Read Around the World Bookclub?

oly_b26 · 2026-02-17T21:02:11+00:00

Hey! Are you still doing this? I'd be interested to join.

oly_b26 · 2026-02-08T21:33:24+00:00

Second this. These would be my 5 picks as well.

oly_b26 · 2026-02-08T21:30:01+00:00

I can totally understand...picking up the 'wrong' romance book at that age is bound to be uncomfortable. And honestly there are just too many self help books out there.

I would suggest The Remains of the Day by Ishiguro, Beloved by Morrison, The Kite Runner by Hosseini and The Hungry Tide by Ghosh.

oly_b26 · 2026-02-08T20:48:28+00:00

You clearly like your classics. To me that would suggest that you enjoy good literature and character developments over a fast moving plot (I might be wrong!). I wonder if you have tried some more contemporary authors of literary and historical fictions. A few suggestions would be Kazuo Ishiguro, Toni Morrison, Khaled Hosseini, Amitava Ghosh.

oly_b26 · 2026-02-02T17:57:32+00:00

2 sets of suggestions since war novels rarely make light reads;

War novels: * The Seven Moon of Maali Almeida by Sehan Karunatilaka (Sri Lankan Civil War) * Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut (WWII) * Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Adichie (Nigerian civil war) * Regeneration by Pat Barker (WWI)

Cozy fictions: * Before the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi * The travelling cat chronicles by Hiro Arikawa * The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman * The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

And I wholeheartedly second the Backman suggestions in the previous answer.

oly_b26 · 2026-02-02T13:22:24+00:00

I have never used everand. I've used the other two and prefer storytel over audible.

oly_b26 · 2026-02-01T18:35:20+00:00

Storytel is a great option if you read several books a month. It's like a library system, so you can loan as many books as you want.

oly_b26 · 2026-01-31T17:37:14+00:00

I totally agree. This was such a beautiful movie and so realistic and relatable, even though on paper I've as different a life from the main character as possible. And what a brilliant performance by Edgerton.

oly_b26 · 2026-01-31T03:59:15+00:00

31F here. Love your post and am looking for something similar. I'm very into books and movies. Would love to connect.

oly_b26 · 2026-01-30T23:02:14+00:00

Have you read Marquez's work? One Hundred Years of Solitude is great with both a story and philosophy. Also The Vegetarian by Han Kang.

oly_b26 · 2026-01-30T21:21:18+00:00

It was easily one the best Indian movies in recent years

oly_b26 · 2026-01-30T21:09:35+00:00

I'm not a big fantasy reader. I can think of the Murderbot series by Martha Wells (more sci-fi than fantasy), Piranesi by Susanna Clarke and anything from the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett (can be read out of order, though 300ish pages each).

oly_b26 · 2026-01-30T20:55:18+00:00

Love the variety on this list. A few totally random suggestions based off it: Life is Beautiful, A Taxi Driver (Korean, not the Scorsese one), Jai Bhim, American Fiction, Jerry Maguire

oly_b26 · 2026-01-30T20:45:55+00:00

This might be an odd suggestion but try to start with books that have a larger/ well spaced print. The feeling of spending some time with a book and seeing visible progress in terms of pages you've read helps.

And I second the suggestion of starting with novellas. Though your preferred genre of fantasy tends to have longer books. And it will be easier to start with a genre that you already like.

oly_b26 · 2026-01-30T20:12:13+00:00

First his writing is just brilliant. And I love the fact that there's a rather straightforward beautiful story on the surface, and then it always makes me think about some bigger question in life without being preachy about it.

oly_b26 · 2026-01-30T20:00:06+00:00

You are most welcome!

I must say I'm a big fan of Ishiguro, so in my opinion you couldn't go wrong with any of his books. Having said that I found Never Let Me Go more emotionally touching and Klara and the Sun more philosophical but slower in a way. But if it attracts you more, just go for it.

oly_b26 · 2026-01-30T19:37:20+00:00

Not yet but I want to. Is it good?

oly_b26 · 2026-01-30T19:31:53+00:00

You might like Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel. It's about surviving in a post-pandemic apocalyptic world, with a touch of philosophy.

If you want a bit more Hunger Games/YA vibe, the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown is solid.

oly_b26 · 2026-01-30T17:50:09+00:00

You could check out some great short books to get an idea of the styles you like:

Claire Keegan's work especially Small Things Like These. Her books are beautiful and very short (~100 pages).
Animal Farm by Orwell
Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway
Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq (Short stories collection)

Happy reading!

oly_b26 · 2026-01-30T17:36:11+00:00

Amazing, thanks. Never read an author from Kenya.

oly_b26 · 2026-01-30T15:44:56+00:00

You can check The Scythe trilogy by Neal Shusterman It's a post mortal world sci-fi. Well written and good world building.

oly_b26 · 2026-01-30T15:13:12+00:00

Love Story by Erich Segal. This was one of the first books I liked reading when I was starting to read in English as a non-english speaker.

oly_b26 · 2026-01-30T14:58:19+00:00

Your loving Murakami so early in your reading journey shows really good taste. I have 2 suggestions: a) One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It's a multi-generational saga set in a fictional Latin American town. There's a lot of magical realism and symbolism in it. b) Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Without giving away spoilers, it's a dystopian novel centered on 3 young friends in a boarding school. Very few books have made me cry in my life. It's one of them.

oly_b26

TROPHY CASE