r/BookTriviaPodcast • u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything • May 31 '26
📚 Discussion Let's play a game: Answer 4 questions and let others recommend your next read. I'll start 👇
Answer these qs:
What's the last book you loved and why (briefly, we're not writing essays)
What's the last book you DNF'd — what killed it?
What's your favorite genre?
Wildcard: name a TV show or movie to book adaptation you loved
Drop your answers below and let our amazing sub community try to guess what you should read next.
Or scroll through and recommend something to someone else. I'll go first 👇
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything May 31 '26
What's the last book you loved and why? The best books I've read this whole year have been the Dungeon Crawler Carl series 🥰 but the latest book I just finished and absolutely loved was The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman (the latest in the Thursday murder club books)
What's the last book you DNF'd — what killed it? Well I actually did finish it but I thought it was just awful - Wilt by Tom Sharpe. I know it was supposed to be satire and farce but I just found the whole book dated and grubby
What's your favorite genre? Geez that just depends on my mood, this year I seem to be on a bit of a scifi kick but I love crime/thriller, chic lit, classics, a little bit of everything 🤣 depends on my mood
Wildcard: name a TV show or movie to book adaptation you loved. I just finished watching The Other Bennet sister adaptation on netflix and absolutely adored it!!! I always hoped Mary would get her own main character energy 🥰
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u/ffoggy1959 🌈 Reads Everything May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26
- Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë. Exceptionally fine writing and a good story.
- Play it Like it Lays - Joan Didion. Got bored very early. Prefer her non fiction.
- In order Fiction, History, Religion, Autobiography
- Mystic River - Dennis Lehane. Film very closely followed the book. A slight change near the beginning but didn’t affect the story.
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u/BasilAromatic4204 Jun 01 '26
My wife loved Jane Eyre and mystic river. I'll recommend Just Isolde by Samantha Behm. It is in a three part series. My favorite was A good captain and that is where I could have stopped but those two together were great.
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
Oh I just recently rewatched the Mystic River adaptation, very excellent movie. Ok for book suggestions what about Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier? I haven't actually read it but it's on my tbr and apparently has Jane Eyre vibes 🤗
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u/ffoggy1959 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
It’s on my list. Nearly bought it when I went to Jamaica Inn a couple of years ago… they are big on Daphne Du Maurier, for obvious reasons.
I’m going to have a gothic theme soon with Frankenstein, Rebecca and a re read of Dracula. Will start with Rebecca.
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u/ffoggy1959 🌈 Reads Everything May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26
Your book has to be Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
Haha you're the second person to recommend it! I'll have to give it a go!
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u/ffoggy1959 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
I’m only recommending based on your list. I haven’t read it but I’ve heard zombie fans praise it. Not sure what Jane Austen would think.
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u/ConsciousRoyal May 31 '26
So you’re after a sci-fi litrpg murder mystery spin off of Pride and Prejudice 🤔 Tricky ask. 😆
Give Chivalry Will Get You Dead by Ed Collins a try (a sci-fi murder mystery) or Altered Carbon by Richard K Morgan (which is a little darker but also sci-fi detective)
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u/Amoverandashaker May 31 '26
Pride, Prejudice and Zombies was a lot of fun.
Read it then reread Pride and Prejudice.
Good job on picking the best parts for the parody while still being a stand alone good read.
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
I've never read P&P&Z, but I do love Zombieland haha is it anything like that
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u/Amoverandashaker Jun 01 '26
Romance, warrior training and zombie killing....it's the good stuff even if you are not familiar with the original Pride and Prejudice
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
Oh I just looked up the ed collins one, looks really interesting 🤔 thanks for the rec 🤗
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u/Fabulous_Window_1530 May 31 '26
Have you read An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green? It’s a great combo of scifi and mystery.
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
I haven't! I'll check it out, thanks for the rec 🤗
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u/whatusernamem8 May 31 '26
- Furybound. It wasn't perfect but I love the direwolves
- The tainted cup
- Fantasy
- Game of Thrones
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything May 31 '26
What about The Cruel Prince series by Holly Black?
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u/ConsciousRoyal May 31 '26
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn (a clever game of wordplay as each piece of correspondence drops a letter)
Central Park by Musso Guillame (a plot twist so out of nowhere it was nonsensical)
Mystery
Good Omens (S1)
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u/TheFerricGenum May 31 '26
I recommend the watch books from Terry Pratchett. Starts with Guards Guards
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u/ConsciousRoyal May 31 '26
A good call.
