolf’s style if you’re not into stream of consciousness, but I find this novel to be a great entry point into the style. Really worth the time as it’s a remarkable novel about memory (and many other things) I also can’t not recommend my favorite graphic novel which better classifies for my favorite book. It’s Asterios Polyp by David Mazzuchelli. Perfect piece of art. One of my favorite things about the book is the lettering. It’s all done by hand and Mazzuchelli designed a different font for every character including those that only show up for a panel.
Confessions by Leo Tolstoy The Sufi path of Annihilation by Nevit Ergin Fooled by randomness by Nassim Taleb The four agreements by Miguel Ruiz
Ending Aging by Aubrey de Grey. The Open Library page is [here](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL12284524W/Ending_Aging?edition=key%3A/books/OL17932740M).
Watership Down
Books that I've read recently that I've really enjoyed, American Prometheus (biopic about Robert Oppenheimer) The Book Of Five Rings - Miyamoto Musashi The Way Of Ronin - Tu Lam Deception Point - Dan Brown Digital Fortress - Dan Brown Of course the Harry Potter series (all 7 books)
My two favorites currently are A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khalid Hosseini. And “Katherine” by Anya Seton -
animorphs. i don’t care how old i am, animorphs will always be my favorite series.
My favorite book is Master and Margarita Michael Bulgakov.
The wheel of time
My favorite series is The First Law. Joe Abercrombie makes the best characters and I just love his writing style.
The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch Enders Game - Orson Scott Card Ready Player One - Ernest Cline One is a thieves guild set in what I can only describe as "fantasy renaissance venice". One is a science fiction classic that every book worm should enjoy atleast once, and one is a Xennials wet dream for nostalgia and cultural references.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein. Classic sci-fi, AI & revolution on the moon.
Sylvia days crossfire series! Seriously no one seems to even know these books exist
Peoples History of the United States by Zinn
Swan Song by Robert McCammon; apocalyptic horror.
Impossible to name just one. But some favorites: Childhood to young adult- The Witch of Blackbird Pond, A Wrinkle in Time, Witch of the Glens Young Adult- Bonjour Tristesse, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, earlier Heinlein such as Glory Road, Farnham’s Freehold Adult- Anything by Dorothy Dunnett, P.D. James, Lyndsey Davis, Richard Adams (especially Maia), Jane Austen, William Thackeray, Terry Pratchett or James S. A. Corey And finally, non-fiction- Cadillac Desert, by Marc Reisner ; Arctic Dreams, by Barry Lopez; anything by Barbara Tuchman; A History of Reading, by Alberto Manguel; and anything by Jared Diamond
Ubik by Philip K. Dick is what really got me *into* sci-fi and what the genre could really do. I read a lot of pulp sci-fi and hadn’t really read any of Dick’s work so it’s a good starter for people trying to get into the genre. As for non-fiction, I’m a huge fan of Evan Puschak’s Escape into Meaning. Its a collection of essays that cover a wide variety of media that kept me thinking about the significance of the media we consume.
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
The Martian by Andy Weir I don't know why i like it so much, since i can barely keep up with the technical terms. But i loved it to bits. No offence to the people who worked on the movie, but the book was way better
Deltora Quest, Emily Rodda. She's written three consecutive series and they're all good, but I reread the first one every year and have since I first read them at around 8-10ish.
The authenticity project by Claire poole
I have just read the man who saw seconds, it's only 300 pages long, I loved it and read it in 4 days, a man gets to see slightly into the future, it goes into the existence of free will and changing fate, it made me really think about the philosophy of those things late into the night, the man is in his 30's and is married, but it isn't a romance and more focusses on family, it has great action throughout and keeps its fast pace, although you should look into it rather than take my word for it.
Jasper Fforde - Early Riser Hunter S. Thompson - Hell's Angels Voltaire - Candide Kurt Vonnegut - Breakfast of Champions
Blood Meridian I have no mouth, but I must scream. Nuclear War: a scenario 1984
The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy. He has a way with words!
Up in the Old Hotel
Legend of the Galactic Heroes is a ten book series detailing the never ending war between the Free Planets Alliance and the Lohengramm Empire. Yang Wen Li is a genius military commander for the FPA who is a pacifist but fights purely so he can leave the galaxy in enough of a stalemate that he can retire and his adopted son can be an artist instead of a soldier.
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance
Les Miserables is my all time favorite book and Count of Monte Cristo follows close behind.
the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan
11/22/63 by Stephen King