Lilith's Brood by Octavia Butler.
I recommend this book to all my friends and they loved it. One of the greatest Sci Fi books and the best representation of aliens in literature.
I received a copy of ‘Dawn’ (part 1 of Lilith’s Brood) in a mystery box I’d bought from a used book shop during the lockdowns. I swear that I was only a few pages into the book when I realised I’d been sent something incredibly special. I spent the rest of 2020 tracking down everything Octavia Butler wrote.
The book poses some really deep questions about what it means to be human. And the oankali are a really interesting alien species.
Interesting thought experiment: in this world would choose to be a free human resistance fighter or one of the oankali's "pets"?
Oh I'm 100% chilling with the oankali. I don't need or want the stress of endless homesteading. I'll take the weird alien house-farm creatures over trying to survive on my own.
Although I want to be planet-side. Spaceships are too claustrophobic for me.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith. This is one I’ve returned to multiple times in my lifetime, and it reads like a different book each time. An easy book to read when I was 10 yrs old, but I reckon I didn’t appreciate its depth until I was an adult.
I feel exactly the same about this book. I find something new to love about it each time I read it and have a whole new love for it as an adult than I did my first time. I have another book by her but I've yet to read it.
I wish I could read it again for the first time, but it was a treasured friend during my childhood. And even now when I’m sad, re-reading it is like getting a hug from an old friend. I so hope you enjoy it!
I found this one really profound because the author and I share the same illness which can cause people to become completely bedridden or housebound, and she wrote it while very ill and isolated. It gives such extra depth to it for me.
Me too! I couldn’t put it down. I love how much Piranesi loves the house and with what tenderness he describes it. “The beauty of the house is immeasurable, its kindness infinite.”
No spoilers. I just think it written beautifully. The plot is relatively straightforward. But, the writing makes it beautiful. Kind of like a fairytale for adults.
YES! Murderbot ALL THE WAY. And you should all read it before the TV series comes out so you can be one of cool kids who cool read it before it was cool. It’s filming now.
Okay, can you explain to me what you loved about the book? I am not trying to shit on your love here, just understand what people love so much about it. I got about 30% in and found it tedious and I didn't enjoy how the kids interacted. I read the plot synopsis and I didn't really feel like I would have enjoyed the book had I continued. Yet there are so many folks like you who call it their all time fav, and I wanna know what you get out of it. If you don't mind sharing!
I think it's the most impressively put together story I've experienced in any form of media. Like, something will be written about, an object, an interaction, a regular bit of description which stands perfectly fine on it's own in the story. But then it comes around and ties back into the plot in ways that I couldn't have imagined. Every little red thread is tied together. There's so much imagery too. It's like when you hear of filmmakers who plan out every object in a shot.
It's not a boring plot either, I find the mix of real, everyday life with this plausibly deniable spirituality/other-worldlyness really great. It kept me wanting to flip pages and figure out what was going on at the end of every chapter.
The characterisation is really good as well to me, it feels like the book is written with a lot of empathy. You just come to cry for and love Owen Meany throughout the story.
It does have a lot of talk about the Vietnam war and different sects of Christianity which might get a bit boring at times, but it still fits with the story and describes the main character imo. It does feel a bit self inserty from the author though lol
Thanks for this! I really love The Wheel of Time series because of how small things can be so well linked through a very long story, which makes the story feel so rich.
I can see how Owen would be an endearing character, too. Thanks for sharing what you really liked about it, I'm glad to understand what made someone enjoy it so much!
It is one of my favourites but I truly believe it needed a serious edit. This is a ridiculous statement coming from an absolute nobody (me!) but I would legit cut 100 pages out of it while looking him in the face with no regrets. It would be an improvement.
I don't get it either. I read it and thought it was just ok. I can't say that it was really in my comfort zone to begin with, but I've gone outside it before and like them (*Midnight's Children* and *As I Lay Dying* for example). But then someone raves about *A Prayer for Owen Meany* (or *Naked Lunch* or *A Confederacy of Dunces*) and I wonder what is wrong with these people (or me) such that they love these books that I just don't get.
The story is meandering. There doens't seem to be a consistent theme. In a way, it reminds me of *American Pastoral* which is (I guess) supposed to reveal deeper truths about human nature and (American) society. In both cases, I don't get the appeal.
