Got a book recommendation? Looking to talk about non-Warrior Cats books? You’ve come to the right page!
Welcome to the BlogClan Bookshelf!
Here, you can talk about books that aren’t Warrior Cats! You can ask for and give recommendations on what to read! You can also talk about those books!
[a ginger tabby cat with white socks squeezes into the space above books lined up on a shelf]
Housekeeping Rules
- Include content warnings if necessary! This can be things like graphic violence, death, sexual content, etc. If you wouldn’t recommend it to a young kid without warning them what’s coming, then include content warnings!
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What are some of the books that you’ve read that have had the biggest impact on your life, changed the way you see things, or have generally just stuck with you over time?
For me, the list is: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, Lab Girl by Hope Jahren, Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe, Harvest of Empire by Juan Gonzalez, Overcoming Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors by Charles S Mansueto + other people, Loveless by Alice Oseman, and The Invisible Orientation by Julie Sondra Decker
They’re not my favorite books, nor are they perfect by any means – heck, some of them I didn’t even really enjoy reading (I didn’t actually finish Harvest of Empire, and Overcoming BFRBs makes me want to throw things every time I open it) but ultimately they all played a part in shaping my current world view. This is also the reason I try to read a good nonfiction book once in a while, because although I don’t like them as much as a fluffy fantasy and they take more effort to read, they’re usually the ones that I learn the most from.
Six of Crows because it IS my favorite book and it has some really great themes and it was really impactful for me, for a variety of reasons.
The other is The Words We Keep by Erin Stewart because it’s the most beautiful and real representation of anxiety and depression i’ve ever seen, and most of all made me feel heard. like yes, this is what i deal with too, i’m not alone. One thing i like about it is how it doesn’t have a picture-perfect ending. Things aren’t magically perfect or all better, but it’s more of the promise of a better future. It’s a hopeful note, and i really really love it so much and will never stop recommending it
speaking of Loveless, i tried it out and i didn’t finish it, because i’m in a bit of a reading slump, not because of the book itself really. I know i’ll try it again because as i was reading i kept thinking “wow, i’m NOT going crazy, other people think exactly like me.” Georgia’s experiences aren’t exactly like my own, since i’m not aromantic, but a lot of them are pretty similar. Others were exactly the same to the point of being slightly creepy. definitely something i’ll come back to and finish some day
The Words We Keep is so so sooooo beautiful, and helped me get through a rough time. I am never going to stop being grateful that you recommended it to me Goldenbrook :))
oh my gosh i can’t believe you read it because of me that’s amazing. I’m so so glad you liked it
I think probably in terms of actually impact my life, Bad Science by Ben Goldacre really provided me with a new viewpoint concerning scientific research and reading research papers!
I also think, though I never read Loveless, reading books like This is How You Lose the Time War (Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone) is what made me figure out I’m asexual. I used to think I just didn’t like romance because I was bored by all of it, but Time War showed me that I could absolutely love romance if it was focussed more on people connecting personally rather than physical attraction. Then I had a think about why that was and… yeah 😛
Eragon by Christopher Paolini was the first fantasy book I read and really got me into the genre- a love for dragon books continues to this day! The Lord of the Rings also started my love for grand epic fantasy and found family in books.
More recently, reading Perdido Street Station by China Mieville has really got me into reading ‘weird fiction’ books which will definitely affect my reading habits for the rest of my life!
Other books that haven’t necesarily changed my life but have stuck with me include 11/22/63 by Stephen King, The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin, The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa, The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu and Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee all because they made me cry. A lot.
They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera. I was sort of down all the time for like a week after finishing it, and it took me weeks to stop thinking about it at least once a day. I’ve written down many quotes from there (including the one in my name) and I generally have never been this emotional due to a darn book lol. Yeah that one really had an impact on me :3
I loved that book, plus the prequel too. Gotta love the skittle squad romance novels.
I have read some of that! I love the books featuring alphabet mafia romance 😌 (I love nicknames for the LGBTQ community sm 😭)
They Both Die At the End impacted me a lot too. It’s really beautiful, and I was crying in the middle of math class when I finished it, which was kind of embarrassing, but I wasn’t ashamed, because if anyone else read that book, I’m sure they’d have the same reaction.
books don’t tend to impact my life, except for the Bible 😛 but two books that have helped me learn to write better are Six of Crows and Shatter Me!
Biggest impact…??
Warriors is sooo one of them 😀 it’s the series that sprouted my love of reading and writing and drawing and, well, everything 🙂
Then there’s The Gilded Wolves trilogy by Rokshani Chokshi. It didn’t really “impact” me, per se, but WOW that book crawled into my soul and has stayed there since.
Kotlc didn’t really impact, but I feel like I need to add it on here anyways 😛
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer and the resultant Southern Reach series
Oooh I’ve been meaning to give those a try!
dude it’s so good. like phenomenally good. it’s the kind of book that takes a few reads to fully understand and grasp, but once you do it like just rewires your whole brain.
I’ll bump them up the TBR! I’ve been looking into them since loving China Mieville’s Bas-Lag series and hearing they have similar vibes.
