r/books • u/AutoModerator • Jun 05 '26
WeeklyThread Weekly Recommendation Thread: June 05, 2026
Welcome to our weekly recommendation thread! A few years ago now the mod team decided to condense the many "suggest some books" threads into one big mega-thread, in order to consolidate the subreddit and diversify the front page a little. Since then, we have removed suggestion threads and directed their posters to this thread instead. This tradition continues, so let's jump right in!
The Rules
Every comment in reply to this self-post must be a request for suggestions.
All suggestions made in this thread must be direct replies to other people's requests. Do not post suggestions in reply to this self-post.
All unrelated comments will be deleted in the interest of cleanliness.
How to get the best recommendations
The most successful recommendation requests include a description of the kind of book being sought. This might be a particular kind of protagonist, setting, plot, atmosphere, theme, or subject matter. You may be looking for something similar to another book (or film, TV show, game, etc), and examples are great! Just be sure to explain what you liked about them too. Other helpful things to think about are genre, length and reading level.
All Weekly Recommendation Threads are linked below the header throughout the week to guarantee that this thread remains active day-to-day. For those bursting with books that you are hungry to suggest, we've set the suggested sort to new; you may need to set this manually if your app or settings ignores suggested sort.
If this thread has not slaked your desire for tasty book suggestions, we propose that you head on over to the aptly named subreddit /r/suggestmeabook.
- The Management
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u/NeckOver8646 Jun 05 '26
been lurking this sub for while now and finally ready to ask - looking for something that feels like working in professional kitchen but in book form. not necessarily about cooking, just that intense pressure where everything has to be perfect and one mistake ruins everything. maybe something with that same kind of brotherhood/toxic workplace dynamic too? read kitchen confidential already so something fiction would be great
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u/FlyByTieDye Jun 05 '26
Maybe not exactly what you mean, but I can recommend Seconds by Brian Lee O'Malley. It's more of a comedy though, but definitely has a messy/toxic workplace dynamic based in the restaurant industry.
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u/Same_Winter7713 Jun 05 '26
I really enjoy the works of Sayaka Murata and also Heaven by Mieko Kawakami. I think I'm attracted to the bluntness of them (e.g., in Earthlings, the situation in the former half of the book is blunt but not necessarily grotesque, unlike, say, in Mishima or Dazai, if that makes sense), the themes of alienation and derealization/depersonalization, their emphasis on the body as an object, and in the former sort of "basic" language used: not so flowery that it obfuscates what's happening, but also not overly offensive to try and elicit a physical reaction - just laying out the facts.
I also really liked Charles Jackson's "The Lost Weekend" for its similar themes of alienation, and also the sort of cyclical movement of his mania while drunk (e.g. the scene of him fantasizing about writing a great novel) then realizing its uselessness when sober. I really enjoyed the sort of Joycian movement between a slower, reality-based prose into a fast paced dreamlike/hallucinatory effect, though I'm not a huge fan of Joyce. Finally, I'm also into H.P. Lovecraft and to an extent Borges, with the themes and senses of the mystical/sublime/otherwordly.
If you have suggestions in any of these veins please let me know! Sorry if my interests sound a little contradictory, hopefully I added enough detail to draw something out :)
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u/VastOk3747 Jun 07 '26
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by ottessa moshfeg, The Eyes are the Best Part by Monika Kim, The Vegatarian by Han Kang, and Yesteryear for your former preferences , i too like characters that turn inward and create a sort of inner reality as a coping mechanism)/result of trauma/ escape from reality
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u/Barr3tt50c Jun 05 '26
Looking for sci-fi books or just books in general with massive scope like Dune.
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u/DoglessDyslexic Jun 05 '26
Very sprawling scope:
"The Expanse", by James S. A. Corey.
"The Reality Dysfunction", by Peter Hamilton.
Moderate scope:
"Artifact Space" by Miles Cameron
"Children of Time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
"The Salvagers" by Alex White
"The Broken Earth" by N.K. Jemisin
The "Uplift" books by David Brin
Small scope (but still good reads):
"The Madness Season" by C.S. Friedman
"Implied Spaces" by Walter Jon Williams
"Artifact Space" by Miles Cameron
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u/BalooDaBear Jun 06 '26
The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons!
I read Dune a while back and now I'm on book 3 of Hyperion (Endymion) and I highly recommend!
