For context I’m 250ish pages into 11.22.63 and I’m absolutely loving it. I’ve never been much of a reader and I’m in between semesters in college so I thought I’d pick up a new hobby with the extra time. I’m big into film but never really considered that there’s a whole world of books to be discovered. What are some essentials that I should check out after I finish 11.22.63?
by tintedpolarbear
4 Comments
For one offs I’d recommend:
The road
Born a crime
When breath becomes air
For series I’d recommend:
The expanse (scifi)
The iron Druid (urban fantasy)
Dungeon crawler Carl – scifi / horror / fantasy. This series sucked me in. Here’s my spiel about it.
For me what broke my 10 year reading slump was dungeon crawler Carl.
You will not find a better narrator for the audiobook series either.
It’s recommended all over here for a good reason.
It’s a sci-fi book series, it’ll be 10 in total, 8 books are out now. It’s hard to describe in a way that doesn’t sound unhinged but I’ll try.
For the tone of the books, book 1 feels kind of silly, and by book 7 it’s insane action and heavy narrative.
Book 1 also leans heavily on video game jargon but that really falls away quickly, and I know a TON of non-gamers that are as obsessed with it as I am.
My favorite things about the book series is the character development, it’s absolutely incredible. I’ve laughed and also genuinely cried because of how compelling the characters are. The author does a great job of discarding tropes too which I love, and writes honest and complex characters.
It’s often compared to hitchhikers guide meets hunger games meets maze runner but it’s definitely of its own thing.
I’d highly recommend the audiobooks, a single voice actor does an incredible range of voices, easily exceeding 30-40 voices across the series.
In short, it’s about an alien corporation that seizes earth to mine its mineral resources, and gives the survivors a chance to regain control of earth by completing a challenge course called the world dungeon. The course is 18 floors and is televised to the galaxy which drives profits for the corporation. The protagonist Carl enters the dungeon with his cat who >! Gains human level intelligence !< and fights alongside him.
It’s a cool mix of sci-fi – aliens taking over earth, and fantasy – the characters use magic, etc.
Ive listened to the series easily 10 times. The fan base is amazing and the author is kind and engaging. It’s very cool.
I also love this persons take on the author and series:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/DungeonCrawlerCarl/s/NjyFFPXFHC](https://www.reddit.com/r/DungeonCrawlerCarl/s/NjyFFPXFHC)
That is one of my favorite books! I love a lot of Stephen King, but that one and Insomnia are my favorites.
I like horror and dark humor, so here ya go, these are the “I can’t put this down” books I think will suck you in immediately:
Rant by Chuck Palahniuk
John Dies at the End by Jason Pargin
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
The Fireman by Joe Hill
(Also, consider audiobooks!! Because the 11/22/63 audiobook was fantastic)
I recently got into reading and was big into movies, too. Still enjoy movies when I have a chance to sit down. But nowadays, I always have a book in my hand wherever I go. Quite a different world!
I enjoy spy genre a lot, especially non-fiction ones that are written like a novel.
Happy reading!