All About Books- Recs,Rants,Raves

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Re: All About Books- Recs,Rants,Raves

Post by Arriahj »

I have a love/hate relationship when my series end because I'm happy to see where it's goes. Then I hate to leave the world too 😢😢 but then I don't want them to stay in the world to long because we seen how many authors don't know how to leave a world and go left

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Re: All About Books- Recs,Rants,Raves

Post by TheBookishBabe »

Stop recommending Talia Hibbert whenever someone is looking for Black romance! The most annoying thing online. Everyone already knows her books because they're shoved down our throats so much. But she doesn't write Black men in her stories. With the flimsy excuse that since she doesn't date them she doesn't write them. And quiet as it's kept part of the reason people love her books so much is because her Black women don't read too Black. She doesn't use Black British English in her books, her characters don't live and they didn't grow up in Black communities and she only writes Black women who stay in white circles. So it's easier for people to accept her as their token diverse choice.

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Re: All About Books- Recs,Rants,Raves

Post by _milktea »

What 2022 releases are you looking forward to?

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Re: All About Books- Recs,Rants,Raves

Post by Arriahj »

_milktea wrote:
Tue Dec 28, 2021 11:05 pm
What 2022 releases are you looking forward to?
I'm excited for Mickey 7, dead silence, the shattered city, amari and the great games, the discord of gods, master of souls and hopefully children of blood and bone book 3 (if it come out next year)

What about you?

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Re: All About Books- Recs,Rants,Raves

Post by TheBookishBabe »

The Witchery by S Isabelle, Sweep of Stars by Maurice Broaddus, The Seed of Cain by Agnes Gomillon, Master of Souls by Rena Barron, The Blood Trials by N. E. Davenport

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Re: All About Books- Recs,Rants,Raves

Post by SpringleRing »

Hope this isn't too long, hope someone can help. This is also kind of embarrassing.

So I don't know what to read anymore. I keep reading YA because it's familiar but don't enjoy it the way I used to. I'm in my 30s so I don't relate as much to YA but also live a very isolated, basic sort of life due to chronic illnesses,  so when it comes to reading I don't know where I fit in anymore. Not a teenager but struggle to connect with more complex adult issues as well.

Additionally, bad brain fog and cognitive dysfunction from my chronic illnesses make reading more difficult for me now. (Most of the books I've read this year have been rereads due to this.)

I get so overwhelmed in the adult sf/f section at the library, I don't know where to start. Im not interested in romance or anything 'spicy,' no sex scenes, no SA/rape, etc, nothing very gritty.

Any book recommendations or tips to help me find books I'll enjoy? Thanks in advance.

For background -
Books I read that I liked this year:
A good girls guide to murder, rule of wolves, house of hollow.

Some overall favorites (incl ones I struggle to grasp now): lotr, Abhorsen series, Seven Realms, the Queen's thief series, lumatere chronicles, Star Wars, hp, His dark materials, illuminae files, truly devious, brave new world, Frankenstein, Anna karenina, Hamlet, British Romantic poetry, astronomy nonfiction

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Re: All About Books- Recs,Rants,Raves

Post by sofisticat »

SpringleRing wrote:
Wed Dec 29, 2021 9:48 am
Hope this isn't too long, hope someone can help. This is also kind of embarrassing.

So I don't know what to read anymore. I keep reading YA because it's familiar but don't enjoy it the way I used to. I'm in my 30s so I don't relate as much to YA but also live a very isolated, basic sort of life due to chronic illnesses,  so when it comes to reading I don't know where I fit in anymore. Not a teenager but struggle to connect with more complex adult issues as well.

Additionally, bad brain fog and cognitive dysfunction from my chronic illnesses make reading more difficult for me now. (Most of the books I've read this year have been rereads due to this.)

I get so overwhelmed in the adult sf/f section at the library, I don't know where to start. Im not interested in romance or anything 'spicy,' no sex scenes, no SA/rape, etc, nothing very gritty.

Any book recommendations or tips to help me find books I'll enjoy? Thanks in advance.

For background -
Books I read that I liked this year:
A good girls guide to murder, rule of wolves, house of hollow.

Some overall favorites (incl ones I struggle to grasp now): lotr, Abhorsen series, Seven Realms, the Queen's thief series, lumatere chronicles, Star Wars, hp, His dark materials, illuminae files, truly devious, brave new world, Frankenstein, Anna karenina, Hamlet, British Romantic poetry, astronomy nonfiction
For SFF books:

Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O'Keefe - it's a space opera featuring a female lead, a ship AI, and some fair amount of political intrigue. Sanda, the main wakes up hundreds of years in the future after her cruiser was attacked by an enemy force (country?), cut back to the past/present her brother Biran essentially caught her death on live feed and is now trying to figure out what to do with his life as he just graduated the military academy intending to more or less follow in his sister's footsteps. It's a longer book, but I enjoyed it. It's a trilogy but I've only read the first book so far.

Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko - a magical school book UNLIKE HP. It's just weird and interesting. Sasha, our main, essentially gets cajoled into attending this school for "special technologies" and ends up learning magic. It follows her and other students in her orbit and is really heavy on vague magic and world building, instead choosing to focus on Sasha's growth. It's definitely a different book but I really enjoyed it; it's translated from Russian iirc.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik - this was my favorite over Uprooted. But essentially follows multiple story lines but focuses most on Miryem, the daughter of a moneylender whose family is on the brink of starvation because her father is too nice to collect on the money other people have borrowed. Ends up meeting magical folk and enters into a bargain with one because of a bluff/boast she made. It has multiple povs but I really liked it, and didn't find it too hard to follow.

Urban Paranormal special mention:

An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard - magical community set in New York, elite families competing in magical duels for control, and a revenge plot in the making. It's pretty simple and straightforward; it does feature a romance but it's secondary. It's a fairly light read and something like a palate cleanser for me, a solid 3 stars.

Kind of all over the place, selection wise. But I enjoyed all of these and think they give a you nice peek into the SFF category. :)

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Re: All About Books- Recs,Rants,Raves

Post by soratyrus »

SpringleRing wrote:
Wed Dec 29, 2021 9:48 am
Hope this isn't too long, hope someone can help. This is also kind of embarrassing.

So I don't know what to read anymore. I keep reading YA because it's familiar but don't enjoy it the way I used to. I'm in my 30s so I don't relate as much to YA but also live a very isolated, basic sort of life due to chronic illnesses,  so when it comes to reading I don't know where I fit in anymore. Not a teenager but struggle to connect with more complex adult issues as well.

Additionally, bad brain fog and cognitive dysfunction from my chronic illnesses make reading more difficult for me now. (Most of the books I've read this year have been rereads due to this.)

I get so overwhelmed in the adult sf/f section at the library, I don't know where to start. Im not interested in romance or anything 'spicy,' no sex scenes, no SA/rape, etc, nothing very gritty.

Any book recommendations or tips to help me find books I'll enjoy? Thanks in advance.

For background -
Books I read that I liked this year:
A good girls guide to murder, rule of wolves, house of hollow.

Some overall favorites (incl ones I struggle to grasp now): lotr, Abhorsen series, Seven Realms, the Queen's thief series, lumatere chronicles, Star Wars, hp, His dark materials, illuminae files, truly devious, brave new world, Frankenstein, Anna karenina, Hamlet, British Romantic poetry, astronomy nonfiction
SFF recs:

Project Hail Mary and/or The Martian, by Andy Weir - Pure scifi, I think these are approachable for newer genre readers. If you've watched The Martian movie, it's a great indicator of how these books play out; lots of character work wrapped in science. I'm not a hard sciences person but I enjoyed both of these a lot because I found the characters and story very engaging. Both audiobooks are fantastic, if you want to give that a try.

A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers - I haven't read this, but I've heard that it's very cozy, easily accessible sci-fi with interesting character work.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built, also by Becky Chambers - One of my absolutely favorite books of 2021, it's sort of a future utopia novella where a monk meets a robot and has an existential crisis, but in a lovely and warm contemplative way, not an existential dread kinda way. Lots of hope and optimism.

The Queen of Blood, by Sarah Beth Durst - YA fantasy that feels like it's labeled YA simply because of the age of the protagonist. I was pleasantly surprised by this one, I felt like the world building was new, and it was written in a way that felt organic to the story and not like it's 5 YA tropes masquerading as a novel. It's technically high fantasy, but I think it's an easier accessible read that can bridge the gap between YA Fantasy and Adult high fantasy. This does have some some darker scenes when it comes to deaths of minor and side characters, but I don't think anything was super gritty or over the top.

I hope these help. None of them focus heavily on romance, no "spicy" sex scenes, there is no SA/rape as far as I remember, and nothing is super gritty outside of some themes in The Queen of Blood.

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Re: All About Books- Recs,Rants,Raves

Post by SpringleRing »

Thanks, I appreciate your help!

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Re: All About Books- Recs,Rants,Raves

Post by Pandora_MF »

SpringleRing wrote:
Wed Dec 29, 2021 9:48 am
Hope this isn't too long, hope someone can help. This is also kind of embarrassing.

So I don't know what to read anymore. I keep reading YA because it's familiar but don't enjoy it the way I used to. I'm in my 30s so I don't relate as much to YA but also live a very isolated, basic sort of life due to chronic illnesses,  so when it comes to reading I don't know where I fit in anymore. Not a teenager but struggle to connect with more complex adult issues as well.

Additionally, bad brain fog and cognitive dysfunction from my chronic illnesses make reading more difficult for me now. (Most of the books I've read this year have been rereads due to this.)

I get so overwhelmed in the adult sf/f section at the library, I don't know where to start. Im not interested in romance or anything 'spicy,' no sex scenes, no SA/rape, etc, nothing very gritty.

Any book recommendations or tips to help me find books I'll enjoy? Thanks in advance.

For background -
Books I read that I liked this year:
A good girls guide to murder, rule of wolves, house of hollow.

