(long post sorry!)
So I read 167 books last year. Some I loved, some I hated but most of them I was quite indifferent about. When I Start to get indifferent I tend to read faster and then I'll miss parts which will make me even more indifferent. I have this problem a lot. But sometimes I come across a book that I adore and then it forces me to slow down so I can truly enjoy the book. I love reading and I don't like reading too fast. But I have such a wide taste in stories and at the same time oddly specific so I need some help to find new things that I might love.
95% success rate authors whose books I've never speedread:
V.E. Schwab ;
MXTX ;
Donna Tartt ;
Fredrik Backman ;
Richard Osman ;
Brandon Sanderson ;
Roald Dahl
Random books I loved reading in 2024:
Make the Season Bright (Ashley Herring Blake – not a big romance reader as it usually doesn't click for me but I really enjoyed this one! Surprised me, i dont know whether its the writing or the queer characters or the Christmas setting but I loved it so much) ;
Project Hail Mary (Andy Weir – I read the audiobook, so if you want to recommend a specific audiobook that is fine!) ;
Big Little Lies (Liane Moriarty – though maybe because I've seen (and loved) the series already so the tension was there before i even started) ;
The Memory Police (Yoko Ogawa) ;
Banana Fish (Akimi Yoshida – so graphic novels are fine as well) ;
Carmilla (J. Sheridan Le Fanu) ;
Winterhouse trilogy (Ben Guterson) ;
Song of the Lioness (Tamora Pierce) ;
By Any Other Name (Erin Cotter) ;
It (Stephen King) ;
Flowers for Algernon (Daniel Keyes)
So I read a lot of different Genres, I will probably read everything that lies still for long enough. I like reading adult novels, YA or even Middle Grade. Usually I enjoy a book more if I like the characters, but according to my friends that's terribly difficult. I have a reputation of disliking a lot of characters apparently, and I'm not sure what criteria are needed for me to like a character. I also enjoy nice prose, writing style is quite important to me because if the writing is itchy then I have a harder time reading it.
I mostly veer towards fantasy, but as you can see definitely not a must.
Preferably queer but definitely not a must.
I prefer third person past tense. Usually first person already puts me off, but The Secret History is one of my favourite books ever and it uses first person perspective. Same with present tense, I don't really enjoy reading present tense but most of Backmans work has been written in present tense and I thoroughly enjoyed most of those. So again it's a preference but definitely not a must.
Examples of stuff disliked reading in 2024:
Tigana (Guy Kavriel Kay) ;
Lapvona (Otessa Moshfegh) ;
Meet Your Baker (Ellie Alexander) ;
The Casual Vacancy (J.K. Rowling) ;
Whalefall (Daniel Kraus) ;
The Witchery (S. Isabelle – sounded like I would love it but I didn't?) ;
Crescent City (Sarah J. Maas – I gave up on Maas a few years ago but I thought I'd might read this because people told me it was better and different, but in my opinion it was exactly the same as her other work…) ;
Juniper & Thorn (Ava Reid) ;
Vampire Weekend (Mike Chen) ;
Hex (Thomas Olde Heuvelt) ;
Jamaica Inn (Daphne Du Maurier – absolute shocker to me that I didn't like it as Rebecca is one of my favourite books)
I hope you can help me find some new favourites in 2025!
(Edited for readability)
by Agitated_Side3897