**If you’re going to read a physical book, try The House in the Cerulean Sea.**
This is a heartwarming, whimsical story about a caseworker sent to evaluate an orphanage of magical children, including one who might be the Antichrist.
**If you’re going to get an audiobook, try Daisy Jones & The Six**
The audiobook is full-cast, making it feel like a real documentary; super engaging.
I think a lot of people (myself included) tend to feel like they HAVE to finish books even if they don’t enjoy them because that’s kind of how we are taught to read in school. But in your own free time, you don’t have to read things that you’re not into! You can drop a book if you’re not feeling it. So I’d just say try to find a novella or something short and if you’re not into it, don’t feel pressure to continue. Pick up something else and keep doing that until you find something you’re into. Short stories and essays are good because you can pick away at things in tiny chunks over long periods of time. I’m not sure what genres you like so it’s hard to recommend anything specific, but I’m sure you can find something!
Also, if you’re someone who likes podcasts, nonfiction audiobooks are great to get you out of a slump. You can listen while you do whatever daily tasks and it’s a way to be ~reading without the pressure of feeling like you HAVE to be slogging away at something. If you have been out of the loop for a while, libraries have apps where you can get audiobooks (plus ebooks, comics, magazines, etc) for free with your library card (you can also apply online for a library card in most places now). Good luck!
Radiant_Orange_7583 on
Local Woman Missing
urcrazyifurnormal on
What piques your interest – even a little bit?
Upstate_Gooner_1972 on
Freida MacFadden. I’d recommend The Ex, or Never Lie. Housemaid series is pretty good too.
Outrageous-Guard2311 on
The 7 husbands of Evelyn Hugo
A Teacher
The Silent Patient
ZeroC00l8814 on
Same here. I just read “The Prince of Thieves” aka “The Town” straight from the movie. Bank Heists armored car Heists. If you like the movie the book is better. Also if you like Game of Thrones, read the books.
[deleted] on
[deleted]
Own-Lengthiness-3549 on
“ The Alchemist” Paulo Coelho. This is a short beautifully written story filled with deep but simple life lessons.
Mr_Guavo on
I like spy books. If you might too, perhaps try The Eighth Sister by Robert Dugoni. It’s the first of the series of 3.
DrAlWazzy on
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
rashan688 on
I’m an incredibly incredibly picky reader which is difficult as someone who wants to read consistently. Some pretty user-friendly books I suggest:
Crooked House by Agatha Christie (it’s a mystery, which is not my usual genre but it was short and I always found myself wanting to pick it up to read, now I really want to read more Agatha Christie)
The Little Prince- I know it’s basically a kids story written for adults but despite how simple and easy it is it’s DEEP
The Alchemist- easy read but changed my life.
My biggest piece of advice is to find what genre you like best. I like classics and historical biographies so when people recommend me modern romances I die inside but that is what keeps them reading and that’s what’s good for them. Dabble a little in each genre and then explore the genres you like the most. Another tip is to take however long you need to read a book. You don’t need to read 30 books a year or even 10. My goal is to just always be reading SOMETHING consistently and sometimes that’s just 15 minutes a day and it takes a year and that’s perfectly acceptable.
rastab1023 on
I have no clue what you like whatsoever. My favorite book I read last year was Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, and so far my favorite book this year is Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar.
beezyeazy on
I was in a similar situation and just finished a couple books by David Koepp… Aurora and Cold Storage. They were both fun and easy reads!
FEAguy on
Try a book of short stories possibly.
A Good Man is Hard to Find and other short stories by Flannery O’Connor (S USA)
Dubliners by James Joyce (Ireland)
Nine Stories by J D Salinger (NY, USA)
Any books of short stories by Ray Bradbury (Sci Fi)
BackgroundGate9277 on
I like Blake Crouch a lot. In my opinion he does a great job of keeping the reader on the edge of his/her seat the entire book.
altgodkub2024 on
Honestly, potential answers to this admittedly vague question are as varied as there are people. I read lots of nonfiction and I have a wide range of interests, so I’m never at a loss for books. Most of those books have enough suggestions within their bibliography to keep me going for 10 lifetimes. What are your interests?
KingBretwald on
Asking that kind of question without telling us what sorts of things you already like is very similar to just picking a book at random off a shelf. There are thousands of really good books that you probably won’t like and even more thousands that you will.