Some overall favorites (incl ones I struggle to grasp now): lotr, Abhorsen series, Seven Realms, the Queen's thief series, lumatere chronicles, Star Wars, hp, His dark materials, illuminae files, truly devious, brave new world, Frankenstein, Anna karenina, Hamlet, British Romantic poetry, astronomy nonfiction
I am in a somewhat similar place in that I find I cannot connect with most YA anymore, and I just don't have the emotional and mental bandwidth for complicated plots. Here are a few that I enjoyed that might work for you.

Gideon the Ninth was an enjoyable read for me, and I wouldn't characterize it as gritty. Gideon is a fun perspective to read from and the story is very fast-paced, IMO.

All Systems Red was quick, had an engaging MC, and was a fun read that didn't demand much from the reader.

The Shades of Magic series is an adult fantasy series that feels like a YA, IMO. It is older and popular, though, so you might have read it already.

Another older series I enjoyed was the Raven Boys series. It is YA, but I had a great time with it, and would particularly recommend the audiobooks. The feel that I got from this series was a sort of Stand By Me/Buffy the Vampire Slayer mash-up. The friendship between the characters is central to the plot, but they each have their own personalities and storylines to set them apart from each other.

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Re: All About Books- Recs,Rants,Raves

Post by _milktea »

Arriahj wrote:
Wed Dec 29, 2021 12:42 am
_milktea wrote:
Tue Dec 28, 2021 11:05 pm
What 2022 releases are you looking forward to?
I'm excited for Mickey 7, dead silence, the shattered city, amari and the great games, the discord of gods, master of souls and hopefully children of blood and bone book 3 (if it come out next year)

What about you?
I'm excited for Dead Silence and Amari as well! I'm also looking forward to Nona the Ninth and am curious about Martha Well's upcoming fantasy novel

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Re: All About Books- Recs,Rants,Raves

Post by Arriahj »

_milktea wrote:
Thu Dec 30, 2021 6:26 pm
Arriahj wrote:
Wed Dec 29, 2021 12:42 am

I'm excited for Mickey 7, dead silence, the shattered city, amari and the great games, the discord of gods, master of souls and hopefully children of blood and bone book 3 (if it come out next year)

What about you?
I'm excited for Dead Silence and Amari as well! I'm also looking forward to Nona the Ninth and am curious about Martha Well's upcoming fantasy novel
Definitely excited to see how dead silence goes

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Re: All About Books- Recs,Rants,Raves

Post by TheBookishBabe »

I really liked Amari and the Night Brothers but it wasn't the only great MG book released last yr

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Re: All About Books- Recs,Rants,Raves

Post by Arriahj »

TheBookishBabe wrote:
Sun Jan 02, 2022 8:33 am
I really liked Amari and the Night Brothers but it wasn't the only great MG book released last yr
What was some already MG? I would really like to add more to my tbr!!

I hear the last book the nevermoor series, Maya and the rising dark so far

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Re: All About Books- Recs,Rants,Raves

Post by JamHands9 »

Arriahj wrote:
Sun Jan 02, 2022 12:06 pm
TheBookishBabe wrote:
Sun Jan 02, 2022 8:33 am
I really liked Amari and the Night Brothers but it wasn't the only great MG book released last yr
What was some already MG? I would really like to add more to my tbr!!

I hear the last book the nevermoor series, Maya and the rising dark so far

The Space Between Worlds by Ryan Graudin and Amie Kaufman was great

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Re: All About Books- Recs,Rants,Raves

Post by TheBookishBabe »

Arriahj wrote:
Sun Jan 02, 2022 12:06 pm
TheBookishBabe wrote:
Sun Jan 02, 2022 8:33 am
I really liked Amari and the Night Brothers but it wasn't the only great MG book released last yr
What was some already MG? I would really like to add more to my tbr!!

I hear the last book the nevermoor series, Maya and the rising dark so far
Josephine Against the Sea by Shakira Bourne and Last Gate of the Emperor by Kwame Mbalia were so good.

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Re: All About Books- Recs,Rants,Raves

Post by krranky »

I just finished The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera and loved it. It's a middle grade sci-fi that's incredibly compelling and moving. (On a side note, it's also one of the most beautifully designed books I've seen in a while; the cover is stunning and the paper quality is a lot thicker than what's in most books these days.)

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Re: All About Books- Recs,Rants,Raves

Post by JamHands9 »

JamHands9 wrote:
Sun Jan 02, 2022 12:26 pm
Arriahj wrote:
Sun Jan 02, 2022 12:06 pm


What was some already MG? I would really like to add more to my tbr!!

I hear the last book the nevermoor series, Maya and the rising dark so far

The Space Between Worlds by Ryan Graudin and Amie Kaufman was great
The World Between Blinks is the title. I don’t know what I was thinking

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Re: All About Books- Recs,Rants,Raves

Post by soratyrus »

krranky wrote:
Sun Jan 02, 2022 5:28 pm
I just finished The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera and loved it. It's a middle grade sci-fi that's incredibly compelling and moving. (On a side note, it's also one of the most beautifully designed books I've seen in a while; the cover is stunning and the paper quality is a lot thicker than what's in most books these days.)
Thanks for the rec - this looks very interesting.

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Re: All About Books- Recs,Rants,Raves

Post by TheBookishBabe »

I hadn't even heard of this book

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