Looking for your next read?

How it works:

You send recommendations to the askbox. However many you like, whatever you think people might like to read.

When you want a recommendation for yourself, send in an ask — feel free to specify a genre, or just leave it to chance! I select a rec at random and send it to you, along with a quick blurb and any message that was left. Note that I haven't read all these, so I can't get into specifics on recommendations.

Recommendations should include: title, author, genre or genres if you can, and anything you think the person who gets it ought to know.

Questions:

Is there anything that's banned? No, but play nice. Don't use recommendations just to troll people.

Do I have to read what I'm recommended? Well, I certainly can't make you do anything. I do encourage you to, though!

Can I ask for multiple recommendations? Absolutely.

Can I come back and tell you what I thought? Oh, please do!

Why are anon asks off? Firstly, so that you don't miss your rec when it's posted. Secondly, to keep the trolls at bay.

Why are Fantasy and Alternate World split? On advice of my brother, who thought The Lies of Locke Lamora was incredible until a wizard showed up.

Can I submit a recommendation with multiple genres? Of course! Many of them are!

Do you take recommendations for comics or manga? No, nor for serialised stories. These are intended to be one-offs. Standalone graphic novels and individual books from a series are fine, though!

What if I ask for something incredibly specific? Then I probably won't be able to answer. This is a collation, and I haven't read all these books, so I can't sort by specific plot points or types of characters. If you want the random-rec experience, please just ask me for a genre.

I'm also the mod of @cover-art-showdown.

Blog tags:

#administrivia for general blog information

#book recs for completed recommendation requests

#reader reviews for people reporting on their reads

#generalia for any other book-related posting

Description of the genre divisions below the cut:

Like I've noted, this is a collation blog for people's recommendations. I haven't read all these books, which means I can't necessarily speak to specific plot points. In this instance, I also haven't seen John Wick. (Are we talking thriller here? Fantasy? Crime?) I'd really prefer not to take hyperspecific requests, just to avoid inadvertently disappointing people.

That said, I evidently haven't made this clear enough, so that's on me and I apologise. But from what I have read, I think this might be up your alley:

Blackheart Knights by Laure Eve

Imagine Camelot but in Gotham: a city where knights are the celebrities of the day, riding on motorbikes instead of horses and competing in televised fights for fame and money.

Imagine a city where a young, magic-touched bastard astonishes everyone by becoming king - albeit with extreme reluctance - and a girl with a secret past trains to become a knight for the sole purpose of vengeance.

Imagine a city where magic is illegal but everywhere, in its underground bars, its back-alley soothsayers - and in the people who have to hide what they are for fear of being tattooed and persecuted.

Imagine a city where electricity is money, power the only game worth playing, and violence the most fervently worshipped religion.

Thanks! 🩷❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜

Hi! I have a few thriller recommendations on the books — unfortunately I haven't read most of them myself, which is why I don't tend to categorise any deeper than genre or go into specifics with recommendations. I can't confirm whether this one contains queer characters, though as far as I can tell the plot doesn't revolve around institutionalisation. Perhaps the submitter has further comments.

That said, your recommendation is:

Devil House by John Darnielle

One fantasy, coming right up!

Your recommendation is:

Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines

Isaac Vainio is a Libriomancer, a member of the secret organization founded five centuries ago by Johannes Gutenberg. Libriomancers are gifted with the ability to magically reach into books and draw forth objects. When Isaac is attacked by vampires that leaked from the pages of books into our world, he barely manages to escape. To his horror he discovers that vampires have been attacking other magic-users as well, and Gutenberg has been kidnapped. With the help of a motorcycle-riding dryad who packs a pair of oak cudgels, Isaac finds himself hunting the unknown dark power that has been manipulating humans and vampires alike. And his search will uncover dangerous secrets about Libriomancy, Gutenberg, and the history of magic...

Hello, darling! One romance, coming right up!

Your recommendation is:

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

Unfortunately I could only get my hands on an English copy which let to some small understanding problems between me and ye old English, but that's not really the books fault, considering the era the story plays in. But it didn't actually hinder me too much and it still ended up being a fun and relatively low effort read. The beginning was a bit slow to get in to for me, but in the second half (at the latest) I could barely put it down. I was also very glad that the ending was so crisp and not drawn out.

I thought Arabella and Beaumaris were a fun and interesting couple and I loved their characters (and the supporting cast), but I have to admit that my favorite dynamic (maybe even my favorite thing in this book in general) was the Beaumaris and Ulysses duo. I adored those scenes so so much.

Solid 4 out of 5 stars for me. I'll probably pick up another Georgette Heyer book in the future, not quite sure which one yet, but maybe The Grand Sophy or Federica.

I thank the original submitter very much for this recommendation (and of course the lovely person running this blog)! Never saw myself reading a regency romance, but I'm so glad for the experience.

So, I went into this with... little expectations? I don't usually read this kind of 'hard' Sci-Fi, and mostly stay away from stories about war so I was really unsure if I would like it. Then I realised that the author is one of my friends favourites, so I asked him to do a buddy read with me and it was SUCH a good experience (I am really discovering buddyreads for myself lately) and a wonderful book in itself!

It is in large parts told through the eyes of Rex, a dog-human hybrid 'bioform' as well as a couple of humans and a mysterious "Redacted". Rex does not think like a human, which is really what makes this book special and interesting- the world is very different through his eyes.

And while it is also a war story, yes, but not exclusively and mostly just a very interesting world with wonderful characters and amazing development!

I don't always like multiple POVs, but with Rexs less human view and the others the voices are very distinct and all add something new so I really enjoyed the Use here.

Overall, it starts of fast paced and super intriguing right from the first page and goes on as a near-perfect book for me for quite a bit- then at about 75% it hit a bit of a slow point for me, feeling almost like an epilogue already. But the last few chapter very amazing again and I was a big fan of the ending, it was very satisfying and pushed the book from a high four star read to a low five star read for me.

I do have to say, I don't have a huge desire to read the next books right now- I thought it worked very well as a standalone! I might still do it because I am sure they will be good, but I don't think the book needs a sequel at all to be enjoyed.

Thanks for the review! Very glad to hear you enjoyed yourself.

Your recommendation is:

Fairytales for Wilde Girls by Allyse Near

There's a dead girl in a birdcage in the woods. That's not unusual. Isola Wilde sees a lot of things other people don't. But when the girl appears at Isola's window, her every word a threat, Isola needs help.

Her real-life friends – Grape, James and new boy Edgar – make her forget for a while. And her brother-princes – the mermaids, faeries and magical creatures seemingly lifted from the pages of the French fairytales Isola idolises – will protect her with all the fierce love they possess.

I just finished Dogs of War (I will take some time organising my thoughts and send a review a bit later but I really liked it!!) and now have another request - this time for a Horror Recommendation! :D

Congratulations! Glad to hear you enjoyed it — I shall look forward to the review!

Horror, you say? Your recommendation is:

A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock

It is an unusual thing, to live in a botanical garden. But Simon and Gregor are an unusual pair of gentlemen. Hidden away in their glass sanctuary from the disapproving tattle of Victorian London, they are free to follow their own interests without interference. For Simon, this means long hours in the dark basement workshop, working his taxidermical art. Gregor's business is exotic plants – lucrative, but harmless enough. Until his latest acquisition, a strange fungus which shows signs of intellect beyond any plant he's seen, inspires him to attempt a masterwork: true intelligent life from plant matter.

Driven by the glory he'll earn from the Royal Horticultural Society for such an achievement, Gregor ignores the flaws in his plan: that intelligence cannot be controlled; that plants cannot be reasoned with; and that the only way his plant-beast will flourish is if he uses a recently deceased corpse for the substrate.

Certainly! Good luck with your branching out efforts — I hope you enjoy yourself!

Your recommendation is:

Arabella by Georgette Heyer

Daughter of a modest country clergyman, Arabella Tallant is on her way to London when her carriage breaks down outside the hunting lodge of the wealthy Mr. Robert Beaumaris. Her pride stung when she overhears a remark of her host's, Arabella pretends to be an heiress, a pretense that deeply amuses the jaded Beau. To counter her white lie, Beaumaris launches her into high society and thereby subjects her to all kinds of fortune hunters. When compassionate Arabella rescues such unfortunate creatures as a mistreated chimney sweep and a mixed-breed mongrel, she foists them upon Beaumaris, who finds he rather enjoys the role of rescuer and is soon given the opportunity to prove his mettle in the person of Arabella's impetuous young brother...

Yes, I am aware of the current "update" situation;

No, I do not like it;

I am not currently all that affected by it (I'm on mobile without auto-updates), so I will still see most notifications for now; and

I will inform you all if that changes.

It's tremendously frustrating, and scrolling through hundreds of angry posts won't help much. (At least, I know it's not helping me.) Once you've made your displeasure known to Tumblr (clearly and politely, via both their Support feedback form and the @changes blog), I suggest logging off for a bit and cooling down if you're feeling upset.

Certainly! Your recommendation is:

The Seed from the Sepulcher by Clark Ashton Smith

Deep in the sweltering jungles of South America, two explorers — Falmer and Thone — stumble upon a forgotten ruin, hidden beneath centuries of tangled growth and silence. Within its shadowed chambers lies an ancient tomb, undisturbed, its secrets sealed in stone and time. But something lingers in the sepulchre. Something old. Something alive. Something that does not sleep. As one of the men becomes obsessed with a strange, unidentifiable seed found within the tomb, the boundary between plant and predator, dream and nightmare, begins to rot and dissolve. What blooms from ancient soil may not be content to remain buried.

One sci-fi for you! Your recommendation is:

Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky

"My name is Rex. I am a good dog."

Rex is also seven foot tall at the shoulder, bulletproof, bristling with heavy calibre weaponry and his voice resonates with subsonics especially designed to instil fear. With Dragon, Honey and Bees, he's part of a Multiform Assault Pack operating in the lawless anarchy of Campeche, south-eastern Mexico.

Rex is a genetically engineered Bioform, a deadly weapon in a dirty war. He has the intelligence to carry out his orders and feedback implants to reward him when he does. All he wants to be is a Good Dog. And to do that he must do exactly what Master says and Master says he's got to kill a lot of enemies.

But who, exactly, are the enemies? What happens when Master is tried as a war criminal? What rights does the Geneva Convention grant weapons? Do Rex and his fellow Bioforms even have a right to exist? And what happens when Rex slips his leash?"

The coinflip has decided your fate in favour of fantasy, for today, so your recommendation is:

Himself, by Jess Kidd

Having been abandoned at an orphanage as a baby, Mahony assumed all his life that his mother wanted nothing to do with him. That is, until one night in 1976 while drinking a pint at a Dublin pub, when he receives an anonymous note implying that she may have been forced to give him up. Determined to find out what really happened, Mahony embarks on a pilgrimage back to his hometown, the rural village of Mulderrig. Neither he nor Mulderrig can possibly prepare for what’s in store…

From the moment he arrives, Mahony’s presence completely changes the village. Women fall all over themselves. The real and the fantastic are blurred. Chatty ghosts rise from their graves with secrets to tell, and local preacher Father Quinn will do anything to get rid of the slippery young man who is threatening the moral purity of his parish.