I feel this forum needs an open thread for requests for reading recommendations. I’ll start: looking for modern, gritty crime drama, not a whodunnit or noir. Pretty unfamiliar with this category so not too sure what else to add.
Oh, this might prove helpful to myself and others. I have been reading fairly old books in science fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction for the past several years. They're classics for a reason of course, but I'm rarely reading stuff from the past 15 years or so. I've been trying to push into more modern stuff, but it feels like I am reading one new thing to every ten old things. Looking for recommendations for contemporary works in these genres, please and thanks !
I never know what to suggest because all the fiction I read either comes from the library or through Kindle Unlimited. I've read an awful lot of popular fiction that I enjoyed, but wouldn't have paid for. If you like police procedurals, I'm reading the David Wolf series by Jeff Carson right now. Pretty good.
This is helpful. I make the library runs for my husband who likes the gritty crime techno whatchahoosits stuff. Now I can a bit more than just pull books off the shelves for him.
Tana French writes fantastic mysteries. I recommend In the Woods or Faithful Place. The Last Policeman trilogy by Ben H Winters is a rather nice mix of mystery and a soft sci-fi "end of the world" scenario.
Just finished Out of Sight by Elmore Leonard. Solid, enjoyed it. Will check out @Dogberry's Watch 's recommendations.
In sci-fi/fantasy I can recommend Paolo Bacigalupi. I read his Pump Six and Other Stories and really liked a lot of them, but that was way back in 2008. Haven't read anything newer by him. He has a site where you can read some older stuff (and maybe more recently by now too?) for free: Windup Stories—Books & Short Stories Looks like any that are underlined can be read for free. I particularly liked The Fluted Girl (way at the bottom of the page, from 2003), maybe People of Sand and Slag (don't remember honestly, but sure I read it), and Pump Six. Ammended—the short stories that are underlined can be read for free.
Thanks! I have not heard of this author. Site has been bookmarked. Certainly can't go wrong with free!
Also frequently mentioned alongside Bacigalupi are Kelly Link and Ted Chiang. They all rose to prominence at the same time. I've read Chiang's Stories of Your Life and Others. The movie Arrival was based on the title story. Haven't read any Kelly Link, but I really enjoyed Chiang's work.
Oh, and I would be totally remiss to neglect Jeff Vandermeer. I've read his entire Southern Reach trilogy, encompassing the books Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance. Some of my favorite reading. There's a movie called Annihilation that's actually—well, Wreybies used to call it fanfic combining elements of all three stories. He wasn't wrong. The movie has a really nice ambience and special effects and is decent in its own right, if a little lightweight (except for that insane mutant bear scene! Holy cow!!), but it really veers way off from the stories. It does include mashups of certain parts of them though, as if seen through a distorting funhouse mirror.
Ted Chiang is a genius. I have that collection; every story was brilliant. Next on my list for him is Exhalations, which has also been recommended to me.
Sorry but this forum doesn't need yet another massive all purpose thread (when they get big they tend to cause problems with the software)... if you want reading recommendations, open a thread for your specific circumstance "Hey I'm really looking for books that feature moose as the hero, because aside from rocky and bulwinkle I feel we are under represented especially in hard boiled noir," or whatever also book recommendation threads belong in https://www.writingforums.org/book-discussion/ not in the lounge
Holy crap!! I couldn't remember the names of all the Southern Reach books, I had to do a search to refresh the memory banks, and I just noticed there's now a fourth book listed under those called Absolution (forthcoming). Looks like there's a sequel being written. Not sure how I feel about that. But I'll probabaly buy it, unless the reviews are terrible. Actually I'll probably buy it regardless. There are a loft of terrible reviews for all those books because of the way they're written. Vandermeer was screwing around with language and ideas, playing all kind of tricks with them. Some people reeeeeally don't like that. D'oh! My bad, this isn't that thread! (Mod edit - it is now)
