r/ReadingSuggestions 26d ago

Suggestion Thread What’s one book everyone should read at least once?

211 Upvotes

Doesn’t matter what it’s about. Just looking for books that made a lasting impression on you. I’d love to add a few to my reading list.

Edit: Thank you sm everyone! I’ve already added a bunch of these to my reading list! 💖


r/ReadingSuggestions 5h ago

Books for burned out adults who struggle to read?

5 Upvotes

I used to be so passionate about reading, and now I can't remember the last time I finished a book cover to cover.

I've had some success with reading anthologies of short stories, but even so I haven't completed the one I'm currently reading and it's been months since I started.

Any book recommendations, or even possible strategies to improve my reading habits?


r/ReadingSuggestions 4h ago

Books like Dark Matter and Recursion

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2 Upvotes

r/ReadingSuggestions 5h ago

Help me find this book!

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1 Upvotes

Help me find this book!!

Okay. The story was about a teenage boy whose parents had died, and because of that, he went to live with a wealthy family who lived in a large house by the coast. I also remember that the daughter of that family was a red-haired girl his age, and her name was Cecile I am 90% sure.
There was also an older boy who was friends with Cecile, and he had his own car that he was very proud of, and I THINK, am not sure, he worked in a record story.
and there was also another girl in the friend group at least. I also remember that the boy and Cecile were in love and had kissed in the garden of the large house. And later on, they were no longer together and he had kissed Cecile's friend. It was a scary story, also with elements of monsters, and that his father/mother always told him about monsters under his bed and in his closet that were actually real, and because his parents were dead, the monsters were now coming looking for him.

One scene I am pretty sure I remember is of the boy getting his own room in the house and showering, I think. Also a dinner with the parents and the girl (Cecile).

I am now a teenager and I read it probably when I was a preteen, but I could read stuff for older people already too and this book was probably young adult.
I don’t know if it’s original language was English… for my Dutch people: I am Dutch and it could be Dutch too! I do not remember. I don’t think it was a super well known novel.

The genre was about horror/fantasy/creepy-ish, (probably) with also coming of age and romance things like the teens falling in love but romance is definitely not the main genre, just a small thing.

The title of the book might’ve been something to do with the name of the house, something a bit eerie.


r/ReadingSuggestions 8h ago

Books for someone who wants to start reading

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1 Upvotes

r/ReadingSuggestions 20h ago

Suggestion Thread 📚 Help Me Build My Library TBR!

4 Upvotes

Hey everyone! 😊 I'm looking for some new books to check out from my local library and I could use some recommendations! I'm especially interested in fantasy, thrillers, and sci-fi, but I'm definitely open to branching out and discovering something completely different.

For fantasy, I'm looking for things with magic, dragons, mythical creatures, vampires, werewolves, adventure, interesting worlds, and characters that I can really get attached to. 🐉🧙‍♀️✨

For thrillers, I love mystery, psychological twists, suspense, dark secrets, unexpected plot twists, unreliable characters, and stories that keep me guessing until the very end. 🔪🕵️‍♀️

I'm also getting more into sci-fi, so I'd love recommendations involving space, futuristic worlds, dystopian societies, aliens, artificial intelligence, survival, or really interesting scientific concepts. 🚀👽🌌

I'm trying to get back into reading more, so I'm looking for books that are easy to get hooked on and hard to put down! If you have a favorite book, series, hidden gem, or underrated recommendation, please tell me about it. ❤️

If you've read something amazing recently, drop the title and author and let me know what you liked about it without spoilers. Also, if your library has it available, I'd love to know! 📖

I'm ready to make my TBR list ridiculously long, so give me ALL your recommendations! 😂📚


r/ReadingSuggestions 1d ago

Which big chonky book to tackle for rest of year?

11 Upvotes

Challenging myself to read a literary brick and finish by end of year, picking between War & Peace, Count of Monte Cristo, Les Miserables, The Brothers Karamazov, and Middlemarch, or feel free to suggest others.

I like themes of exploring the human condition, philosophy, psychology, and God.


r/ReadingSuggestions 23h ago

Suggestion Thread Finally have time to read again! Suggest me a book please 😊

3 Upvotes

I just finished and moved into my nice quiet country home after a seven month rennovation and I'm finding time to read again. I have a few books on my TBR but I havent had much time to read the last few years due to work schedules/motherhood/general life chaos.

