I, 35M, have never been much into reading. I just never found that one book that I thought was fantastic. Everything felt OK at best.
How can I ask you for advice when I don’t even know what I like myself? I don’t know. I think a fantasy or mythological theme would work best. Something fast paced and with a non sad ending. I’m open to pretty much everything, though.
Maybe by listing what books I have read and what I found displeasing about them you can suggest me a book or two to try? Give me some feedback!
Books I remember reading:
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Circe - I like the mythological theme, I think this was the book I enjoyed the most. I found it a bit bland, like the story pretty much lead to nothing of interest.
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The Hobbit - I love the lord of the rings movies (never tried the books), I thought maybe I’d enjoy this book. I didn’t enjoy the plot, don’t really wanna spoil why.
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Da Vinci Code - I thought it was fine, I guess I enjoy plots with some mystery.
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Angels and Demons - honestly felt like the same book, I don’t know if I even finished it
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Digital Fortress - as a software developer, i thought the theme would pull me in but it didn’t. It actually felt like the same book again and I have tried reading it three times without success.
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100 years of solitude - I read this a long time ago so I don’t really remember why I didn’t enjoy it. I remember it being a slog with long and very detailed descriptions of situations that didn’t feel to matter at all.
Thanks!
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.
“The Martian” by Andy Weir
Your book list makes it seem like you’ve got a pretty similar taste to me and that one hooked me in the first page. I like to describe that book as being “high adrelinaline problem solving”. I’m also a SWE and think that’s part of the reason it was so appealing to me.
I find when I get in a slump, that going to the library and picking up a bunch of books at a time and trying to jump into them to see what sticks really works.
If I go and commit to like five books, one is going to hook me!
Also if you liked Circe (oh man did I love it) you might really love Song of Achilles (also by Madeline Miller).
What’s gotten me back into reading has been the Red Rising series by Pierce. Scifi that reminds me a bit if the hunger games stuff, but better.
Have you read the later ones in the series (books 4-6)? I really liked the first 3 but then there was a pretty big break between books and I heard some not so good things about them so never picked them back up. Curious what you think of them if you read them.
Second trilogy breaks into multiple point of view, and unfortunately most of them are not very interesting. Quit halfway book 1
I didn’t really like to read until I bought a Kindle. For some reason, that made it way more enjoyable.
I do own a very old Kindle that I thought would ignite my interest in reading. I found that I didn’t enjoy reading on the Kindle, which is honestly quite a bummer. I also found it harder for me to read books in English and the Kindle store doesn’t have books in portuguese. It’s not like I can’t read in English, more like it’s another small obstacle to pick up the book and read.
I’d rather have a digital library and not spend space to store the books but alas :(
The only way I’ve been able to “read” is through audiobooks. I listen during my work commute. It’s really enjoyable. Makes commuting enjoyable to an extent. Also, if you get a really good narrator, the experience is great.
I work from home but I have considered this for my jogging. However since I only run like 2 hours a week I thought that wouldn’t be enough?
Altered carbon is great as is the follow up book. The Netflix series really did the story dirty. Fast paced action with a sci fi noir feel.
I watched both seasons on Netflix, actually! I liked it a lot.
I didn’t mind the first series but the changes they made were fundamental to the story, and tak is much more of a bad ass in the books lol.
If you liked Circe, you might enjoy Song of Achilles by the same author. Maybe also Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel — similar to Circe, it’s a mythic retelling focusing on a character that’s not usually in the spotlight. I read it recently and really liked it
A favorite I like to recommend is The Final Empire, by Brandon Sanderson. It’s the first in a trilogy, and could open you to a vast universe of stories if you enjoy it.
Try ‘Lady of Hay’ by Barbara Erskine
I can highly recommend basically anything written by Brandon Sanderson, especially the Cosmere series. It consists of a lot of books (and many on the way), that describe multiple worlds. What makes his books special is the way magic is integrated into the world. It’s not just 14th century Europe with wizards here and there, magic makes an impact on the society in a way that’s realistic. His books are easy to read, with a few exceptions (more on that below).
As for what to start with, I’d recommend two series:
- Mistborn - a series revolving around a dystopian world. The first book in the series is somewhat a fantasy heist story. Easy to read, though you can tell it’s one of the earlier Brandon’s books, his style of writing improves in time.
