As a librarian, the general rule is this: subtract your age from 100. That is the number of pages you have to read of a book before you give up. 😅 Seriously, life is too short; if you're bored or not enjoying it, you're allowed to start a new book.
It's really wonderful that you regarded Narnia and Tolkien as "classics" I spent so many years trying to convince my teacher they were proper literature. Still love reading and re-reading them. To my teachers the Brontës, Dickens, Hardy and the like were the only proper literature. Like you I have found it difficult of late to find time for reading but have rekindled it by re-reading Alan Garner and Ursula K LeGuin moving beyond their childhood books to their wider catalogue. In terms of 'modern' books I've enjoyed Jasper Fforde's Thursday series. Naomi Noviks Temeraire series, Pratchett of course and a bit left field was Boris Akunins Erast P Fandorin Series starting with The Winter Queen
As a former librarian I was always like- f that. 5 pages or perhaps minutes and if you don’t like it forget it. Life is too short and there are sooo many books out there. Also- ugh, math.
I will always recommend The Hitch Hikers' Guide to the Galaxy, but I'm not sure how "modern" it is. Another entertaining set of stories are the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett, I think the first one is The Colour of Magik, and its about 300 pages, so could be a nice dip of the toe for you.
Terry Pratchett is excellent, but generally speaking, it’s recommended to start from the third Discworld book - Equal Rites. The first two are really good, but not really representative of his writing, and not the easiest introduction to his work. Each to their own though! 😊
Discworld emporium compiled a read order guide for Discworld that could be arranged a few ways. Choronoligical, by sub stories, or starting recommendations. They also have a quiz to see what starting recommendations would be better for you. And they've listed all the side stories and publications for Discworld. I'm sure there's even better ones out there.
@@creepycutiecrafty Agreed with you on not starting with the Colour of Magic. I think no 4 might also be a good one - Mort. Curry being likened to eating a red hot icecube always sticks in my mind. And Binky. Gotta love Binky.
@@mquentaro That's actually amazing! I read them in the order my dad gave them to me!! It might be fun to mix it up a bit, it's a long time since I read them.
Thanks for being comfy and secure with your subs to come out as Ace. ❤ the public Ace representation is priceless and wonderful. 😊 Love your library vibes.
I agree. I get so excited whenever I see Ace representation. My best friend, who is bi, and I were talking about how the whole Asexual thing is confusing to people. I mean, I am Ace, and I couldn't really explain it. Lol
Oh! I forgot. For Fantasy, the His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman. it starts with The Golden Compass. It discusses very deep philosophical questions about religion, parenting, finding your true self, etc. Also, there are shapeshifting animals, a tribe of witch warriors, and a talking Polar Bear who will steal your heart!
Love, love, love this series. HDM was that series that made me want to write. I’ve also had generally good thoughts about the sequel series, The Book of Dust (third book apparently has a completed draft) but I also feel that it’s aimed directly at the adults who read HDM as children, and maybe no one else.
At 69 His Dark Materials remains within my book rotation. Due to the fact that holding and reading an actual book was getting in the way of my physical duties and pleasures ( sewing, crochet, stained glass, refurbishing furniture…) I resorted to audio books. Now, typically if I purchase a book I also purchase the audio version. Which works out perfectly because while having 10 grandchildren, they are always exposed to what Nana is listening to. Hence, the ridiculously large library I now house that spans from historical to fantasy. I have never believed, nor have I ever censored content. I read (or listen) to anything that struck my fancy since I was eleven years-old. Over time, my fancy had infected my adult children as well as my grandchildren. My favorite “teen” author is Holly Black. Ms. Black authored a series that begins with “The Cruel Prince” and proceeds towards an interesting and challenging ending. Why read young teen books? Why do I receive so much joy from this particular genre? I figure, I have already proven I am capable of acquiring an education, so now I just want to read books that remove me from daily life while allowing me to forget what is happening in the news. And, I have found that many of my choices have interested family members between the ages of 10 to 45. Charlie, explore, have fun, try something new, regain your readers charm and imagination. Love and happy reading. A Nana in Texas👍❤️🙏🏽
Yes, definitely - ya crossover adventures, conceptually defined as Milton and Blake meet particle physics. If you haven’t encountered them yet, go find them.
I absolutely adore the earlier Anne McCaffrey books. I started down the Pern rabbit hole with Dragonsong, a teenage girl whose life makes a dramatic turn when her mentor passes on. There's a sequel, Dragonsinger, with further 'adventures', which drew me into the entire Pern world. Currently I own .. erm.. a lot of her books, and when I look at my bookshelves, I see lots of other fantasy sci-fi books, alongside more traditional classics. I'm another who would hide with a book in order to pass on the interaction with real people lol
Yes me too! My mom was a big fan so I read these in my mid-teenage years and became OBSESSED with all the different dragon types and colours. My absolute favourite was Dragon Song followed by The White Dragon.
I started with Dragon Song. It was also the first book I read for fun. Though it started as torture and threats. I’m dyslexic and was having such a hard time reading that my parents had to move me to my aunts house to get help. When in the area on business my dad would visit. On one of his visits he gave me a book to read. Near the Christmas holidays I realize if I didn’t read the stupid book I would hear about it for the rest of his life! It was amazing! And then I found that she had written more and I was hooked. I started that year of grade 10 with a reading level of grade 5 and ended with a grade 11 reading level! 40 odd years later I’m still slow and love open dyslexic on my reader but I’m still enjoying it.
❤❤❤ my comfort books. I’ve read every single Pern book multiple times. While all things Pern are a favorite… anything written by Anne McCaffrey is worth a read.
My recommendation would be - as it is my all time favorite - Terry Pratchetts discworld books, specifically the witches "series" (all of them are great, but the witches are my favourites). As a titel, i would recoomend "Witches Abroad", "Carpe Jugulum" (despite the titel - no extreme gore) or "Maskerade". While it is all a connected universe (the discworld), you don't need to start at the beginning, to get into it. The stories stand on there own but the more you read of them, the more details you pick up on, that cross over between stories. It's fanatasy with a delightful deconstruction of tropes, plenty of sociatal commentary and footnotes!
I just started The Wyrd Sisters, which is part of Pratchett's witches series and it is laugh-out-loud funny. This is my first Pratchett book. My co-worker is a Pratchett fangirl and this was her recommendation of where to start with Discworld.
Terry Pratchett books are soooo good! I highly recommend the Tiffany Aching books: The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full Of Sky, Wintersmith, and I Shall Wear Midnight I think are the best of his books. I have read them so many times! The Shepherds Crown was his very last book and it was coauthored and it doesn't feel like one of his.
Based on everything you said, I bet you'd LOVE the Earthsea cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin. It's a fantasy classic by a woman author that stands among the likes of LOTR and Narnia (I personally like it better than both, maybe because it's not religious). The book Tehanu changed me forever. I have literally never read anything more deeply moving. Also, You can skip the first book in the series and come back later imo. I'm also ace! And also grew up in a Christian household with a bunch of restrictions on what content we could consume, and was an undiagnosed neurodivergent/autistic kid who escaped into books/writing because everyone else was overstimulating, and formed intense emotional connections with the ones that spoke to me. Basically what I'm saying is I relate a lot, lol. My comfort genre these days is middle-grade fiction. It's what I like to write because I had trouble finding books that spoke to me at that age. They were all either too unrelatable or talk-down-y, or I wasn't allowed. So now I like to read and write earnest and interesting stories that middle-grade readers (and my past self) could connect to. My recent favorite is The Girl Who Drank The Moon.
Just wanted to second Earthsea, love the series, and while I can't exactly undo reading exclusively doorstop fantasy novels for a solid decade, I do find it a pretty approachable fantasy setting
Third vote for Earthsea!! I got a copy of all of Le Guin's work from my library (like 900 pages), and read through it cover to cover. Find that one and go at it.
You need to read Good omens! I know it's been made in to a series, but the book is sooo amazing! I haven't laughed so much at any other book as Good omens.
Absolutely definitely no doubt about it - plus, your Christian-confined self will retroactively love the this version of angel/devil. Do NOT try American gods, it’s wonderful but full of gore. (Greek and Norse gods are not people you’d want to be anywhere near!) In fact, Neil gaiman is an amazing and inventive writer, but even his short stories are very variable in terms of unexpected lurches into general unpleasantness. Do read them, but take your recommendation from someone who knows your reading well, not internet strangers.
I second the Good Omens suggestion, as well as the Discworld series. Terry Pratchett has a singular voice when storytelling that entertains while moving the plot along at a decent pace. His ability to mix comedy with serious topics is well balanced and makes for a better story, no matter the novel you pick up.
I highly recommend Tamora Pierce as an author. I discovered her when my daughter (now 27) was a young reader and almost all action stories for kids had boys as the main character. Tamora Pierce has written several fantasy-action series for children and young adults. There are emotional entanglements as the characters age through some of the series, but nothing spicy or "adult". The world-building is excellent and there are strong codes of honor and fairness, while also showing the complexity of choices one must make in life. There are the Alana the Lioness series, The Immortals series, and Protector of the Small, which each take place in the same "universe" and have four books each though they are often found online in compilations. There is also the Circle of Magic series and its sequel, The Circle Opens. Wonderful characters, challenging circumstances and fun stories with some depth.
I swear her books made half my personality. I just got my partner into them and he went through the Beka books in a few days because he couldn't put them down. I wish she could do more books in the Circle of Magic universe, they were my favorite.
@@GeekeryMade Agree! The Circle Reforged books take everything to another level as all of the characters are older and everything has a more serious tone. I'm still waiting for another in the Numair's Chronicles series.
One of my favourite all time books is “the book thief” written this century but set during world war 2 in germany, and a lot of it is about a little girl who loves books and reading, but as you might guess from the time period and setting it is heavy and emotional, so it depends if you are looking to read that type of thing.
Also I highly highly highly recommend: Levar Burton Reads It is a podcast series where Levar reads short stories by award winning authors. So it gives you a taste of the writing style without investing the amount of time you spend with a book. Levar has introduced me to speculative science fiction and it is both world building and thought provoking. If you never got to enjoy reading rainbow growing up, then this series was made for you. Miss out no more!
We did very much experience the joy of Reading Rainbow - it was often our 30 minutes of TV time allowed in a day. I had no idea Levar Burton has a podcast though, and I'm gonna go look that up right now cause it sounds amazing!
@@charlienebeMy favorite of his stories so far (because I'm not too into Sci Fi) are Stephen King's Afterlife, Chivalry by Neil Gaiman, and Terry Pratchett's Troll Bridge. I've listened to each numerous times and they're all fantastic.
The book that caught me in 6th grade was "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeline L'Engle. There are several related books, but the first can be read on its own. It was amazing! Another series that I read again and again was the Merlin trilogy by Mary Stewart (The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, The Last Enchantment). There is a fourth book, "The Wicked Day", but I have never been able to finish it, and I feel the original three stand on their own quite well.They are written in first person (Merlin), which normally I hate, but it works in this series.
I recently read Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson and was delighted by his writing style. I've been reading so many less than stellar books that it was a breath of fresh air. I recently got the second in the series and Tress of the emerald sea(really excited to read this one) but I haven't read either yet. Good luck on finding something you like.
Yep, his books have got me thoroughly hooked. Finished the mistborn series in a snap, and nearly finished the storm light archive - hoping to have them done for the new book release!
Brandon Sanderson is one of the best fantasy/sci fi writers. I’d start with one of his standalones if you go this route. I enjoyed Warbreaker and have heard wonderful things about Tress of the Emerald Sea!
The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, begins with All Systems Red. The Broken Earth Series by N.K. Jemisin, begins with The Fifth Season (2/3 won Hugo awards). Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
Terry Pratchett is my suggestion too. And while I adore the Discworld series (I usually recommend starting with one of the stand-alone books like Eric, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents or Monstrous Regiment) I think the YA Tiffany Aching storyline would be a great place for specifically you to start. It has that, young girl going on adventure and growing up, making hard choices and finding out what about life and the world she lives in. It’s technically a part of the Discworld books but it’s also very much it’s own thing. It being YA does in no way mean it talks down to it’s audience, just that the main character isn’t an adult. It starts with The Wee Free Men and it’s a fast-ish read so you haven’t lost much if it’s not your cup of black scrying water 🤍
The Dealing with Dragons book series by Patricia C. Wrede is one of my favorites! I recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy; the main character is a princess, and there's dragons, witches, wizards, an enchanted forest, etc. The princess's parents are constantly telling her not to learn to bake or read Latin because it's "not proper," and she gets sick of it, so she gets herself captured by a dragon-- and she just absolutely does not want to be rescued!
I love going back to the Percy Jackson books. I know it's a bunch of movies and a TV show now, but I loved before that and I still think they're great reads for YA fantasy genres.
Modern day fantasy with a hidden world and somewhat good explanation. With a nod to the classics in form of Greek mythology. Lots of adventure and hard themes, but still a YA book. A bit of romance, but as a side plot, not main(at least for the first many books)
But these are very juvenile - some nice twists on Greek mythology but seriously formulaic and lowest-common-denominator in terms of writing style. I’d go with Diana Wynn Jones as very well written children’s fantasy that has already become ‘classic’. (Have you watched howls moving castle? She wrote the book long before the anime).
The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix: first book is Sabriel. Its fantasy with a female protagonist written for young adults (but its well written, you aren’t being talked down to) A newer book that is one of my favorites is a cozy fantasy called Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
Posted this on another comment but, just a heads up: if you're going to read anything Gaiman-related, it's worth knowing that he's been accused of vile, predatory and ab*sive behaviour towards young women in his fandom/sphere and honestly, at this point, his P.R. team is doing a great job burying the accusations, throwing shade at the venues talking about them and downplaying the events described so they sound s*xual but 'not that serious' but his defence is basically 'you give consent once, you give it for everything and can't take it back' or saying the girls have mental health issues rather than 'I didn't abuse my babysitter in a way that the New Zealand police wanted to talk to me about just hours after meeting her for the first time' etc etc etc. So you might want to consume content from him secondhand or just go for straight up, problem-free Pratchett...
