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I was advised and encouraged by some people on here to read books from a girl's perspective. I am open to reading multiple different books.

Requirements:

Very little or no romance (please)

Action genre
I would like it to be in the action genre, but as long as it is not in the romance or drama genre I'll look into it

No references of sexual stuff

Fiction


Shouldn't be to hard to find a good book that meets these requirements

I thick "action" is going to be the tough one here given the avoidance of ALL sexual reference seems to be of more importance to you. As a book genre "action" usually tries to emulate movies or be a spy thriller or the like, and those almost never are completely chaste.

There are older books and books meant for younger readers that would qualify for that, but action itself is a pretty modern genre so you're not going to find much of that there compared to things that are more about regular people's lives and struggles.

How are you with tasteful fade to black type scenes that implies intimacy occurred but doesn't actually describe anything?

As long as it is not descriptive, I just don't want to have those thoughts while reading. Thanks for the commendation

I get what you mean, action is just the genre I read most, and like I said above, as long as it is not a romance or a drama then I I'll consider reading it :D

The Hunger Games. It's a great series, and I have all the books.

I was just about to look those up and see if they were clean enough to qualify. (At least the earlier ones I assume would be because afaik the kids are all pretty young and this ain't ASoIaF)

The vast majority of books in general are about straight men and have at least reference to sexuality even if it's not the focus, it's a pretty standard part of human nature to be in or seek out a relationship and hard to avoid if the author is writing about an adult. (How do you think you arrived on this planet?)

But funnily books about female protagonists that aren't trying to be romance might have less of that or at least handle it more tastefully.

Can't say I feel like reading the Hunger Games series

Mainly because I want to read something new

I think you would genuinely enjoy A Wrinkle in Time. That one is very family friendly from what I remember

That is a good suggestion and I have always considered Madeleine L'Engle to be a brilliant author.  I'm pretty sure it's family friendly since I  had access and read it before I was 10.

 

edited for my stupid spelling mistakes

Edited again:  Also, if I remember correctly, She also uses Christian influence in her writings - so blister may like that.

Sounds good to me

If you can handle a reference to sexuality in a criminal sense (not graphic at all) it is your American duty to read To Kill a Mockingbird

I just might

This is actually a genuinely good recommendation

177013

Definitely not a fan of mangas

What don't you like about them?

He's not good at these kinds of questions.

Oh no....

really?

Really what?  Yes really, use words. You type something stupid and ask me why I say. "Oh no..."?

I did not type "ribbit" earlier

I'm sure it magically appeared. 

Whatever, I don't think it had anything important earlier anyways since I'm a big retard.

Even if your fantastical claim of the post being edited were possible.  Why are you questioning me for responding to what is written?  

It is less of an actual question, more a rhetorical one... I'm sure you knew that...

He's either being serious or messing with you. If he's messing with you, he's probably trying to make you rage. He's most likely messing with you.

I know this...

sorry

I'm not messing with him.  I can't edit anything, I'm a regular member just like him.  All I did is respond to what I read and he comes back at me.

I dunno, there's been admin abuse. And messing with people. Lots of it.

Like my WYR being deleted permanently from my account

Yes. Exactly like that. Not entirley abuse though, it must have been annoying.

I didn't check timestamps but I see he republished it several times, he might have triggered the spam protection.

I'm kind of busy dealing with expensive car trouble right now though so I'm not exactly worrying about the fate of a 1/8 game.

The game you contributed to

That's not abuse though.  Published site guidelines require minimum standards for story games and your rating was way below.

True, but it involved many people, nut just me, that "put it together". One person rated my WYR an 8 and wants me to make another one

One person out of many. The general consensus was that it should be taken down. 

Well, I will be making a second one because someone liked the first.

Plus this is what the site says:

ChooseYourStory.com is a community-driven website centered on Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style storygames. Members create their own storygames, read and comment on other members’ storygames, participate in the forum, and improve their writing ability.

Exactly, it's community driven. The community decided that it wasn't up to their standards. 

Even if the community was involved in creating it?

Yes. And for stargirl, their* 

Fixed. Thank you. :)

You can edit a replied to message?

Some people can. I don't exactly remeber why I was given that power, but I'm grateful. 

HUH?! For some baffling reason a comment I put on a storygame got featured?!

Yes. 

I think that is dumb, but whatever... still won't stop me from making a part 2 for those who want another one

"The site works this way."

"Oh...but right here it says they work this way!"

