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What are some of your favorite "easy reads"?
I haven't read through a book in a while, and I've been trying to get back into it! I used to read like a fiend, and I've bought many books recently but could never actually fully sit down and read them, I'm always too distracted or fall asleep. The last book I read was Simu Liu's Autobiography, because it was super easy to get into and it's super relevant to me in general, but every other book I've tried to pick up doesn't seem to grip me as much.
Are there any interesting books that are easily digestible that pulled you in? Or any tips for me to try to get through my backlog of books?
Go for the Discworld series.
I suggest to start with either Mort or Guards Guards!
Seconded. The series is awesome and you can start most anywhere. The first couple books are a little slow. In addition to Mort and Guards! Guards! I’d recommend Monstrous Regiment and Jingo as standalone books that don’t rely on the other books for too much background or context.
I always see this suggestion to start with Mort or Guards and how the first two books can be skipped. Of course there are different ways to read the series, but I think the first two books are fantastic and a great place to start. They are a mini epic of two “friends”.
I know these 2 early entries are a bit divisive, but they are fairly easy to get into and, in my opinion, a fine place to start. It also makes jumping into such a large serious a bit less confusing for those trying to get into it.
Can you name the two books? It's a bit confusing because Mort isn't even the 3rd book according to the Wikipedia page
Yes. Sorry about that. I was referring to Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic.
The two are different from later entries as far as story telling goes. But they hold a special place in my heart. The dynamic between the two main characters is my favorite in the series.
My comment was more aimed at the widely held belief that the first two books are lesser and can be skipped entirely
I personally like The Color of Magic and the Light Fantastic a lot. I am a Pratchett fan although I read the books out of order as I happened to find them in bookstores and libraries. For me, they are about halfway in my personal hierarchy with Night Watch and Going Postal and Thief of Time and Small Gods at the top.
However I have run into so many people who say they hated them. If I am trying to convince a stranger to read something from Discworld it is not a risk I want to take unless I know that they are the type of reader who commits to a series in its entirety. I would far rather entice them with a book that has fewer elements that some people react negatively to and let them meet Rincewind later when they are more inclined to give Sir Terry the benefit of the doubt.
no worries! I curious since I wanted to get the whole picture :) I ended up Guards, but I will definitely keep this comment/thread in mind as I hopefully work through these books!
isn't the discworld series 40 books long? that seems like a lot
It’s misleading. It’s not really a continuous series, just a setting Pratchett kept writing in. I’d think of it more as multiple series (each following a specific group of characters, e.g. Death or the Wizards) that all take place in the same world but are pretty independent of each other. If you want just a single book to see what it’s all about, I would suggest Small Gods. If you like what you’re seing, I’d pick one of the sub-series that intrigues you (City Watch starting with Guards! Guards! comes very recommended, personally I’m very fond of the Witches series starting with Equal Rites). You could also just read in release order if you prefer that, but then you’re actually committing to a 40 book series, and the first two books are weird (they’re decent books but basically a different genre from the rest).
Personally I like to read Discworld books as breathers between heavier reads. The books are connected losely enough that I don’t feel like I have to remember what happened in the previous ones at all to keep up, and each has its own story to tell.
Breathers between heavy reads is exactly how I've been going through the series, too!
It's also nice because while they're easy reads, he's a great writer: so it's not just mindless entertainment, either.
You don't have to read all of them :) I think the implication is that any of them are easy reads.
That's fair! I'll try and pick up the ones mentioned earlier first!
The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. It is a series of novellas that are roughly 150 pages long, with a normal novel as a spin off that should be read after you read the novellas. It caught my eye while browsing my library. And the first book I read in a afternoon.
The story takes the perspective of a construct Security Unit, or SecUnits are what they normally called, whose name is Murderbot (which it had named itself that). But the last thing that it wants is to murder, although it will if does come down to it, it just wants to is to curl up in a corner watch it's soap operas. And the story follows it's adventure or misadventures.
This is a great recommendation. I flew through all these this past winter. It’s a series where the concept really hooked me, the world is interesting, the plot is fast paced and exciting (especially since they’re novellas), and the first person narrative from Murderbot’s POV has just the right amount of sardonicness (sardonicity? Sardonicality?) that its actually funny.
