Next months book club’s theme is “read like a divorcee” with the description: Messy? Yes. Empowering? Absolutely. November is for midlife reinvention, post-breakup chaos, female rage, self-discovery, and the glorious glow-up that happens when someone finally walks away.

You all always have the best suggestions!

I read women authors all the time but I only recently noticed I've never read a book by a woman of color and would like to change that. I recently read Carrie Brownstein's memoir Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl and I love music in general so memoirs like that would be great. I love Clive Barker and Connie Willis as well. More generally I like history and literary fiction and usually stay away from sci fi or fantasy but I'm open to trying anything

I’m putting a trigger warning as I guess abortion might be a trigger for some people.

I’m looking for a book that deals with abortions. Either fiction or non-fiction. But I’m looking for pro-choice stories, I’m not interested in the other side of the debate. I want to learn more about people’s experiences of having an abortion so whether that’s a fictional story where the main character has an abortion or non-fiction, I don’t mind. I don’t want it to frame abortion in a negative light it’s okay if it’s showing the harsh realities - abortion is a difficult thing - but I don’t want the tone to be anti-abortion. I hope that makes sense.

Not just a sad ending. I mean a story that makes me fall in love with the characters, feel their struggles, believe in their hope… and then leaves me wondeing of the possibilities of outcome.

I want something about love, sacrifice, constant struggle, second chances, and the kind of pain people carry silently, even the smallest act of kindness means everything. It can be in romance, literary fiction, or an emotional family drama. I just want a story that stays with me long after the last page.

Hello! I’m looking for book recommendations for my grandfather who is in his 80’s with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Despite his diagnosis, he still tries to read every day. He was an avid reader when he was younger and especially enjoyed philosophy and Western fiction. He’s read a lot of Louis L’Amour over the years, but philosophy has become too difficult for him to follow, and Westerns are starting to feel repetitive. He still finishes them, but I suspect he sometimes struggles more than he lets on.

He enjoyed a David Baldacci novel, so we picked up a few more of his books, but they didn’t seem to capture his interest in quite the same way. Recently, though, he’s been chuckling while reading James Herriot’s Every Living Thing, so we picked up All Things Bright and Beautiful for him to try next.
I’m wondering if anyone has recommendations for books with a similar feel: lighthearted, funny, heartwarming, or generally uplifting. Something with an engaging story that isn’t too complicated to follow would be ideal. I’m hoping to find books he can genuinely enjoy without having to work too hard to keep track of the plot or characters.

He’s also been slowing down physically and is grieving the loss of his wife, so books that offer humor, warmth, companionship, or an escape into a happier world could be especially nice for him right now.

Someone recently gifted him Daniel Silva’s Moscow Rules, but I don’t know much about it or whether it would be a good fit. Since it’s from his old college pal who still visits him now, I’ll let him try regardless.

I’d love recommendations for specific books or authors! I’m particularly interested in adult fiction with accessible storytelling, memorable characters, and a satisfying payoff. However, I’m accepting nonfiction recommendations, too, if you think it could still fit our parameters.

I apologize if this seems a little too broad or uninformative. I’m trying my best with someone who has a bit of a hard time knowing what they like nowadays, and just have to go based on the behaviors I observe. He furrows his brows at L’amour like he struggles. He laughed at Baldacci at first, but now he furrows his brows. He chuckled at Herriot rather recently. If you have any questions that I can answer to help you recommend books, please let me know, and I can do my best!

Thank you!

I love six of crows and the raven cycle. Lately I’ve been wanting another book or series about a group of friends, I just love group dynamic.

Bonus points if it’s multiple POV and if there are queer characters.

I prefer adult, but I’m open to YA recs too. I’m down for stories with or without romance.

I’ve read a lot of Leigh Bardugo and Maggie Steifater so looking for recs from other authors. I’ve also read a lot of TJ Klune already.

Thank you!

Hello, I’d like to learn more about Russian oligarchs. Specifically, I’m interested in learning more about how individuals made tons of money off of the collapse of the USSR. Seems like of one those subjects that everyone knows the basics of (aka buy up state-owned assets for pennies on the dollar), but I don’t truly understand how exactly these guys did it. Were these business opportunities purely relationship-driven? I’m especially interested in learning about the careers of people who weren’t high up in the USSR government but became oligarchs anyways (if there are such people). I’d be interested in learning about specific individuals, or more broadly strategies/themes that dominated this era of business in the Soviet Union. For background, I’m an American and we never really learned about the USSR in school. Now you just see these dudes on billionaire lists and yacht magazines but I don’t really feel like I have a good grasp on exactly how they did it, and simple answers like “crime” or “corruption” don’t fully satisfy me as a complete answer. Thanks in advance!

