Howdy all!
I used to read a ton when I was younger but over the last 5 years found it’s dwindled to either nothing or rereads of my favorites. Made a goal to read 30 new books this year but I’m already 15 in (I started in December with a new job) so I’ve bumped it to 50. However, I’ve now read almost all the unread books on my shelves and need suggestions. I have had poor results with online book suggestion generators so thought I’d ask the professionals!
Primarily a sci-fi, drama, historical fiction reader, but I’ll branch into most genres. (Please no YA or romances I have zero interest). Open to non-fiction but a lot I’ve tried are bland.
Some of my favorites include:
All Quiet On The Western Front – Erich Maria Remarque
Ender’s Game & Speaker For The Dead – Orson Scott Card
The Road – Cormac McCarthy
Watership Down – Richard Adams
The Key to Rebecca & Pillars Of The Earth- Ken Follett
The Black Company – Glenn Cook (Loved book 1, did not care for the rest)
The Martian – Andy Weir
Trinity & The Haj – Leon Uris
Many more but I think that’ll give a good idea. Thank you in advance for any suggestions!
by TheEpicIrishman
12 Comments
Look at the authors you liked. Go get the rest of their books. Everything I’ve read by Andy Weir has been very good. Except for one book Card is always readable, not ever great except for Ender’s game and the Bean squeals, but worth reading. Between those two alone you could likely reach 50, I’ve got 30 Card books I’ve read over the years and I know I havent read everything he wrote.
A fairy varied list of books to consider:
– [The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/47260618-eb7b-4664-b3ae-814c1c36eded) by Becky Chambers
– [A Tree Grows in Brooklyn](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/dc5de2f5-b132-4c4c-8e49-8bf46005d5da) by Betty Smith
– [The Hands of the Emperor](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/af2bba9c-8f41-4a3e-b87a-8532a44ccb67) by Victoria Goddard (it’s not a romance, I promise!)
– [Fortune Favors the Dead](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/eb8c7ae9-41b0-442b-b3f1-8e01870fe219) by Stephan Spotswood
– [An Absolutely Remarkable Thing](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/54b4a771-12a6-43e9-91ca-37df8136266e) by Hank Green
– [Hench](https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/e355a7e9-41a5-404e-8844-b62bf1dec4e0) by Natalie Zina Walschots
I love a lot of the same books as you. I’d suggest No County for Old Men by Cormac– and then build up to his masterpiece Blood Meridian!
And in the sci-fi fantasy realm try The Rook!
How do you feel about thrillers? I absolutely loved The Last Word and No Exit by Taylor Adams. Also Dark Matter and Recursion by Blake Crouch are so so good….
The Silo Series by High Howey is phenomenal! It’s three books (Wool, Shift, Dust). I couldn’t put them down. Each can easily be read in <1 week to keep you on track for 50 books.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is awesome!
Cormac McCarthy has written lots of great books.
If you like apocalyptic type books at all Station 11, World War Z and The Light Pirate are all great reads.
Will save the galaxy for food and Will destroy the galaxy for cash by Yahtzee Croshaw. An unemployed star pilot tries to get by in a universe where transporters are a thing.
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway
The Four Pillars series by H.M. Long
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King
Last Days by Brian Evenson
Un Lun Dun by China Meiville (full disclosure, this is YA, but I hate YA and love this book)
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Paradox Bound-Peter Clines
Michael Crichton’s **Timeline**. A group of grad students go back to 14th century France to investigate a mystery while another group stays in the present to assist/protect them. Much of it takes place in the past showing the brutality of life back then.
You might like Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr.
The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell
The Expanse by James S.A. Corey
You should try the Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. It’s a sort of a cozy murder mystery. Might be a bit different to what you normally read but it’s interesting with good characters. I also like that a lot of the chapters are short so if you are reading before work it’s easy to find a place to stop.