You might benefit from trying to look at the whole of why/how things work instead of needlessly fixating on specific wording of one part of the site and then insisting that your own personal interpretation of that wording is objective fact. Your trying to argue with the people who oversee the site how the site works, using their own words against them without understanding them.

And also, the fact people helped you with your "storygame" doesn't mean it belongs to everyone. You wrote that story. It was your idea. Noone owns it except for you. (basically I'm saying in the nicest way possible that its not anyone else's problem...sorry!)

Gosh...now I'm starting to understand why Mizal got a little pissy at me yesterday...as I was basically doing the same thing on that one thread that your doing now! :O

I'm not fixated on it... but it does mention about how CYS is "community-driven" just like my WYR was community-driven and how "members create their own storygames"

The second one better be a lot better than the first then, because we are certainly not putting up with this level of whining a second time around.

But it goes by the whole rating score. Not just an individual rating.

but it should not of been removed from my Storygames list.

Well you weren't a learning animal.

You were told it wasn't up to site standards and you kept republishing like the rules didn't apply to you. You got three chances, actually more than that, so you lost it all.

Take this as a moral lesson and move on before you suffer some damage you won't walk away from.

Well, too bad all that work went to waste. I'll go back to working on my contest entry instead

Do people allways say learning animal? I got an admin bonus for that when my account was new and it litteraly said that exactly "for being a learning animal"

I wasn't aware another admin posted that, but it's good sign that we like you.

From how much I've seen people get banned, yea I took that as a very good sign

Could you move these messages to a new thread? if not it's not a big deal

Look dude, its one thing to be ignorant about something...its another thing entirely to cling to the idea things "should be" a certain way and then not adjust when all evidence suggests the opposite.

Are you seriously telling me that when your storygame got unpublished...you didn't for a second ask yourself why it happened...and instead blindly kept republished it over and over again and expected a different result?!

I would ask what's your reasoning for this...but a better question would be why are you like this? At least try to read a room before you interact with it.

I knew what was going on based off of the comments, and what people had said in the threads.

God made me like this... so i'm not gonna change.

That's what gay people say.

So...

Well, too bad they made a change to the way God made them to be, I'm trying my best to be what God made me to be, and so if God made me stubborn about my opinions or beliefs, then I will be

Please, no, people do not choose to be attracted to people of the same sex. It just happens.

Yeah, well we are all imperfect, but doesn't mean we should let how we feel control us

So what would be the solution for gay people, then? Just ignore your feelings and pretend to be straight?

Ideally, yeah.

Good on you for leading with example. 

Lmao, nice one.

Okay, here's my advice to you.

First of all, I understand you wanting to defend your beliefs and be stubborn about it. In a way that's a good thing. However, there must come a point when you realise that people don't want to hear what you have to say, where you continuing to press the point and be stubborn about it just causes friction and unnecessary argument. You've made your opinions clear, they've made theirs clear, and neither group is going to budge. In this instance is perfectly acceptable to agree to disagree and leave it at that.

In addition, through this thread it seems you've made a little progress in becoming more receptive to other people's views. That's a good thing. Understanding other people is really important.

Regarding your story game, I would focus on making it less like a quiz with commentary and more like an actual STORYgame. Add characters, give it more descriptive settings and scenery. Make it more interesting for the reader. In a way, all storygames are would you rather quizzes with flesh to them (a choice between multiple options). That way you can put a little effort into the storygame, make something you feel proud of AND contribute positively to the site, which goes a long way in increasing your status as a productive member here.

Good luck!

I have multiple ideas of what I could do with a would you rather story. The idea stream has started run to once again.

Thanks for the encouraging advice

... You're saying God made you stubborn, of all things, but he didn't have the power to make gay people not gay?

Or like, are you saying gay people aren't actually attracted to other gay people, and they're just pretending to be gay?

Because, I mean, if God has the power to make you extremely stubborn in your beliefs, wouldn't God just make people extremely stubborn about their sexuality? And no gay people would exist?

God gave us free will because he loves us, and wants us to choose him. Since he loves us, making us perfect means we could not choose to love him back.

Okay, so then God didn't make you stubborn then, YOU made you stubborn. Since, y'know, free will and all.

So, taking this into account, if gay people really do choose to be gay, why can't they also just choose to love God? You can be gay and also believe in a higher power, because free will. And if God truly loves us, despite any flaws we might have since God created us to be imperfect, then as long as you love him with all your heart, God will also love you for who you are.

True, but God wired us differently, so I can be more stubborn than others, especially if I wanted to be.

