Please tell me about your favorite books, in list form

[Thestatusquo]

I want to buy a whole fuck off stack of books to just pull from and read.

Please give me a list of books you've enjoyed.

Preferably fiction, no other genre restrictions.

Preferably released within the last 5 years, but I'm not going to stop you from telling me about older books you've really loved.

[schadd_]

i think the only book i have ever read from after january 1st 2018 is

i'm glad my mom died

which is jennette mccurdy's memoir (familiarly sam from icarly). the cover photo is brilliant even though it doesn't really capture the tone of the book. in rare form i gulped this down earlier this year. the writing has this character where the general use of language is sort of in line with a comedic delivery but the content of the book often doesn't match it (except for when it does). i would say it did really well to put me in the headspace of a kid that doesn't really understand what's going on as well as an adult that often still didn't have the language for it (the book is about the abusiveness of the child acting industry and her mom that put her into it).

oh there has to be more than one book for it to be a list. my favorite book is beloved by toni morrison. so you get to choose between recent and fiction.

[Thestatusquo]

I've read beloved and it is good.

[Nexus]

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin - like Ready Player One but not shit. (TW basically everything)
Circe by Madeleine Miller - an adaptation of the Odyssey but from the perspective of Circe the witch.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers - good ole space ship fun
The Good Immigrant by Nikesh Shulka - a collection of essays from immigrants to the UK about their experiences
The Trigger: Hunting the Assassin who brought the World to War - a story of a historian following the life of Gavrilo Princip, the assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey - the first Expanse book. Space opera
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami - a bachelor who is unlucky in love. However, does contain a terrible sex scene
American Gods by Neil Gaiman - the Gods live on Earth.
Lirael by Garth Nix - a good fantasy book
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman - the end of the world is coming
Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb - the first in the Farseer Trilogy - an excellent fantasy book
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer - a teenage criminal upsets the natural order

[Mitillos]

I'll emphasise the "whole fuck off stack" bit, over the "last 5 years" part.

- The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. In particular the following books: Mort, Sourcery, Wyrd Sisters, Men at Arms, Interesting Times, Feet of Clay, Jingo, Monstrous Regiment, Going Postal, Making Money. (But really, all 40 are good.)

- Agatha Christie books. Especially the Poirot ones (but really all of them).

I have a bunch of books in grabbing distance from my bed right now, but they're either non-fiction (maths and Marxism), or in Greek. The only exception is Star Warped by A3R Roberts (Adam Roberts), which is a parody of the original and prequel Star Wars trilogies. So, if that sounds like something you'd like, there you go.

[Dannflor]

Circe by Madeline Miller - Seconding this because it was good!
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman - Fairytale with Coraline vibes
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - necromantic sci-fi murder mystery in a haunted mansion
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata - a woman works at a convenience store

[NorwegianboyEE]

Best fantasy book i’ve ever read is called "The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear" by Walter Moers.

"His Dark Materials" trilogy by Philip Pullman is also up there.

[Thestatusquo]

I'll emphasise the "whole fuck off stack" bit, over the "last 5 years" part.

- The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. In particular the following books: Mort, Sourcery, Wyrd Sisters, Men at Arms, Interesting Times, Feet of Clay, Jingo, Monstrous Regiment, Going Postal, Making Money. (But really, all 40 are good.)

- Agatha Christie books. Especially the Poirot ones (but really all of them).

I have a bunch of books in grabbing distance from my bed right now, but they're either non-fiction (maths and Marxism), or in Greek. The only exception is Star Warped by A3R Roberts (Adam Roberts), which is a parody of the original and prequel Star Wars trilogies. So, if that sounds like something you'd like, there you go.

I've definitely read every poirot and I don't particularly care for terry pratchett unfortunately.

[Thestatusquo]

Bonus points now awarded for anything that is not in the fantasy genre you god damned nerds.

[Thestatusquo]

Thank you for your contributions to my first acquisition.

[Dannflor]

Rising Out of Hatred by Eli Zaslow - non fiction account of Derek Black, a man born into a white nationalist family and raised by the leader of the KKK. story about how he eventually breaks free of those beliefs

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga - darkly humorous book that examines class struggle in India

The Little Friend by Donna Tartt - literary fiction about a child murder in a small Mississippi town and the girl who sets out to find the killer

[Skygazer]

The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin is fantastic if you're into sci-fi/theoretical explorations of leftist politics. Anarchists got tired of the whole communism vs capitalism thing and fled to the moon; now someone from the moon is returning to the planet 200 years later as part of an anthropology/science exchange thing.

[Cheetory6]

+1 on the dispossessed.

[Thestatusquo]

I've definitely read most of Le Guin's work before including the dispossessed.

[Yimmy]

list:
1: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
2: The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
there books are a lot better than his more popular Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. similarly silly but a lot easier to engage (after a few chapters of hitchhikers guide it just feels like you are reading a collection of jokes, dirk gently actually feels like a story sometimes)

[Ydrasse]

the southern reach trilogy - jeff vandermeer. speculative fiction and my favorite books probably ever.

the locked tomb series - tamsyn muir. runs circles around genre writers atm and i like to write a lot of words about her ideas. speculative fiction again. neceomancy. women. a lot of stuff. top tier

tender is the flesh - augustina bazterrica a lot of warnings here but i reread it recently. what if a virus got into animal meat. it’s a lot but i enjoyed it

[Nexus]

I finished Poppy War by R F Kuang and it is phenomenal.

[Thestatusquo]

I wasn't a huge fan.

Spoiler: discussion with minor spoilers

I felt like a lot of it just felt very similar to me to name of the wind in terms of the entire first half of the plot and the characters. The second half felt really rushed and under explained to me. I felt like there really wasn't super good justification for why the characters were making almost all of the extremely drastic choices they were making which made it so my immersion was broken somewhat. I just fundamentally didn't understand all of everyones motivation.

I compare this with babel where I felt like the plot was super unique and I felt all of the characters had very consistent and well developed reasons for wanting and doing the things they did.

[Nexus]

I wasn't a huge fan.

Spoiler: discussion with minor spoilers

I felt like a lot of it just felt very similar to me to name of the wind in terms of the entire first half of the plot and the characters. The second half felt really rushed and under explained to me. I felt like there really wasn't super good justification for why the characters were making almost all of the extremely drastic choices they were making which made it so my immersion was broken somewhat. I just fundamentally didn't understand all of everyones motivation.

I compare this with babel where I felt like the plot was super unique and I felt all of the characters had very consistent and well developed reasons for wanting and doing the things they did.

I described it that way to my wife (the first half), and I kinda agree with you, but I like the way Rin is written.

[Thestatusquo]

To the general population: I am receiving that previously posted screenshot of books today. What should I read first?

[schadd_]

infinite jest

[Thestatusquo]

I have read infinite jest.

[Nexus]

I'd say tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow but it's very heavy

[Ydrasse]

gideon the ninth and then you read the rest of the books in the series : )

[Yimmy]

why start at the ninth?