Hello everyone, I hope you are doing fine.
I am posting here hoping to get some ideas of what to read. Let me be more specific:
I don’t read much, perhaps one book per year. That is something I am trying to change.
I remember reading 1984 in the past and finishing it in few hours, it got me hooked. I have Fahrenheit 451 also in my list.
During this summer, I have read a couple of books about geopolitics (around 300 pages), because it is a topic that interests me. But many times I read late at night, and the content takes some effort to actually follow and understand.
So, my intention is to find something lighter in complexity, more fantastic. Perhaps war novel. I am also interested in chess, programming, nature, photography or history.
Any suggestion is welcome, thanks for your time!
How about a fast paced sci-fi novel? The Martian by Andy Weir
Noted!
In the same category as 1984: Brave New World and Animal Farm may interest you too, to say the least.
From Bradbury: Martian Chronicles. To me, it’s classic science fiction at its best and even though I loved his Fahrenheit, I much prefer his Chronicles.
Science fiction: like already suggested by gramie: Flowers for Algernon. A true gem.
If you want something more ‘technological’, Asimov’s Robots shorts stories and/or novels (for the novels, start with The Caves of steel). You may also be considering his Foundation series (much, much better than Apple’s adaptation if you have watched it, Asimove was inspired to write Foundation after reading Gibbon’s The Fall of the Roman Empire the novel(s) describe the fall of a galactic empire and how a bright scientist/historian tries to devise a way to preserve knowledge and to shorten the chaos period that must follow the collapse). One of my personal favorite SF author is P.K. Dick (the guy that has inspired almost all cyberpunk blockbusters and so, so many other writers), give a shot at his Ubik or even at Waiting for last year. They’re not long and not difficult read at all, and rather fun. Talking fun, maybe try Frederic Brown’s Martians go home. I have not read it in years so I have no idea how it holds but I have very found memories of it.
Fantastic/Horror stories, it’s easy to recommend Stephen King: he is easy to read while being a great story teller.
War novels? Not a novel but the ‘father’ of all stories written in the West: Homer’s Iliad (contains a lot of violence and some very descriptive scenes, beware) and the Odyssey (Odysseus attempts at getting back after that war, in the Iliad, despite Gods doing their best to prevent him). You have some excellent translation in English but beware it’s poetry written in verses.
Nature… still not a novel but have you considered reading journals written by naturalists or even Thoreau’s journal?
Don’t be afraid ti share what you did not like in the books you have already read, it may help trigger more accurate suggestions.
I almost forgot: welcome :)
Thank you so much for such a dedicated answer. I am saving your recommendations. Actually, I had to read some parts of The Iliad during high school, and it’s a reading I remember with joy. I have been thinking of reading the full thing, but I am scared of getting lazy or overwhelmed and spoiling the book. Same thing happens with Don Quixote. That’s why I am trying to build a habit with small steps.
What I don’t like of what I have read, is probably the complexity of the texts. Possibly more academic than narrative. My fault for the poor choices. I didn’t feel engaged and that made me think that I don’t like reading, but I wasn’t convinced so I asked AI for easy books about geopolitics. And, although they are not the lightest reading, I enjoyed. So here I go again, trying to get myself into the loop of reading.
Flowers for Algernon is it fairly short read. It was originally a novella, then expanded to novel size. It’s also an amazing book.
Amazing and worth the read, but very sad.
Seeing the topics you mention, I am thinking that the sci-fi book Ender’s Game written by Orsson Scott Card is going to be perfect for you. There’s war topics in it, strategy, it’s a fairly light, shortish book. And from there, you have a whole series of books if you do enjoy it. But be warned, do not watch the movie.
When I read that book, I got hooked and couldn’t drop it until I finished it.
Why not watch the movie? I read the book years ago and was planning on watching the movie some time. I understand it’s not great, but why specifically avoid it?
Fair question. Well, mainly I would need to specify further: do not watch the movie (before reading the book). So maybe first I should apologize for being too succinct. I feel like the movie might spoil the story while the book is so much better. I’m not going to tell people not to enjoy this or that, I consider the movie fairly bad but it’s not up to me to choose if someone likes it or not. But then, as an adaptation I feel like the movie does a terrible job of translating the book to a screen, losing the real soul that the book has.
It would also be fair to say that I have only watched the movie once, when it released into theaters years ago, while I’ve read the book a few times, so my perspective may be skewed if only by just what I remember of the movie instead of what the movie is really. For those like you, who have read the book and want to consider watching the movie, I’d say go ahead, with expectations low enough it might be enjoyable somewhat x)
The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells.
I have to recommend Snowcrash. It is a pretty exciting read.
Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny
If you like it, there’s nine more books in the series. The series has a little of everything you mentioned.
If you like sci fi the expanse series is good, I am enjoying it immensely, relatively simple vocab and generally pretty fun
Silo series is good as well and shorter at 3 books
If long form is too much of a commitment short stories are always an option.
The stuff they recommend on like 8th grade reading lists tends to be pretty good as well, stuff like the giver, brave new world, hatchet, etc.
I have a very all-or-nothing mentality, so I go through stages of reading all the time to barely touching a book for a while. Books that have got me out of a reading slump are The Catcher in the Rye by Salinger and Coming Up for Air by Orwell. I suspect you’ll definitely enjoy both. To me, both of these books capture the essence of life itself. There is something strangely familiar and nostalgic about them.
If you get hooked, Nine Stories by Salinger, as well as any of Orwell’s essays are worth a read. Steinbeck’s The Chrysanthemums is another short story that comes to mind.
Oh, thank you so much for your recommendations. I have checked, and they meet my taste perfectly. Right now, I am reading a book which evocates nostalgia of the rural life in my country.
I always suggest Little Fuzzy. Light, breezy, early 1960s science fiction and public domain:
I loved that book so much when I was a teen! And I love that it’s public domain now, I’ll have to grab a copy for my e-book library =)
Noted!!
The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company is a history book i recently finished that I thought was good, depending on your tastes the discworld books are always fun “Guards! Guards!” is a good first one to start with IMO
I think they haven’t translated The Anarchy into Spanish, but I will keep it in mind to improve my English. Thanks!
If you enjoy chess, the novel “The Queen’s Gambit” is excellent. They took some liberties with it to make the TV miniseries. It’s chewy, but the story is straightforward and easy to follow.
I watched the series and I found it very exciting, the book must be great!!
