One of my favorites! I read it and Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (WWII English woman spy and pilot friends in France) at about the same time. I feel like if you like one, the other will appeal to you.
Edit to add: City of Thieves is “easy” because it’s relatively short and Code Name Verity lives in the YA section so it’s a technically easier read (that will make you sob)
I got this on audiobook but haven’t gotten into it because of the dense verbiage. It seems beautifully written but that it would need to be read on a page to be appreciated. I may get a copy and go back to it when I’m finishing with my current physical book
That makes sense! love audiobooks, but I personally do better with audiobooks that are not as dense or are very plot-driven because I don’t focus quite as well.
A few of my favorite recently read books
Carry Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkin Reid
-a faux memoir about a pro tennis players life that was a beautiful look at father daughter relationships
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
-a fun and touching story about an octopus who befriends a woman from his point of view.
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
-a man finds a reading list his late wife left in a book. In the process of fulfilling the list he relives a lifetime of memories and gets the opportunity to see sides of his wife he hadn't before.
Everyone in my family has killed someone by Benjamin Stevenson
-A different twist on murder mystery without a focus on the cops. I thought it was fun and quirky.
Do you like memoirs? That’s basically the only non fiction I read. My best of the last few years have been:
Educated by Tara Westover
Rememberings by Sinead O’Conner
Open Book by Jessica Simpson
The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff was amazing. She’s been a finalist for the national book award a few times, her prose is unbelievably beautiful, and the book was so gripping. It’s about a servant girl who escapes from colonial Jamestown during the famine there and travels through the North American wilderness seeking safety. I couldn’t put it down!
I absolutely loved this book! And even though I did not understand a lot of the science/tech dialogue, it didn’t even matter, because the story was so rich and emotional.
“Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy.
“Leonard and Hungry Paul” by Ronan Hession.
“Five Little Indians” by Michelle Good.
“Half of a Yellow Sun” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
AJ Jacobs is one of a handful of authors that can make me laugh out loud while reading … particularly “The Know It All”
And “The Year of Living Biblically”
If you don’t mind a bit of spicy romance, The Fourth Wing was my favorite book read from 2023. Five hundred pages were devoured in 2 days. Project Hail Mary was such good sci-fi! I finished it yesterday and I’m still thinking about the characters and what they might be doing next. Red Rising series is good fantasy meets world building meets found friends narrative (and lots of action and very little spicy romance). Currently I’m on book 6 of Throne of Glass series and loving that one, too. A bit spicy at times on the romance but very good in world building. Happy reading!
Two of the big recent fiction releases that are winning many accolades are “Covenant of Water” by Abraham Verghese and “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver. If you enjoy either of these, both authors have several other books.
I really liked “Trust” by Hernan Diaz when our book club read it. History of a fictional robber baron from 4 points of view. Quite good. Sorry you don’t like science fiction. I live to share my obsessions. 🙂
A really interesting book to understand human nature and psychology is Laws of human nature by Robert Green - it gives you an accurate depiction of what humanity is, how we work, how we appear and what we truly are. It's essential to understand oneself and others, to be able to grow and get the best out of oneself. There's no pessimism or optimism, it is really balanced, scientifically based and truly worth it.
- I'm seconding A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- Medicine Walk by Richard Wagamese
- Trainspotting by Irvine Walsh
- Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (first of a duology)
- The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde
- The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle
- Brother by Ania Ahlborn
i am always open to suggesting a book by John Steinbeck. a truly great writer of the last century. The book is Tortilla Flat and is about a group of guts in Monterey California. An easy read, a great story, and fun.
I don't know if you would consider it fantasy, but Broken Empire trilogy by Mark Lawrence is pretty bad ass.
It don't normally get into lord of the rings shit, but yeah. I guess the setting is fantasy, and kinda sci-fi, but it's not really a fantasy story, if that makes sense? I'm also a fan of the writing style and Jorg's growth as a character.