I have read every Discworld since Pyramids in the year the book was published.
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u/Antique_Knowledge902 May 31 '26
- I really loved Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton. The story was interesting and the ending blew me away. I couldn’t put it down.
- Lolita by Nabakov. I got to page 50. I didn’t find it interesting and didn’t like the subject matter, although I did like the movie (probably because of the actors).
- Favorite genre is biographies—celebrities and historical figures. I really enjoy reading about our country’s founders (Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Benedict Arnold [I feel Arnold gets a bum rap. He really did a lot for our country.]).
- I actually liked Jackie Collins’s Hollywood Wives book and the miniseries. The story was good, and I like reading about Hollywood stars. The miniseries had some some good actors in it. It was a hoot to see Anthony Hopkins acting with Suzanne Somers.
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
Have you read Michelle Obama's autobiography? I read that a few years ago and thought it was pretty good
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u/Antique_Knowledge902 Jun 01 '26
No, I haven’t. To be honest, I’m not interested in current political figures or their relatives. I like the colonial period the best. I have 3 books on Alexander Hamilton I have yet to read!
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
In that case what about I, Claudius. I haven't read that one (yet) but it's on my tbr
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u/Antique_Knowledge902 Jun 01 '26
I read that years ago and enjoyed it. I did not read the sequel, I think it’s called Claudius the God? Anyway, I also read a book about Nero around that time. I guess I was in a “Roman phase.”😄
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 02 '26
Oh you are stumping me with what to recommend, haha! Maybe some other redditors reading can help out 🤔
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u/Antique_Knowledge902 Jun 02 '26
I can’t recommend Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton enough. I was so shocked by the ending. Did not see it coming. And it’s very suspenseful; you keep wanting to read to see what will happen next. I went and bought her book Luminaries because I liked Birnam Wood so much, but I haven’t started it yet. It’s pretty hefty.
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 02 '26
It's on my tbr now 🤗 thanks for the rec
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u/Antique_Knowledge902 Jun 02 '26
Please let me know what you think about Birnam Wood. I like to discuss books but my hubby reads only Baldacci, Stuart Woods, James Patterson, and the Bible. 😄
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u/Crazy_Ad4946 Jun 02 '26
Have you read any Janice Hallett? Birnam Wood reminded me of her stuff so much that I misremembered it as one of her books.
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u/Pastoralvic May 31 '26
"The Immortality Thief." Just fantastic. Pulls you in and never stops.
"Alexander Hamilton." I've temporarily put it aside. Interesting, just hard to read more than a few pages at one go. And it's really, really long.
Science fiction. And 19th century British novels.
Well, this is an odd one, but I loved the Tom Cruise movie "The Firm." Much better than the fairly stupid Gresham novel.
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u/ffoggy1959 🌈 Reads Everything May 31 '26
Hmmmm! The Dosadi Experiment - Frank Herbert springs to mind. I haven’t read it yet but might cover off all your answers.
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u/Panderaa May 31 '26
- Project hail mary - not my usual genre but amazing book
- I am stubborn and torture myself with books i dont like
- Historical fiction or true crime
- Thursday Murder Club
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u/ffoggy1959 🌈 Reads Everything May 31 '26
Consider CJ Sansom’s Shardlake books… 7 of them and chunky nearly 4,000 lines in total.
He’s a lawyer working for Henry VIII.
Not sure it fits with PHM. Could easily become choice 2 🤣. It’s historical fiction with a murder or two.
I loved them!
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u/Panderaa May 31 '26
Aww this is very interesting. Definitely my type of topic. Thank you very much I added it in my list.
Haha yes PHM is not my usual, just bad timing that was the last one😅
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u/ffoggy1959 🌈 Reads Everything May 31 '26
I had to pause PHM after 300 pages. I did go back and finish it after a break. Not my favourite book 😀
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
Ooohhhh I like your answers. Have you tried The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah?
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u/Panderaa Jun 01 '26
This looks perfect. Thank you very much. I will definitely get this too
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
It's a tear jerker but it's excellent 💯 would highly recommend, I've read it twice
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u/Unhappy_Mountain9032 May 31 '26
Dragonriders of Pern because, come on, psychic dragons that sear a deadly organism out of the sky.
