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Best Reads and Recommendations
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Gotcha, so something with enough meat for adult discussion.Oh, I don't know why I forgot one of my all-time favorites:
Daughter of the Forest - retelling of The Wild Swans, Ireland
(CW for (view spoiler))
I recommend Daughter of the Forest too.Heart's Blood is loosely based on Beauty and the Beast.
Second Hand Curses has multiple fairy tale characters in it. While it's not a direct retelling of one specific story, it includes the stories of several characters. I thought it was a lot of fun.
Recommendation RequestFeel Good Christmas Reads.
Speculative fiction is a plus but not required.
Preferably on the shorter side (300pgs or fewer) if it is a novel.
A collection or anthology of short stories would be great!
Please & Thank you!
hi everyone!I'm looking for horror recommendations, something to actually scare the hell out of me, I've been looking for months and tried few genres but none of them worked...
help please :'(
@Nyssa--having just gone through the Chronicles of St. Mary's, the author writes a Christmas special every year which have been pretty feel good, but also probably don't make much sense out of series... sadly I think most of my recs are series Christmas specials (also thinking of the Dresden Files one)... now I'm curious to see what other folks come up with.@Peggy--I can't say I've ever read anything that seriously scares me so I doubt any of my recs are any good. But the first thing that popped into my mind was The Blacktongue Thief which I read last year with FBR--it was a really interesting, very different world, and the goblins especially... but they aren't the focus of the book. I keep seeing The Only Good Indians show up on lists of horror recs by horror readers, and that's been on my TBR, and I'm about to start Mexican Gothic on Monday, which Steven King has said scared him, but again, I don't know if they are anything to the level you are looking for.
@Nirkatze - Thanks. That series looks a bit much with the very many bonus stories! LOL
That looks interesting. I will check it out. Thanks!! :)
Not Christmasy specifically, but I just found this bookbub book list in my email inbox today: Cozy Fantasy Books.On the list, The House in the Cerulean Sea, Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, and Legends & Lattes are all great fuzzy feel-good reads that I've actually read...
https://www.bookbub.com/blog/cozy-fan...
@Nirkatze - Thank you for the link!I actually have The House in the Cerulean Sea and Legends & Lattes on my TBR list. I also considered Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot for a group read in another group. LOL
Nirkatze wrote: "Not Christmasy specifically, but I just found this bookbub book list in my email inbox today: Cozy Fantasy Books.On the list, The House in the Cerulean Sea, [book:Sorcery & Ceceli..."
These are great comfy recommends :D
@Nyssa again--another list popped in to my inbox today, specifically labeled "Cozy Holiday Reads" so dropping it here, just in case...https://www.bookbub.com/blog/the-cozi...
Only one looks like it has a speculative bent, and no short story collections I saw, but it looks like an swath of genres with a healthy dose of romance.
Nirkatze wrote: "@Nyssa again--another list popped in to my inbox today, specifically labeled "Cozy Holiday Reads" so dropping it here, just in case...https://www.bookbub.com/blog/the-cozi......"
You are awesome!!! Thank you!! :)
Hey everyone, how's it going? So I really dug the first graphicaudio of The SurvivalistTotal War by Jerry Ahern, and I'm 2/3 through book 1 of Alex ArcherRogue Angel Destinyand I'm really digging it too, but they both have well over 20 books, and I'm afraid of burning out. Could you please recommend the really really good books in both series?
I'd also especially appreciate it if you could point me to some resources for both series, preferably unofficial resources
Mmm... I'm not familiar with either of those series. The only thing I can think of is a few other mega series I've read I wouldn't have wanted to skip any entries... but you should be able to tell with the first few books whether or not others will be skippable... Sorry this isn't any help!
Mod
Timelord Iain wrote: "Same... might be better to do some google/reddit searches for other readers that can be of more help..."My google-fu is weak, and I've had a hard time finding anything on reddit. If you get bored or something one day, would you be willing to try to look for me?
