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I'm looking for some book recommendations, and would like to hear some thoughts from the community. What is one book that you could not put down until it was finished? Not because it was short or you had an assignment due, but because you were genuinely enthralled from the beginning. I'll accept any genre, provided you give a short description and what in particular about it made it so engaging (without giving too much away, please!).

I'll start-

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
This one is hard to explain without spoiling the entire story. It's the kind of book I recommend going in blind. The basic starting plot is that there's a guy trapped in an unending labyrinth without any memory of who he is or how he got there. The prose is interesting from the start, and the wordplay used throughout is very imaginative. It's pacing was perfect. This was one of those few books where I had to focus on not jumping forward and reading ahead because it had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Its main genre was fantasy/mystery and delved a little into thriller at the end. It's one of my highly recommended. :)

The Haunting of Hill House buy Shirley Jackson.

Read it for Spooky Month and I've be trying to get someone else to check it out too. It's pretty much the peak of haunted house fiction and was a big inspiration for The Shining. Intense psychological horror combined with a fantastic character study, and a famous opening paragraph that gets quoted often for how well it sets the tone.

There's a thread where it was discussed a bit more, but it's not an especially long book and you cold plow through it minus any spoilers in a weekend if you didn't have much else going on.

That one's actually been at the top of my to-read list for a while! I actually remember you mentioning it and wanting to comment on it, then realizing that I... still hadn't read it. ':D I'll certainly have to check it out. The mention of an 'intense character study' gives me tingles.

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice.

Its' description of setting and 19th century culture is so detailed and historically accurate there's actually a fan theory that Anne herself is a vampire who lived in those times. It also brings up several interesting points about mortality, and the conflict between Lestat and Louis is engaging, yet believable and a good example of a toxic relationship. The interaction between Louis and Claudia is... well. A bit disturbing, even for me. But overall well worth the read.

I actually prefer the sequel, The Vampire Lestat. But you gotta start with the original to fully appreciate the sequel.

You want me to read about GAY VAMPIRES?! I just read The Talented Mr. Ripley, I can't handle anymore murderous European homosexuals. :(

I mean, it's still a better story than Twilight. And when I say relationship between Louis and Lestat, I don't mean romantically or homosexual. Although considering the two that Louis and Lestat actually are attracted to, I kinda wish they were just to avoid those particular arcs.

When making this list, I realized most of the stories that gripped me had the same three features:

1) Humorous & distinct first person narration
2) A very high-stakes and tense plot
3) Complex and creative worldbuilding that the plot hinges on

Namely:
- Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Fantastic book, consider this my chief recommendation. Read it all in a day or two. One section in the middle has the most tense sequence I have ever read in a book. The Martian (same author) is similar.
- The Harry Dresden books by Jim Butcher (the first four, at least, I haven't read the rest.) I pretty much have to finish these in one sitting.
- Eternal, I read most of the paragon branch in one sitting.
- The scholomance series by Naomi Novik.

I also tore through the foundation series by Aasimov, but I would not describe those books as gripping, they just happened to appeal to me.

Ah, I did have the thought to read Project Hail Mary because I planned on seeing the upcoming movie. I'll have to put it at the top of my list so I can read it in time. I know a friend had similar feelings about the middle. :)

Seconding Project Hail Mary and The Martian

If you like Piranesi, House of Leaves is an obvious one. 

I recently really dug Hollow by Brian Catling, fucked up historical fantasy horror novel about Hieronymous Bosch paintings coming to life 

The poor thing has been sitting on my shelf for over a year. I'm not sure why I've never gotten to it, especially considering how much I love ergodic literature (17776 ha). I'm sure the combination of general laziness and unwillingness to start a new book is to blame. :/

Hollow also sounds just about right up my alley. I'll have to add it to the list. 

 

Malk, have you read Between 2 fires?

I think you'd really love that one! I haven't read Hollow, but if you enjoy historical grimdark fantasy horror, Between 2 fires is absolutely awesome. It's about this disgraced knight who lost his holdings because his wife's lover usurped his title, and he goes on this quest with this prophetic little girl who's like possessed by an angel or something. She's trying to get to Avignon because she wants to see the Pope. While this journey is going on, it's the Black Death, and so there's a bunch of gnarly scenes, and there's also demons roaming Earth. They go on this journey, and I won't spoil what happens but it's pretty awesome. If you haven't read it , check it out when you get a chance!

Seconding this, excellent book

That sounds really cool! Adding it to the list!

Lonesome Dove!

It's an epic western surrounding 2 retired rangers who take their cattle outfit from Texas to Montana along with their hired hands.

