Sometimes I find that I have pigeon-holed myself into reading about particular themes and topics. I am looking for a variety of recommendations including essays, longer non-fiction, and fiction. I think it would be fun for readers to leave suggestions for books (and other works like poetry, plays, short stories, etc.) in the comments section of this post. This way, we can all see different suggestions and get some ideas for reading outside our normal genres.
I am open to older and newer works, as well as translated materials too.
You could be a reviewer who has recently read a great book that you want others to know about. Feel free to link to your blog review! Or perhaps you have a blog dedicated to discussing books and one has come up a lot in your circles – link to that. Maybe you’re in the middle of an amazing book right now and want someone else to talk to about it. Post the title and author, and I’ll add that to my list to look into.
I am interested to see what sorts of recommendations people from around the globe have!
Krista J. Iris Watson 
My go-to recommendations are “1Q84” by Haruki Murakami and “The Cemetery of Forgotten Books” series (4 books) by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
Quite recently I’ve also enjoyed reading “The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller and “The Miniaturist” by Jessie Burton.
Looking forward to the co-created TBR list, nice idea! 🙂
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“IQ84” sounds really interesting! Thanks for all of these recommendations. I am adding them to my list! 🙂 I have also heard a lot about “The Miniaturist” lately.
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I read mostly nonfiction, health related books, not something most people would find interesting, but I do enjoy reading others’ book reviews. 🙂 Love this idea.
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Thank you! I would be happy for any recommendations of books you find interesting. Nonfiction can be more intriguing than fiction sometimes….
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“The Rosie Project” by Graeme Simsion is wonderful. I found it absolutely hilarious.
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Thank you for this. I could definitely use more humor in my collection! Ill have to look into this one as well. I see that it is the author’s debut book which is pretty cool too
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I read all the time so I am going to try to give you recommendations for any genre.
Science Fiction: Becky Chambers Wayfarers Series starting with The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet is so sweet. It kind of reminds me of the show Firefly, but it is full of diverse characters and social issues in a space setting. You are following a crew as they complete a dangerous mission but it is strangely relaxing and wholesome.
Fantasy: I could literally write dozens for this category but if I had to choose one I guess Patrick Rothfuss’s The Kingkiller Chronicle really blew me away in terms of the writing style. It is a high fantasy series beginning with The Name of the Wind and follows an innkeeper as he recounts his life to the Chronicler who is writing it down. The way music is depicted in this book is what makes this book most worth reading for me.
Romance: This genre isn’t something I normally reach for but I have been trying to expand my reading genres so lately I have been reading a lot of romance and my favorite is easily The Kiss Quotient by Helen Huang and it is about a woman with Asperger’s enlisting the help of a hired escort in learning how to become a girlfriend. It is really original and the characters so likable and compelling.
Literary Fiction: The Secret History by Donna Tartt is one of my favorite books. It is about a group of college kids dealing with an accidental murder and its aftermath and how their actions impact the rest of their lives. It is full of terrible yet sympathetic people and while you know about the murder because it is in the prologue the build-up to and break-down from it is tense and moving.
Nonfiction: I love reading Nonfiction and one I was surprised that I enjoyed was Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou about Theranos and the fall of Elizabeth Holmes
Young Adult: It is hit or miss when reading YA for me but one that I read last year and enjoyed was The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis which examines rape culture in an interesting way.
Thriller: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is a great thriller if you haven’t already read it, if you have then Dark Matter by Blake Crouch is a thriller/sci-fi that I could not put down. It is about a guy who is suddenly in a different reality and is trying to return home.
Mystery: I will read Agatha Christie all day everyday but if you want to try to new mystery writer, Tana French does a great job of drawing you into a mystery but also creating well developed characters and a rich atmosphere with beautiful language. In the Woods is her first in the Dublin Murder Squad.
Horror: A lot of people roll their bougie eyes at Stephen King but some of his books are absolutely unmatched in exploring the most painful of human moments while also scaring the crap out of you. I can give specific ones if interested. A non-King recommendation would be Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero which is a reimagining of Scooby Doo and it is so good.
Short Stories: I read short story collections more than just stand alone short stories and one of my favorite collections comes from the author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon. The Pier Falls: And Other Stories is about isolation and loneliness and connections between people and I still think about it even though I read it years ago.
Western: Westerns are not really a category a lot of people read so I want to mention a few of the best I have read: True Grit by Charles Portis of course, and Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman and really good reads about journeys set in an out-west setting. Also The Sister Brothers by Patrick deWitt is so much fun. It is about contract killers and their last mission.
Memoir: I went through like a year of reading so many memoirs, I don’t know why. My favorites were all of the ones written by Carrie Fisher and Wild by Cheryl Strayed.
Travel: Bill Bryson is my favorite travel writer, and I especially like A Walk in the Woods which is about his attempt at hiking the Appalachian Trail.
Poetry: A poet I would recommend is Andrea Gibson and absolutely all of her poetry collections. She is so raw and honest and her writing very engaging and relatable.
I think that is enough for now. I could talk about books nonstop.
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Thank you so much, Hannah! Your list is impressive. Have you thought about being a professional book list creator? 🙂 Thanks for bringing to mind so many titles. I’ve heard of several of them in passing and this reminder was great. I love a Walk in the Woods and Wild!
I’ve never heard of the Kingkiller Chronicle but it sounds interesting – which is exactly why I wanted to hear everyone’s suggestions! Thanks for reading and taking the time to leave such a thoughtful and thorough comment!
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[…] I created a post (which you can read here) that readers could comment on and leave suggestions for books they recommend. I wanted to compile […]
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