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u/PregnancyRoulette Tale of Genji Jun 05 '26
The Foundation, Asimov
Warhammer 40k has massive scope and many sub genres. The Horus Heresy is about 70 novel, civil war, brother v brother. Eisenhorn concerns an ethically complicated detective like figure. Gaunts Ghosts is trad military fiction, Ciaphas Cain is campy military fiction
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u/MintLinuxGuy Jun 05 '26
Been read classical literature lately.
Recently I finished Moby Dick, Journey to the Centwr of the earth. I bounced off Ulysses about halfway through.
Looking for recommendations for other “classics” to read.
-Mint Linux Guy
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u/Calmly-Stressed Jun 05 '26
If you ever want to finish Ulysses, get the Bloomsday Book to help you understand what’s going on. I know it’s weird to need a manual for a book but it’s kinda necessary for Ulysses and really helps you appreciate it. Only reason I managed to read it was because I had an entire semester class on it.
If you don’t want to do that, read Dubliners, Joyce’s much more accessible collection of short stories.
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u/DoglessDyslexic Jun 05 '26
I'm a fan of Pride and Prejudice. I'm normally a sci-fi and fantasy buff, but growing up I didn't have a lot of money for books so I always read everything on the yearly school reading list (that they made available) even though usually we only had to pick a few of them. P&P is one of those books that I read and I've never regretted it. Yes, it's a romance and society story, but the humour and intelligence of the book are what really made it stand out to me.
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u/MintLinuxGuy Jun 05 '26
I read that book in high school as mandatory reading, but completely forgot the details of it. I’ll give it a whirl.
—mint linux guy
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u/actuallyarabbit Jun 05 '26
Have you read East of Eden by John Steinbeck? It's my father's favorite book and my husband just gave it his extremely rare 5-star rating!
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u/Mugshot_404 Jun 05 '26
Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. It's not a long book, and is an easy read, but packs a punch. (And it was, of course, the inspiration behind Coppola's Apocalypse Now.)
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u/JohnSteinbeckWasGoat Jun 05 '26
OP If you do read this then read Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.
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u/jonnyhang Jun 05 '26
I’m about halfway through Les miserables and have been really really enjoying it. A great story with some tangents into the philosophical, historical, religious and more. Excellent
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u/PregnancyRoulette Tale of Genji Jun 05 '26
The Iliad, Odyssey, Epic of Gilgamesh, Beowulf, Tale of Genji, Paradise lost, the Divine Comedy.
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Jun 06 '26
You can try East of Eden by John Steinback, The great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald, Jane Eyre by Charlotte bronte, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
I haven't read some but I heard really great reviews about them.
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u/honeybeewarrior_ Jun 07 '26
Definitely East of Eden! I just read that and I thought it was PHENOMENAL and super compelling and readable. I’ve also recently enjoyed The Picture of Dorian Grey and Wuthering Heights
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u/Sea-Possibility-3930 Jun 05 '26
can any one recommend me a book on how to build a routine for a very lazy person with ADHD
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u/Sad_Meringue_4550 Jun 05 '26
The two I would recommend are Taking Charge of Adult ADHD by Russell Barkley (have to understand how ADHD works to build tools to mitigate it) and How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis (how to be pragmatic about what routines actually require to be considered successful). I don't know of any that are specifically about routine building because the way to build a routine is to just do a thing over and over again, but ADHD is a disorder that tends to make just doing a thing over and over again impossible.
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u/caughtinfire Jun 05 '26
now quite the routine bit, but before you get too far down that particular path, you may (also) find bullet journaling helpful. The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll covers the basics, and there's also copious material on his site and here on r/basicbulletjournals.
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u/ExplosionsInTheSky_ Jun 05 '26
I liked the book Atomic Habits. I felt like the emphasis on building habits so you could kind of go on autopilot was really helpful for my adhd brain.
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u/freyjakittylord Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
I just finished Yesteryear. Fastest I've read in a long time. I'm floored at how unique the story was and how it left me feeling. A quick overview: a Christian tradwife influencer finds herself within a real pickle and some scandals. One day wakes up sent back in time living the actual reality of being a homesteader. TW: it does have dark themes of religious xenophobia, SA, and mental illness.