Psalms 139:13-16 NLT:

"You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. "


And yes, gays can believe in God, and would still make it into heaven. But, being gay is wrong according to the Bible, and the way God made us.

Leviticus 18:22 niv:
“‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable."

Okay, but if God wired us differently, and purposefully with divine intent for each change, then if God can make you stubborn, God could also make other people gay. And if God could make people gay, then God already accepts them for being gay.

Therefore, if God made you gay, then God made you gay ON PURPOSE, and you should be gay, and you'll be accepted and loved so long as you love God back.

So in the end, being gay is fine. It's loving God and his creations that matters.

Yes, God makes people who are stubborn and people who are gay. However, just because you are born with certain characteristics or personality traits doesn't mean it's right to act on those traits. 

For example, you could be born with a tendency to fits of temper or stubbornness. However, to say that your temper or stubbornness is perfectly natural and so acceptable, even if it leads you to acts of violence or abuse, wouldn't be good.

Similarly, if you are a man born with attraction to women and you get married in a committed relationship, if you say that you were born with an attraction to women and so cheating on your partner with other women is fine, that wouldn't be good either.

Just because you were born with impulses and desires doesn't mean acting on those desires is always good or right.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying people shouldn't be in homosexual relationships. If you're non-Christian, who am I to judge you? To try to hold you to my standard while also being conscious of my own shortcomings is hypocritical. I can accept that to most of society homosexuality is normalised, and that outside religious belief the argument against homosexual relationships fails to hold water. I'm fine with it.

No, God did not make us Gay. homosexuality is a perverted idea and is not of God. It is an idea that the devil uses to deceive people to lead them ashtray from the truth.

Does God make people autistic?

(That's rhetorical, don't answer that. Actually just STFU for once in your miserable life.)

I didn't expect it would take this specific argument for your ideas to clash with science outright, but here the cope comes out.

Facts and Logic.

“‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable."

Oh okay, so according to the Bible I should only date women? Thanks Blister! I'll get on that right away. 

Here we go again... lesbians are what began the kid's downfall in the other thread.

If you think deducting my points will shut me up, it won't

Have fun in Mexico.

Are you actively trying to get banned for spamming? Aren't you in Mexico or something? Go enjoy that.

EDIT: Saw that coming a mile away.

See you next Tuesday 

I'm talking to Tim36D who is a man, i'm not talking to women right now

I'm just following what the Bible says. Does the bible not apply to women? 

Well, according to the bible women are just property so no. Women aren't real and they can do whatever they want so long as it serves men. :]

Hooray! :)

That's not what the bible's saying, it's just being misinterpreted and blister's explaining it clumsily (sorry blister!)

We were joking, Avo. ^-^

(Although feel free to sin anyway, Stargirl. I know I will.)

Damn that bible book sound pretty based, maybe I should read it.

No it does, but sometimes verses in the Bible only apply to men, and other times it applies to women

You just have to use common sense

Cool, now make this your last post for a week. You've posted thousands of words after claiming you had no time to write a short story before your trip.

This is another version of Leviticus 18:22

(CEV)
It is disgusting for a man to have sex with another man.

So being gay is fine as long as you're celibate!

Seriously using the CEV is a fitting way to go out for a genuine illiterate retard. Trash for trash.

Meanwhile you had people here who read the Bible in the original Hebrew you were intent on ignoring. So stop pretending you care what's actually in it.

I really do hope for your sake that willful, voluntary stupidity is not a mortal sin by God's reckoning, but here I'm afraid it is.

I agree with the sentiment of what your trying to express here.

The way you chose to word this, however, is absolutely horrible!

You are experiencing the rare moment of not being the most annoying person in a thread; how does it feel?

It feels amazing! :D

Reliving...that's probably the better word! :D

Also empowering! (which I'm trying to be responsible with! lol :P)

Sure there were other annoying noobs that popped up in the past, but this feels like the first time I was actually able to contribute something semi substantial to the thread without out annoying the other person!

I am also trying to use this opportunity to see if any of Blister's flaws overlap with my own, even if just a little bit, so I can hopefully learn something from all of this. I'm also trying to tell myself "Is this how other people feel when they see my posts sometimes/try to correct me?". Moreover, I'm also trying to pick up on patterns of behavior that maybe went over my head before.

Its hard for me to put into words properly, but something about the idea of you justifying all your faults by saying "God made me like this" so you don't have to change anything about yourself really rubs me the wrong way for some reason. (I'm not saying this is intentional on your part, but I can see how it would read that way on a first glance)

If I decide to continue this, I'll probably take this to DMs, lest the people here might end up feeling like I'm being too "preachy" or "personal" with my response to you or something. (and also not to make this thread more bloated than necessary)

It was even explained to him why it happened. The rating was too low. (1/8 is in its own way almost impressive of course, it's not easy to do.)

