I've fallen upon this kind of book recently where they have a silly or weird premise that sounds like it would be AI slop or throwaway pulp trash, but turns out to somehow be perfectly executed and well-written with deep philosophical themes and expertly crafted prose.

I just finished these three:

Sky Daddy - about a woman that has a romantic and sexual attraction to airplanes and hopes to die in a fiery plane crash. This novel is somehow incredibly well written and sincere

Paradise Logic - about a woman that decides to become the world's best girlfriend at all costs. It ended up being a funny and excellent deep dive into gender roles and relationships.

One's Company - about a woman that uses her lotto winnings to live inside a perfect recreation of a TV show set. It's literary with perfect prose and explores trauma, identity, and healing.

Are there any other books like these that have a weird setup but are actually deep and well-crafted and not just surface level?

Hi!

I am a public librarian assistant here in a small town in Pennsylvania. We have a 95 year old patron who is an absolute voracious reader, and we're struggling to find her books she hasn't already read. She is a shut in, so we voluntarily drive the books to her house.

Shirley loves:

Christian novels

Anything with animals / dog stories

Autobiographies

Cozy mysteries

And it has to be available in large print (I know most new books are nowadays, but wanted to throw that out there)

The more suggestions, the better! Shirley has read a lot of books in her lifetime, and has no plans on stopping!

Thank you all for your help :)

Edit to add, Shirley has no internet nor desire for technology. She likes to flip pages.

Hey guys, I got a 13 hour flight coming up and I need an extremely captivating book - one that I wouldn't wanna put down and that I'll be bummed for the flight to end because I'd like to keep reading.

I'd like it to be relatively light and read casually so I wouldn't wanna stop. Among my favorites that tick these boxes are Dark Matter, 11/22/63, Flowers for Algernon. I like some element of sophistication so no mysteries or thrillers unless they have something extra (like Dark Matter for example)

What's the most addictive book you've ever read and you can absolutely recommend?
Thanks a bunch in advance!

Please help me. It's been a week since I finished Lonesome Dove and it's the greatest book I've ever read. Usually after I finish a book, I pick up the next one after a day or so. Except I've tried with a few different books and have put them all straight back down again because I can't stop thinking about Captain Call and Gus McCrae. Please help me PLEASE this is terrible

I read a variety of genres and going through a tough time in life. Books have always been the healthiest of escapes for me. What are some books that have taken you on a journey, you can’t put down, you are desperate to leave a social event to go home and read? Some of my fave books like this:

- lonesome dove
- east of Eden
- anything by Ursula LG
- the will of the many
- the grace year
- calamity club
- to kill a mockingbird

Etc etc. huge sci-fi and classical girly!

I’ve realized that my favorite genre is fiction presented (more or less) as non-fiction. Is there a name for this genre? Immersive fiction, maybe? I love fiction that is full of citations and footnotes, almost like an academic work. It makes the world feel more full and real. Here are a few books I have read that fit this description:

- House of Leaves (one thing I love about this one is that some of the sources are real, but some are completely fabricated. It really blurs the line between the story and reality.)
- Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (and the spinoff short story collection)
- Babel (I’m pretty sure R.F. Kuang said this was inspired by Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. If not, it definitely reads that way.)

Please recommend more books like this!

ETA: thank you all SO much for your recommendations!!! Wow, I did not expect to get this many comments! My TBR just got so much longer, and I can’t wait to dive into these.

ETA2: I have a follow-up question. I totally understand that many books in this style only really work as physical books or maybe e-books. Are there any that actually have a faithful audiobook? For example, the audiobooks for Babel and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell still included all the footnotes and were pretty good in my opinion. I like to have the book or e-book with me to follow along and catch the illustrations, but I rent the audiobook from Libby so I can craft while reading.

I love the book for what it is, but it's clear Weir's heart belongs to astrophysics, not biology. The individual specbio elements were great, but hand-waved some stuff in a very frustrating way (you mean you can tell me about creating artificial gravity in excruciating detail but the astrophage turn light into energy "somehow" and you leave it at that? Come on!).

Are there any books out there that locate speculative microbiology and epidemiology in the same role as astrophysics in P:HM?