Murderbot is such a great protagonist that is actually reliable because of what it is. And that Wells does a great job of portraying Murderbot in the books. And I do respect that Wells doesn't have that many swear words in them either and that she leaves them to where it makes sense.
hmm that sounds interesting, i'll definitely take a look at that!
Ender's Game. It's the book that got me into reading when I was a kid and I re-read it every once in a while as an adult.
Something about Orson Scott Card's writing is easy to read without feeling like a YA novel.
Oooh that's a good one. I heard that the movie was very bad haha but I do really think YA novels might be what I'm looking for, seems to be the general theme of this thread.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy is my go-to when I want something light and amusing that still holds my attention. I've probably read all five books upwards of a dozen times in my life, but I still enjoy them every time I do.
A lot of Vonnegut's works have a really casual writing style that's super easily digestible yet still touches on deep and profound insights into the human condition. I think my favourite of his is Cat's Cradle, but Breakfast of Champions is the one I was thinking of for this thread. Its style is so loose and casual, yet totally captivating.
I've seen so many references to Hitchhiker's in my time on the internet, so it definitely should be on my list! I'll definitely look at Breakfast of Champions too, I've been wanting to try Slaughterhouse 5 but it seems daunting too, good to know his writing is casual.
I had the whole thing in one big paperback, got to the third or fourth in the trilogy ("the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker's Trilogy") but the thing got soaked in water unfortunately. Never got back to the whole thing, and it's been many years so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but the first one is by far the best. I've read it probably half a dozen times, you really do fly through it! It's hilarious and very understandable that it gets referred to so often. Definitely highly recommend putting it on your list!
I'm honestly finding that children's / young adult's books are nice comfortable easy reads.
In my everyday reading, I usually have a high-brow book and a low-brow book in the mix. I read the high-brow book in the daytime when I want to do serious reading. But, for nighttime reading, when I want to wind down just before bed, I read something low-brow. I'm finding that "low-brow" for me includes old books I read as a youngster.
At the moment, I'm reading the Tripods trilogy by John Christopher as my low-brow reading, but that might not be to your tastes.
Which raises an important point: you haven't told us what you like to read, so we can't give you any recommendations that suit your tastes.
You talk about distractions. The modern world is full of them! So, remove them. Get your book and sit down somewhere, away from distractions. Put your screens away; even leave your phone in another room, on silent. Get comfortable.
Pick up your book and just read. Promise yourself to read for a certain amount of time, even if that's only 15 minutes. Just keep going. Re-learn the habit of reading.
Alternatively, incorporate reading into your day. When I was a kid, I was known as that boy who used to read while walking to school! You don't have to get that bad, but find moments in your day when you can read. I like to read at lunchtimes at work. I grab my sandwich and my e-reader, and I'll read while I eat lunch. Or when I'm on a train or bus, I read. Find those reading moments in your day.
That's what I was going to suggest. Whenever I'm tired of my usual books or just haven't felt like reading in a while, I'll check out a handful of Animorphs or Nancy Drew books, or even some Tamora Pierce if I want something aimed a little older. Those kinds of middle school chapter books are fast reads, and if they're a person's childhood favorites, then they might re-ignite a love of reading that's burning low. At least, that's how it works for me.
The love of reading is really the most important thing, isn't it? Doesn't matter if it's an "easy read" if the alternative is not reading at all
I go through phases of media consumption and it isn't always easy for me to transition back into "reading mode," so I like to pick up short story collections to help with the "re-learning" part. Depending on the collection or author, it isn't always easy reading, but knowing that I only have to complete 15 pages instead of 300 to get the story works well for me. And then, once I'm in the groove, I'll burn through books like crazy.
Short stories are a great way to get back into reading!
Given how many short stories I've read in my life, I'm surprised I didn't think of that. Good suggestion.
Absolutely. I love reading YA novels.
One of my favourite authors is Brandon Sanderson and, although most of his stuff is more adult than YA, I really enjoyed his "The Reckoners" series. You can tell it's written with a YA audience in mind, but it's so creative and well written and an absolute page turner. It's not overly complex, so you can breeze through the books (or audiobooks - highly recommended) and pick them up or put them down whenever.
I read those as a kid, they made quite an impression on me. I wish I still had my Barlowe’s guide to extra terrestrials, which had a great depiction.
