• 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.

Please recommend me a good book!

T

Tlaxcala

New Member
Okay, my problem is that I seem to find a large number of books pretty boring, save a few exceptions. I've greatly enjoyed the Harry Potter series and some Stephen King books like "The Shining", "Misery" and "It".


Please recommend me a book I can easily get absorbed in. For example, I enjoyed the Harry Potter books so much that I had to remove them from my bookcase next to my desk, as I couldn't resist opening them and reading parts of the books every 10 mintues while I was studying. This doesn't mean I'm especially interested in the fantasy genre though. What I like about Harry Potter was the characterization, dialogue and the brilliance of the plotline (especially the third and forth books). I know the HP series are looked down upon by many mature readers but still, I found it to be the book that fit my taste the most. I also found the way Stephen King described the complex emotions and thoughts of a character absolutely brilliant, in books like The Shining and Misery. What I enjoyed about "It" I think, was not all the deaths and gore, but the stories of the little kids who got seperated after their childhood horrors and their reunification as adults.

Oh, and I also enjoyed Animal Farm, if that means anything.


So I guess I prefer books that have portray in depth character emotions and/or character development. I don't think I especially enjoy fantasy and horror genres, they just happen to be the the genre of the few books I found interesting.

The books I didn't really enjoy, include:

- How to kill a mockingbird: I know it's a classic, but for some reason I didn't feel like I "got it". Maybe the book had some moral or symbolism, but unfortunately, I failed to grasp it and it didn't really entertain me that much.

- Of Human Bondange: I didn't finish it, maybe I would have enjoyed it if I did. But the pace of the book was so slow that I kept getting distracted.

- Da Vinci Code: lots of action and pace, but somehow I didn't enjoy it that much.



Does this kind of tell you what kind of book I enjoy? Probably not, because I can't even figure out myself what kind of books I like, but please try to recommend me some books that judging by what I've written above, would suit my taste. I prefer longer books to shorter ones as it enables me to get to know the characters better. And again, just because I enjoyed Harry Potter and Stephen King doesn't necessarily mean I'm looking for fantasy/horror books with dragons, magic, monsters and ghosts.

Thanks in advance :)
 
Tlaxcala said:
So I guess I prefer books that have portray in depth character emotions and/or character development. I don't think I especially enjoy fantasy and horror genres, they just happen to be the the genre of the few books I found interesting.
Click to expand...

The bad news: I don't know what kind of books you would like either.
The good news: It doesn't matter, since your preferences will change over time, so you should continue to try new things.

Among the older classics, you might enjoy Jules Verne. Also look into Ursula LeGuin - The Lathe of Heaven or The Dispossessed. Also a long shot - how about All Quiet on the Western Front (World War I story with very interesting characters).
 
Hard to say what you would like since I don't know you so I will throw out a few random titles of books that are relatively easy reads:

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

That's it off the top of my head.
 
You might try Ursula LeGuin Earthseas series. Great books nothing like the terrible movie. Eragon is good. I know you said you don't exactly like fantasy but those are good reads. Guardians of the flame series by Joel Rosenburg. Laurie R King has a series about Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes it's a Mystery. That's all I can think of right now.

Hope it helps
 
since you like Stephen King, try The Dark Tower series.i pretty much like all his books (yes, there are some bombs).what i loved about the dark tower series was that it is so un-like anything else that King has written and it has what i feel is the prefect ending.
 
A long shot, but how about "War and Peace", or Dostoievsky? I read the latter at the age of 16, and was blown away by the reality of the dialogue.

Or indeed, Tolkien, or Philip Pullman, or Derek Hansen - the possibilities are endless.
 
Okay, I finished Of Human Bondage and I absolutely LOVED it.

I'm going to order buy a couple of books, and I appreciate the people who've given me suggestions. I've decided on a few of the books mentioned above but I would also like one that is kind of similar to Of Human Bondage. Not too similar in the plot but similar in provoking similar emotions.
 
I love the HP series and all of the King books you mentioned as well. A good read is Intensity by Dean Koontz. I'm not a huge fan of his other books, but this one I could not put down until it was finished.

I recently read Black Order by James Rollins. It is a little more militaristic than what I usually read, but it has a great plot, some excellent hypothetical scientific solutions to creation and evolution and is pretty fast-paced. It really made me think and, though it scared me a bit to realize it, got me interested in quantum physics.

I am currently reading Lisey's Story by King as well. If you enjoy detail and extensive character thoughts and emotions, this book is right up your alley. I started reading it 2 days ago and will finish it this evening. I even put down the final HP book because I got so absorbed in it.

I also really enjoyed the Laurell K. Hamilton Anita Blake series. It is very different from anything you may find in the "horror" genre and the sarcasm and wit of the main character is excellent. I have read all of them and enjoyed each and every one. However, it is much better to read them in the order in which they were written as she does make references to previous plots and the characters and relationships are built more and more through each and every book.
 
If you liked "Of Human Bondage", then try

"The Good Companions" by J.B. Priestley
"Anna of the Five Towns" and "Clayhanger" by Arnold Bennett
 
Try this for starters:

"When the wind blows" by James Patterson
"The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown
"Along came a spider" By James Patterson
 
aka_gian said:
Try this for starters:

"When the wind blows" by James Patterson
"The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown
"Along came a spider" By James Patterson
Click to expand...

Well....Tlaxcala said this in the first post about "The Da Vinci Code"
- Da Vinci Code: lots of action and pace, but somehow I didn't enjoy it that much.

But I've been thinking about reading one of J. Patterson's books myself. Witch should I start with?
 
Baddie said:
Well....Tlaxcala said this in the first post about "The Da Vinci Code"
- Da Vinci Code: lots of action and pace, but somehow I didn't enjoy it that much.

But I've been thinking about reading one of J. Patterson's books myself. Witch should I start with?
Click to expand...


You can start with either "When the wind blows" or "Along came a spider".

However, I would not recomment the sequel of "When the wind blows" (i.e. "The Lake House") as I find it not in par with its predecessor.

However, for "Along came a spider" this is the first book of tha Alex Cross series (to my knowledge that is), and for me the Alex Cross series is his best work so far.

So it's your choice.
 
How could I have neglected to mention Poe? His works are classic and easy to read, in my opinion. I'm rereading his collective works (well, probably not all of them) when I finish GWTW. A few of my favorite Poe works are as follows:
The Masque of the Red Death (my all-time favorite)
Ligeia
The Bells
The Tell-Tale Heart
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
The Fall of the House of Usher
I could go on and on, but these are the best, in my opinion.
 
guaranteed books you wont put down

Ive read it all, and am genuinely surprised that many famous authors I dont find that good
A good book is one that you carry round and catch a few lines whenever you can

Try lee child (maybe childs) all his jack reacher novels

And the best of all - wilbur smith - try one of his stand alone titles like "eye of the tiger" or "hungry as the sea" then "when the lion feeds" will lead you to the next 7 or 8 that follow it
 
I agree with johnnyb1999 on the Lee Child books. I have read one and I couldn't put it down. I could recommend some novels with action mixed with romance if you like those kinds of books. Some excellent authors are Iris Johansen, Sharon Sala, Andrea Kane, J. A. Jance, Heather Graham, Nora Roberts. Any of these authors books are quite intriguing. I am reading Andrea Kane's "Run For Your Life", and it is quite exciting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top