- Stormlight Archives - this is the series Brandon outdid himself TBH. The world is at the very alien, but in a way that makes sense. The books suck you in and don’t let go, making you want know more about the world and the characters. Be wary though, getting through the first few chapters takes some determination, as it starts slowly. And since the world is very different to our own, some words don’t make sense at start, which can be slightly offputting. But getting through the first chapters is worth it.
Hey friend, I know it has been a while. Just wanted to let you know that I have been reading the first Mistborn book (The final empire) and I have been enjoying it a lot. I think this is the first time I’m actually looking forward to my reading session so I can find out what is happening next.
Thanks a bunch!
Hey, great to know you liked it! Thanks for the update!
Thanks a bunch for the long reply. I’m going to order Mistborn and see how it goes, it looks good!
This is a good suggestion. Even Sanderson haters like me will agree that he has strong technical storytelling skills and that his books are probably the best low-bar-of-entry fiction you can find.
You could try some novellas, something a bit faster passed might help out. For example there’s the Murderbot Diaries.
I had fun recently reading the first 5 books in the ‘Book of Amber’ series by Roger Zelazny, published through the 70’s-80’s. Each book is also on the shorter side, and the first 5 books are a contained story. The rest of the series follows a different character after. The magic and world hopping I found pretty interesting, a bit different, and the family drama is entertaining.
‘Pod’ by Laline Paull. Multi perspective story, follows a hand full of different sea creatures. Quite a heavy story, It’s a dramatization about the effects humanity has had on the ocean, and has a lot of other themes tied in to. It’s just really well written, great characters, <\3.
You could also try some murder mysteries, Agatha Christie stories are still like for good reason. They are fun reads and there’s a lot of them if you do end up liking them. ‘And Then There Were None’, and ‘The Murder of Roger Ackroyd’, or for the Miss Marple stories ‘A Murder is Announced’. Though of course racism will just pop in sometimes. There’s also more current series in this genre being published but I don’t have enough experience with them to make any recommendations.
There’s the Books of Earthsea, they read more along the lines of a fairytail. My favourite of them at the moment is ‘The Tombs Of Atuan’.
Hey! I would give a try to Theft of Swords by Michael Sullivan. Thats the book that got me into reading. It is similar to Lord of the Rings in a way, but more light hearted.
Hm. Some fantasy stories / books I really enjoyed and recommend are:
Eragon by Christopher Paolini. Just awesome. The pacing is gentle but a lot higher compared to The Hobbit or The Lord Of The Rings. One of the best fantasy stories I know, I read all the books multiple times. Warning: Don’t watch the movie. Just don’t.
The Idhún’s Memories by Laura Gallego. I’ve read them a long time ago, so I don’t know if I’d still enjoy them that much, but I’ve great memories.
I didn’t read The Name Of The Wind yet, but it was recommended to me multiple times as THE best book.
If you don’t mind science-fiction, I also would recommend Children Of Time by Adrian Tchaikovski.
Side note: Fantasy is quite a heavy genre if you’re not really into reading yet. Often the good books are large, which makes it harder to finish in a reasonable time. General tipp: try to read one hour a day. This creates a habit and you will soon read a lot faster, which makes it a lot easier to just grind through a book as if it was nothing. Also try different genres, maybe one doesn’t sound appealing, but you would enjoy it anyway.
The name of the wind is absolutely one of the best fantasy books ever written, the only thing is that the author is not likely to finish the series anytime soon. The second book in the triology came out in 2011 and still has no date for the third to be released :/
I did watch the movie and it totally made me not even consider the book! XD
Children of Time is one I have considered, maybe I’ll give it a go!
Thanks a lot!!
A few general recommendations:
Nonfiction:
- The End of Everything, Katie Mack
- The Anthropocene Reviewed, John Green
- Jenny Lawson’s books - Broken, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened
- What If?, Randall Munroe
Fiction:
- Later, Stephen King - it’s a short Stephen King book. I prefer The Institute, but it’s longer
- The Dresden Files series, Jim Butcher - action, mystery, urban fantasy
- Black Water Sister, Zen Cho (YA fantasy set in Malaysia)
- The Dragon Lords trilogy, Jon Hollins - medieval fantasy with comedy and a few twists
- The Color of Magic, Terry Pratchet - Discworld is a great fantasy series with humour