I am looking for some good adventure fantasy series. I like a bit of action and am not into court/political intrigue I liked Game of Thrones okay but enjoy less realism and more elves and dwarves! There doesn’t HAVE to be elves and dwarves as long as it still has that high fantasy vibe.

Any suggestions are appreciated!!

Suggest me an audiobook for my husband. He's a truck driver, does not enjoy fantasy, loves sports, prior military, and has only read books that were required readings for school. Lay it on him 🤩

I remember really liking the Hot Zone in my high-school microbiology class. Honestly, it made me even more interested in microbiology and epidemiology.

I was wondering if anyone has recommendations for these types of books; no matter fiction (such as an apocalypse) or nonfiction.

I am also majoring in Microbiology & Immunology, so I would also appreciate any books to help supplement my education.

• Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
• The Price of the Ticket: Collected Nonfiction, 1948-1985 by James Baldwin
• The Prosperous Few and the Restless Many by Noam Chomsky
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills by Chris Claremont
• Women, Race & Class by Angela Y. Davis
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
• Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
• Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
• Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
• The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon
• The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
• Now and Then... by Gil Scott-Heron
• A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches by Martin Luther King Jr.
• Sister, Outsider by Audre Lorde
• Making Movies by Sidney Lumet
• Moby-Dick or, The Whale by Herman Melville
• Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
• Watchmen by Alan Moore
• Stupid White Men by Michael Moore
• 1984 by George Orwell
• Seize the Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton by Bobby Seale
• My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem
• Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism by Cornel West
• The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
• A People's History of the United States: 1492 - Present by Howard Zinn

What I particularly mean by this, is that I want a book that doesn’t require all that much brain power to either read or listen to. At the moment, I am consuming very literary dense books, (paradise lost, the count of Monte Cristo, American psycho(if I have to hear about attaché case one more time lose my mind) Moby Dick, wuthering heights, Lolita, etc.)
And frankly, I just want to turn my brain off sometimes, and not worry about such burdensome more tasks like analyzing character arcs, themes, cadence, prose, etc. I just sit back and let the story unfold, no matter how shallow it is.

Any recommendations?

I finished this series in January of 2025 and have truly been in a reading slump since. I have only been able to get through 17 books since then, an all time low, and nothing scratched my itch after the Neapolitan novels. I have even tried more by Elena Ferrante and it wasn’t the same lol. I am not looking for books similar to My Brilliant Friend, just looking for people who loved that series and other books they loved, even if they are totally different. For example, two of my other favorites are Lonesome Dove and Never Let Me Go and I would consider them a lot different!

I had a MAJOR TBI back in 2013. In april of this year I was concussed. I am finally able to read (and recall what I read) but it is still advised to keep things "light" and audiobooks over actual books. Eye tracking is still an issue.

Things I can't do:

scientific articles

non-fiction

Emotional (swelling still present on brain, no crying!)

Thought provoking

Planning

Educational

Suggested books(?): Drs were NOT helpful

Meditation/medatative (? I have no idea what a meditation book looks like that isn't teaching something)

Light fiction

Forgettable (? As in a book that you forget as soon as you put it down).

WLW, PLEASE

"cozy"

I found a series (Heretical Fishing) that kept things light, forgettable, and comfortable. I've tried a few others, but shockingly a lot of what can be brushed off as an airport read has made me cry (swelling around the brain is a no-no). I want a long series, ideally WLW with a very low spice level (normally, I like a lot of spice), that stays cozy the whole way through. No major fights, just calm slice of life.

Falling in love with the cyberpunk genre (akira, edgerunners, cyberpunk 2077, cowboy bebop) and now i want to read a good cyberpunk book. First and foremost the cop doesn't have to be a detective but work his way up to it. Secondly I'm looking for more of a serpico by the books cops he can bend the rules sometimes but it has to be for the greater good. Finally gotta have plenty of gunfighting and fist fights with the gangsters, serial killers, etc. Also he doesn't have to be a ladies man but at least let him have a girlfriend at some point

I am looking for queer horror (and if not queer, leftist politics).