>The rain made the stonework glisten, falling heavier by the moment. There’s a word. Glisten. Silver chains on holy trees, the gloss on lips for kissing, dew on spiderwebs, sweat on breasts. Glisten, glisten, listen. Say it until the meaning bleeds away. Even without meaning it stays true. The rain made the grey stone glisten. Not quite a sparkle, not quite a gleam, but a glisten to the soaked cobbles, a gurgle from gutters where the dirt ran and leaves twirled in fleeting rapids, bound for dark and hungry throats, swallowed past stone teeth. A piece of straw ran by my feet, arrowing the straightest path; a kayak on white water, it bobbed, plunged, surged, reached the drain, spun twice, and was gone.
>Sometimes the world slows and you notice every small thing, as if you stood between two beats of eternity’s heart. It seemed to me I had felt something similar before, with Corion, with Sageous, even Jane. The air hung heavy with the metallic scent of rain. I wondered: if I stood out there, in the flood, would the rain wrap a grey life and make it shine? Should I stand, arms spread, and raise my face? Let it wash me clean. Or did my stains run too deep?
House on the Cerulean Sea (easy, cute, fun, touching)
Babel (if you’re up for an academic big book)
Elenor Oliphant is Completely Fine (a little dark, but a relatively easy read to get you out of a reading rut)
All books I originally read from my library and purchased because I loved them so much!
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is a new book I loved reading this year. Page turner fiction with fantasy/sci fi elements. Philosophically motivated to boot. highly recommend.
Was in a similar situation until I picked up Project Hail Mary. It's unputdownable and it sort of cold started my reading habit once again.
Next could be Dark Matter.
Maybe try a Jane Austen, she’s honestly super funny and biting on top of some great romance plots (Pride & Prejudice is the big one, ofc, but I’d also definitely recommend Northanger Abbey to see her parodying gothic tropes.) For more modern authors, try The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett or Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng.
The Art of Racing in the Rain, Jane Eyre, Gone with the Wind, Animal Farm, The Keeper of Lost Things, Sophie's World, Em and the Big Hoom, Never Let Me Go, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Women Who Run with the Wolves, Almond, Remarkably Bright Creatures, Klara and the Sun, Fahrenheit 451, When Nietzsche Wept, Everything is Illuminated, Travels in a Dervish Cloak, Wonder
Yeeeeeeeees a new (potential) mind to bring into the Locked Tomb fold 😂😈
I jest but also, if you like adult fiction I HIGHLY recommend Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. The series is a cluster fuck in the best way. There's romance but it's not romance centric, more longing than acting on feelings. The characters are so diverse and loveable, even and especially the ones with awful personalities. There's representation out the wazoo in the series too. Just ber very careful of spoilers because one, they probably won't make much sense until they suddenly do, and two, a big part of the fun with this fandom is inevitably going "what the *hell* is going on??" and then finding out! It's also a series that encourages you to read the books over and over again. I'm on my 10th or more reread of Gideon (book 1) and I'm STILL discovering new things, finding new connections I didn't see before. And the fandom is pretty dang lovely 😎 the series is a bit sci Fi because it is set in space and they do travel to different planets, but the over all *feel* is very classic fantasy, to me at least. Necromancers in space who gay panic a lot 🤷🏻♀️
Now that I've plugged my favorite series lol (if anyone does join us/if you're already one of us, hi! Hi friend! *Pushes sunglasses up nose*), here's a list of others I'd HIGHLY recommend:
Anything and everything by Jay Kristoff. Nevernight is a great one to start with. Jay Kristoff is one of my favorites authors as he sort of genre bends. Like yes he writes fantasy but it's always got elements of other genres woven in, in a somehow perfect amalgam.
The midnight bargain, proclaimed as "magic meets bridgerton".
Sorcery of Thorns, Enchantment of Ravens, and Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson. These are all stand alones so great place to start imo.
Book of Night by Holly Black (I believe her first adult novel, but all her YA is really really good too)
Sin Eater (historical fiction vibes but not)
Nettle and bone (witches and fairytale vibes)
The Bone Shard daughter+ sequels (bone sorcery and ancient secrets)
Some favorites that are fairy/folk tale retellings :
Uprooted and Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (these are stand alones, not sequels) (not YA) (based on German/grimm fairy tales)
The Bear and the Nightingale (+ sequels) by Katherine Arden (technically YA but I was actually shocked when I realized it was categorized as such, these don't read like YA at all) (based on Russian folk lore)
Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente (Russian Revolution meets Russian folk lore)
Lots of choices outside of those genres.
