Hey all, I'm a recovering phone addict that is trying to reduce his screen time with more books. Whole I got exposed to some really lovely titles, I feel like more sophisticated books don't hold my attention enough and as such keep me from making the habit of reading stick. I would like to keep some books that are the equivalent to Netflix filler so I can just stick my head into a book rather than get suckered into a brightly colored video. Here are my previous reads that for the bill:
- Factotum and Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski
- Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
- Dreamcatcher by Stephen King
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
- The Devil in the White City
- Many Poirot novels by Agatha Christie (varying success here)
- Botanical Folktales of Britain and Ireland (my current fave I'm reading but it's rather short and I know I'm gonna burn through this one).
I'm a little embarrassed but I'm wondering if I should look into young adult or juvenile books on my ereader. I'm more interested in making reading a habit rather than something I'm personally interested in (for now) as I've realized even subjects I'm interested in (like Enshittification by Corey Doctrow) don't have me glued like I used to.
by oc974
9 Comments
I love mystery series. If you find a good main character(s) – detective, private investigator, etc. that you can fall in love with and it’s a long series. I think that’ll be exactly what you’re looking for. What did you like about Agatha Christie? Here are a few series I can recommend – they’re all very different:
▪️the Kinsey Millhone series by Sue Grafton
▪️the Kincaid and James series by Debbie Crombie
▪️literally every series by Anthony Horowitz
▪️the Harbinder Kaur series by Elle Griffiths
If you liked Hitchhikers Guide, you need to read Discworld. Probably start with Wyrd Sisters or Guards! Guards!
Great mix of books! Here’s a varied selection to consider:
Have you tried Terry Pratchett’s discworld books? – if you like Hitchhikers you might like these.
Rivers of London Series – Ben Aaronovitch – urban fantasy crossed with a police procedural and a dose of British humor thrown in.
Darma Bums – Jack Kerouac – if you like Bukowski or One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Ken Kesey
Brother Cadfael Books – Ellis Peters – murder mysteries involving a 12th century British monk who solves crimes when he’s not tending his herb garden – suggested based on your love of Poirot, botanical folktales, and Twain’s medieval England books 🙂
The Crystal Cave Series – Mary Stewart – children’s/young adult books set in dark ages centering around Merlin – good enough to read as an adult
True crime books if you liked Devil in the White City – try:
– In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
– Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil – John Berendt
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. 7 1/2 Deaths if Evelyn Hardcastle
Dungeon crawler Carl
The tainted cup
I wonder if graphic novels would interest you? Visuals make reading more fun imo and they’re very fast/easy to get through when you’re trying to build a habit. I also like to have them in my TBR for when I don’t feel like deep diving into a novel.
Some I loved:
– Something is killing the children – ongoing series about a badass monster hunter
– The night eaters – completed series about siblings who get caught up in some demon stuff bc of their mom
– Locke & Key – completed series about kids who find magical keys that are connected to their dad’s murder
– Fence – ongoing series about teens in a fencing team (kind of slice of life)
– Lore Olympus – ongoing series about Greek myth characters in modern setting
– Nimona – standalone about a shapeshifter working for the kingdom’s villain
– A guest in the house – standalone, eerie horror
– Long way down: the graphic novel – standalone about a boy and the people he talks to on the elevator ride before avenging his brother’s death
– Beneath the trees where nobody sees – standalone about a small town serial killer in an anthropomorphic animal world
.
P.S. Reading books targeted toward readers younger than you is not embarrassing. Reading at all is great, so it’s good to find what works for you. I primarily read adult fiction, but have read plenty of really well written YA books and even some middle grade and children’s books.
These kinds of age group distinctions are more to say you should be at least in X age group to read Y, not to say you can’t/shouldn’t read something if you’re older than the target audience.
Red Rising series
Dungeon Crawler Carl
They give you the same dopamine spike a phone does because they’re fast paced and action packed, but they’re also better for your attention span and have substance 🙂 I usually recommend these to friends who want to get into reading again to start w
All Systems Red by Martha Wells. It’s short and if you like it there are more in the series.
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman . It’s a fast paced, wild ride that grabbed me on the first page.
Volatile Men Burn the ships. The pace is fast enough to not feel like a book.