What makes it so good is the depth of characterization, and just the way that Larry McMurtry writes his characters with so much empathy and humanity. We get to see the characters' inner struggles, and even some of the most minor characters have really interesting traits that you can't help but really like.

Gus and Call are obviously the characters the narrative revolves around, but McMurtry manages to not do his side characters dirty.

I feel like Lonesome Dove is an epic in every sense of the word because of the scale of the journey the characters go on, and the hardships they experience. People die, and sometimes a bit too quickly for my liking.

And there's inner struggles like Call's being divided between sticking to his image as the stoic honorable man who keeps his word and does the difficult things, and being a fundamentally flawed human being who is dishonest about something that's so important, it trumps almost everything else. And Gus, a man who tries to live in the moment, find joy and pleasure in every day, but who's haunted by his past and wants to go back to Nebraska to reunite with an old love.

And this is all happening during snake attacks, Indian raids, heavy storms and basically any kind of Oregon Trail mishap you can think of.

I just fell in love with the world and I couldn't stop reading once I picked it up. The beginning is rough, but I still enjoyed it, and once you go on the first raid to Mexico with Jake Spoon, and eventually leave Lonesome Dove for good, the story picks up significantly

I have a lot of book recommendations, so I'll try to organize them as best I can.

Note: The Physical vs Audio Books sections are purely based on how I found them. There are probably audiobooks of the physical books, and vice versa. I'll bold one or two in each section that I liked the most.

 

1. Fantasy
   1. Physical Books
      1. Thud! by Terry Pratchett
      2. The Inheritance Cycle (I have almost all of Christopher Paolini's books)
      3. The Bone comic books (I have all of these in one book, and read them in two days)
      4. The Rift War Saga
      5. The Kingkiller series (Really wish the third book was released) 
      6. Robinson Crusoe (Not certain if this is considered Fantasy, but I don't think it's Sci-Fi either)
      7. The entire Mistborn series. (I listened to them all first, but I'm now going through the physical versions.)
   2. Audiobooks
      1. The Cradle series (With twelve books, it's a long series. I think there are some physical copies of them out there somewhere.)
      2. Beware of Chicken (Great slice-of-life series, currently on the fourth book.)
      3. The Wandering Inn (Another Great slice-of-life series)
      4. Heretical Fishing (Slice-of-life, again. Somewhat similar to Beware of Chicken) 
      5. Reborn as a Demonic Tree (Despite how boring it might sound, it's surprisingly good. It's kinda like a Slice-of-life book, but sometimes it isn't.)
2. Sci-Fi
   1. Physical Books
      1. The entire Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series (I also have the entire thing in one massive volume)
      2. Scythe (Only read the first book so far, but I'm getting the second one here soon. Also not certain of the genre of this one, but Sci-Fi feels closer than Fantasy)
      3. The Martian (One of the more "realistic" Sci-Fi series)
   2. Audiobooks
      1. The Bobaverse series (They're a great sci-fi series that is slightly "realistic," though less so than The Martian. Imho, Heaven's River is the best of them all. The ones afterwards are good, but feel lacking compared to it.)
      2. Project Hail Mary

I might add more in later. Look at what you've done to me! I've wasted a solid half an hour adding in 2 5 6 more books by now! I knew I should have stayed away from this thread!

Total Books: 17

Alright, I think I'm going to tear myself away from here for now. Feel free to comment on this; I'll just create a new comment if I want to add more, lol.

I am very confused at Robinson Crusoe being discussed as "fantasy" or "sci fi", is this some kind of weird, completely different thing that used the same name and not the actual Robinson Crusoe?

I have no clue what genre it belongs to, and I didn't want to create an entire section just for it and possibly one other book, so I just put it in the one that fit it best, lol.

Lol okay. If a book written in 1719 that is set in the real world and contains no magic whatsoever counts as fantasy to you, then what doesn't I guess.

(I am actually glad to see you reading something good that doesn't contain wizards or space ships though.)

Well, I've now created a new section for it (& Scythe), and added even more books as well. I should probably stop adding to the list, but I keep on thinking of books that I liked but didn't add, lol.

I think you might end up really liking Gulliver's Travels too, which was written around the same time and actually does contain "realistic" fantasy societies. The protagonist is this very pragmatic "normal guy" who meets a society of tiny fairy-sized people, then giants, then a society dominated by enlightened talking horses. Basically written when the ocean was still the wondrous frontier that could contain any amount of weird shit for sailors to find, that later was the kind of thinking moved to outer space.

Oh yeah, I remember reading that! My family actually watched the movie (or was it a series?) based on it not too long ago.