Did you try and re publish your storygame after it got unpublished? Cause if so, that might have something to do with it.

(If not then yeah...idk then...)

Yup, over and over

No, it got removed from my list of Storygames entirely. It is deleted permenetly

after you attempted republishing it a lot

You republished it four times in a row.

First, I'm NOT an admin.  Just go read the page that lists the admins.

Ok, i'll keep that in mind

Edit: dumb autocorrect

page of admins?

yes

what? Where? There's a page of admins?!

It's under the help an info and then about us I think.  All current admins are listed

ok

Again, what does that have to do with me responding to what is in your post? 
rhetorical or otherwise, why am I your target? I can guarantee it's impossible for me to edit posts. So why respond to me like that?

I thought you could and that was why you responded

No, I responded because I read something stupid.

Well, then I wonder who changed my message to "ribbit"? I'm not accusing you, just in case you think I am

I couldn't possibly even guess.  I can only confirm it was not me because I do not have the ability to edit anything.

It was a warning. You would do well to heed it. 

I think i'll do just fine

someone's been editing other people's messages it might've been that. People have gotten banned because of it.

Can we have an admin move all these messages to a new thread? ^

I want to keep this thread for book suggestions, and not what is currently going on. Thanks

You've been of your own free will a major contributor to what's currently going on, so nah.

We do have Alienrun for an example of what a pure diet of manga can do to a mfer of course. But that goes for a lot of things, it's best to have varied tastes.

No

Yeah having looked it up now, lol. No troll suggestions in this thread guys, come on.

Little House in the Big Woods (American family-friendly)

The Secret Garden (British family-friendly)

The Scythe series (sci fi/action?)

Thanks for the suggestions.

I actually have the Scythe series (or at least the first book) at my school

Edit: I just picked up the first Scythe book, can't say I'm used to reading many books with 433 pages, but it sure sounds interesting :D

43 pages into Scythe and it is pretty interesting so far, even with dystopia's not being my favorite fictional setting, it is definitely a good read.

I'd recommend A Little Princess to go with The Secret Garden, but I fear no teenage boy is confident enough to carry that title around.

lol, i'll look into it

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a classic for a reason and used to be read in schools. It tells the story of a girl living in 1930s Alabama whose father is a lawyer, and the overarching plot does handle some heavy themes around racial injustice in a court trial her father is heavily invested in, but the book is mostly day to day anecdotes with Scout and her brother or around her community.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor is one that I read in school in the 6th grade. This one deals with a young black girl in her family and is also set in the 1930s.

The Tillerman Cycle by Cynthia Voight is set in the 1970s or 80s, it's the story of a girl who has to look after her younger siblings after they're abandoned by their mother, guiding them across states to find a grandmother none of them have ever met. The first two, Homecoming and Dicey's Song are about the girl anyway, others in the series are about other characters. You might especially like the third one too, A Solitary Blue (which is about a boy, you're safe.)

Jacob Have I Loved (a Bible reference!), and Of Nightingales That Weep are both by Katherine Paterson. (She had many, many more books as well.) The first one is about a girl living in WWII era New England who works on a crabbing boat, she's sort of a tomboy and has to deal with a lot of resentment towards her twin sister that the family favors. Of Nightingales That Weep is set in Imperial Japan, and about a girl whose talent with music takes her to the Emperor's court.

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell is about a native girl who was stranded for years on an island. The focus is on wilderness survival.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is not even close to being an action story, but it's one of those beloved-by-generations things that everyone should read. It's about a group of sisters and their mother growing up and keeping things together at home after their father goes off to the Civil War. Written in the 19th century so that's as wholesome and non-sexual as it gets.

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder - It's possible you've heard of Little House on the Prairie, or I'm sure at least your parents have. This is my favorite of that series, about the family's struggle to survive a crushingly brutal winter in their family's little frontier cabin when repeated blizzards isolate the town by burying the railroad.

And finally, closest thing I have to "action" would be the Species Imperative series by Julie Czerneda. I've only read the first two but it's a sci fi novel about a biologist recruited by the government to figure out a mystery surrounding a race of aliens who have had their DNA manipulated by unknown forces. There's s lot of different alien species and politics explored, the protagonist is pretty down to Earth and has a good sense of humor though. I recall only a single sentence implying intimacy happening that isn't described.

