Books! New book recommendations
April 9, 2023 4:16 AM Subscribe
Hi! I'm looking for new books to read based on a list of favorites. As you can see from list (inside) I'm mostly interested in romance and fantasy/sci fi.
The Flatshare
Murderbot series
Boyfriend Material
Light from Uncommon Stars
Cemetery Boys
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
A Memory Called Empire
The Space Between Worlds
Second First Impressions
The Hating Game (except for the fat phobic content, that was a shame)
The House in the Cerulean Sea
Red, White and Royal Blue
Everything ever by T. Kingfisher
Please let me know about your favorites if you like some of these! Thank you. And if you happen to know if the audiobook version is good that's also very welcome info.
The Flatshare
Murderbot series
Boyfriend Material
Light from Uncommon Stars
Cemetery Boys
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
A Memory Called Empire
The Space Between Worlds
Second First Impressions
The Hating Game (except for the fat phobic content, that was a shame)
The House in the Cerulean Sea
Red, White and Royal Blue
Everything ever by T. Kingfisher
Please let me know about your favorites if you like some of these! Thank you. And if you happen to know if the audiobook version is good that's also very welcome info.
I don't know about quality for the audiobook versions for the following but I think they do all have them.
You might enjoy the Last Binding series by Freya Marske - it starts with A Marvellous Light. Romance/fantasy with a hidden magic society and intrigue.
I'd highly recommend Piranesi if you haven't read it yet.
Have you read any of Ann Leckie's books? She has a sci-fi trilogy that I really like but I'd maybe recommend the one-off The Raven Tower to start with - it's a fantasy setting with an interesting POV character.
I also would recommend She Who Became the Sun. It's historical fantasy set in 14th century china and it just swept me along - can't wait for the sequel.
posted by colourlesssleep at 4:29 AM on April 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
You might enjoy the Last Binding series by Freya Marske - it starts with A Marvellous Light. Romance/fantasy with a hidden magic society and intrigue.
I'd highly recommend Piranesi if you haven't read it yet.
Have you read any of Ann Leckie's books? She has a sci-fi trilogy that I really like but I'd maybe recommend the one-off The Raven Tower to start with - it's a fantasy setting with an interesting POV character.
I also would recommend She Who Became the Sun. It's historical fantasy set in 14th century china and it just swept me along - can't wait for the sequel.
posted by colourlesssleep at 4:29 AM on April 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
This Is How You Lose the Time War
I also really enjoyed The Cemeteries of Amalo, Katherine Addison’s Goblin Emperor spin off series.
posted by chrisulonic at 4:52 AM on April 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
I also really enjoyed The Cemeteries of Amalo, Katherine Addison’s Goblin Emperor spin off series.
posted by chrisulonic at 4:52 AM on April 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
Two of my favorite audiobooks are a bit older but I love them:
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, read by Lenny Henry
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, read by Simon Prebble (warning: this one is something like 32 hours long)
I think you'd like Becky Chambers' SF books - her Wayfarers series (sort of more of a set of connected stories than a series as such) starts with The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet.
Sue Burke's Semiosis duology.
Seconding Ann Leckie - I've only read the Imperial Radch SF trilogy but I think you would probably like it.
Emma Newman's Planetfall books.
Adrian Tchaikovsky's Elder Race (he has a lot of other good stuff but Elder Race is short and manageable and I think goes with the other books you mentioned).
For romance I love Jasmine Guillory's series that starts with The Wedding Date, but I couldn't get into her most recent book.
posted by mskyle at 6:02 AM on April 9, 2023 [5 favorites]
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, read by Lenny Henry
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, read by Simon Prebble (warning: this one is something like 32 hours long)
I think you'd like Becky Chambers' SF books - her Wayfarers series (sort of more of a set of connected stories than a series as such) starts with The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet.
Sue Burke's Semiosis duology.
Seconding Ann Leckie - I've only read the Imperial Radch SF trilogy but I think you would probably like it.
Emma Newman's Planetfall books.
Adrian Tchaikovsky's Elder Race (he has a lot of other good stuff but Elder Race is short and manageable and I think goes with the other books you mentioned).
For romance I love Jasmine Guillory's series that starts with The Wedding Date, but I couldn't get into her most recent book.
posted by mskyle at 6:02 AM on April 9, 2023 [5 favorites]
I loved Murderbot and wanted more so I started her Books of the Raksura series and then read all of them too! They have lots of similarities and also lots of interesting differences to Murderbot but I bet you'll like them too.
