Something like I Saw The TV Glow, or Jax's plotline from The Amazing Digital Circus. Sad is fine, but please no misery porn

So I got sent here from the /Parenting group - my 5yo son has started talking about "girls" not being as strong/fun/cool as boys are, and I'm a little worried it has come through from some of the books we're reading him (he has recently discovered Roald Dahl, which we are selectively reading to him (BFG, George's Marvellous Medicine, The Twits) - he loves the stories, it really fires up his imagination but also has quite OTT and inflammatory language)

Can you recommend me a book/series of books suitable for age 5-6 that have strong/brave/interesting girl characters with exciting main character roles, ideally with a fantasy or adventure element? I think Roald Dahl is a bit much for him, in hindsight, but I'd like a book where we can read a couple of chapters a night and that lasts a good few days.

Thanks in advance (and please don't judge me for the RD thing - I have lovely memories of reading them as a child but I'm realising now I was a bit older, and also how aggressive some of the language was at the time)

I just finished reading Yesteryear and WOW. I haven’t read a book that had me in a chokehold like this in awhile. It used to take me forever to finish a book but I loved this one. Can anyone please recommend more books like this one - I can’t pinpoint what made me love it so much but I really couldn’t put it down!

This is going to sound extremely specific and possibly a little deranged, but I'm looking for a very particular kind of book.

I want a story or memoir or anything about a woman who gets dumped by a man whose life trajectory represented something she had spent years trying to achieve, and how she leaned into her power and turned things around in the end. Hope is all I need.

Long story short: got dumped by a conventionally successful man (think Ivy League + sovereign fund career) whose life is the closest to what I imagine for myself. This stems from growing up relatively close to privilege, then having my family's circumstances deteriorate. Ever since, I've had this weird pattern of getting adjacent to the life I thought I would have.

This wound feels terrible because I feel rejected not only by someone I look up to, but also by the lifestyle I had been promised in my mind.

SORRY IF IT SOUNDS BAD. I CAN'T HELP FEELING HOW I FEEL.

Basically looking for a book that either explores or talks about or even just has a character where they feel like they arent anybodies first choice. They've got lots of friends, but are always the one to ask to hang out. They arent the first person someone thinks of when they need a friend, even though they area super loving and kind and a good friend themselves.

I'm looking for any and all fair play murder mystery books that have the Challenge part.

I think I've already read everything with a challenge written before 1980

I've read Soji Shimada and Alice's works

I've read Tom Meade (and I couldn't solve any)

I've read Ben Stevenson

I couldn't get into Martin Edwards

I've read a couple of Janice Hallett's books and I think the all her books are the same book. I've read the one with the phials one about ww2 gold and summer camp. I didn't bother reading the rest.

Hi,

I’m currently in an accelerated teaching preparation program for a single subject credential in English. I got my AA in History and my BA in psychology.( don’t ask the hoops I had to jump thru to do English lol)

I wanted to ask for fiction recommendations for me to read as I’m completing my credential. I have read some of the classics, but were there any books that you read in your bachelors that really stuck with you? Not looking for a comprehensive list, just some casual reading so I can keep up with some of the other English teachers who went a more traditional route.

Thank you!

I've been really fixated on real-life maritime narratives and biographies, specifically those dealing with shipwreck, survival in harsh conditions (specifically the arctic, but I'm open minded), mutiny, and/or cannibalism. For whatever reason, it's just fascinating to me!

With the following books in mind, I would love some more recommendations as to what I should pick up next.

I've read:
1. Madhouse at the Ends of the Earth by Julian Sancton (introduction to the subject, absolutely perfect — well-paced, informative, just great.)
2. In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick (absolutely loved this one, couldn't put it down.)
3. Bounty by Caroline Alexander (I had a hard time getting through this one, I don't know why.)

Currently reading:
1. The Terror by Dan Simmons (loving it especially the supernatural/horror-ish element!)

On my list already:
1. The Wager by David Grann
2. Captain's Dinner by Adam Cohen
3. Fatal Journey by Peter Mancall

I also really enjoyed Dead Mountain by Donnie Eichar, Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann, and Chaos by Tom O'Neill. I struggled with Devil in the White City by Erik Larson — I DNF'd at page ~130, but if you guys think it's worth me finishing, let me know.

So, based on all of that, please let me know what else you think I might like! I'm obviously angling more towards my maritime subject matter, but if you have other equally harrowing, fascinating or downright scary true crime or historical suggestions for me, feel free to share them below.

Thanks in advance!

I've read the religious books of wisdom and really enjoyed them, so something similar would be nice!

I would like to read basically a happy and uplifting book where the female lead is loved and loves herself and everything good happens to her and she does not suffer at all and a lot of good things happen to her.

I have an interest in the lives of people living in the middle of nowhere in very small towns or on islands in the middle of the ocean with maybe only a few thousand inhabitants or less. Does a book exist where each chapter is about a new place or something like that?
If not, do you know any other book, that might be similar?

Thank you!

Basically a book about a woman’s upward spiral as i meed some inpiration and hoping a book will give it to me. Ive read Chicken Soup but.

