I'm a 25 year old guy that hasn't read much in years, but I recently made it through Lonesome Dove. After the first couple hundred pages I started flying through. Now I'm hooked on reading again and want more. However, I don't want to start immediately with the sequels/prequels, so I wanted to ask here for other suggestions.
Not necessarily looking for books with similar themes or settings to Lonesome Dove (although that would be fine too), but I'm looking for books that feel real and have a great story. One standout for me was that all the characters felt real, and I liked how the book was long enough to really flesh out and take its time building up to the suspenseful parts.
by M00NSMOKE
10 Comments
Shogun
Shogun by Clavell gave me the same experience. After about 100 pages I couldn’t put it down. Same with Noble House, too.
I feel like Stoner by John Williams is a fairly good companion to Lonesome Dove. Has the same kind of wistful, gentle storytelling that feels so real and lived in.
By the end of both books you realise how much you know and love the characters and I found both to be poignant, bittersweet and sweeping stories.
Prince of Tides
Shōgun
East of Eden
I’m gonna go with Tom’s Crossing by Danielewski. That book wrecked me. My only gripe is I’m struggling to find something as compelling since finishing haha.
Try Steven King. The Stand is a real page turner.
Anything by Stephen King.
Or the Dungeon Crawler Carl series.
You would love any of that, I think
If you want to read another western then I suggest anything by Elmer Kelton. His Ranger series consists of 9 books and covers about fifty years, the 1830s to 1880s.
Stand Proud is a great book that covers a guy’s life from when he was a young man during the Civil War to him being a rancher around the turn of the century.
Kelton has books that take place from the early 1800s all the way to the 1980s when they were written. He was the son & grandson of working cowboys and he worked for years as a stock reporter for the San Angelo, Texas newspaper.
In case you can’t tell, he’s probably my favorite author of all time.
I finished Lonesome Dove and went straight to Streets of Laredo and was not impressed. I’ll probably use some of these suggestions also.
Cormac Mccarthy any of it.