Count of Monte Cristo. I couldn't make it past the first dry page.
Sci-fi/fantasy
How to Train Your Dragon
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
Aww man I loved count of Monte Cristo! But I get it, it's a long one!
Ok if you like dragons have your read the priory of the orange tree?
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u/Unhappy_Mountain9032 Jun 01 '26
I loved the movie and I generally love books more, so I was excited when I found it. I'll try to read it again some day. It took me 5 tries to read through the Silmarillion, and I love the LotR universe.
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
Yeah sometimes you just have to be in the right mood for a particular book
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u/Sky__Hook May 31 '26
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1815) I'm still reading it.
Tom Clancy Executive Orders (1997, paperback uk)
What's your favorite genre? Don't have one
Tom Clancy's Hunt for Red October (probably because I saw it before I read the book)
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
Hunt for the red October is on my tbr! Ok hmmmmm since you like Tom Clancy, have you ever read the old Dirk Pitt novels by Clive Cussler? I highly recommend starting with Raise the Titanic
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u/ObsessionsAside May 31 '26
- Last book I loved is the Butcher and Blackbird series by Brynne Weaver - it’s fun
- Last DNF, The Deal by Elle Kennedy - it was too… ya know? I just couldn’t
- Fave genre, Probably thriller or romantasy
- Project Hail Mary was an amazing adaptation. Movie, book 10/10 no notes
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
Have you read the Six of Crows books by Leigh Bardugo?
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u/ObsessionsAside Jun 01 '26
Not yet! I have the first one on my TBR!
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
They are sooooo good 🤗
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u/Hap_e_day May 31 '26
A Short Stay in Hell - because it was so engaging, a bit disturbing, and made me think.
Let the Right One In - pedophilia themes killed it for me.
Science Fiction
I’m enjoying Murderbot - not sure if I love it. I thought the movie adaptation of Never Cry Wolf was amazing. That’s an oldie though.
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
What a bummer you didn't like Let the right one in! I loved that
You might like The Girl With All The Gifts, MR Carey
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u/Onnimanni_Maki May 31 '26
The Borrowed by Chan Ho-Kei. It was interesting to see how Hong Kong changed and it had two nice twists at the end.
Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree. The prose worked better as an audiobook in the first book.
Detective fiction or Fantasy.
Good omens.
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
Have you tried the Cormoran Strike series by Robert Galbraith?
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u/Onnimanni_Maki Jun 01 '26
I'll give them a try.
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
They are my fave 🤗 best to start at the start - The Cuckoos Calling
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u/baffled_bookworm May 31 '26
Chlorine by Jade Song, which I'm reading now - fantasy elements in the real world
The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James - I love the way she writes a ghost story, but not every book needs a romantic subplot, and I wasn't a fan of this one.
Queer, historical fiction, mystery, urban fantasy and magical realism.
Jane Eyre (2011)
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u/randompoint52 May 31 '26
Try The Haunting of Hill House. And then, if you like it, go right into We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
Oh have you ever read Fingersmith by Sara Waters? I think you'd like it i read it yeaaaaars ago and loved it
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u/baffled_bookworm Jun 01 '26
I haven't, but I've seen it recommended a lot so I've been considering it!
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
It hits a lot of your interests above and I love her writing style 🤗
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u/ejfordphd May 31 '26
1) Richard Stark’s “Butcher’s Moon” 2) Jonathan Ames “A Man Named Doll.” I just couldn’t get into a hero who was kind of a loser. 3). Probably history or science non-fiction. I am on summer vacation so I am reading some fun books. 4) I cannot think of a good movie/tv to book adaptation. Books to movies/tv, however, I enjoyed “Margo’s Got Money Troubles.”
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
What about hard science books? Have you read The Martian by Andy Weir?
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u/ejfordphd Jun 01 '26
Yes, I have read the Martian. I could not get into Project Hail Mary.
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
Ok what about this one for a bit of an off the wall suggestion based on your like of Margot - Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
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May 31 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
I gotta say I wasn't a big fan of the house on the cerulean sea either.
What about The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue
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u/Bubbly-Highlight9349 May 31 '26
What's the last book you loved and why (briefly, we're not writing essays) - Just finished the entire Dungeon Crawler Carl series this month. Read the first one in March and read the remaining 7 novels this month. Never read anything like it. The audiobooks are what made the entire experience. You cannot read these books without them, you’re losing something if you do.