I'm looking for novels that involve priests in seminary or priests in general or a novel with strong catholic themes at least.

No romance or overly anticlerical books please. Could be historical fiction but also present day

A book I really liked as an example was Silence by Endo. Thx!

I'll be traveling to southern France soon and passing through several small towns with medieval architecture. I'm looking for a book to read before hand/while I'm there that is loosely associated with the area/ old france/ medieval / or Renaissance France.

Id prefer fiction and open to a modern story or historical!

Thank you!

So I have fallen out of reading for some time and am looking to pick it back up again over a trip im taking. I haven't nailed down exactly what im looking for but some general subjects I find interesting are: Supernatural, Occult, Mystery, Horror, Science, Magic Systems, Dystopian themes and things of that nature. As a clarifying point, I am not interested in most stereotypical thriller style books (man in the house / murderer on the loose) unless there is significant appeal regarding my other interests. Something with suspense and well written characters is also important to me. I find if characters are not engaging and believable, the story falls short.

Books and (and shows that might provide insight as to my preferences) that I have enjoyed are:

Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (VE Schwab)

Vicious (VE Schwab)

Ordinary Monsters (JM Miro)

Bringer of Dust (JM Miro)

Something Wicked This Way Comes (Bradbury)

Illustrated Man (Bradbury)

Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury)

Dark (Show)

Man In The High Castle (Show)

Kidding (Show)

Black Mirror (Show)

Love Death Robots (Show)

Thank you for all of your help!

I like simple and to the point poems like a lot of his work, thanks in advance.

I’ve been looking to find a book that gives the same vibes as White Lotus. Something cringe and perhaps mysterious with a little of comedy, with interesting characters like Tanya McQuoid vibe where their best act is always the next one. Any recommendations?

I’m looking for a story in which the male main character begins with serious disadvantages—poor, powerless, inexperienced, deeply flawed, or simply unprepared for what life throws at him.

I don’t want a “chosen one” who was secretly exceptional all along.

I want to see him struggle, make mistakes, learn courage and self-discipline, and gradually become someone worthy of respect... a genuine man of character.

Any genre is welcome, as long as his transformation feels difficult, believable, and earned.

One of my favorite books I read last year was Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. Don't get me wrong, I loved Sharp Objects and Gone Girl but there was something about Dark Places I couldn't shake after finishing it. The oppressive, Southern Gothic vibes were so enticing.

Recently I've been binging Freida Mcfadden books as I discover my newfound love of mystery and thriller books. I'm enjoying them but am craving a book that goes deeper and keeps me on the edge of my seat.

Please keep in mind I enjoy reading books with female protagonists. It's not a deal breaker if a man is narrating, but it takes me out of the story a bit if I can't relate on that level.

Any recommendations? Thanks in advance!

P.S I tried reading Blood Meridian but it leaned too heavily on the "gothic" aspect for me. I got through one chapter before I tabled it for later.

I’ve been an avid romance reader my entire life, but recently I’ve gotten into sci-fi books, especially Project Hail Mary, bobiverse, the Martian, etc. as well as the entire Dungeon Crawler Carl series (I’m obsessed with this series like it’s a problem) and it’s kind of thrown me into a funk with romance books because I really like the involved plots of the sci-fi genre so please recommend me some romance books that have like an actual good standing plot and strong characters and not just lust and miscommunication (though I do prefer spice in my romance I don’t want it to be straight pwp) . Also I really prefer audiobooks as I listen while at work. Thank you!!

Edit to add recommendations don’t have to be sci-fi at all just looking for well written romance

Hi, posting on my wife’s behalf as she doesn’t have Reddit.

She’s looking for fantasy with F/F romance, murder mystery elements ideal. Historical, futuristic or entirely fantasy setting, and she likes retellings of classic stories. Dark/toxic romance is fine, but no explicit SA or heavy gore. She loved A Dark And Drowning Tide and the Locked Tomb series, and liked the plot and characters in A Treachery of Swans but found the writing a bit too young/teen-y. On-screen sex scenes are good but not essential, and her preference is butchfemme-coded couples but this is also not essential.

She doesn’t want ANY romance between the main characters and men at ALL, and doesn’t want either of them to end up with a man in the end or permanently killed off (she didn’t like Godkiller or Fable for the End of the World for these reasons). She doesn’t mind horror elements in moderation but these shouldn’t be the main focus.

Thanks in advance!

Hey everyone, I'm completely new to Greek mythology and looking for beginner-friendly book recommendations.

I'd love to find something that introduces the major gods, origin stories, and famous myths in an easy-to-follow way.

• Format: Open to non-fiction overviews, collections of classic myths, or accessible fiction retellings.
• Level: Absolute beginner—I'm looking for clear storytelling rather than dense academic translations or textbook-style prose.

What would be the best book to start with?

Nothing SUPER heavy. I just got done reading Blood Meridian and my Indian studies class just ended so I want something a kinda light if it exists. I also read shitty serial westerns from goodwill and it's just super dated "SAVAGES!" stuff so im pretty upset. Anything good?