Any fiction suggestions for a somewhat picky reader? The Expanse lasted me a long while but I’m finishing up the novellas now and need to start looking for something new. Not necessarily in the same genre.

I don’t have a lot of books under my belt as an adult, but some of my favorites have been Stoner by John Williams, Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, East of Eden, Catch 22, Flowers for Algernon, and Harry Potter. Kind of all over the place I guess. 😅

I’ve also enjoyed John Williams’ other novels, Piranesi, The Things They Carried, House of Leaves, and Ender’s Game and the sequel.

Some books I didn’t really care for include Hitchhiker’s Guide (although I loved the first half), Lolita, Sharp Objects, Turtles All the Way Down, The Stand, The Road, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451.

I’m always overwhelmed trying to find something new, so thanks for any suggestions!

EDIT: Thank you all! It’ll be a bit daunting exploring all these new books but not nearly as daunting as if I had no guidance, so I really appreciate it!

  • Crimfresh@kbin.social
    7·
    11 months ago

    I’m a big fan of modern epic fantasy. I highly recommend Stormlight Archive and The Kingkiller Chronicles. Sanderson and Rothfuss are easy to read and enjoy.

    • skulblaka@kbin.social
      5·
      11 months ago

      This is like the sixth time I’ve had Stormlight Archives recommended to me by random strangers. Maybe it’s time to look into those.

      • topnomi@kbin.social
        5·
        11 months ago

        Brandon Sanderson is awesome. I recommend starting with the mystborn books, but stormlight are good as well. They’re both part of the cosmere, a universe created by Sanderson. Many other books as well.

      • WarikCastil@lemmy.world
        2·
        11 months ago

        My buddy’s and I have started reading through stormlight together. I put it off for years but I have been really enjoying it. Already mostly done with book two.

      • learnbyexample@programming.devEnglish
        2·
        11 months ago

        Stormlight Archives can be daunting to those not familiar with Sanderson’s works, especially since the books are long (1000+ pages) and the first book is setting up a long 10-book series (plus other stuff from a wider universe).

        If you’d like something smaller and standalone to try first, check out “Emperor’s Soul” (novella) or Warbreaker (novel).

        • mayotte2048@lemm.ee
          3·
          11 months ago

          Sanderson himself recommends ‘Tress of the Emerald Sea’ as a short work to get a feel for his style. I agee.

      • Evotech@lemmy.world
        2·
        11 months ago

        Just be warned that it does start with a bit of a lore dump by one of the main characters attending university. It’s not all like that.

        But I quite ike that you get some explansion of the world before the story really starts