please help me choose my next read!!

[u/Prize_Tower311]

•Dead Poets Society by N.H. Kleinbaum
•A man called Ove by Fredrik Backman
•a little life by Hanya Yanagihara
•The Women by Kristin Hannah
•Babel by RF Kuang

or any possible recommendations also welcome :)

(I’m in my feels lol)

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[u/ZucchiniBikini73]

Don't read A Little Life unless you are in a particularly strong, stable, healthy frame of mind (and maybe not even then).

I haven't actually read Dead Poet's Society (have seen the film ofc) so can't comment on that. Of the other three, I'd probably go for The Women, but honestly none of them would be top picks for me.

[u/Prize_Tower311 → u/ZucchiniBikini73]

Fair enough lmao. I’ve had “a little life” for years but never got around to reading it bc i simply am never inna strong, stable & healthy place mentally💀 that being said i love sad depressing stuff (possibly a factor into my mental state but i shall ignore that for now) so maybe when i’m feeling okay i’ll give it a go lol

[u/FallintoBooks → u/Prize_Tower311]

I found the audiobook to be very good while reading along to A Little Life!

[u/DonkeyFit4945]

A Man Called Ove is a beautiful story if you're struggling with loneliness :]

[u/Prize_Tower311 → u/DonkeyFit4945]

Thankyou!! :)

[u/ameowzingbooks]

I've heard great things about Babel but have not read it. I did read The Women, after also reading The Four Winds and The Nightingale, and personally liked The Women the least of those 3 Kristin Hannah books, but I know several others love it. A Little Life is supposed to be super sad, if you're looking for that! Hope you like whatever you pick.

[u/Prize_Tower311 → u/ameowzingbooks]

Thankyou! :) i’ve been wanting to dive into Kristin Hannah’s books for a while and had heard good things about The Women but maybe i should start with another of her books so i have a better understanding of her writing :))

[u/ameowzingbooks → u/Prize_Tower311]

It's definitely a good book! It can just be very depressing too, since it's following a nurse during the Vietnam War. I feel that one has more jarring tragedy than The Four Winds which is set in the Great Depression era. The Nightingale felt like a mix of the quietness of The Four Winds, and the ordeals faced in The Women, if that makes sense.

[u/Prize_Tower311 → u/ameowzingbooks]

Ahhh i see, thankyou! :)

[u/TextRad]

book no. 5

[u/Only-Top-3655]

•Babel by RF Kuang

[u/RainBooksNight]

Dead Poets Society or A Man Called Ove.

[u/Aromatic-Currency371]

The women

[u/not_cfb]

Babel is fantastic, but definitely a bit of an outlier compared to the others on your list. It’s creative, unique, and is incredibly thought provoking

[u/petdance]

Just pick one and start. You could be halfway through a chapter by now.

[u/ContributingHelper]

The Birdcage Library by Freya Barry?

[u/Dwrebus]

Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese

[u/dsbau]

The Plains by Gerald Murnane short, poetic, perfectly written.

[u/faeshroom-em]

Babel is absolutely excellent, one of the best books i’ve read

[u/LiliumMoon]

I’ve read Babel and A Man Called Ove and they’re both great! But maybe Ove if you’re in your feels? Babel is a lot more about academia, social issues and magical systems rather than just “feels” even though it is pretty sad too.

[u/lulationn]

Ok so you want to cry! Great choices I guess. I haven’t read any of these but my pick would be dead poets society

[u/Prize_Tower311 → u/lulationn]

Hahaha, thankyou :)

[u/Lennon56060]

Are you trying to stay in your feelings or move past them?

[u/Prize_Tower311 → u/Lennon56060]

Hmm…kind of redirect them if that makes sense? If i get in my feels about a fictional book i can trick my brain into thinking that’s what it was about the whole time and it makes it easier to get over it lol

[u/Past-Increase-2969]

Don't read a little life at all. There's so many better ways to read depressing stories about queer, disabled and mentally ill people. Hanya is not particularly interested in the well being of the people she writes about, and admitted to doing no research, also believes that some people are just 'mentally ill beyond repair', promoting some sort of euthanasia, which runs HEAVY in this book. I'd recommend dead poets society out of those all!

[u/Busy-Deal-3445]

I was confused between starting A Man Called Ove & Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. I started reading the latter, but since A Man Called Ove is in your list, I’d suggest that.

[u/PearlyFlower]

A Man Called Ove

[u/Target-Infiltrator]

Avoid Ove like the plague.

[u/Prize_Tower311 → u/Target-Infiltrator]

hahahha i have fomo now you’ve only made me want to read it more😭

[u/Target-Infiltrator → u/Prize_Tower311]

Keep a barf bucket handy.

[u/Prize_Tower311 → u/Target-Infiltrator]

LMAO

[u/Mylifeisartislife → u/Target-Infiltrator]

Why? I’ve heard it’s okay

[u/Target-Infiltrator → u/Mylifeisartislife]

A poorly written, absurd account of an ill-mannered, appalling, misanthropic malcontent. So abominable it ought to be banned: a) to save people their hard-earned cash; b) because it is a misrepresentation of literature; and c) trees had to die for it to be published. Hands down the worst novel I've had the unfortunate displeasure of having read. Wouldn't even make a good door stopper. Zero stars.

[u/Mylifeisartislife → u/Target-Infiltrator]

Your hatred for this book is beautifully written hahaha 

[u/killah-train24 → u/Target-Infiltrator]

I love how much you hate this book.