Don’t have to be published in the last six months, just books you’ve read and ***personally enjoyed*** recently. This is very informal and low stakes idea to perhaps shake people out of their usual recommendation ruts. If you just want to post one or two books that is fine too. All genres and styles welcome. Low stakes, dumb fun is welcome, high stakes masterpieces are welcome.
by Indifferent_Jackdaw
47 Comments
Enjoyed all of these as audiobooks the past month or so …
“The Bean Trees” by Barbara Kingsolver
“Little Ghosts” by Gregg Dunnett
“Elegy for Eddie” by Jacqueline Winspear (book 9 of series)
“The Family Ship” by Sonja Yoerg
“The Exiles” by Christina Baker Kline
“Before We Were Yours” by Lisa Wingate
“Anne of Windy Poplars” by LM Montgomery (again)
“An Accidental Death” by Peter Grainger.
In no particular order.
* The House of Hollow – Kirsten Sutherland. I came into this having heard no hype and I enjoyed it for what it was, a pretty straight forward but nicely written story, with lots of well developed visuals. A horror book for people who just want to feel a few goosebumps not have their mind turned inside out.
* The Poisoned Chocolates Case – Anthony Berkley. A good one for Agatha Christie fans. A group of crime aficionados attempt to solve a well known poisoning case. Very nicely structured with good pace.
* Murder your Employer – Rupert Holmes. I thought this was going to be a five star read, most of it is very good indeed…but …. I don’t know maybe it was just me, ended a little flat.
* An Ordinary Wonder – Buki Papillion. This just sucked me in, I felt very engaged by the main character and as the story went on was just willing them to survive. A book with a lot of trauma which handles it in a way that doesn’t traumtise the reader.
* The Case of the Canterfield Codicil – PJ Fitzsimmons. First of a fun, humorous, mystery series, with an Amateur Detective straight out of PG Woodhouse and a nicely tricky mystery.
* Demon Copperhead – Barbara Kingsolver. What can you say, Kingsolver is just a magician, her characters are so engaging, her writing is so beautiful but also down to earth. Deserves all the hype.
*Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity* –Peter Attia
Antkind by Charlie Kauffman
Then Enchanted by Rene Denfeld
Wineburg Ohio by Serwood Anderson
A manual for cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin
Now is not the time to Panic by Kevin Wilson
Starter Villian by John Scalzi
Trust
In the Garden of Beasts
Unforgivable Blackness
Breathe
Trejo
Dune
3 of them are on my favourites list—books that I will definitely read again
**Winternight Trilogy** by Katherine Arden
**The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue** by V.E. Schwab
**The Ocean at the End of the Lane** by Neil Gaiman
These other 3 I really loved, but I’m not sure if I’ll re-read them
**Where the Crawdads Sing** by Delia Owens
**The Good Samaritan** by John Marrs
**The Suicide Shop** by Jean Teulé
I had a delightful time with these books.
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, children’s fantasy
Rolling in the Deep and In the Shadow of Spindrift House by Mira Grant, both horror
The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse, humorous short stories
A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher, YA fantasy-adventure
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree, cozy fantasy
For me I think it’s Stella Maris, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, How High We Go in the Dark, the Overstory, Outline (by Rachel Cusk), and Endurance (Shakleton’s Incredible Voyage).
*In Cold Blood* by Truman Capote, the book that (it is said) more or less popularised the true crime genre. It’s from 1966 but very readable, it went down fast!
In no particular order:
Portnoy’s complaint by Philip Roth
The perfume by Patrick Süskind
One, none and a hundred thousand by Luigi Pirandello
Giovanni’s room by James Baldwin
Goodbye, Columbus by Philip Roth
Exile and kingdom by Albert Camus
Parable of the Sower
Kindred
House on the Cerealeun Sea
Daisy Jones and the Six
Jennifer Government
We Have Always Lived in the Castle — Shirley Jackson
The Kaiju Preservation Society — John Scalzi
The Lathe of Heaven — Ursula K. Le Guin
A Gambler’s Anatomy — Jonathan Lethem
Radio Free Albemuth — Philip K. Dick
Different Seasons — Stephen King
In no particular order (although Prince of Tides and Brothers K def 1 & 2 *BY FAR!* These two should be in the canon of greatest American novels of all time.)
