Book reader community.
Theres so much great modern literature! I'm shocked at your experience.
I love Murakami but read a short story of his before diving into the book. I've just posted a short story of his in !shortstories@literature.cafe. if you like it try Norwegian Wood.
Theres Salman Rushdie as well.
The underground railroad by colson Whitehead.
The milkmaid.
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante.
2666 by bolano.
2666 is one of my favorite books. Also like The Savage Detectives by Bolaño. Have you read Demon Copperhead by Kingsolver? If not I think you'd like it based on your Whitehead and Ferrante to recs.
The only Kingsolver I've read was "The Bean Trees", which I loved. Didn't realize it was her debut novel at the time.
That's on my list. Hopefully I'll get to it in the next few months!
Haven't read demon copperhead. Ive heard of it. Adding it to the list.
Thanks for the recommendations <3
No problem. I'd recommend checking if they are your style before diving into any book though.
look up 'Best new books' or 'popular books'
Aka, the list of books to always avoid.
I think the lists have become worse in the last two decades
Any suggestions on where to look for book recs online?
In terms of automated suggestions, I've had some luck with Storygraph. It has better recommendations than Goodreads, as it actually tries to go by your reading history and recent reads, and allows you to filter by factors like mood, pacing, genre, page count, etc.
It's not perfect by any stretch, but it has found me stuff that I wouldn't have otherwise spotted.
Asking a local librarian is also an option. They're usually happy to offer suggestions, and I've seen it in some cases where the library's website has means to send a request for recommendations online.
Here, and social media recommendations.
Maybe other people can add to this in the comments
Yeah I have asked for suggestions here before and they were pretty good. I also avoid any lists of "Best of" "Best sellers" etc. As much as I can because they are not usually good.
I second looking at prize lists. I read the Booker Prize longlist every year. They’re not always my favorite, but I like to consume what makes the list.
You can also check out book lists from more respected sources than “the most popular books on Amazon”. New York Review of Books is a source. Or the NYT/WaPo book reviews.
A selection of my favorite books
Thank you so much xD
There are LOADS of modern classics. If you're into sci-fi, try the Ancillary Justice trilogy by Anne Lecke. If you're into contemporary fiction, check out Against the Loveless World. If you like historical fiction, Bernard Cornwell has been going strong for a long time.
What genre do you enjoy? I always recommend checking out the relevant awards and go through the shortlist for the last few years. You are sure to find something spellbinding.
Booker - Contemporary literature
Assimov/Philip K. Dick/Hugo/Nebula - Speculative Fiction
Nobel Prize - Contemporary literature
Thanks
From the past, only the best truly survive, all books that were not worth it are slowly less and less mentioned. But you take the books released in 2025 and the amount is just overwhelming. It's not that they are worse now, its just that the best haven't yet gotten over the rest, so the chances of ending on a bad one is higher.
I think the real issue you need to consider is how you choose the books, how you search for them and why are the lists you find so bad.
Maybe you are ending in pretty bad webpages written more to advertise whatever the editorials want or not you kind of book. Maybe try finding some recommendations website that works depending on what books you have read and liked.
I don’t read a ton of modern literary fiction but Ishiguro’s Remains of the Day and Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove come to mind.
When I’m in the mood for gorgeous prose I usually pick up Steinbeck though—hard to beat.