Andy Weir is one of my favorite Sci-Fi authors at the moment, specifically “The Martian” is an absolute blast to read and the movie based on it is almost equally as good.
I'm here to recommend the Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells. There's one novel in the series, but it's mostly novellas, so far anyway. The first novella is All Systems Red. It's a sci-fi series about a Security Unit construct who has hacked its governor module so it doesn't have to follow instructions from the company that owns it anymore, but it still mostly does in order to keep a low profile, avoid being wiped, and continue to watch its favorite media series in peace. The author has talked about how she based Murderbot's personality on the way her and some of her friends' brains work, and Murderbot came off as very autism-coded, and the author has subsequently been diagnosed with ASD.
Ah! I hadn't read interviews with Wells, so didn't know that she'd been diagnosed afterwards. I'd def read MB as autistically coded, so this makes a lot of sense! (Though I started reading the books before I was diagnosed, so I guess I also followed Wells' path - MB was just 'like me' in a lot of ways at the start, then later on, I felt more comfortable labeling them as seeming autistic.)
Yasssss!!!! Murderbot is perfection for the autistic traits. I’m like yes. I feel this so much murderbot. People are hard give me my shows they are safe.
Yes! My child with ASD and deep discomfort with romantic themes LOVES murderbot. Given that our introduction to murderbot is basically murderbot saying "I wish people would just leave me alone so I could watch my media" I suspect Charlie will relate too.
I personally found this series to be very well written and adored the world building. My recollection of the literary quality could be specifically related to the later books in their series as I have not reread them in years. Emotionally destroyed me.
I really liked the long way to a small angry planet by Becky chambers (and the rest of the wayfarer books) they are character driven sci fi, with interesting world building, but not too dense. The books connect, but aren't a continuous plot, so you can read one and have a complete experience.
Wayfarers is SO GOOD and so is her Monk & Robot series. Not too long! Thoughtful probing of what it means to be human! Fi-ing science like ecology & ethnography!!! Becky Chambers is the author that made me realize I love sci-fi, I just don't care what mediocre white cis men imagine about the future. I've read *so much* by multiply marginalized sci-fi authors since then and I strongly credit it with my personal development as a caring, inclusive presence in the world - not that I didn't care before, but this really helped drag me out of a lot of the water I'd been swimming in & unable to see
I couldn't get into the ladies detective series, except for one quote I remember. Two of the "more traditional built" ladies were talking about a very thin woman and said "just because everyone has a skeleton doesn't mean she should flaunt hers." That said, I love his Elizabeth Dalhousie books. Philosophical slant but not preachy.
I found "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" quite fun. They're not fantasy but because the setting (Botswanna?) is so unfamiliar there is an 'other world' feel but the relationships and every day wisdom is relatable & just fun. There is humor. I haven't read one in a while. To me they are not a series to devour as much as a delightful interlude. --yes, I think I need to go find one now...😆
I read « The dry », a murder mystery by Jane Harper, set in Australia a few years ago. I loved it, then read it aloud to my husband. Because I knew « who dunnit » I had a totally different perspective on the story, and I loved it for that! Highly recommend 😊 (Unlike “Doctor Jhivago”, which I could never get into and only forced myself to read to the end because my husband kept saying “Don’t stop now, you’ll see, it will get better”… only to find out after I was done that he himself had never been able to go past the first forty pages!!!)
X2 for Janet's Stephanie Plum! One for the Money just hooks you, and there isn't a single book of Janet's that hasn't made me laugh out loud while reading.
I couldn't read her books in public. Hard to sit in a doctors waiting room and bust out laughing and not have people think you're nuts. lol I even got my daughter reading and enjoying her books. She isn't a reader for the most part.
Perfect recommendation for someone having a hard time getting back into reading. Light, fast paced, hilarious, and each book stands on its own. No need to read the whole series. (But you’ll want to)
A new author, and a new book. "Just stab me now". By Jill Bearup. It started as a series of UA-cam shorts that her fans demanded to be turned into a book.😁 I recommend them, too. Her channel is her name.
Yes! I really love this channel and I still laugh when I watch the series (we approaching the tenth repeat 😅). But I won't recommend it for the first one. So much of the fun is making fun of fantasy tropes that if you have not extensively read fantasy the last decade it won't be as fun. But I really believe Charlie will love the channel and the series
@@Aryanna1009 I don't know about that not being a good choice for a beginner because I am not particularly well read. I've basically read The Lord of the rings and The Chronicles of Narnia a bunch and that's pretty much it for fantasy, but I thoroughly enjoyed the book and was aware of the tropes it was making fun of.
@@lynnthomas7275 yeessssssssss I have read the series several time. when I was in high school dolphin's bell was what intrude me to it and her started my love of reading. 💜
You’ll like this medieval-on-another-planet world in which teaching happens through song. Great writing. It’s usually recommended to begin with the Lessa sub series but I think you’d be better starting with Dragon Song (followed by Dragon rider/Dragon drums) about a girl living in a repressive “hold” who wants to become a Harper (teacher/musician/agent of change).
Same author - more obviously sci fi: Killashandra. Begins with a trained singer being told she’ll never have a top level career because of a burr in her voice, so she ends up using her voice on another planet in a very unexpected way. I love the way music is integral to every world of mc caffrey. Music was my way into sci fi (which is a genre I still rarely read, so this is a high recommendation).
I really like Robin Hobb, especially "the Farseer trilogy" and "the Liveship Traders" is my absolute favourite, character oriented fantasy Susanna Clarke's "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell" is also amazing, it's alternative history of the early 19th century in Western Europe and the style is spot on.
Extra vote for farseer trilogy. I’ve been stretching my brain for good, conceptually-interesting adult fantasy that doesn’t get dark. Perfect suggestion. Perhaps also Tanya Huff’s Sing the four quarters series?
One of my favorites is "The Eyre Affair" by Jasper Fforde. It is an interesting mix of mystery, fantasy, and classics. Once I read that one, I read the whole series by him.
I find his style very cold, but love the (now much imitated) concept, so I come back to him every once in a while. Literary detectives are something thamight also appeal to a literature reader.
@aliciazazirski9898 true, so many years, not quite sure it'll actually happen, but they are quite lengthy! Did you read the novella that came out, last year, I think?
Inkheart and Magyk are two of my favorite series of all time. Both have lots of adventure and fantasy they both live rent-free in my head since my teenage years.
Oh yes, the inkworld trilogy is one of my all time favourite series too. I really should make time to look into the fourth book, that came out a couple of years ago. Cornelia Funke is probably my favourite author.
Anything by Cornelia funke is great if you’re looking for excellent children’s fiction. First ink heart book is a wonderful romp through the possibility of book characters coming alive in the real world. This was selected by a reading circle I once ran and resulted in a dyslexic student reading the whole thick book to a blind student over a year of lunch times, as it wasn’t available in braille. They became friends and the dyslexic student became a very confident reader - that’s the power of a good book. Magyk is more formulaic and tends to be read by kids who only read fantasy, less recommended.
@@isabellalucia7820 the wonderful thing about Cornelia Funke is that you can still enjoy her works as an adult. She has a wonderful way of speaking to your inner child.
My favorite book is The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (also the other books in the same universe). Its a sci-fi space opera that has some action, but is also focuses on day to day and the interactions between characters. For a person who grew up not knowing that being anything outside straight and cis was an option, it really helped me like normalize in my head that there are an infinite number of ways to identify and everything is on a spectrum. For a book that has a lot of aliens, it's also a very human commentary on things like how humans fight over resources, let differences divide us, when usually we can find common ground with even those we find the most different from us if we take the time to try. Its heavy on found family themes and overall suprised ne with how good it was the first time i read it.
Oh yes, definitely. I don’t do sci fi but bought it to expand my school library’s “classics” collection beyond the lists set by English teachers. Loved it and was delighted when kids have me an excuse to get the sequels. It remains one of the few sci fi I’ve ever enjoyed.
@@HouseHooligan yes me too!! :D have you read 'A Good Heretic' in the anthology 'Infinite Stars: Dark Frontiers'? It's a novella/short story in the wayfarers universe. And it's awesome :D
Oooh, Rivers of London series! Modern mythology combines with detective. I've only read 1 short story but intend to read them all as a treat when I submit my thesis.
For me, too. I was also going to recommend it and anything else by Margaret Atwood, then I remembered Charlie set some parameters for recommendations. Don´t get me wrong, I really respect Margaret Atwood and she is probably of my favorite living writer, but I have had to cut back on reading her books because some of them haunt me and keep me awake in the wee hours. Especially The Handmaid´s Tale and the Oryx and Crake series. The last chapter of THT outraged me when I first read it in the ´Eighties and it has never lost its sting for me. Such a great writer!
@@melb.4609I agree. Love Atwood, read many of books over the decades, but sadly, the dystopian novels seem to have been taken as instruction manuals, a little too much, & definitely has that potential to go against the parameters set.
That's a good series but it tends to the spicy when you get near the end of the series. Her Sharing Knife series is compelling but got too spicy for my preferences.
First some of my modern favourites: - Eragon. (Dragons and some really interesting surprises in the story.) - Tad Williams "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" (The beginning is a bit boring but after you finished the first 80 to 100 pages a HUGE world is going to unfold! Great characters, great character development, some tragedy, not too much love, magic... It has everything 👌🏻) - Any book of Terry Pratchet. I really enjoyed some of his work. But after around 5 to 10 books it feels like they're all the same. But still worth reading. - Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It's just hilarious. My niece also uses her books (and headphones) to get away from her surroundings. I think this is a very clever way to protect herself. Everybody understands the sign and she could get some energy back.
@@tessapal Yes, this part with the "not so much focus on romance" is so wholesome! Paollini shows some kind of real-life romances but they never distract from the story. And then you need to remember, that Paollini was very young when he started to write the series. And he managed to create so many layers and depth in a fantasy novel... A world worth to escape every now and then. Such great characters... This story lives in my memory and heart... Sigh... I could go on and on... 🫠🥰
I LOVED Eragon! My vote for that! Also the first book is like a tight 200 pages and a relatively easy read (if memory serves, and it doesn’t always) so it’s a gentle series to get into
Project Hail Mary written by Andy Weir! SciFi but not overly unrealistic. It's about the new and unknown. And above all, friendship and understanding. It somehow tickled my autistic brain in a satisfying way. Love love love that book! And it's even better in the audio version.
It was so good, and a fantastic narrator for the audiobook. Same thing was true of The Martian by the same author, for that matter. Both fantastic books and fantastic narration in the audiobook version.
Oh my gosh, how could I forget! Georgette Heyer's Regency romances! "The Toll Gate", and "The Unknown Ajax" are absolutely delightful to read. Her others are also wonderful, but those are my all-time favorites.
Forgot my shelf of georgette heyer in my previous post. Arabella and cottillion are my 2 favourites but I am sure that I have at least a third of them.. ❤
I love how many have already recommended Terry Pratchett! I was thinking The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents would be a fitting choice to start with :) Since there's someone who gets 'grounded' outside of the room with all the books! And from there on there's sooo many more fantastic books, stories, worlds! Adventures, dragons, libraries! And having read as many classics as you have really helps to appreciate it all the more :)
If you like fantasy I enjoy Mercedes Lackey. She does short 3 to 5 book series that can stand alone but build the world as you go. I have come back to her books after 20 years and am really enjoying them again.
I'm currently reading through a lot of her Valdemar books that I hadn't previously read. However, they can be extremely dark in a lot of ways, some much more so than others.
Her 500 Kingdom books all stand alone and if you have read a lot of classic fairy stories, they are both brilliantly fresh and nostalgic at the same time. The Sleeping Beauty is my favorite is my favorite, but they are all good.
First of all, yes to His Dark Materials trilogy by Philipp Pullman (starting with The Golden Compass). I read it as a young adult, I loved it. I reread it recently as a middle aged adult and loved it even more. It is fantasy for kids/teens mostly set in a world similar to ours. It deals with lots of religious topics for adulst though and is heavily criticising church. Don't know if this is a recommendation or warning given your past. 😅 Next are some female authors I just generally would recommend to anyone. Becky Chambers writes modern, wholesome Sci-Fi, perfect for beginners. Her stories are character focused, diverse and short. I highly recommend her Monk and Robot duology (starting with A Psalm for the Wild built) because it is so short and so wholesome, while addressing depression at the same time. She also wrote the wayfarer series. 4 books about 4 separate communities in one shared universe. They can be read as standalones, so not that intimidating. And they all deal with several different species trying to live together/side by side. And then there is Emilie St. John Mandel who writes literary fiction with speculative/sci-fi elements. My favourites are Station Eleven (it deals with a pandemic, written pre Covid and with a group of theatre actors) and Sea of Tranquility (it also kind of deals with a pandemic, written post Covid). Honorary mentions: The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams (Book about (re)discovering the love of reading through a list of book recommendations) Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips (literary fiction set in a part of the world probably noone knows exists) Veronica Speedwell series by Deanna Raybourn (historical fiction, murder myster where the protagonists might or might not fall in love.) The Marsian/Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (funny and action packed sci-fi) Any book by Kate Morton (emotional and epic family sagas with a dual timeline and twists) Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson (heavy YA book about a black girl searching for her missing best friends. It broke me but it's so good.)
My first thought was Monk and Robot by Becky Chambers too!! Very wholesome and enjoyable. I want to clarify that the religion is fantasy too so the monk and psalm and prayer in the name are not about preaching at all. For anyone who would be put off by it, don't be! I agree with your recommendations for books I've read, but there's a lot in there I have never heard of, writing those down 👀
Anne McCaffrey's Dragons of Pern series is amazing.. it's a series that you can drop in and out of. The first ones where written in the 60's/70's her writing style is all about emotional interplay .. bonus the dragons are telepathic. So good.