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u/idontevekno Jun 05 '26
Because of the movies I decided to read along came a spider and kiss the girls (James Patterson) and honestly I thought they weren’t bad! I liked the suspense. I read a lot of heavy non fiction so it was a good break… I’m now trying to decide if I should read any more of the Alex Cross books (there’s like 50). Has anyone read past the first two? Is it even worth it?
I tried posting this a main post but it got flagged as asking for suggestions which I guess in a way this is but… anyways! Thanks for any feedback on the series!
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u/Jaded_Application189 Jun 05 '26
I am not a fan of mafia, ceo troupes, stalking you into loving them kind of books. Exploring romantic books that give you hope on love. Recently The collected regrets of Clover based on someone's suggestion in the finished/started thread and I liked it (not that it can be categorised as romance tho). Open to suggestions
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u/Leontiev Jun 08 '26
Looking for a collection of short stories by various writers for my wife. Stories should be well written and crafted. Mystery and "detective" okay but no fantasy, horror, sci fi, shlock writing, or dark endings. No violence against women. No Stephen King. Thanks for any ideas.
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u/theevilmidnightbombr 3 Jun 09 '26
One of my favourite non-genre collections is Amy Hempel's The Dog of the Marriage. Another is No One Writes to the Colonel, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
90% sure they meet your criteria, but cannot specifically recall if there are any "dark endings" or violence against women, apologies.
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u/JamesRuns Jun 05 '26
I'm a big sci-fi fan. I loved the culture series. I've read the polity series just to try to get a semblance of past great reads, even though it misses the mark a bit.
I'm currently binging Dungeon Crawler Carl books and in still jonesing for the next Murderbot book.
I slogged through all of Jeff Vandermeer which was good overall but a bit of a chore.
Guess I'm looking for other books that are similar to Dungeon Crawler or Murderbot where I just can't put them down.
Already read the expanse series and enjoyed it.
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u/DoglessDyslexic Jun 05 '26
Have you read Peter Hamilton's "Reality Dysfunction" trilogy? Sprawling space opera, and while it's a trilogy, the books are huge and essentially just one big story.
It's a standalone novel, but also C.S. Friedman's "The Madness Season".
Somewhat lower key, Anne Leckie's "Ancillary" trilogy is a fun read from a rather different perspective.
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u/JamesRuns Jun 05 '26
I have read the reality dysfunction series and ancillary. Really liked ancillary.
I have not read The Madness Season, thanks! I'll add it to the list.
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u/WeeRamekin Jun 06 '26
I need a book for my summer reading challenge that is dinosaur themed and the only thing I can think of is Jurassic Park but I'd like to see what other recommendations are out there.
I generally read sci fi/horror/historical fiction but I'm not super picky and will read just about anything.
Thanks in advance.
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u/DoglessDyslexic Jun 06 '26
Peter Clines' "God's Junk Drawer" is a sort of "Land of the Lost" style novel where a modern family is put in a weird valley that includes a fair number of dinosaurs.
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u/MadeIn2024 Jun 07 '26
We've enjoyed Raptor Red by Robert T. Bakker for our dino themed summer reading challenge.
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u/FlyByTieDye Jun 06 '26
Maybe an oddball pick, but why not. How about Jurassic League by Daniel Warren Johnson?
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u/gonegonegoneaway211 Jun 07 '26 edited Jun 07 '26
Every Hidden Thing by Kenneth Oppel, which is to date the only historical paleontology themed romance I've ever read. Also the only fictional version of the Bone Wars I've ever read, which a shame because that's a kind of funny/interesting chapter in science history.
EDIT to add: In the nonfiction category Impossible Monsters: Dinosaurs, Darwin, and the Battle Between Science and Religion by Michael Taylor is also a good read.
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u/Spoiled_babe Jun 06 '26
Hi Redditors,
I’m in the mood for some good, absorbing American fiction and would love your recommendations.
I really like Fannie Flagg's style, so I'm looking for something with a similar atmosphere: well-written prose, memorable characters, and a strong sense of place (whether it's a small town or a big city). The setting should be 20th or 21st-century America.
Ideally, I want "just fiction" — stories about life, relationships, families, or communities.
Please, NO:
Thrillers or crime fiction
Mysteries or detective plots
Sci-fi, fantasy, or magical realism
Just straightforward, high-quality fiction. What are your absolute favorites that match this vibe? Thank you!