Hello. I'm in need of a new adult/adult fantasy romance book recommendations with strong female protagonist. I'm looking for something intense like An Ember in the Ashes series by Sabaa Tahir, The War of Lost Hearts series by Carissa Broadbent and The Auran Chronicles series by Wendy Heiss. The romance aspect should not be a forefront of the story. The love interest can be using any pronouns. If there is an age gap, the protagonist should be at least 21 years old. No reverse harems and preferably no triangles.
Not interested in any S.J. Maas or Jennifer L. Armentrout
Please help, I'm desperate.
@alexga have you read sword of kaigen ? It's a very good fantasy book with a very unique magic system. However, It's a very character driven story and quite emotional at times.
Feyzan wrote: "@alexga have you read sword of kaigen ? It's a very good fantasy book with a very unique magic system. However, It's a very character driven story and quite emotional at times."I have not but will definitely check it out. Thank you. Please share if anything else comes to mind
I've only read the first three Ember in the Ashes books, so I'm not sure how good my recommendations will be, I'm trying anyway...Romance is forefront in this series, but it has strong female protagonists with supportive romantic interests and the storyline all weaves together into an epic story so far--Mages of the Wheel starting with Reign & Ruin by J.D. Evans...
Kushiel's Dart universe is VERY adult, epic espionage storyline, with romance side. The MC of the first trilogy is a woman cursed to feel pain as pleasure, and becomes a courtesan-spy. Three trilogies with different MCs in universe. Also takes place in an alternate medieval Europe, so lots of fun cultural travel too.
A Deadly Education trilogy is awesome fast-paced fun. Deadly magical school, female Dark One who doesn't want to be a Dark One, with a pretty funny romance.
The Dreamblood Duology--first book doesn't have much romance--sort of unrequited love--but the second book has one of the most subtle romances I've come across in it, with a really strong female character...really interesting world based on Ancient Egypt... magic system that involves collecting ichor from dreams...
Patricia Briggs' Moon Called & Cry Wolf series are set in the same universe--Urban Fantasy--the romance doesn't kick in for Mercy until around book four or so, and each book is a different focus/mystery. For Alpha & Omega, the romance starts in the prequel novella, but the characters get to know each other and are a mystery-solving team. Lighter, more episodic, and less connectedly epic, but you come to love the characters in each book as you go on...
Anything by Carol Berg--all of her series have strong women in them, either as MC or side characters--and often the romance creeps in but isn't a focus. Bridge of D'Arnath series especially, though my favorite is the Lighthouse series & following Sanctuary series.
Also anything by Lois McMaster Bujold--though both her Miles series and Penric & Desdemona series have a romance arc in the lives of the MCs, the focus is not romance. Her Sharing Knife series has a more central romance, but the female MC is 18 and there is a large age gap--it is well handled, however. I also don't like age gaps, they really wig me out, and this didn't bother me too much.
Jim Butcher's Codex Alera starting with Furies of Calderon has an awesome epic storyline with multiple satisfying romances, each with strong women. Also has a roman-inspired culture.
S.A. Chakraborty's The City of Brass might be more in line with what you're looking for... the heart-beating romantic aspects (and pain of conflicts keeping them separated) is there, along with a rich cultural world. Her new book, The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi is also AWESOME but has very little romance.
Cinda Williams Chima's The Demon King series and follow up Shattered Kingdoms series also has a similar feel, strong female characters, and a romance that spans the whole series but doesn't get emo.
Jay Kristoff's Nevernight series has a very strong female MC, lots of action and an epic world & story, and goes through a couple romances.
Hm... I basically just gave a list of my favorite series with strong women and romances... and they're probably not that similar to the books you asked for. >.< Ah well.
