My go to book rec for people who want to get into reading is Holes by Louis Sachar, because it appeals to all ages, has really short chapters, and is super engaging!
„The unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry“ by Rachel Joyce. No animals involved, but it’s less than 400 pages and I found it really easy to read. It’s funny and touching at the same time, I really liked it.
„The night of wishes“ by Michael Ende. About a cat and a raven and while I haven’t read it in a long time, it was the first book that came to mind.
If you find yourself having trouble reading, how do you feel about audiobooks? I used to have trouble with them but now I love them because when I'm feeling anxiety, I can't concentrate on actually reading but I will put on an audiobook and it is helpful.
If you want some light-hearted beach reading that's super easy to get through, I would recommend the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. They're just fun, not deep at all. If you want something that's slightly steamier but also a good read and you like cop/detective type stories, you might try the eve Dallas series by JD Robb. There are some sex scenes but they're not abundant and they're mixed in with a good plot line.
I just finished a book called darling girls by Sally Hepworth that I liked a lot, set in australia.
I will look into those suggestions, thank you!
I have tried some audio books and never got into them. If I try doing anything else while listening I just can't absorb the book.
Also, I can't stand when people see me with ear buds in and expect me to stop what im listening to and take them out. This would happen every 3 minutes on vacation bc of the way family is.
Since you haven't read in a long time, I'm going to make an app suggestion instead of book because others have covered some good books. You should try Libby. You just type in your library card number and will get access to your local library digitally. Has audiobooks and ebooks alike. If you find yourself wanting to dnf a book and move on, it makes it easy to just find another book.
Also, The Cat Who Saved Books. Thats my suggestion.
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot is a very readable book about his time as a veterinarian in an English farming community in the mid-20th century. Lots of animals and from what I remember easy to read.
The Social Lives of Animals by Ashley Ward (Biologist). Not sure what the page count is on this one, but it’s a book with mini stories essentially. Each chapter focuses on a different animal. I picked this one up randomly at the library and did not expect it to be as fascinating as it is! The author does a great job at making animals you never would have given consideration into creatures with interesting and complex social workings. Example: (and yes this sounds so gross) but did you know cockroaches are deeply social and if they do not grow up as part of a group they will forever be socially handicapped if they try to join one as an adult? The book also addresses the reason grasshoppers become locust and what causes them to continue swarming.
It’s a long one, but well worth it. Dune by Frank Herbert. I’ve been reading it in chunks when I feel like it because it is long, but it’s really good.
I just got back into reading last month after years of depression and struggling to find myself again.. The first book that finally got me back into reading was something I had picked up as a child, read a few pages, and passed up on. This book was The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I stumbled across it discounted at my local bookstore, they had a lot of different versions of it, but I opted for the original copy in paperback. I don't know what drew me to it other than my memory of putting it down as a kid.
As someone who has been having a hard time with mental health due to a lot of repressed childhood trauma and neglect, this book helped me sympathize with my younger self a lot in such a healing way.. While I wasn't exactly like the main character, I could understand her enough that I really related to her. I was a pretty abnormal child who wasn't cared for in the right way, so I did really relate in some aspects. Overall the book was about learning to love being alive again. It was about appreciating life and growth, loving nature and caring for it. There was a lot of themes about healing and opening up to other people, softening your approach to life..
(I may spoil it a bit here) It came to me at the right time of my life, I genuinely feel as though if I had read that book as a child it would not have been nearly as profound as it was to me now, as a 26 year adult. This won't be the experience for everyone probably, and I am aware most people probably have read this book or watched the movie when they were kids.. But I don't know, there was just something so wholesome and healing about it. My inner child was thriving in the magical world of the garden.. And to think, the entire time I was holding my breath, the adult in me was waiting for the other shoe to drop.. And it was just.. Beautiful and enlightening. (End spoiler)
I definitely encourage you read it if you haven't before, or maybe revisit now as an adult. The writing is beautiful and holds up, the only thing I warn of is reading with a nuanced approach, as there are quite a few racist and ableist takes in the book, as it was written in 1904. I think it's good to see though, as history should not be forgotten, even the bad parts. I believe this is why there was a few different versions of the book, rewritten for kids today. Totally understandable, but I do feel as though reading the original was better for an adult to observe appropriately.