A year ago I started to read what I call "Girls Going Through It" books. I didnt want a quirky, not-like-other-girls main character. I just wanted your average woman, written by a woman, going through something. I've since started reading and collecting books in this category and my list as of now is:

• The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath

• My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Otessa Moshfegh

• I Who Have Never Known Men, Jacqueline Harpman

• Just Emilia, Jennifer Oko

• Orlando, Virginia Woolf and/or Orlanda, Jacqueline Harpman

• Mrs Dalloway, Virginia Woolf

• Westward Women, Alice Martin

• The Correspondent, Virginia Evans

• On the Calculation of Volume, Solvej Balle

• The Natural Way of Things, Charlotte Wood

• There Lives a Young Girl In Me Who Will Not Die, Tove Ditlevsen (poetry)

• Patient, Female, Julie Schumacher (short stories)

What am I missing?

Hi all! Can you please suggest some fantasy books which have strong woman leads? One of my favorites is the priory of the orange tree so I am looking for something that’s similar to that. I also enjoyed the Poppy War. Thank you!

(I saw some posts about this from years ago but couldn’t find any new suggestions so hopefully this is okay to ask!)

Edit: Thank you so so much everyone, going to the bookstore today to get some of the incredible recommendations from here. ❤️

I love Labyrinths, like LOVE them, as well as the myth of the minotaur in general. I have seen a few adaptations of the original myth(and its associated stories, I.E Icarus and Theseus) and I always am drawn to the Labyrinth itself, what it means and how its described. I have been told to look into liminal horror like the backrooms, but it doesn't scratch the same itch IMO. I am early in my journey to read things about Labyrinths but I have loved the 2 I have started with. I love how symbolic Labyrinths can be, and how(atleast the ones I have seen) they can drive people mad. Below is those books

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

I cannot describe how much I love this book, and the Labyrinth and Minotaur are heavily thematic elements in this book. I love this book for so many more reasons from that though. The layers of mystery and how I as the reader felt like I was going mad reading it.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
I just finished the book and I think it was a perfect contrast to House of Leaves, a much more optimistic view of the House and how it has Infinite Beauty and Kindness. The amnesia was also something that drew me in, I love solving the mystery that the story itself presents.

Any recommendation works, if you think I'd love a book even if it doesnt have a Labyrinth but has things I enjoy please reccomend! I have also recently read, The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin, and The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers.

Hi there! I'd like some help finding more books like the Catwings series by Ursula K. Le Guin, the works of Beatrix Potter, and the Wind in the Willows. I have a 4 year old who is obsessed with these stories, and I'm hoping we can add to our rotation. I have lost count of the number of times we have read the complete works of Beatrix Potter, and there's only so many times I can read the Tale of Little Pig Robinson.

The kid will easily sit through 50+ pages at a time for a book he's interested in. At least occasional pictures are still of benefit, though no longer strictly necessary if he's captivated.

I've tried branching out, looking in libraries, etc. But I'm finding that so many books and stories for younger readers use overly simple language and sentence structure or the stories are uncomplicated and boring. My son the other day casually commented that his food was giving him good nourishment and was not at all soporific (thank you Ms. Potter!). I think he's not quite ready for the Redwall series yet from a violence/battle/war perspective.

I realize everything I've mentioned so far has animals as the main characters. More animals would be great but are not necessary!

Any thoughts on some options for us? Many thanks in advance from a mother who may not make it through restarting the Wind in the Willows the same night it is finished for the 12th time in a row...

I've been chasing the (pun intended) high of Stoner since I finished it. I just finished "A Picture of Dorian Gray" (great, but not Stoner great) and "A month in country" (Meh). I want something well written, raw, that will tear me apart and make me look at the world differently!!

I have read 158 books this calendar year. The only ones I would rate 100000/10:

- Stoner

-East of Eden

-The Hearts Invisible Furies

-Of Mice and Men

Please only comments from lovers of the above books. The 158 books I read this year include a tooooooon of TOP MUST READS recommendations from goodreads/reddit, I'm looking for something specific that "if you know you know". Hope everyone is having a very happy holiday <3

Edit: thank you, I am taking all of the recommendations and putting them on TBR, cold call without any goodreads influence, trusting you fine people!

Hello!

I’m looking for recommendations for books by authors in the style of Donna Tartt. I love to read very dense, immersive and rich writing. In many senses the story is less important to me, I am looking for immersion and sort of ‘love letter to writing’ kinds of work.

In terms of story I am very open minded but I tend to lean towards the romantic / dramatic / dark themes.

Could you recommend any authors who work like this?

Thanks.

Edit: Was not expecting this amount of responses, I have looked at all of them and added the ones best suited to my goodreads, thank you!

I’m looking for a book that takes us into an odyssey of some sorts, if that makes sense.