Agatha Christi is a great cozy mystery author. My oldest sister LOVES the Cat Who books which are also cozy mysteries. My father is a fan of Michael Connelly which are more in the style of police/detective crime dramas. I liked his book The Late Show. Mitch Albom The Five People you Meet in Heaven and For One More Day ripped my heart out, but in the best possible way. The Help by Kathryn Stockett was awesome. The movie did not do it justice. If you are into non-fiction or essays, Malcom Gladwell is great. Talks about social phenomenon in small essays. Explains concepts well without being boring.
Also any of the partners fisher series by Aussie writer Kerry greenway. Meticulously researched mysteries set in 1928 Melbourne with a flapper detective and strong emphasis on clothes and food. Deliciously cosy.
Having had a similar reading history , I fell in love with the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters, starting with Crocodile on the Sandbank- imagine if Indiana Jones was a married Egyptologist in the Victorian era - it's light mystery reading with Egyptian lore interwoven in each story and a tongue in cheek sense of humor It's fun, pure and simple!
OMG I loved the Narnia series growing up! As I wasn't raised in a christian household (we'd go to church on maybe easter and christmas) any christian subtext went right over my head. I've been meaning to reread it now that I have more knowledge and am better at reading between the lines, but I haven't been in a reading mood. My reading is either "I don't feel like reading" or "I must devour every unread book on my bookshelves" and there is no inbetween.
I would recommend the Murderbot series by Martha Wells. It is a series of about 6 or 7 pretty short (almost novella) books about a non-gendered cybernetic Security Unit that suddenly finds itself free of its programmed corporate enslavement and tries to spend all of its time watching media, while pretending to still be a good SecUnit. Murderbot is snarky as hell, and the series is about it learning to develop friendships and emotional connections while kicking ass. Super easy reading with a surprising emotional punch.
I recently read a book by another youtuber! "Just stab me now" by Jill Bearup. It's witty, has mystery, and has a unique way of the author interacting with the characters in the book. She wrote it after making a youtube shorts series; pretty much everyone and their mother was demanding a written version. The videos and the book are great, the book fleshed out more details.
A lot of Terry Pratchett's books hit that balance of comedic fantasy with a twist of realism and a knowledge of people that make people love his works. And as his writing history is decades long, there's tonal variance too. A touch more grim and gritty in the later books as his diagnosis had come through and he's living out his last years. The composed middle books, the wild early books. He was the co-author of Good Omens, another book recommended here. He's got other short series beside the massive Discworld series to try dip your toe into his style. Discworld may look intimidating at first glance but each of the book can stand on it's own but also having that 'I know those people' when you run into another book with the specific cast present. You get to know this flat disc on top of four elephants (used to be 5) that stand on the shell of A'Tuin the great star turtle. A world where light has weight, time is a bit physical and the gods play dice with the fates of men. And men occasionally climb the the great mountain they dwell on to kick them in the fork for that. Even as I'm turning more towards digital reading, my beloved Pratchett collection still stays on my shelf, with the occasional wild book added (Nanny Ogg's cookbook? Yes I have it.🤭)
Also this one time I was out with my friends, and I saw a used bookstore I'd been to once before, and I swear it was like 10 meter, across a road, a bit of crass another road, and I saw in the discount bin in the front a familiar cover. My friends got ditched for five minutes as I ran to buy that book. They understood, book nerds alltogether. I found my own copy of L.M. Montgomery's Blue Castle. Another favourite is Georgette Heyer's These Old Shades.
Lucinda Riley's The Seven Sisters series (8 books in total) is great - adopted sisters, each named after the Seven Sisters of Pleiades, are left a letter upon the death of their father, directing them to find their birth family. I'm currently working back through all of Lucinda's standalone books.
For fantasy/sci fi may I recommend - Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon - An old woman decides to stay alone on a planet, when the failing space colony that she lives on is evacuated, for a chance to live out her remaining years in peace. Ancillary Justice - by Ann Leckie - A woman who used to be a spaceship is on a quest. Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells - a security robot breaks the code that tells it not to harm humans, but finds that it mostly wants to watch tv. Spinning SIlver - Naomi Novik - a spin on the rumplestiltskin tale with amazing characters (Uprooted by the same author is also great) Fifth season - NK Jemisin, A woman travelling across a world wracked by mini apocalypses, whilst looking for revenge. (a warning that this one deals with a lot of dark subject matter) Any of the discworld books (Terry Prattchet) but specifically the Witches series Wayward children series by Seanan Mcguire - stories about what happens to children after they come back from adventures in fantasy worlds. (the first book has an asexual protagonist)
Loved Ancillary Justice (though I had to restart the audiobook a couple of times because I kept thinking I must have missed something)! I just finished the Fifth Season series...
Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King - mystery - Sherlock Holmes later career fiction. Naomi Novak's Spinning Silver fairy tale retelling. Martha Wells - All Systems Red - scifi novella
I cosign *all* of these! I liked Novik's Scholomance trilogy (starts with _A Deadly Education_) a little bit better, because the characters were more gripping? But I think that may be an inherent tradeoff you have between a brand-new story and a retelling of traditional folktales. With something new, you can create backstories, motivations, and personality quirks from any direction. But with traditional folktales, you've often got a resonance that's hard to even begin approaching when you're not drawing on centuries of experience.
I recommend 'Dragon Riders of Pern' if you haven't read it. It's like the classics in it's world building and language but it's like a modern story in it's female-led story, depth of character and in it's quicker pacing--its like a gateway modern story. The first book 'Dragonflight' was originally 2 award winning short stories so it's easy to read (and the best of the series to many) and although there are many books in the series, and they are addictive, there are shorter sub-stories which make it easy to read in chunks, if you want, and each book feels complete on their own (but I binged them anyway so it's hard to recall for sure). The main character bonds with and learns to ride a telepathic dragon to save her colony from a strange ecological threat from the skies. It's awesome! Hearing your interests, I thought of it right away.
Robin Hobb! She's an amazing fantasy writer known for her character work. Start with either the Farseer trilogy or the Liveship traders. (I read Farseer first.) Farseer is more focused on one character and the liveship traders on multiple
This is my comfort series for sure! Especially the earlier books which I believe have less complex/dark plots. It just drives me slightly crazy that Ms. Grafton and her estate didn't want someone to finish the last book. I've even tried to see if someone has written a fanfic version of "Z is for..." Someone must have, I just don't know how to find it! ❤
Also one of my favourites. And my mum has read them too. So good but suspect it might not be up the right alley as it can be quite gritty, not gorey in any way but some times a little thrillery.
The POETRY of me reading the title as "I Only Read (present tense) Classic Literature" then during the ending as "I Only Read (past tense) Classic Literature" reminds me of why I love homonyms despite how much of a nightmare they must be to non-native speakers ^^;
Swordheart by T Kingfisher; A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T Kingfisher. Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron; The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner.
I love the Discovery of Witches trilogy by Deborah Harkness. The writing quality is high and the plotline is fascinating! Locales include Oxford's Bodlian library, an old sentient house in New England, the 1590's in England and France, and more! I reread it every couple years!
Me too. There's several parts where the imagery connects to me at a very deep level usually resulting in tears - particularly colour and wood - didn't want to give any spoilers to Charlie in case she does read these! 😀
I think I'm ace, too. I don't know if it is from an internal place or if it is from a place of self-defense but at this point in my life I really don't need it. I like intimacy and touch and cuddles and snuggling and those things but the actual spicy parts I also just kind of Don't enjoy reading anymore.
“Dealing with Dragons” by Patricia Wrede is a fun feminist fantasy about a girl who isn’t allowed to learn anything fun at home in her castle, so she escapes to become a dragon’s princess.
I would also highly, highly recommend Naomi Novak. She is an incredible writer with so much depth. Start with Uprooted, which is a stand alone book, then just consume everything, it’s all delicious and yet very varied.
Based on some of the books you mentioned a YA series from the 80's-90's The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Werde. A set of 4 books beginning with Dealing with Dragons. A princess who is boared with her life and runs away to be a dragons princess. Both because it was respectable and more interesting than dancing and embroidery lessons. Princess Cimorene understands you need to know the rules in order to make them work for you.
Anne MCaffrey - Dragonrider series, Dragon Singer series, Freedom Series, Ship Series, Tower series... all of the series! Katherine Neville: The Eight, A Calculated Risk, The Magic Circle. Children/Teen books; Cornelia Funke Inkspell Series. Susan Cooper: The Dark is Rising series. Madelaine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time series. So many good books are for young teen or children. Mervyn Peake: Gormenghast series. Philip Pullman: His Dark Materials series. And there is always Rowling's Harry Potter or any of Rick Riordan's series based on children of the Gods: Kane Chronicles, Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus, Magnus Chase. I go back and reread all of these on a regular basis.
I don't like anything scary, gruesome or scarring, but The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle really made me feel like I was touching into the mystery, cool kids section, while staying on safe grounds. Loved it!
So much of what you say here is relatable -- including the reading on the toilet and my parents trying to figure out if they could ground me from reading. When I really needed alone time, I used to hide books in the bathroom between the folded towels, so I could go sit and read without actually carrying a book in with me.
One of my favorite book series is the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. There are around 20 books, but they stand alone stories set in the same world, and some books feature the same characters. Wholesome fantasy, but all the characters are woodland creatures! The writing is charming, but fair warning- There are many detailed descriptions of food that may inspire epic baking/cooking sprees.
I always say the Chronicles of Narnia was a gateway book for me, too, but for me, it was into the fantasy genre. Those books were so formative for me that I named my daughter after a main character. That being said, as someone who also grew up with many of the Christian books you mentioned, I think a big issue for both that and Christian music is just the commercial market for those. I’ve long thought that the publishers and record companies let people get away with sub par artistry because if they throw a few mentions of Jesus in it, someone will buy it. I do think my upbringing was less strict than yours, because my Christian school had me read a LOT of classics, some of which could have been controversial (like I clearly remember Bridge to Terebithia in elementary school, and a Salman Rushdie book my senior year.) I appreciate that you’re not taking the angle of bashing all the Christian lit, as there are some good ones, and that is still my faith. But I read a lot of “regular” books, too. Recommendations: I’ll also say Brandon Sanderson. If you’re not ready to start with a full series, aside from Tress, my favorite recent stand alone of his was Yumi and the Nightmare Painter. If you haven’t read Diana Wynne Jones’ Howl’s Moving Castle, I’d highly recommend both that and the Miyazaki movie based on it. I recently read a YA fairy tale retelling called Echo North that I loved, and sewing does play a role! If you like Jane Austen, I just finished a mystery spinoff based on her novels called The Murder of Mr. Wickham, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Another mystery series that I don’t remember being gory but is a lot of fun is The Thursday Murder Club - it’s a bunch of octogenarians solving murders while in an assisted living home in the UK, and my entire book club was SO obsessed with it. Other modern novels I’ve loved was Remarkably Bright Creatures, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, and The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.
The almost visceral reaction in agreement I had just now to NEEDING reading as an accepted reason to have time alone was unexpected and hit me right in the face. I'm the eldest of 5 and alone time, privacy or even just the hint of quiet were RARE. Being neurodivergent in a very diverse neurodivergent family made it even harder. So reading and being allowed to read and not take care of everyone and evrything while doing so was my biggest escape until I started Uni and moved out. I feel your videos so much and this one, once again, really hits home
I was the eldest of 6 and like you had to take care of everyone else. . In a very Loud family . Reading was my escape from a horrible abusive life and I use to get in trouble in school for reading instead of paying attention in class it was my escape there too. Being quiet and different and not able to relate to 'social norms' in the 50's and 60's made me a target for other kids and teachers. These videos make me sit and think Yep I get it.
@@s.fuhrmann Now that you say it, I remember reading ahead in school in almost every single school book. Reading and books have been such a gigantic escape to safety, at least momentarily and emotionally. I am so sorry that you had to go through this. I know how terrible it was in the 90ies for me can cannot even imagine how much worse earlier decades were for those not fitting into social norms. Thank you for your comment
So an author I really enjoy is Gail Carriger and her Soulless series (Victorian Vampires and Werewolves run the British Empire and the protagonist cancels out their powers by touch. It’s quite Steampunk and fun) and that author recommended a book I’d never heard of (which is unusual for me because I am an English teacher so I’m up on most titles) The Forgotten Beasts of Eld and I just finished it. It’s not too long but the writing is beautiful and the story line is unusual and it’s just the one book. Highly recommend.
I'm gonna toss in for Anne McCaffery as well. She got me through middle school tbh. I started with Crystal Singer (There is mention of spicy things, but not descriptions of it.) Along with the pern books. I'm gonna go off the beaten path though and say to start with Dragonsdawn (which is later in the release but the first in the timeline). I'd also like to humbly suggest the Realm of the Elderlings books by Robin Hobb. It starts with Assassin's Apprentice. It's first person, about a boy who grows up as a bastard in a fantasy setting. It's a low magic setting, and is a bit heart breaking at times. It's INCREDIBLY well written. It's okay to think the main character is an idiot. Cause he is, but he's HUMAN. He's a person, with flaws, just like all the other characters in the series.
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke seems like something you’d enjoy. I see others have recommended it as well. Great video! I thought I was a bookworm but after watching this I realized I was probably average 😂 I’ve never read plays. Plenty of books in all categories since the age of 6 and I’m 52 so that’s a lot of reading.
I think Tamora Pierce would be great a great place to start. She's been writing female centered fantasy since the 80's that definitely stands up. They are young adult, but deal with a large variety of issues. Plus, who doesn't love dragons and knights!
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C Wrede. Anything by Patricia C Wrede, actually. Pam Uphoff is also someone I just recommend as an author. Ilona Andrews’ Hidden Legacy, and the Edge series by the same author. Honor Harrington by Dahid Weber, but I tend to stop after the first few. The Empire of Man, also by David Weber. Rats, Bats, and Vats by David Feer and Eric Flint. The Mithgar series, the Faery series, and the Black Fox duology by Dennis L Mckiernnan. The case Files of Henry Davenforth by Honor Raconteur. Someone else has already recommended the Discworld, but I’d actually recommend starting either with Guards! Guards! or one of the Lancaster books. But the books were written to be understood no matter the order you read them. (Sam Vimes is just one of my favorites.) That’s just off the top of my head. If you want short story collections, the Sword and Sorceress anthologies and the Chicks in Chainmail are pretty good tongue in cheek. Stealing the Unicorn is not quite as modern, but good fun. I’d have to think some more to try and cudgel some more titles. Unfortunately, my brain tends to operate more on cover and location. Which is less useful when the bookshelves in the house haven’t been there for a good number of years.