Time to add another book to the list!

I have a lot of book recommendations, so I'll try to organize them as best I can.

 

(Note: The Physical vs Audio Books sections are purely based on how I found them. There are probably audiobooks of the physical books, and vice versa. I'll bold one or two in each section that I liked the most.)

(2nd Note: The three main sections are bassed off of feels. If you have a gripe with it, please comment under the old list and I'll consider moving it, or even creating an entierly new section.)

 

1. Fantasy
   1. Physical Books
      1. Thud! by Terry Pratchett
      2. The Inheritance Cycle (I have almost all of Christopher Paolini's books)
      3. The Bone comic books (I have all of these in one book, and read them in two days)
      4. The Rift War Saga
      5. The Kingkiller series (Really wish the third book was released) 
      6. The entire Mistborn series. (I listened to them all first, but I'm now going through the physical versions.)
   2. Audiobooks
      1. The Cradle series (With twelve books, it's a long series. I think there are some physical copies of them out there somewhere.)
      2. Beware of Chicken (Great slice-of-life series, currently on the fourth book.)
      3. The Wandering Inn (Another Great slice-of-life series)
      4. Heretical Fishing (Slice-of-life, again. Somewhat similar to Beware of Chicken) 
      5. Reborn as a Demonic Tree (Despite how boring it might sound, it's surprisingly good. It's kinda like a Slice-of-life book, but sometimes it isn't.)
2. Sci-Fi
   1. Physical Books
      1. The entire Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series (I also have the entire thing in one massive volume)
      2. The Martian (One of the more "realistic" Sci-Fi series)
   2. Audiobooks
      1. The Bobaverse series (They're a great sci-fi series that is slightly "realistic," though less so than The Martian. Imho, Heaven's River is the best of them all. The ones afterwards are good, but feel lacking compared to it.)
      2. Project Hail Mary
3. Books with genres that don't really fit into either of the previous categories:
   1. Robinson Crusoe (The main reason this section is even here)
   2. Scythe (Only read the first book so far, but I'm getting the second one here soon.)
   3. Immune: A Journey into the Mysterious System that Keeps You Alive. (Written by Philipp Dettmer, the creator of Kurzgesagt: In A Nutshell. I've read this thing at least four times. (Maybe even more, lol.) )
   4. The Seven Habits of Highly Productive Teens
   5. The Dictionary (Yes, I really did read the entire dictionary once; I was bored, okay?)
   6. The Thesaurus. (Yes, it was the same day as the dictionary. Yes, I was extremely bored. Yes, I'm a nerd/geek.)
   7. Gulliver's Travels

Look at what you've done to me! I've wasted who knows how long adding in 2 5 6 7 10 11 more books by now! I knew I should have stayed away from this thread!

Total Books: 22 (For now...)

Please don't comment on this! I want to be able to update this without adding a new text wall to this thread each time.

Pachinko!

It's the story of 3 generations of Koreans who fled Korea and lived in Japan because of WW2 and living conditions in Korea were untenable because Japan recently annexed Korea and things were not good in Korea.

There's this family who operates a lodge. They make money by taking in boarders, but then the daughter gets pregnant out of wedlock, a kind priest who lodges there decides to marry her to give the baby a name and a better chance at life, and they move to Japan.

Then the story follows this girl, her sons, her grandson, as they all try to make it in a country that's discriminatory towards them. The reason why the book is called Pachinko is because of a Japanese pinball kind of game that's popular in gambling parlors. Because of societal discrimination, operating a pachinko parlor was seen as low-class and criminal, and Koreans were seen in a negative light because many times Koreans get involved in the business, and there was already a societal discrimination around Koreans. So it became sort of a negative stereotype. But Pachinko also plays a positive role in the family's story and shows up several times to save them.

It's a really good book, and it doesn't really get boring. I really enjoyed traveling alongside all the characters and seeing their lives.

I feel like I might be overposting on this thread, so I'll drop 2 more recs and then stop.

1. The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker.

Apparently there's been a super popular movie based on this book called Hellraiser with like 9 sequels or something really crazy. It's constantly getting remade, so there may be a new one out at some point. If you've seen the original movie before, then you know the story, but I hadn't heard of Hellraiser until I finished Hellbound Heart. Pinhead is not named in this book, and the Cenobites themselves play more of a background manipulative role. But the hooks in their flesh and all that are accurate.

Unlike Lonesome Dove and Pachinko, this book is more mature, with way more gore and explicit sexual content so I would caution younger readers away from this book.