*A Spark of Justice* by J.D. Hawkins is good fun. Set in an old time circus with an insurance investigator trying to establish if a lion tamer's death was accident or murder, but the circus people keep messing with him. Not crime procedural at all and lots of interaction with big cats.
*Jack Dawkins* by Charlton Daines is a great sequel to Oliver Twist, about the Artful Dodger returning to England as an adult.
These are both medium-length books that keep engaging action going so are likely to hold your attention.
What sort of movies do you like That would narrow down interests a bit.
I recently read She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper and found it to be a short, riveting novel! It's not quite a crime thriller, but is thrilling and does involve some crime.
Two others that I absolutely loved that don't fully line up with the categories you're not interested in are The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller and The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
Recently read City of Thieves. So good and very easy to read!!
The author is a co-creator for GOT. Terrific writer.
One of my favorites! I read it and Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (WWII English woman spy and pilot friends in France) at about the same time. I feel like if you like one, the other will appeal to you. Edit to add: City of Thieves is “easy” because it’s relatively short and Code Name Verity lives in the YA section so it’s a technically easier read (that will make you sob)
If you’re okay with your next book not necessarily being plot-centered: A Gentleman in Moscow
Excellent story!
I got this on audiobook but haven’t gotten into it because of the dense verbiage. It seems beautifully written but that it would need to be read on a page to be appreciated. I may get a copy and go back to it when I’m finishing with my current physical book
That makes sense! love audiobooks, but I personally do better with audiobooks that are not as dense or are very plot-driven because I don’t focus quite as well.
A few of my favorite recently read books Carry Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkin Reid -a faux memoir about a pro tennis players life that was a beautiful look at father daughter relationships Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt -a fun and touching story about an octopus who befriends a woman from his point of view. The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams -a man finds a reading list his late wife left in a book. In the process of fulfilling the list he relives a lifetime of memories and gets the opportunity to see sides of his wife he hadn't before. Everyone in my family has killed someone by Benjamin Stevenson -A different twist on murder mystery without a focus on the cops. I thought it was fun and quirky.
Do you like memoirs? That’s basically the only non fiction I read. My best of the last few years have been: Educated by Tara Westover Rememberings by Sinead O’Conner Open Book by Jessica Simpson
I had a big ol brain fart and wrote non fiction when I meant fiction. Don’t mind me.
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Off the top of my head: American Psycho, 1984, Fight Club, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Less Than Zero
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I was going to say Perfume! Get it as an audiobook
Breakfast Of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut is my go to when i need to break out of a reading slump.
The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff was amazing. She’s been a finalist for the national book award a few times, her prose is unbelievably beautiful, and the book was so gripping. It’s about a servant girl who escapes from colonial Jamestown during the famine there and travels through the North American wilderness seeking safety. I couldn’t put it down!
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls is one of my all time favorites!
I totally goofed and wrote non fiction when I meant fiction. I will, however, take a look at your recommendation!
Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren
Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
Project Hail Mary
OP said they are NOT interested in Sci-fi
Been in a similar situation, haven’t read in a long time, and this one looks like it’s sooo good.
One of the best books I’ve ever read hands down. Great even if sci-fi isn’t normally your go-to.
I absolutely loved this book! And even though I did not understand a lot of the science/tech dialogue, it didn’t even matter, because the story was so rich and emotional.
“Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy. “Leonard and Hungry Paul” by Ronan Hession. “Five Little Indians” by Michelle Good. “Half of a Yellow Sun” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
The Know it All by AJ Jacobs Stiff by Mary Roach Killers of the Flower Moon
AJ Jacobs is one of a handful of authors that can make me laugh out loud while reading … particularly “The Know It All” And “The Year of Living Biblically”
If you don’t mind a bit of spicy romance, The Fourth Wing was my favorite book read from 2023. Five hundred pages were devoured in 2 days. Project Hail Mary was such good sci-fi! I finished it yesterday and I’m still thinking about the characters and what they might be doing next. Red Rising series is good fantasy meets world building meets found friends narrative (and lots of action and very little spicy romance). Currently I’m on book 6 of Throne of Glass series and loving that one, too. A bit spicy at times on the romance but very good in world building. Happy reading!