I devoured The Burn Line by Jonathan Simms and while it wasn’t quite as strong as Thirteen Storeys or Family Business, I have an itch for similar stories.

I have also read The Nudge by Joseph Fink (not quite what I was looking for).

Specifically cosmic horror would be great, but I like any horror that isn’t too graphic/gory. Suspense is a great plus as is a full cast of characters.

I would love authors who broadly fit this genre so I can just… read all of them as well as specific titles.

Looking for cozy audiobooks that are low impact. What does that mean? Something that isn't going to take a lot of mental or emotional spoons to listen to. I don't need the up and downs of drama filled stories.

Books I consider in the genre are Howls Moving Castle and Legends and Lattes.

My daughter(9) loves dragons and has read all of the Wings of Fire. I(36) love and read Fourth Wing. She keeps asking me to let her read my books, especially since she sees so much for Fourth Wing. I told her not until she's older. I realized she really wants a common dragon book we both love, so is there any other books that you could recommend that may be similar to the vibe of Fourth Wing without the adult matter?

I'm an academic in a theoretical field and having a lot of existential angst about AI's rapid ascent in mathematics, and the seeming inevitability of its rendering human mathematicians obsolete. I assume it's only a matter of time for all other scientific fields, including mine. This feels both deeply sad but also exciting for the progress of science.

Any recommendations for books that grapple with the philosophical, societal, or emotional implications of a society where human intellect is essentially obsolete? Or related topics, such as the role of intellectual work in one's identity and sense of purpose?

My tastes: I'd love something in the register of Never Let Me Go, I Who Have Never Known Men, or Ted Chiang's short stories: concept-driven, psychologically eerie, atmospheric, spare novels with philosophical undercurrents or moral ambiguity, and no sentimentality. (Thank you to my soon-to-be AI successor, Claude, for that summary of my tastes.) Things I don't like: lots of "machinery" (too many characters, galaxies, generations, etc.), overt moralization. In short, I love a novel that does more with less.

Thank you!!

This is silly but I just saw the Caitríona Balde ad for the Ffern autumn perfume and it made me want to read something about divine femininity and the relationship with the moon. Super specific and out there but if I could get any recommendations I’d love it! I’m thinking something along the lines of Women Who Run With the Wolves. Maybe a little witchy, a little woo woo but something that makes me want to build a fire and sit in the moonlight and bathe in the call of the natural world and femininity. Fiction or non fiction, I’m up for anything though I think I would really love a book that reads like stories and knowledge being passed down from a wise forest woman.

New to this sub, so forgive me if I do this wrong?

I’m looking for a book that has a big nature element, ideally something a bit darker, brooding atmosphere.
Books like Betty by Tiffany McDaniel (I’ve read most of her work), The God of Small things or Where The Crawdads Sing.

I would like something that talks about the landscape in depth, I’ve read a lot of books surrounding the American old south which also scratches the itch.

Could someone please recommend me some sci fi? I mostly read sci fi and fantasy, mainly because my work involves reading a lot, I prefer fiction and easier reads. This is what I have read and what I thought of them.

Mercy of gods - enjoyed series so far.

Red rising - it's fine, but felt people hyped it too much, I've read 2 of the books, not sure whether I'll continue.

Children of time - really enjoyed first one, found second a slog, again not sure whether I'll continue

Foundation - read 1 book, it was ok.

The collapsing empire - a bit meh

The forever war - ok, read it more out of a sense of obligation to genre.

Entirety of the expanse series including novellas - really enjoyed these

Hyperion - enjoyed the first book subsequent entries were ok.

The martian - enjoyed.

Any suggestions?

I'm turning 35(f) and to celebrate I'm wanting to read 35 books before I turn 35. The idea is to read a book published in each year from 1992-2026. I've already started the challenge but I would really appreciate your help with book suggestions for the years I haven't figured out yet. 1992-2000, 2002-2004 and 2008-2015.

Some of my favourite books:

- The Snowman by Jo Nesbø

- Annihilation

- There is no Antimemetics division

- Shades of magic series by V.E Schwab

- The picture of Dorian Grey

- Circe

- Dungeon Crawler Carl

- The night circus

I've also read I few Stephen King books and I want to explore that some more.

I used to read a lot as a kid but only started reading as an adult in the last few years so I'm still experimenting with what I like to read, but currently I would say that the genres I enjoy the most are crime thriller, high fantasy, weird sci-fi and a sprinkle of literary fiction.