Ooooooh, my mom read Annihilation and told me a lot about it (I wanted to know the story but she said it was too scary for me :PP), and it sounded supa fun!!!
honestly it’s not that scary but the vocab and prose are fairly advanced and some of the topics handled in the novel are pretty heavy- that being said, if you feel up to it, I’d definitely recommend a read😁
The entire Gregor The Overlander series… severely underrated and a must read.
YES OMG NO ONE IRL’S HEARD OF IT BUT IT’S LIKE SO GOOOOOOD <333
Uhm warriors? I mean, Im here, aren’t I?
Some parts of The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros has really stuck with me – mostly the grandma’s letter at the end about love! Also I highly highly highly recommend reading The Things We Leave Unfinished, it’s so good! (It has a few detailed sexually explicit scenes though, as well as gore and stuff like that since part of it is set in World War II)
Puppy Place probably has impacted me a bit too, just because it’s the first book series I remember reading 😛
And Behind Closed Doors! I have read it multiple times and I honestly love it. Warning, it is about DV!
Not many books have really impacted me though 😛
puppy place was my childhood jsghdklsj
Frrr 😭
I have a lot of books that I left feeling changed, including Warriors, but one that I’d recommend to other Blogclanners is When You Trap A Tiger by Tae Keller.
It’s a beautiful book about story and tradition, mixing fantasy and fiction together to create a masterpiece. I won’t reveal much about it in case those who want to read it don’t want spoilers, but it’s about a young Korean girl who just moved to her grandmother’s house, when her grandmother gets sick and she has to save her. But also… tigers?
If you are sensitive to death and vomiting, you might want to steer away from this book, but it is amazing nonetheless. Definitely give it a read!
Oh, hey! I’ve read that!
😀 What did you think of it?
It was good! Mostly I read it because it had the word tiger in the name, so I just assumed it would be a good book.
Beartown by Fredrick Backman and the Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky are two books that have definitely stuck with me. While not sexually explicit/graphic, these books cover some very serious and potentially triggering topics related to violence and abuse. I read both in about grade 10/11, and I think that’s probably the minimum age (15-16ish, if you’re not Canadian) I’d recommend them to.
The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is a play that has stuck with me but because it’s so deeply harrowing to me I never want to read it again and the thought of it makes me so deeply sad I feel physically ill. 10/10, I would recommend. It’s set in 1920s midwest America, so there is some racist language. It also deals with poverty and hints at ableism, so there’s your content warnings, I suppose
Antigone also is a constant fixture in my mind
uhh Kindred by Octavia Butler is also a fantastic book
The Bible 😀 literally changed my life in the best way possible
Also the hunger games, Imagine Heaven, Warriors, and the books me and my friends have written over the years :DDD
Probably heartstopper, because as a gay person who wasn’t accepted by her parents (long and complicated story), it showed me that being gay is okay and not everyone is going to accept you ❤️
Warriors obviously 😎😎😎 it totally change my view of looking at things and it really helped me with writing!
The book Flipped is also amazing and really relatble! There is also a movie version!
Finding Zasha is my favorite non-warrior cat book. It’s really heartwarming.
Some more random suggestions:
Escape from Hat, by Adam Kline (I think)
If you don’t like potty humor, I recommend you steer clear of this book, as it has many mentions of wetting underwear.
I still think it’s a good humor/adventure fantasy though, my favorite character was definitely Millikin 😛
Poor boi just needed some therapy and time to find his true purpose and desires.
All the characters were so interesting, and had a unique personality!
Also Pee-Pants and Goober are the best insults ever lol.
One last thing- I love how Leek fights with not sword, but luck-
and it happens to be at 1000 lexile where I’m from, aka one of the few books that are actually in my lexile 😛
Frizzy, by Claribel A. Ortega
This is actually a graphic novel, and the only reason I’m ‘reading’ it is because it’s a GCBA book this year lol- it’s wayyyyy below my Lexile (430)
I found the story right off the bat very sad- *sniff* Marlene, you’re not ugly. You’re family’s just trash. I also love the moral- to appreciative what we have. Like I said, this book will take you for a emotional rollarcoaster- and the reason Marlene’s mother keeps her hair straight is genuinely so sad 🙁
All in all, it’s a good book 🙂
Spirit Animal series, by various authors
I already mentioned I liked this series, but I would like to mention it again. There’s a reason it’s one of the series suggested if you like warriors :3
(Yes, my favorite is Rollan. yes he is.)
These sound awesoooommmmmeeee 😀 I will definitely read them. Once I find them ofc-
OMG I LOVE FRIZZY
I was literally reading frizzy for like the millionth time yesterday! It is SUCH a good book!
These sound great!
I’m sorry but I don’t think Spirit Animals is like Warriors at all. I don’t like it.