Nirkatze wrote: "I've only read the first three Ember in the Ashes books, so I'm not sure how good my recommendations will be, I'm trying anyway...Romance is forefront in this series, but it has strong female pro..."
wow thank you so much I will definitely check most of these out. I did not expect anyone would recommend full on list with short summaries. Thank you again
LOL I get a little carried away when it comes to books. I hope something there meets your fancy! There're Buddy Reads coming up in the group for a few of those too--the first book in Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga actually is set to start today: Shards of Honor, though I think folks are running late... we're on the third book of Naomi Novik's Scholomance this month, and reading Kushiel's Dart in March.
It's not romance unless you count the MC ex-himbo but The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi has a strong female MC and it was one of my faves this year. Plus she is a pirate and that makes everything better lol
I'm looking for sci-fi/dystopian books this year. I'm really intimidated by long, complicated sounding books and series, because I'm only starting out in that genre. I already have a list, but I see how many books are being read in this group, so maybe I can find more or better recs by asking here...YA or adult are both fine for me :)
I like anything with themes/elements of survival, first contact, post apocalyptic setting (really dislike zombies, though), looking for a new planet, new settlement/colony
other than that, just anything that's fun, I love a diverse cast, motley crews, roguish characters etc.
I'm generally turned off by overly complicated political plots and intrigues as well as major romance and horror elements..
Here's the list I already have:
and
If you have anything that fits, I'll be happy to add to the list!
Rapunzel wrote: "I'm looking for sci-fi/dystopian books this year. I'm really intimidated by long, complicated sounding books and series, because I'm only starting out in that genre. I already have a list, but I se..."Have you tried any of these?
Partials, Blood Red Road, Wool Omnibus, Junkyard Cats, The 5th Wave, Not a Drop to Drink
I only heard of The 5th Wave (I just forgot it in my post), but all the others are new to me! Thank you so much!
Rapunzel wrote: "I'm looking for sci-fi/dystopian books this year. I'm really intimidated by long, complicated sounding books and series, because I'm only starting out in that genre. I already have a list, but I se..."We're actually doing a BR of the nostalgic Animorphs series right now and I think this fits kind of what you're looking for! It is more of a middle reader, but is a nice break from the larger scifi tomes. And this series can be kinda dark even if it's supposed to be for kids. O.O Just in case you're looking for something light in length ~
Other series I can think of off the bat are "Hunger Games", "Mistborn", "Skyward" & "Ember in the Ashes" for dystopian. Also I highly recommend the "Spillzone" comics! Nice and short and fun.
The Animorphs actually sound fun! Not nostalgic for me, as I've never heard of them before, but I saw they got new German editions recently, I'll check if I can get them from a library nearby (I don't read ebooks, so I need to be reasonable about purchasing books).I loved the Hunger games, I read them right when they came out! I also finished Mistborn, although I came to the conclusion that Sanderson is not for me (I felt lukewarm reading the books, even though they're good). Ember in the Ashes is on my tbr :)
Thank you so much!
Rapunzel wrote: "The Animorphs actually sound fun! Not nostalgic for me, as I've never heard of them before, but I saw they got new German editions recently, I'll check if I can get them from a library nearby (I do..."Right?! Well for me as a kid I would mostly flip through the pages and see the little animation there of the kids changing into animals. lol. So it's kinda new for me too! But I remember it being really popular growing up. They had a tv show too! Here's the BR channel if you wanted to take a peek! Animorphs BR
Oh nice!! Did you know the author came up with a prequel to the Hunger Games? You might already know but it called The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes! I'd definitely recommend :D
Aww that's ok. You might like other of Sanderson's works since Mistborn is YA. But he also may not be for you too. :D
Yay!! Happy reading!! Hopefully we get to read together in some BRs sometime ^~^
Rapunzel wrote: "I'm looking for sci-fi/dystopian books this year. I'm really intimidated by long, complicated sounding books and series, because I'm only starting out in that genre. I already have a list, but I se..."post-apocalyptic/survival-wise:
・The Fifth Season--amazing series, very epic. BR going on right now, actually.
・The Passage--more vampires than zombies, but similar issues, epic.
・The Road is on the literary side, but also in that genre. Standalone.
・Station Eleven also on the literary side of the writing scale. Standalone.