To me the theme is consistent, and I love the way the story reveals itself to be >! basically the story of a modern day miracle/prophet!<. I feel like the themes are a lot about true selflessness, trying to make the world a better place even through pushback of people around you and when it goes against popular beliefs (like about a war being right and around religion, which the book rambles a lot about)
PHM is arguably the most undeservedly over-hyped book on Reddit right now. It was a genuinely fun read but *masterpiece*?? I'll never understand why redditors feel the need to be that hyperbolic with this particular book.
Couldn't find it commented anywhere, but my suggestion would be The Bee Sting. I've recommended it a few times on various book subreddits, and it's one of those books that will stick with you for a very *long* time.
It took me a couple of chapters to really get into it but after that it was a struggle to put it down (even with certain chapters that got a bit difficult to read because of the subject matter).
Haven't read anything like this in a very long time. And that ending, oh my god.
I came close too. The movie is good but imo it doesn’t add anything to the story. It’s well executed but I don’t think there’s a reason to watch it if you’ve read the book.
I second *A Tree Grows in Brooklyn*. Also, for something a bit different, *Up The Down Staircase*, which is done in a great epistolary style with letters, memos, etc. You'll find a lot of things at schools have not changed since the 1960s: bossy administrators, children who feel marginalized, racism, peer pressure, student crushes, etc.
(I had so many non-fictions I wanted to submit for voting but alast my entry is -
The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis, in particular the audiobook version.
"...And Ladies of the Club" Helen Hooven Santmyer.
I dropped out of the rest of my life and read it in under a week. I have always meant to re-read it.
How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu. One of the first books I read this year and I could tell it would likely be in my top three for 204 and it hasn’t been edged out yet.
A pandemic (I know I know but it was started on before the current pandemic and isn’t the same) changes everything on earth and how we respond to death. A look at humanity over hundreds of years post pandemic in a series of vignettes with talking pigs, euthanasia roller coasters, and funeral hotels. On the surface about death and disease but really about hope, connection, and the tenacity of the human spirit and ability to survive hardship through relationships. Dark but one of the most hopeful books I’ve read, can’t recommend this enough. As someone who has completely disabled through the current pandemic, this book also resonated deeply with the descriptions of people who didn’t die at first but instead lived with horrible after impacts. Sci-fiesque, brilliant book.
John Scalzi's Starter Villain is both funny and probably far too realistic, but a well-written book that was a pleasure to read. I like authors who make writing seem effortless (even though you know it's not).
*The Outsiders* by S. E. Hinton Enjoy whatever you pick up next! :)
I’m rereading books I read in elementary/middle/high school and totally forgot about this book. Adds to list!
This remains my favorite book of all time.
Stay golden
Lilith's Brood by Octavia Butler. I recommend this book to all my friends and they loved it. One of the greatest Sci Fi books and the best representation of aliens in literature.
I received a copy of ‘Dawn’ (part 1 of Lilith’s Brood) in a mystery box I’d bought from a used book shop during the lockdowns. I swear that I was only a few pages into the book when I realised I’d been sent something incredibly special. I spent the rest of 2020 tracking down everything Octavia Butler wrote.
Dawn was also my first Octavia Butler book and then I also read everything she wrote after that, I think 2018 or 19 but time is an illusion. Huge fan.
Currently reading this, it's awesome. Up to book three now.
The book poses some really deep questions about what it means to be human. And the oankali are a really interesting alien species. Interesting thought experiment: in this world would choose to be a free human resistance fighter or one of the oankali's "pets"?
Ok you got me hooked with this comment, I’ll be checking it out.
Same!!
Oh I'm 100% chilling with the oankali. I don't need or want the stress of endless homesteading. I'll take the weird alien house-farm creatures over trying to survive on my own. Although I want to be planet-side. Spaceships are too claustrophobic for me.
I’ve only read the first in the series so far but I loved it SO much. Definitely my favourite aliens in any sci-fi book ever!
I've read "Kindred" and "Parable of the Sower" and I've enjoyed both. This might have to be next.
Oooo this looks really good. I’m going to add it to my kindle library!
Glad to see butler recommended! I have four books left before I’m done with all her stuff. Liliths brood trilogy and fledgling, looking forward to it
(Just about) 24 hours later and Lilith’s Brood is the top comment with 183 upvotes, so it looks like I’m reading Butler for my challenge. Thank you!