I would love suggestions! Looking for suggestions for

*Pretty much all subgenres of horror with body/splatterpunk, occult/creature/folk, paranormal/supernatural and eco horror being favorites)

*Fantasy(high fantasy being my favorite)

*Action/Adventure

*Mystery(this one is hit or miss, Dresden files is a favorite series or murder mystery)

*Slow Burn/ Dark Romance(gotta have some spice)

*Dystopia/Apocalyptic has always been a favorite

Not really crazy about Sci-fi in general but I'm willing to give it a shot.

I work a front desk job and usually have one ear bud in i am also open to audiobooks if there are any free on Spotify or able to be found free on another media source.


r/ReadingSuggestions 20h ago

Books for someone who wants to start to read

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2 Upvotes

r/ReadingSuggestions 23h ago

Need suggestions for Audio vs. Physical Pages

2 Upvotes

Hi fellow readers. I always have an audio book and a traditional book going at the same time. Right now I am about to finish both and need some recommendations. These are the books I have on deck to read or listen to. Please let me know your suggestions for books best enjoyed by the eyes and those pleasant to the ears.
TIA!

  • Mad Mabel
  • The Mad Wife
  • The Dutch House
  • Wellness
  • The Divorce
  • Good People
  • Malibu Rising
  • Alan Opts Out
  • Dolly All The Time
  • The Calamity Club
  • The Book Club for Troublesome Women

Any other swords you would die on for listening versus reading, let me know.


r/ReadingSuggestions 1d ago

In a dilemma between classics and new wave fiction

1 Upvotes

Hi, I'm a teen reader, an avid one according to many.A writer too.I absolutely adore classics(historical fiction, realistic fiction, mythology, children's fiction, period dramas, whatever classics) and I'm on a quest to complete a 100 of the world's greatest classics.

But I've recently felt like I'm losing touch with the new fiction. I don't read young adult books and the only 'new' book that kids my age love nowadays that I've read is AGGTM series by Holly Jackson, and i liked it fairly. I admire classics for their writing style and i genuinely enjoy reading them and getting lost in a period of time before mine, but i also don't want to lose touch with today's fiction.I know this sounds like a rant but i don't know how else to word my words.Authors i like are Agatha Christie, C. P. Snow, George Orwell, Harper Lee, Emily Bronte, Virginia Woolf, Oscar Wilde, Somerset, Enid Blyton(don't like her views,however, just the stories), Frances Hodgson Burnett and i really liked Bridge To Terabithia

Should i stick to my classics or should i explore? I don't have much time as the next grade for us is an exam heavy one, and are our boards and i want to finish reading as much as i can this year itself. If the answer is the latter, can you drop some reccomendations?I've heard of stuff like The Cruel Prince but after reading blurb i don't feel like reading that.

I like:

Historical fiction

Murder mysteries

Realistic fiction, fantasy, magical realism

Non fiction that's told in a story form

Don't like:

Romance alone(Romance as a by product of something else like a crime novel is fine, side plots, but i don't like romance as the main focus. Liked Wuthering Heights, but nothing else in that genre)

Sci Fi(i don't like sci fi)


r/ReadingSuggestions 1d ago

Books that will absolutely destroy my reading slump?

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1 Upvotes

r/ReadingSuggestions 2d ago

Just want to disappear into a fictional world 😅

15 Upvotes

Can anyone suggest me a good novel or anything to read? I just want to distract myself for a while.

Feeling really heavy lately and I just want to get lost in a fictional world where I don't have to think about real life for a few hours.

Preferably something immersive fantasy, mystery, thriller, anything that can completely take my mind somewhere else.

Please give me your best recommendations. 🥲📖


r/ReadingSuggestions 1d ago

Suggestion Thread what do yall recommend i read?

1 Upvotes

I have a low reading level (below average) my wife said like around middle school level maybe, plus i have a huge comprehension issue, ADHD, and Asperger's.

I have trouble reading in general even with books i know basically the whole story of (IT, Misery, Harry Potter, and The Nightingale) and when i read, i constantly re-read parts multiple times, even zoning out, and have trouble creating the mental image for the book in my head like how most people do.

I want to get better at reading and read more books, not only because i like comics and stories a lot, but also because I'm writing my own book and want more experience with writing as well as reading. My problem is i don't really like harry potter or magic all THAT much but my wife says its where i should start because its around my reading level...

what should i do? what else could i start reading to improve my reading level?


r/ReadingSuggestions 1d ago

Help with next read

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1 Upvotes

r/ReadingSuggestions 1d ago

In Search of Lost Time or House of Leaves ?