・Z for Zachariah--nuclear apocalypse, YA standalone, thought provoking.
・Obernewtyn series--YA, kids persecuted for psychic powers try to carve out a place for themselves, easy reads.
・Kitty Cat Kill Sat: A Feline Space Adventure very interesting premise and cozy, while taking some really weird twists.
・Seveneves--damn but if I don't still find myself thinking about this book years afterwards...
First Contact/Survival:
・When the Tripods Came--classic 1960s SF, with a follow-up series a few hundred years later
・Dungeon Crawler Carl LitRPG, and thus gets kinda crazy but has a lot of heart and good thinking on good topics.
・Binti--more social survival with some personal survival tossed in, big themes of cultural alienation and racism, short novella series and very thought-provoking.
・The Sparrow--the most realistic first-contact book I've ever read, really thought-provoking and beautiful writing
SF/Dystopian:
・Ancillary Justice--maybe a bit on the light side of dystopian, but it has a sprawling empire on the edge of collapse...
・The Collapsing Empire... and so does this one, as shown by the title. Both are great series that make you think with great characters and humor, easily devourable-sized books. Political, but pretty fun politics. Then again, I think if one of these series isn't your type, they probably both won't be.
・Red Rising--really interesting world premise, very compelling, also pretty brutal. I wouldn't call it horror, but very grimdark.
・Ready Player One fun, especially if you are familiar with the 80s & 90s, very nostalgic
・Scythe compelling YA series, thought-provoking premise
・Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and probably anything by Philip K. Dick, if you're looking for great "what if" classic dystopian SF. Literary and mind-effing side of things.
・The Power brutal and a total mind-f** but super fascinating, couldn't look away, like a train-wreck.
Haven't read but I see on lists, and on my TBR:
・Who Fears Death
・Parable of the Sower and pretty much anything by Octavia Butler
・The Mote in God's Eye
・Rendezvous with Rama
・To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
Looking at your list, I'd probably second most everyone else's choices before mine--you seem to prefer the fast paced YA side of dystopian etc stories, like Divergent & Hunger Games, and my list is probably mostly the grittier interesting-ideas but not feel-good side of dystopian etc stories... I couldn't help myself though. ^^ Ok! I need to stop or I'll go all night looking up books.
First of all, you all are awesome! So many recommendations! I will read sci-fi till the end of my days, I suppose?Nirkatze wrote: "Looking at your list, I'd probably second most everyone else's choices before mine--you seem to prefer the fast paced YA side of dystopian etc stories, like Divergent & Hunger Games, and my list is probably mostly the grittier interesting-ideas but not feel-good side of dystopian etc stories..."
I haven't gone through your recs yet, but at first glance they're perfect! I have read Octavia Butler and am somehow procrastinating reading more of her and Nnedi Okorafor (Who Fears Death is on my tbr). I have also read the Fifth Season, but can't bring myselft to pick up the last book. I'm partly trying to get more into sci-fi to overcome this.
Also, I'm not sure about fast paced YA, I loved the first Hunger Games for the survival element, didn't care so much for the action. Was never interested in Divergent...
Strangely, I think I'm very picky when it comes to interesting ideas that I'm actually interested in :D
Anyway, thank you so much for the detailed recommendation!!
at first glance The Road, Z for Zachariah, Seveneves look very interesting, and I've never heard of them before, either!
Glad the recs meet your fancy more than I thought they would!I find BRs are good at getting me through procrastination... if you want to BR any of those books, I'd certainly be interested, and I'm sure others would too if you tossed a suggestion in the invite thread...
I definitely want to finish The Broken Earth trilogy, so might join in for the third book (don't know where the BR is at). After that I can see myself starting one of Octavia Butlers series, or maybe something by Nnedi Okorafor (I have Dawn and Lagoon lying around). I'm not good at planning ahead, so I'll ask for a BR when the time comes..