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:09 AM on April 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:09 AM on April 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
nthing ALL the Becky Chambers and Ann Leckie
You might like the Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold. It's fun scifi with lots of romance sprinkled in. They're older, but there are quite a few of them.
posted by jeoc at 6:30 AM on April 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
You might like the Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold. It's fun scifi with lots of romance sprinkled in. They're older, but there are quite a few of them.
posted by jeoc at 6:30 AM on April 9, 2023 [3 favorites]
Seconding the recommendation for Freya Marske, and would add Winters Orbit and Oceans Echo by Everina Maxwell.
posted by DiscourseMarker at 6:36 AM on April 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by DiscourseMarker at 6:36 AM on April 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
Malla Older’s The Mimicking of Known Successes is really fun!
posted by moonmilk at 6:50 AM on April 9, 2023
posted by moonmilk at 6:50 AM on April 9, 2023
A title (Go Quest, Young Man by K.B. Bogen) caught my eye. Was this a Fantasy parody? The cover confirmed it was a parody. A dorky looking adolescent in a wizard outfit is walking by a tree, castle on a hill in the background. Three different creatures are peeking out from behind the tree, all are armed or clawed. Leaning against the tree is a scantly clad blonde with a 'hey sailor' look on her face. The boy wizard is oblivious to all four.
Below quoted from the description on the back cover:
Between battles of magic and wit with the evil soceress Sharilan and complicated rescues of damsels in distress, Erwyn learns where his true magical talents lie: sand castles. Large or small, coarse-grained or fine, he conjures sand castles out of thin air. Or does he? He needs to know for certain. Soon.
The author's first published novel, 'Go Quest, Young Man' is a marvelous look at the use of sand castles as an offensive weapon.
posted by Homer42 at 6:54 AM on April 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
Below quoted from the description on the back cover:
Between battles of magic and wit with the evil soceress Sharilan and complicated rescues of damsels in distress, Erwyn learns where his true magical talents lie: sand castles. Large or small, coarse-grained or fine, he conjures sand castles out of thin air. Or does he? He needs to know for certain. Soon.
The author's first published novel, 'Go Quest, Young Man' is a marvelous look at the use of sand castles as an offensive weapon.
posted by Homer42 at 6:54 AM on April 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
Totally agree with Becky Chambers, Katherine Addison, Everina Maxwell and Ann Leckie. Of Lois Bujold's fantasy books, her World of the Five Gods series is just brilliant. The mainline series starts with Curse of Chalion, there's also a novella series starting with Penric's Demon.
In older fantasy, Robin McKinley, Margaret Mahy and Diana Wynne Jones (Jones and Mahy wrote mainly children's and YA, but not entirely. Their YA is more interesting than a lot of the current stuff, to me- less formulaic). All of them are really humane and have interesting characters.
I see a lot of commonalities between T Kingfisher and Terry Pratchett. Pratchett is obviously more overtly comic, but has a lot of the same hard-headed decency.
Rachel Neumeier's current series (which started with Tuyo) is gripping fantasy- the worldbuilding includes some distressing bits but it's definitely hopeful, not grimdark.
I adore Andrea K Host. She has several fantasy series, one SF series, and one reverse harem highschool story under a different name :) All are great.
Janet Edwards' Earth Girl and Hive Mind series are YA SF with the same sort of compulsive readability that Mercedes Lackey had- they aren't Top Quality but I love them.
Celia Lake has a very charming set of fantasy romances set in "Albion" between late Victorian times and the Second World War. Some are M/F and some are same-sex.
In non-fantasy romance, Trisha Ashley is amazing. Her books are fairly cosy and interested in the main characters' families/social groups. All M/F so far.
I've recently liked "Love Comment Subscribe" by Cathy Yardley, and the books about the Brown sisters by Talia Hibbert. Also several by Alyssa Cole.
posted by Shark Hat at 8:10 AM on April 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
In older fantasy, Robin McKinley, Margaret Mahy and Diana Wynne Jones (Jones and Mahy wrote mainly children's and YA, but not entirely. Their YA is more interesting than a lot of the current stuff, to me- less formulaic). All of them are really humane and have interesting characters.