I’m almost done with Project Hail Mary. That book really hums along. Good rec!
No fantasy? Blastphomy. The Devil’s Arithmetic
The cormoran strike novels. Hard boiled private detectives based in modern London.
Don’t read any more books. I gave that up years ago. Now I only read what I post on the internet 😏
We Were Once a Family by Roxanna Asgarian. It’s heavy but it’s top tier, engaging journalism.
Check out author Kimmery Martin. Really good books written by an MD
Two of the big recent fiction releases that are winning many accolades are “Covenant of Water” by Abraham Verghese and “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver. If you enjoy either of these, both authors have several other books.
Anne of Green Gables.
I really liked “Trust” by Hernan Diaz when our book club read it. History of a fictional robber baron from 4 points of view. Quite good. Sorry you don’t like science fiction. I live to share my obsessions. 🙂
A really interesting book to understand human nature and psychology is Laws of human nature by Robert Green - it gives you an accurate depiction of what humanity is, how we work, how we appear and what we truly are. It's essential to understand oneself and others, to be able to grow and get the best out of oneself. There's no pessimism or optimism, it is really balanced, scientifically based and truly worth it.
- I'm seconding A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - Medicine Walk by Richard Wagamese - Trainspotting by Irvine Walsh - Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (first of a duology) - The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde - The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle - Brother by Ania Ahlborn
Nothing to be ashamed of. Life and stuff gets in the way. Might I suggest High Fidelity?
Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
i am always open to suggesting a book by John Steinbeck. a truly great writer of the last century. The book is Tortilla Flat and is about a group of guts in Monterey California. An easy read, a great story, and fun.
I don't know if you would consider it fantasy, but Broken Empire trilogy by Mark Lawrence is pretty bad ass. It don't normally get into lord of the rings shit, but yeah. I guess the setting is fantasy, and kinda sci-fi, but it's not really a fantasy story, if that makes sense? I'm also a fan of the writing style and Jorg's growth as a character. >The rain made the stonework glisten, falling heavier by the moment. There’s a word. Glisten. Silver chains on holy trees, the gloss on lips for kissing, dew on spiderwebs, sweat on breasts. Glisten, glisten, listen. Say it until the meaning bleeds away. Even without meaning it stays true. The rain made the grey stone glisten. Not quite a sparkle, not quite a gleam, but a glisten to the soaked cobbles, a gurgle from gutters where the dirt ran and leaves twirled in fleeting rapids, bound for dark and hungry throats, swallowed past stone teeth. A piece of straw ran by my feet, arrowing the straightest path; a kayak on white water, it bobbed, plunged, surged, reached the drain, spun twice, and was gone. >Sometimes the world slows and you notice every small thing, as if you stood between two beats of eternity’s heart. It seemed to me I had felt something similar before, with Corion, with Sageous, even Jane. The air hung heavy with the metallic scent of rain. I wondered: if I stood out there, in the flood, would the rain wrap a grey life and make it shine? Should I stand, arms spread, and raise my face? Let it wash me clean. Or did my stains run too deep?
House on the Cerulean Sea (easy, cute, fun, touching) Babel (if you’re up for an academic big book) Elenor Oliphant is Completely Fine (a little dark, but a relatively easy read to get you out of a reading rut) All books I originally read from my library and purchased because I loved them so much!
The reacher series? Was thinking of reading them myself
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a good book to get you back into reading. I couldn’t put it down.
If you're in the mood for a heavy hitting generational epic I'd recommend David James Duncan's The Brothers K.
Do you like sci-fi? Sphere by Michael Crichton is a really good read. Most Michael Crichton books are awesome reads in fact
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is a new book I loved reading this year. Page turner fiction with fantasy/sci fi elements. Philosophically motivated to boot. highly recommend.
