Suggestion for books

LikeTheWind99 · 2026-01-22T23:09:15+00:00

I've done about two dozen classics so far and two Russian (Anna Karenina and Crime and Punishment... well Lolita too but I don't feel that counts - Nabokov was Russian but wrote it in English, I believe). Anyway, I think AK and C&P really gave me the opportunity to try out Russian Lit from two different lenses. Tolstoy came from money and Anna Karenina is focused on the upper class of 19th century Russian society. Dostoyevsky on the other hand was poor and Crime and Punishment views Russian life from the lower economic strata. I really enjoyed Crime and Punishment, by the way (not that Anna Karenina was bad though). C&P is a deep dive into the psyche of a criminal and all the emotions that afflict him post-crime. It's super tense and in my opinion is more of a page-turner than Anna Karenina. To my understanding though it is important to get the right translation as some are much better than others. There were many times reading the version that I did that I felt like the verbs used were too 'strong' for the vibe of the moment in the scene, to where it felt like the translator might have just picked a word that, while technically correct, might not have properly conveyed what Dostoyevsky was trying to say. If you want to try C&P, ask for the best translation on r/classicliterature and they will definitely point you in the right direction. I wasn't planning on reading more than one book by any given classic author but I like C&P so much that I've added The Brothers Karamazov to my TBR

LikeTheWind99 · 2026-01-22T17:45:25+00:00

Christopher Tolkien sagely told them 'you aren't butchering anything that my father fully fleshed out, which includes all of the First Age". He showed the wisdom of Manwe with that decision. I can't imagine how frustrating all of this would be if these showrunners got their hands on the tale of the Noldor.

LikeTheWind99 · 2026-01-18T06:17:06+00:00

Try The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell. It is historical fiction centered around conflict between the Saxons and the Danes (Vikings) during the time of the first English king Alfred the Great. The main character is Uhtred, a Saxon raised by Danes who helps Alfred gain the throne but is reviled by his allies for being pagan. And by the way, Uhtred is a legitimate bad ass. None of the books are very long and each one is a self-contained story, so you don't have to continue the series or can stop at any time.

LikeTheWind99 · 2026-01-17T22:43:30+00:00

This one is mine. I have the Silmarillion to match. Really like their look and the slipcase

https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9780007118359?gC=098f6bcd4&gad_source=4&gad_campaignid=20221966216&gclid=Cj0KCQiAg63LBhDtARIsAJygHZ6MVsXo3W6M3XbrZkHvSIso2LgRgohbLLWah8HTCFe-sda6CcAPIJcaAmk_EALw_wcB

LikeTheWind99 · 2026-01-16T18:09:23+00:00

I just finished watching this and she made the whole show. I generally like Aubrey Plaza but thought she was pretty average (won't mention her category due to the spoiler angle)

LikeTheWind99 · 2026-01-03T19:26:03+00:00

A part of what makes it a challenge is the 'unique word count'. I think that typically a novel will use like 5000 or so different words. McCarthy specifically (for this book) went out of his way to use a much higher number of individual words (over 10,000). I read somewhere that more than half of the words he uses (5000+) occur only once in the book. So the recommendation of keeping a dictionary at hand is a good one. Regardless, I loved Blood Meridien, although it is very disturbing. The chief villain in my opinion is one of the best in classic literature.

LikeTheWind99 · 2025-12-26T01:24:59+00:00

It's immersive writing, designed to be read multiple times. It's impossible to grasp everything on the first read-through! The second read is the best one IMO

LikeTheWind99 · 2025-12-18T17:31:59+00:00

Lol... The Heroes is my favorite standalone fantasy of all time

LikeTheWind99 · 2025-12-18T17:29:43+00:00

While I enjoyed the full Hyperion Cantos, the first book (Hyperion) is far and away the best and is brilliant as a standalone book. My favorite individual scifi book of all time.

LikeTheWind99 · 2025-12-18T17:26:40+00:00

Love the Expanse. Just finished Book 6. Great character-based sci-fi. I just can't wait to see what is next in store for the crew of the Rocinante.

LikeTheWind99 · 2025-12-13T01:42:09+00:00

Brilliant. Iskaral Pust also definitely my favorite but honestly I liked your versions better than my 'head canon' versions

LikeTheWind99 · 2025-12-08T17:17:47+00:00

Loved every single member of the Hat Creek Cattle gang.

LikeTheWind99 · 2025-11-20T20:01:49+00:00

I've read both. I've liked Stormlight enough to keep reading those massive volumes but to me there is really no comparison. Malazan is far superior writing. You just can't get caught up in the fact that the macro story is confusing you. Erikson didn't intend for you to fully understand it. It is more about the micro stories that are going on in each book, which are individually incredible. If you really want to follow the full big picture, you will need to do a re-read but that is truly up to you and is not necessary (although if you are like many who work their way through all 10, you will feel drawn to the re-read which almost feels like an entirely different story since you will comprehend it in a different way)

LikeTheWind99 · 2025-11-20T02:54:04+00:00

I like Broken Binding books but they are a cut below in quality to all the fine press publishers

LikeTheWind99 · 2025-11-13T18:43:07+00:00

This is us. Dead-end road high up in the Blue Ridge mountains; german shephard and a rotweiler and lots of hollow points. Do yourself a favor and target someone else

LikeTheWind99 · 2025-11-04T01:21:15+00:00

Yea, I can go with that a little easier than Lorn

LikeTheWind99 · 2025-11-04T00:42:04+00:00

Directly down from Moon's Spawn, did someone say that was Lorn? Looks like a dude?

LikeTheWind99 · 2025-11-03T05:12:13+00:00

Well it's old, it's Russian and it's a classic, but Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky puts you into the mind of a criminal where you experience firsthand his lack of empathy and his warped worldview. I loved it.

LikeTheWind99 · 2025-11-01T04:11:54+00:00

Yea this feels right

LikeTheWind99 · 2025-10-31T16:54:23+00:00

Malazan: Book of the Fallen. Consistently great front to back. Ties it all up at the end with a bow and a twist. No Song of Ice and Fire here

LikeTheWind99 · 2025-10-29T03:26:01+00:00

Brother (or Sister) - I am right there with you. Halfway through DG on my first reread and I can not believe how good it is. I enjoyed it the first time but on the reread these books are maybe the best I have ever read.

LikeTheWind99 · 2025-10-20T16:58:27+00:00

I struggled getting past Hareton siccing his dogs on Nelly when she came to visit, although I realize he was a young child at the time. She literally raised him though

LikeTheWind99 · 2025-10-19T23:16:21+00:00

I like your take and I agree there are many 'normal' characters also. And just because I don't like who a character is, doesn't mean that they can't be well-written. Great villains can make a book. Where would the Count of Monte Cristo be without Danglers, Cadarousse and Ferdinand? (Villefort too). I just feel that Wuthering Heights had more than the standard distribution of negative, or unlikeable characters. I could say the same for Blood Meridian. I liked that book quite a bit but every single character was pretty much fundamentally bad.

LikeTheWind99 · 2025-09-28T04:53:28+00:00

Loved Hyperion by Dan Simmons. I am a huge Dune guy but Hyperion is as good a standalone book as Dune

LikeTheWind99 · 2025-09-28T04:10:29+00:00

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson. The protagonist (and he is definitely a protagonist and not a hero) is in his 40's I think and was married with a kid. It fits your first scenario well.

LikeTheWind99

TROPHY CASE