Help us help you by giving us an idea of what sorts of things you already like.
21 Comments
Try James Patterson
**If you’re going to read a physical book, try The House in the Cerulean Sea.**
This is a heartwarming, whimsical story about a caseworker sent to evaluate an orphanage of magical children, including one who might be the Antichrist.
**If you’re going to get an audiobook, try Daisy Jones & The Six**
The audiobook is full-cast, making it feel like a real documentary; super engaging.
What sort of genres interest you?
[Demonic Devourer](https://www.audible.com/pd/B0CN7M36GD?source_code=ASSORAP0511160006&share_location=pdp)
I think a lot of people (myself included) tend to feel like they HAVE to finish books even if they don’t enjoy them because that’s kind of how we are taught to read in school. But in your own free time, you don’t have to read things that you’re not into! You can drop a book if you’re not feeling it. So I’d just say try to find a novella or something short and if you’re not into it, don’t feel pressure to continue. Pick up something else and keep doing that until you find something you’re into. Short stories and essays are good because you can pick away at things in tiny chunks over long periods of time. I’m not sure what genres you like so it’s hard to recommend anything specific, but I’m sure you can find something!
Also, if you’re someone who likes podcasts, nonfiction audiobooks are great to get you out of a slump. You can listen while you do whatever daily tasks and it’s a way to be ~reading without the pressure of feeling like you HAVE to be slogging away at something. If you have been out of the loop for a while, libraries have apps where you can get audiobooks (plus ebooks, comics, magazines, etc) for free with your library card (you can also apply online for a library card in most places now). Good luck!
Local Woman Missing
What piques your interest – even a little bit?
Freida MacFadden. I’d recommend The Ex, or Never Lie. Housemaid series is pretty good too.
The 7 husbands of Evelyn Hugo
A Teacher
The Silent Patient
Same here. I just read “The Prince of Thieves” aka “The Town” straight from the movie. Bank Heists armored car Heists. If you like the movie the book is better. Also if you like Game of Thrones, read the books.
[deleted]
“ The Alchemist” Paulo Coelho. This is a short beautifully written story filled with deep but simple life lessons.
I like spy books. If you might too, perhaps try The Eighth Sister by Robert Dugoni. It’s the first of the series of 3.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
I’m an incredibly incredibly picky reader which is difficult as someone who wants to read consistently. Some pretty user-friendly books I suggest:
Crooked House by Agatha Christie (it’s a mystery, which is not my usual genre but it was short and I always found myself wanting to pick it up to read, now I really want to read more Agatha Christie)
The Little Prince- I know it’s basically a kids story written for adults but despite how simple and easy it is it’s DEEP
The Alchemist- easy read but changed my life.
My biggest piece of advice is to find what genre you like best. I like classics and historical biographies so when people recommend me modern romances I die inside but that is what keeps them reading and that’s what’s good for them. Dabble a little in each genre and then explore the genres you like the most. Another tip is to take however long you need to read a book. You don’t need to read 30 books a year or even 10. My goal is to just always be reading SOMETHING consistently and sometimes that’s just 15 minutes a day and it takes a year and that’s perfectly acceptable.
I have no clue what you like whatsoever. My favorite book I read last year was Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, and so far my favorite book this year is Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar.
I was in a similar situation and just finished a couple books by David Koepp… Aurora and Cold Storage. They were both fun and easy reads!
Try a book of short stories possibly.
A Good Man is Hard to Find and other short stories by Flannery O’Connor (S USA)
Dubliners by James Joyce (Ireland)
Nine Stories by J D Salinger (NY, USA)
Any books of short stories by Ray Bradbury (Sci Fi)
I like Blake Crouch a lot. In my opinion he does a great job of keeping the reader on the edge of his/her seat the entire book.
Honestly, potential answers to this admittedly vague question are as varied as there are people. I read lots of nonfiction and I have a wide range of interests, so I’m never at a loss for books. Most of those books have enough suggestions within their bibliography to keep me going for 10 lifetimes. What are your interests?
Asking that kind of question without telling us what sorts of things you already like is very similar to just picking a book at random off a shelf. There are thousands of really good books that you probably won’t like and even more thousands that you will.
Help us help you by giving us an idea of what sorts of things you already like.