I see a lot of commonalities between T Kingfisher and Terry Pratchett. Pratchett is obviously more overtly comic, but has a lot of the same hard-headed decency.
Rachel Neumeier's current series (which started with Tuyo) is gripping fantasy- the worldbuilding includes some distressing bits but it's definitely hopeful, not grimdark.
I adore Andrea K Host. She has several fantasy series, one SF series, and one reverse harem highschool story under a different name :) All are great.
Janet Edwards' Earth Girl and Hive Mind series are YA SF with the same sort of compulsive readability that Mercedes Lackey had- they aren't Top Quality but I love them.
Celia Lake has a very charming set of fantasy romances set in "Albion" between late Victorian times and the Second World War. Some are M/F and some are same-sex.
In non-fantasy romance, Trisha Ashley is amazing. Her books are fairly cosy and interested in the main characters' families/social groups. All M/F so far.
I've recently liked "Love Comment Subscribe" by Cathy Yardley, and the books about the Brown sisters by Talia Hibbert. Also several by Alyssa Cole.
posted by Shark Hat at 8:10 AM on April 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
Came here to recommend Chambers and Leckie. Also, for fantasy, VE Schwab, especially the Darker Shade of Magic series (I haven't read the second in her super powers one, but the first, Vicious, was amazing).
posted by Hactar at 8:17 AM on April 9, 2023
posted by Hactar at 8:17 AM on April 9, 2023
I'm a fan of most of what you listed. I'd recommend:
Any/all of C. L. Polk's books: Midnight Bargain (romantic fantasy with a hard look at gender roles), the trilogy that begins with Witchmark (fantasy with romantic subplots and a hard look at stories that end when a societal change begins), Even Though I Knew the End (fantasy noir)
Six Wakes, Mur Lafferty (locked-room murder mystery on a spaceship)
Ancestral Night and Machine, Elizabeth Bear (sf, great characters and thinking about anxiety, depression, etc., but in space!)
Courtney Milan's well-researched historical romances, including recent ones like The Duke Who Didn't are enjoyable (and verge on fantasy in an alternate history kind of way). I say "well-researched" in that whatever topic she's delved into for a particular book will be represented carefully. Other things are changed to suit the story and that's fine with me!
Olivia Waite's Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows is fun, though not as complex as the Milan books.
People who like your last 3 items in particular seem to be fond of Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree. It was a little too light (I don't mind low-stakes; it just felt very surface-level) but it may be worth a try. Actually, ditto Winter's Orbit and Ocean's Echo by Everina Maxwell, which I liked better.
posted by wintersweet at 8:30 AM on April 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
Any/all of C. L. Polk's books: Midnight Bargain (romantic fantasy with a hard look at gender roles), the trilogy that begins with Witchmark (fantasy with romantic subplots and a hard look at stories that end when a societal change begins), Even Though I Knew the End (fantasy noir)
Six Wakes, Mur Lafferty (locked-room murder mystery on a spaceship)
Ancestral Night and Machine, Elizabeth Bear (sf, great characters and thinking about anxiety, depression, etc., but in space!)
Courtney Milan's well-researched historical romances, including recent ones like The Duke Who Didn't are enjoyable (and verge on fantasy in an alternate history kind of way). I say "well-researched" in that whatever topic she's delved into for a particular book will be represented carefully. Other things are changed to suit the story and that's fine with me!
Olivia Waite's Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows is fun, though not as complex as the Milan books.
People who like your last 3 items in particular seem to be fond of Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree. It was a little too light (I don't mind low-stakes; it just felt very surface-level) but it may be worth a try. Actually, ditto Winter's Orbit and Ocean's Echo by Everina Maxwell, which I liked better.
posted by wintersweet at 8:30 AM on April 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
For contemporary romance, you could try Emily Henry. I'm very picky about contemporary romance, and I really liked Book Lovers.