Later when maybe you're willing to read more challenging things, try reading Firestarter by Stephen King, which is basically also a sci fi thriller. The main characters are a girl and her father with special powers who were kept at a government faculty to study them, and their adventures when escaping. I don't recall anything overtly sexual, but it's Stephen King so I'm sure there are references in there somewhere and other mature themes.

Thanks, I'll look into these, and yes, I have heard of some of these, especially Little House on the Prairie

I love The Long Winter. It makes me REALLY love snowplows.

Oh I can't believe I forgot this one, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith is actually one of my favorite books. You might notice a common theme of a lot of these is "man it sucks to grow up poor", and this is similar, set in the early 1900s and about a family just trying to make it. It follows the main character Francie from childhood to adulthood, but it's a very upbeat story in a way as she grows to get more of a handle on life and enters the working world, and all the family is pretty likeable.

I did notice that theme. Aren't all of these or most of these true stories?

Several of them "inspired by" true events or weaving in some of the author's own experiences. I think the Little House on the Prairie books are the closest thing to direct autobiography but a lot even then is fictionalized, no one remembers enough detail and direct dialogue from their childhood to smoothly stitch it into a story.

ah ok

That winter for example was a real event she lived through: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Winter_of_1880%E2%80%9381

Thanks

The only thing that showed when I looked it up on my library's database was the "The Reckoners" series

thanks

If you're into horror, Shirley Jackson would be a great place to start with.

We have always lived in the castle is a safe bet. I saw a lot of discussion on Haunting of Hill House, but I never read it so I can't recommend it. But Mizal and Wildblue both said it was amazing so check it out! And I did really like we have always lived in the castle, so check it out as well!

A series of unfortunate events is also female led, as it focuses on the stories of 3 orphans, with an older sister, middle brother, and baby sister trying to escape from this evil count. The series starts to lose the track as the style becomes somewhat repetitive, and there's only so much of random non-sequitur and eccentric vocabulary explanations you can take, but the initial books are quite fun.

I feel like I can't end this without recommending Terry Pratchett or Ursula K Le Guinn(they are both legends!), so here we go.

One of my favorite series is a wizard of Earth Sea, and Tombs of Atuan and Tehanu both have female protagonists in them. It's written by Ursula K Leguinn, who obviously writes female protagonists well.

After her fantasy, you have to read her sci fi novels. She's literally known for her pioneering sci fi novels that really did creative things with gender and society in a scientific setting.

I would recommend starting with the Left Hand of Darkness, and Dispossessed. In her some of her novels, there are no genders, so it's interesting to see a universe like this, and I think these novels will help you a lot, and sort of remove your fixed mindset.

Terry Pratchett's Witches books in the Discworld series is a must read! He's hilarious, and you'll be too busy laughing to wonder about the protagonist's gender.

Also, check out Monstrous Regiment. I won't explain why here, but you'll see once you read it, and it's hilarious. It will definitely make you rethink your ideas about gender, and it's a fun fantasy story.

Some more recs: Girl with a Dragon Tattoo, Graceling, Hunger Games, Land of Stories(about a brother sister duo, so you get a significant female protagonist in Alex)

I'm not a fan of horror, but I'll look into these too. Thanks

Oh in that case, check out the science fiction and fantasy ones instead.

I'll still check them out though, thanks

It isn't from a female perspective, but I really enjoyed reading Thud! by Terry Pratchett and highly recommend it to everyone.

Use the other thread.

The Girl With All the Gifts

Thanks, I'll check that book out

This is my list so far including if I can get the book as of now:

Books with female protagonists or written from their perspective:

Species Imperative series by Julie Czerneda; Not available

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder; available

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott; Whole series available

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell; available

Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson; Not available

Of Nightingales That Weep by Katherine Paterson; Not available

The Tillerman Cycle by Cynthia Voight; Not available

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor; available

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee; Not available

Little House in the Big Woods; available

The Secret Garden; available

The Scythe series; currently reading

A Wrinkle in Time Madeleine L'Engle; available

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith; not available

Mistborn; not sure

The Girl With All the Gifts; not available

Books with Male protagonists:

A Clockwork Orange;

Count of Monte Cristo; Available

Watership Down; Not available

Read Kim by Rudyard Kipling; Not available

Robinson Crusoe; available

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; Not available

Wings of Fire; Whole Series Available

The Inheritance Cycle; #1 and #2 available, not sure about the rest

Thud! by Terry Pratchett; Not available

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson; Available

Little Men by Louisa May Alcott; Available

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens; Available

.

