Currently Reading/ Favourites

Ghostly Boo

Edgepeasant
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
I love reading...like spend all my time reading kinda love. (Been slacking lately *Broken hearted*)
I’d love to hear about everyone’s favourite books/ stories/ comics, anything you’ve been reading lately.

Any favourites? Personally, I can never pick just one...it’s too hard. Though of late I’ve been really interested in starting classics, I’ve read none of them. So suggestions are completely welcome too.

Any preferred genres? Reading style? (book, audio, kindle?)

THE AGE OLD QUESTION: Paperback or hardcover??? (Hardcovers are pretty but paperbacks don’t break my face when I’m lying down. Gotta sprinkle some support on the soft covers.)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ardent
I plan on rereading The Picture of Dorian Gray. I just haven’t gotten around to it because I’ve been lazy. But I recommend it if you’re planning on reading classics.

As for my favorite genre, it’s hard to say. I like a little bit of everything. Fantasy, mystery, sci-fi—hell, even a well-written romance. My preferred medium is (traditional) books, but sometimes I gravitate towards ebooks and even use audiobooks as aid. I find that audiobooks really help with my attention span; if it weren’t for that I wouldn’t have been able to finish LoTR.
 
  • Love
Reactions: Ghostly Boo
Oof. I've been slacking lately too. I started three or four books and then just sort of left them to do other things, so I'm not even going to list them as currently reading, lol.

I don't know if I can pick a favorite, but I really love the horror genre, cosmic horror specifically. Something about the universe being indifferent at best to human life just gets my goat. I've never had any luck with the classics, but if you want some to avoid then I can definitely give you some suggestions 😂

Also I believe in paperback supremacy because hard covers hurt my hands.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Ghostly Boo
I love reading, but sometimes life likes to get in my way. >:[ So I have a HUGE pile of books I haven't gotten to but in physical form and on kindle.

I have Practical Magic on my desk and it's supposed to be my next book. I like just about any genre of fiction bonus points if there's a romance. 🤔 I lean pretty heavy towards fantasy and supernatural stories. I also really love reading bad quality romance novels cause they make me mad, but they're also super fun and inspire me to write cooler things myself.
 
@Adrian
I’ve actually heard a lot of good things about ‘The Picture Of Dorian Gray’. I'm definitely interested in this one. I find the concept kinda intriguing (It may or may not already be a part of my tbr pile and very close to the top.)

Honestly, I might need to turn to audiobooks for the rest of Lotr, I made it through the forest (Finally) and put it down indefinitely. (Big regret there) I heard having the dictionary is also a good idea… honestly tempting there is so many pretty covers for them. (I’m a total sucker for a pretty cover.

@neptune
Heck yes! Softie supporter!

Did you have any horror suggestions? I’ve actually never read one, likely because I’m a total chicken when it comes to horror films but maybe a book wouldn’t be as bad? (Feel free to tell me differently. I'm a total noob.)

And pleeeeeeeaaassssseeee tell me the ones to avoid, I hate having to put a book down because I just can’t finish it, I like to complete a book once I start it. Even if it takes me years. (Sorry LOTR)

@Diana
I completely get that, life really is the biggest book blocker and when there finally is a free moment it's like “Do I really wanna spend my time reading a book or just relaxing?”

Romance fan huh? Can definitely appreciate a good romance (and tease the heck outta the cheesy ones.) I’m also a huge fantasy/supernatural fan also, though I’ve attempted to branch out. Did you have any favs?
 
Heck yes! Softie supporter!

Did you have any horror suggestions? I’ve actually never read one, likely because I’m a total chicken when it comes to horror films but maybe a book wouldn’t be as bad? (Feel free to tell me differently. I'm a total noob.)

And pleeeeeeeaaassssseeee tell me the ones to avoid, I hate having to put a book down because I just can’t finish it, I like to complete a book once I start it. Even if it takes me years. (Sorry LOTR)

@Ghostly Boo My favorite cosmic horror book is Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer. It's the first in The Southern Reach trilogy. Book two is a bit slower, but I also loved book three. A movie was made of it a few years back, but the book is different and worth the read if you like to be left with an impending sense of doom. I'd also recommend The Troop by Nick Cutter. It's full of body horror and it made me absolutely sick. Be warned, it's got a pretty graphic/violent scene involving a turtle, and I'm a big softie so I just skipped those pages. Not knowing that information doesn't impact the story at all. My last rec, just to give a variety, is The Stand by Stephen King. It's about a plague and it's like 1500 pages but it doesn't feel like it.

I also hate having to put a book down, but I said fuck it to the following classics: On The Road by Jack Kerouac, Heart of Darkness (and other short stories) by Joseph Conrad, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, and literally anything by Mark Twain.

Classics I would recommend are: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Bonus points for the Bradbury short story There Will Come Soft Rains.
 
  • Love
Reactions: Ghostly Boo
Oooh, I love Lord of the Flies! I read it as a kid (for school) and it became an instant favorite.
 
@neptune thank you for the suggestions! I don't mind some graphic violence but maybe not against animals (They're precious and need to be protected) but I will 100% check a couple of them out, I definitely want to try out the genre.

I'm lowkey so glad none of those avoid classic are currently on my shelf to be read I'm honestly always surprised by how short they actually are since they were so popular. I also want to read Lord of the Flies, more so now at you and @Adrian seemed to enjoy it. (It sounds like it might be a sad one, but I'm completely here for it.)

Have you explored any of the classic horrors? I feel like they'd be very lowkey in comparison to the ones that authors are producing these days.
 
Have you explored any of the classic horrors? I feel like they'd be very lowkey in comparison to the ones that authors are producing these days.

Not really. Aside from Frankenstein and some H.P. Lovecraft, I jumped right into modern horror. I've been meaning to read Dracula for a long time, lol. Maybe I'll make that my summer project.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ghostly Boo
@neptune Dracula is meant to be really good you should definitely. Honestly I'd probably prefer to start with modern horrors rather than classics...so I'll definitely be checking out those earlier suggestions.
 
  • Like
Reactions: neptune
My fave is a poet named E.E, Cummings.....I'm reading his complete poems compilation
 
Ah, bibliochor. There are few things so fine as the smell of books. I try to read for an hour or so before bed to wind down. Haven't done so in a couple weeks, though, since my sleep schedule is so jacked. v v My current favorite is Katherine Arden's Winternight Trilogy. If you like a little folklore fantasy and historical drama, or just an unconventional heroine, you might like this series. I can't recommend it enough. I'm on my fourth read-through. Read each individual book twice (upon receiving), then started reading them sequentially.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ghostly Boo
I decided that I wanted to read the books that all the Witcher things are based on! I'm on the second book now - it's very prettily written but it can be a bit dense to go through at times. Still, I think that they're quite interesting and would recommend them solidly for anyone interested in fiction even if they aren't into the show/games.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ghostly Boo
Classics?

Small gods by Terry Pratchett. I really enjoyed this one. The author was knighted irl for his writing, and got to make his own real sword with the help of a blacksmith from the Queen!

Dracula and Frankenstein are great too, also written in a different style than I'm used to. Epistolary? Yeah, when I first started Dracula I was like "wtf is this'', but was surprised at how well a story could be told in that format. Out of the two, I enjoyed Mary Shelley's writing the most.

Dune by Frank Herbert is awesome, and it is amazing at how well he does with the omniscient viewpoint.

Recently started reading To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini. Only made it about 250 - 300 pages in and put it down. I didn't like it, tbh I had to force myself to read that far into the book. Do not recommend it.

EDIT: Oops, forgot to support the soft-backs! I started with those because that's all I could afford (spent all my money from mowing lawns at the local bookstore as a kid). I still buy softies because I'm still broke!
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Ghostly Boo
@CindyLuv Is poetry your preferred genre? I personally haven't read many, but they can be quite refreshing.

@Ashi Oooh I like the sound of that combination I'm for sure going to have a look into it. Sounds a little outside of my usual but totally down. :)

@Kitti YASS fellow Witcher reader! Though I'm stuck on book 3 at the moment. Have you watched and played the game also?

@Monster Woah that's wild. I might just check out Small gods cause the author sounds cool as heck. (Ayyye softie supporter. I feel you on the broke bus but aye they're still awesome :) )
 
  • Like
Reactions: Monster
@Ghostly Boo..... yeah, mostly.....I read some Sylvia Plattnbut found her too depressing and the so called classics bore me..I love the way Cummings plays with words and letters
 
My dad got me interested in what he calls ',classic science fiction, the majority being short stories....Lester Del Rey wrote a classic called ',Helen O,' Loy back in 1937 about a man falling in love with a robot
 
Books? Yes, my addiction. I read everything from novels to webcomics to manga to magazines. I have thought about getting into superhero comics, but my wallet hates me enough right now. So long as it is a physical copy (with the exception of webcomics, in which case I try to buy a physical copy if I like the story), I will read it. I am in need of more bookshelves, but that is another thing for my wallet to hate me for.

I'm currently rereading The Enemy series by Charlie Higson. I normally hate zombies, but when it comes to role plays and this series, I can't get enough. The series follows groups of children after everyone over the age of 16 either dies or becomes a flesh eating monster. The author is not afraid to kill off characters.

My all time favorite is the manga series Bungo Stray Dogs written by Kafka Asagiri and illustrated by Sango Harukawa. The main characters have supernatural abilities and are named after famous authors and poets. It has gotten me into wanting to read poems and novels written by the characters' namesakes. I now have a few books by Fyodor Dostoevsky sitting on my shelf waiting to be read.

The one thing I don't read a lot of is nonfiction, but if you want to read about animals mauling people or famous man-eaters, I suggest giving Peter Hathaway Capstick a try. He talks all about famous hunters (mainly in Africa), and he has a way with words. I have read two of his books: Death in the Long Grass and Death in the Silent Places, and both are brilliantly gruesome.

For classics, I will third Lord of the Flies. I also enjoy The Count of Monte Cristo.

This is a topic I could go on and on and on about, so unless you care to read about all the manga, novels, and webcomics that I love, I will stop there. If anyone wants, I will continue on though. ^^
 
I went to the library for the first time since the pandemic started, and it healed my soul. I just finished The Heaven Shop, by Deborah Ellis, and it made me cry a little. I always want to do something big and change the world whenever I read her work.

I've just started Circe by Madeline Miller! I read Song of Achilles a while back and it was some of the most beautiful writing I'd read in a long time, so I absolutely fell in love with it. I'm loving Circe so far, but I'm only around fifty pages in. I would've plowed through more of it if it weren't for university, siiiigh.
 
Almost done with The Blacktongue Thief. And I honestly wasn't sure about it at first. But it really starts to take on a life of it's own in your imagine as you get on in it. It's by Christopher Buehlman. Who has written several other one off books I've thoroughly enjoyed. Like The Necromancer's House. Which is probably one of my favorite depictions of magic in a modern setting.

The other thing would be the Cradle series. The next book is coming out in November. If you like martial arts mangas and animes. Then you'll love this. It's sometimes compared to Avatar the Last Airbender because of the way it kinda westernizes it a bit. But I feel like you don't need any prior experience with those genres to really enjoy this series. Plus the author has a really fast turn around with new books :)