I LOVE the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. And basically everything else by Patricia C Wrede that I've read. The Frontier Magic series is fabulous and definitely one of my favorites.
I've had a bit of a falling out with reading myself, but the last series I really got into was The Hunger Games. I even thought maybe it had reignited my love for reading and bought a few books I thought would be interesting but just couldn't get into them. Then the new book in the series came out and I *devoured* it just like the others. So I agree, it just has to be the right kind of book that really draws you in ❤
If you really like the Hunger Games (I love that series and just got done re-watching all the movies about a week ago), I would recommend Red Rising by Pierce Brown. If you haven't read it already it, it's much more sci-fi, kind of takes it to the next level and then some, the plot twists that uncharacteristically I did not divine before hand, and the upping the ante from book to book is a wild ride.
I have two recommendations - The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey. It's the start of a 6.5 book series, and it's on a romantic imprint, but it's also a great stand-alone novel with one easily skippable sex scene. Basically, it explores the question of what happens to Cinderella when her "prince" is entirely unsuitable - she becomes a fairy godmother! It's an AWESOME mash-up of way to many fairy tales (and the rest of the series is set in the same world, but focuses on different backbone fairy tales). My other recommendation is one of those chonky-boy series: the Terre d'Ange series by Jacqueline Carry. It starts with Kushiel's Dart, carries on through one trilogy with the same heroine, another trilogy in which she is a side character, then another trilogy set 100 years later. It's an alternate Renaissance Europe, in which Christianity never really goes beyond what we would call Messianic Jews, other gods still roam the world, and the primary God of this land is Elua - who was born as Christ hung on the cross from His blood and Mary Magdalene's tears, which Mother Earth carried in her womb until Elua sprang forth. Anathema enough for your background yet? 😅 The primary reason I LOVE this series is that Elua's whole teaching is "Love As Thou Wilt." Each of the stories examines Love in a different way - obviously carnal / sexual, and in a place where no consent is heresy where all kinds of pairings goes - but also love of country, love of duty, love of calling. What does it mean to truly love a God who is the embodiement of LOVE so overflowing it created it world, and then share that love with others? What is the cost of serving that kind of Love? It has actually helped me tease apart true Christianity from the hellfire and brimstone I grew up around, which is saying something in a series in which the protagonist is a courtesan-spy who finds pleasure in pain and must save her realm at the side of a celibate warrior priest. It is definitely spicy with lots of BDSM and all sorts of positions, although those parts are skimmable. The world-building can be a slog, as it's the first 300 pages of a 800 page book. BUT if you can push past those caveats, it's an absolutely incredible series - and the world I'd choose to live in out of any fantasy or historical romance series I've ever read.
The series of unfortunate events is what started my reading as a kid. And Samantha really opened my eyes at 8 years old. I hated family reunions and would always be reading when I had to go, I’m glad that you shared your story on reading it’s nice that I’m not the only one who did that. Currently I’m reading self improvement so I don’t have anything out of the teen for entertainment type that you might be interested in.
Hello fellow ace spectrum human! My favourite romance book has a blend of fantasy and emotional intimacy: You Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne. I believe the second book in the series recently came out, so if you end up reading and liking it, there’s more 😊
I have been loving everything by Martha Wells and Ann Leckie lately. Both are incredible authors, their worlds are cohesive and follow an internal logic, their characters are multifaceted, and the stories so moving and neither rely on common tropes. And my nerdy heart loves the layers of culture and language both of them bring to their work.
I concur with Gergette Heyer....I read all of them in my teen years. Easy reads, and a few "rebel" (for the time period) femaile lead characters. For mystery, how about "The Thursday Murder Club" (series) by Richard Osman.
Definitely Hitchhikers Guide (the first one at least-there are 4 books in the trilogy) I also suggest Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth series-your background might give you an interesting take on it. Also, think nonfiction novel -I can suggest anything by Stephen Puleo (Dark Tide, Voyage of Mercy, The Caning etc.) (BTW 9 of us grew up in a reading household but not the homeschool Christian kind...very little supervision on the reading just you had to be aware that if we picked up anything from Mein Kampf to 3 Musketeers to Nancy Drew...someone would "force" us to give an opinion on it... All of us have different reading tastes but still cross pollinate ...which is how I found Stephen Puleo)
I'm halfway through Good Omens right now. It's hilarious... and so far I can let my 10 and 12 year olds listen. I'm physically reading, but we do a LOT of listening to Audiobooks in the car. I wanted to add a vote for it. 😊
Anne McCaffery - The Dragon riders of Pern. Its a huge SF world with a lot of interpersonal connection. There are over 12 volumes and they are all a good read. She has other series as well that I love but this would be your entre.
This book was a perfect read, and I think a great jumping back into reading modern books. It’s a great stand alone book as well that feels cozy, magical, and like you stepped into a dungeon and dragons game.
I liked legends and lattes by Travis Baldree. Fantasy very light romance mostly adventure. Short book too so hopefully, it's a good starter if you check it out.
I just about screamed when you said sci fi/fantasy because I realised I could recommend you my favourite series, the Wayfarers series, by Becky Chambers. It begins with A Long Way to A Small, Angry Planet; sci-fi but not bogged down with sciencey vernacular, a diverse cast of characters, beautiful writing, and a major theme of emotional connection. They are spectacular and I truly think you'd really enjoy them
I didn’t grow up with books, actually, the first time someone read a book to me was in kindergarten. Instead, I wrote my own as it became my way of dealing with my extremely violent & traumatic childhood, but it wasn’t until I took an AP Mythology & Classic Literature class in high school that I started to enjoy reading something I didn’t write myself. Now, because of my past, I wanted different for my kids. I successfully ended the cycle of abuse & made sure my kids grew up in a happy, stable, loving family. This included reading. My husband & I read to them throughout my pregnancy & continued until they could read themselves. Thankfully we live across the street from the city library, so it was basically their 2nd home, though it didn’t stop us from filling nearly a dozen bookcases with every book my husband has ever owned, (also a massive reader) every book my kids own, my favorite books (fits on a single shelf) cookbooks, 1st editions or autographed books & a single bookcase dedicated to my own original work. My kids were already reading high school/college level books in Elementary school, but the “Advanced Reading” program turned my kids love for reading into an outright competition on every level & garnered them every class, grade level, school & district wide award there was. Their interests have obviously varied over the years, but still to this day, the top 3 spots on their gift wishlist has something to read, something musical & a computer or coding related item. My youngest still prefers reading or listening to audio books over watching TV, UA-cam, playing video games, etc. while my eldest has backed off from reading a little as his interests have changed towards early childhood education & music. (he’s learned to play over a dozen instruments so far) Btw, I couldn’t get through Ulysses either, though my most hated “must read if you want to graduate high school” books were “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” by Jules Verne & “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, but the one that affected me the most was “Johnny Got His Gun” by Dalton Trumbo.
I have 3 favorite authors: Ken Follett writes historical fiction starting with "Pillars of the Earth" the building of the cathedral of Essex. Second is the people of the Earth series by Michael and Kathleen Gear about early native American tribes. Lastly, Anne McCaffery has several series about other planets. Her Dragon Riders of Pern got me hooked. Yes they can be chunky or have limitless sequels, but they also have smaller first books and you can indulge or not depending on your taste. Enjoy the adventures.
Anything in Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere multiverse. Elantris is a good short standalone point of entry, which will still feel satisfying if you decide not to continue the Cosmere series. It's high fantasy with really interesting hard magic and worldbuilding. It is also a mystery!
As a librarian, the general rule is this: subtract your age from 100. That is the number of pages you have to read of a book before you give up. 😅 Seriously, life is too short; if you're bored or not enjoying it, you're allowed to start a new book.
I love that rule about abandoning an unsatisfying book.
Oh this is an excellent rule!
I'm imagining a one hundred and two year old unreading two pages. 😆
It's really wonderful that you regarded Narnia and Tolkien as "classics" I spent so many years trying to convince my teacher they were proper literature. Still love reading and re-reading them. To my teachers the Brontës, Dickens, Hardy and the like were the only proper literature. Like you I have found it difficult of late to find time for reading but have rekindled it by re-reading Alan Garner and Ursula K LeGuin moving beyond their childhood books to their wider catalogue. In terms of 'modern' books I've enjoyed Jasper Fforde's Thursday series. Naomi Noviks Temeraire series, Pratchett of course and a bit left field was Boris Akunins Erast P Fandorin Series starting with The Winter Queen
As a former librarian I was always like- f that. 5 pages or perhaps minutes and if you don’t like it forget it. Life is too short and there are sooo many books out there. Also- ugh, math.
Let's be honest here... It's not just Charlie picking up book recommendations from this comments section, is it?! 😂
Nope! I'm always looking for a good read.
Oh no, I’m having a lot of fun going through this list
@@flatbatterymakes2495 no, I have been in a funk for a while now and nothing has helped get me out of it.
Ditto! I am building a list in my shopping app from all the recommendations. 😊
@@flatbatterymakes2495 very true!
I will always recommend The Hitch Hikers' Guide to the Galaxy, but I'm not sure how "modern" it is. Another entertaining set of stories are the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett, I think the first one is The Colour of Magik, and its about 300 pages, so could be a nice dip of the toe for you.
Terry Pratchett is excellent, but generally speaking, it’s recommended to start from the third Discworld book - Equal Rites. The first two are really good, but not really representative of his writing, and not the easiest introduction to his work.
Each to their own though! 😊
Discworld emporium compiled a read order guide for Discworld that could be arranged a few ways. Choronoligical, by sub stories, or starting recommendations. They also have a quiz to see what starting recommendations would be better for you. And they've listed all the side stories and publications for Discworld. I'm sure there's even better ones out there.
@@creepycutiecrafty Agreed with you on not starting with the Colour of Magic. I think no 4 might also be a good one - Mort. Curry being likened to eating a red hot icecube always sticks in my mind. And Binky. Gotta love Binky.
@@mquentaro That's actually amazing! I read them in the order my dad gave them to me!! It might be fun to mix it up a bit, it's a long time since I read them.
@lindseywhite3371 Came here to recommend Terry Pratchett. Good work, team! [high five]
Thanks for being comfy and secure with your subs to come out as Ace. ❤ the public Ace representation is priceless and wonderful. 😊 Love your library vibes.
Yes, more representation is amazing to see
I agree. I get so excited whenever I see Ace representation. My best friend, who is bi, and I were talking about how the whole Asexual thing is confusing to people. I mean, I am Ace, and I couldn't really explain it. Lol
Oh! I forgot. For Fantasy, the His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman. it starts with The Golden Compass. It discusses very deep philosophical questions about religion, parenting, finding your true self, etc. Also, there are shapeshifting animals, a tribe of witch warriors, and a talking Polar Bear who will steal your heart!
Loved that one as a child!
Love, love, love this series. HDM was that series that made me want to write.
I’ve also had generally good thoughts about the sequel series, The Book of Dust (third book apparently has a completed draft) but I also feel that it’s aimed directly at the adults who read HDM as children, and maybe no one else.
At 69 His Dark Materials remains within my book rotation. Due to the fact that holding and reading an actual book was getting in the way of my physical duties and pleasures ( sewing, crochet, stained glass, refurbishing furniture…) I resorted to audio books. Now, typically if I purchase a book I also purchase the audio version. Which works out perfectly because while having 10 grandchildren, they are always exposed to what Nana is listening to. Hence, the ridiculously large library I now house that spans from historical to fantasy. I have never believed, nor have I ever censored content. I read (or listen) to anything that struck my fancy since I was eleven years-old. Over time, my fancy had infected my adult children as well as my grandchildren. My favorite “teen” author is Holly Black. Ms. Black authored a series that begins with “The Cruel Prince” and proceeds towards an interesting and challenging ending. Why read young teen books? Why do I receive so much joy from this particular genre? I figure, I have already proven I am capable of acquiring an education, so now I just want to read books that remove me from daily life while allowing me to forget what is happening in the news. And, I have found that many of my choices have interested family members between the ages of 10 to 45. Charlie, explore, have fun, try something new, regain your readers charm and imagination. Love and happy reading. A Nana in Texas👍❤️🙏🏽
Yes, definitely - ya crossover adventures, conceptually defined as Milton and Blake meet particle physics. If you haven’t encountered them yet, go find them.
Just don’t watch any the movie or show, does not do it justice at all!
I absolutely adore the earlier Anne McCaffrey books. I started down the Pern rabbit hole with Dragonsong, a teenage girl whose life makes a dramatic turn when her mentor passes on. There's a sequel, Dragonsinger, with further 'adventures', which drew me into the entire Pern world. Currently I own .. erm.. a lot of her books, and when I look at my bookshelves, I see lots of other fantasy sci-fi books, alongside more traditional classics. I'm another who would hide with a book in order to pass on the interaction with real people lol
I got pulled hard into Fantasy with Pern, though I started with Dragonflight and Lessa.
yes yes yes. I re-read these periodically
Yes me too! My mom was a big fan so I read these in my mid-teenage years and became OBSESSED with all the different dragon types and colours. My absolute favourite was Dragon Song followed by The White Dragon.
I started with Dragon Song. It was also the first book I read for fun. Though it started as torture and threats. I’m dyslexic and was having such a hard time reading that my parents had to move me to my aunts house to get help. When in the area on business my dad would visit. On one of his visits he gave me a book to read. Near the Christmas holidays I realize if I didn’t read the stupid book I would hear about it for the rest of his life! It was amazing! And then I found that she had written more and I was hooked. I started that year of grade 10 with a reading level of grade 5 and ended with a grade 11 reading level! 40 odd years later I’m still slow and love open dyslexic on my reader but I’m still enjoying it.