To Kill a Mockingbird can be gotten as a free pdf online, probably in other formats too. It was used in schools a long time.

Huckleberry Finn, Moby-Dick and so on would be too. Check Gutenberg.

Ok, thanks... too bad I wouldn't be able to read them during the trip or the flight to and back from Mexico

I've read To Kill a Mockingbird, but I did so when I was too young to understand or remember it.

I think I watched the movie.... 5 years ago....

Movies often stray at least a little from the path (AKA it's probably different than the book)

True, but still based on the same idea....

Yea. I'm just saying. Some people make a bit deal out of it.

Yeah, my brother made a big deal about the "Percy Jackson" movies when he found out the books were different

I made a big deal out of it when I found out the dumb movies made the mistake of making percy's hair blond, how hard is it to get it the right color?!

As somebody who read those books religiously when I was seven, the movies sucked. 

You should read it again if you weren't already planning to. It's really good and I think you would enjoy it a lot more now that you're older. 

I have 46 books next to me right now including To Kill a Mockingbird I'll pull it out now.

I'll combine both lists to this thread

I'll let y'all choose the next book I read. I'll tally all of the suggestions at 1pm (according to the site) on Monday

Books with female protagonists or written from their perspective:

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder; available

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott; Whole series available

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell; available

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor; available

Little House in the Big Woods; available

The Secret Garden; available

A Wrinkle in Time Madeleine L'Engle; available

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith; not available


Books with Male protagonists:

Count of Monte Cristo; Available

Robinson Crusoe; available

Wings of Fire; Whole Series Available

The Inheritance Cycle; #1 and #2

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson; Available

Little Men by Louisa May Alcott; Available

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens; Available

Here's To Kill A Mockingbird downloadable as a pdf for you or anyone else interested:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1slwrNdiax7OZLNueAYYF79txVOwU3Kq4/view?pli=1

Voting for A Wrinkle in Time though because I have a feeling that would appeal to you.

And Robinson Crusoe as the other one.

I like A Wrinkle in Time, but the books that come after not so much. I dunno, I just don't like them. At all.

I read them in elementary school so honestly can't remember a thing about the actual quality.

The Narnia books were better at the Christian fantasy genre I'm sure, but we're taking baby steps with female leads.

Those were good books and movies

I will remove A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (because it is not available) along with Wings of Fire (because I plan to read these sometime in the future) from this list, too bad I can't edit the list

https://archive.org/details/ATreeGrowsInBrooklynPdf/page/n7/mode/1up

thanks

Why are you letting the next book you read be decided by a community vote? (Does all the book suggestions you got not narrow it down enough for you?!)

Wouldn't it make more sense if you started out with whatever appeals to you the most and then go from there?

Shhh.

Better us than plugging them into an AI.

Is it a bad thing to ask for people's opinions about books that I have not read yet?

I'll throw a suggestion out, assuming this is still an open request and the craziness below doesn't get anyone banned. 
 

The Poisonwood Bible is a great book. It has multiple perspectives--male and female--and is very interesting with little to no romance. It's not action, but the religious undertones might be interesting for you. It's about a family where the father is a pastor and they move to Africa on a mission trip. It's fiction but not fantasy. It might have a lot of different things to offer because of the multiple perspectives. 
 

Also, I consider myself religious and Christian as well. I'd prefer to talk about religion in a private message rather than public forum, but if you wanted to talk about anything from that perspective I'd offer to chat. 

He's dead.

Ahh, well I tried. Thank you for the warning.

He got banned 40 times.

That's a great book though, I almost recommended it but then figured he wouldn't like a missionary being shown in a negative light.

I'm glad you also enjoyed it! The book is very good. Also, that is the very reason I thought it would be good for him to read it.

The fact he's not going to read any of these after everyone got all these great suggestions together is genuinely disappointing, I was hoping it was a sign of improvement and the he'd enjoy them and they'd do him some good.

But I guess that was more like a pause in his inevitable spiral. And honestly if I'm the only person who ever popped him one for being a sullen disrespectful brat, it was long overdue. It's still just unbelievable that he was claiming to be 17.

I'll probably set up a new pinned thread for general book recommendations soon.

I'm reading Crime and Punishment for the first time with a couple of others right now, did not expect it to be as involving as it is so I'll definitely have a little mini review to add when I'm done.

There's only one book I'd recommend in that new thread that hasn't been recommended here yet

I'll post this in the new thread too:

I have to recommend The Graveyard Book if you haven't read it.