Book recommendation please! Anything to ease the pain in my soul!
Whatās your 2017 book list??? Any recs for sci-fi? Iām trying to branch out from reading just YA, fantasy and drama.
Ooohhhhhhh, speaking of books, please make a book recommendation š any genre is fine
Absolutely, with pleasure! Below are my favorites among what Iāve read in 2017, by genre:
FICTION: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. It is an amazingly well-written novel which tackles a complex, sad, traumatic issue, not to make light of it, but to make it warm and kind and funny in a gentle way. This year I also read Celeste Ngās highly popular Little Fires Everywhere, which was another good read, but didnāt impress me as much as Everything I Never Told You, which I would highly recommend if you guys havenāt read already. Celeste Ng has a wonderful way of building characters less by exposing their thoughts but by putting them in harrowing yet completely believable situations which bring out their best (and worst) traits.
HISTORICAL FICTION:Ā A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. If I have to choose my most favorite fiction book of 2017, this would be it. Amor Towles writes historical fiction with a sophistication and sensitivity which make you wonder if he has a time machine. This novel of his is an exquisite narrative which has an almost theatrical quality as scenes after scenes unfold in vivid and absorbing details on what, at first, appeared to be a highly limited setting: the hotel which the main character, Count Alexander Rostov, was confined to, as his punishment for the crime of being an aristocrat in Bolshevik Russia. The story of this gentleman happened entirely inside this hotel, but the impact he had on the lives of people who knew him was unrestricted by any physical barrier. He will have an impact on your life too if you listen to his story, I promise.
FANTASY: The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin. If you read reviews of this series, the key word would beĀ āextraordinaryā, and I canāt find any other adjective which is at the same time most fitting and yet completely inadequate to describe Jemisinās work. I am an avid reader of fantasy, to the point I once thought thereās really not much else any fantasy author can do with the genre which could surprise me. Boy, was I proven wrong when I picked up The Fifth Season.Ā
SCIENCE FICTION: I have rather neglected this genre in 2017, but among the very few sci-fi books I had on my shelf this year, one was easily one of the best sci-fi Iāve read, ever:Ā Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang. Itās a collection of short stories, each successive one guaranteed to blow your mind apart further that the last. What makes Ted Chiangās writing so powerful is his exceptional imagination, and equally important, his uncanny ability to lay out his imagination in a logical, rational, and human way which both keeps you engaged and demand you to expand your mind to embrace the unprecedented. The titular story was used as basis for the movie Arrival, of course. At the risk of echoing every otherĀ bibliophile out there, I do have to insist that if you like the movie, you are most obliged to read the book.
MYSTERY & THRILLER: The Likeness by Tana French, or anything in her Dublin Murder Squad series, really. These books artfully combine the thriller side with the human side in the story and leave the readers with not just the satisfaction of a suspense well-resolved but also questions about what happened next to the characters. What did they do after theĀ event, how could their life survived theĀ incident, where did they go from there? Tana French is amazingly good at making her readers care.
NON-FICTION: Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction by Derek Thompson, in which āpopularityā is finely dissected and scrutinized, myths are debunked, true geniuses credited, shadow influence unearthed, and everything in between. What I enjoy most about this book is, after examining an abundance of evidence, exploring a plethora of angles, and picking the brains of a great many respectable experts, the author, unapologetically, left us with more questions than he answered, brought our attention to more mysteries than he set out to solve, and made us wonder and wonder and hunger for more understanding. It is for me the hallmark of a great science book.Ā
As a bonus, Hit Makers also led me to reflect on the topic of popularity in the figure skating world. What makes a skater, a program, more or less popular? Why is it that popularity is never equal to being universally well-beloved? Why is it that a skater on the top of their game always seems to attract as many ardent lovers as vicious haters? Iām not saying that this book will help answer all of your questions, but it will provide you the tools to think.
The Rook by Daniel OāMalley. The Bourne Identity meets urban fantasy. A heroine that is everything I ever want to be if I were one day to be stuck in a fantasy world. Sheās smart and deadly but entirely average in every other aspect. Sheās bored most of the times with all the random curve balls life throws at her and sheās just trying her best to survive, why canāt people just leave her alone?
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. I promise it is not a sad book. It makes you think not about death but about what it means to be alive, what your life should be, and could be, if you give it a chance.
Magical Thinking by Augusten Burroughs. I plucked this from the bargain shelf at a local bookstore, with the authorās autograph and all, for 3 bucks. Best 3 bucks ever spent. Augusten Burroughs is witty, biting, sarcastic, and he obviously doesnāt care if you like him or not. The stories he told are bizarre, yet strangely familiar, sometimes uncomfortably so.Ā
Did you guys find any awesome read in 2017? Let me know! My to-read list is hideous long but Iām always up to making it even longer!Ā