That's a good idea! i'm ready to go to vacation to japan so I'm hoping to get into my backlog at the airport and on the plane!
We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story by Simu Liu
I think you've replied to the wrong comment.
"Competency Porn"!
I enjoy sci-fi. Recent ones I've absolutely loved are Bobiverse series and Project Hail Mary.
The red/blue/green mars trilogy I would argue also falls in relatively large parts into the competence porn category.
I agree the Mars trilogy falls into competency porn and is just a great read overall. If I had to pick a favorite author it would be Kim Stanley Robinson.
However, going back to the OP's request for an "easy read" I would say the Mars trilogy is not that. It's pretty dense and slow-paced, filled with interesting ideas and world-building. But for me, the plot is never pulling me in and making me find time to read. Rather I find myself having to stop and put the book away for a day or two while I digest some concept it brought up.
Actually, the first time I read Red Mars I almost gave up after the 1st chapter, it seemed like he was setting up a murder mystery but I didn't know enough or care about all the factions and details he was giving us. I'm really glad I stuck it out. Now I think about it as just background on the world and I don't really care who did the murder.
I average a week or so for most sci-fi novels but KSR books are typically a month or more for me to finish. But still so good that I've done 3 read-throughs of the series so far!
If anyone is looking for a good starting part for KSR I think Aurora is a good one. It's still dense, but for me, it had the most tension and plot that pulled me through it pretty quickly.
huh, that's an interesting term. maybe i'm just very satisfied with my life right now? (probably not lol). Maybe the competency porn in my brain is satisfied by reading through threads and seeing other people's ideas, it's always been more interesting reading about accomplished people's ideas and goings ons.
Oooh I think I have Project Hail Mary on my audiobooks list at the moment, do you think that's an easy read?
Not OP, but I would call Project Hail Mary an easy read for sure. I've read it once and then did the audiobook again on a road trip. It's a great book and the only criticism I would give it is it's a bit simplistic, everything wraps up neatly. I connected with the characters and their relationship felt warm and cozy, but they don't have a lot of depth, etc. To me, all its shortcomings are things that make it really easily accessible and great for a casual read on the beach or audiobook on a trip.
My Andy Weir ranking:
A big part of sci-fi for me is the escapism part. I tend to favor that from a young age because I had a troubled childhood. Even today escapist activities like video games and certain types of books provide a lot fulfillment and inspiration for me.
Project Hail Mary is a very easy read. I often read these books while doing something else like building some furniture, doing house chores, going on walks, repairing something, or even writing mindless boilerplate code. I guess that's another thing I like about them :D
Good Omens is a wonderfully entertaining read. I highly recommend it
Honestly, the thing that has gotten me reading again recently is finally caving in and reading books on my phone. I say this as someone who loves the physical sensation of books — the smell, the feel, flipping the pages, etc.
That being said, life gets in the way, and for me at least, reading took a back seat. When my daughter was born though, I was often up with her in the middle of the night, and started checking out ebooks from the library on my phone, and pretty soon I was finishing books in a few days again!
It also means that when I feel that urge to pick up my phone, it's just as easy to open the library app and read a page as it is to open Instagram or whatever.
Figure out what works for you!
That's so interesting, I feel like for me it's the opposite. I have some books on my phone but it's just so easy to swap over to a social media app and read there instead. With the way things are going hopefully I can break that habit though.
This is one reason that e-readers are so great for reading on: there are no distractions. You can't just switch to another application. The e-reader is a single-purpose device, built only (or least primarily) for reading.
That's true! I should probably go find my kindle wherever I put it....
I've always struggled to read books on my phone because I'm really easily distracted. I'll read half a chapter, then suddenly wonder if I'm missing anything on social media, and switch apps to check. Then it becomes a rabbit hole and I never get around to returning to the book.
That's why I like the Kindle. It's almost as convenient as reading on my phone, but it allows me to leave my phone in another room while I read.
I'll recommend the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. It's about a world filled with animals a la Wind in the Willows, but in a medieval world. The series is geared more toward middle school kids, but they have an overall feel that can be described as cozy, which is perfect as an adult when you want something easy to digest. There's action and adventure, feasting and friendships, and rhymes and riddles; a little something for everyone. Highly recommend!
