It’s my birthday in a few weeks and as a present my dad is taking me away to go around a bunch of second hand book shops so I would like a few recommendations to look out for.
Probably don’t want books that aren’t to old or published to recently to increase my chance of actually finding them.
Towards the older end of YA or Adult (but not really interested with marriage and children or explicit spice)
Not to much romance (I need something interesting to alongside the romance stuff) but any LGBTQ+ characters and pairings are fine.
I particularly like the genres of Horror, paranormal, supernatural, mystery and science fiction. I tend to prefer things that are fast to medium paced.
Stand alone or series is fine.
Prefer female main character and not a big fan of switching POV every chapter especially if it’s more than 2 characters.
Some random things that I like
Musical theater, figure skating, gymnastics, sewing and crafting, 90s/early 2000s, set in England, Australia or Hawai’i, fandoms, pirates, winter or autumn themed,
I’m pretty open to all suggestions if you think I can find it in a second hand book shop (hopefully for not to much money) then please let me know!
by Vamperstein-Bex
4 Comments
I don’t know what second hand book shops are like where you’re from, but when I was studying I used to frequent a few. I used to walk in with a tenner and come out with a stack of books. For the price, I’d take a punt on anything, and I encourage you to just grab a few random things which range your fancy.
With that said, you’re probably going to come across lots of classics relatively cheap. Check out any H.G Well you encounter – that’s England/Sci- Fi – with *War of the World’s* being my absolute favourite. If you like Mystery, maybe a classic Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmes. Something like *Lord of the Flies* might also take your fancy.
There’s a whole swathe of great Sci-Fi from the likes of Asimov, Clarke, Bradbury and Dick – all of whom you might encounter.
Looking at some thing newer, if you come across Brandon Sanderson I encourage you to pick one up and give it a go (Mistborn might be of particular interest). I’m not sure how prevalent that is going to be.
That’s a bit of a scatter graph, but I hope it’s useful! Sorry I don’t know much in the way of figure skating and sewing!
Edit: missed the bit about changing POV – Sanderson probably isn’t a good fit!
How old are you looking for – not within the last 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, older than that?
I think you would enjoy *On Top of Glass: My Stories as a Queer Girl in Figure Skating* by Karina Manta (published in 2021).
Icebreaker, Behind the Net, Beartown, We Ride Upon Sticks, Carrie Soto is back for sports related books that fit your vibes probably (the latter two esp. for late 80/early 90 aesthetics)
We Were Liars, Gone Girl, Rock Paper Scissors for thriller mysteries
Tom Lake just came out this summer and is about theater (I adored it)
Molokai and Daughter of Molokai – Hawaii historical fiction
The Sun Down Motel for horror (80s vibes, young 20f protagonist)
All Systems Red (Murderbot #1) for sci fi. Also, anything by Michael Crichton.
Here is another thread posted today that is also looking for books that work well for adults and teens/bordering these two. You may find somethings of interest here too:
https://reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/s/VFIEpmYWXj