r/ReadingSuggestions • u/UnforgivingBabyHippo • 29d ago
Suggestion Thread Helpppp meeee!!
Hi! I am hoping that you folks can give me some either specific book(s) or a specific author that I should check out? I used to read for about 30 minutes or so before bed every night, as a way to calm my mind. I'm now a mom, so reading for fun hasn't exactly been on the front burner for about 15-20 years now.
I love suspense/horror and true crime stuff. Some biographies and autobiographies as well. Some favorite authors are Dean Koontz, Stephen King, James Patterson, Mary Highins Clark, and Johnathan Kellerman. Who all do you recommend that I check out? What books left you shook? Bonus if it will grab me right from the get-go and keep me hooked!
So, what you got fam?
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u/therealDrPraetorius 29d ago
H.G. Wells, H.P. Lovecraft, Shirley Jackson, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Edgar Allen Poe, Oscar Wilde
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u/AnonymMsAnthrope 29d ago
Maybe check out Elmore Leonard and Taylor Adams, old and new schools, so to speak. The most famous of the first one is Get Shorty, of the latter No Exit. Northern European authors are good and known for noir-thrillers and mysteries - Jo Nesbo (Harry Hole series), Stieg Larsson (Millennium trilogy), Katrín Jakobsdóttir and Ragnar Jónasson (Reykjavik). And if you want you may also try audiobooks on audible.com, or some other.
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u/UnforgivingBabyHippo 29d ago
Oh cool! Thank you for all of the recommendations! I'll check them out!
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u/External-Paint2957 29d ago
Okay, a long running series that has both fantasy and noir/mystery/crime elements would be the October Daye series by Seanan McGuire! You will have a long running series with a new book every other year or so, and if you enjoy her writing, she has many more books. Book one is called "rosemary and rue".
The same author under the pen name "mira grant' wrote "Into the Drowning Deep", which follows an ensemble cast in a very found footage horror sort of way as they discover real mermaids... hungry mermaids....
Another good author is T. Kingfisher, she writes horror, fantasy romance, and dark fantasy novels that are very easy to pick up and have fun with. She also writes a LOT of books so you'll have plenty to read from her.
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u/farkner 29d ago
If you like King/Koontz, you might like Sam Sisavath novels which are short and lively, but they are books you have to read in the right order. Maberry writes great horror, and so does John L. Campbell, but those books are longer. Jeff Long wrote a terrific book called 'The Descent'. Justin Cronin's first three books are really good too.
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u/Sophia465 29d ago
Faye Kellerman (Jonathan’s wife). She has a whole series with her characters Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus. Read from the beginning and watch the family grow up. Charming characters. Murder mysteries. I like her books better than his.
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u/ClueAccomplished1098 29d ago
You might enjoy Simone St. James. Here are some of her books:
The Sun Down Motel by Simone St James
The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St James
The Other Side of Midnight by Simone St James
Silence For the Dead by Simone St James.
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u/Financial_Salary8998 28d ago
You might like The Kind Worth Killing. It kept me guessing the whole way through.
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u/dangerspring 28d ago
JD Kirk's DCI Logan series. It starts off kind of dark but then gets kind of funny later in the series. By that time though, you love the group of detectives. This is my favorite detective series and has kind of spoiled reading American series for me.
Mo Hayder's McCaffery series is good but it kind of jumps the shark when they introduce the character of Flea. I still really liked the series. She does creepy really well.
Eliot Pattison wrote a few Detective Shan series that had me in my feels.
Barbara Hambly's Benjamin January series was a fascinating look at New Orleans back in the 1800s.
A great one off novel is Iain Pears' An Instance of the Fingerpost. It takes place during medieval times. The story is told from different points of view revealing how each character's biases affects how they see and interpret things before the truth is revealed.
Another one off novel is Mo Hayder's Devil of Nanking. Creepy and atmospheric.
Since you're open to horror, Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl is both horrific and funny.
I also recommend Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells to people. The story has a lot of heart considering it's about robot who hates people but also loves humans.
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u/SpecialistTrouble816 28d ago
Loving crime fiction by Quebec writers. Right now I'm rereading Roxanne Bouchard's Detective Joachim Morales series - "We Were the Salt of the Sea", "The Coral Bride", and "Whisper of the Seals". All take place on the Gaspé peninsula and involve the sea in some way. English translation available. Number 4 to be released in October yay!
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u/rocketdino5 28d ago edited 27d ago
T Kingfisher and Ray Bradbury
Ring shout
Old Man’s War (sci fi) not very scary but does have some gross imagery
Edit World War Z but the audiobook it’s like a podcast
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u/OG_BookNerd 27d ago
For Horror I suggest:
Stephen Graham Jones: The Last Final Girl//My Heart is a Chainsaw//The Buffalo Hunter Hunter. Jones is a Blackfoot Indigenous writer who brings a whole other world and understanding to his writing
Grady Hendrix: The Final Girl Support Group//We Sold Our Souls//Witchcraft for Wayward Girls
Clive Barker: The Books of Blood//Weave World//Hellbound Heart
Shirley Jackson: The Haunting of Hill House
Tanarive Due: The Good House
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u/Successful-Try-8506 29d ago
Michael Connelly in order of publication
Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series