I’ve been very inconsistent reading recently, and part of it is I’m SUPER picky, to an annoying extent. I mean I will judge a book by the first couple of sentences, and if it doesn’t “vibe” with me I keep searching. I have tried to force myself to read books that don’t immediately click with me but I just get bored and don’t want to waste my money!
I’m trying to see if there’s a pattern of book I enjoy, because I feel like it’s a “style” of writing I like, less so about the genre or plot.
I used to read a lot of YA (hunger games, mortal instruments, divergent, maze runner etc) when I was younger but nowawdays I find most fantasy novels seems too much for me (I prefer an element of the real world too I think).
Anyway, books I’ve really enjoyed in the past few years include:
– The Secret History by Donna Tartt (I’ve looked at other dark academia books suggested like ‘If we were villains’ but I couldn’t get into them)
– Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel (although the plot was a bit predictable, I felt like the writing was quite nice, almost dreamy)
– The Familiars by Stacey Halls (I think I liked the mystery element of this one and the witchy vibes were nice, mixed in with nature and stuff)
– The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden (totally unexpected as I haven’t read fantasy since I was a teen, but I finished this over two months!) I was fully absorbed into this, I think I’ve always been quite fascinated by
Russian history for some reason and the folklore made it even better
– The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro I liked for the ‘vibes’, again probably because of the nostalgic feel?
– Various translated Japanese novels by hurakami, but I wouldn’t say I was super invested
– Anna Karenina I do like but wow this has taken so long to read and after 7 years I still haven’t even made it half way. Definitely a struggle!
Based on my most recent reads, I think I’m into a bit of magic/mystery but nothing too crazy, and I also want to avoid romance. I think ‘’melancholy, witchy, gothic even?” might be good words to describe what I want? Open to suggestions!
by Ok_Chef_3723
1 Comment
Witchy magic vibes, it also sounds like you like slightly dark surrealist stuff – I always beat the Bulgakov drum and with great pride, maybe give:
The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov a go!
The devil turns up to Moscow and all hell breaks lose — he forecasts something awful that happens and leaves many high society folk at odds. I think it’s incredible. Funny, full of satire, and rich with descriptions!