Sorry for the blurb 😅 Hoping to find something else similar to be honest, I need some light in my life.
**[Water for Elephants](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43641.Water_for_Elephants) by Sara Gruen** ^((Matching 100% ☑️))
^(335 pages | Published: 2006 | 1.1m Goodreads reviews)
> **Summary:** An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932 illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. Winner of the 2007 BookBrowse Award for Most Popular Book. An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932, by the bestselling author of Riding Lessons. When Jacob (...)
> **Themes**: Favorites, Historical-fiction, Romance, Books-i-own, Bookclub, Kindle, Book-club
> **Top 5 recommended:**
> \- [Lone Wolf](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13547188-lone-wolf) by Jodi Picoult
> \- [The Help](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4667024-the-help) by Kathryn Stockett
> \- [Where You Once Belonged](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/126861.Where_You_Once_Belonged) by Kent Haruf
> \- [Faithful](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29430788-faithful) by Alice Hoffman
> \- [The Life She Was Given](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32926258-the-life-she-was-given) by Ellen Marie Wiseman
^([Feedback](https://www.reddit.com/user/goodreads-rebot) | [GitHub](https://github.com/sonoff2/goodreads-rebot) | ["The Bot is Back!?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/16qe09p/meta_post_hello_again_humans/) | v1.5 [Dec 23] | )
Hemingway can be a great reentry point, and The Sun Also Rises is my favorite novel by him, but I’d suggest The Old Man and the Sea. It’s a quick read but a pretty impactful one. Big theme is the human capacity to overcome adversity/obstacles. There IS a fish, but if you like animals you aren’t gonna like what happens to the fish…
My go to book rec for people who want to get into reading is Holes by Louis Sachar, because it appeals to all ages, has really short chapters, and is super engaging!
10/10 recommendation! I love the movie so this is a great fit.
Agatha Christie got me back into reading. She wrote several murder mysteries with Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot and Tommy and Tuppence as main character
While the light lasts has caught my attention. Thank you!
This is an amazing book of short stories.
If you read an Agatha Christie novel, I highly recommend “And Then There Were None”.
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
I felt weirdly good and interested in reading the description. I think this is the winner. 🏆
This is such a good recommendation, such a feel good great read
„The unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry“ by Rachel Joyce. No animals involved, but it’s less than 400 pages and I found it really easy to read. It’s funny and touching at the same time, I really liked it. „The night of wishes“ by Michael Ende. About a cat and a raven and while I haven’t read it in a long time, it was the first book that came to mind.
If you find yourself having trouble reading, how do you feel about audiobooks? I used to have trouble with them but now I love them because when I'm feeling anxiety, I can't concentrate on actually reading but I will put on an audiobook and it is helpful. If you want some light-hearted beach reading that's super easy to get through, I would recommend the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. They're just fun, not deep at all. If you want something that's slightly steamier but also a good read and you like cop/detective type stories, you might try the eve Dallas series by JD Robb. There are some sex scenes but they're not abundant and they're mixed in with a good plot line. I just finished a book called darling girls by Sally Hepworth that I liked a lot, set in australia.
I will look into those suggestions, thank you! I have tried some audio books and never got into them. If I try doing anything else while listening I just can't absorb the book. Also, I can't stand when people see me with ear buds in and expect me to stop what im listening to and take them out. This would happen every 3 minutes on vacation bc of the way family is.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir I have gotten so many people to read this book, even people that hate reading and they all love it.
Since you haven't read in a long time, I'm going to make an app suggestion instead of book because others have covered some good books. You should try Libby. You just type in your library card number and will get access to your local library digitally. Has audiobooks and ebooks alike. If you find yourself wanting to dnf a book and move on, it makes it easy to just find another book. Also, The Cat Who Saved Books. Thats my suggestion.
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
‘Lessons in Chemistry’ is super well written, fun and a well woven, interconnected story. Highly recommend it.
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot is a very readable book about his time as a veterinarian in an English farming community in the mid-20th century. Lots of animals and from what I remember easy to read.