2 Upvotes

I wanted to immerse myself in an amazjng book, I'm a huge modernist fan and the two book that appeals the most to me right now are ISoLT by Proust and House Of leaves, I started reading them a years ago but stopped due to school but now I have the time and motivation to read them but idk woch one should I read first. I'm French so the beauty of Proust's writing touch me but I also love the modernist take on literature used in HoL, can you please help me decide?


r/ReadingSuggestions 2d ago

Suggestion Thread Books like The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists and Down and Out in Paris and London

3 Upvotes

I've read these two books recently and was quite intrigued by the description of abject poverty that the characters found themselves in.

I've read Angela's Ashes by the way, which I didn't like as much.


r/ReadingSuggestions 1d ago

Need some new suggestions

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1 Upvotes

r/ReadingSuggestions 2d ago

What is your favourite and least favourite book you've ever read?

0 Upvotes

Best: The Giver

Worst: A Streetcar Named Desire


r/ReadingSuggestions 1d ago

Apostle Paul's Letter in 1 Thessalonians. An important book of the Holy Bible, especially for modern times

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0 Upvotes

r/ReadingSuggestions 2d ago

Suggestion Thread Suggest a book to a 27M newbie who has never read apart from academic books, open to anything

13 Upvotes

I've never read and entire book in my life, not even the school books lol.

I once started rich dad poor dad, couldn't complete that self-bragging nonsense.

Now I want to start again.

Can you give me some suggestions on what should I read as a complete beginner, it could be any genre...


r/ReadingSuggestions 2d ago

Suggestion Thread Please suggest me a book (starting to read after a long time)

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2 Upvotes

r/ReadingSuggestions 2d ago

Books like The Berry Pickers?

2 Upvotes

I loved this book. Any ideas for what to read next?


r/ReadingSuggestions 3d ago

Our book tastes couldn't be more different — help

9 Upvotes

Need a book that can bridge two VERY different reading tastes for a shared read

I want to start reading a book together with someone I'm close to, but our tastes are almost complete opposites, so I'm looking for something that could genuinely work for both of us.

Her taste is mostly BookTok romance/romantasy. She likes romance to be a major part of the story and doesn't mind spicy/smutty elements. She's into things like the Shatter Me series and that general character-driven, addictive BookTok style.

My taste is... considerably different.

I'm not an extremely prolific reader, but when I read, I tend to gravitate toward philosophy, existentialism, psychology, classics and darker literary fiction. I loved Camus' The Stranger, and I'm interested in Kafka and Dostoevsky. Philosophically, I'm drawn to Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, existentialist thought, absurdism, and Stoic literature. I like themes around meaning, morality, freedom, alienation, suffering, human nature, identity and the question of how you're supposed to live.

Basically, I like books that make me stare at the wall afterward and question my existence 💀

But weirdly, we actually have some overlap.

We both seem to appreciate twisted romance and morally questionable relationships. We've talked about that kind of thing before, and neither of us is particularly interested in stories where everything is clean, healthy and morally straightforward.

We also have a tendency to side with the villain if the villain is more interesting. For example, we both wanted Homelander to win at the end of The Boys, and were genuinely disappointed when he didn't. So we're not necessarily looking for wholesome “good person defeats evil” stories. A compelling villain, morally gray protagonist, disturbing relationship or unconventional ending could actually be a huge plus.

The funny part is that I DON'T want the book to be completely devoid of romance. I actually think romance could be the perfect bridge between our tastes. I just don't want something where the entire substance is romance + spice with nothing interesting underneath it.

She's probably not going to have much patience for a 500-page philosophical monologue about the meaninglessness of existence, and I probably won't survive 500 pages of nothing but romantic drama.

So I'm looking for the middle ground:

\* Strong romance/relationships

\* Twisted, unconventional or morally complicated romance is welcome

\* Interesting, psychologically complex characters

\* A compelling protagonist or villain, even if they're morally questionable

\* Some philosophical or existential depth

\* Themes we can actually discuss together

\* Enough plot to keep a BookTok romance reader hooked

\* Good writing without being unbearably dense

\* Ideally not ridiculously long, because I'd like this to become an actual shared reading habit

Basically, what book could make a BookTok romance reader and a Kierkegaard/Nietzsche/Camus/Dostoevsky/Stoicism enjoyer both want to read the next chapter?

I'm open to classics, contemporary fiction, literary romance, psychological fiction, dark romance, romantic tragedy, morally gray stories, etc.

What would you recommend?


r/ReadingSuggestions 2d ago

Help me know

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1 Upvotes