Books or Lit-r-cha Recommendations

Sooo, could any of you recommend me any good romance novels? Preferably classics of the genre. It's not a genre I've ever paid much attention to, but I'd like to expand my horizons a little. Literally all I know is The Fault in Our Stars and Romeo and Juliet, and I wasn't a big fan of the former.

Romance is such a massive and varied genre that it's difficult to give recommendations without more info about what you personally like. Historical or contemporary? Comedy, coming-of-age, gothic, mystery, thriller, or fantasy as subgenres? M/F, M/M or F/F? Happy endings only or are ambiguous/tragic ones okay as well?

Mmm, that's a bit complicated to think about. I guess what I'm looking for is a drama story where romance is an important element, but not the most important, or at least not the only. For example, some of my favorite romance stories are movies like Rocky and Jerry Maguire, where romance plays a really big part, but there's also other themes such as self-worth and self-improvement.

When it comes to endings, I prefer happy ones, but I also don't mind if it's bittersweet, like if things don't work out for the main couple but it's not treated like the end of the world and it feels like there was character development and resolutions in spite of that. And yeah, I admit I much prefer F/M stories, but I wouldn't mind a gay romance story if it's a good story; I mean, I liked Brokeback Mountain and that movie's really gay lol

Edited by Angry_Clown on Feb 25th 2023 at 11:40:05 AM

Ok I tend to also prefer books where the romance isn't the only important thing going on, so here are some romances I like. I tried to go for a range of different genres and tones:

Classics

William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing Incredible banter and wordplay, and Benedick and Beatrice are terrific. Highly recommend the West End production with David Tennant and Catherine Tate if you can get your hands on it.

Jane Austen - can't have a best romance recommendations list without her. Pride and Prejudice is deservedly the most popular of her works, though I also would recommend Persuasion if you want a second chance romance that's more autumnal and sombre in tone.

Charlotte Bronte - Jane Eyre The prototypical Gothic romance, and Jane is a wonderful protagonist.

Elizabeth Gaskell - North and South Follows Margaret Hale after her family moves from their idyllic life in the pastoral South of England to the industrialized North. Contains quite a bit of social commentary about the culture clash between North and South and factory work of the time.

L. M. Montgomery - The Blue Castle Dowdy, downtrodden Valancy Stirling gets a second lease on life when she gets (falsely, though unknown to her) diagnosed with a terminal heart illness.

Modern

Jennifer Crusie Faking It - M/F Screwball romcom about Matilda Goodnight, born to a family of art forgers who in her attempt to steal back a painting ends up in the back of a closet with Davy Dempsey, a con artist who's also attempting to rob the same house for different reasons. The two decide to team up, and Hijinks Ensue

Mary Stewart - wrote several excellent M/F romantic suspense novels featuring resourceful heroines getting into adventures in beautiful locales. Start with Nine Coaches Waiting, which consciously references both Jane Eyre and Cinderella, or This Rough Magic.

Sarah Waters Fingersmith F/F Gothic Victorian melodrama about thief Sue Trinder who gets hired to be a ladies maid to the sheltered Maud in order to a con artist steal her fortune. Adapted into the incredible (though also incredibly graphic) Park Chan-wook movie The Handmaiden

K J Charles has written several good historical M/M. A good place to start would be Any Old Diamonds, in which a duke's youngest son hires a pair of jewel thieves to rob his own father but becomes increasingly attracted to one of said thieves.

Tasha Suri - The Books of Ambha are very well written Mughal-India inspired M/F fantasy novels with strong romantic elements. The two books are interconnected but can be read as standalones. She's also currently working on a F/F epic fantasy trilogy that starts with The Jasmine Throne.

Elizabeth Marie Pope The Perilous Gard - A M/F YA retelling of Tam Lin set in Tudor-era England. (Pamela Dean also has another retelling that's called Tam Lin, but set in an American liberal arts college, though it's more in the slice-of-life/coming of age college genre).

Oh, all that sounds really neat! I'll start with the classics and move up from there, thank you.

I'm not sure this is everyone's cup of tea but I have a fascination with obscure anthology works. Stuff like the graphic novel Flight series, the Scary Stories For Sleep-Overs series(basically a lesser known cousin to the Gammell/Schwartz books), and a work I personally created a page for, The Midnight Library by Nick Shadow/Damien Graves (pseudonyms for various authors).

These books are super obscure compared to similar works like Goosebumps, and I somewhat wonder if it's because of the punishingly, nihilistically dark tone. Absolutely nobody wins in these stories. Doesn't matter if you're a good or bad kid, you are either going to wind up dead or in a place that's just as horrible. There's some oddly touching little teen drama, absolutely monstrous and fucked up villains, and quite a bit of body/transformation horror to get under your skin(see Transflormation and look up The Midnight Library in the literature folder). An evil demon parrot, psychic powers turned deadly, Apple tree mutations, and sentient running shoes are just some of the nightmares you'll find in each book.

They're mostly out of print, but you can find most on the Internet Archive. Just don't go in expecting happy endings, ever.

I loved that sort of thing as a kid. There used to be a club of scary story writers in the Netherlands, they didn't write quite that dark, but they sure weren't afraid to let scary or fucked up stuff happen to kids. Valentina Hellebel by Eddy C Bertin was one of my favourites, and of course Paul van Loon.

I recently read Legends & Lattes and really enjoyed it. I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a low stakes fantasy story.

