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Books for people who read like reading is food My new list
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items I’m very lucky to be a real speed reader - I am always juggling about 3 books at a time and I wouldn’t have it any other way! I've separated this list between general fiction, myters/thrillers, and horror - there's a little bit of something for every...
Sections
3
General Fiction
New Section
Mystery/Thrillers
Horror
General Fiction New Section
These are novels that I've read that really floored me, that would be in the general fiction category at your local bookstore. I've made separate categories for thrillers and horror books, as those tend to be more niche interests!
Adichie absolutely floors me with her writing every single time - I'd say Half a Yellow Sun is another good follow up, but Americanah is her most powerful work. This novel centers around a Nigerian woman and her childhood and loves - and then turns t...
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Kingsolver has been writing hit after hit for ages - this one is a classic of hers. It focuses on a white missionary family stationed in the Congo in the late 50s. The book follows each family member, but particularly the young daughters as they are ...
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Exit West is a masterpiece - it's partially fantastical but steeped in the real, harrowing, and often heartbreaking lived experience of immigrants trying to escape war-torn homelands. This novel reads like poetry.
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
This is one of the weirdest, oddest, most thrilling, most romantic books I've ever read. Everything about this book is absolutely magical. It takes a minute to get into the world being built around you, but once you're in it, you'll be sucked in.
This Is How You Lose the Time War - Amal El-Mohtar
Marquez is another writer that has a plethora of incredible books - but this one was always my favorite. It centers on two young lovers who aren't able to be together, and it's strength is its magical realism. This book is whimsical, strange, funny, ...
Love in the Time of Cholera by García Márquez
Wellness tackles the subject of marriage, connection, romance, health, and the dawn of internet hoaxes in a way that is absolutely stunning. I couldn't put this book down - both characters are compelling, interesting, and heartbreaking all at once.
Wellness by Nathan Hill
This book is so moving. It's central themes are family, ptsd, and responsibility. A man and his daughter have been living, for years, in the woods. They've been hiding from society. The adventure that unfolds before them feels really adjacent to the ...
These Silent Woods by Kimi Cunningham Grant
This book gets some flack for being too sweet, honestly. Andy Weir also wrote The Martian, which I loved, but I loved this one even more. It's about a man in space trying to save Earth who ends up getting much more than he bargained for. I'm not givi...
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Mystery/Thrillers
General plot - a nanny is hired for a young boy who is increasingly drawing strange and unusual pictures. There are some twists in here that floored me!
Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak
Our main character Chloe had a rough childhood - six girls went missing in her small town and her father was convicted as a serial killer. Now she's an adult, and girls are going missing again, but her father can't be the reason….
A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
Everything you really need to know about this book is in the title - any more info and I'm giving too much away. What I will say is this is one of my favorite thrillers of all time - the writing is absolutely brilliant. It's also a lot of fun to have...
My Sister, the Serial Killer - Review & Summary
This one was turned into a film, but I always recommend reading the book first! This Aussie mystery takes place during a drought, when a detective is reluctantly visiting home and 3 members of a local family are murdered. Everything is not as it seem...
The Dry (Aaron Falk, #1) by Jane Harper
Our main character Liz comes home for a friends wedding - in her childhood, several young Black girls went missing in this small town. And now, the night of her friend's wedding, another young daughter disappears. Besides being beautifully written, t...
Jackal by Erin E. Adams
Horror
I am a horror fanatic - as someone terrified of normal things like flying on planes and going on roller coasters, everyone always asks me why I love the horror genre so much. It keeps me on my toes! It's a genre that uses unlimited creativity!
This book could have gone in the thriller category, but I think it expands on every parent's nightmare which makes it more of a horror novel to me. As children are kidnapped, the ransomers ask the parents to kidnap a new child in order to get theirs ...
The Chain by Adrian McKinty
A bunch of high school kids are on a plane heading to a senior class ski trip - but something evil is on the plane with them. They have to choose someone to sacrifice in order to land safely - but things are certainly NOT what they seem!
Flight 171 by Amy Christine Parker
This story weaves together an absolutely terrifying tale of 3 different people, each in absolutely dire situations. It's a puzzle that comes together slowly and fills you with dread. I loved it.
The Drift by C.J. Tudor
This one got sooooo deeply under my skin. It's from the perspective of a very young girl who has a troubled family. But don't worry - “Other Mommy” is there to talk to her at night when she's feeling upset. This being from the perspective of a child ...
Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman
This is a visceral horror. It took off some time ago and is a super short read, but it filled me with dread. Imagine a world in which cannibalism…is real, and industrialized much like we've industrialized the cattle industry. Eugh. It's such a good b...
Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica