Looking for something different to read...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am 56 and most of those books were on my undergrad reading list. They are not new.

Yes, I realize that. I don't care if it's new, just looking for recommendations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've read all those between late HS and early college. Did not like The Alchemist.
Crime and punishment is my favorite followed by 100 years of solitude. But Top Stoppard is also amazing and I rec reading his play and then watching the movie with Gary Oldman. You have to know Hamlet to enjoy the book.
Things Fall Apart and Heart of Darkness are very depressing but also worthwhile reads. I think reading them in 10/11th grade was too early for me.

TY

[Anonymous]

I recommend reading Hamlet, Waiting for Godot, and R & G are Dead as a kind of trilogy.

Of those, in addition to the two plays, 100 Years of Solitude and House of the Spirits are my favorites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have read everything on that list.

Given that you are not feeling inspired by any particular book out there, perhaps you are wanting something “different.” given that, I would recommend the following:

109 Years of Solitude. This is magical realism, and if you haven’t read any of that before you are in for an incredible ride and a wonderful treat. This is probably one of the top five books ever written in the Spanish language. Of course you would be reading it in English translation. This is a very long book.

Blindness. This is a very strange and beautiful book that tells us a lot about who we are as people. But it is very dark. End this book everyone goes blind. Well almost everyone. Jose Saramago’s pros is spare and beautiful. This is a challenging read, but it isn’t very long, which makes it a bit easier.

The Bluest Eye. This Toni Morrison novel should be read if you haven’t read it yet. It isn’t “different“ in the way that the others on this list are, but it will tell you a lot about the Black experience in the 20th century. And it’s a beautiful beautiful novel, the kind that stays with you for the rest of your life.

Waiting for Godot. This play by Samuel Beckett is both absurdism and Irish literatureat its best. But it’s definitely described as inaccessible by many, so bear that in mind, especially if you don’t really feel like reading a play.

JB. I have a special fondness for this play by Archiebald MacLeish because I was in it (I’m an actor). It’s an incredible read, and like nothing else that he ever wrote (he is a modernist poet). It is a dramatic and modernist retelling of the story of Job. Which means, of course, that this is a bit of a dark story. But it’s very interesting. You have an angel, and a devil providing commentary throughout the whole thing.

The Alchemist. This book definitely puts the Bill of being “different.” I’m actually not a big fan of it but it’s probably the number one book out there that people say they’ve read it, and it changed their lives.

Thanks so much for this.
I've already read "The Alchemist" and I agree with you. I don't get the hype. Clearly missing something.

Yeah, I'm missing whatever it is, too lol. I think it is way too obvious and the prose could be better. Full of stuff that should be clear to the average person masquerading as deep wisdom.

I think that is the point of why so many are moved by it. Many people live lives of just trying to make it through the day. Reading a simple book with simple truths that open their eyes to something new that helps them see the world in a new light. Sure, if you're well read and are well along the path to enlightenment, then yeah, I can see how it would seem simple. But, this also makes people who say this, literary snobs.

[Anonymous]

I really need to try 100 Years of Solitude. I loved House of Spirits--I actually even loved the movie.

OP, what about Like Water for Chocolate as something different and the food!

[Anonymous]

Read Homegoing. Those books you listed are so blah.

[Anonymous]

I've read most of these. Maybe should read the 3 or 4 I haven't but not feeling like I'm missing out based on reviews here.

When I want something different, there is EXCELLENT sci fi work out there. Really good, contemplative and brilliant stuff, with good writing. (also Fantasy but I know just the name of the genre turns people off- not all Tolkien I swear).

There are some good threads on here already about sci fi I think.

[Anonymous]

Here are the ones I've read:

The Bluest Eye (Toni Morrison)
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
The House of Spirits (Isabel Allende)
The Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad)
Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
Grendel (John Gardner)
The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)
On the Road (Jack Kerouac)

The House of the Spirits is one of my favorite books, so i would put that at the top of your list! I aso liked: 100 Years of Solitude (has anyone watched the new show - is it any good?), Crime & Punishment, and the Scarlet Letter. In 2024 I actually read Frankenstein - idk how much I liked it, but I thought it was worth it to read to be in the know about pop culture!

The below are on my list to read:
Bel Canto (Ann Patchett) - may be on my short list of books to read in 2025.
Anthem (Ayn Rand) - did you read The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged already? I loved those 2 books.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Read Homegoing. Those books you listed are so blah.

This is 10:09, and I loved Homegoing.

I forgot to say that you might as well read the Alchemist if you're interested in it. I didn't love it as much as other people did, but it's a super fast read - you have nothing to lose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Blindness (Jose Saramago)

Saramago is brilliant. Highly recommended.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Blindness (Jose Saramago)

Saramago is brilliant. Highly recommended.

It’s so depressing and really stuck with me in a bad way. I wish I could purge it from my mind, along with the movie Seven.

My favorite from this list is House of the Spirits.

I think I loved the awakening as a teenager but don’t know if I would still love it. Same with C & P.

Any interest in non-fiction? When I’m feeling bored with fiction, non-fiction often fits the bill.

I never read Things Fall Apart even thought it was required reading at my HS. We had a teacher that had a religious awakening and could no longer teach secular classes so had to reshuffle all the classes mid-year so I somehow didn’t get assigned it. Which I always thought was slightly ironic — I did not read Things Fall Apart because things did fall apart.

[Anonymous]

go to the library / book store, scroll Amazon.

[Anonymous]

I would read 100 years of solitude - i know so many people who love that book. Also it's about ot be turned into a limited series so that mgiht be the thing tha tputs it over the top for me.

I LOVE Bel Canto. Loved it.

Just read The Alchemist in January. I did not get it.. But it is short. Not difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would read 100 years of solitude - i know so many people who love that book. Also it's about ot be turned into a limited series so that mgiht be the thing tha tputs it over the top for me.

I LOVE Bel Canto. Loved it.

Just read The Alchemist in January. I did not get it.. But it is short. Not difficult.

+1 for Bel Canto. I don't really like her books, but fell in love with Bel Canto. I thought about that book for a long time after reading it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not being inspired by any specific book currently, I thought I'd get more acquainted with what kids are reading in school these days. So I thought I'd try something from my high schooler's list of choices for an independent reading project. The few I've read were a very long time ago. Any thoughts or recommendations from this selection?

The Bluest Eye (Toni Morrison)
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
Blindness (Jose Saramago)
Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
The House of Spirits (Isabel Allende)
The Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad)
Macbeth (William Shakespeare)
Waiting for Godot (Samuel Beckett)
Rosencrantz and Gildenstern Are Dead (Tom Stoppard)
JB (Archibald Macleish, drama)
Bel Canto (Ann Patchett)
Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
Grendel (John Gardner)
The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Ken Kesey)
Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)
On the Road (Jack Kerouac)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde)
The Plague (Albert Camus)
A Doll’s House (Henrik Ibsen)
Go Set a Watchman (Harper Lee)
The Awakening (Kate Chopin, )
The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
Anthem (Ayn Rand)

Where does your kid go to school? Serious question. Mine is in MCPS and the reading choices don't include any of these classics. The only thing he read in high school that I had any familiarity with was Fahrenheit 451.

Of your list, I liked:

Scarlet Letter
The Plague
A Doll's House
The Heart of Darkness
100 Years of Solitude

I preferred Song of Solomon from Toni Morrison over her Bluest Eye. And we read Song of Solomon in conjunction with Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, which was a fantastic duo to compare and contrast.