I bought a Kobo to get myself to read books rather than browse my phone. Never been a reader but I'd like to get into it. Something on the shorter side would probably help. Bonus points if it's a female protagonist.
I know YA novels would probably be an easy place to start but I would rather the characters I'm reading about be closer to my age (30).
by me0wster69
18 Comments
So not a female protagonist, but Starter Villain is not long, and a fairly easy read. And it has talking cats
Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy is a super easy read and so much fun! Not a female protagonist tho
Redshirt by Scalzi is a fun read
Here’s a mix of different genres
*Penric and Desdemona*—a fantasy novella series by Lois McMaster Bujold, set in her richly imagined “World of the Five Gods.” Penric is a scholarly sorcerer who unexpectedly inherits a chaos demon named Desdemona
*Falling Free* by Lois McMaster Bujold: Set aboard a space habitat in a future where zero-gravity labor is essential, the story follows an experienced engineer assigned to train a group of genetically modified humans. These beings—designed specifically for life in free fall—challenge his assumptions about humanity, autonomy, and corporate ethics.
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson is a whimsical, high-fantasy adventure set in his Cosmere universe. It’s the first of his “Secret Projects” and reads like a love letter to The Princess Bride—complete with pirates, curses, and a talking rat named Huck
*A New Lease on Death* by Olivia Blacke—a darkly funny supernatural mystery where a ghost named Cordelia teams up with her new living roommate, Ruby, to solve the murder of their neighbor
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. It’s more of an ensemble piece, but the audience surrogate/main POV is a woman.
As far as I’ve seen, everybody loves Project Hail Mary.
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
but if you’re looking for something light-hearted, I recommend The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
The Martian
Do you want fantasy romance? The saint of steel series has protagonists in their 30s and I can’t put them down. That series switches between the male and female POV. There is some spice though. Thornhenge is an unrelated novella also by T. Kingfisher.
11/22/63 by Stephen King.
Wool by Hugh Howey. It’s a quick and easy sci-fi read with a female protagonist. The Silo series on Apple TV is based on it.
Termination Shock, Even Cowgirls get the Blues
The House in the Cerulean Sea – Feel good fantasy and easy reading
The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells (the first book is All Systems Red)
ACOTAR, duh. A Court of Thorns and Roses. – Fantasy, the book that launched a thousand booktoks.
Wool by Hugh Howey. Dystopian, kind of a thriller.
Power. Alternate future. Will make you think. Pretty quick read.
The Book of Doors. Female protagonist, relatively quick read and a good story
Fantasy and sci-fi are both really, really broad categories. What do you like to watch on TV and in movies? Are short stories okay or are you only interested in novels or at least novellas?
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is a fun, engaging, fast paced, easy to read sci-fi novel. It’s a pretty solid intro to the genre. There’s plenty of more profound novels out there but if you’re trying to get into reading it’s often best to start with stuff that’s fun and straightforward.