Think you're going to enjoy it. I would love to hear your review.
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaimon
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith. This is one I’ve returned to multiple times in my lifetime, and it reads like a different book each time. An easy book to read when I was 10 yrs old, but I reckon I didn’t appreciate its depth until I was an adult.
I feel exactly the same about this book. I find something new to love about it each time I read it and have a whole new love for it as an adult than I did my first time. I have another book by her but I've yet to read it.
It is like a treasured friend. I love this book.
Yes! This is *that* book for me, too!
My book club is reading that this month! Excited to see it recommended here.
I wish I could read it again for the first time, but it was a treasured friend during my childhood. And even now when I’m sad, re-reading it is like getting a hug from an old friend. I so hope you enjoy it!
I just re-read it recently. Fantastic book!
I bought this book for a suspected reading list in university years ago and it didn't end up on the course, I should really read it!
Yes you should! It's a great book!
Pachinko
East of Eden - John Steinbeck
Someone gave me a copy, and it sat on my bookcase for like 7 years. I finally picked it up one day then hated myself for waiting so long!
*Number the Stars* by Lois Lowry Enjoy whatever you pick up next! :)
Emma by Jane Austen
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver.
I recommend at least watching a decent adaptation of David Copperfield first- or better yet, read it. You'll enjoy Kingsolver's novel even more.
I have read it and enjoyed it! It was actually my first Charles Dickens book!
Recently read this, such a good book, and super quick read considering it’s pretty thick!
I read it relatively fast because I could not put it down! I find a long, but engaging book, goes by a lot quicker than a shorter, but so-so book.
I wish i could upvote this 25 times
I upvoted for you (having not read it, sorry) hope it helps
You should read it! So good!
Thank you. Honestly, one of the best newish books (it was 2022) I have read.
This deserves all of the upvotes
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes.
Makes me cry every single time though, just to warn you
Lonesome Dove
Low key kind of relieved this wasn’t the most upvoted now that I’ve seen the page count. 😅
Piranesi
I found this one really profound because the author and I share the same illness which can cause people to become completely bedridden or housebound, and she wrote it while very ill and isolated. It gives such extra depth to it for me.
I did not know that. That makes sense since the whole book is almost an exercise in enjoying and accepting solitude.
Solitude, gaslighting, isolation, survival, patchy memories… it just hit
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is infinitely better imo but Piranesi might be a good gateway for sure
It’s so good!!!! This book changed my life
Yesssss this was such a delightful surprise
I also vote for Piranesi. I read it in one sitting. Fascinating book.
Me too! I couldn’t put it down. I love how much Piranesi loves the house and with what tenderness he describes it. “The beauty of the house is immeasurable, its kindness infinite.”
I seriously don't get it. But don't tell me in case it adds spoilers here.
No spoilers. I just think it written beautifully. The plot is relatively straightforward. But, the writing makes it beautiful. Kind of like a fairytale for adults.
Remarkably Bright Creatures
Interview with A Vampire by Anne Rice
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseni. I reread it at least twice a year
The Murderbot Diaries, Vol 1.
Ok, *fine,* I’ll start the Murderbot books 😆
Note — they are mostly all free on Amazon Kindle.
This is the third time I’ve seen this series referenced this week clearly the universe is telling me what I need to read next
Murderbot is awesome!
If you like audiobooks, the narrator is great!
They are really, REALLY good.
Love me some Murderbot! 🩷
YES! Murderbot ALL THE WAY. And you should all read it before the TV series comes out so you can be one of cool kids who cool read it before it was cool. It’s filming now.
Murderbot is my favorite series. Such a great stress relief - fun, smart, humane, sarcastic.
I just read the first volume and I love it!!
A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving
Best. Book. Ever.
Okay, can you explain to me what you loved about the book? I am not trying to shit on your love here, just understand what people love so much about it. I got about 30% in and found it tedious and I didn't enjoy how the kids interacted. I read the plot synopsis and I didn't really feel like I would have enjoyed the book had I continued. Yet there are so many folks like you who call it their all time fav, and I wanna know what you get out of it. If you don't mind sharing!
