Hello everybody. I'm currently reading Malazan but have the small problem that I fatigue regulary. I had that after book 1 and now in book 3. The first time I solved that problem by reading something else and gaining motivation to return to Malazan. That's why I'm now asking all of you to suggest me palate cleanser books (a tip I found on another subreddit under a Malazan post). You can suggest nearly everything as long as it follows the following rules:
- No romance or romantasy. It's just not my genre.
- About 400 to 500 pages max. Just so I'm not reading them for an eternity.
- Ideally books with a self-contained story. Parts of a series would be fine as long as the stories of the individual books are self-contained and don't rely on other books too much. (For example: Jack Reacher books by Lee Child. Part of a series but rarely build on each other.)
"Classics" of literature are also very welcomed. I've read some and pick up an Agatha Christie book from time to time (which also fits good into the rules).
Thanks in advance for all the suggestions and a good time reading to all of you.
by Chemist-with_Beard
5 Comments
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir! I believe it’s just short of 500 pages, but it’s super fast paced and really fun. It’s an incredible read both in physical format and also on audiobook!
Pale Grey Dot by Don Miasek. 425 pages of sci-fi. Zero romance. Really fun and fast-paced.
How about Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson? It’s short, it’s self-contained, it’s a “classic” and it’s a pretty fun read.
Vonnegut! I’ve found his writing style to be an absolutely perfect palate cleanser for me as a reader. His sense of humor can be diabolically funny, and his writing feels as though it has very little “filler,” meaning that it doesn’t feel like he wastes a single word/sentence. All of his books that I own are somewhere between 200-350 pages.
I started with *Slaughterhouse-Five* which I’d thoroughly recommend, but *Sirens of Titan* is one that might be worth starting first in order to get an idea of his style without all of the time/space jumps in *Slaughterhouse-Five*.
I’m sounding like a broken record the last few responses but I’ll suggest my current read:
Martyr! – Kaveh Akbar
331 pages, funny, layered, and compelling.