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so you want to get back into reading books but have no idea where to start and disdain booktok (if you get me started on this however i will become an unskippable cutscene so that's for another day). understandable. there is so much out there and it is all so overwhelming and you don't even know what you like now that you've been a decade out of the game. again, understandable. it does not have to be scary. i will help you. below i have created some categories that can get you started.

i want to read Literature

literary fiction, with crossover from historical fiction and magical realism

PEACH BLOSSOM SPRING by melissa fu

THE VASTER WILDS by lauren groff

THE FAMILY CHAO by lan samantha chang

OUTER DARK by cormac mccarthy

SEVERANCE by ling ma

LIGHT FROM UNCOMMON STARS by ryka aoki

IDENTITTI by mithu m. sanyal

PIRANESI by susanna clarke

i want to read sci-fi/fantasy that won't break my brain

sci-fi and fantasy that is gentler on the brain cells. easier to grasp magic systems with multiple but not an overwhelming number of overlapping plotlines

EMILY WILDE'S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FAERIES by heather fawcett

KINGS OF THE WYLD by nicholas eames

THE JASMINE THRONE by tasha suri

THE CITY OF BRASS by s.a. chakraborty

A RIVER ENCHANTED by rebecca ross

JUNIPER AND THORN by ava reid

BLACK SUN by rebecca roanhorse

THE FINAL STRIFE by saara el-arifi

THE BONE SHARD DAUGHTER by andrea stewart

i want to read sci-fi/fantasy that forces me to lock the fuck in

i would not recommend picking these up as your first foray back into books after many years of not reading recreationally, but i'm not your mom.

THE SPEAR CUTS THROUGH WATER by simon jimenez

JADE CITY by fonda lee

THE FIFTH SEASON by n.k. jemisin

THE RAGE OF DRAGONS by evan winter

A MEMORY CALLED EMPIRE by arkady martine

GIDEON THE NINTH by tamsyn muir

THE ART OF PROPHECY by wesley chu

THE GRACE OF KINGS by ken liu

horrify me!

there is far more to the horror literary canon than stephen king and dean koontz, i promise. consider looking up warnings for these.

TENDER IS THE FLESH by agustina bazterrica

THE RUINS by scott smith

CONFESSIONS by kanae minato

EPISODE THIRTEEN by craig dilouie

REPRIEVE by james han mattson

MARY by nat cassidy

DEAD SILENCE by s.a. barnes

AUDITION by ryu murakami

THE SALT GROWS HEAVY by cassandra khaw

don't care, i want romance

some of these feature crossover genres, like fantasy and horror.

VAMPIRES OF EL NORTE by isabel cañas

DAUGHTER OF THE MOON GODDESS by sue lynn tan

SEVEN DAYS IN JUNE by tia williams

HAPPY PLACE by emily henry

ONE DARK WINDOW by rachel gillig

i want QUEER romance

again, a mix of historical, fantasy, and contemporary crossover genres.

WE COULD BE SO GOOD by cat sebastian

IN MEMORIAM by alice winn

MOST ARDENTLY by gabe cole novoa

A STRANGE AND STUBBORN ENDURANCE by foz meadows

A MARVELLOUS LIGHT by freya marske

THE EMPEROR AND THE ENDLESS PALACE by justinian huang

SPELL BOUND by f.t. lukens

SORRY, BRO by taleen voskuni

ONE LAST STOP by casey mcquiston

DELILAH GREEN DOESN'T CARE by ashley herring blake

i haven't felt anything since i read percy jackson/the hunger games in middle school/high school

adventure is still out there.

SCYTHE by neil shusterman

WE HUNT THE FLAME by hafsah faizal

SIX OF CROWS by leigh bardugo

GEARBREAKERS by zoe hana mikuta

i'll read anything that's not straight or white

many books in the above categories fit this, but here's even more, across a variety of genres.

LAST NIGHT AT THE TELEGRAPH CLUB by malinda lo

BABEL by r.f. kuang

WHEN THE RECKONING COMES by latanya mcqueen

THE UNBROKEN by c.l. clark

IF YOU'LL HAVE ME (graphic novel) by eunnie

LEGEND OF THE WHITE SNAKE by sher lee

THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR by amal el-mohtar and max gladstone

SHE WHO BECAME THE SUN by shelley parker-chan

"all ya books suck"

like any other genre or book age group, there are duds and there are standouts. ya is not special in this regard. try some of these!

DIVINE RIVALS by rebecca ross

STRIKE THE ZITHER by joan he

THE RED PALACE by june hur

A STUDY IN DROWNING by ava reid

EMPIRE OF SAND by tasha suri

LEGENDBORN by tracy deonn

i check out and read a lot of these books for free via my local library by using the libby app (you can even add your friends' library cards to gain access to libraries in places you don't live). when i'm feeling like reading via audiobook, i use libro fm!

look, no one HAS TO read diversely. no one is going to be reverse fahrenheit 451'd and locked in a room with no fanfic and only books and not let out until they work their way through the entire literary canon. but reading, and reading widely, and reading diversely, is what teaches people to form their own opinions and question the things they are told. it's why they hang up stuff like "READ READ READ!!" in grade school classrooms.

we live under systems that increasingly benefit from going unquestioned. no, of course reading ASSASSIN'S APPRENTICE by robin hobb is not going to dismantle these systems tomorrow, nor probably even in our lifetimes. but doing it will help set up a world capable of doing it in the future. and until further notice, we are all part of this wretched world. might as well read a good story while we're here.

