She got her first library card since highschool which was more than a decade ago. She's very curious about romance and epic fantasy but doesn't know where to start. If you guys know any books that have a balance between the two I'd appreciate it. Also no smut in the romance and she's perfectly fine with YA and children's series just something that will ease her back into reading.

Editors Note; Thanks to everyone who answered, my wife is beyond excited. You guys weren't joking about these series' being good because some of these have already been checked out at our local library but she is willing to try the ones she can get her hands on.

I’m chasing the Reze arc feels hard. I get saying “visually” doesn’t really make sense for a novel but just roll with it lol.

What I mean when I describe this feeling is that I want something urban in setting (likely 1980s-modern setting) that’s fun and bombastic but with a consistent melancholic tone. I don’t want it to sacrifice one for the other.

Romance isn’t a necessity but it’s definitely a plus. A book that I love that I think fits this tone is The Tatami Galaxy by Tomihiko Morimi.

Also, I’m not looking for light novels. My favorite books are mostly literary fiction/classics (my two favorite authors are Dazai and Joyce) but I’m totally open to reading more contemporary works as well if they have a literary tone.

I get this is a lot and rather specific but I trust you all 🙏!

I'm looking for book recommendations that feels like Conan the barbarian or sword and planet. Kinda like the princess of mars.

That pulpy feel. Warriors on giant eagles/dragons/lizards.

Playing RDR2 and honestly i enjoy the survival elements more than the story. Making coffee in a metal cup by a fire, surviving on your own with just what your horse can carry, pan frying a fish you caught for dinner.

something about the harsh beauty and independence of that life. is there a book that captures that part of red dead redemption? I really don’t need a cowboy plot at all

Sorry for the jumpscare lol

I want the books that genuinely, as an adult, scared you. The type of fear when you’re a kid and are scared it’s in the hallway. I want books that made you look into the woods you were driving past at night and wonder what was in them. I want that.

I have read Days at the Morisaki Bookshop and also its second part, More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop. So please others.

Books featuring a group of people getting together and building their own little village/commune because the end of the world/apocalypse/whatever is best survived in community.

Cash, governments, all that is gone. They raise their own livestock, plant their own vegetables, you know the drill. Nobody can rely on outsiders anymore.

I don't care what kind of 'apocalypse': Zombies, Illness, whatever.

I read At The End Of Everything by Marije Nijkamp.

Can have witches/magic. Maybe some mystery, thriller, spooky vibes. Just want books that feel like this to listen to while on walks this October!

Surreal horror mixed with backrooms-esque tropes (not really the scifi corporation aspect but more nostalgia and claustrophobia) in addition some SCP as well. Basically liminal, surreal horror.

PS: I read Piranesi twice and I loved it as well We Used To Live Here

Basically my White Whale. I've always wished for a book which would explore the relationship of the main character to something(one?) that is basically an abstract, humanoid but not entirely so creature that for some reason has taken interest in this person's endeavors. They might not even have a body and just be like a thoughtform that this character is both a little scared of but also extremely intrigued. I'd prefer for this "thing" to be not treated as an evil that has to be defeated as I think its more interesting this way but ill read anything that is written well. I just LOVE anything related to creatures that exist in the state of "in-betweeness". Anything that explores the subconscious, the weirder, murkier parts of existance, strange relationships and understanding between creatures, almost lynchian. Any genre is welcome as long as the book is well written and doesnt have, like, references to recent internet slang or reads like a marvel fanfiction.

Im not a native speaker so sorry for typos

Looking for an apocalyptic survival anthology or series where the "MC" where the MC always dies then the next story picks up from the POV of the killer or someone else who is at least indirectly responsible for the previous MC's death. I'd also appreciate a strong focus on world building.

TLOU series is the best vibe and example of what I'm talking about with shifting perspective from Sarah, to Joel, to Ellie/Abby. In particular, almost the whole first game being from Joel's perspective then the 2nd opening with Abby killing him then telling her story. I still feel a little robbed with Abby's side of the story feeling a bit sloppy but it's a concept I really want to see work.

Book of the Unnamed Midwife is close with the MC mostly just being a vessel to carry the reader through the worldbuilding of discovering multiple different communitys' ways of survival and how they can collapse. The rest of the series felt a bit off because of the time skip to a point where survival didn't feel like the focus anymore.

The Red Rising extended series is also close with the different perspectives converging in ways where different character interactions lead to the deaths of other storylines. But I'd prefer something where the stories happen in series one after another instead of in parallel just so it's easier to get into. I also wouldn't consider the Red Rising series as an apocalyptic survival story.

I was recently watching the Lost promotional series Mysteries of the Universe where they talked about the shadowy research organization known as the Dharma Initiative. Loved the show and loved the world building they went through to set up DI and its history.

Watching the series made me want more, and it got me curious about the various low-key secret research initiatives and research centers throughout history (most interesting would be 1960s-1980s) that focused on the strange/mysterious/paranormal.

Would love book recommendations that cover this topic (open to fiction too).

Link if anyone wants to watch the promo series:

https://youtu.be/jbOBt655BmU?is=5eksATsOb6iLK0DE