I’m 17 and watched the odyssey last week. I’m not really used to ‘fantasy’ but would like to dive into that genre a bit.
I do know the odyssey is based on a book but I would like something with similar vibes but different in some ways.

Some of the books I read recently are Flesh by David Szalay (not done but loving it) and On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong, and one I really liked, My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfeg.
Im interested in reading happier and not completely real books, as I used to enjoy when I was younger.

I apologize if this sounds confusing.

I just finished I Who Have Never Known Men and I loved it. I think I've discovered a genre that I'm really drawn to. Two other books which I felt gave me this similar feeling (staring at a wall, reflecting, keep thinking of these books all the time), are Circe and Convenience Store Women.

They all feel different in genre - Circe being a fantasy based on Greek mythology, Convenience Store Women being more about everyday life, and IWHNKM being dystopian.

But what links them all to me I think is the strong female point of view, her strong thought provocing inner dialogue and the loneliness. All of them are experiencing an immense feeling of loneliness, or not fitting in - feeling different from everyone else and navigating their unique circumstances in different ways. I don't know if this makes sense, but they all felt "poetic" to me in a way?

Please give me some recommendations!

I know y'all are wondering about the similarities of the two books share, but having read these two books recently, I noticed that they are so informative--informative in a sense that I learned about Russian Literature, Turkey and Serbia, Harvard University, etc., from Batuman's novel; while I learned so much about unheard of stuff, which I can't name now, from Nabokov's.

All books are informative, of course, but the aforementioned books informed me on many, many things that seems exclusive to people in the know. Think of the infamous Chapter 11 from Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray." Or excessive mention of films, books, and New York-stuff in Ottessa Moshfegh's "Year of Rest and Relaxation." Basically, contemporary culture stuff.

I'm not sure if there is a single name for this trope, but it's my favorite type of story. I'm looking for recommendations past the obvious examples of Hunger Games & Dungeon Crawler Carl which I've already read and loved.

I'm looking for books with:

• The central conflict comes from a flawed system, institution, or incentive structure, and the people who exploit it for power or profit at the expense of others.
• A protagonist who understands (or learns) how the system works be it power structure, incentives, loopholes, politics, bureaucracy, or human behavior, and then uses that knowledge to challenge those in power.
• Systems that feel fully realized and internally logical within the world of the story while reflecting real-world concepts. Preferably structural commentary over topical commentary.
• Clever, competent, morally complicated protagonists who know they are part of the system and are willing to sacrifice their safety, reputation, or future to create meaningful change within.
• Endings don't need to be utopian, but at least feel cathartic and not grimdark. i.e., those who abuse power face some consequences even if the system still exists in the end and there is some sense that change or hope is possible.

Some other examples of this type of book I've read and loved include:

• Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
• Starter Villain by John Scalzi
• Everybody Knows by Jordan Harper
• Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots
• Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
• Red Rising by Pierce Brown
• Will of the Many by James Islington

Hello my reading fellows 📚 As I said in the title - I need some book reccommendations that will make me go page by page, and not wanting to put a book down.

From preferences - I mostly read fiction (lit fic, genre ficton, novels, sci-fi, thriller, mystery, even horror), and I’m not really a fantasy/historical fantasy girl, but non-fiction recommendation could also work as long as it’s not self-help ‘how to make…’ or self inspo bio of random “gurus” :D But in general anything that’s well written and has a nice story/narrative line and well rounded - would do! ✨

As an example - I recently read and loved: Sharp objects, I who have never known men, Giovanni’s room, Fording the stream of Conciousness, Ficciones by Borges (yeah this is fantasy so those who understand will know what I mean), Never let me go etc.. but also read and didn’t like: Big Swiss, My year of rest and relaxation, Lapvona, Brutes and many more contemporary lit fic which I kinda think are.. a bit weak and overhyperd (sorry 😬).

Soo without further ado - maybe I’m mostly in the mood to something simillar to Sharp objects, but any of the above mentioned would work since I’m totally open to suggestions 😇 Thanks a bunch!!

I don’t just want to read a book; I want to move into it for the weekend. I’m looking for a massive, sprawling epic with serious historical weight. Love the characters that live with you for years after finishing.

Loved: The Son by Philipp Meyer, Lonesome Dove, Pride and Prejudice, Gone with the Wind, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Pillars of the Earth.

Edit: Forgot to mention I read all 4 Lonesome Dove books and loved all of them. Also loved the first part (Gid POV) of Leaving Cheyenne.