❤❤❤ my comfort books. I’ve read every single Pern book multiple times.
While all things Pern are a favorite… anything written by Anne McCaffrey is worth a read.
My recommendation would be - as it is my all time favorite - Terry Pratchetts discworld books, specifically the witches "series" (all of them are great, but the witches are my favourites). As a titel, i would recoomend "Witches Abroad", "Carpe Jugulum" (despite the titel - no extreme gore) or "Maskerade". While it is all a connected universe (the discworld), you don't need to start at the beginning, to get into it. The stories stand on there own but the more you read of them, the more details you pick up on, that cross over between stories.
It's fanatasy with a delightful deconstruction of tropes, plenty of sociatal commentary and footnotes!
They are SOOOOOO good❤
seconding this fantastic rec!
I just started The Wyrd Sisters, which is part of Pratchett's witches series and it is laugh-out-loud funny. This is my first Pratchett book. My co-worker is a Pratchett fangirl and this was her recommendation of where to start with Discworld.
@@kajellio it’s a very good place to start! Guards! Guards! Is the first City Watch novel, and starts a very different but equally powerful story
Terry Pratchett books are soooo good! I highly recommend the Tiffany Aching books: The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full Of Sky, Wintersmith, and I Shall Wear Midnight I think are the best of his books. I have read them so many times! The Shepherds Crown was his very last book and it was coauthored and it doesn't feel like one of his.
Based on everything you said, I bet you'd LOVE the Earthsea cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin. It's a fantasy classic by a woman author that stands among the likes of LOTR and Narnia (I personally like it better than both, maybe because it's not religious). The book Tehanu changed me forever. I have literally never read anything more deeply moving. Also, You can skip the first book in the series and come back later imo.
I'm also ace! And also grew up in a Christian household with a bunch of restrictions on what content we could consume, and was an undiagnosed neurodivergent/autistic kid who escaped into books/writing because everyone else was overstimulating, and formed intense emotional connections with the ones that spoke to me. Basically what I'm saying is I relate a lot, lol.
My comfort genre these days is middle-grade fiction. It's what I like to write because I had trouble finding books that spoke to me at that age. They were all either too unrelatable or talk-down-y, or I wasn't allowed. So now I like to read and write earnest and interesting stories that middle-grade readers (and my past self) could connect to. My recent favorite is The Girl Who Drank The Moon.
Just wanted to second Earthsea, love the series, and while I can't exactly undo reading exclusively doorstop fantasy novels for a solid decade, I do find it a pretty approachable fantasy setting
Third vote for Earthsea!! I got a copy of all of Le Guin's work from my library (like 900 pages), and read through it cover to cover. Find that one and go at it.
I also lovr Earthsea.
Yes to this! I read them in 4th grade… but I was an early reader. Jane Eyre was my first grown up book. I was 6. It was a lot. No regrets :)
Earthsea is great! A great take on wizardry and knowing yourself.
You need to read Good omens! I know it's been made in to a series, but the book is sooo amazing! I haven't laughed so much at any other book as Good omens.
Definitely what I'd go with, especially for a first foray into more modern novels. They're so witty and fun!
Also all the disc world books by Terry Pratchet! So good.
Absolutely definitely no doubt about it - plus, your Christian-confined self will retroactively love the this version of angel/devil.
Do NOT try American gods, it’s wonderful but full of gore. (Greek and Norse gods are not people you’d want to be anywhere near!)
In fact, Neil gaiman is an amazing and inventive writer, but even his short stories are very variable in terms of unexpected lurches into general unpleasantness. Do read them, but take your recommendation from someone who knows your reading well, not internet strangers.
Neil gaiman’s stardust (ya/adult crossover) will delight you as an entry into fantasy.
I second the Good Omens suggestion, as well as the Discworld series. Terry Pratchett has a singular voice when storytelling that entertains while moving the plot along at a decent pace. His ability to mix comedy with serious topics is well balanced and makes for a better story, no matter the novel you pick up.
I highly recommend Tamora Pierce as an author. I discovered her when my daughter (now 27) was a young reader and almost all action stories for kids had boys as the main character. Tamora Pierce has written several fantasy-action series for children and young adults. There are emotional entanglements as the characters age through some of the series, but nothing spicy or "adult". The world-building is excellent and there are strong codes of honor and fairness, while also showing the complexity of choices one must make in life. There are the Alana the Lioness series, The Immortals series, and Protector of the Small, which each take place in the same "universe" and have four books each though they are often found online in compilations. There is also the Circle of Magic series and its sequel, The Circle Opens. Wonderful characters, challenging circumstances and fun stories with some depth.
I swear her books made half my personality. I just got my partner into them and he went through the Beka books in a few days because he couldn't put them down. I wish she could do more books in the Circle of Magic universe, they were my favorite.
@@GeekeryMade Agree! The Circle Reforged books take everything to another level as all of the characters are older and everything has a more serious tone. I'm still waiting for another in the Numair's Chronicles series.
Definitely a great author. Read everything she has written.
Just reread several of those books. Love the Circle of Magic and need to get to my library to do the Alana the Lioness
ANIMORPHS!! I loved that series. She released the pdfs for free in google doc form for ppl. The series can kinda mess you up a bit though
I can't remember who said
"Just because it's old doesn't mean it's good".
Whoever they were, they were right.
Amen. And so many Classics^TM were the penny dreadful or bodice ripper of their day... they just happened to last for one reason or another. 😊
One of my favourite all time books is “the book thief” written this century but set during world war 2 in germany, and a lot of it is about a little girl who loves books and reading, but as you might guess from the time period and setting it is heavy and emotional, so it depends if you are looking to read that type of thing.
Pretty sure you’ll like this one - it appeals well to classics readers.
yes. love that book.
I loved this book so much.
I second the Book Thief!
Also I highly highly highly recommend: Levar Burton Reads
It is a podcast series where Levar reads short stories by award winning authors. So it gives you a taste of the writing style without investing the amount of time you spend with a book.
Levar has introduced me to speculative science fiction and it is both world building and thought provoking.
If you never got to enjoy reading rainbow growing up, then this series was made for you. Miss out no more!
We did very much experience the joy of Reading Rainbow - it was often our 30 minutes of TV time allowed in a day. I had no idea Levar Burton has a podcast though, and I'm gonna go look that up right now cause it sounds amazing!
He's just concluded production, but it went for several years so you've got a decent back catalogue! It's basically Reading Rainbow but for adults 🥰
Love Levar's podcast!
@@charlienebeMy favorite of his stories so far (because I'm not too into Sci Fi) are Stephen King's Afterlife, Chivalry by Neil Gaiman, and Terry Pratchett's Troll Bridge. I've listened to each numerous times and they're all fantastic.
The book that caught me in 6th grade was "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeline L'Engle. There are several related books, but the first can be read on its own. It was amazing! Another series that I read again and again was the Merlin trilogy by Mary Stewart (The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, The Last Enchantment). There is a fourth book, "The Wicked Day", but I have never been able to finish it, and I feel the original three stand on their own quite well.They are written in first person (Merlin), which normally I hate, but it works in this series.
The Wrinkle In Time series made such an impact on me as a child! Definitely a pivotal point for me. Then His Dark Materials as an adult.
@@carolynward5567 I love Mary Stuart. The Crystal Cave is a fabulous book.
Oo I loved this book as a kid
I adored Many Waters... a take on the Noah story with time travel. I haven't read it in a few decades, but it still sits on my shelves.
L’Engle came to my school and we got to talk with her! Definitely recommend
I recently read Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson and was delighted by his writing style. I've been reading so many less than stellar books that it was a breath of fresh air.
I recently got the second in the series and Tress of the emerald sea(really excited to read this one) but I haven't read either yet. Good luck on finding something you like.
Brandon Sanderson is hands-down my favorite modern fantasy writer. His worldbuilding is incredible, and I do appreciate his prolific tendencies!
Brando sando 💖 I recommended the stormlight archives 😂
Yep, his books have got me thoroughly hooked. Finished the mistborn series in a snap, and nearly finished the storm light archive - hoping to have them done for the new book release!
I just finished Tress of the Emerald Sea, and loved it. I have yet to read Mistborn, but I have to finish the fourth Stormlight book first.
Brandon Sanderson is one of the best fantasy/sci fi writers. I’d start with one of his standalones if you go this route. I enjoyed Warbreaker and have heard wonderful things about Tress of the Emerald Sea!
The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, begins with All Systems Red. The Broken Earth Series by N.K. Jemisin, begins with The Fifth Season (2/3 won Hugo awards). Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
Seconding the Broken Earth Series
Murderbot Diaries is what got me back into sci-fi and the confidence that I could still read quickly
You rule, I thought no one would recommend Murderbot! A less obvious choice for OP but I really think it'd be a good fit!
Terry Pratchett is my suggestion too. And while I adore the Discworld series (I usually recommend starting with one of the stand-alone books like Eric, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents or Monstrous Regiment) I think the YA Tiffany Aching storyline would be a great place for specifically you to start. It has that, young girl going on adventure and growing up, making hard choices and finding out what about life and the world she lives in. It’s technically a part of the Discworld books but it’s also very much it’s own thing. It being YA does in no way mean it talks down to it’s audience, just that the main character isn’t an adult.
It starts with The Wee Free Men and it’s a fast-ish read so you haven’t lost much if it’s not your cup of black scrying water 🤍
The Wee Free Men is one of my favorites
I just recommended this. Love that we both thought the perfect way in was Tiffany Aching!!! I adored her storyline.
Seconding the amazing Maurice. That book was a delight and really needed no other discworld context.
The Dealing with Dragons book series by Patricia C. Wrede is one of my favorites!
I recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy; the main character is a princess, and there's dragons, witches, wizards, an enchanted forest, etc.
The princess's parents are constantly telling her not to learn to bake or read Latin because it's "not proper," and she gets sick of it, so she gets herself captured by a dragon-- and she just absolutely does not want to be rescued!
This series is soo good!
I love this one, and I've never heard anyone else recommend it before! A nice, light read too.
This series was a life changer to me as a child. Love it!!!
This is a great series! I had completely forgotten about it. Now I must hunt down a copy!
Yes!!!
I love going back to the Percy Jackson books. I know it's a bunch of movies and a TV show now, but I loved before that and I still think they're great reads for YA fantasy genres.
Sometimes YA is this best reads.Have you read the books following Apolo..❤❤❤
Especially as a person diagnosed later in life. Also just as a person that had a hard time fitting in
Modern day fantasy with a hidden world and somewhat good explanation. With a nod to the classics in form of Greek mythology. Lots of adventure and hard themes, but still a YA book. A bit of romance, but as a side plot, not main(at least for the first many books)
I'm enjoying these more than I thought I would while reading them with my 8 year old.
But these are very juvenile - some nice twists on Greek mythology but seriously formulaic and lowest-common-denominator in terms of writing style.
I’d go with Diana Wynn Jones as very well written children’s fantasy that has already become ‘classic’. (Have you watched howls moving castle? She wrote the book long before the anime).
The Old Kingdom
series by Garth Nix: first book is Sabriel. Its fantasy with a female protagonist written for young adults (but its well written, you aren’t being talked down to)
A newer book that is one of my favorites is a cozy fantasy called Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
Definitely Good Omens, it's incredibly funny!
Posted this on another comment but, just a heads up: if you're going to read anything Gaiman-related, it's worth knowing that he's been accused of vile, predatory and ab*sive behaviour towards young women in his fandom/sphere and honestly, at this point, his P.R. team is doing a great job burying the accusations, throwing shade at the venues talking about them and downplaying the events described so they sound s*xual but 'not that serious' but his defence is basically 'you give consent once, you give it for everything and can't take it back' or saying the girls have mental health issues rather than 'I didn't abuse my babysitter in a way that the New Zealand police wanted to talk to me about just hours after meeting her for the first time' etc etc etc. So you might want to consume content from him secondhand or just go for straight up, problem-free Pratchett...
Andy Weir is one of my favorite Sci-Fi authors at the moment, specifically “The Martian” is an absolute blast to read and the movie based on it is almost equally as good.
Agreed, The Martian was awesome!
I really liked "The Martian" movie and my 13 yo son has read the book at least ten times.
Fantastic book - and Project Hail Mary was if anything even better.
I was coming to say The Martian too
The Martian was amazing but after how he bungled writing women in Artemis, I don't recommend all of his books, just usually that one.
I'm here to recommend the Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells. There's one novel in the series, but it's mostly novellas, so far anyway. The first novella is All Systems Red.
It's a sci-fi series about a Security Unit construct who has hacked its governor module so it doesn't have to follow instructions from the company that owns it anymore, but it still mostly does in order to keep a low profile, avoid being wiped, and continue to watch its favorite media series in peace. The author has talked about how she based Murderbot's personality on the way her and some of her friends' brains work, and Murderbot came off as very autism-coded, and the author has subsequently been diagnosed with ASD.
Ah! I hadn't read interviews with Wells, so didn't know that she'd been diagnosed afterwards. I'd def read MB as autistically coded, so this makes a lot of sense! (Though I started reading the books before I was diagnosed, so I guess I also followed Wells' path - MB was just 'like me' in a lot of ways at the start, then later on, I felt more comfortable labeling them as seeming autistic.)
LOVE Murderbot.
Yes, MurderBot… love. Especially the audiobooks.
Yasssss!!!! Murderbot is perfection for the autistic traits. I’m like yes. I feel this so much murderbot. People are hard give me my shows they are safe.
Yes! My child with ASD and deep discomfort with romantic themes LOVES murderbot. Given that our introduction to murderbot is basically murderbot saying "I wish people would just leave me alone so I could watch my media" I suspect Charlie will relate too.
I recommend the Eragon trilogy. Lot of emotional tension with the two leads
Only if you’re mad about dragons. It was one of the first heavily marketed series by a teen writer and isn’t especially well written.