posted by yasaman at 9:44 AM on April 9, 2023
posted by yasaman at 9:44 AM on April 9, 2023
Garth Nix
Robin Hobb
Jim Butcher for popcorn urban fantasy
Simon R Green, the Nightside series
Brandon Sanderson with his multiple genres. Some books are parts of series... Perhaps start with Elantris
CJ Cherryh
China Miéville
Naomi Novik especially her non Age of Sail dragon books (they are good to but her other stuff is better)
Ann McMan
posted by Jacen at 10:02 AM on April 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
Robin Hobb
Jim Butcher for popcorn urban fantasy
Simon R Green, the Nightside series
Brandon Sanderson with his multiple genres. Some books are parts of series... Perhaps start with Elantris
CJ Cherryh
China Miéville
Naomi Novik especially her non Age of Sail dragon books (they are good to but her other stuff is better)
Ann McMan
posted by Jacen at 10:02 AM on April 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
posted by Enid Lareg at 10:44 AM on April 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
posted by Enid Lareg at 10:44 AM on April 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
Well Met by Jen DeLuca
Makes good use of the enemies to lovers trope, similar to The Hating Game, Boyfriend Material, and Red White & Royal Blue. DeLuca's books are all set at Renaissance Faires and are good fun.
Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood
Also enemies to lovers, and like The Hating Game this is a workplace romance. Hazelwood's books are charmingly dubbed STEMinist romance novels, as the protagonists are all women working in STEM.
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Another workplace romance, with a dash of enemies to lovers and, like Boyfriend Material, fake dating. Requires a certain suspension of disbelief, but entertainingly so.
Sorry, Bro by Taleen Voskuni
Like Red White & Royal Blue, this story features a bisexual protagonist falling for someone they didn't expect.
posted by panther of the pyrenees at 1:31 PM on April 9, 2023
Makes good use of the enemies to lovers trope, similar to The Hating Game, Boyfriend Material, and Red White & Royal Blue. DeLuca's books are all set at Renaissance Faires and are good fun.
Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood
Also enemies to lovers, and like The Hating Game this is a workplace romance. Hazelwood's books are charmingly dubbed STEMinist romance novels, as the protagonists are all women working in STEM.
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Another workplace romance, with a dash of enemies to lovers and, like Boyfriend Material, fake dating. Requires a certain suspension of disbelief, but entertainingly so.
Sorry, Bro by Taleen Voskuni
Like Red White & Royal Blue, this story features a bisexual protagonist falling for someone they didn't expect.
posted by panther of the pyrenees at 1:31 PM on April 9, 2023
Have you read One Last Stop? Same author as Red White and Royal Blue, with a light sci fi-ish premise!
posted by bijoubijou at 2:03 PM on April 9, 2023
posted by bijoubijou at 2:03 PM on April 9, 2023
Even better, I Kissed Shara Wheeler - easily the best romance and in the running for the best book I read last year.
posted by restless_nomad at 5:37 PM on April 9, 2023
posted by restless_nomad at 5:37 PM on April 9, 2023
Nalini Singh: Psy-Changeling series (Primarily romance with strong SF and Fantasy settings and elements, including my favourite fantasy/romance trope: mending the world.
Ilona Andrews: Kate Daniels series; Innkeeper Series; Hidden Legacy Series
Naomi Novik: Scholomance Trilogy; Uprooted; Spinning Silver
Robin McKinley:Sunshine
Lois McMaster Bujold: Vorkosigan Series- some are more romance-y than others (especially Komarr and its direct sequel A Civil Campaign); World of the Five Gods series (novels and a growing list of novellas); and her most Romance-y effort ever the delightful Sharing Knife series.
Sharon Lee and Steve Miller: The Liaden Universe series- multiple starting points are possible, you could start with Agent of Change, Fledgling, Local Custom for example.
posted by Coaticass at 7:08 PM on April 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
Ilona Andrews: Kate Daniels series; Innkeeper Series; Hidden Legacy Series
Naomi Novik: Scholomance Trilogy; Uprooted; Spinning Silver
Robin McKinley:Sunshine
Lois McMaster Bujold: Vorkosigan Series- some are more romance-y than others (especially Komarr and its direct sequel A Civil Campaign); World of the Five Gods series (novels and a growing list of novellas); and her most Romance-y effort ever the delightful Sharing Knife series.
Sharon Lee and Steve Miller: The Liaden Universe series- multiple starting points are possible, you could start with Agent of Change, Fledgling, Local Custom for example.
posted by Coaticass at 7:08 PM on April 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
N.K. Jemisin's Inheritance Trilogy isn't really Romance but the love relationships are of prime importance to the plot. HEA not guaranteed, however they are a cracking read.
posted by Coaticass at 7:13 PM on April 9, 2023
posted by Coaticass at 7:13 PM on April 9, 2023
Came in here to recommend Naomi Novik's Uprooted and found it twice, so seconding that!