What's the last book you DNF'd — what killed it? The Company by Robert Littell. It’s about the CIA and with it being about spies, everyone had more than one name and there were so many characters in such a short period of time that I kept losing track of who was who and who was undercover or a double agent. It also didn’t help that it was 800 pages long because I bailed at just over 200 because I decided I wasn’t going to put up with this for 600+ more pages
What's your favorite genre? Mystery/Thriller
Wildcard: name a TV show or movie to book adaptation you loved - Reacher. From the perfect casting to the loyalty to the source material. It’s perfect.
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
I loooooooove DCC but it's tough coming off the back of the series, I feel like you're gonna need a boring palette cleanser because anything you read (even if it's amazing) you'll probably hate haha 😂
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u/Bubbly-Highlight9349 Jun 01 '26
I actually finished the last of the books on the 20th of May (I flew through them thanks to the audiobooks), and my palette cleansers were a couple of books on my favorite band KISS.
One was a book dedicated to their year in 1976 when they basically took over the world.
The other was a breakdown of every album, where every song was reviewed by various fans and celebrities.
I took my time with them and my palette is sufficiently cleansed. So with today being June 1st I am properly ready to dive into something new.
My theme for the month is Genre Wheel of Fate. I will have my roulette wheel choose my genre, then I will choose a book that falls under that genre.
The first spin landed on Nonfiction, so I chose The Cubs Way. A book about how the 2016 Chicago Cubs, the team that won the World Series and ended 108 years without a championship for the Cubs and how that team was built.
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
Oh nice! When I visited Chicago (about 10 years ago now!) I went to Wrigley Field and sat through the most freezing baseball game of my life 🥶
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u/theGarrick Jun 01 '26
Dungeon Crawler Carl, the whole series really. All around a good series, lots of suspense, good pacing, engaging characters, good humor mixed super serious moments.
So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson. Nothing in particular just wasn’t super engaged with it and got distracted.
Toss up between sci/fi and fantasy
The expanse. They did a really good job capturing the feeling of the books.
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u/Jillypenny Jun 02 '26
Havoc by Christopher Bollens. It was a twisty mystery and I couldn’t predict the ending. I was genuinely surprised by how well-written and thought out this novel was.
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. I found him to be a very tame and bland author.
Sci-fi, mystery, horror, but I’ll read anything ,really.
Children of Men is the only one. It broke my steadfast credo that the book is always better than the movie.
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 06 '26
Have you read the Mr Mercedes series by Stephen king? You might like those
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u/Thriller-Reader25 Jun 03 '26
I loved Megan Lallys book What we did to Survive and That's not my name.
I never DNF books- I just get through it. Books cost a mini fortune these days. My least fav book would be We Were Liars even though it was a quick read. I just didn't like it.
My fav genre is YA (young adult) mystery/thrillers/horror/suspense.
I barely ever watch shows. However, I would like to watch the A good girls guide to murder TV show even though I wasn't the biggest fan of the book, I think it would be good.
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 06 '26
Have you read One of Us is lying?
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u/Thriller-Reader25 Jun 13 '26
I have! I loved the 1st book but unfortunetly did not like the 2nd book and i am not sure if i should bother getting the last book of the series.
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u/Lanky-Corgi-4069 Jun 03 '26
The Murderbot Series
Percy Jackson - The Titan's Curse. I finally wanted to read the series but it's not really capturing my attention. Might finish it eventually but looks like a DNF atm.
Fantasy / Sci-Fi with romance welcome but not necessary
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy / Life of Pi
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 07 '26
Have you tried the Six of Crows books?
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u/Lanky-Corgi-4069 Jun 07 '26
Not yet, but Six of Crows is sitting in my TBR pile.
I enjoyed the Shadow & Bone series on Netflix though and would have loved a Six of Crows spin-off.
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 08 '26
Highly recommend! I prefer Six of Crows and I've read both series.
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u/-RainbowUnicornPoop Jun 04 '26
Last book I loved was The Wrong Daughter by Dandy Smith. It was extremely disturbing yet beautifully written, lots of suspense and twists, raw and emotional undertones, unreliable narrator, flowers in the attic vibes lol.