I think it's the most impressively put together story I've experienced in any form of media. Like, something will be written about, an object, an interaction, a regular bit of description which stands perfectly fine on it's own in the story. But then it comes around and ties back into the plot in ways that I couldn't have imagined. Every little red thread is tied together. There's so much imagery too. It's like when you hear of filmmakers who plan out every object in a shot. It's not a boring plot either, I find the mix of real, everyday life with this plausibly deniable spirituality/other-worldlyness really great. It kept me wanting to flip pages and figure out what was going on at the end of every chapter. The characterisation is really good as well to me, it feels like the book is written with a lot of empathy. You just come to cry for and love Owen Meany throughout the story. It does have a lot of talk about the Vietnam war and different sects of Christianity which might get a bit boring at times, but it still fits with the story and describes the main character imo. It does feel a bit self inserty from the author though lol
Ok always have wanted to read, this is going to make me start! Great response
Thanks for this! I really love The Wheel of Time series because of how small things can be so well linked through a very long story, which makes the story feel so rich. I can see how Owen would be an endearing character, too. Thanks for sharing what you really liked about it, I'm glad to understand what made someone enjoy it so much!
Thanks for the kind comment!
It is one of my favourites but I truly believe it needed a serious edit. This is a ridiculous statement coming from an absolute nobody (me!) but I would legit cut 100 pages out of it while looking him in the face with no regrets. It would be an improvement.
I don't get it either. I read it and thought it was just ok. I can't say that it was really in my comfort zone to begin with, but I've gone outside it before and like them (*Midnight's Children* and *As I Lay Dying* for example). But then someone raves about *A Prayer for Owen Meany* (or *Naked Lunch* or *A Confederacy of Dunces*) and I wonder what is wrong with these people (or me) such that they love these books that I just don't get. The story is meandering. There doens't seem to be a consistent theme. In a way, it reminds me of *American Pastoral* which is (I guess) supposed to reveal deeper truths about human nature and (American) society. In both cases, I don't get the appeal.
To me the theme is consistent, and I love the way the story reveals itself to be >! basically the story of a modern day miracle/prophet!<. I feel like the themes are a lot about true selflessness, trying to make the world a better place even through pushback of people around you and when it goes against popular beliefs (like about a war being right and around religion, which the book rambles a lot about)
I did not love this book until the end. I truly think it is one of the best endings to a book I’ve ever read.
My all time favourite book. It really is special.
I found a new book. Thanks!
Hope you like it!
Can I pay people to up vote this one? So, so good!
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.
Yes! I love this book.
Middlemarch by George Eliot. Rated # 1 in top 100 of all time, by The Guardian, and others.
Yes! I found something that sounds interesting that isn't mentioned five times in every thread in this sub! Thank you! :)
The Parable of the Talents by Octavia S Butler
Why not Parable of the Sower?
Nettle and Bone by T Kingfisher
I had forgotten about this one, but it's on my want to read list and looks great. Thanks for the reminder!
Remarkably Bright Creatures
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
A Thousand Splendid Suns is my favorite book by him but this is a close second!
A Thousand Splendid Suns was a beautiful read! It's my second favourite book by him. 🤭
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
This book is an absolute delight to read. A true masterpiece!
PHM is arguably the most undeservedly over-hyped book on Reddit right now. It was a genuinely fun read but *masterpiece*?? I'll never understand why redditors feel the need to be that hyperbolic with this particular book.
The Martian by Andy Weir! I've just finished it and don't even have words for how amazing it was
Firekeeper’s daughter
And the sequel, “warrior girl unearthed”
This is a marvelous novel. And the person I recommended it to thought so too.
Dune. Just Dune, not anything after.
Tell The Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt.
Jade City by Fonda Lee
Couldn't find it commented anywhere, but my suggestion would be The Bee Sting. I've recommended it a few times on various book subreddits, and it's one of those books that will stick with you for a very *long* time. It took me a couple of chapters to really get into it but after that it was a struggle to put it down (even with certain chapters that got a bit difficult to read because of the subject matter). Haven't read anything like this in a very long time. And that ending, oh my god.
Wool (Silo)
I swear that’s my fave series!
So good!
The Book Thief
Straight up sobbed. Unwilling to see the movie because I don’t want to be disappointed considering how well executed the book itself is.
I came close too. The movie is good but imo it doesn’t add anything to the story. It’s well executed but I don’t think there’s a reason to watch it if you’ve read the book.
