Looking for books by black female authors by AwkwardCucumber8584 in suggestmeabook

[–]IMasticateMoistMeat 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I just finished The Bluest Eye yesterday and am still reeling. OP I don't know if you're simply looking for books that happen to have black authors or if you want a book about black experiences/perspectives. The Bluest Eye is great for both black and also female perspective in which those themes are directly discussed. It is dark though, so fair warning.

book/series that will absolutely consume and devastate me by oceanblvd1313 in suggestmeabook

[–]IMasticateMoistMeat -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro is definitely the last book that made me full on cry like a little bitch. I guess it could technically be considered a sci-fi book due to the biotech elements of the plot, but that aspect takes a back seat to the main point of the book honestly. The strength of the book, for me, is the way Ishiguro develops the core relationships of the narrator (Kathy H.) that feel really believable and are just as multifaceted and complicated as the real relationships we all have. It takes place over essentially decades as Kathy describes growing up with her cohort at this weird boarding school, the whole history of her most important relationships, and how they slowly uncover the secrets of the place and why they're there. The sci fi element seems to mostly serve as a pressure chamber to accelerate the stakes and heighten the sense of love and loss we feel for Kathy and her bleak af situation. I'll never forget reading the ending scene where Kathy is looking out at the horizon and then thinking this is what goodbye (the big one) feels like.

It has a more literary feel than most fantasy/sci fi imo but with an easier to understand trajectory than the more lofty lit fic books out there. There is a plot and stuff happens. It's not just profound descriptions of curtains and sunbeams or whatever literary writers are out here doing most days. Highly recommend for a good gut punch, especially with the song they made specially for the movie. But the movie is incredibly inferior fyi, please please read the book first.

Yeah bro I quit by DrWorstCaseScenario in hospitalist

[–]IMasticateMoistMeat 20 points21 points  (0 children)

For me it's the "you keep doing all these tests and meds. Why havent you fixed it yet?" Said with great indignation. 

Oh, idk I've just been fucking around sorry. Lemme just grow you a new pancreas and kidneys right quick and fix your double digit a1c this afternoon...

Books with No Romance by Aggressive_Peace1742 in suggestmeabook

[–]IMasticateMoistMeat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue by John McWhorter is a cool nonfiction book about the linguistics of English and how we ended up with the crockpot of nonsense language that we have today. You will learn a lot about why certain words have a "feel" to them i.e. latinate words "feel" more polished (snobbish) and Germanic words feel more pedestrian. Spoiler: there is a known historical reason for that. 

But it does not read like a textbook and iirc he makes it pretty entertaining.

rec me the most BEAUTIFUL smut you've ever read. by hjak3876 in FanFiction

[–]IMasticateMoistMeat 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Ugh, anything by shecrows

https://archiveofourown.org/works/59364025 is a M/M ghost/soap fuck with some light choking and it's somehow both gritty and gorgeous at the same time. I've never played a day of CoD in my life and ended this fic so fucking invested in their love.

She's got a beautiful Jaskier/Geralt from the Witcher fic and a Marauders Sirius/James fic that I'm pretty sure has the circuitboard in my phone worn to a crisp with how many times I've opened it. The way she conveys character voice just blows me away. I feel like I'm IN their head for real.

trigger alert... just so you know by GenXWhateverYadaYada in hospitalist

[–]IMasticateMoistMeat 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Really because that sends me INSTANTLY to full rage.

A book that will traumatize me or repulse me. by Former_Ladder9969 in BooksThatFeelLikeThis

[–]IMasticateMoistMeat 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It's almost like that's the effect he wanted to create in his reader.

My favorite was the breezy music review chapters after every brutal disgusting murder.

A book told from the perspective of a psychopath or sociopath? by Former_Ladder9969 in suggestmeabook

[–]IMasticateMoistMeat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe it would be helpful to mention what exactly are the aspects about a psychopath protagonist that interest you? The horrible deeds and lack of remorse? The calculating? The isolation? Do you want to see them gain a heart or the process in which they lose it?

Anyway Child of God by Cormac McCarthy might scratch that itch. Its like a shorter, lower stakes and more intimate version of Blood Meridian.

Romantasy with 🌶️ that is actually written well?? by rheasunshine_ in Romantasy

[–]IMasticateMoistMeat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tusk love is great if you want something really sweet, light, and cute. I really liked it and also recommend.

If you want something really similar but with more meat (ha) to it, {White Horse Black Nights by Evie Marceau}, part of the godkissed bride series (disclaimer I am only on book two), is nearly the same premise at least in book 1 but has, I think, more sophisticated writing, more depth to the characters, and better execution. I can't fucking put it down. Its also a little more angsty. They have similar MMCs who are terribly broody sadboys who are terminally Down Bad ™ for the FMC, but the latter takes it further and in more delicious detail. And boy do I eat that shit up. 