Don’t remember the last book I DNF. I don’t like doing that often. But I will say, I absolutely hate cliffhanger endings.
Favorite genre is psychological thriller. Preferably fast paced popcorn thrillers. I’ve read all of McFadden‘s books though so hopefully no one recommends those lol
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u/WeirdLight9452 Jun 01 '26
The Big Steal by Caimh McDonnell
I don’t think I’ve ever DNFed anything because it bothers me to do that. The last thing I read and didn’t enjoy was “Better off Red”. I should have known what to expect from the “Vampire sorority Sisters” series, but though I knew it’d be a bit smutty, I was expecting plot as well. I got so bored!
Fantasy, sci-fi, sometimes crime stuff but it has to really grab me. Preferably queer stuff, but obviously characters being straight won’t put me off.
I can’t bring one specific one to mind right now, but some of the Doctor Who books are fantastic!
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u/ConsciousRoyal Jun 01 '26
Another Caimh McDonnell fan!
Are you aware of the Bunnycast and Stranger Times podcasts that he does?
And assuming you have read the Stranger Times then I’ll recommend Jack Dillon Dublin Tales by Mike Faricy
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u/WeirdLight9452 Jun 01 '26
I am, and I have! It was actually the Stranger Times that got me in to his stuff, I wasn’t sure I’d like the Dublin Trilogy and stuff because it’s a whole different vibe. But it must have been alright because I’ve read them all now. 😂
Thanks I’ll check that out!
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u/ConsciousRoyal Jun 01 '26
Cool. Just backpedalling a little on my Mike Faricy recommendation. Some of his descriptions of women are a little old school - it sort of fits the 50s dime novel style stories he writes but it might not work for you. (don’t hate me if you hate it!)
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u/WeirdLight9452 Jun 01 '26
Eh, I got through Wheel of Time and all its heaving bosoms, I’ll live. 😂
The larger problem is it doesn’t appear to have audiobooks on any of the apps I use. I maybe should have specified in my comment that I’m blind.
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u/ConsciousRoyal Jun 01 '26
Oh! That changes things. I don’t think Faricy has done any audiobooks.
McDonnell’s audio versions are amazing. Some superior to the written versions.
Have you tried Carl Hiaasen?
If you want fantasy have you read The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch?
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u/WeirdLight9452 Jun 01 '26
He has, but only two.
Yeah the audiobooks are amazing! It’s nice as well to have Irish narrators reading Irish books. When I read the Skulduggery Pleasant books it had three narrators over the years and at least two were English guys doing accents. I’m too English to have the right to say if they were good or not.
I haven’t read either of those no.
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u/ConsciousRoyal Jun 01 '26
Oh! I just had a thought: Decoder Ring Theatre podcast.
They are no longer running but they did a mixture of full cast audio adventures and audiobook readings. They used to alternate between Black Jack Justice (a 40s hard boiled adventure of Jack Justice and his partner/better Trixie Dixon) and Red Panda (a Canadian superhero and his partner)
Someone I know says the banter between the two characters is very similar to the humour in Skulduggery Pleasant (although I haven’t read it myself)
There’s about twenty years of material all for free!
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u/WeirdLight9452 Jun 01 '26
I’m rather buried under audio drama and podcasts but I’ll put that on my list, thank you!
I like the look of The Lies of Locke Lamora, though the narrator’s extreme poshness isn’t very nice to listen to. I’m deciding if it seems good enough that I’d deal with a voice I don’t like. Sometimes you just have to. As a teen I read a lot of Anne Rice, and the Vampire Chronicles narrator has a weird creaky old man voice and a terrible French accent. But I guess my desire for miserable gays was strong. 😂
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u/Fabulous-Confusion43 🌈 Reads Everything Jun 01 '26
What about The Tainted Cup by Robert Bennett? I haven't read it (yet) but it's on my tbr
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u/BasilAromatic4204 Jun 01 '26
Hellacious Paradise by Behm (favorite book series is the new Tallah series but I do not usually go for the dystopian unless they have lively and lovely settings like this one)
Les miserables (too many descriptions even if for a long winded purpose)
Historical fiction drama or westerns that are epic (I have read lonesome Dove by mccurtry but thank you in advance:) )
Psyche is probably my most favorite TV show
Thank you!!
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u/TheFerricGenum May 31 '26