I am making an effort to read more, and wanted to find some books somewhat similar to these movies. Please don't just say the books that these movies are adapted from as I plan on reading them.

I am a very picky reader, love reading but have trouble really getting invested in books. I also have trouble getting into a book sometimes if it is very slow at the start. So instead of looking for new books I just end up re-reading these books! What other books would I like?

I've been listening to the Hatchet series, and have always been really into wilderness and/or homesteading survival. Living off the land and whatnot. These books are so short to me, and I'm looking for more books about living in the woods and hunting/foraging :) thanks!!

Also, somewhat unrelated, I also REALLY enjoy the Warriors series, but have read all those books already. The most compelling part about that series is the way they care for one another while also "living off the land" as much as cats can.

edit to add: low tech, guns and whatnot are kinda lame in a survival series imo

I know "What Remains of Edith Finch" is a video game. But in this post I'm more looking for something that has a similar narration and writing style. The story can be just about anything. Kinda creepy and macabre would be great as that is the vibe I get from the game (sad as well obviously.) Just nothing scary enough to keep me up at night please 🤣. I'd say "Coraline" is my limit.

Preferably under 300 pages and written pre 2000. Tragic romance, horror, classics anything that's not boring and is well written.

I want in high/epic fantasy with good worldbuilding. Romance is fine but it shouldn't be the main focus of the book.

I'll take science-fiction recs as well.

I really want to get into reading, but I've always had trouble getting into books. Mainly because I have a condition called aphantasia where I can't visualize images in my head, so I have trouble imagining things that I read. I'm mentioning this so I can be recommended easier reads to get me into it, daunting books will likely turn me off if I start with them.

I love shows and movies that are about redemption or the philosophy around being a good person. The Good Place is my absolute favourite show of all time for that reason.

Are there any books that might scratch that same itch? It doesn't have to be a comedy.

Some of my other favourite movies and shows include the following, if there are other recommendations you think might be a good fit:

• Every movie by Denis Villeneuve is a masterpiece
• Most movies by the Coen brothers, notably:
  • No Country for Old Men
  • O Brother, Where Art Thou?
  • The Big Lebowski
  • True Grit
  • Burn After Reading
  • Hail, Caesar!
  • Fargo
• Mr. Robot
• Shrinking
• Succession
• Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul

I'm looking for a book that'll sweep me off my feet and have me thinking 'this guy's a genius' every other page. Bonus points if it's some sort of simulation that's like 'our world, but what if X' and then there's this whole convoluted system about how it'd have affected society and laws and culture and all that jazz.

Tolkien is a good example of this — dude thunk up whole languages!

Ideally something more modern though? I like the idea of this uncanny valley where it's our world but not quite.

E.g. I really enjoyed the hidden identity section of "The Final Empire" by Brandon Sanderson, and also the same for "Red Rising" by Pierce Brown. Doesn't have to be fantasy/sci fi, but I enjoy where we get to see the character's real self revealed to someone important

Desperately searching for new books to read. I really dislike romance, but if the book is good I can ignore some romance subplot

Sci-Fi:

I love “Feed” and “Landscape with Invisible Hand” by MT Anderson, and most of Bradbury’s works and it’s hard to find books that emulate that writing style. I also like Stephen King’s early sci-fi works, like “11/22/63”

Dystopian: I liked all of “The Hunger Games” books and when I was younger I loved Margarat Peterson Haddix’s books, and I have never found an adult equivalent to her amazing writing

Historical Fiction: I read all of Alan Gratz’s books and “The War that Saved my Life” when I was in elementary school, but I haven’t found many adult books as good as those since then, I also liked “Tunes for Bears to Dance to” by Robert Cormier. I mostly like books about WW2 and the Holocaust, but I’m also interested in reading about most historical events tbh.

Realistic Fiction: I love “Speak” and I’m trying to find more books like that, not necessarily the topic, but the writing style.

Also I like classics, like “Catcher in the Rye”

Any suggestions for any of these genres would be greatly appreciated.

Other favorites: Flow, Sound of Metal, Come and See, The Lighthouse, Apocalypse Now, Dune: Part Two, Her, Koyaanisqatsi.

I'm asking for my 12 year old.

We make weekly trips to the library. He started off last summer with the Spy School series but blew through them pretty quickly. My dad suggested he try the Ian Flemming Bond novels and he loved them, but he ended up reading all of them by the end of the summer, some more than once. I found the Alex Rider series after a frantic Google session, and he liked them, maybe not as fervently. He also loves more age appropriate stuff like Hazardous Tales (he is a history nerd) and Diary Of A Wimpy Kid.

He tried but did NOT like the Bourne novel or Jack Ryan. I think they were a little too dense for him.

With summer approaching, I'm trying to come up with some new suggestions to keep him interested, but I was an avid reader at all at his age, or even older, so I'm struggling a little. He also is very into history novels, particularly about world war II, and a suspect he might enjoy the right science fiction series, if it has the right tone, but that theory hasn't been tested yet.

I really love books that explore the human condition.

I don’t necessarily need big plot twists or wild story arcs or fast-paced page-turners.

I’m looking for stories that help me to be introspective—the kind of book where every once in a while there’s a sentence or a snippet that just holds an honest mirror up to the reader.

The kind of book you can slowly chew on, you know?

I study relationships, psychology, and statistics including empirical studies. There's a book I read called Man's Guide to Women which has a lot of these. Some examples are also in Come As You Are as well.

I love isometric looking video games, the perspective is just somehow calming to my lizard brain. I can't find any resources on this except backgrounds for games I already know or personal artwork on Instagram that I can't download because it's f*cking Instagram. Any and all input will be greatly appreciated.

I've read one supposedly similar, The Celestine Prophecy, and enjoyed it a good amount, even if it wasn't the deepest in story.

Are there any books closer to The Alchemist?

I enjoy highly descriptive imagery, some adventure, and a discussion of moral values and a debate of right over wrong. I don't like pure fantasy, I like something mostly grounded with reality. I like a book to pull me out of the tin can warehouse I work at and transport me somewhere interesting. Sailing or travel I always enjoy imagining. I also enjoy books with crime, some interesting explanations too that make it sort of real. I've read Moby Dick already.

Basically looking for fantasy or historical fiction in a somewhat bizarre, medieval (or medieval-esque) setting with elements of wry humor, nonlinearity of time, and spiritual themes.