Wild seed (or Kindred or Xenogenesis) by Octavia Butler
The cloud roads by Martha Wells
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Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
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My go to book rec for people who want to get into reading is Holes by Louis Sachar, because it appeals to all ages, has really short chapters, and is super engaging!
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“The Word for World is Forest” by Ursula K Le Guin.
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Ooo I got you. I’m a bookseller so this will be a long list with a lil explanation lmao so skip if you want, I apologise in advance. They’re also pretty popular, but for a reason. I’ll give some for each umbrella genre bc idk what you like:
Romance: tbh, anything by Emily Henry or Beth O’Leary. I’d recommend either Happy Place or The Switch as my personal faves. Happy Place is friends to lovers to exes to lovers again and is my own personal happy place, and The Switch follows a grandmother and granddaughter both called Eileen Cotton as they swap their entire lives. Equally, anything by Sally Vickers (the gardener is my favourite) gives romance but in a less gushy, contemporary way.
Classics/Modern Classics: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (thriller). Ik it’s popular, but it’s very readable and short and had me hooked. If you’ve read it, try Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Brandon (another mystery) or The Quiet American by Graham Greene (a bit of everything).
Literary Fiction/Contemporary: man, there’s so many. Anxious People by Fredrick Backman was a recent 5 star of mine. As was Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield. Backman’s was a very goofy read. Armfield tore my heart in two with her explorations of grief and wifehood. Marian Keyes’ Grown Ups combines these themes among others if you want a fun mix, and Dawn O’Porter and Abigail Bergstrom write fantastic books on the experience of womanhood if that’s what you’re interested in (can only speak from my own here). If not, Venemous Lumpsucker is a satire about a blob fish and mass-extinction. Literally. I loved every page.
Thriller/Horror: I will forever recommend Stephen King. He doesn’t always land an ending, but personally Pet Sematary and the Colorado Kid were the first two that got me into this genre. Equally, Mexican Gothic (Silvia Moreno-Garcia) and What Moves the Dead (T Kingfisher) were full of decaying gothic decadence that didn’t make me feel too squemish. If you want your toes to curl however, Haunted by Chuck Palahnuil caused people to vomit on the book tour, so there’s that.
Fantasy: for delicious lore and tangible characters, I’d recommend The Roots of Chaos series by Samantha Shannon, but the books are like door stoppers so be warned. For a more YA/contemporary approach, Fourth Wing and ACOTAR got the hype for a reason, though I wouldn’t say they’re particularly well written (I mean ACOTAR there). For a lighter fantasy, Stardust by Neil Gaiman is a staple (all Gaiman tbh), as is Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart (hilarious but wordy) and The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (made my chest go gooey).
Honourable mentions are:
What you are looking for is in the library, Michiko Aoyama.
Love and Other Words, Christina Lauren.
Howl’s Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Mark Haddon.
Rules for Visitng, Jessica Francis Kane.
The People in the Trees, Hanya Yanagihara.
I’m tearing myself away from this subreddit now lol. Recommending books to all kinds of readers, new or experienced, is my job n I love it. I hope you find a book that gets you back into reading 🙂
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Light from uncommon stars by Ryka Aoki
Wild seed (or Kindred or Xenogenesis) by Octavia Butler
The cloud roads by Martha Wells
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
My go to book rec for people who want to get into reading is Holes by Louis Sachar, because it appeals to all ages, has really short chapters, and is super engaging!
“The Word for World is Forest” by Ursula K Le Guin.
Ooo I got you. I’m a bookseller so this will be a long list with a lil explanation lmao so skip if you want, I apologise in advance. They’re also pretty popular, but for a reason. I’ll give some for each umbrella genre bc idk what you like:
Romance: tbh, anything by Emily Henry or Beth O’Leary. I’d recommend either Happy Place or The Switch as my personal faves. Happy Place is friends to lovers to exes to lovers again and is my own personal happy place, and The Switch follows a grandmother and granddaughter both called Eileen Cotton as they swap their entire lives. Equally, anything by Sally Vickers (the gardener is my favourite) gives romance but in a less gushy, contemporary way.
Classics/Modern Classics: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (thriller). Ik it’s popular, but it’s very readable and short and had me hooked. If you’ve read it, try Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Brandon (another mystery) or The Quiet American by Graham Greene (a bit of everything).
Literary Fiction/Contemporary: man, there’s so many. Anxious People by Fredrick Backman was a recent 5 star of mine. As was Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield. Backman’s was a very goofy read. Armfield tore my heart in two with her explorations of grief and wifehood. Marian Keyes’ Grown Ups combines these themes among others if you want a fun mix, and Dawn O’Porter and Abigail Bergstrom write fantastic books on the experience of womanhood if that’s what you’re interested in (can only speak from my own here). If not, Venemous Lumpsucker is a satire about a blob fish and mass-extinction. Literally. I loved every page.
Thriller/Horror: I will forever recommend Stephen King. He doesn’t always land an ending, but personally Pet Sematary and the Colorado Kid were the first two that got me into this genre. Equally, Mexican Gothic (Silvia Moreno-Garcia) and What Moves the Dead (T Kingfisher) were full of decaying gothic decadence that didn’t make me feel too squemish. If you want your toes to curl however, Haunted by Chuck Palahnuil caused people to vomit on the book tour, so there’s that.
Fantasy: for delicious lore and tangible characters, I’d recommend The Roots of Chaos series by Samantha Shannon, but the books are like door stoppers so be warned. For a more YA/contemporary approach, Fourth Wing and ACOTAR got the hype for a reason, though I wouldn’t say they’re particularly well written (I mean ACOTAR there). For a lighter fantasy, Stardust by Neil Gaiman is a staple (all Gaiman tbh), as is Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart (hilarious but wordy) and The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (made my chest go gooey).
Honourable mentions are:
What you are looking for is in the library, Michiko Aoyama.
Love and Other Words, Christina Lauren.
Howl’s Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Mark Haddon.
Rules for Visitng, Jessica Francis Kane.
The People in the Trees, Hanya Yanagihara.
I’m tearing myself away from this subreddit now lol. Recommending books to all kinds of readers, new or experienced, is my job n I love it. I hope you find a book that gets you back into reading 🙂
Project hail mary
One of my best sci fi reads
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo