Have you read any good books recently that aren't super mainstream?
We spend a lot of time here discussing which books we're tired of seeing people reference, but sometimes we could use some recommendations for what books are actually good.
Please comment below with a lesser-known book you've read and a short explanation of what about it you liked.
^(Like a book that isn't Harry Potter.
Please keep all book recommendations to this thread. The rules of this subreddit have not changed, and outside of this thread /r/readanotherbook should only be used for sharing cringe social media pictures of people using a single work as their entire frame of reference. General hate or criticism of Harry Potter or JK Rowling should be posted to /r/harrypotterhate. If this thread goes down well, similar megathreads might be posted in the future.
Is there a book adaptation of Andor?
Not lesser known, but blackshirts and reds by Michael Parenti
Very mainstream, but I've been enjoying Canterbury Tales. It is a blast and it's incredible that it was written 600 years ago.
For a fantasy author fully outside the mainstream, but still lauded and critically acclaimed, I will recommend Patricia McKillip until the day I die.
Her novel The Forgotten Beasts of Eld was a game changer for me. I haven't really read a bad book from her, and I've gone through most of her catalogue. Unlike many modern fantasy authors, most of her novels are standalone narratives. Her prose is stunning, her characters are magnificent, and her plots are gut wrenching. She's easily among the best authors I've read and it's almost criminal how few people know of her body of work.
Dungeon Crawler Carl is honestly pretty damn good so far. Not gonna claim it's the next LotR, but it's enjoyable.
If you want something about power dynamics and politics that's actually subtle and intelligent, I highly recommend King Rat by James Clavell. It's one of my all-time favorites and it's about allied POWs in a Japanese internment camp at the end of WW2 and how different people (and groups of people) adapt socially to survive in such a harsh, alternate environment.
Not a super long read either and fairly easy to pick up.
Read House of Leaves and absolutely adored it.
Excellent psychological horror that had me enthralled the whole time. Really good shit.
Only book that’s ever really scared me. Like hairs-on-my-arms-standing-on-end scared. It’s also the sort of book you’ll only ever want to read once, but it will leave an impression on you.
The Pig by Edward Lee. Greatest opening page in literary history.
The Postman by David Brin, the entire Hitchhiker's series from Douglas Adams, Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, and anything by Mark Twain or Philip K. Dick would be my recommendations.
The worst books I've ever read had the most interesting premises. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood are implausible but creative setups handled by two authors who are terrible writers, and having to read their abysmal prose should be considered a violation of the Geneva Convention. Douglas Adams made words dance and do acrobatics but Rand and Atwood turn them into sludge that slowly drowns your will to continue reading.
Lmao. People are not going to like your opinion but I love your harshness.
16 ways to defend a Walled City by KJ Parker
Genuinely fantastic book
Stand on Zanzibar. Another classic in the "sci fi book that predicted reality" genre, right down to 1980s fashion trends.
Im not sure if it’s considered mainstream but “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt was beautiful, absolutely loved it
I've been reading the metro trilogy, just finishing 2035. Great lesser known series that I think is maybe a little unfortunately outshone by the game adaptations
The moon is a harsh mistress by heinlein. An actual book about anarchism
Wildbow's web serials, particularly Worm, Pact, and Seek.
Worm is a deconstruction of the superhero genre about a bullied 15-year old girl with the power to control bugs who sets out to become a hero but falls in with the wrong crowd and becomes a supervillain.
Pact is a brutally paced urban fantasy/horror story about a guy who inherits an old house from his grandmother, and a legacy of demon summoning with it. Also the universe literally hates him.
Seek is currently ongoing, and is a space opera/drama about a teenage girl who becomes the most famous person alive after being credited with stopping a terrorist attack. Interestingly, we never see things from her perspective; instead, the other three protagonists all exist in relation to her.
I don’t know if this counts as mainstream but The Master and Margarita is an incredible satirical novel
Orwell beyond 1984 and Animal Farm. Road to Wigan Pier, Homage to Catalonia and especially essays like Notes on Nationalism, Looking Back on the Spanish War, and Politics and the English Language. Lots of enduring truth in there.
Project: Hail Mary, great as an audiobook. Liked the Martian? You'll love it.
On a Murderbot Diaries kick, too.
The trailer for the film adaptation just dropped yesterday, if you haven't heard.
I think that might be why it jumped into my head! I haven't seen it, though, ty.
I'm listening to the Brothers Karamasov audiobook for the third time.
I'd highly recommend it, especially Constantine Gregory's reading of it. Although it is very long, it is very engaging and full of life.