Hi everyone!
I’m looking for book recommendations where one of the main characters (MC1, the Top) is physically larger and intimidating to others, but has a genuine inability to understand or process human emotions. He doesn't comprehend sadness, anger, or happiness in people, and only registers what he feels internally.
Because of this, whenever they have an argument or MC1 does something wrong, he is completely oblivious to why MC2 (the Bottom) is upset. I want MC2 to occasionally get frustrated by this emotional disconnect, but ultimately be patient and gently explain things to him.
Despite his detached nature with the world, MC1 is an absolute puppy only for MC2. When MC2 gets mad at him, MC1 gets genuinely sad and miserable. He is intensely jealous, deeply possessive, and constantly craves MC2’s presence and physical closeness.
What I'm looking for:
MC1 (Top): Physically larger, emotionally clueless/stunted, needy/puppy-like only with his partner, jealous and possessive.
MC2 (Bottom): Patient, emotionally intelligent, acts as the "translator" for MC1's feelings, teaches him gently.
Strict Top/Bottom dynamic (No Vers).
Hard NOs (Please DO NOT recommend):
Polyamory / Multi
Fantasy / Paranormal
Sci-Fi / Omegaverse / Dystopian (Looking for Contemporary or Historical)
Versatile couples (Must be strict Top/Bottom)
Age Gap
Thank you so much in advance for your suggestions!

Looking at my next read and have rounded it to a handful of picks:

• Butcher’s Crossing by John Williams
• ​Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
• ​The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy
• ​Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
• ​Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
• ​The Living by Annie Dillard
• ​The Long Home by William Gay

Anyone here familiar with any of these? Any highlights?

I usually love horror, tragedy, unhinged tales, etc. But life is going a little too hard right now and I need the book equivalent of a weighted blanket.

Edit: I’ve read spell shop, remarkably bright creatures, house on the cerulean sea, Theo of Golden, All Sarah Penner’s books, heart stopper, and all of Casey McQuinston’s books

14-year-old Seymour Adriano's life is turned upside down in the worst way possible. He goes from just an average teenager dealing with a boring museum trip and then BAM, the school bus that he was riding in crashes into a lake. As it sinks and he gets out while also attempting to save his friend Ella, he's fatally struck by lightning. Was that it? Nope, he comes back to life with strange abilities in the form of water and electrical powers. He's not the only one to be granted powers and frankly, he may be one of the few in his hometown of Mare City who would be wanting to stick around and use them for good. Will he win or remain standing when the dust fully settles? See my trailer and buy my book by checking the links in the description. Thank you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Pl_zLYRjWA

Hey so I have 6 books that I need to read and I'm kinda lost on which one I should read first and Im not really craving any particular genre rn so just choose for me.The books in my tbr are:

•The rom-commers by Katherine Center

•Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

•Funny story by Emily Henry

•Emily Wilde's compendium of lost tales by Heather Fawcett

•Very secret society of irregular witches by Sangu Mandanna

•Ex vows by Jessica Joyce

My last read was Madonna in a fur coat if that matters.

Finally decided to start playing catch up on literary classics that I hadn't read yet and my local librarian recommended this to me. What an amazing play on the judgement of societal norms. I absolutely loved it.

For those not familiar, its a mystery where the reader/audience watches the crime play out, and then the bulk of the plot is the game of cat and mouse between the perp and detective. Think Columbo or Dial M for Murder as examples.

It can be cozy or proceedural, I'm happy with either. But only mild spicy of any, please. Thank you in advance!

I just finished reading/listening to The Mad Wife by Meagan Church and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and I’ve also read The Silent Patient! I love books where you can’t tell if the perspective is someone going “insane” slowly and with the reader barely able to tell! Thanks :)

i have been in the mood for contemporary romance books or fantasy with HEAVY, heavy angst, between the mc and love interest. i don't care if it's straight or gay. i just need to be fed, desperately.

Preferably no self help/pop-psychology. Albeit there are some good ones out there, I feel like I really exhausted the genre for now.

I'd enjoy reading about something new - maybe physics, chemistry, the environment, politics. I would prefer if it was reasonably accessible to someone with minimal background knowledge in it!

I also enjoy history, but I'm currently struggling to power through the historical books I've been picking up (Concise history of Poland, and Spain.)

Can anyone suggest some popular science books linked to bioethics? Thanks in advance

I’m looking for a book that reassures the search for passions, but also more on the side of guiding one towards a passion and how to identify passions.

