Hey what are some books that are not still caught in the eyes of bookstagrams and booktubers. I swear I will explode if I see another “a little life” or “yellowface” recommendation. They might be good, but once the books are so hyped up, they loose their charm and appeal in my case.
Edit: I am open to any genre. This year I want to widen my horizons.
by Successful_Demand_91
21 Comments
I’m full of suggestions! Can you tell me what you like to read?
Why would you even look there?
Idk what you like so a little bit of everything
I who have never known men by Jacqueline Harpman
(post apocalyptic, philosophical)
Confessions by Kanae Minato
(Mystery, crime)
Letter from an unknown woman by Stefan Zweig
(Classic, mild romance, sad)
The prophet by Kahlil Gibran
(Classic, poetic, philosophical)
Golden terrace by Cang Wu Bin Bai
(Historical, romance, court intrigue)
I started reading Erika Fatland this year. She is a norwegian journalist/anthropologist who writes long and detailed travelogues. I absolutely LOVE her books and don’t know how they aren’t more hyped.
She only has three translated to English but I’ve read each of them:
High (Himalayas)
The Border (literally every country bordering Russia)
Sovietstan (the former Soviet Union republics and countries)
I’ve learned so much about geopolitics from these and they are sooo well written.
Days without end by Sebastian Barry
Golden boy by Abigail Tarttelin
Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart
Having been a finalist for the National Book Award (which the author later won for another novel) and praised by Updike as a better novel than The Great Gatsby, The Assistant by Bernard Malamud might seem like an odd suggestion, but Updike noted in the interview in which he praised it that even back then it was not exactly on everyone’s tongue.
A Heart Wo White by Marias
The Sot-Weed Factor by Barth
Love by Hanne Orstavik
Hangman by Maya Binyam
The Society of Reluctant Dreamers by Agualusa
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Kundera
Look for books from these publishers: New York Review of Books (NYRB), Archipelago Books, Dalkey Archive, Deep Vellum
Bolla by Pajtim Statovci
A Line in the World by Dorthe Nors
Dead Man’s Walk by Larry McMurtry
Comanche Moon by Larry McMurtry
The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell
The Children of Men by P.D. James
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Precious Bane by Mary Webb
The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
We die alone by David Howarth
Hunter’s Horn by Harriette Simpson Arnow
The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner
Blue Skies, Chouette, Strange Sally Diamond
Late City, by Robert Olen Butler
The Garden of Evening Mists, by Tan Twan-Eng
Any books by Miriam Toewes, Camila Gibb, Trevor Cole, Douglas Coupland, or Will Ferguson.
Canadian authors don’t tend to get the publicity that American ones do. Also, check out the Giller Prize shortlists – those are some of the best books written by Canandian authors every year, and it’s a broad list with something for everyone.
Donna Leon writes an amazing, humorous and lighthearted but interesting, crime series. Best thing is there’s so many books but you can basically read them in any order.
Here are a few of my underrated favorites from the last few years:
* Acts of Service by Lillian Fishman
* Walking Practice by Dolki Min
* Savage Beauty:The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford
* Lote by Shola Von Reinhold
* Little Blue Encyclopedia by Hazel Jane Plante
* Biography of X by Catherine Lacey
* Strega by Johanne Lykke Holm
Less Than by AD Long.
Wouldn’t say it’s underrated, I just don’t think many people have heard of it yet, but it’s one of those ones I’ll keep recommending until I’m blue in the face because I think it’s an incredibly worthwhile read!
Anything by Kent Haruf.
Something from fredrick backman? I’ve read 2 of his books when my usually full list was empty and found them to be a comfort read.
The Puzzler’s War by…I can’t remember who but I will edit it in when in decent signal. I have never heard anyone talk about it but it was one of my top books of last year
I really like Tawni O’Dell’s writing. One of her books (Back Roads) got picked for Oprah’s bookclub and turned into a movie but all of them are great and deserve accolades.
A Cry of Angels by Jeff Fields
In the Shadow of the Hanging Tree
by Michael A. McLellan
The Industry of Souls
by Martin Booth
The River of Kings
by Taylor Brown
My Old True Love
by Sheila Kay Adams
The Fighter
by Michael Farris Smith
Devolution by Max Brooks was great, and I never hear about it.