I absolutely loved these books. I should reread them. The feasts always make me hungry...
In case you didn't know, there is an official Redwall Cookbook.
I actually bought this for my nephew, like 10 years ago. I should get it for myself. Thank you for the memory, wot wot
I'll have to get the books to start my kid on them...
Think nothing of, old bean! Vittles are as important as anything, dontcha know, wot wot?
If I ever want to just shut off my mind, and read something thoroughly enjoyable that’s super easy to lose myself in it’s definitely 11/22/63 by Stephen King. I’ve read that cover to cover dozens of times and if never gets old for me.
Yeah it’s does have a bit of a barrier to it seeing the author’s name on their and thinking it would be more horror when it’s definitely not that.
I've heard about that novel, what makes it so interesting for you? just curious!
I’m pretty sure I can explain that without going into spoiler territory. I find myself invested in the main character Jake Epping’s journey very quickly. He is after all your narrator for the whole thing and he tells his story quite well. I never find him to be unreliable or unrealistic in his actions.
The setting is really engaging for me as well. I love stories set in the early days of America. King hits the vibe extremely well without it coming across as nostalgia bait.
And of course there is the main plot point of the novel. The title of course being the infamous day in Dealey Plaza where we lost President John F. Kennedy. Now most synopsis will give away some major plot points so I’d recommend going in blind, but if not the story is still very endearing and powerful. Enough so that it’s one of the few books that manage to get tears out of me.
Hmm I did really like the series "The Plot Against America" which I also think is based on the novel. Though now that I look through it, I think I do actually have the book you're mentioning in my audible list, I'll definitely give it a shot!
Awesome it’s a really great listen! Craig Wasson’s narration is fantastic. His pacing is excellent, and the different tones he uses for other characters makes them stand out really well.
Jonathan Livingston seagull. It's a classic and really quick/easy read.
I’m in the middle of John Dies at the End. It’s very fast-paced and easy to keep reading, but also clever and sometimes completely insane.
for non-fiction that's engaging and easy to read, even though it often deals with not-easy subjects, I'd recommend anything by Jon Krakauer
Into the Wild or Into Thin Air would be the best places to start, I think, if you haven't read anything by him before. both are very well constructed narrative-wise to keep you reading even though the ultimate conclusion of the story is presented up-front.
for fiction, I'd recommend the Silo series by Hugh Howey, and The Martian or Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.
all of them are engaging page-turners, definitely easy to read. Silo is bleak and post-apocalyptic; Weir's books are much more hopeful and upbeat, if that makes any difference to you.
Wow, easy to read non-fiction actually sounds like something that might be pretty up my alley, i'll try that for sure!
I feel like all 3 of the fiction books you mentioned are series/movies already, do you think they're similar to the books?
If you want non-fiction, you might try anything by Bill Bryson, but my favorite so far is A Short History of Nearly Everything. It's really what the title promises-- a little about chemistry, cosmology, the history of the universe, paleontology, how the various sciences developed, tidbits about all the incredibly weird personages who discovered things, all in pretty bite-size chapter chunks.
He's got a light, engaging writing style and covers some complex topics gently enough to be interesting without needing to look anything up (and I wanted more of everything).
The Martian movie was very good, and a faithful adaptation of the book. the movie version of Project Hail Mary isn't out yet but I have high hopes for it.
I thought Silo was gorgeous in terms of production and set design but wasn't a huge fan of how they adapted the story (in a way that's hard to explain without spoiling the books...they took something that was a closely guarded secret in-universe and revealed late in the first book, and instead made it in-universe common knowledge that the characters were discussing over breakfast halfway through the first episode)
I can't speak to the adaptation of the 'Wool' series by Howey: I've neither read the books nor watched the series.
The Martian movie is very faithful to the book. The director made one significant change to the movie compared to the novel. It's obvious why this was done: to make the movie more appealing to viewers. However, it doesn't significantly change the narrative.
There is not yet an adaptation of 'Project Hail Mary'.
However, if your goal is to get back into reading... shouldn't you stay away from screen adaptations, and read the original books instead? :P
haha that is totally true! I only say that because I'm definitely more of a TV/Film fan, I love cinematography and it "makes more sense" to me than books do at least.