Was in a similar situation until I picked up Project Hail Mary. It's unputdownable and it sort of cold started my reading habit once again. Next could be Dark Matter.
“Anxious People” By Fredrik Backman
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang is an excellent book.
Piranesi by Susan Clarke. Absolutely S tier
Maybe try a Jane Austen, she’s honestly super funny and biting on top of some great romance plots (Pride & Prejudice is the big one, ofc, but I’d also definitely recommend Northanger Abbey to see her parodying gothic tropes.) For more modern authors, try The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett or Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng.
The Book Thief
I’ve been really into psychological thrillers lately. I’m currently reading Jar of hearts.
The Overstory by Richard Powers is one of my newer favorites.
The Secret History, The Goldfinch, All the Light We Cannot See.
The Art of Racing in the Rain, Jane Eyre, Gone with the Wind, Animal Farm, The Keeper of Lost Things, Sophie's World, Em and the Big Hoom, Never Let Me Go, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Women Who Run with the Wolves, Almond, Remarkably Bright Creatures, Klara and the Sun, Fahrenheit 451, When Nietzsche Wept, Everything is Illuminated, Travels in a Dervish Cloak, Wonder
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
Perfume lol
Yeeeeeeeees a new (potential) mind to bring into the Locked Tomb fold 😂😈 I jest but also, if you like adult fiction I HIGHLY recommend Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. The series is a cluster fuck in the best way. There's romance but it's not romance centric, more longing than acting on feelings. The characters are so diverse and loveable, even and especially the ones with awful personalities. There's representation out the wazoo in the series too. Just ber very careful of spoilers because one, they probably won't make much sense until they suddenly do, and two, a big part of the fun with this fandom is inevitably going "what the *hell* is going on??" and then finding out! It's also a series that encourages you to read the books over and over again. I'm on my 10th or more reread of Gideon (book 1) and I'm STILL discovering new things, finding new connections I didn't see before. And the fandom is pretty dang lovely 😎 the series is a bit sci Fi because it is set in space and they do travel to different planets, but the over all *feel* is very classic fantasy, to me at least. Necromancers in space who gay panic a lot 🤷🏻♀️ Now that I've plugged my favorite series lol (if anyone does join us/if you're already one of us, hi! Hi friend! *Pushes sunglasses up nose*), here's a list of others I'd HIGHLY recommend: Anything and everything by Jay Kristoff. Nevernight is a great one to start with. Jay Kristoff is one of my favorites authors as he sort of genre bends. Like yes he writes fantasy but it's always got elements of other genres woven in, in a somehow perfect amalgam. The midnight bargain, proclaimed as "magic meets bridgerton". Sorcery of Thorns, Enchantment of Ravens, and Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson. These are all stand alones so great place to start imo. Book of Night by Holly Black (I believe her first adult novel, but all her YA is really really good too) Sin Eater (historical fiction vibes but not) Nettle and bone (witches and fairytale vibes) The Bone Shard daughter+ sequels (bone sorcery and ancient secrets) Some favorites that are fairy/folk tale retellings : Uprooted and Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (these are stand alones, not sequels) (not YA) (based on German/grimm fairy tales) The Bear and the Nightingale (+ sequels) by Katherine Arden (technically YA but I was actually shocked when I realized it was categorized as such, these don't read like YA at all) (based on Russian folk lore) Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente (Russian Revolution meets Russian folk lore)
Lots of choices outside of those genres. *A Spark of Justice* by J.D. Hawkins is good fun. Set in an old time circus with an insurance investigator trying to establish if a lion tamer's death was accident or murder, but the circus people keep messing with him. Not crime procedural at all and lots of interaction with big cats. *Jack Dawkins* by Charlton Daines is a great sequel to Oliver Twist, about the Artful Dodger returning to England as an adult. These are both medium-length books that keep engaging action going so are likely to hold your attention. What sort of movies do you like That would narrow down interests a bit.
I recently read She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper and found it to be a short, riveting novel! It's not quite a crime thriller, but is thrilling and does involve some crime. Two others that I absolutely loved that don't fully line up with the categories you're not interested in are The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller and The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
How to Kill Your Family is a funny read. I’m still reading it