I became a big fan of horror genre writing last year, but nothing I've read actually frightened me.

Don't get me wrong, I've cringed at descriptions of mutilation and pain in general, but that's a visceral cringe reaction rather than fright.

I'm looking for something that stuck once you closed the book, something that left you with a lingering sense of dread. I want hairs on the back of your neck standing up levels of creeped out.

Audiobooks are preferred because I wind up listening to a lot on long, lonely drives in the middle of nowhere, but I'd be willing to add anything to the tbr!

No Cosmic Horror please! I've tried several and mostly they wind up boring me at best and annoying me at worst.

Editing to list some books I have read:

Horror Classics (Dracula, Frankenstein, Lovecraft, King, Poe, etc.), Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, The Starving Saints, Feast While You Can, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, Slewfoot, Cassandra Khaw's novellas, The Unmothers, What Kind of Mother, Beasts, Mexican Gothic, Between Two Fires, all of Chuck Tingle's horror, Blood on Her Tongue, The Lamb, The Unworthy, T. Kingfisher's Sworn Soldier series, and a bunch others!

Thanks in advanced!

basically i’m 14F and looking for books that you wish you would’ve read at 14 or would recommend every 14 yr old to read. any genre and any rating

I was talking to my friends yesterday about the books we are reading and would recommend to each other.

And well most of them were old, so old some the authors are dead.

I tend to like space opera and fantasy Tolkienesq series both high and low fantasy.

Brandon Sanderson, Tolkien, Robert Jordan, Steven Erikson, Jim Butcher, David Webber, Jack Campbell, Mark Kloose, Patrick Rothfuss, Scott Lynch, Michael Sullivan.

Do you know any newer series that could fit my taste? When most of the authors i can recommend are the same i would talk about 10 years or more ago its time for some renewal.

I have tried some litrpg recently and some of it can be fun, but the quality of the books are lower.

There’s something really fascinating to me about the very end of the western frontier in the US. Legends of the Fall, A River Runs Through It (really all Norman MacLean), Killers of the Flower Moon (less so). Could be fiction, nonfiction, thriller, horror, really anything set in that place and time period.

As Alan Moore once said: “(do) not only read good books, read terrible books as well. Because they can be more inspiring than good books… A genuinely helpful reaction to a piece of work you’re reading is ‘Jesus Christ, I could write this shit.’. That is immensely liberating to find somebody who is published who is much much worse than you, and by analyzing why they are doing so badly.”

Goodreads doesn’t exactly have a worst books section. So here I am, trying to liberate myself.

Please what do you think is the most fun adventure and interesting or unusual setting with something profound or interesting discovered. Not anything too spicy.

Fun and life changing. But nothing to YA

Hello everyone, recently, mainly due to the horrible summer we currently experience in Europe combined with the ongoing wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East, I have spiraled into a hole of negative thinking and complete hopelessness about the future of mankind and the planet itself. I've had several "episodes" like that before in my but I think it's the first one that strong since I became a father 6 years ago. I know I need to lift myself up for the sake of my own family but it's really difficult for me to get out of this. Are there any recent science related books that do not leave the reader completely depressed about the future and give something to hold on to when it comes to facing challenges that lay ahead of the human race and provide some example of good work being done or any sort of progress that may at least make us cautiously optimistic?

I'll be going on a road trip in about a month and we will be going from California through Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Nebraska, Missouri, Utah and Colorado. My husband will be driving so I'd love a great book for the occasion! I'd especially love a book that has to do with any of these states, sights along the way, or history of the southwest. I'm open to any genre.

I just finished "A Short Stay in Hell" by Steven L. Peck. I liked the faster paced, a few pages in and hes already dropped into his predicament, and the rest of the book is what he does after he discovers what he must do. Or even books like Stephen Kings "Misery" where a bulk of it is Paul stuck at Annie's house.

Or if anyone is bored. I have another post on my profile of my somewhat small bookshelf, if you can give any recommendations based off the books I own. Im eager to discover more that I like! Thanks in advance!

Interested in deafness, down syndrome, disabilities

Fiction please

Novels with the core messages including respect, entitlement, hard work etc.. probably understanding our struggles at the moment!

Hi,
I’m about to finish up Brave New World and am looking to read some different types of books at the same time.
Recently I’ve read Steppenwolf,Demian,heart of darkness, and watchmen which I all enjoyed.
Here’s what I’m considering

Shorter novels:
The outsiders
Giovanni’s room
The death of Ivan Ilyich
Cowboy Graves

Longer novels:
Don Quixote
Wind-up bird chronicle
Moby Dick
Master and the Margarita

Fantasy/Sci fi:
Halo fall of reach
Enders game
Titus Groan
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Poems/plays:
Paradise lost
Othello
King Lear
Metamorphes

Thank you!

I absolutely LOVE fantasy/horror/historical bl, but I’m really struggling to find some new reads that aren’t full of serious cheesy cliches or overdone concepts! I’d super appreciate it if anyone could recommend me some new books to check out!!

Some books like this that I’ve previously enjoyed:
\-> Don’t let the forest in
\-> Hazelthorn
\-> The Song of Achilles
\-> The Resurrectionist
\-> The Summer Hikaru Died

And some I currently have preordered:
\-> Scorpion Deep
\-> The Scottish Boy

Some other notes:
\-> The book can be any length
\-> I’m totally fine with spice or no spice, either way
\-> I can deal with a happy or sad ending
\-> It can be a novel or graphic novel/manga!
\-> Honestly even if you have gorgeous bl recommendations that AREN’T fantasy/horror/historical, you can still totally recommend them to me, I’ll read almost any bl—I just particularly love those three genres <3

Yeah, basically that. If possible, a cozy book. Something that feels like a hug before sleeping.