Comics are usually easy reads and I quite enjoyed reading John Allison's Giant Days series. I wrote a mini-review here.
When possible, I get the Kindle sample for any books I want to read and only buy the book if I get to end of the sample. It saves money on books.
oooh nice! i do have the fables compedium ready to read, i just havent yet haha i really should
I was going to say manga. I read all of Dorohedoro recently and I loved it. I’m currently working through Berserk but I wouldn’t call that light reading…
A classic tip to get through a backlog of books is to always spend the hour before bed reading.
Do you plan to be asleep at midnight? Shut off your computer and all electronics by 11pm. The last hour before sleeping can only be spent snuggled up with a book.
This also leads to healthier sleep patterns too, since your brain has time to relax.
haha i feel like i've been trying to do that with video games recently, funnily enough. I have a hugeeee backlog on Steam also, so I'll spend the last hour or so playing games by myself that I actually want to get through, it's kinda weird but it works for me. maybe I should do that with books now too.
I use the Kindle in bed. 15 minutes tops I'm asleep and wake up startled because I hit the Kindle while moving.
If you want to really read, at least sit in bed because the way I do I can read like 2 pages per day.
I recently read Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson and found it very easy and enjoyable. I was about to say it's a super short book of around 100 pages, but I just looked it up and it's actually 384 pages. I guess it just felt short to me because of the pacing :)
I have been getting a lot of recommendations about Sanderson from my IRL friends too, what do you think makes him so interesting to read?
I've only read the Mistborn books and Tress of the Emerald Sea, so I'm no Sanderson expert, but I find the worlds he creates really draw me in and get me curious to learn more. The stories themselves are engaging page-turners, and he has a writing style that's very easy for me to consume. I'd recommend picking up one of his books and see what you think.
It’s been a while since I read them so my memory may be a little fuzzy but I think something by Edgar Rice Burroughs like the Tarzan series or Barsoom (John Carter) series could be quick reads.
Two recommendations for ones that I found to be easy reads:
Old Man's War by John Scalzi. There's a certain section in it I'll occasionally go to read and every time I do I end up just finishing the book that day/night.
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North. An interesting take on living multiple lives.
I'll also second what some other people have said and say YA novels can be super quick/easy reads.
Diana Wynne Jones and TJ Klune! I’m more of a horror/dystopian nut, but needed some light, whimsical reading due to the harsh topics of my real life.
I really liked Under the Whispering Door.
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. There's a reason it's a classic. Christie's prose is quick and matter-of-fact, but avoids stodginess with her vibrant characters. The mystery itself goes down like a fiery whisky--smooth with an exciting finish.
Some of my favorite books are easy reads. Here are a variety of suggestions. All Creatures Great and Small and sequels, Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, The Travelling Cat Chronicles, A Man Called Ove, Robert Asprin fantasy series, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Remnant Population, The Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven, Calahan's Cross Time Saloon and sequels, the Sector General series, City of Thieves, Paper Castle by Fox
Wow, so many suggestions, thank you so much! I'm about halfway through Born a Crime's audiobook, it's definitely fun but I never bothered finishing it, mostly because I got podcasts to finish too.
Jurassic Park. I've reread it several times now. Always fun. The movie trims some of the fat, but man, I just love the extra stuff that Crichton included in the book over the movie. You also realize that some of the stuff in the book that was cut for the first movie was just pulled in to the later ones.
Probably my very favorite easy read is The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, by Steven King. YOu can almost read it in one sitting, and it's quite good.
For me, there are two different kinds of "easy reads". For novels that I started and just couldn't put down my vote goes to Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut. Really, anything by Vonnegut. I also recommend Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins. It does start a little slow, but when the story opens up it will hook you. That was the book that rekindled my love of reading as an adult.
Short stories are the other kind of easy read, and for me Nine Stories by J. D. Salinger and What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver are the collections I always go back to. They aren't easy to read in the pulpy sense. You can get through them quickly, but the stories stay with you and give you a lot to think about.
I guess books that are very fast reads but also gripping, so for example One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, or The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldrich.
The Ebenezum Trilogy, The Ballad of Wuntvor, and The Cineverse Cycle by Craig Shaw Gardner are all short, fun, ridiculously silly series.
