Beanies 😃,

I’m looking for books recommendations 🤓

(long story short : I used to read a lot till adult life began, it’s been a decade I’ve been on a reading slump 🙁. However, I’m currently enjoying The Night Circus, after seeing it on @azzo1 ’s favorite things list)

In comments you’ll find what I used to read before (so mainly child/young adult book before reading slump striked). I’ve added some dramas I like, since my taste have changed and I think I’d appreciate trying varied literary genres.

Many many thanks in advance 😘,
Kudo
16
25

    I never kept track of what I read, so only writing the ones I remember :

    🔹 Detective novel (that’s to satisfy my scientist / organization lover side)
    ▪️ The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (read many of her books, Hercule Poirot is one of my favorite characters ever)
    ▪️ Many of the Sherlock Holmes books by Arthur Conan Doyle
    ▪️ Read of a few of the Black Widowers novels by Isaac Asimov

    🔹 Spy novel
    ▪️ Alex Rider by Anthony Horowitz

    🔹 Science fiction
    ▪️ The Foundation series and the Robots series by Isaac Asimov (maybe the author I have the most respect for)
    ▪️ Hyperion Cantos series by Dan Simmons
    ▪️ Dune by Frank Herbert (still need to go back to the serie ^^’)

    🔹 Fantasy novel
    ▪️ Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
    ▪️ Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer
    ▪️ The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
    ▪️ Eragon series by Christopher Paolini
    ▪️ His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

    🔹 Books that I enjoyed despite the reading slump
    ▪️ Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
    ▪️ The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (I tried to read The Three Musketeers but couldn’t deal with the main lead behavior towards women, just no)

    🔹 As for dramas (and maybe it’ll be the same for books), lately I’m liking slice of life ones (Misaeng, Dear My Friends, Yong Jiu Grocery Store) and ensemble ones with some revenge background and a distinctive universe (Nirvana in Fire, Story of Yanxi Palace) .

    3
    4

      LOVED seeing mentions of Isaac Asimov and Agatha Christie! Do give Double Star by Robert Heinlein a try.

      2
      0

      Detective novels:
      Dana Stabenow has two series set in Alaska that I enjoy. Best to begin with the Kate Shugak books, and the first is A Cold Day for Murder. If you like this one, keep going with the rest, and I promise Breakup is one of the funniest mysteries I’ve read, and it’s such a good characterization of the insanity that winter can bring us too.

      Anja de Jager’s series set in Amsterdam is also excellent, and you can start with A Cold Death in Amsterdam. I love a good complicated and strong female detective, and these deliver.

      (I’m sensing a trend here. LOL)

      Nevada Barr’s mysteries are set in US National Parks, and are super interesting insight into the park service, the parks themselves, and also good mysteries. The one where they find the bodies in Lake Superior? *shiver

      Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series is also fun. Start with the Eyre Affair, it’s hysterical, and is also a reminder to all of us who ever wished we could meet the characters in our favorite novels, that that might be more complicated than we considered.

      Fantasy:
      Ursula LeGuin: I mean, she’s just great.

      Octavia Butler: So is she.

      Zen Cho’s The Sorcerer and the Crown is fantasy, but it’s also a pretty good critique of colonialism with a strong feminist vein running through. Not something you find in a lot of traditional fantasy.

      (oh hey, there’s a trend in this list too)

      Have you read Elizabeth Gaskell? If you like Pride and Prejudice her North and South will likely be right up your alley. But do also check out her other novels. She is an often overlooked peer of Charles Dickens and the Brontes.

      5
      2

        Have you read the Horatio Hornblower books? Gosh, I never ever ever want to be a sailor, much less a sailor in the 18th century British Navy, but I adore this series. Learning about the minutiae of life on board ship, and the ins and outs of Navy life was fascinating. Bonus, C.S. Forester is great storyteller, so while the sailors might be bored out of their skulls when their ship is becalmed, I was not.

        If you haven’t seen the series done in the late 90s, I highly recommend it also.

        2
        0

        I second the recommendation for the Thursday Next series. One of the most clever and hilarious series I’ve ever read.

        I’ll also throw in a rec for anything by Diana Wynn Jones, though my absolute favorite is Howl’s Moving Castle, followed by the Chrestomancibooks, which can be read in any order, though my favorites are Charmed Life and The Lives of Christopher Chant.

        3
        1

          thank you very much, SnarkyJellyfish, for those reco’ 😀

          I’ve seen the Ghibli movie of Howl’s Moving Castle and I love it, rewatch it from time to time (even if there’ll always be things I don’t understand hehe ^^’) . I know there’s a book from which it was adapted and that the movie didn’t follow exactly the original story. I’ve always been curious about it but never read it. Maybe it’s time for me to check this book 🙂

          I’ve checked on my local library site, they’ve got Howl’s moving castle and the 5 books of Chrestomanci . Adding them to my to-read list 😀
          (not that lucky for Jasper Fforde though, will find a way when I reach it on my to-read list ^^’)
          Thanks again 🙂

          0
          0

      OMG! I’d just re-read Agatha Christie’s whole collection again. 😛 [Poirot is also my favorite detective]

      2
      0

      Detective novels:
      -Rockton series by Kelley Armstrong (it’s set in a fictional secret city in Yukon with no access to modern crime-solving-related tools.)

      Fantasy novels:
      -Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
      -Tamir Triad by Lynn Flewelling
      (Both has magic and magician “school system”, and it’s quite an experience to read these two series right after Harry Potter.)