I am Amer, a Palestinian man from Gaza. I live with my wife and four children in indescribable conditions. Despite all this suffering, hope remains in our hearts.

My wife, my children, and I live in a single small tent. We lack the most basic necessities, and our daily lives are full of challenges: power outages, water shortages, and difficulty in securing food and medicine.

The situation in Gaza is tragic, and we face relentless conflict every single day. But I believe that strength lies in unity, and that support, however small, can transform our family's life. I launched this campaign as a plea for hope and an appeal for help to overcome this hardship. All we ask is for the opportunity to live with dignity for my children and my family.

If you hear our story, please share it and offer your support, whether through prayer, a kind word, or any other means. Together, we can make Gaza a better place.

Donate and share🙏

✅️Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #682 )✅️

I am Mohammed from Gaza, 28 years old, and I live with my father and brothers. We all used to live a peaceful life together in our home. As you can see, this was our home before it was completely destroyed. It was our home, but now it is in ruins.

We worked 24/7 to rebuild our home, but now, after all these years of hard work, we have lost everything and have become homeless and displaced.

As for our work and our business, my brother and I had a university cafeteria, and we had a dream of being able to provide the best food to the students in our city.

At Al-Aqsa University, we worked together hand in hand to make this possible, and just as it was starting to happen, a war broke out and shattered all our dreams. We woke up to the nightmare of war, seeing the university destroyed. At that moment, we were desperate, helpless, and lost.

Not just our home and our workplace. But can you imagine the moment you see the last thing you owned destroyed, ruined, and shattered? So, for God's sake, you are the only ones who can help us rebuild our shattered lives. I would be very grateful for your kindness and support.

The voice of truth for every Palestinian 🇵🇸

An Israeli soldier is seen firing randomly toward civilian homes and displacement tents in Gaza, describing the act as “for entertainment.”

At a time when civilians are being killed daily by stray bullets coming from the eastern areas of the Strip, violence is treated as a game wituhout accountability, and without humanity.

This is not an “isolated incident.”

This is not a “mistake.”

It reflects a reality where civilians are dehumanized and treated as targets.

Documenting these acts is a duty.

Silence is complicity.

After the ceasefire !!

Airstrikes targeting displacement tents in Gaza despite claims of a ceasefire and narratives that the war has “ended.”

For civilians on the ground, there is no post-war reality. There is no safety. Only changing methods of the same violence.

A ceasefire on paper does not stop bombs in the sky.

And declarations of peace mean nothing when tents are still being bombed.

Donations for GAZA!!

This donation campaign is for ANAS family. Not for strangers, not for a cause I'm distant from but for the people who raised me, the people I love, the people I'm terrified of losing.

They are in Gaza, trying to survive something no human being should ever have to endure. Constant bombardment, displacement, hunger, fear, and the feeling that tomorrow is never guaranteed. Every day is about staying alive one more night.

If you choose to help, you are not donating to an abstract crisis. You are helping real people with names, memories, and lives that matter to me more than anything.

—-This is a verified Chuffed campaign to support family:

a girl who pretends to hate her... until she's even in a modicum of trouble, then it's all hands on deck (rest of the 301 girls included).

To this extent, they despise the people of Gaza. Please support us and do not be like these criminals

This is a comment from perpetrators of genocide. This despicable Israeli is mocking the people of Gaza.

What you’re about to read isn’t a story it’s what remains after a home, a street, and a future are taken away !!

Sorry for the mentions @ ,this isn’t spam, sharing this so it can reach more people🥺💔💔💔

Hello everyone 🙏

We are Anas’s family, and this is our story from Gaza.

I never imagined I would be writing something like this, or sharing pieces of our life this way, but here we are. As you can see in the photos and videos I’m sharing, everything around us has changed. The place we once called home no longer exists. We lost our house, our land, and the life we spent years building, piece by piece, with memories that can never be replaced.

Today, we live in a tent. This thin fabric is all that separates us from the cold nights, the heat during the day, and the constant fear that never really leaves. Privacy is gone, comfort is gone, and safety feels like a distant memory. Every morning starts with the same question: how will we get through today?

Simple things that once felt normal are now daily struggles. Cooking means lighting firewood, breathing in smoke, and hoping we can find enough food to last. There is no electricity, no gas, no certainty. Just survival, one meal at a time.

Inside the tent, everything is cramped. This is where we sleep, rest, and try to feel human again. There is no silence here, only the sounds of drones, explosions, and the weight of uncertainty. Nights are the hardest. Fear gets louder when the world goes quiet.

The war did not stop. It is still happening, every single day. The sky fills with smoke, the ground shakes, and we are reminded again and again that nothing here is stable. Each explosion feels closer than the last, and every moment carries the possibility of losing even more.

This video shows our street. Every house you see destroyed once held families, stories, laughter, and dreams. This is where we grew up, where we knew every corner and every neighbor. Now it’s all rubble. Walking through it feels unreal, like moving through a memory that’s been violently erased.

If you’re able to help, you can donate through this link 👇👇

Asking for help is not easy. It’s humbling and painful. But the truth is, we cannot do this alone. We are trying to survive with dignity in conditions no one should ever have to endure.

If you are able, please consider donating through the link at the end of this post. We are close to reaching our second goal, and every contribution truly makes a difference.

If donating isn’t possible, sharing this post is just as important. It helps our voices reach beyond Gaza, beyond the silence.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Thank you for caring.