Where do people go to get actual real book recs that aren't just lists of demographics appearing in the book?
I don't have a library in my area I'm dead serious. I cannot go ask a librarian, there aren't any. None of my friends read what I read either. So I need suggestions. I actually didn't get much of a chance to develop an adult reading palette at all; the last time I read any adult fiction that I liked, it was discworld, in the year before Pterry died I read 25% of the Discworld books, basically just went through and read the ones that I wanted to read and I'm done now (I read all the Moist and Vimes books if that helps, but my favourites are Going Postal and The Truth). Before that it was Gordon R Dickson's The Dragon Knight series, which I have read all of.
narration that has a sense of humour without the book being a comedy. I really like when the narrator is a character.
when the magic is more artistic or religious than mathy, if there is magic.
mysteries or intrigue, a plot that is more about figuring something out.
world-building, specifically culture-building that includes Arts and Entertainment. Without arts your culture feels flat and unreal to me.
Historical fiction, or historical-esque fantasy. THIS is where I'm a stickler for accuracy but not in terms of wars or such; in terms of technology. I pick at the same things scifi people pick at, but only in fantasy and historical fiction. Yes I'm one of those people that nitpicks costuming in tv shows and movies.
Good solid description of people and places so people aren't just a list of names I'm supposed to memorise and the names are nothing to do with who they are. (Etymology people! Do it!)
Weird stuff that can't happen in reality is going on. This could be monsters or magic or aliens or whatever, but SOMETHING.
rape, especially a woman raping a man.
sexual and/or romantic content.
coming of age stories or stories about teens and 20-year-olds. I didn't like it as a child and I certainly don't like it now.
a focus on awkwardness, embarrassment, or anxiety. I don't care about protagonists that have these and find them annoying, not interesting.
Hard scifi. Feels like homework.
Dry prose. I will not read Tolkien's Lord of the Rings or Silmarillion for example. He's bad at writing in those works. When I read I primarily want the narration to be good, the narrator is my favourite character.
A sense that the author is only writing this because they lack the funding to make it a show.
Social media and smartphones being a huge presence in the story.
Gaming, like video games and such.
Watership Down, Richard Adams
Going Postal, Terry Pratchett
The Truth, Terry Pratchett
The Circle of Magic Quartets, Tamora Pierce
Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Dragon Knight series, Gordon R. Dickson
A Little Princess, Frances Hodgeson Burnett
James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
titsay
snowghoul
germansingergirl
theartofmadeline
romaincrisis
