Hi,
I do not read at all but would like to start doing so at least before bed (which doesn't mean I'm looking for something relaxing or light per se).
I've tried to read a few of the classics and failed, e.g. Brothers Karamazov, Lord of the Rings, Grapes of Wrath etc. To be honest, none of them were able to keep me interested for that long.
Most of my exposure to literature is from school, where we read To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, Maus, The Tell Tale Heart, 1984 and the poems of Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson, all of which I really enjoyed.
When I was a kid, I enjoyed The Book Thief and A Monster Calls, though maybe something more adult would be better now.
I'd like something which is gripping and hard to put down, maybe something which could be considered a classic but is still fairly readable, and something which has some depth to it.
I wouldn't say that books are really my favorite medium because I much prefer movies. I'd say my favorites are Parasite, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, American History X, Apocalypse Now and The Great Beauty, if those could at all be some indication for what books I might like. I also really like White Lotus and Game of Thrones.
If anyone could offer any sort of suggestion, that would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Edit: anything with twists and turns/mystery/secret societies/cults would definitely be interesting, too
by ThanksDoberman
11 Comments
Did you ever read Great Expectations? My daughter loved it.
Maybe some of the easier accessible classics could be a place to start. They have substance but will not be to much of a project to finish.
I’ve personally enjoyed these:
All quiet on the Western Front – Remarque
Animal farm or 1984 – George Orwell
The Trial – Franz Kafka
Chronicle of a Death Foretold or No One Writes to the Coronel – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
We Have Always Lived in the Castle – Shirley Jackson
Maybe a Freida McFadden book, like The Housemaid? Freida writes mysteries with twists and turns and I always recommend her books to friends looking to get into reading or in a slump. They are light reads, I usually finish them within a couple days because they keep me interested!
Lonesome Dove
Here are some you might like:
* Amatka by Karin Tidbeck. It reminded me a lot of 1984.
* The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. Historical fiction
* Good News From Outer Space by John Kessel. A sci fi novel about cults.
* Lavender House by Lev A. C. Rosen, an easily readable historical fiction mystery. First in a series featuring secret societies of LGBT people, set in a time when being LGBT was illegal.
As a first book
Project Hail Mary
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Count of Monte Cristo
Pillars of the Earth
Easy and get you hooked within the first chapter
Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis is beautiful and less than 200 pages.
Enduring Love and Amsterdam by Ian McEwan were both pretty fast-moving and captivating for literary fiction, imo.
Currently reading Three-Body Problem and can’t put it down.
The Green Mile by Stephen King.
Charles Portis’ books are classics enough and still fairly readable, they quickly sink you into the plot and keep you in it. But only If you think you are able to stand deadpan humour/irony, first person narratives and economic delivery.
True Grit — TW; there are occasional outdated racist references, which I chalk down to the main characters voice in her time period. She’s very funny to me otherwise.
The dog of the south — Similar TW, main character is not a man without flaws.
Edit: The best part about these are really the accessible language. They’re also adventurous.
Don’t know if it’s translated into English but the Dutch book Joe Speedboat by Tommy Wieringa is classic here in the Netherlands. Highly recommended.
So I would recommend actually doing the Sherlock Holmes stories. They are mainly short stories, mysteries. I find that one is the perfect length for a bedtime reading.