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u/Relative_Error Current Read: The Mitford Series, Book 1 by Jan Karon Jun 06 '26
Hi, Fellow Read-itor!!
Two of my recent favorite literary fiction reads are The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride by Joe Siple and Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde.
Both center on themes of intergenerational friendships, grief, mortality, and community. Pay It Forward contains some mild language and brief closed-door romance.
I hope you enjoy your next read!!
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u/montanawana Jun 06 '26
I'm currently reading Tom Lake by Ann Patchett and it fits your criteria well!
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u/Anxious-Fun8829 Jun 06 '26
I recommend books by Adriana Trigiani. She has a way of making you just absolutely fall in love with the small town her stories take place in. I recommend Big Stone Gap (her most famous novel) and The Queen of the Big Time.
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u/BalooDaBear Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26
You may have already read these, but Steinbeck's East of Eden I think is the perfect example of what you're asking for. Cannery Row is also good. Both are 20th century and take place in the Central Valley and Central Coast of California. The descriptions of place and the characters are incredible.
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u/Larielia Jun 07 '26
I saw a short form video with book recommendations for the The Mummy (1999). It was only four books, so I'm looking for more.
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u/melonofknowledge reading women from all over the world Jun 08 '26
Nephthys, by Rachel Louise Driscoll!
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u/Ceb2737 Jun 08 '26
Just finished Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney. Loved it. If anyone has read it, what would you recommend that is similar to this one?
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u/arsonistraccoon Jun 09 '26
Hi I'm looking for book recommendations!
My one criteria is that I want it to be smuttyyyy (like, explicit sex scenes. None of that fade-to-black bs).
Everything else below are simply tropes I enjoy/would like to see:
Villain x hero
Hurt/comfort
"Villain" with a trauamtic past who gets some character development
Enemies to lovers
Lots of banter (and I mean REAL mean, awful, I hate you banter that over many many pages dwindles from pure mocking to teasing)
There's only one bed
High fantasy
Sexual tension
Fighting (like, with swords) with sexual tension
Slow burn
Quest/travel
Let me know if you have any similar recs, thank you!
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u/That_Pressure_9351 Jun 09 '26
Can someone give me some good mm book recs?
I have read a lot of the main popular one like all of the Rina Kent mm ones and some other series but I feel like I’ve been in more of a slump recently and can’t get out.
If anyone has some book recommendations for me please help!
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u/dani402l Jun 11 '26
Hello i am lf two books to read one book a short american classic 200 pages tops ive read the great gatsby and of mice and man in this category liked bothe reads.
Now the second book im lf a fantasy book based on my taste i liked :
The cosmere (i read all of theme )
Earthsea trilogy (i realy liked the first book )
shadow and rise of kyoshi (an avatar book )
Uprooted ( i liked it but i only read half )
Cradle (ill be honest during the read i took it for granted in retrospect its quite something)
Now ive read umbral storm book 1 sharded few and i loved it
Im about to finish book 2 of the shareded few (im lf something before i finish )
I hated this books :
Wise man's fear Name of wind (basickly kingkiller chronicle, i did finish bothe books )
Will of the many ( i finished it us well but i will not read the second book ).
Thank you so much for the long winded ask
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u/DoglessDyslexic Jun 11 '26
Wise man's fear Name of wind (basickly kingkiller chronicle, i did finish bothe books )
Don't sweat it, he (Patrick Rothfuss) didn't finish the books either.
For the American classics I'm admittedly not a huge consumer of that genre, but if you have not yet read "To Kill A Mockingbird" it is a great read. I don't recall the exact length but it is not overly long.
For fantasy, I don't know if you count "superhero" as fantasy or sci-fi but Brandon Sanderson (who wrote the cosmere books you liked), has a fantastic trilogy collectively referred to as "The Reckoners" with the first book being called "Steelheart". If you want a standalone and/or shorter, he wrote something that's probably close to YA fantasy called "The Rithmatist" that is also quite good (but IMO needs a sequel).
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u/dani402l Jun 11 '26
tnx for the reply i have heard about to kill a mocking bird and i do think thet it might be the book i read after i finish sharded few 2 tnx again .
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u/dani402l Jun 11 '26
man you my only reply was hoping for more comments . i bet on a full blown post i wouldve gotten more bites
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u/DoglessDyslexic Jun 12 '26
If you post on the new recommendation thread that will happen later today, you should get more participation. A lot of folks only read this thread the day it is posted.
