I don’t tend to be picky about genre so if it fits throw it at me.
First and most importantly, I hate romance! Nothing makes me stop reading a book faster than too much romance. I do not want to hear about it and I don’t want to have my books focused on it. To be clear it’s the romance aspect that I hate, stories with established couples in which their relationship is not the focus or stories that have romance but it’s barely mentioned and not a focus are fine. Finding books without the romance aspect seems to be getting increasingly difficult so any suggestions are welcome.
Second, I tend to not love feel good fluff pieces. This is not always true, but I tend to lean toward more toward complex, theme heavy books.
Third, I tend to prefer shorter books not part of a series (or at least being able to stop after the first book). I haven’t finished a series in probably 8 years and I probably won’t start now.
Finally, I tend to prefer a female protagonist or an ensemble cast over singular male protagonists. This is not a hard fast rule and I will like most characters that are well written, but my annoyance threshold seems to be lower for male protagonists. Don’t know what to tell you you 🤷♀️
Here’s a list of books I love:
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Metamorphosis by Kafka (it’s so emotional charged and very sad, I’ve read I multiple times and still love it)
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Anything by Shirley Jackson (no seriously I’ve read every single one of her works and they are all amazing. My favorite is probably ‘The Sundial’ followed by ‘Hangsman’ with ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ a close third)
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O’caledonia by Elspeth Barker (this is an amazing book and I think everyone should read it. As far as I know it’s her only novel, but man is I amazing. I think about this book often it’s so good)
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Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (this doesn’t feel like a romance novel to me, it’s very gothic and ghost story-esque but may be the only exception to the romance rule. Do not suggest the other Bronte Sisters I’ve read their works and they’re alright)
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I Cheerfully Refuse by Lief Enger (I love this book, it’s a journey, a Greek tradegy, found family, and a rebellion rolled into a wonderfully story with great characters)
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Pew by Catherine Lacey (I read this book twice in the span of two weeks. I cannot express how much I think about this book. I have looked into her other works but they don’t spark the same interest as Pew.)
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I will read plays (my favs: ‘Waiting for Godoy’, ‘Rosencrantz and Guieldenstern are Dead’, ‘Dollhouse’ and ‘The Wild Duck’
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Swordspoint and Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner (these are some of the only fantasy books I like, I never got around to reading the final (really I am terrible at finishing series even when I like them). Another book that kinda breaks the romance rule, but idk it’s different. I love a good political scheming bisexual so I will overlook romance in the pursuit of one)
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Finally, and I cannot stress this enough: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass and What She Found There by Lewis Carol (These are my favorite books in the universe past or future. I have read them many times and I love them more every single time. I don’t know if adding these helps anything but oh well. Also I have read his other works (including the some of the math books) they’re good, but there’s a reason Alice is the most famous)
TLDR
This was a lot (I did say I was picky). Here’s a summary:
– Open to almost any genre
– NO ROMANCE
– prefer complex theme heavy stories (over fluff)
– prefer shorter books (notoriously terrible at finishing series)
– prefer female protagonist or ensembles (male protagonist have very short leashes before they start to annoy me)
There’s a list of recommendations/books I love to help narrow down what I prefer
I’m kinda desperate spent most of my Friday and Saturday in my library, then secondhand book store, and finally ended up at Barnes and Noble. I still haven’t found anything.
by Infinite_Augends