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What books do you consider must reads? (beehaw.org)

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by Alice@beehaw.org to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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So basically I was unschooled, and the amount of books I've read in my life is embarrassingly low. It was never emforced like in a school, and with my family's religious hangups, I never tried getting into new things because I never knew what would be deemed "offensive".

But I'm always interested when I hear people talk about both storycraft and also literary criticism, so I want to take an earnest stab at getting into books.

No real criteria, I don't know what I like so I can't tell you what I'm looking for, other than it needs to be in English or have an English translation. Just wanna know what y'all think would make good or important reading.

ETA holy shit thanks for all the suggestions! Definitely gonna make a list

ETA if I reply extremely late it's because it took me this long to get a library card in my new locale.

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[–] BlueSquid0741@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (6 children)

The best science fiction has to offer:

Metro 2033

Sphere

Jurassic Park

Roadside Picnic

Metamorphosis

Add from Stephen King:

Night Shift

4 Minutes to Midnight

(Both are novellas/story collections)

And also:

The Call of Cthulhu and other weird tales

[–] richieadler@lemmy.myserv.one 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Your "best of sf" doesn't include many recognized classics. That's weird. No LeGuin, no Bester?

[–] BlueSquid0741@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Only classics? Geez. OP, forget my recommendations.

Correct answer:

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/g39358054/best-sci-fi-books/

https://thegreatestbooks.org/lists/359

[–] Alice@beehaw.org 1 points 1 month ago

I'm a week late but I never specified classics! I kept my request vague for a reason, I'm looking for variety. :) So I appreciate the recs.

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