Hi, this is my first post here. I’ve lurked for a while but hadn’t have the courage to ask. I come from a third world country and reading is not encouraged at all. In fact, I’m 100% sure both my elementary school and high school did not have libraries. Then I moved to Canada and people read, for fun!. I didn’t get it at first but now with my kids, I really do see how you can love reading. Even my son who leans more toward numbers reads a lot because he really enjoys it and I would like that too. I have started with celebrity memoirs (Anna Kendrick and Britney Spears) but I would like to do more from actual authors.
So what would you recommend for someone who hasn’t done much reading but wants to. Are there reading lists online? Or suggestion websites? Should I start with classics? What are the classics?
Fictional recs: For classics go for something short around 250 pages like The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald, Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, The stranger by Albert camus. For something contemporary but on same line go for the perks of being a wallflower. Then maybe try Shakespeare, Jane Austen Charles Dickens etc. For Russian classics start from books like Notes from the underground by Dostoevsky, death of ivan Ilyach by Tolstoy these are under 150 pages but they are quite challenging. And slowly you will find other authors and books. Good luck with your reading journey. You might feel bored in beginning and it might takes months to complete that one book but you will get there and you won’t regret it.
Thank you! I really like your suggestions and that there are not that many pages.
Wow! What a change for you. Welcome to book world. I raided my dad’s book shelf when I was 11 and never stopped reading. I’d start with things you love or things you’re interested in. Is there something appealing about memoirs? There are certainly many books that are not by celebrities, just amazing life stories and you could branch into non-fiction, about areas (like Appalachia, India, etc), religions, experiences. Or, if you’re ready for fiction, are there books your son reads and likes that you could start with? I love some teen and young adult books: Speak, Harry Potter, The fault in our stars, hunger games, under the whispering door…
If you’re a short story fan or into shorter works, you could try novellas (short novels) or short story books. It’s a nice way to see if you like a particular style of book, like fantasy, romance, mystery, science fiction. These aren’t my personal favorites, so I don’t have good recommendations for you.
I love science fiction and fantasy and am a fan of Charles de lint who writes urban fantasy. He does have quite a few short story books. There are deep sagas like Lord of the Rings that can be admittedly boring until you really get into it— like 100 pages into it. Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy is brilliant and beautiful, but the books are 800-900 pages long! Worth every letter in each page.
Female authors like Nnedi Okorafor, Margaret Atwood, NK Jemison, Joy Ellis, Faith Hunter, Becky Chambers, are mystery, science fiction, alternate future, and fictions writers who write great books, in my opinion.
Also, check out John scalzi for fantastic moderate length reads for fun, inventive, funny, science fiction and fiction. He brings me joy when I need it.
Thank you so much! See this is what I mean, just by reading your comment I can feel how much you love reading!! My kids speak with the same joy you have when they talk about a book they love. I’ll use some of your suggestions as Christmas ideas.