This book is basically about this dude named Frank who gets bored of life on Earth and is seeking some kind of new and previously unheard of pleasure. He gets this puzzle box called the Lemarchand Box that can unlock some kind of mystical race of supernatural beings called the Cenobites. Apparently they can take you this different realm and offer you your heart's desire.

Except, it turns out that the Cenobites, a race of powerful, sadistic, and unearthly beings, do not have Frank's best interest at heart. Shocker. Who could have seen that coming?

So they end up imprisoning him and torturing him to harvest his suffering, which they feed on. They also imprison him directly behind the wall of the house he lived in while trying to crack the Lemarchand box, so he can see his room but can't go there because he's trapped behind the wall in like this other dimension or realm or something, I don't know, it doesn't really specify. But he's there and not there at the same time.

His brother, Roy and Roy's wife Julia move in to the house, and Roy has this accident where he cuts his hand on a chisel and bleeds in the same room that Frank was spirited away from. This is important because in this other realm, Frank lost his corporeal form entirely, so the only way he can get his body back is with blood. And the only reason he's able to do that is because of another even more gross thing that happened that basically allows him to maintain some semblance of a foothold on Earth, and then the blood feeds him enough so he can become a sort of nervous system attached to an eye type specter.

Julia finds him, decides that she likes Frank better than his brother, her husband, and then the duo set out on a morally bankrupt, incredibly evil journey to get Frank a body back of some kind.

I couldn't put this one down because it's short for one and creepy to the point where it sort of fixed my attention. It's 150 pages, and there's not a lot of fluff. The pacing is fast, and things get set into motion rather rapidly, and the imagery is really visceral and gross, so it's kind of hard to put it down. There's a lot of twists and turns, and there's this really cool gambit where another character also hatches an interesting ploy to get revenge, and I thought that was pretty cool.

2. Devdas by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay

This book is suitable for a younger audience, and it's also really short. I think it's even shorter than "The Hellhound Heart".

It's basically this Shakespearan story set in 1900s Bengal. it's a super popular novel to make a film out of in India, and that's how I originally heard of it, since it's basically filmed in almost every Indian language, with all kinds of takes over the years. So it's kind of like the Indian Romeo and Juliet since it's also a tragic love story, but there are a few differences.

Okay so the narrative revolves around this zamindar(landlord) named Devdas who lives in a small village. As a kid, he and this girl named Parvati(Paro) were in love with each other, best friends as kids, and then they slowly start falling in love as kids. So they're basically childhood sweethearts.

Devdas is in a higher social class than Paro and a lot richer so that puts a damper on their relationship. Devdas leaves their village to study in the big metropolitan city of Calcutta. Then when he comes back, he and Paro fall in love.

But when Paro's mom goes to Devdas's mom with a marriage proposal(both families have been really close with each other for years, but there's also this lurking understanding of social class differences in the back of their minds), Devdas's mother gives a sort of noncommittal answer.

Paro realizes that Devdas may not be able to marry her, so she goes to his house at the dead of night, but then Devdas, who's a bit emotionally immature, leaves and goes to Calcutta. Paro then gets married, then Devdas coincidentally finally decides he likes her. But she's already married so he gets drunk and fucks up the rest of his life.

That's sort of the spark notes version, but you should read the whole thing, this summary doesn't do the story justice. I couldn't put this one down because for one, it's short, two it's really haunting and sad. I read this one right after Hellbound Heart, and it's sort of a palette cleanser, because even though it's tragic, the characters here are more wholesome. I really liked the prose, it's simple and straightforward, and I enjoyed the way the story develops, and how there always seemed to be a silver lining in sight. If only one action proceeded with a different outcome, then maybe things would have been different. It's like watching a train wreck that can be stopped at any time but the train driver refuses to act. There's something so captivating at seeing this guy who at any time could choose better but doesn't, and with every page you hope for him to do better and yet he just keeps fucking up. But he does try and he tries to fight his alcohol addiction. I also really loved the progressive themes in this novel and the way that Sarat showcases characters like Paro and Chandramukhi. It's a quick read and one that's pretty absorbing, and I definitely couldn't put this one down until I was done. It was better than the movie, which is surprising because I really loved the 2002 film adaptation, but the novel is just so imaginative and quietly understated in ways that I felt the movie could have adopted as well.

The book that recently got me back into reading after a long hiatus was The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett. It's a murder mystery in a weird fantasy setting. I got it for a local book club a few weeks in advance, figuring it would take me that long to get through it. I finished it in a day and a half. I'm honestly not sure what made it so engaging. It's well-written, the characters are interesting, the mystery is mysterious... but yeah, beyond all that it's just one of those books that keeps you turning pages.