• Welcome to BookAndReader!

    We LOVE books and hope you'll join us in sharing your favorites and experiences along with your love of reading with our community. Registering for our site is free and easy, just CLICK HERE!

    Already a member and forgot your password? Click here.

Book recommendations on some genres, please? Pretty please?

Aeden

Aeden

New Member
Hello everyone!

Soooo...i need some help from you. I´m tired of reading synopsis after synopsis trying to find something that stimulates me, but i´ve been having some difficulty. I like to "dream" through books, but in order to do that i very much need to relate to the main character, which is pretty hard considering that most of the main characters of books that i find the plot interesting, are either females or teens or worse...FEMALE TEENS!! (i´m sorry, i meant no disrespect on that, okay?? :)) Or, when i do find adult male characters they are detectives or soldiers or werewolves or vampires! No! I want an ordinary guy that goes through "extraordinary" stuff!

So, if you know any good books, where the main character starts as an ordinary adult male, please share with me :)

Genres:

Apocalytic/Post Apocalyptic/Dystopian - I know that on this genre it´s pretty hard considering that almost all of them are for teens...
Science fiction
Fiction - deep ones, that capture human emotions and relations with smart dialogues.
Pshycological thriller
Mystery thriller

No werewolves, vampires, ghosts, fairies or zombies. No historical fiction...

I´m sorry for the long text, and I deeply appreciate all your recommendations, and thank you in advance! Much love to you all!!

:)
 
It might be helpful if gave us an idea of what you've already read and either enjoyed or hated. Here are a few off the top of my head that I've liked:

Dystopia: Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood
Mystery/psychological thriller: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Stiegg Larsson
Science fiction: Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
General fiction: Wonder Boys - Michael Chabon

Edit: Sorry, but missed the part where you said you wanted an "ordinary adult male". Not sure if the main characters in the above are ordinary. What's your definition of ordinary?
You still might like my suggestions. :)
 
I can highly recommend Malevil by Robert Merle. Because it's one of my all time favorites, I'll include a review I wrote a while back. :)

Malevil by Robert Merle
Written 1972 and translated from the original French in 1973.
Although written in the early 70's, there is nothing dated about this tale of survival under the worst conditions possible visited on the planet. Most are familiar with this sort of novel. Odd pockets of civilization survive the ultimate destruction. A battle that gives no warning, no vibes at all. There were no preparations to make, because Who Knew?, which is probably the most..."democratic" way to begin. With people that happened to be together in a safe place at the right time.
Very little of the story is devoted to the Before Time. We are given snipets of information about the participants in the survival, but the greatest part of the book is dedicated to the emotional, physical, and yes, the spiritual survival of the members. And I use the word 'members' very seriously. These people are members of the new civilization, a civilization that must be very careful in the directions it takes and the choices it makes as well as the battles it must fight.
The main protagonist Emmanuel is one of the strongest characters I have encountered in fiction. It is his personality that makes the book work IMO. His courage and decency form the pattern of the new path they must travel. And yes, it is a love story as well, although not in the way you'd think.
This book is in the top ten of my favorites of all time, I have reread it.....I don't really know how many times. Just recently I've begun it again, and was surprised. How many "end of the world" books do you know that begin with an analysis of Proust's madeline scene? I'd not attempted Proust the last time I read this book, so I had my laugh out loud moment, and sigh for the day.
This book has all the ingredients...mystery, love, battle scenes and intrigue and yes, sadness and longing as well. One of the few books that no matter how many times I read it, there are still scenes that can bring tears to my eyes.
So, if you can find this book, buy it and enjoy!
 
Ell said:
It might be helpful if gave us an idea of what you've already read and either enjoyed or hated. Here are a few off the top of my head that I've liked:

Dystopia: Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood
Mystery/psychological thriller: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - Stiegg Larsson
Science fiction: Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
General fiction: Wonder Boys - Michael Chabon

Edit: Sorry, but missed the part where you said you wanted an "ordinary adult male". Not sure if the main characters in the above are ordinary. What's your definition of ordinary?
You still might like my suggestions. :)
Click to expand...


Hi there! Thank you for your recommendations! I read a bit of Oryx and Crake but I just couldn´t quite get "lost" into it...so i gave up. Also read Stieg Larsson's books, very, very good. Cloud Atlas, well, i hated the movie...don´t know if I would like the book. However, didn´t knew about Wonder Boys and it looks a promising fiction reading and a breath of fresh air!! Thank you for that!

By "ordinary" i meant a typical middle class working young guy,with small time job. Not being from the start a soldier or detective, a brilliant scientist or having super powers. I like how the characters evolve throughout the story.
Hope i´m expressing well, sorry...english is not my native language.

Well, i read, on the past couple og weeks and enjoyed, on different genres, were The Goldfinch, Mr. Penumbra's 24 hour bookstore, Cyberstorm, Lexicon, On the Beach. I was going to read the saga Breakers, but i just wanted some more recommendations.

