So many books, so little time
r/books
2Link: https://recommendmeabook.com
It is quite an interesting format, if you don't like the opening you are reading, then you can skip and go to the next book opening. If the opening does capture your attention you can click at the bottom to reveal the title and author. It reminds me of blind date books where bookstores will wrap a random book up in paper (to prevent the title and author from being seen) and will write brief descriptions about it.
One of my criticisms, is that I wish the website would link to local bookstores instead of Amazon. Also, the library on the website is by no means complete, I noticed there are many books missing from it so I submitted some that I have read. But it should be noted that the website states, "You may submit a book you like, or your own book, but as a disclaimer, we may not be able to add every book that has been submitted."
So what do you guys think?
Edit: You can also browse by genre, by clicking on the gear icon at the bottom (between the two arrows). Just make sure you click save, then it will give you book openings related to the genre you selected.
So, I recently finished "Grace Notes" by Bernard MacLaverty and was blown away by how well he captures the female protagonist. At least I personally found myself represented in the character and her feelings and experiences. From the way he described period pain to the almost omnipresent patriarchal assumptions being made in society and the results of that.
While personally I've never encountered any really bad representations of women in books written by men (two books written by women drove me nearly crazy though), this one just sticks out to me and was quite a revelation.
So, I wanted to know if anyone has ever read an author, who made them feel utterly understood and represented in that context? (I also appreciate answers for male or non-binary characters being written very well and the gender of the author doesn't need to be different from the characters... it just stuck out to me that I've never even had any female author resonate so much with me.)
I personally love fantasy books where the stakes aren't "if we fail the whole world will be doomed so that's our motivation". But rather where the conflict is way more personal, for example in The lies of Locke Lamora, or in The long way to a Small Angry Galaxy.
If everything goes wrong there, the stakes are that we lose the characters. But we care because they are well written and the problems feel real and believable.
And I'm not saying every story with a world ending conflict is bad, just look at Lord of the Rings. But even then the motivation should be personal before the characters feel they should save the world. (Why I really love Sam, as his stakes at first are losing Frodo).
What are your opinions on this?
I’m about a 100 pages into this and to me, it’s just very repetitive and just states common sense. Perhaps to someone who never worked on themselves or self awareness, it might be helpful?
I knew nothing about the author or his blog until I googled him just now. I just feel like the author doesn’t have as much life experience to be in a position to preach others lol. I just got disgusted when the author humble bragged about his poker skills. Then talks about people born with disabilities before going on to equate that to poker😂 “doing the best with what you’re dealt with”. While the general premise of that chapter is.. don’t victimize yourself, victim mentality and self pity doesn’t help, I just felt that comparison was super insensitive and the author comes off badly in my head.
I’m now rapidly losing interest in this book as it just seems highly repetitive with bs examples of what I would think is common sense.. is it even worth finishing this book?
Update: Made it through 20 more pages before I started laughing and threw it away😂 The guy started talking about a very on the surface account of polish suffering in WW2 and how it made them find happiness in the little things.. just sheesh, then goes on to belittle a girl who wanted to quit med school and had to tell her hard working immigrant parents who dedicated their lives to putting her through school.. then for some reason comes to this guy for advice😂 The guy has absolutely no life experience to empathize with that girl or polish WW2 survivors.. says it’s all about just getting it done, then he goes on to humble brag about his business and his struggles as a rich boy🤣just couldn’t take it at that point.. I really like to finish things I start but this book deserves the bin in my view..
About Community
Members
Online
Filter by flair
Related Communities
163,050 members
326,944 members
70,602 members
1,898,671 members
2,087,770 members
2,201,176 members
189,359 members
20,030 members
613,022 members
40,184 members
r/books Rules
Scheduled Posts
Book Club: Recursion by Blake Crouch - Book 5 - End
Weekly Recommendation Thread
Simple Questions
Weekly FAQ: How do you discover new books?
What are you Reading?
New Releases
Simple Questions
LOTW
Favorite Books
Weekly Recommendation Thread