I think I read the Elenium series around the same time I read Eragon
there's four or five out now, it's awesome
I personally found this series to be very well written and adored the world building. My recollection of the literary quality could be specifically related to the later books in their series as I have not reread them in years. Emotionally destroyed me.
I really liked the long way to a small angry planet by Becky chambers (and the rest of the wayfarer books) they are character driven sci fi, with interesting world building, but not too dense. The books connect, but aren't a continuous plot, so you can read one and have a complete experience.
Wayfarers is SO GOOD and so is her Monk & Robot series. Not too long! Thoughtful probing of what it means to be human! Fi-ing science like ecology & ethnography!!! Becky Chambers is the author that made me realize I love sci-fi, I just don't care what mediocre white cis men imagine about the future. I've read *so much* by multiply marginalized sci-fi authors since then and I strongly credit it with my personal development as a caring, inclusive presence in the world - not that I didn't care before, but this really helped drag me out of a lot of the water I'd been swimming in & unable to see
I’m probably late to the party, but I think you’d like “No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency” by Alexander McCall Smith.
I couldn't get into the ladies detective series, except for one quote I remember. Two of the "more traditional built" ladies were talking about a very thin woman and said "just because everyone has a skeleton doesn't mean she should flaunt hers."
That said, I love his Elizabeth Dalhousie books. Philosophical slant but not preachy.
I found "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" quite fun. They're not fantasy but because the setting (Botswanna?) is so unfamiliar there is an 'other world' feel but the relationships and every day wisdom is relatable & just fun. There is humor. I haven't read one in a while. To me they are not a series to devour as much as a delightful interlude. --yes, I think I need to go find one now...😆
Recently read it for the second time, and enjoyed it as much as the first.
I read « The dry », a murder mystery by Jane Harper, set in Australia a few years ago. I loved it, then read it aloud to my husband. Because I knew « who dunnit » I had a totally different perspective on the story, and I loved it for that! Highly recommend 😊
(Unlike “Doctor Jhivago”, which I could never get into and only forced myself to read to the end because my husband kept saying “Don’t stop now, you’ll see, it will get better”… only to find out after I was done that he himself had never been able to go past the first forty pages!!!)
Janet Evanovich... I laugh out loud EVERY time. Highly recommend the Stephanie Plum Series
X2 for Janet's Stephanie Plum! One for the Money just hooks you, and there isn't a single book of Janet's that hasn't made me laugh out loud while reading.
I add my voice to the Stephanie Plum Series.. much fun and capers had here
I couldn't read her books in public. Hard to sit in a doctors waiting room and bust out laughing and not have people think you're nuts. lol I even got my daughter reading and enjoying her books. She isn't a reader for the most part.
Perfect recommendation for someone having a hard time getting back into reading. Light, fast paced, hilarious, and each book stands on its own. No need to read the whole series. (But you’ll want to)
OMG - the characters- I can’t wait for her newest one to come out! Also Metrogirl
A new author, and a new book. "Just stab me now". By Jill Bearup. It started as a series of UA-cam shorts that her fans demanded to be turned into a book.😁 I recommend them, too.
Her channel is her name.
Yes! That book is so good!
Honestly I loved reading it as it was just a different take on fantasy while also being an easy and fun read!
Yes! I really love this channel and I still laugh when I watch the series (we approaching the tenth repeat 😅). But I won't recommend it for the first one. So much of the fun is making fun of fantasy tropes that if you have not extensively read fantasy the last decade it won't be as fun.
But I really believe Charlie will love the channel and the series
@@Aryanna1009 I don't know about that not being a good choice for a beginner because I am not particularly well read. I've basically read The Lord of the rings and The Chronicles of Narnia a bunch and that's pretty much it for fantasy, but I thoroughly enjoyed the book and was aware of the tropes it was making fun of.
Oo I’ve been waiting for the audiobook but I’m gonna buy the hardcopy too
Anne McCaffery's Dragonriders of Pern series. ❤❤❤❤❤
Definitely second this, my favourite author of all time (I'm 69 btw)
@@lynnthomas7275 yeessssssssss I have read the series several time. when I was in high school dolphin's bell was what intrude me to it and her started my love of reading. 💜
You’ll like this medieval-on-another-planet world in which teaching happens through song. Great writing.
It’s usually recommended to begin with the Lessa sub series but I think you’d be better starting with Dragon Song (followed by Dragon rider/Dragon drums) about a girl living in a repressive “hold” who wants to become a Harper (teacher/musician/agent of change).
Same author - more obviously sci fi: Killashandra. Begins with a trained singer being told she’ll never have a top level career because of a burr in her voice, so she ends up using her voice on another planet in a very unexpected way.
I love the way music is integral to every world of mc caffrey. Music was my way into sci fi (which is a genre I still rarely read, so this is a high recommendation).
@@isabellalucia7820yes! I forgot about this one but I think Charlie might love it😂
I really like Robin Hobb, especially "the Farseer trilogy" and "the Liveship Traders" is my absolute favourite, character oriented fantasy
Susanna Clarke's "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell" is also amazing, it's alternative history of the early 19th century in Western Europe and the style is spot on.
Extra vote for farseer trilogy. I’ve been stretching my brain for good, conceptually-interesting adult fantasy that doesn’t get dark. Perfect suggestion.
Perhaps also Tanya Huff’s Sing the four quarters series?
Extra vote for the Liveship Traders! 😁
One of my favorites is "The Eyre Affair" by Jasper Fforde. It is an interesting mix of mystery, fantasy, and classics. Once I read that one, I read the whole series by him.
I find his style very cold, but love the (now much imitated) concept, so I come back to him every once in a while. Literary detectives are something thamight also appeal to a literature reader.
Seconding Jasper Fforde- his Thursday Next series are amazing books, The Nursery Crime series is also quite good.
This is a great recommendation based on her usual reading habits!!
We really enjoyed "The fourth bear" I agree he is a little hard to read, but great concepts.
Yes, very good.
Not light reading, but when you feel like something long, The Name of The Wind
It's so good, but where is book 3? How many years has it been? He's another GRR Martin.
@aliciazazirski9898 true, so many years, not quite sure it'll actually happen, but they are quite lengthy! Did you read the novella that came out, last year, I think?
Very good indeed
I highly recommend the audiobook as it was much easier to get into.
@@aliciazazirski9898 , Right!?!?! Seriously, we've been waiting forever...
Inkheart and Magyk are two of my favorite series of all time. Both have lots of adventure and fantasy they both live rent-free in my head since my teenage years.
The Inkheart books are definitely far superior to the movies!!
Oh yes, the inkworld trilogy is one of my all time favourite series too. I really should make time to look into the fourth book, that came out a couple of years ago. Cornelia Funke is probably my favourite author.
Anything by Cornelia funke is great if you’re looking for excellent children’s fiction. First ink heart book is a wonderful romp through the possibility of book characters coming alive in the real world. This was selected by a reading circle I once ran and resulted in a dyslexic student reading the whole thick book to a blind student over a year of lunch times, as it wasn’t available in braille. They became friends and the dyslexic student became a very confident reader - that’s the power of a good book.
Magyk is more formulaic and tends to be read by kids who only read fantasy, less recommended.
@@isabellalucia7820 the wonderful thing about Cornelia Funke is that you can still enjoy her works as an adult. She has a wonderful way of speaking to your inner child.
Oh! I have all the books in hardcopy but I haven’t started them yet- now I’m excited!
My favorite book is The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (also the other books in the same universe). Its a sci-fi space opera that has some action, but is also focuses on day to day and the interactions between characters. For a person who grew up not knowing that being anything outside straight and cis was an option, it really helped me like normalize in my head that there are an infinite number of ways to identify and everything is on a spectrum. For a book that has a lot of aliens, it's also a very human commentary on things like how humans fight over resources, let differences divide us, when usually we can find common ground with even those we find the most different from us if we take the time to try. Its heavy on found family themes and overall suprised ne with how good it was the first time i read it.
Oh yes, definitely. I don’t do sci fi but bought it to expand my school library’s “classics” collection beyond the lists set by English teachers. Loved it and was delighted when kids have me an excuse to get the sequels. It remains one of the few sci fi I’ve ever enjoyed.
Love that book so much!
Yes! Becky Chambers is one of my “anything by” authors
@@HouseHooligan yes me too!! :D have you read 'A Good Heretic' in the anthology 'Infinite Stars: Dark Frontiers'? It's a novella/short story in the wayfarers universe. And it's awesome :D
Oooh, Rivers of London series! Modern mythology combines with detective. I've only read 1 short story but intend to read them all as a treat when I submit my thesis.
This is fantastic!
Yes very good series. Can be slightly gory though for those of us who didn’t grow up with it.
Such a good series!
YES - I love this series. Definitely second this rec.
And the spin-off novels about the American agent, the German agents, and the Folly agents in the past!
The most memorable and impactful book I've ive ever read was A Handmaid's Tale.
For me, too. I was also going to recommend it and anything else by Margaret Atwood, then I remembered Charlie set some parameters for recommendations. Don´t get me wrong, I really respect Margaret Atwood and she is probably of my favorite living writer, but I have had to cut back on reading her books because some of them haunt me and keep me awake in the wee hours. Especially The Handmaid´s Tale and the Oryx and Crake series. The last chapter of THT outraged me when I first read it in the ´Eighties and it has never lost its sting for me. Such a great writer!
@@melb.4609I agree. Love Atwood, read many of books over the decades, but sadly, the dystopian novels seem to have been taken as instruction manuals, a little too much, & definitely has that potential to go against the parameters set.
YES!
Ooo such a good recommendation!
Yes but I would call that a classic
Hitchhikers Guide! Yes! Really, any of Douglas Adams.
This one is funny!
Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold. It is the start of a long series that I can read over and over
Anything by Bujold is good.
That's a good series but it tends to the spicy when you get near the end of the series. Her Sharing Knife series is compelling but got too spicy for my preferences.
First some of my modern favourites:
- Eragon. (Dragons and some really interesting surprises in the story.)
- Tad Williams "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" (The beginning is a bit boring but after you finished the first 80 to 100 pages a HUGE world is going to unfold! Great characters, great character development, some tragedy, not too much love, magic... It has everything 👌🏻)
- Any book of Terry Pratchet. I really enjoyed some of his work. But after around 5 to 10 books it feels like they're all the same. But still worth reading.
- Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It's just hilarious.
My niece also uses her books (and headphones) to get away from her surroundings. I think this is a very clever way to protect herself. Everybody understands the sign and she could get some energy back.
Throwing my weight behind Eragon! If you like dragons and fantasy without the focus being on romance, this series is pretty great.
@@tessapal Yes, this part with the "not so much focus on romance" is so wholesome! Paollini shows some kind of real-life romances but they never distract from the story. And then you need to remember, that Paollini was very young when he started to write the series. And he managed to create so many layers and depth in a fantasy novel... A world worth to escape every now and then. Such great characters... This story lives in my memory and heart... Sigh... I could go on and on... 🫠🥰
Eragon!
I LOVED Eragon! My vote for that! Also the first book is like a tight 200 pages and a relatively easy read (if memory serves, and it doesn’t always) so it’s a gentle series to get into
Project Hail Mary written by Andy Weir!
SciFi but not overly unrealistic. It's about the new and unknown. And above all, friendship and understanding. It somehow tickled my autistic brain in a satisfying way. Love love love that book!
And it's even better in the audio version.
I just heard about this book and I really want to read it!!! So glad you liked it!
It was so good, and a fantastic narrator for the audiobook. Same thing was true of The Martian by the same author, for that matter. Both fantastic books and fantastic narration in the audiobook version.
Ooh I recommend this one too. A bit of humor and the ending is the best I’ve read in a long time.
Yes! Excellent book! I was going to recommend Andy too!
Oh my gosh, how could I forget! Georgette Heyer's Regency romances! "The Toll Gate", and "The Unknown Ajax" are absolutely delightful to read. Her others are also wonderful, but those are my all-time favorites.
I adore Arabella
Forgot my shelf of georgette heyer in my previous post. Arabella and cottillion are my 2 favourites but I am sure that I have at least a third of them.. ❤
My favorite is the Grand Sophie, it’s hilarious.
I love how many have already recommended Terry Pratchett! I was thinking The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents would be a fitting choice to start with :) Since there's someone who gets 'grounded' outside of the room with all the books! And from there on there's sooo many more fantastic books, stories, worlds! Adventures, dragons, libraries! And having read as many classics as you have really helps to appreciate it all the more :)
If you like fantasy I enjoy Mercedes Lackey. She does short 3 to 5 book series that can stand alone but build the world as you go. I have come back to her books after 20 years and am really enjoying them again.
The Elemental masters (historical fiction with a twist of magic) collection will have a new book out in December!
I'm currently reading through a lot of her Valdemar books that I hadn't previously read. However, they can be extremely dark in a lot of ways, some much more so than others.
Her 500 Kingdom books all stand alone and if you have read a lot of classic fairy stories, they are both brilliantly fresh and nostalgic at the same time. The Sleeping Beauty is my favorite is my favorite, but they are all good.
One of my favorite authors! I don't know which "world" I enjoy the most, 500 Kingdoms, Elemental Masters, or Valdemar...all of them are fabulous.
I am not a sci-fi person, but Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary is amazing
First of all, yes to His Dark Materials trilogy by Philipp Pullman (starting with The Golden Compass). I read it as a young adult, I loved it. I reread it recently as a middle aged adult and loved it even more. It is fantasy for kids/teens mostly set in a world similar to ours. It deals with lots of religious topics for adulst though and is heavily criticising church. Don't know if this is a recommendation or warning given your past. 😅
Next are some female authors I just generally would recommend to anyone.
Becky Chambers writes modern, wholesome Sci-Fi, perfect for beginners. Her stories are character focused, diverse and short. I highly recommend her Monk and Robot duology (starting with A Psalm for the Wild built) because it is so short and so wholesome, while addressing depression at the same time. She also wrote the wayfarer series. 4 books about 4 separate communities in one shared universe. They can be read as standalones, so not that intimidating. And they all deal with several different species trying to live together/side by side.