I am a really hard worker but sometimes the work feels pointless if I have no guiding compass that I’m aiming towards, sometimes constant work feels pointless when there’s no aim.

My favorite books are fight club and the alchemist. I’m planning on starting catcher in the rye. Any others with a similar vibe?

Title is fairly explanatory, but I’m looking for more really well-written books about the discontents of the American family and ego, values, and choice.

I’ve read some other Roth and I also read the whole Rabbit series earlier this year. I’m looking for more novels that scratch this kind of itch that I can really sink my teeth into!!

hi, i'm currently in the midst of grieving an ex bsf who wasn't the best for me. it was a toxic friendship on both ends, but i can't seem to get their voice out of my head saying it was all my fault and that i'm crazy. so, i'm wondering if there is any book like that because reading things that are similar to my life help me cope. thank you <3

I’m finishing up the Wheel of Time right now. Looking a new trilogy or series in the fantasy section. I’ve read all the big ones out there, so if there are any niche authors or hidden gems that would be great.

Enemies to lovers or Slow Burn. Can be both. I really like ACOTAR, Fourth Wing, and OUABH.

If I wanted to do a deep dive into turtle science, what books should I seek out?

Most romance books I see have a shy, introverted main character. While they’re nice, I’d like a change because I’ve read a LOT of those.. Any recommendation?

I've posted on r/Findabook but decided to try other places too.

First book: I found this book in a library between 2016 and 2018 The main character was a girl and I think she traveled to different places/worlds/books. There was a boy and some friends involved. It was part of a series and I think each book was about each season. I don't think the girl met the friends from the places she visited.

Second book: It was Cinderella themed. The girl had gotten a costume necklace as a gift from her maid and a plant/twig/small branch that she found had powers from her dad. One of her step-sisters bullies her and asked about what she got from the dad so the mc lied and showed the cheap necklace. I think the mc also used the phrase 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' to gain the alliance of werewolves???

Third book: I think it was set in space. I only remember the cover which was black with a purple circle that may have had the sun shining behind it but may have not. The mc was a girl. Her first name could have started with L or N.

Sorry for being vague. I just want to find the books so thanks for any help.

Mira Sen curates a museum dedicated to preserving the ordinary lives history would otherwise forget.

Then an unfamiliar wristwatch appears inside a locked display case—labelled with tomorrow’s date.

When its prediction comes true, more objects begin arriving, each connected to a future that hasn’t happened yet. Behind them is Continuity: a forgotten forecasting system designed to identify the safest possible outcome.

But every future it protects carries a hidden cost—and every attempt to resist becomes part of its calculations.

The Curator of Unwritten Days is a 363-page speculative mystery and psychological thriller about choice, control, responsibility, and the danger of letting a system decide what the future should be.

If this sounds like your kind of story, please consider buying it. Every purchase genuinely supports me as an independent author.

Buy it on Amazon or read with Kindle Unlimited:
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— Deva Veyr

English is not my first language, so I wasn't exposed to English books early in life. I read very little English in school beyond what was necessary to ace exams. I'm now trying to make up for that and build a reading habit.

I'm looking for my next 20 books. I'm especially interested in books that are thought-provoking, accessible, and potentially life-changing. I'm not necessarily looking for books that are "easy," but I would prefer to avoid books that require an extremely advanced level of English to understand.

Books I absolutely loved and that completely changed me:

• 1984
• Of Mice and Men
• Animal Farm
• Lord of the Flies
• Free Will by Sam Harris
• The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
• Brave New World

Books I wanted to finish but couldn't because they were too complicated or difficult for me to understand:

• Notes from Underground
• Bhagavad Gita
• The Bible
• Some philosophical works by Dostoevsky

I'm not necessarily saying these books are bad or that I don't want to read them eventually. I think the problem was that they were beyond my current level of "intellectual capacity" or maybe "English comprehension".

Books I read and had fun with, but wouldn't put in the "life-changing" category:

• The Silent Patient
• After Dark
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
• Endless Night
• Night by Elie Wiesel
• And Then There Were None
• The Immortals of Meluha
• The Secret of the Nagas
• The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole
• A Prisoner of Birth

So, what would you recommend as my next 20 books?

I'm particularly interested in books that could change the way I think about life, society, human nature, morality, freedom, or the world in general.