**Top 6:**
1. Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
2. The Brothers K by David James Duncan
3. A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
4. A Council of Dolls by Susan Power
5. Malibu Burning by Lee Goldberg
6. Undaunted Courage by Stephen A. Ambrose
**6 honorable mentions:**
Tom Lake by Anne Patchett
Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo
Comanche Moon by Larry McMurtry
The Last Ranger by Peter Heller
My Murder by Katie Williams
Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
Jeff Vandermeer: the South Reach trilogy: Annihilation, Authority, Acceptance. (Science Fiction)
Muriel Barbery: a Single Rose (Modern fiction, translation from French)
Philippe Sands: East West Street (non fiction, historical)
Kamila Shamsie: Home Fire (Fiction, modern approximation to Antigone)
Cho Nam-Joo: Kim Jiyoung born 1982 (Modern fiction, translation from Korean)
Kazuo Ishiguro: Klara and the Sun (Modern fiction/science fiction)
1. “Girl women other” by Bernandine Everisto
2. “The Shards” by Bret Easton Ellis
3. “Three women” by Lisa Taddeo
4. “Detransition, Baby” by Torrey Peters
5. “Dschinns” by Fatma Aydemir
6. “changer: methode” by Edouard Louis
Sula by Toni Morrison
My Russian Grandmother and Her American Vacuum Cleaner: A Family Memoir by Meir Shalev
A Man and an Angel by Toon Tellegen (poetry)
Milkman by Anna Burns
Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
Just last night by Mhairi McFarlane
Duma Key, 11/22/63, The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance, Oathbringer, Rhythm of War
The Wayward Pines Trilogy by Blake Crouch
Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
Batman the Jiro Kuwata Batmanga by Jiro Kuwata
And Then There Where None by Agatha Christie.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow
Story of friendship, love, growing up, the complications of life, how we respond to them, play.
Really enjoyed it.
Edit: added summary
Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart
The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Die with Zero by Bill Perkins
Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make us Whole by Susan Cain
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
Read some bangers so far this year. Have also read my fair share of meh to bad. I like a balance!
Cobalt Red by Siddharth Kara
Meitä vastaan rikkoneet by Camilla Nissinen
Two Sisters by Åsne Seierstad
The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischvili
King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (yes I’m late to this but it was so good and sad)
I’ll throw in an extra 7th cause book 2 hasn’t been translated into English: And The Band Played on by Randy Shilts (it took me forever – I mean almost the entire six months you mentioned hah – but it was worth it in the end!)
1491
16 Way to Defend a Walled City
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
The History of America in 10 Strikes
2312
Signs: the Secret Language of the Universe
The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz Jeremy Dronfieldw
The Vanishing Man (this is a series I love ) Charles Finch
The Haunting of Maddie Claire Simone St James
Shuggie Bain Douglas Stuart
Scarlet (also part of a series) Marissa Meyer
Fatal Intent Tammy Euliano
If We Were Villains – M. L. Rio
These Silent Woods – Kimi Cunningham Grant
Happy Place – Emily Henry
The Secret History – Donna Tartt
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo – Taylor Jenkins Reed
Great expectations, Frankenstein, brave new world, bury my heart at wounded knee, and things fall apart. I also reread a farewell to arms and a wrinkle in time.
• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
• The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
• Misery by Stephen King
• The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher
* *Solito* by Javier Zamora
* *The Postcard* by Anne Berest
* *The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store* by James McBride
* *Tom Lake* by Ann Patchett
* *The Covenant of Water* by Abraham Verghese
* *Hello Beautiful* by Ann Napolitano
The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
Magic Claims by Ilona Andrews
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
Night School by Lee Child
Anatomy of Evil by Will Thomas
Dark Horse by Gregg Hurwitz
The Rachel Incident, Talking at Night, The Celebrants, Pineapple Street, The Diamond Eye, Charm City Rocks
The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead
Matrix by Lauren Goff
Dark Eden trilogy by Chris Beckett
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Box Office Poison by Alex Robinson
Wage Slaves by Daria Bogdanska
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker – historical fantasy
Nonviolent Communication by Marshall B Rosenberg – everyone’s communication skills would be better off for reading this book! Amazing
Nettle & Bone by T Kingfisher – quite a delightful romp for dark fantasy
Cassandra Speaks by Elizabeth Lesser – a fascinating examination into our cultural narratives
The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence – brilliant fantasy set in the world’s largest library
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt – feel-good fiction where one of the narrators is an octopus
1. A Certain Hunger – Chelsea G. Summers (horrifyingly beautiful piece of prose)
2. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin (complex, layered, thought-provoking, modern)
3. Fairy Tale – Stephen King (its King)
4. Yellowface – Rebecca F. Kuang (very compelling, couldn’t put it down)
5. Fourth Wing – Rebecca Yarros (I loved Eragon when I was younger, then got on the ACOTAR train more recently… and now there is this, and I loved it)
6. You Shouldn’t Have Come Here – Jeneva Rose (even if you see the twist coming, still a fun ride)
Bonus: Daisy Jones and the Six – Taylor Jenkins Reid (I technically listened to the audiobook of this, which was really nicely produced with several big names, highly recommend)
1. Demon Copperhead
2. Remarkably Bright Creatures
3 Violeta
4. Lessons in Chemistry
5. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
6. Someone Else’s Shoes – Jojo Moyes…a bit of a guilty pleasure but I enjoyed it.
Enjoyed all of them!
When Women Were Dragons- Kelly Barnhill
Lessons in Chemistry- Bonnie Garmus
Cloud Cuckoo Land – Anthony Doerr
Kasher in the Rye- Moshe Kasher
November 9 – Colleen Hoover
The Things We Leave Unfinished – Rebecca Yarros
Hold the Dark.
Devil All the Time.
Outlander.
The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by MT Anderson.
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marias.
The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey.
The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray.
The Radium Girls by Kate Moore.
Death of A Bookseller by Alice Slater.
In random order
– The wind up bird chronicles (Murakami).
– Mistborn trilogy (Sanderson).
– Norwegian wood (Murakami).
– The poppy war (Kuang).
– Brave new world (Huxley).
– The silence of the girls (Barker).
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. Honestly read it in 3 days I was so immersed in the characters.
The song of Achilles – I read the book Circe by the same author a while back and loved it. Also thoroughly enjoyed this second book, not quite as much as the previous but still great.
I just started Inanna which is great but I’m only 4 chapters in but us shaping up very intriguingly!
I’ve just finished my masters, so this is my first foray into fiction in a year and I’m devouring books!
I’m Glad My Mom Died
Salt to the Sea
The Creeping Shadow (Lockwood #4)
Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing
We Were Dreamers
All American Boys
– Foster dade explores the cosmos by nash jenkins
– The perfume burned his eyes by Michael imperioli
– the shards by Bret Easton Ellis
– Tampa by Alissa nutting
– don’t call me home by Alex auder
– the guest by Emma cline
Klara and the Sun
Demon Copperhead
Misery
The Glass Castle
The Beekeeper of Aleppo
Anxious People
{{The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro}}, {{Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro}}, {{Persuasion by Jane Austen}}, {{Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen}}, and {{Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell}}.
The Murderbot Diaries. There are six in the series, starting with All Systems Red.
How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
The City & The City by China Miéville
Lone Women by Victor LaValle
A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers
The Candy House by Jennifer Egan
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
The Employees – Olga Ravn
When The English Fall – David Williams
A Deadly Education – Naomi Novik
Lucy by the Sea – Elizabeth Strout
I Who Have Never Known Men – Jacqueline Harpman
Tender is the Flesh – Agustina Bazterrixa
No order in particular:
-First Grave on the Right by: Darynda Jones (series).
-The Butterfly Garden by: Dot Hutchinson
-Still Beating by: Jennifer Hartmann (series)
-Clean Sweep by: Ilona Andrews
-Legends and Lattes by: Travis Baldree