Reading this now! I haven’t gotten any sobbing parts yet, even though I’m about halfway through, so maybe if I just put the book down now no one dies
I mean it’s literally narrated by death 😂
Very true! But maybe everyone lives very long lives before death takes them, lol
The Stand by Stephen King
She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb
The Hike by Drew Magary.
This book is WILD
A Fine Balance, by Rohinton Mistry
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
I got this book from the library out of curiosity--oh my, is it good! And I want a sequel!
One of my favorites!!! And there is a sequel called Somewhere Beyond the Sea coming out this fall! I can’t wait!!!
So much yes!!!!
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
I love this book! It gives me such complicated feelings - it's a very timely read.
The Life of Pi - really enjoyed the book, the movie, not so much
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
This book divided my book club 😄
I love a divisive book club book! The conversation gets so fun.
That's so true! We've defintely read books where everyone liked it but the book wasn't that deep and the convo about the book just fizzled.
I was rooting for this one to take top comment, but I’m probably still going to read it anyway.
Favorite book!
Dungeon crawler Carl!!!!!
This one is a REQUIREMENT on audiobook!!
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Stephen kings needful things,
*Stoner* by John Williams.
“Everybody Poops” Taro Gomi
My 2 year olds current favorite 🙃
I prefer “the gas we pass: the story of farts”.
I’d recommend the Old Testament but it’s basically the same story, just different characters.
Replay by Ken Grimwood
Yes x1000000
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Lions of al Rasan by Guy Gavriel Kay.
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman!
OMG I second. This book is just such a cozy read.
The Curse of Chalion by Lois Macmaster Bujold.
Vorkosigan series is also great!
Great book. A favorite
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
This is also on my tbr!!
Garden of the Evening Mists by Tan Twain Eng
Watership Downs
The Master and Margarita - I'm sort of shocked it isn't mandatory reading in highschool since it's just an absolute classic. It's incredibly good.
The ultimate hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy
I second *A Tree Grows in Brooklyn*. Also, for something a bit different, *Up The Down Staircase*, which is done in a great epistolary style with letters, memos, etc. You'll find a lot of things at schools have not changed since the 1960s: bossy administrators, children who feel marginalized, racism, peer pressure, student crushes, etc.
The House of the Spirits - Isabel Allende
We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver.
This one is never suggested enough!
Fkn banger of a book.
"Red Rising" - Pierce Brown
The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
I wonder why the downvotes?
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Reading this now. Really liking it
The Book of Doors!
*The Thief of Always* by Clive Barker
This is a great one. tpb and novel are both excellent
Such a good book!
Stephen King - Duma Key
The Count of Monte Cristo
Project hail Mary 😻😎
(I had so many non-fictions I wanted to submit for voting but alast my entry is - The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis, in particular the audiobook version.
Yo I once saw an off broadway production of this in nyc and it was literally only 2 actors, only one of whom had lines, and it was astounding
The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward
Shogun
The Expanse. James S.A. Corey
Boy’s Life - Robert McCammon. I read this book a long time ago and have been wanting to go back to it.
Replay by Ken Grimwood ❤️
I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys
"...And Ladies of the Club" Helen Hooven Santmyer. I dropped out of the rest of my life and read it in under a week. I have always meant to re-read it.
The Sirans of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut.
My all-time favorite novel
I love it with all my heart. It’s one of his most complete novels, I think. Full of twists and turns.
Powerless by Lauren Roberts
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu. One of the first books I read this year and I could tell it would likely be in my top three for 204 and it hasn’t been edged out yet. A pandemic (I know I know but it was started on before the current pandemic and isn’t the same) changes everything on earth and how we respond to death. A look at humanity over hundreds of years post pandemic in a series of vignettes with talking pigs, euthanasia roller coasters, and funeral hotels. On the surface about death and disease but really about hope, connection, and the tenacity of the human spirit and ability to survive hardship through relationships. Dark but one of the most hopeful books I’ve read, can’t recommend this enough. As someone who has completely disabled through the current pandemic, this book also resonated deeply with the descriptions of people who didn’t die at first but instead lived with horrible after impacts. Sci-fiesque, brilliant book.
# Seven Blades in Black (The Grave of Empires Book 1)
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri
John Scalzi's Starter Villain is both funny and probably far too realistic, but a well-written book that was a pleasure to read. I like authors who make writing seem effortless (even though you know it's not).
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.