Help Me Find My Book Path

I’m in my early 30’s and have read a lot but I feel very few have really grabbed me. I didn’t really like any of the books I read in school other than The Hobbit especially when Bilbo met Gollum — I read that book until it was 3am. When I got to college I read the play “The Pillowman” by Martin McDonagh — and was gobsmacked by it. Time flew by. Another book I was given was “The Alchemist” and completely got sucked in by it. I also loved “Sum” by David Eagleman. I think Murakami is great. I’ve loved his short stories, “the elephant vanishes” collection was my favorite. I’ve tried for his more longer stories but never caught completely. I’ve read quite a bit of Gaiman — my favorites were “Graveyard Book” and “Ocean at the End of the Lane”. But thought American Gods was really poorly paced. I liked his Norse Mythology book. I’ve loved reading Brian K Vaughn’s comics like “Saga” and “Y: The Last Man”. This year I read Blake Crouch “Recursion” and definitely loved the story on a plot level. It had some fun twists. “Dark Matter” felt like the worse version of Recursion. They lack a level of emotionality that I like. Honestly, the first third of “Rich Dad Poor Dad” had this almost fable like quality that reminded me of “The Alchemist” that I thought was fun and so different after all the business books I’ve read. Also I finally got to “Project Hail Mary” this year and LOVED IT. It was everything I love in a story it was emotional, brilliant, plot-perfect, etc. A friend gave me “Red Rising” and I liked the first half but when they were given their houses it lost a lot of steam for me. I skimmed to the end and it felt like what I imagined. It felt like “Hunger Games” met “Count of Monte Cristo” on mars, but I liked both those books more than Red Rising. I also tried Sanderson, but there’s something really blocky about is writing that I can’t explain that turns me off. I even read “Fourth Wing” and though it was an easy read by the end it didn’t hold much weight, but the dragons and some of the world building was cool.

My next books are “Bobiverse” and “Quicksilver” (mostly to see what the hype is all about).

But I really want to find those moments where time goes by and it grabs me like Alchemist and Hail Mary did. I keep trying but I feel like the flow doesn’t happen enough and it’s been hard for people to recommend me books. So maybe there are some kind souls here that can diagnose me and my taste and help me with my on ramp to fiction heaven. Thank you 🙏🏼