      I’m not sure you’ll enjoy these but novelupdates has a lot of good translation for Chinese novels (the original source of epic dramas like Nirvana in Fire, and many other that’s not being adapted to drama format).
      Gu Fan Bu Zi Shang is one of my favorite (it’s adapted into drama General and I)
      For slice of life, I recommend My Mister Ostrich (it deals with disability, and the story followed the leads from their childhood to adulthood)

      Hope these help.

      3
      0

    hoping my local library will have most of your reco’

    2
    0

    I enjoy a lot of different genres at different times, depending on my mood, I’m going to try to put some I enjoyed the most:

    1- All of Jane Austen novels, just go read all of them – start with Persuasion maybe!

    2- All Cecelia Ahern books – I’m a huge fan of her and I absolutely love how she doesn’t seem to run out of ideas but my favorite of her books would be:
    If You Could See Me Now – Romance/Psycological fiction.
    A Place Called Here – Fiction.
    Thanks for the Memories – Romance/Fiction.
    How to Fall in Love – Romance.
    The Book of Tomorrow – Fiction.

    3-The House on Vesper Sands by Paraic O’Donnell – Historical fiction/Mystery.

    4- All the Lights We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr – Historical fiction.

    5- The Ship of Brides by Jojo Moyes – Historical fiction/ Romance.

    6- Small Great Things by Judy Picoult – Contemprary/ Legal story (Not an easy read, deals with racism in such a brutally honest way).

    7- Leaving Time by Judi Picoult – Mystery/fiction.

    8- What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty – Domestic fiction (such a fun read, I couldn’t get enough of this book).

    9- Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden – Historical Fantasy/ fiction (Book 1 and 2 are just absolutely brilliant, book 3 dragged a little but the ending was still worth the read).

    You see I’m mostly into historical fiction 😂 I’m forgetting a lot, I need to go through my collection tomorrow and see what else I can recommend, can’t do now it’s 2am, too lazy to get out of my bed (just don’t ask me why I’m still up 🙈)

    7
    3

      We know why you’re still up 🤭

      6
      1

      I absolutely adore your no. 8 – What Alice Forget by Liane Moriarty. I read most of her books and Alice is one of my favourite.

      3
      1

        I honestly picked it up because I wanted a breezy, mindless read, Liane Moriarty’s Three Wishes was something like that for me, but I fell in love with her characters so hard in this book, became too invested, screamed and squealed too hard at the end 😂🤦🏻‍♀️

        3
        0

      Jodi Picoult is one of my fave writer. My Sister’s Keeper is an absolute favorite (and the movie really disappoint me). But the one that made me cry again and again is Nineteen Minutes (it’s about bullying and school shooting).

      3
      1

        She always deals with such heavy topics, I find her books extremely hard to read, very thought-provoking, I only go for her books when I’m in the mood for that.. Small Great Things was so so good though, if you’ve not read it yet, please do, you’d love it!

        2
        1

          It’s already on my list. I’ll definitely read it when I’m in the mood for something heavy and thought-provoking.

          3
          0

    Her Body and Other Parties, a short stories collection by Carmen Maria Machado got me out of my reading slump last year and is one of my favorites. The stories are female-centric and each has a strange magical realism twist that is fascinating. Her writing is just beautiful~
    Recently, I’m really into Haruki Murakami’s novels. I just finished A Wild Sheep Chase, which I think is a great introduction to his work.
    The Vegetarian by Han Kang is devastating. It’s short, but it will hurt a bit.
    Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher is a hilarious and short read. It’s structured like a series of recommendation letters written by a self-deprecating English Professor, and you get glimpses of his life and struggles.
    The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K Jemisin – which I still need to finish, but wow, does it hurt to read but in a good way. Beautifully written and wildly imaginative. Def give it a shot if you haven’t!

    3
    0

    @midnight @egads @gadis @azzo1 @strawberry
    thank you all very very much for taking time to write those reco’ 🥰. I’ll need a few years to check them all 😅, but having a huge pile of reco’ from which I can pick any book is quite a nice feeling~ 🤩. Now how to deal with a long to-watch list for dramas AND a long to-read list 😅 (and that 3000 pieces jigsaw puzzle which needs lots of time 😅🙄🙄) .

    Egads : I’ve seen the North and South serie then read the book few years ago, loved it a lot <3

    Gadis : I heard of Chinese novels, maybe I should give it a try (I'll just have to get over my reluctance to read in English 😅, hoping I won't miss too many details)

    Azzo : you got me intrigued with "(such a fun read, I couldn’t get enough of this book)." , might give a try to "What Alice Forgot" very soon . I won't say no to more reco' 😀 , but go to sleep 😋

    Strawberry : my local library doesn't have "Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher 🙁 , but it has The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K Jemisin, will give it a try one day 🙂

    4
    1

      I’m going to put off recommending more since you have your hands full for now just this one book Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman – Psychological fiction, this one you have to read!

      Also, I did sleep, it’s the next day now 😂

      2
      1

        good news Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman is available at my local library 😀
        I just read the synopsis and felt attacked 🙄 (except for vodka since my child tastes aren’t compatible with any alcohol )
        “She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy”

        thanks Azzo 😀

        2
        1

          I read it in 2018, back then I was going through such a hard time and it spoke to me and kind of hit deep, but also it’s about healing, the courage of wanting to take a step towards healing, it’s hilarious yet heartbreaking at the same time, very inspiring too!

          2
          0