I think a dystopia novel where the protagonist is one of the rich oppressors ready to sacrifice their status for equality rather than an oppressed poor person with nothing to lose. Are there any books like this already?

I recently finished an alternate-history historical fantasy romance series called "Dangerous Damsels" by India Holton, which I think deserves some attention.

The books in order are "The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels", "The League of Gentlewomen Witches", and "The Secret Service of Tea and Treason".

The series takes place in an alternate Victorian England where pirates are classy gentlemen and gentlewomen who pilot flying houses around the world to blatantly rob people, witches have a secret society attempting to tidy all they think is wrong with the world, and a super-spy network of maids and butlers keeps tabs on everything for the government.

Each book follows a heroine (a pirate, a witch, and a spy) who loves classic literature, and is attempting to break out of a restrictive role their organization has placed them in and discover who they truly are, alongside some dashing heroes who treat them as equals and engage in some delightful banter throughout their quests.

There are some, uh, intimate scenes, which don't get too explicit, so someone who is sex-repulsed like me can still skim through most of them without being uncomfortable.

I don't usually read books in either the historical or romance genre, but I'm glad this one caught my eye. The author is clearly having a blast playing with her favorite romance, adventure, and spy tropes, and throwing in so many references to classic romance literature, especially to the Brontë sisters (and brother) and Jane Austen. I hope more Tropers can read them, and maybe someday we can create a trope page for this series.

Remember: Work Pages Are a Free Launch! If you have at least three tropes in mind for the books, then you can potentially yourself start the page. ^_^

Since I'm here, let me then give a recommendation of my own for The Song of the Shattered Sands.

Its a series of epic-fantasy books—but set not in a world that is more or less pseudo-mediaeval-Europe, but rather one that is more or less pseudo-mediaeval-Arabia.

Specifically, it tells the story of Çedamihn, a warrior living in the great desert city of Sharakhai.

The city is ruled by twelve immortal kings, tyrants empowered by the desert gods; the city is warded by the immortal, withered beings who sleep beneath the ring of deadly thorn trees that surround it.

But there is resistance within the city, enemies and allies without, ancient magics all around—and the plots of the desert gods throughout all...

Overall, I found it to be a really enjoyable story, with strong characters, interesting plotlines—and the coolness that is massive sand-ships. ^_^

(Plus some LGBT representation. ^_^)

Hey, first time using this thread. My question will actually be more about an author recommendation rather than a single work of literature, though.

Here's a basic backstory: I'm a currently professional webnovel writer and also happened to just finish my Masters degree in English (sort of: it's rather complicated). About next year I will most likely start my Ph.D in English, which prompted me to plan/prepare what I want to specialize in.

Given that my current work and planned future webnovels are all alternate history fiction dealing with 20th century United States ^note  except one taking place during the American Civil War where a historian goes back to the past and becomes Benedict Arnold - it's a long story , and the fact that I got a BA in English from an American university, I feel that specializing in the 20th century American writers is a safe bet.

Also, as you can see in my troper profile on the left (how appropriate!), I happened to be a socialist myself as well and one of my favorite authors is John Steinbeck.

Now, here's the question. Who are some really famous 20th century American writers whose works prominently feature socialist themes like Steinbeck?

First time using this thread, but I hope I can get something.

I'm looking for books where it's essentially our Earth, its cultures, and its societies, but a key part of the worldbuilding is "this myth was made real" instead of "just is real." So, say, an event or invention creates a pantheon, and part of the story is reconciling that.

Something like "A Master of Djinn" by P. Delji Clark but on a greater (and modern) scale.

Edited by erazor0707 on Jul 29th 2023 at 3:22:28 AM

Does anyone have any recommendations of sci-fi short-story magazines?

Specifically, I'm looking for:

• Sci-fi
  • Although a small proportion of fantasy is probably okay
• High quality
• Available to South Africa (whether by order online or found on shelves)
  • (If you're not sure, do please suggest anyway! I can check availability if called for.)

Note that magazines that are primarily online but that do print physical copies are perfectly okay!

So, any suggestions?

(One might ask: "Why not just try a few and decide for yourself?"

The thing is, in this case I'm not actually choosing for myself, and circumstances prompt me to want to make a good decision with a minimal number of attempts.)

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Aug 25th 2023 at 7:15:38 PM

Anyone have recommendations for books with a similar feeling to the TV show Lost? Looking for a story with a high HSQ that allows the reader to speculate a lot on what may be happening or wind up happening. Ensemble cast, sci-fi or fantastic elements, and a strong focus on characters is a plus, but not required.

Books that have more or less scratched this itch thus far:

• 14 (and sequels) by Peter Clines
• Sea of Tranquility and Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
• The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
• The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
• Pines by Blake Crouch (Though I think this is the weakest of the group — to me it felt like a very conscious effort to do Lost again down to using a description of the opening shot as the opening paragraph.)

I'm currently reading the Dark Tower series — just started it, but as of halfway through book one it also seems to be in about the right space.

Edited by LonelyTrees on Nov 8th 2023 at 1:35:35 AM

Wrong thread.

Edited by Discar on Jan 28th 2024 at 5:55:02 AM

First time using this thread. Can I just recommend books, or do I have to wait until someone asks for recs?

Anyone who's read Beowulf, which translation do you recommend? I'm currently recording an audiobook for the J. Lesslie Hall translation, specifically because it's in the public domain, but I was wondering which English translation is considered the most faithful overall. The recommendation doesn't necessarily have to be public domain, as I'm mostly interested for myself rather than for recording.