And then there is Emilie St. John Mandel who writes literary fiction with speculative/sci-fi elements. My favourites are Station Eleven (it deals with a pandemic, written pre Covid and with a group of theatre actors) and Sea of Tranquility (it also kind of deals with a pandemic, written post Covid).
Honorary mentions:
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams (Book about (re)discovering the love of reading through a list of book recommendations)
Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips (literary fiction set in a part of the world probably noone knows exists)
Veronica Speedwell series by Deanna Raybourn (historical fiction, murder myster where the protagonists might or might not fall in love.)
The Marsian/Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (funny and action packed sci-fi)
Any book by Kate Morton (emotional and epic family sagas with a dual timeline and twists)
Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson (heavy YA book about a black girl searching for her missing best friends. It broke me but it's so good.)
I love the Dark Materials trilogy, kinda struggling to get into the follow-on series but that's because I don't read like I used to
My first thought was Monk and Robot by Becky Chambers too!! Very wholesome and enjoyable. I want to clarify that the religion is fantasy too so the monk and psalm and prayer in the name are not about preaching at all. For anyone who would be put off by it, don't be!
I agree with your recommendations for books I've read, but there's a lot in there I have never heard of, writing those down 👀
@@bellablue5285as a child I found the first 100 pages to be ... somwhat hard to go through.. but loved it more and more after that
Anne McCaffrey's Dragons of Pern series is amazing.. it's a series that you can drop in and out of. The first ones where written in the 60's/70's her writing style is all about emotional interplay .. bonus the dragons are telepathic. So good.
Agatha Christi is a great cozy mystery author. My oldest sister LOVES the Cat Who books which are also cozy mysteries. My father is a fan of Michael Connelly which are more in the style of police/detective crime dramas. I liked his book The Late Show. Mitch Albom The Five People you Meet in Heaven and For One More Day ripped my heart out, but in the best possible way. The Help by Kathryn Stockett was awesome. The movie did not do it justice. If you are into non-fiction or essays, Malcom Gladwell is great. Talks about social phenomenon in small essays. Explains concepts well without being boring.
Also any of the partners fisher series by Aussie writer Kerry greenway. Meticulously researched mysteries set in 1928 Melbourne with a flapper detective and strong emphasis on clothes and food. Deliciously cosy.
Yes yes Agatha Christie!!! Also Dorothy Sayers. Great mysteries, older writing....kiiiinda like literature!
That’s the Phryne Fisher series. Good mysteries, quite enjoyed them, but there is a noticeable erotica element.
A great author so many choices with her
Oh yes! The cat who series is great
Having had a similar reading history , I fell in love with the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters, starting with Crocodile on the Sandbank- imagine if Indiana Jones was a married Egyptologist in the Victorian era - it's light mystery reading with Egyptian lore interwoven in each story and a tongue in cheek sense of humor
It's fun, pure and simple!
Omg, I read those in high school and adored them!
So much fun!
OMG I loved the Narnia series growing up! As I wasn't raised in a christian household (we'd go to church on maybe easter and christmas) any christian subtext went right over my head. I've been meaning to reread it now that I have more knowledge and am better at reading between the lines, but I haven't been in a reading mood.
My reading is either "I don't feel like reading" or "I must devour every unread book on my bookshelves" and there is no inbetween.
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Loved it.
Loved these too!
PILLARS OF THE EARTH is a great recommendation for Charlie, I think!
I would recommend the Murderbot series by Martha Wells. It is a series of about 6 or 7 pretty short (almost novella) books about a non-gendered cybernetic Security Unit that suddenly finds itself free of its programmed corporate enslavement and tries to spend all of its time watching media, while pretending to still be a good SecUnit. Murderbot is snarky as hell, and the series is about it learning to develop friendships and emotional connections while kicking ass. Super easy reading with a surprising emotional punch.
I absolutely love the MurderBot series audiobooks!
Came here to say the same.
I recently read a book by another youtuber! "Just stab me now" by Jill Bearup. It's witty, has mystery, and has a unique way of the author interacting with the characters in the book.
She wrote it after making a youtube shorts series; pretty much everyone and their mother was demanding a written version. The videos and the book are great, the book fleshed out more details.
I second Just Stab Me Now too!
I co-sign the recs for His Dark Materials, The House in the Cerulean Sea, and anything by Becky Chambers, NK Jemisin, or Martha Wells.
Yes, HOUSE is amazing!
A lot of Terry Pratchett's books hit that balance of comedic fantasy with a twist of realism and a knowledge of people that make people love his works. And as his writing history is decades long, there's tonal variance too. A touch more grim and gritty in the later books as his diagnosis had come through and he's living out his last years. The composed middle books, the wild early books. He was the co-author of Good Omens, another book recommended here. He's got other short series beside the massive Discworld series to try dip your toe into his style.
Discworld may look intimidating at first glance but each of the book can stand on it's own but also having that 'I know those people' when you run into another book with the specific cast present. You get to know this flat disc on top of four elephants (used to be 5) that stand on the shell of A'Tuin the great star turtle. A world where light has weight, time is a bit physical and the gods play dice with the fates of men. And men occasionally climb the the great mountain they dwell on to kick them in the fork for that.
Even as I'm turning more towards digital reading, my beloved Pratchett collection still stays on my shelf, with the occasional wild book added (Nanny Ogg's cookbook? Yes I have it.🤭)
Also this one time I was out with my friends, and I saw a used bookstore I'd been to once before, and I swear it was like 10 meter, across a road, a bit of crass another road, and I saw in the discount bin in the front a familiar cover. My friends got ditched for five minutes as I ran to buy that book. They understood, book nerds alltogether. I found my own copy of L.M. Montgomery's Blue Castle. Another favourite is Georgette Heyer's These Old Shades.
Lucinda Riley's The Seven Sisters series (8 books in total) is great - adopted sisters, each named after the Seven Sisters of Pleiades, are left a letter upon the death of their father, directing them to find their birth family. I'm currently working back through all of Lucinda's standalone books.
Love, love, love!
I love this series too!! Thank you @aussie_vonnie for buying them!!
For fantasy/sci fi may I recommend -
Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon - An old woman decides to stay alone on a planet, when the failing space colony that she lives on is evacuated, for a chance to live out her remaining years in peace.
Ancillary Justice - by Ann Leckie - A woman who used to be a spaceship is on a quest.
Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells - a security robot breaks the code that tells it not to harm humans, but finds that it mostly wants to watch tv.
Spinning SIlver - Naomi Novik - a spin on the rumplestiltskin tale with amazing characters (Uprooted by the same author is also great)
Fifth season - NK Jemisin, A woman travelling across a world wracked by mini apocalypses, whilst looking for revenge. (a warning that this one deals with a lot of dark subject matter)
Any of the discworld books (Terry Prattchet) but specifically the Witches series
Wayward children series by Seanan Mcguire - stories about what happens to children after they come back from adventures in fantasy worlds. (the first book has an asexual protagonist)
Loved Ancillary Justice (though I had to restart the audiobook a couple of times because I kept thinking I must have missed something)! I just finished the Fifth Season series...
Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King - mystery - Sherlock Holmes later career fiction. Naomi Novak's Spinning Silver fairy tale retelling. Martha Wells - All Systems Red - scifi novella
I LOVED beekeepers apprentice!!!!!
Martha Wells rocks. So does Murderbot.
I cosign *all* of these! I liked Novik's Scholomance trilogy (starts with _A Deadly Education_) a little bit better, because the characters were more gripping?
But I think that may be an inherent tradeoff you have between a brand-new story and a retelling of traditional folktales. With something new, you can create backstories, motivations, and personality quirks from any direction. But with traditional folktales, you've often got a resonance that's hard to even begin approaching when you're not drawing on centuries of experience.
I also wanted to recommend Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver for female protagonists in a historical fantasy!
Omg. Laurie kings Holmes books are the freaking best. And the Harry Dresden books. Not the same genre but both utterly delightful.
I recommend 'Dragon Riders of Pern' if you haven't read it. It's like the classics in it's world building and language but it's like a modern story in it's female-led story, depth of character and in it's quicker pacing--its like a gateway modern story. The first book 'Dragonflight' was originally 2 award winning short stories so it's easy to read (and the best of the series to many) and although there are many books in the series, and they are addictive, there are shorter sub-stories which make it easy to read in chunks, if you want, and each book feels complete on their own (but I binged them anyway so it's hard to recall for sure). The main character bonds with and learns to ride a telepathic dragon to save her colony from a strange ecological threat from the skies. It's awesome! Hearing your interests, I thought of it right away.
Robin Hobb! She's an amazing fantasy writer known for her character work. Start with either the Farseer trilogy or the Liveship traders. (I read Farseer first.) Farseer is more focused on one character and the liveship traders on multiple
Mystery: Sue Grafton. Her alphabet series. She passed away before starting Z but this series was one of my Momma’s FAVORITE!!!!!!!!
This is my comfort series for sure! Especially the earlier books which I believe have less complex/dark plots. It just drives me slightly crazy that Ms. Grafton and her estate didn't want someone to finish the last book. I've even tried to see if someone has written a fanfic version of "Z is for..." Someone must have, I just don't know how to find it! ❤
Also one of my favourites. And my mum has read them too. So good but suspect it might not be up the right alley as it can be quite gritty, not gorey in any way but some times a little thrillery.
The night circus is one of my favorite books in recent years. It’s a standalone story that is beautifully written
Seconded!
Thirded!
Fourthed!
Oh definitely! The Starless Sea was really good as well
I had totally forgotten this one it was amazing! Did you ever read Caraval?
The POETRY of me reading the title as "I Only Read (present tense) Classic Literature" then during the ending as "I Only Read (past tense) Classic Literature" reminds me of why I love homonyms despite how much of a nightmare they must be to non-native speakers ^^;
Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters. I love history, archeology and mysteries, so it melds my passions in an entertaining story.
I was going to suggest these, too. Best read in order as they do build on one another. The first is _Crocodile on the Sandbank_
I also loved these books, I read them with my dad
So good! I love it when he yells "Peabody!!!"
Swordheart by T Kingfisher; A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T Kingfisher. Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron; The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner.
seconding all these 100% except the Rachel Aaron, which I'm adding to my tbr
I found T Kingfisher this year and really fell in love.
I love the Discovery of Witches trilogy by Deborah Harkness. The writing quality is high and the plotline is fascinating! Locales include Oxford's Bodlian library, an old sentient house in New England, the 1590's in England and France, and more! I reread it every couple years!
Me too. There's several parts where the imagery connects to me at a very deep level usually resulting in tears - particularly colour and wood - didn't want to give any spoilers to Charlie in case she does read these! 😀
I absolutely love these books and always recommend them as well!
I love these books! There's a 4th one that was just released in the last couple of months.
@@cutebutton12 yes, I have that one as well, plus the one with Marcus and Phoebe!
Kinda sexy, though 🫣
I think I'm ace, too. I don't know if it is from an internal place or if it is from a place of self-defense but at this point in my life I really don't need it. I like intimacy and touch and cuddles and snuggling and those things but the actual spicy parts I also just kind of Don't enjoy reading anymore.
Yeah, I think I am too. Hate reading about sex and have no interest in "dating" eww. Just leave me to my sewing knitting embroidering etc.
“Dealing with Dragons” by Patricia Wrede is a fun feminist fantasy about a girl who isn’t allowed to learn anything fun at home in her castle, so she escapes to become a dragon’s princess.
Ooh yes, I love Dealing With Dragons! Excellent trope subversion, good plot, all the main characters are female.
I would also highly, highly recommend Naomi Novak. She is an incredible writer with so much depth. Start with Uprooted, which is a stand alone book, then just consume everything, it’s all delicious and yet very varied.
Omg yes!!! I have devoured everything she's written and i love them all so much!! Scholomance was my favorite series!!
I loved Termeraire series
Based on some of the books you mentioned a YA series from the 80's-90's The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia Werde. A set of 4 books beginning with Dealing with Dragons. A princess who is boared with her life and runs away to be a dragons princess. Both because it was respectable and more interesting than dancing and embroidery lessons. Princess Cimorene understands you need to know the rules in order to make them work for you.
Anne MCaffrey - Dragonrider series, Dragon Singer series, Freedom Series, Ship Series, Tower series... all of the series! Katherine Neville: The Eight, A Calculated Risk, The Magic Circle. Children/Teen books; Cornelia Funke Inkspell Series. Susan Cooper: The Dark is Rising series. Madelaine L'Engle: A Wrinkle in Time series. So many good books are for young teen or children. Mervyn Peake: Gormenghast series. Philip Pullman: His Dark Materials series. And there is always Rowling's Harry Potter or any of Rick Riordan's series based on children of the Gods: Kane Chronicles, Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus, Magnus Chase. I go back and reread all of these on a regular basis.
I don't like anything scary, gruesome or scarring, but The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle really made me feel like I was touching into the mystery, cool kids section, while staying on safe grounds. Loved it!
I love The Martian as a great scifi novel. It's funny, well-written, and just a single, regular-length novel
This is also one of my favorites! And for once I thought the movie was an excellent translation.
So much of what you say here is relatable -- including the reading on the toilet and my parents trying to figure out if they could ground me from reading. When I really needed alone time, I used to hide books in the bathroom between the folded towels, so I could go sit and read without actually carrying a book in with me.
One of my favorite book series is the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. There are around 20 books, but they stand alone stories set in the same world, and some books feature the same characters. Wholesome fantasy, but all the characters are woodland creatures! The writing is charming, but fair warning- There are many detailed descriptions of food that may inspire epic baking/cooking sprees.
I always say the Chronicles of Narnia was a gateway book for me, too, but for me, it was into the fantasy genre. Those books were so formative for me that I named my daughter after a main character. That being said, as someone who also grew up with many of the Christian books you mentioned, I think a big issue for both that and Christian music is just the commercial market for those. I’ve long thought that the publishers and record companies let people get away with sub par artistry because if they throw a few mentions of Jesus in it, someone will buy it. I do think my upbringing was less strict than yours, because my Christian school had me read a LOT of classics, some of which could have been controversial (like I clearly remember Bridge to Terebithia in elementary school, and a Salman Rushdie book my senior year.) I appreciate that you’re not taking the angle of bashing all the Christian lit, as there are some good ones, and that is still my faith. But I read a lot of “regular” books, too.
Recommendations: I’ll also say Brandon Sanderson. If you’re not ready to start with a full series, aside from Tress, my favorite recent stand alone of his was Yumi and the Nightmare Painter. If you haven’t read Diana Wynne Jones’ Howl’s Moving Castle, I’d highly recommend both that and the Miyazaki movie based on it. I recently read a YA fairy tale retelling called Echo North that I loved, and sewing does play a role! If you like Jane Austen, I just finished a mystery spinoff based on her novels called The Murder of Mr. Wickham, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Another mystery series that I don’t remember being gory but is a lot of fun is The Thursday Murder Club - it’s a bunch of octogenarians solving murders while in an assisted living home in the UK, and my entire book club was SO obsessed with it. Other modern novels I’ve loved was Remarkably Bright Creatures, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, and The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.
You might like "A Man Called Ove" by Fredrick Backman. Contemporary Fiction with some dark humor, but heartwarming characters and really sweet ending.
I just picked up that one. Haven't read it yet
was made into the movie A Man called Otto with Tom Hanks
Awesome book!
Yes! I have thoroughly enjoyed all of his books. Such interesting characters!
Oh, yes! A Man Called Ove is a lovely book!
The almost visceral reaction in agreement I had just now to NEEDING reading as an accepted reason to have time alone was unexpected and hit me right in the face.
I'm the eldest of 5 and alone time, privacy or even just the hint of quiet were RARE. Being neurodivergent in a very diverse neurodivergent family made it even harder. So reading and being allowed to read and not take care of everyone and evrything while doing so was my biggest escape until I started Uni and moved out.
I feel your videos so much and this one, once again, really hits home
I was the eldest of 6 and like you had to take care of everyone else. . In a very Loud family . Reading was my escape from a horrible abusive life and I use to get in trouble in school for reading instead of paying attention in class it was my escape there too. Being quiet and different and not able to relate to 'social norms' in the 50's and 60's made me a target for other kids and teachers. These videos make me sit and think Yep I get it.
@@s.fuhrmann Now that you say it, I remember reading ahead in school in almost every single school book. Reading and books have been such a gigantic escape to safety, at least momentarily and emotionally. I am so sorry that you had to go through this. I know how terrible it was in the 90ies for me can cannot even imagine how much worse earlier decades were for those not fitting into social norms.
Thank you for your comment
So an author I really enjoy is Gail Carriger and her Soulless series (Victorian Vampires and Werewolves run the British Empire and the protagonist cancels out their powers by touch. It’s quite Steampunk and fun) and that author recommended a book I’d never heard of (which is unusual for me because I am an English teacher so I’m up on most titles) The Forgotten Beasts of Eld and I just finished it. It’s not too long but the writing is beautiful and the story line is unusual and it’s just the one book. Highly recommend.
I'm gonna toss in for Anne McCaffery as well. She got me through middle school tbh. I started with Crystal Singer (There is mention of spicy things, but not descriptions of it.) Along with the pern books. I'm gonna go off the beaten path though and say to start with Dragonsdawn (which is later in the release but the first in the timeline).
I'd also like to humbly suggest the Realm of the Elderlings books by Robin Hobb. It starts with Assassin's Apprentice. It's first person, about a boy who grows up as a bastard in a fantasy setting. It's a low magic setting, and is a bit heart breaking at times. It's INCREDIBLY well written. It's okay to think the main character is an idiot. Cause he is, but he's HUMAN. He's a person, with flaws, just like all the other characters in the series.
@@mis_fyth I forgot about Robin Hobb. So good a read.
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke seems like something you’d enjoy. I see others have recommended it as well. Great video! I thought I was a bookworm but after watching this I realized I was probably average 😂 I’ve never read plays. Plenty of books in all categories since the age of 6 and I’m 52 so that’s a lot of reading.
I think Tamora Pierce would be great a great place to start. She's been writing female centered fantasy since the 80's that definitely stands up. They are young adult, but deal with a large variety of issues. Plus, who doesn't love dragons and knights!
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C Wrede. Anything by Patricia C Wrede, actually. Pam Uphoff is also someone I just recommend as an author. Ilona Andrews’ Hidden Legacy, and the Edge series by the same author. Honor Harrington by Dahid Weber, but I tend to stop after the first few. The Empire of Man, also by David Weber. Rats, Bats, and Vats by David Feer and Eric Flint. The Mithgar series, the Faery series, and the Black Fox duology by Dennis L Mckiernnan. The case Files of Henry Davenforth by Honor Raconteur. Someone else has already recommended the Discworld, but I’d actually recommend starting either with Guards! Guards! or one of the Lancaster books. But the books were written to be understood no matter the order you read them. (Sam Vimes is just one of my favorites.)
That’s just off the top of my head. If you want short story collections, the Sword and Sorceress anthologies and the Chicks in Chainmail are pretty good tongue in cheek.
Stealing the Unicorn is not quite as modern, but good fun. I’d have to think some more to try and cudgel some more titles. Unfortunately, my brain tends to operate more on cover and location. Which is less useful when the bookshelves in the house haven’t been there for a good number of years.
@@KohakuRyuKazes someone else who appreciates Patricia c wrede as she deserves!
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles were so good. I can't count how many times I read that series when I was a kid.
I LOVE the Enchanted Forest Chronicles. And basically everything else by Patricia C Wrede that I've read. The Frontier Magic series is fabulous and definitely one of my favorites.
I've had a bit of a falling out with reading myself, but the last series I really got into was The Hunger Games. I even thought maybe it had reignited my love for reading and bought a few books I thought would be interesting but just couldn't get into them. Then the new book in the series came out and I *devoured* it just like the others. So I agree, it just has to be the right kind of book that really draws you in ❤
If you really like the Hunger Games (I love that series and just got done re-watching all the movies about a week ago), I would recommend Red Rising by Pierce Brown. If you haven't read it already it, it's much more sci-fi, kind of takes it to the next level and then some, the plot twists that uncharacteristically I did not divine before hand, and the upping the ante from book to book is a wild ride.
We also got "grounded from" something specific in my house growing up. I was grounded from reading on multiple occasions!
Go for Good Omens!!! I think I have seen it recommended here somewhere.. short, funny and I think you would love it ❤
I have two recommendations -
The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey. It's the start of a 6.5 book series, and it's on a romantic imprint, but it's also a great stand-alone novel with one easily skippable sex scene. Basically, it explores the question of what happens to Cinderella when her "prince" is entirely unsuitable - she becomes a fairy godmother! It's an AWESOME mash-up of way to many fairy tales (and the rest of the series is set in the same world, but focuses on different backbone fairy tales).
My other recommendation is one of those chonky-boy series: the Terre d'Ange series by Jacqueline Carry. It starts with Kushiel's Dart, carries on through one trilogy with the same heroine, another trilogy in which she is a side character, then another trilogy set 100 years later. It's an alternate Renaissance Europe, in which Christianity never really goes beyond what we would call Messianic Jews, other gods still roam the world, and the primary God of this land is Elua - who was born as Christ hung on the cross from His blood and Mary Magdalene's tears, which Mother Earth carried in her womb until Elua sprang forth. Anathema enough for your background yet? 😅 The primary reason I LOVE this series is that Elua's whole teaching is "Love As Thou Wilt." Each of the stories examines Love in a different way - obviously carnal / sexual, and in a place where no consent is heresy where all kinds of pairings goes - but also love of country, love of duty, love of calling. What does it mean to truly love a God who is the embodiement of LOVE so overflowing it created it world, and then share that love with others? What is the cost of serving that kind of Love? It has actually helped me tease apart true Christianity from the hellfire and brimstone I grew up around, which is saying something in a series in which the protagonist is a courtesan-spy who finds pleasure in pain and must save her realm at the side of a celibate warrior priest. It is definitely spicy with lots of BDSM and all sorts of positions, although those parts are skimmable. The world-building can be a slog, as it's the first 300 pages of a 800 page book. BUT if you can push past those caveats, it's an absolutely incredible series - and the world I'd choose to live in out of any fantasy or historical romance series I've ever read.
The series of unfortunate events is what started my reading as a kid. And Samantha really opened my eyes at 8 years old. I hated family reunions and would always be reading when I had to go, I’m glad that you shared your story on reading it’s nice that I’m not the only one who did that. Currently I’m reading self improvement so I don’t have anything out of the teen for entertainment type that you might be interested in.
I really enjoyed the series of unfortunate events as an 18 year old! The love for words, adventure, just drew me in until I read them all!
How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin, there is little romance as a subplot but nothing graphic and the reveal of the killer is amazing
Hello fellow ace spectrum human! My favourite romance book has a blend of fantasy and emotional intimacy: You Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne. I believe the second book in the series recently came out, so if you end up reading and liking it, there’s more 😊
I have been loving everything by Martha Wells and Ann Leckie lately. Both are incredible authors, their worlds are cohesive and follow an internal logic, their characters are multifaceted, and the stories so moving and neither rely on common tropes.
And my nerdy heart loves the layers of culture and language both of them bring to their work.
I concur with Gergette Heyer....I read all of them in my teen years. Easy reads, and a few "rebel" (for the time period) femaile lead characters. For mystery, how about "The Thursday Murder Club" (series) by Richard Osman.
I would give heyer 10 thumbs up if I could.
Definitely Hitchhikers Guide (the first one at least-there are 4 books in the trilogy) I also suggest Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth series-your background might give you an interesting take on it.
Also, think nonfiction novel -I can suggest anything by Stephen Puleo (Dark Tide, Voyage of Mercy, The Caning etc.)
(BTW 9 of us grew up in a reading household but not the homeschool Christian kind...very little supervision on the reading just you had to be aware that if we picked up anything from Mein Kampf to 3 Musketeers to Nancy Drew...someone would "force" us to give an opinion on it... All of us have different reading tastes but still cross pollinate ...which is how I found Stephen Puleo)
Oooh yes, Pillars of the Earth. Agree that it seems like it would be up Charlie’s alley.
I'm halfway through Good Omens right now. It's hilarious... and so far I can let my 10 and 12 year olds listen. I'm physically reading, but we do a LOT of listening to Audiobooks in the car. I wanted to add a vote for it. 😊
Anne McCaffery - The Dragon riders of Pern. Its a huge SF world with a lot of interpersonal connection. There are over 12 volumes and they are all a good read. She has other series as well that I love but this would be your entre.
Yes, yes! I love the Anne McCaffrey dragon series!!
Legends and lattes by Travis Baldree would be my recomendation! Cozy fantasy just a coffee shop in a fantacy world❤
Oh, yes. Legends and Lattes is so wonderful. A great book about found family.
Loved those book
This book was a perfect read, and I think a great jumping back into reading modern books. It’s a great stand alone book as well that feels cozy, magical, and like you stepped into a dungeon and dragons game.
I liked legends and lattes by Travis Baldree. Fantasy very light romance mostly adventure. Short book too so hopefully, it's a good starter if you check it out.
I just about screamed when you said sci fi/fantasy because I realised I could recommend you my favourite series, the Wayfarers series, by Becky Chambers. It begins with A Long Way to A Small, Angry Planet; sci-fi but not bogged down with sciencey vernacular, a diverse cast of characters, beautiful writing, and a major theme of emotional connection. They are spectacular and I truly think you'd really enjoy them
Seconding the rec for Becky Chambers!
I didn’t grow up with books, actually, the first time someone read a book to me was in kindergarten. Instead, I wrote my own as it became my way of dealing with my extremely violent & traumatic childhood, but it wasn’t until I took an AP Mythology & Classic Literature class in high school that I started to enjoy reading something I didn’t write myself. Now, because of my past, I wanted different for my kids. I successfully ended the cycle of abuse & made sure my kids grew up in a happy, stable, loving family. This included reading. My husband & I read to them throughout my pregnancy & continued until they could read themselves. Thankfully we live across the street from the city library, so it was basically their 2nd home, though it didn’t stop us from filling nearly a dozen bookcases with every book my husband has ever owned, (also a massive reader) every book my kids own, my favorite books (fits on a single shelf) cookbooks, 1st editions or autographed books & a single bookcase dedicated to my own original work. My kids were already reading high school/college level books in Elementary school, but the “Advanced Reading” program turned my kids love for reading into an outright competition on every level & garnered them every class, grade level, school & district wide award there was. Their interests have obviously varied over the years, but still to this day, the top 3 spots on their gift wishlist has something to read, something musical & a computer or coding related item. My youngest still prefers reading or listening to audio books over watching TV, UA-cam, playing video games, etc. while my eldest has backed off from reading a little as his interests have changed towards early childhood education & music. (he’s learned to play over a dozen instruments so far)
Btw, I couldn’t get through Ulysses either, though my most hated “must read if you want to graduate high school” books were “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” by Jules Verne & “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, but the one that affected me the most was “Johnny Got His Gun” by Dalton Trumbo.
I have 3 favorite authors: Ken Follett writes historical fiction starting with "Pillars of the Earth" the building of the cathedral of Essex. Second is the people of the Earth series by Michael and Kathleen Gear about early native American tribes. Lastly, Anne McCaffery has several series about other planets. Her Dragon Riders of Pern got me hooked.
Yes they can be chunky or have limitless sequels, but they also have smaller first books and you can indulge or not depending on your taste. Enjoy the adventures.
I remember being 10 years old and discovering Pillars of The Earth, gosh that takes me back.
Anything in Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere multiverse. Elantris is a good short standalone point of entry, which will still feel satisfying if you decide not to continue the Cosmere series. It's high fantasy with really interesting hard magic and worldbuilding. It is also a mystery!