Again, thank you very much for your time! Feel free to recommend some more!
 
pontalba said:
I can highly recommend Malevil by Robert Merle. Because it's one of my all time favorites, I'll include a review I wrote a while back. :)

Malevil by Robert Merle
Written 1972 and translated from the original French in 1973.
Although written in the early 70's, there is nothing dated about this tale of survival under the worst conditions possible visited on the planet. Most are familiar with this sort of novel. Odd pockets of civilization survive the ultimate destruction. A battle that gives no warning, no vibes at all. There were no preparations to make, because Who Knew?, which is probably the most..."democratic" way to begin. With people that happened to be together in a safe place at the right time.
Very little of the story is devoted to the Before Time. We are given snipets of information about the participants in the survival, but the greatest part of the book is dedicated to the emotional, physical, and yes, the spiritual survival of the members. And I use the word 'members' very seriously. These people are members of the new civilization, a civilization that must be very careful in the directions it takes and the choices it makes as well as the battles it must fight.
The main protagonist Emmanuel is one of the strongest characters I have encountered in fiction. It is his personality that makes the book work IMO. His courage and decency form the pattern of the new path they must travel. And yes, it is a love story as well, although not in the way you'd think.
This book is in the top ten of my favorites of all time, I have reread it.....I don't really know how many times. Just recently I've begun it again, and was surprised. How many "end of the world" books do you know that begin with an analysis of Proust's madeline scene? I'd not attempted Proust the last time I read this book, so I had my laugh out loud moment, and sigh for the day.
This book has all the ingredients...mystery, love, battle scenes and intrigue and yes, sadness and longing as well. One of the few books that no matter how many times I read it, there are still scenes that can bring tears to my eyes.
So, if you can find this book, buy it and enjoy!
Click to expand...


Pontalba, thank you! Very sweet of you to include the review! I will definitely look into it.
If you also know any contemporary fiction which tells the story of the MC but it's most about the deep meanings of life and relations, with witty dialogues, please share it! :)

Much love!
 
Thanks for mentioning that you liked The Goldfinch, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore and Lexicon. Those are all books I liked a lot and should help identify the kind of thing you like. I have some suggestions:

Anthony Powell: A Dance to the Music of Time*
David Wroblewski: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
Nick Harkaway: Angelmaker
Chad Harbach: The Art of Fielding
Donna Tartt: The Secret History
Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Charles C. Lovett: The Bookman's Tale

Here are some that I haven't read but that I think you might like:

Richard Ford: Canada
Karen Russell: Swamplandia
Lauren Groff: Arcadia
Paul Murray: Skippy Dies
Haruki Murakami: Norwegian Wood

* Probably my all-time favorite book, even though the first time I read it, about halfway through Book One I wondered if anything would ever happen. But it became completely mesmerizing; 12 books in four volumes of wonderfulness.
 
Maine Colonial said:
Thanks for mentioning that you liked The Goldfinch, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore and Lexicon. Those are all books I liked a lot and should help identify the kind of thing you like. I have some suggestions:

Anthony Powell: A Dance to the Music of Time*
David Wroblewski: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
Nick Harkaway: Angelmaker
Chad Harbach: The Art of Fielding
Donna Tartt: The Secret History
Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
Charles C. Lovett: The Bookman's Tale

Here are some that I haven't read but that I think you might like:

Richard Ford: Canada
Karen Russell: Swamplandia
Lauren Groff: Arcadia
Paul Murray: Skippy Dies
Haruki Murakami: Norwegian Wood

* Probably my all-time favorite book, even though the first time I read it, about halfway through Book One I wondered if anything would ever happen. But it became completely mesmerizing; 12 books in four volumes of wonderfulness.
Click to expand...

Hi Maine Colonial!
Thank you for your suggestions. I will look into them and i will give you a more detailed response later after i checked their sysnopsis. However, i´m responding now because I was curious about your last paragraph...what book(s) are you referring to?

Best regards!
 
Last edited:
Aeden said:
Peder...wow...it looks like you're on a marathon and the one that reads most books stays alive! :)
Thank you for the suggestions, I will be looking into The Martian and definitely Stoner!
Click to expand...
Naw, no marathon. Just like to read. :) And many others surpass me, here and elsewhere. :eek:

Martian and Stoner are excellent choices.

Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov might also interest you, and others of his if you get into Nabokov.

And Portrait of the Artist As Young Man by James Joyce.

And, for gender equality, I really must suggest Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. The equal of any others.

Enjoy
 
Aeden said:
Hi Maine Colonial!
Thank you for your suggestions. I will look into them and i will give you a more detailed response later after i checked their sysnopsis. However, i´m responding now because I was curious about your last paragraph...what book(s) are you referring to?

Best regards!
Click to expand...

Hi Aeden, my last paragraph is a footnote about the first book(s) I list, Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top