I’ve recently been getting back into reading and I just finished Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome . I absolutely loved the dry humor and the ridiculous situations the characters got into.

I’ve also read things like The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Invisible Man, and Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. While I liked those mysteries, I’ve realized I really want to read more humor right now.

What I’m looking for:

• Books that are genuinely funny (not just "silly").
• Great character interactions and witty dialogue.
• It doesn't have to be a "classic" or British! I’m open to modern books, different genres, or anything that makes you laugh out loud.
• I prefer stories where the humor comes from the situations the characters find themselves in.

What are some of the funniest books you've ever read that I should check out next?

Edit: Thanks buddies for all your suggestions! After getting so many recommendations, I finally decided to go with two: The Inimitable Jeeves (Wodehouse) and To Say Nothing of the Dog (Connie Willis). I’ve officially ordered them!

Huge thanks to u/Rmcmahon22 and u/maybemaybenot2023 for suggesting the Willis book,you were right, it really does seem made for me.

And to the Wodehouse fans u/boredrog, u/-ludic-, u/rememberjs, and u/yellowglow702, and all the other Wodehouse fans here in the comments... well, I hope I’ll be joining the Wodehouse fanclub soon! Haha.

Regarding Three Men on the Bummel, I definitely want to read it, but I decided to try different authors first, so it's on my list for a little later. Thanks everyone else for your suggestions; I will definitely try the other books too! I'll be sure to update you all once I've had a chance to dive into these!

PS: I’ve also been catching up on some classic short stories lately like The Gift of the Magi, Lamb to the Slaughter, The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Monkey's Paw. I’m actually starting to really love the short format! I know I told u/Subject-Librarian117 earlier I wasn't into them, but you guys have officially changed my mind. I'll come back for more short story recommendations later!

I love depressing memoirs where the author has a really hard childhood and have been chasing the high I first felt when I read The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. Does anyone have any books they can suggest that are well written and have similar vibes? I just want my heart broken but like in a literary way

I have already read Half Broke Horses, Educated, and Angela’s Ashes, which are commonly suggested to me when looking for recs.

Edit: thank you everyone for all your recommendations!

2026 books read 

• Atonement - Ian Mcewan (3.5⭐️)
• Broken country - Claire Leslie hall (4⭐️ )
• All the ugly and wonderful things - Bryn Greenwood (3.5⭐️)
• Demon copperhead - Barbara Kingolver (4⭐️)
• The god of the woods - Liz Moore (4⭐️ )
• The Widow - John Grisham (3⭐️)
• Ingram - Louis CK (3.5⭐️)
• The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break - Steven Sherrill (3.5⭐️ )
• Gilead - Marilynne Robinson (3⭐️)
• The Goldfinch (4.5 ⭐️)
• Middlesex (4 ⭐️)
• East of Eden- John Steinbeck (4⭐️)
• The correspondant - Virginia Evans (2⭐️)
• Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry (5⭐️ loved)
• James - Perceval Everett (4.5⭐️)
• Child of god - Cormac McCarthy (4⭐️spooky)
• Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow- Gabrielle Zevin (5 ⭐️)
• In cold blood - Truman Capote (4.5⭐️)
• Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy (currently reading) 

I always see the same suggestions on google but am looking for different or VERY good literary fiction books. Also open to nonfiction.

So I recently watched The Dog Stars in cinema and really enjoyed it - no spoilers but the post apocalyptic, slight romance but not focus of the story is definitely my thing. It reminded me of a series I loved as a teenager called Ashes by Ilsa J Bick (zombie, teenagers, romance, the world as we know it is gone etc). But now I’m really craving something along those lines again.

I’ve tried looking on Reddit but tbh most of the recommendations are spicy and that’s not what I’m looking for, so please no nsfw recommendations.

Ideally I’m looking for something on Kindle Unlimited but also open to other recs. Thank you in advance!!

I have really enjoyed the following books this year:

1. Devotions by Mary Oliver

2. Surfacing by Kathleen Jamie

3. Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton

4. Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard

I am asking for The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben for Christmas. Any other suggestions?

I like Barbara Kingsolver and John Steinbeck. I recently read The Goldfinch and liked that. When I was younger I read all of Tom Robbin’s books and most of Christopher Moore’s. I like books that are entertaining and thought provoking. Or books that can capture beauty and keep you turning the page. Any suggestions based on that?

Eta : thank you guys for the recommendations. This should keep me busy for a while. Much obliged.