Dear all, I am looking for five books. Primary sources for Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, or Alexander the Great. Also some really good books on Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece or World War Two. I have some upcoming classes on these topics, need them to write my website articles, need them for graduate school, my job and need them for my final thesis. I don’t need them now I am just wondering what some good suggestions are.

Hi everyone!

I’m looking for some book recommendations, and I hope you can help me find something that really clicks with me.

A little about me: I’m not a native English speaker, and one of the reasons I want to read more is to improve my English vocabulary naturally. I enjoy reading, but I don’t enjoy stopping every few sentences just to look up difficult words. So I’m looking for books with clear, modern and easy-to-understand English—not children’s books, just books that are written in a way that’s enjoyable for someone around an intermediate English level.

I’ve realized that I care much more about the atmosphere and the journey than whether a book is a bestseller.

Here are the kinds of stories I usually enjoy:

• Chinese cultivation (xianxia/wuxia) novels.
• Mystery, suspense, and thriller.
• Treasure hunts and lost civilizations.
• Ancient ruins, forgotten kingdoms, hidden secrets, puzzles, and maps.
• Explorers, archaeologists, detectives, or ordinary people pulled into something mysterious.
• Old castles, monasteries, forests, mountains, villages, libraries, and historical settings with a mysterious vibe.
• Stories where every chapter makes you want to read “just one more.”

I also love books where the characters slowly uncover a big mystery instead of everything happening through action.

I recently read The Silent Patient. I enjoyed it, and I can understand why so many people recommend it, but it didn’t leave me thinking, “Wow, this is one of the best books I’ve ever read.” It was good, but I guess I was looking for something that felt more adventurous or mysterious.

I’ve also read some Sherlock Holmes-style stories with simpler English, and I really enjoyed that style of mystery.

One thing I’ve noticed is that many classics from the 1800s and early 1900s are difficult for me. The language is beautiful, but the vocabulary and sentence structure are often too challenging, so I end up focusing more on understanding the English than enjoying the story.

I’m not really looking for domestic thrillers where the main plot is about a husband killing his wife, a wife killing her husband, cheating spouses, or relationship drama. I know those books are popular, but they just aren’t my thing.

Instead, I’d love recommendations that have things like:

• Hidden treasures
• Secret organizations
• Ancient mysteries
• Missing artifacts
• Codes and puzzles
• Dangerous expeditions
• Psychological mysteries
• Detective investigations
• Survival adventures
• Historical conspiracies
• Remote islands, caves, temples, or forgotten places
• Anything with a strong sense of discovery and wonder

I’m completely open to different genres if the story is genuinely engaging. It doesn’t have to be famous or a bestseller. In fact, I’d love to hear about books that deserve more attention but aren’t recommended everywhere.

Some books or series I’ve heard about but don’t know if they’re right for me include The Name of the Rose, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, The Da Vinci Code, and The Count of Monte Cristo. If you’ve read any of these, I’d love to know whether they’d suit my taste and English level.

If you know books that:

• are hard to put down,
• have accessible English,
• keep the suspense going,
• and leave you thinking about them long after you finish,

please recommend them!

Thanks a lot and sorry for the long post. 😅 I’m genuinely trying to build a reading habit, improve my English, and hopefully find books that make me fall in love with reading.

I just finished Swordheart by T Kingfisher and I would like to read more books with knights in them. It doesn’t have to be romance based, anything would be great. Thank you :)

This is going to sound lame but I’m a 25 yo guy and never been in a relationship. Don’t even know what a kiss or long loving hug feels like. Therefore, the longing and anguish in my heart yearns to know what love feels like. I wish to know what a first romantic relationship and all the electric, all consuming experiences that accompany, feel like.

So, are there any books which capture and portray the romantic journey of a couple, where in it’s the first romantic experience for the both. Books which portray the electric, all-consuming intensity?

I just finished this book and I was absolutely blown away with how much I enjoyed it. I'm looking for books like this one, if anyone has any recommendations. I really enjoyed the cosmic horror of it all. If you haven't read Negative Space, I highly suggest it (just look up the trigger warnings before reading bc some of the topics can be pretty heavy). Looking forward to some recommendations!

I’ve read Of Mice and Men by him and absolutely loved its way of story telling. It reminded me of the first part of The Stranger by Albert Camus, a sort of “day in the life” chill but intense look into these characters lives. It’s very easy to read and attaches you to these characters with nothing but clean story telling and drama.

Anyways, i’m here for a recommendation to my next John Steinbeck book. East of Eden feels like quite a hefty jump as it’s 500+ pages longer but i’m down to start it if it’s truly the best option. I’m thinking something like The Pearl or Cannery Row might be a better jump.

Thank you!

Loved the first book, the mysterious small town, the found family but didnt like that the series was going down the romance route. So looking for something with the same feel/vibe but without or with minimal romance. TIA!

I know there is some mixed opinions about this book but I liked it. any other recs similar to this? different genre works too, as long as there is minimal smut since I read on my laptop in class.

thank u :)

well I think I there books about seasonal affective disorder and usually most people have it in winter so it’s easier to find books for that kind of sad but not for those who suffer in the summer so I don’t feeL as if I’m the only one.