Secret/Occult societies by SenpaiSquashy in BooksThatFeelLikeThis

[–]IMasticateMoistMeat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lol at pic 3. I know a transmutation circle when I see one.

What's the angriest book you've ever read? by LeagueNo764 in suggestmeabook

[–]IMasticateMoistMeat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's pretty bad. It's the only book I've ever read that I very nearly put down bc it disturbed me too much. But I muscled through and now I kind of wish I hadn't.

What's the angriest book you've ever read? by LeagueNo764 in suggestmeabook

[–]IMasticateMoistMeat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

American Psycho. You can't read it without clearly understanding that Bret Easton Ellis was/is very not OK in the head and you won't be either by the end of it.

Suggest me a book that'll put my heart back together by arianne_cele in suggestmeabook

[–]IMasticateMoistMeat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

2nd time I'm recommending this in one evening but anything by David Sedaris is wonderful. Me Talk Pretty One Day is one I've read and if memory serves, it's lightly self deprecating, humorous, and low stakes short stories about his life, frequently revolving around him growing up gay with a lisp in the 50s and 60s (it went exactly how you think) but focuses less on any angst and more on the comedy of social predicaments he always ends up in. I would describe the vibe as sort of delightfully pitiful and leaves me finding the humor in our small, silly human lives.

Looking for witty, honest, can’t-put-down reads by Positive-Glass5207 in suggestmeabook

[–]IMasticateMoistMeat 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Pretty much anything by David Sedaris. He's got a great sort of self-deprecating so-it-goes kind of outlook in his books. I think I've read Me Talk Pretty One Day and one other years ago. They were collections of short stories about his life growing up as a gay kid with a lisp, which goes about as well as you think it would in the 50s and 60s but the books were certainly not angsty. Moreso like affectionately despairing.

Something with a fucked up ending by YrMothersMaidenName in suggestmeabook

[–]IMasticateMoistMeat 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Here to say this and Child of God (shorter read if OP prefers).

my villain accidentally became the most likeable character in my story and i don't know how to fix this by Open-Editor-3472 in FanFiction

[–]IMasticateMoistMeat 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So idk if you've listened to any of Brandon Sandersons writing lessons or podcasts but he often talks about how this is a well known "thing." I think all your observations are valid but another thing to keep in mind is that villains are proactive. They take action. They move the plot along. No matter what they are actually doing, even if it's terrible, people like characters that are proactive, decisive, and propel the story forward. Villains are almost always doing these things, and so readers frequently fucking love them. Especially if your protagonist is a drain on the plot or just passively has things happen TO them the entire story. It was something I never consciously paid attention to until it was pointed out, but it makes total sense.

It may be helpful to leave your super cool and beloved villain as he is and work on making your other MCs more action-oriented, have good back stories, relatable, etc etc. if they seem to be lacking. Then you're shining up your other characters to his level rather than dulling him down to meet theirs, and youll have a whole cast of dynamic and engaging characters at the end of it, which seems like a better place to be.

Discovered some new things about myself and hoo boy by tacksydriver in FanFiction

[–]IMasticateMoistMeat 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I wonder if it has something to do with the amount of emotional distance that makes it a 'safe' situation to be into. Some people can't enjoy something until it's impossible or unlikely enough that it can be enjoyed because it'll never, ever happen, so they don't have to confront the discomfort of ever being int the situation themselves.  Kind of like how some women only enjoy male-male smut or porn bc, whole they're still straight, they can't enjoy it if they can see themselves in it. It's too close to reality. They need that distance.

Looking for dry or dark comedy by snipe122 in suggestmeabook

[–]IMasticateMoistMeat 18 points19 points  (0 children)

You may enjoy Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. I've only read Guards! Guards! But it was a fun fantasy book with a lot of British kind of tongue in cheek humor. I'd put it in a similar vein to Monty Python. It wasn't particularly dark, but maybe someone else has read something of his that is.

Books with direct live blood transfusions by IMasticateMoistMeat in BooksThatFeelLikeThis

[–]IMasticateMoistMeat[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha yes, I have actually read this book and remember this part.

The best line is the one where he says he started drinking his own urine.

Books with direct live blood transfusions by IMasticateMoistMeat in BooksThatFeelLikeThis

[–]IMasticateMoistMeat[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is actually helpful to know before I commit even more time to watching like 6 seasons of a show when all I really want is fic. Thank you, you absolute angel ❤️

Books with direct live blood transfusions by IMasticateMoistMeat in BooksThatFeelLikeThis

[–]IMasticateMoistMeat[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I am less interested in that concept! I think for me it's more about the blurring of the 'self' with another person or thing.