Help expanding my reading
Hey y’all
I recently picked up reading as a habit/recreational activity and it has completely replaced watching TV and the majority of doom scrolling. I got a library card and have been mainly reading books by Michael Connelly and blowing through them in like 2-3 days, easy language, engaging story, fully fleshed out characters that seem like real people, and I love crime/legal thrillers.
But I just can’t, in my limited exploration, seem to find another author that I can get into. I read some John Grisham and didn’t like he style, it felt like I was reading a screenplay, all the characters are wooden archetypes rather than 3-dimensional people and I don’t care what happens to them. I tried some Hemingway, tried Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy and like, I just don’t get it. So many words and metaphors and colorful language and describing a rising sun as the head of a red phallus, instead of being immersed in the story I’m trying to figure out wtf they want me to feel with all this overdescriptive language. I read slaughterhouse 5 and like Vonnegut’s style and dark humor, but trying to get into his other books hasn’t worked out yet.
I guess my issue is, I want to read entertaining stories with characters I care about, not endless descriptions of scenery or philosophical asides. Just put me in the shoes of a relatable character doing something interesting and let me feel what they’re feeling. Another thing I love about Connelly is how he brings Los Angeles to life and makes you feel like you’re riding shotgun with his characters, but not by writing multi-paragraph diatribes about sweeping vistas and phallic suns, he just navigates through the city and describes what the characters pass by as they do so.
So yeah, if anyone could suggest other authors for me to explore id really appreciate it. Doesn’t have to be crime or thriller, but I guess I’m not at the level where I can appreciate “great literature” and just want entertaining stories with memorable characters
Thanks in advance!
by Conscious-Eye5903