Also very much agree with the N.K. Jemisin, Leckie and Chambers recommendations.
posted by snaw at 3:48 AM on April 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
Also very much agree with the N.K. Jemisin, Leckie and Chambers recommendations.
posted by snaw at 3:48 AM on April 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
Adding an enthusiastic vote for Freya Marske, and One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston. (I Kissed Shara Wheeler, also by McQuiston, is YA and pretty good but I didn't love it as much as her first two.) And adding a vote for Talia Hibbert's Get a Life, Chloe Brown; Take A Hint, Dani Brown; and Act Your Age, Eve Brown. These are interconnected with some overlap but can be read as standalone and in any order.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Ashley Herring Blake's romances, Delilah Green Doesn't Care and Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail. Queer romances with good banter and pacing.
Based on your inclusion of The House in the Cerulean Sea, I'll also add The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna (found family, working with kids, magic).
Also, in case you haven't read them, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and The Song of Achilles don't fit in exactly with your list, but might work for you.
posted by SeedStitch at 6:59 AM on April 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Ashley Herring Blake's romances, Delilah Green Doesn't Care and Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail. Queer romances with good banter and pacing.
Based on your inclusion of The House in the Cerulean Sea, I'll also add The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna (found family, working with kids, magic).
Also, in case you haven't read them, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and The Song of Achilles don't fit in exactly with your list, but might work for you.
posted by SeedStitch at 6:59 AM on April 10, 2023 [1 favorite]
I went on this quest myself just this weekend and using T. Kingfisher as my data point in a book recommendation engine that I found here and I will try to link later when I'm home, I got to Victoria Goddard. I am half way through Stargazy Pie and I am loving it.
Martha Wells has a lot of books other than Murderbot and I love every single one of them; I could not even pick a favorite because I seesaw between the Raksura books and the Ile-Rien books.
Alice Hoffman has a lot of books you might enjoy, starting with Practical Magic. It's better than the movie.
The following are historical romance/ vaguely historical fantasies - nothing on your list except T. Kingfisher really goes there, but just in case you might be interested:
Sorcery and Cecilia and the two sequels, by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. These are just great.
I have been happily reading my way through Grace Burrowes "historical" romances; they are awesome. If you start to enjoy Regencies and want to go to the source, that would be Georgette Heyer from the 20s. That gets you into possibly more authentic Regency detail but also 1920s attitudes which are, uh, less comfortable for a modern palate.
Juliet Marillier writes sort of vaguely Celtic fantasy romances with lots of quests and derring do.
I will try to add some more when I get home and can look at my bookshelves!
posted by mygothlaundry at 1:03 PM on April 10, 2023 [3 favorites]
Martha Wells has a lot of books other than Murderbot and I love every single one of them; I could not even pick a favorite because I seesaw between the Raksura books and the Ile-Rien books.
Alice Hoffman has a lot of books you might enjoy, starting with Practical Magic. It's better than the movie.
The following are historical romance/ vaguely historical fantasies - nothing on your list except T. Kingfisher really goes there, but just in case you might be interested:
Sorcery and Cecilia and the two sequels, by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. These are just great.
I have been happily reading my way through Grace Burrowes "historical" romances; they are awesome. If you start to enjoy Regencies and want to go to the source, that would be Georgette Heyer from the 20s. That gets you into possibly more authentic Regency detail but also 1920s attitudes which are, uh, less comfortable for a modern palate.
Juliet Marillier writes sort of vaguely Celtic fantasy romances with lots of quests and derring do.
I will try to add some more when I get home and can look at my bookshelves!
posted by mygothlaundry at 1:03 PM on April 10, 2023 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you so much everybody! This is such a treasure trove of answers and I'm super excited to read through all these books!
posted by karasu at 5:47 AM on April 11, 2023
posted by karasu at 5:47 AM on April 11, 2023
I fell heavily into Victoria Goddard's books after reading You Should Really Be Reading Victoria Goddard’s Nine Worlds Series.
Also check out /r/CozyFantasy's Recommendation Guide.
posted by fings at 3:03 PM on April 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
Also check out /r/CozyFantasy's Recommendation Guide.
posted by fings at 3:03 PM on April 12, 2023 [1 favorite]
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