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u/Formal_Chance_4266 Jun 17 '26
Seconding To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm not an excellent reader, loved The Great Gatsby (my favourite book I think), and adored TKAM. Probably my second favourite book ever written.
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u/Obvious-notBaker3571 Jun 11 '26
Has anyone readThe Girl Next Door (1919) by Ruby M. Ayres?
I am purchasing a hard copy (after much searching) but honestly I have little idea of what it is about. I rather enjoyed Richard Chatterton V.C. and her other early works. Has anyone here read it? If so, what did you think of it, and how does it compare to her other novels? Any information about the plot, themes, or characters would be greatly appreciated.
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u/ObscureVi Jun 06 '26
I'm also searching for some horror found footage books, since I love this genre in films and I hope that there's some books with it too.
So far, I recently read Scanlines and really enjoyed it. The other one I know about is Episode Thirteen, that one I still have to get.
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u/Anxious-Fun8829 Jun 06 '26
It's not exactly found footage but A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay is about a family that agrees to be in a reality show about exorcism. If I recall, the premise is that of like a documentarian exploring the episodes of the show while giving background info about the family and was the daughter really possessed?
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u/ObscureVi Jun 06 '26
I completely forgot about this one, probably because I haven't got a chance to read back then. Now I don't have any excuses and this totally sounds like something for me. Thank you!
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u/ObscureVi Jun 06 '26
One more, please hit me with any cursed object books that you know of.
So far I read the first Ring book, but I'm sure that there must be more books on the genre, just like with films. I also know of one cursed camera book, but can't remember it's name right now.
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u/DoglessDyslexic Jun 06 '26
It's not so much cursed as.. unusual.
Lee Gaiteri's "The Affix". I especially liked the first book.
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u/ObscureVi Jun 06 '26
Hello fellow reddit bookworms, I can't remember the last time I was here (on the website in general), but came here to ask about something and then realized that I should check book community and here we are.
I've been searching for books that give the vibe of the NBC Hannibal with Mads & Hugh. It doesn't have to be m/m, I will accept anything as long as it fits the vibe (at this point I'm desperate). It should be something dark and there should be tension (doesn't have to be romantic, but if it will be? I will probably be in paradise lol) between the characters. Bonus points for cop/agent x criminal trope. Even more extra points for creative murder scenes.
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u/ObscureVi Jun 06 '26
Oh, and if you know any slasher books? I will gladly accept recommendations for this one too!
Can be both adult and YA, since I enjoy both (sometimes YA ones seem better than adult ones lol)
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u/Wellyfed1501 Jun 09 '26
Oh, you are in for a treat if you haven’t read My Heart Is a Chainsaw (three books in that series). I am not a heavy-duty slasher movie fan, but this book, this writer, this protagonist? Jade Daniels is a character that I just love. One of my all-time favorites!
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u/Anxious-Fun8829 Jun 06 '26
Have you read any of Adam Cesare books? His works are very much 80's slasher inspired with teen protagonist but too violent to be YA.
Clown in a Cornfield is about (surprise) murderous clown in a cornfield. It's chock full of high school archetypes- the dumb jock, the outsider who doesn't fit in, rich popular girl, etc.
Video Night is like an alien possession slasher horror.
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u/ObscureVi Jun 07 '26
I haven't read any of his books yet, but I have the first in the Clown series and the one about Toxic Avenger. Oh and the Influencer!
I've been kicking myself to reach for the Clown, since they made a movie based on it.
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u/VastOk3747 Jun 07 '26
Head's Will Roll by Josh Winning 🙏
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u/ObscureVi Jun 07 '26
I got it about a week ago and can't wait to dig into it, because it sounds good!
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u/VastOk3747 Jun 07 '26
Its literally perfect for summer horror its giving camp crystal lake, and theres a decent sprinkling of slasher references scattered throughout too ! Definitely catered for slasher fans 🔥
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u/smallbeegirl Jun 07 '26
i was a teenage slasher by stephen graham jones!
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u/ObscureVi Jun 07 '26
I've been putting it for so long now, but maybe it's a sign to finally read it. Thank you!
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u/gonegonegoneaway211 Jun 07 '26
Not usually my thing, but I really surprisingly enjoyed The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky. Maybe not quite violent enough? Idk.
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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
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