I have the hardest time finding BRs on GR the normal way--looking through the folders, so I like to keep an eye on the Mod's lists--this one has all BRs sorted by date/month in an excel file, and it's searchable:https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
You're also welcome to use my BR tracker as reference--though I don't have ALL BRs listed there, just the 99% that I'm planning on doing:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Right now, there's a BR for book one of Broken Earth live as of the 15th this month. The other books haven't been scheduled yet, but I bet there will be people wanting to continue:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
If you think you can give at least a week before wanting to start a BR, the Mods can usually get us a thread in time--just ask in the invite thread if anyone wants to join:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
I'll almost certainly say yes, lol. I also like to make thread requests, but it's pretty easy to do, you just have to have someone agree to read with you on that date:
request form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA...
It's also possible to suggest and read/comment a spur-of-the-moment book in one of the book clubs, but those are harder for the group to keep track of and find, so we've been trying to stick to individual thread requests lately so that new members or folks browsing the folders can find BRs and be inspired to join.
I have a feeling I'm going to be back here every year asking the same question...The bloody bingo challenge... the "author under 25" question is always the last to find...
I don't really want to go out of my way though... does anyone know of any upcoming BRs already on the schedule that would qualify for an author under 25 at time of publication? It's hard to find information on a lot of folks too... had my fingers crossed for Sword of Kaigen but can't find age information anywhere on M.L. Wang...
Nirkatze wrote: "I have a feeling I'm going to be back here every year asking the same question...The bloody bingo challenge... the "author under 25" question is always the last to find...
I don't really want to..."
I found a website that says M.L. Wang was born 1992, though that would put her at 26 by the time Sword of Kaigen was released.
Alas, I can't find any buddy read that fits 'author under 25'..
Thank you! I'm so bad at finding information!Hm... maybe I'll just... nudge the number up one... there's no one to tell me not to... lol
And I'd bet she like, had it up on Royal Road or some other indie work-in-progress publishing site before the "official" publication, right?
Nirkatze wrote: "I have a feeling I'm going to be back here every year asking the same question...The bloody bingo challenge... the "author under 25" question is always the last to find...
I don't really want to..."
Here's a listopia list that might help. https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...
@Nirkatze I'll read The Outsiders with you, talk about a blast from the past <3 
le sigh, loved them so much!!!!! (I also read the book back in the day lol)
Mod
If I'm having trouble finding a BR, my last ditch effort or sometime my first ditch effort, is to go to the book page... all discussions are linked at the bottom...
We seem to be one of 3 groups reading Tainted Cup this month and discussing: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/list_...
This is actually how/why I joined my first GR group, back in 2014/2015ish... I read a book I wanted to discuss so much, I went looking for a discussion thread/group... that led to GG&G a few years later, and FBR in 2017...
Mod
The bloody bingo challenge... the "author under 25" question is always the last to find...
I don't really want to..."
The go-to answer tends to be Eragon / Christopher Paolini... Christopher Ruocchio might have been under 25 when Sun Eater came out... he sold the book at age 22 according to an interview, and it took 3 years to release, I think?... super close
There was this middle-grade book published by like a 12 year old going around... was a NaNoWriMo thing...
I think The Poppy War might count?... google says she's 27, and anything published before May 2021 was before she turned 25... so the whole Poppy trilogy...
That's all I got...
LOL I think I'm going to have to save that list... or adjust the Bingo yearly... I don't really want to work my way down everything on that list year by year... Bone Season and Eragon are the only one's I'm even interested in, lol... unless I want to read Frankenstein every year. I might consider Outsiders, Ann-Marie, but I'm not feeling it right now. LOL I have the year, though!
Yeah, definitely saving that list...Though I think I'm going to change the bingo to say "under 25 at time book was written"--that'll give a bit more wiggle room and open things up a bit more....
Fantasy Buddy Reads
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Rachel Aaron (other topics)Craig Schaefer (other topics)
S.A. Chakraborty (other topics)
Matt Wallace (other topics)
Rebecca Schaeffer (other topics)
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TY for the recs, am adding to list!