I did a search and the only posts were how men weren’t reading fiction. When I browse popular books they often seem like they’re written for women and most of the people I know who read fiction are women. So, as a male reader I’m wondering what other men have read that they’ve loved? My favorite from the last five years was demon copperhead, I really liked project Hail Mary and am going to check out Artemis. I also loved devil in the white city, pachinko, a gentleman in Moscow and I’m a big fan of memoirs. I tend not to enjoy books written before 1900 as the writing is so different and confusing to me.
by theKman24
26 Comments
*Dr No* by Percival Everett was the most recent book I read that just entertained me so much i felt compelled to tell everyone I know about it.
Read Lonesome Dove
Warning: I like long books.
That said. I love the Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson, The Stand by Stephen King, 11.22.63 By Stephen King, and Stephen King’s Dark Tower series.
The Wager by David Grann
I read primarily SF&F written by women. Just finished The Summer War by Naomi Novik and it was amazing. Reading The Everlasting by Alix Harrow right now and it too is amazing.
Anything by Yukio Mishima. His books have resonated with me in a way that almost no other author has. I also like Agatha Christie’s books. They’re so Hitchcockian, and always interesting.
I’ve always loved Harry Potter, and I always will.
I will DEVOUR anything by Agatha Christie and Gillian Flynn.
I’m currently on chapter 5 of Project Hail Mary and love it. Same with Between Two Fires – it’s one of the best written books I’ve read.
Jane Eyre is long, but it’s a fantastic read.
I just read Normal People recently, and even though the lack of quotation marks was a little off putting at first, I was so into the story I didn’t notice after the first few chapters.
The Secret History holds a special place in my mind and heart – it’s a long and dense read but she is an extremely talented writer who wastes no words.
*Post Office. God Knows. Portnoy’s Complaint. A Fan’s Notes. Lolita. The Last Picture Show.*
How much time do you have?
The Dungeon Crawler Carl series is amazing for anyone even remotely interested in role playing games
Narcissus and Goldmund by Herman Hesse
The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie. Far and away my favorite books
It’s been a good while since I read, currently working on that. Back then I loved the HP books, and really liked The Baskervilles’ Dog. Most recent reads that I thought were great: 1984 and The Murder on the Orient Express (yes I am going through the classics right now).
I do have more recent books, but they’re still in the to-read list. It’s gonna take a while but I’ll eventually get there.
Reading Children of Time right now and really liking it. You’d probably enjoy it too if you like Project Hail Mary
I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy – perennial favorites are Earth, by David Brin, Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, the whole Tolkien oeuvre, John Scalzi, Tad Williams, et cetera.
– Dungeon Crawler Carl
– All Quiet on the Western Front
– 1984
– LOTR
– Silo Series
– Neil Gaiman
– Madeline Miller’s works
– Paolo Bacigalupi’s works
– Tolkien
– Some of Robert Cargill’s works
– I started reading Joe Ambercrombie but his work’s turned into GOT slop quickly
– The James Bond books
– Douglas Adams
– Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (was this fiction? I can’t remember)
Quo Vadis and The Canticle of Leibowitz are my all time favorites.
Lonesome Dove, you’re welcome
Daniel Silva or Patrick Robinson write about fictional clandestine and military operations that have a lot of facts in it,, so those are my fun reads. Though Silva has a series of books about Gabriel Allon which I’m still going through.
The Expanse was the last series I really loved.
The Far Pavilions by M M Kaye
I enjoyed Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne, Different Seasons by Stephen King (Apt Pupil, Shawshank, The Body aka Stand By Me), and the Cradle series by Will Wight.
The only new books I’ve truly loved in the past 20 years were all written by William Gibson. There are plenty of other books I liked, but none where I stopped between chapters and said, “Wow, this is a really amazing story!”
Mysteries, thrillers, short stories, some sci-fi, a lot of history, general nonfiction, memoirs. I write most of these genres too.
A few perennial favourites of mine
Iris Murdoch – *The Flight From The Enchanter*, *The Sea The Sea*, *The Bell*
Ann Quin – *The Unmapped Country*, *Berg*
Mervyn Peake – *the Gormenghast trilogy*
Bohumil Hrabal – *Too Loud a Solitude*
Alan Garner – *Boneland*, *Treacle Walker*
Will Self – *Unbrella*, *Shark*, *Phone*
Ursula Le Guin – *The Left Hand of Darkness*
M. John Harrison – *Light*, *Nova Swing*, *Empty Space*
Sadly I don’t read quite so much these days, but I’d say these cover some of my favourite authors and styles pretty well. *Gormenghast* is possibly the greatest actual work of art I’ve ever come across anyway.
Till We Have Faces is the latest book to blow my mind, it’s gotten me on a CS Lewis kick. Been re-reading a lot of Poe as well.
Also important to mention are the works of Howard, Harlan Ellison, and Burroughs.
In a different direction Moby Dick, Pride & Prejudice, Dracula, & Frankenstein are all very close to my heart.
Honestly it’s hard not to ramble on and on…
Some of my favorite fiction:
Stephen King – The Stand, 11/22/63, and Misery
Colson Whitehead – The Underground Railroad, The Nickel Boys
Cormac McCarthy – No Country for Old Men
Larry McMurtry – Lonesome Dove
Kurt Vonnegut – Slaughterhouse Five, Mother Night
Alexandre Dumas – The Count of Monte Cristo
Percival Everett – James, Erasure
Charles Portis – True Grit
John Williams – Stoner
Frank Herbert – Dune
Frederick Bachman – A Man Called Ove
The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy will never leave my brain.
Stoner by John Williams
I am a Cat by Soseki Natsume
Anything by E.L. Doctorow (Homer & Langley)
The Reacher series by Lee Child(great escapist gold after reading something heavy)
Currently reading She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb(highly recommended)
Project Hail Mary is next.