My dad got me into this series of sci-fi novels that are less save the galaxy and more life and times of people on ships. There are like 17 books currently released (2 more in final release process) tangentially within that universe, and I plowed through about 12 of them.
Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell is the first one. It’s part of a six book series, then there are 3 trilogies, one that follows the main character in the first, one that is tangentially related and then dovetails into that first one, and a third one I only read the first book of that goes a different direction. He just released the first of a new trilogy that follows the main character again.
Stephen King for sure. The Dead Zone, The Shinning, It. So many delightful horrors. There's a reason he's the King.
Stardust, by Neil Gaiman. Short and engaging read with some very original elements and pretty straightfoward plot.
I find "The Culture" series of books written by Iain M. Banks to be an easy read for me as it is very stimulating to lose myself in the fantasy of a civilization that is incomprehensibly powerful and exists during a time of post scarcity. The wonder and awe of imagining some of the things written by the author takes my breath away every time I read them.
Example: ships the size of continents that carry billions of souls, and billions more who live within the ships simulated worlds. Or smaller, "combat class" ships that are mostly engine and can tear across the galaxy faster than anything anyone has the capacity to imagine or understand.
Ship "minds" that can process unfathomable amounts of data, from maintaining life support, piloting gigatons of material through space, and catering to every beck and call for every citizen on board the ship.
Ring worlds (think halo from the halo series) but so incredibly large and vast where hundreds of billions of souls live that you could go for years before you bumped into someone if you were to venture outside the larger cities.
Those examples and many more are what makes this my favorite easy read books. I highly recommend anyone interested in sci-fi to check them out.
If you haven't read the Mockingjay series, the first two were great reads. I got lost in the third (as in, it was super confusing, along the lines of the Game of Thrones books), and gave up after the second movie. Though, honestly I will admit I really did want to like the books once I realized they were what the tv show Survivor should have been like...
I remember reading those when i was younger! Definitely a good series, despite the movies being so meh. I heard she has a new book out too in the same universe so maybe that'll be a good one.
Honestly, I drove my mother crazy as a child because I'd read my max amount of library books in 3-5 days, and then begged her until the 2 weeks finished up to go back so I could get more.
I quit reading much in my mid-20s, and I've struggled to get back into something since. I've found a few options here and there that can hold my attention a few nights in a row (I would typically read after dinner/before bed as an adult). I'm scouring this thread though, looking for perhaps more options...
Honestly it's the same to me. I used to get in trouble in SCHOOL because I wouldn't stop reading (which sounds ridiculous but it's mostly because I would read while the teacher was talking, before we had smartphones I guess). Hope this thread helps though! I'm definitely also trying to find more things to read, especially as I cut down on my social media time in general. Maybe a book club or something might help, for accountability purposes.
What kind of books do you like to read? What genre and all that.
I do have some easy reads but they're mostly sci fi and fantasy and I'm not sure if you'll be into that.
I feel like I've been liking autobiographies but not enough to keep them going for too long tbh. I do loveeee Lord of the Rings and I've been trying to get through those books. The audiobooks are really nice
Have you tried the Dragonlance Chronicles then?
nope! i'll throw that on the list!
I'm a sucker for Dan Brown books honestly. I love history and even though it's fiction I just get lost in them.
haha now that I've left the church maybe Dan Brown is an author I can finally enjoy through a non-biased lens!
I enjoy reading Warhammer 40K fiction as a sort of easy to digest junk food read. They're not gonna win any literary awards but they tickle the 16 year old boy part of my brain
Haha as a DnD player I should probably try to get into those and maybe a bit more LitRPG books in general
I loved Faith and Fire and Hammer and Anvil, but never got Red and Black because it was audio only. I'm not into W40k at all, but those were great reads.
The Gaunts Ghosts series is good fun, it's basically World War 1 in space with occasional demonic possession
The Fleming James Bond books are easy reads. Fleming's got a great sense of place and his descriptions of exotic locales and the food Bond eats is fantastic. The stories are exciting and the villains are a ton of fun. Best thing is, most of the books range from around 120 pages to maybe 300 so they never really overstay their welcome.
Word of warning though, the books were written in the 50's-early 60's by a white man born in 1908, some of the language he uses is very rough round the edges. Although they released the books again this year for the 70th anniversary of literary Bond and have removed some offending words and passages if that's more to your liking (I personally disagree, amending novels and changing a long dead authors works feels off to me, a disclaimer before the story should be more than enough as is the case with my copy of Live and Let Die).
