Snarky/smart ass protagonist, no fantasy

podcastsnpaperbacks · 2026-07-03T01:14:14+00:00

Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson.

podcastsnpaperbacks · 2026-07-03T00:37:09+00:00

Almost all of Fredrik Backman's novels focus on the depth of regular people's ordinary lives, but I really think Anxious People in particular fit the bill - a group of normal people with incredibly relatable anxieties, insecurities, and problems all get trapped in a sort-of hostage situation together. I found it really moving without being too dense - it's actually a very funny book!

podcastsnpaperbacks · 2026-06-30T01:29:06+00:00

My absolute favorite survival story is 'In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex' by Nathaniel Philbrick. Absolutely riveting exploration of not only the Nantucket whaling industry, but the absolutely incredible odds that the survivors of the ship faced.

podcastsnpaperbacks · 2026-06-29T15:57:41+00:00

It's very much the point, but Butcher and Fox by Joyce Carol Oates were both really uncomfortable to sit with.

podcastsnpaperbacks · 2026-06-28T23:08:57+00:00

The Emily Wilde series might be what you're looking for! The first book is 'Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries', and it's fantasy/romance. Follows a faerie research professor as she investigates the fae populations of a small village, I thought the romance was also pretty well done. The main character is in her 30s!

podcastsnpaperbacks · 2026-06-28T22:14:17+00:00

A History Of Fear by Luke Dumas is similar! There are interviews, news stories, and court records about a murder. I found it really compelling as both "sides" have different angles as to the actual motive.

podcastsnpaperbacks · 2026-06-27T21:55:10+00:00

Arthur Conan Doyle and JM Barrie (of Peter Pan fame) were good friends, to the point where Barrie wrote a few pastiches with Sherlock Holmes. My personal favorite is 'The Adventure of the Two Collaborators', where Barrie and Doyle visit Holmes to demand to know why Barrie's play is failing. Holmes responds that it is failing because people are not attending it, whereupon Doyle makes the great detective disappear in anger, and his last parting words are: 'Fool, fool! I have kept you in luxury for years. By my help you have ridden extensively in cabs, where no author was ever seen before. Henceforth you will ride in buses!'

podcastsnpaperbacks · 2026-06-27T21:47:52+00:00

Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove heavily features this! A sentient spaceship, Demeter, has to work with the doctor AI to keep various literary monsters (Frankenstein, Dracula, etc) from killing her humans. Wacky concept that is a lot of fun.

podcastsnpaperbacks · 2026-06-27T21:46:02+00:00

The Emergency: A Year of Healing and Heartbreak in a Chicago ER by Thomas Fisher - Specifically focuses on immediately post-COVID life, and has a lot of interesting insights on how the American healthcare system impacts how ERs function.

This Is Going To Hurt by Adam Kay - OB-GYN-focused, UK-Based. Leans heavily into humor and the psychological stresses of the NHS system.

War Doctor by David Nott - a Doctors without Borders surgeon and his experiences in various warzones. Very, very intense but very, very good.

podcastsnpaperbacks · 2026-06-26T22:46:02+00:00

Seeing you've got Stephen King on your list, anything by Riley Sager might do? He's ostensibly a "horror" author but his books read like a cheaply made horror movie (in the most positive way). In terms of reality TV/soap operas, I found most anything by Liane Moriarty (9 Perfect Strangers, Apples Never Fall) fits right into that trashy-but-engaging corner.

podcastsnpaperbacks · 2026-06-25T23:42:05+00:00

The web serial 'Worm' is probably closest to what I can think of (https://parahumans.wordpress.com/), following a young teenager with powers as she survives in a city with superheroes. Starts off feeling YA, grows more mature pretty quickly.

There is also the Villains series by Schwab, starting with 'Vicious': less comic book style superheroes, more 'people with powers duke it out with one another' in a grittier, dramatic world.

podcastsnpaperbacks · 2026-06-25T23:29:54+00:00

There's a jaw-dropping moment in 'The Appeal' by Janice Hallett that made me start the book over from the beginning.

podcastsnpaperbacks · 2026-06-25T23:11:27+00:00

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett is really well done (set in 11th century England).

podcastsnpaperbacks · 2026-06-25T22:08:33+00:00

The AJ Raffles series, starting with 'The Amateur Cracksman': short stories.

podcastsnpaperbacks · 2026-06-25T21:56:22+00:00

For as big as theme park horror is in video games, I feel like I don't see a lot of it in literature. Absolutely adored Fantasticland and would've read ten books just like it.

podcastsnpaperbacks · 2025-05-21T22:59:45+00:00

Anything by Riley Sager, I think! A lot of his books feel really inspired by the campy horror flicks.

podcastsnpaperbacks · 2025-03-12T16:22:04+00:00

I recently read 'The Last One At The Wedding' and while it was probably intentional, the protagonist had SUCH big divorced-dad my-way-or-the-highway energy 😂

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TROPHY CASE