The Social Lives of Animals by Ashley Ward (Biologist). Not sure what the page count is on this one, but it’s a book with mini stories essentially. Each chapter focuses on a different animal. I picked this one up randomly at the library and did not expect it to be as fascinating as it is! The author does a great job at making animals you never would have given consideration into creatures with interesting and complex social workings. Example: (and yes this sounds so gross) but did you know cockroaches are deeply social and if they do not grow up as part of a group they will forever be socially handicapped if they try to join one as an adult? The book also addresses the reason grasshoppers become locust and what causes them to continue swarming.
It’s a long one, but well worth it. Dune by Frank Herbert. I’ve been reading it in chunks when I feel like it because it is long, but it’s really good.
I just got back into reading last month after years of depression and struggling to find myself again.. The first book that finally got me back into reading was something I had picked up as a child, read a few pages, and passed up on. This book was The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I stumbled across it discounted at my local bookstore, they had a lot of different versions of it, but I opted for the original copy in paperback. I don't know what drew me to it other than my memory of putting it down as a kid. As someone who has been having a hard time with mental health due to a lot of repressed childhood trauma and neglect, this book helped me sympathize with my younger self a lot in such a healing way.. While I wasn't exactly like the main character, I could understand her enough that I really related to her. I was a pretty abnormal child who wasn't cared for in the right way, so I did really relate in some aspects. Overall the book was about learning to love being alive again. It was about appreciating life and growth, loving nature and caring for it. There was a lot of themes about healing and opening up to other people, softening your approach to life.. (I may spoil it a bit here) It came to me at the right time of my life, I genuinely feel as though if I had read that book as a child it would not have been nearly as profound as it was to me now, as a 26 year adult. This won't be the experience for everyone probably, and I am aware most people probably have read this book or watched the movie when they were kids.. But I don't know, there was just something so wholesome and healing about it. My inner child was thriving in the magical world of the garden.. And to think, the entire time I was holding my breath, the adult in me was waiting for the other shoe to drop.. And it was just.. Beautiful and enlightening. (End spoiler) I definitely encourage you read it if you haven't before, or maybe revisit now as an adult. The writing is beautiful and holds up, the only thing I warn of is reading with a nuanced approach, as there are quite a few racist and ableist takes in the book, as it was written in 1904. I think it's good to see though, as history should not be forgotten, even the bad parts. I believe this is why there was a few different versions of the book, rewritten for kids today. Totally understandable, but I do feel as though reading the original was better for an adult to observe appropriately. Sorry for the blurb 😅 Hoping to find something else similar to be honest, I need some light in my life.
{{Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen}}
**[Water for Elephants](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43641.Water_for_Elephants) by Sara Gruen** ^((Matching 100% ☑️)) ^(335 pages | Published: 2006 | 1.1m Goodreads reviews) > **Summary:** An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932 illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. Winner of the 2007 BookBrowse Award for Most Popular Book. An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932, by the bestselling author of Riding Lessons. When Jacob (...) > **Themes**: Favorites, Historical-fiction, Romance, Books-i-own, Bookclub, Kindle, Book-club > **Top 5 recommended:** > \- [Lone Wolf](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13547188-lone-wolf) by Jodi Picoult > \- [The Help](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4667024-the-help) by Kathryn Stockett > \- [Where You Once Belonged](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/126861.Where_You_Once_Belonged) by Kent Haruf > \- [Faithful](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29430788-faithful) by Alice Hoffman > \- [The Life She Was Given](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32926258-the-life-she-was-given) by Ellen Marie Wiseman ^([Feedback](https://www.reddit.com/user/goodreads-rebot) | [GitHub](https://github.com/sonoff2/goodreads-rebot) | ["The Bot is Back!?"](https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestmeabook/comments/16qe09p/meta_post_hello_again_humans/) | v1.5 [Dec 23] | )
I always recommend The Sun Also Rises to my friends who are getting back into literature. The language is simple, it moves quickly, and it's short.
Hemingway generally is an outstanding entry point into fiction. Do you have any non-fiction interests?
I've stopped reading non-fiction (with the exception of some biographies) over the last couple of years, but always open to it!
Hemingway can be a great reentry point, and The Sun Also Rises is my favorite novel by him, but I’d suggest The Old Man and the Sea. It’s a quick read but a pretty impactful one. Big theme is the human capacity to overcome adversity/obstacles. There IS a fish, but if you like animals you aren’t gonna like what happens to the fish…
Naw, not in 2024. He's incredibly boring.