Hmmm interesting. I do remember enjoying the first of the "Young Bond" series, (probably contributed a bit to my fondness of England as a whole) but never got into the original Bond novels. I do understand the word of warning though, thanks! Personally, I'm of two minds. I'm not sure how much I like amending novels, but as a minority I also understand not wanting to read or experience potentially triggering topics while i'm trying to sit and enjoy things.
The Young Bond novels are great, the first 5 or 6 were written by Charlie Higson,a fantastic socialist author, screenwriter and comedian, who actually wrote the most recent Bond novel, On His Majesty's Secret Service, released for the King's jubilee.
I can understand not wanting to read books with triggering topics but having seen some of the examples in the amended Bond novels they've sucked the life out of some of the scenes but haven't actually removed some of the most egregiously offensive language. I genuinely don't know who the changes are for.
Interesting! Maybe I'll try and get through the Young Bond series first, might be more up my alley! Off topic, but is it not strange that a socialist author would release something commemorating essentially a monarchist event? I might be misunderstanding it but that's interesting.
Haha, the UK can be a strange country at times, the monarchy is just something thats so woven into the national conscious that being a monarchist or republican is separate from any one person's political leaning. The novel does concern Bond foiling a plot to assassinate King Charles with the villain being a pastiche of far-right UK figures like Nigel Farage and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
I actually believe Higson got in a bit of bother with the right wing gutter press in the UK for supposedly making Bond "a woke lefty" and his response was basically "So what? I'll do it again if I get the chance." so maybe On His Majesty's Secret Service could be a fun read. It's also very short, only 170 pages I believe, I've got it on my bookshelf but haven't gotten round to reading it yet as I'm currently working my way through a huge fantasy epic.
I'll probably try to go through Silverfin again then! It seems like a good way for me to get back into reading.
OP, you mentioned reading an autobiography last. Not sure if that means you prefer non-fiction. I'd cast my vote for The Sun Also Rises by ol' Hemingway, assuming fiction is okay. It's easy in terms of length (it's not very long), and in terms of readability (I mean, it's Hemingway).
Alternatively, I recommend anything by Raymond Chandler. Love his stuff—hard-boiled detective fiction. I personally never read Chandler for the genre though. I read Chandler for his writing style and characterizations: flowing, lyrical, and wonderfully seasoned with similes and metaphors.
maybe I'm not as well read as I like, but I do remember way back in the day reading "For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Hemingway in high school(maybe?) and it was more difficult than I remembered. Now that it's been 10 years since I graduated, maybe it'll be different. Thank you for the suggestion, I'll keep it in mind!
I know what you mean. Same thing happened with me rereading The Great Gatsby. I think part of the reason is you probably had assignments if you were reading it for school, and had to read with a more critical eye as a result. Might be different if you know you're just reading for leisure.
I feel like that does beg the question though, when reading something easily and "for fun", do we lose the context of whatever point the author is trying to make because we don't read it with a critical eye? Books have themes at the end of the day, and presumably the author usually has something to say, it's hard to imagine putting time into a book and not understanding it, I guess?
When I was a kid I didn't read much. For some reason though, the only book series I got into at the time was the Cherub spy series. I absolutely love the books and the action/spy stuff it has going on. I always go for character development in books and movies that I get into because of it.
Whenever I feel like reading but can't figure out what I want to read, I usually start going through SCP stuff. Usually helps me figure out what it is im looking for as well as having some favorite rereads like the red sea object.
Oooh that's definitely an interesting one, especially as a fan of horror. Do you know of any places to start? I know there's a huge Wiki but it seems daunting sometimes.
https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/user-curated-lists
This should open to a selection of starter SCP's also each sorted into a genre. This will let you get a handle on the overall format before you start looking on your own throughout the wiki and potentially finding ones that purposefully mess with that format, which are just confusing eithout veing familiar to it.
After that? Honestly, I hit the random button and see if I get a good one, but I also have tried reading all of them in order but thats a bit daunting. There are some good reader mobile apps too, in case you dont care for using it in browser.
If you also like audiobook stuff, The Volgun is an excellent youtube channel that narrates various SCP's and its very high quality.
Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere or American Gods are 2 of my favorite books. I have to say, if you've seen the American gods series, the book is different. Mainly, Shadow isn't a whiny child in the books. Not a fan of the TV series.
Another good series I'd recommend is the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. It just recently finished it's 2nd arc (8 books in the main series). And if you really like that series, there's also the Stormlight Archive series also by Brandon Sanderson. Most of his books are part of the cosmere, but you can 100% enjoy each series on it's own.
I have Neverwhere in audiobook! I might try and get through that on my flight to Japan
Neverwhere is certainly an easy-read, but it’s such an average book, Gaiman’s writing is nothing to write home about. I was so so disappointed, especially because a lot of people online gave Neverwhere a heavy praise.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure it was his 2nd ever book, and first book he wrote himself, which was also based on the BBC mini series of the same name. Given all that, it's still a pretty good book with an interesting premise and a protagonist who actually grows and learns.
One thing I really do like about Gaiman's writing style is his character development. His characters, at least to me, always represent what would happen to a regular person being put in a weird situation and how they grow from it.
Kinda off topic at this point, but it's one of the reasons I hate the American Gods TV series. They made Shadow such a whiny bitch. I see people online saying that he has basically 0 personality in the book, but he's had quite a few life altering events in a really, really short span of time. I won't spoil anything for anyone who hasn't read it, but I'll say that the man's basically in shock for pretty much the entire book.
I'm a little more hesitant to write more on Neverwhere, cause I haven't read it in about 4-5 years, but I feel the character development is on the same track. Richard Mayhew is a whiny bitch in the books, until he isn't.
Gaiman is really good at writing characters and worlds, even if they sometimes are a bit... dry on the surface.
Think I'll take my own advice and read neverwhere again.
Super easy read is Jonathon Livingston Seagull and it kind of aligns with the whole super powers thing?
Although I find the best thing for me these days are audio books. I can listen to a good book while commuting to work, biking up a hill or washing the dishes.
Anything by Shirley Jackson, but I particularly enjoyed We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
I have always been a big fan of Fantasy while reading.
Books I've finished that I really enjoy, though some series are not finished yet.
Brent Weeks 'Lightbringer Series' starting with The Black Prism very unique system of magic and wonderful story.
Patrick Rothfuss 'Kingkiller Chronicle' starting with The Name of the Wind these books I would recommend to anyone.
I've also read Dawn of Wonder by Johnathan Renshaw
If you like fantasy you can't go wrong with any of these
If you like sci-fi - not terribly well known book but still really amusing, doesn't take itself seriously, and has great snarky vibe - The Bobiverse saga and particularly We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
Romance books are my easy reads. They promise a "happily ever after" and usually good feels.
any specific recommendations? i've always wanted to try them!
What genres do you typically like for fiction? Contemporary, historic, fantasy, scifi? Romance basically cuts across all genres. Then there is the question of whether or not you are interested in reading about non-human characters. Edit: also, do you want explicit sex scenes or do you want "fade to black"?
With all those caveats, for someone who doesn't typically read romance I would recommend The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. It is about a neurodivergent scientist finding love. The book has great humor. As of 2016 it was the only work of fiction Bill Gates had ever put on his list of recommendations, which normally has very serious titles.
If you are interested I can recommend more books and communities. I run some of the "romance books written for men" communities on reddit and discord.
I think I'm usually a sci-fi and fantasy type of person! Always wanted to get into steampunk and stuff but never really ventured forth lol. Nonhuman characters seems like a bit "out there" and I'm not super into reading "smut" (is that what it's called?)
That sounds like such an interestingly specific topic to run communities on though, the internet always surprises me!
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone is a Hugo award winning sci-fi romance writen in an epistolary format. No smut.
The Books of the Raksura by Hugo award winner Martha Wells are also great. The main characters are not human, but it doesn't feel "weird" to new readers because there is no smut. The series has broad appeal to fantasy readers.
Yeah, explicit sex is usually called smut, steam, or spice. We have many words for the same thing.
Most folks are wary of Non-human love interests at first. I know I was at first, but itnhas grown on me since then. One thing it does is it makes it easier to suspend disbelief about breaking gender norms.