I read like 3-4 books of Spirit animals. My favorite is Connor if that’s his name sry
panthi’s whenever-she-feels-like-it book recs :3
book title: small as an elephant
author: jennifer jacobson
my rating: 8.7/10
my age rating recommendation: it’s middle-grade, pretty sure there’s no swearing, and i don’t think there’s much violence so 8/9+
my thoughts:
i read this a while ago, but just remembered its existence when i saw it in the library. i don’t read middle-grade that much anymore, but this is probably one of my comfort books that i need to go back to. it’s about a boy named jack who was accidentally abandoned by his mentally-ill mother at a campsite/park in maine when he sets out on a journey to return to boston with only a toy elephant for company. i think it’s a very touching and emotionally rich book about the fear of abandonment and i suggest you to give this a read for sure 😀
Oooh I’ll check it out!!!
It sounds so good!!!
Here’s a list of recommendations, but I haven’t figured out how to make comments have line breaks yet so uh this might be kinda hard to read. They all have aroace characters! #1 – Loveless, by Alice Oseman. The author of Heartstopper, Solitaire, Radio Silence, and many others! Honestly I recommend all of them, the Oseman Connected Universe is more well thought out than Marvel these days. The one good book I’ve found (so far) about the aroace experience! #2 – Summer Bird Blue, Akemi Dawn Bowman. The main character is a girl whose sister recently died in a car crash, and has moved in with her aunt by a beach somewhere that I think might be Hawaii but don’t quote me on that. #3 – Summer of Everything, Julian Winters. A skittle squad romance novel! With an aroace internet gremlin there to help out with his awesomeness! If anything bad happens to him then I will make a pit stop on my warpath to Denmark to enact my revenge. #4 – Summer of Salt, I also forgot this author too. An entire family has superpowers, aside from this lesbian teenager. Her bestie is an aroace bean who works in an ice cream shop, which is total life goals for me. #5 – Tarnished are the Stars, Rosiee Thor (not a typo, it actually has 2 ‘e’s). Three main characters, one of them is aroace but I’m not spoiling who and also it’s a scifi dystopia from the future so the poor lil bean doesn’t know that term.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
also for line breaks you press enter- it won’t look like it but when it gets moderated it’ll have all the breaks
do you have any books with romantically inclined aces? I am starved for characters like that. the only example i can think of that even SOMEWHAT fits is Kaz Brekker and while he’s a great character, first off i’m not a murderer so can’t relate, and i don’t think it’s confirmed that he’s ace
Charlie’s older sister Tori in Heartstopper by Alice Osman (and I think Tori may have her own book too? I’m not sure) is asexual but not aromantic.
Unrelated but three of the five books you mentioned have the word “summer” in them lol
These all sound lovely!! I love queer books <3
Radio Silince doesn’t actually have an aroace character, but one of the main characters is Demisexual!
I have a book recommendation / review!
Title: The Things We Leave Unfinished
Age Rating: 13-14+ (it has detailed sexually explicit scenes, so be wary of those)
Quality Rating: 8/10
Plot: Georgia Stanton is the great granddaughter of Scarlett Stanton, a world famous romance author. Throughout her entire life, Scarlett has published many novels, all well known for their happy endings. But there is one book Scarlett has never finished – and that is her first novel, inspired by her own love story, which took place years prior, during World War II. After Scarlett’s death, Georgia’s mother, Ava, wants to sell the rights to Scarlett’s unfinished book to another famous romance author, Noah something (I can’t remember his last name 😭) Since Georgia is in Scarlett’s will and Ava isn’t, Georgia is the one who gets to decide what happens to the book. She lets Noah write it, but she will be closely supervising. She gets the final say in what happens in it, and whether or not it gets published. Some of the unfinished book has already been written by Scarlett, and the rest is to be written by Noah. The Things We Leave Unfinished goes back and forth between Scarlett and Jameson’s love story, as well as Georgia and Noah’s budding romance in modern time. There’s a pretty large plot twist, and the whole book is so cute! The beginning of each chapter has a letter between Scarlett and Jameson, which I thought was really cool!
Thoughts: Honestly, I was skeptical of this book when I first picked it up. It has some kind of love at first sight stuff in it?? I mean, it was kind of just like passionate crush at first sight, but it still irritated me. However, it got so, so much better! I absolutely adored it. The little monologue in Grandma Scarlett’s letter at the end about love was really heartwarming. I’m not usually that hot on romance, but this was so good!! I highly recommend reading it if you’re of a age where explicit scenes won’t bother you!
sounds cool!
this sounds kinda like divine rivals ngl 😛
but anyway, it sounds soooo good! yet another book being added to my ever-growing tbr list :3 this is gonna be the next book i read hehe
edit: waitttt it’s by rebecca yarros?? am i being delusional or did she also write fourth wing lol
Oooh yay, tell me what you think of it! She did! 😛
I recommend reading Judy Blume’s young adult and middle grade books.
I loved reading them because I feel like we can all relate to something in at least one of her books.
They sound amazing!
I have a few of Judy Blume’s books! 😀 I’ve only read Iggie’s House tho (would recommend to middle schoolers and older, though it has depictions of racism) She’s a great author <3
Here’s a random suggestion of a book i read a few days ago 😀
The Cellar by Natasha Preston!
Brief Summary: Summer is a sixteen year old girl who has no big plans for her life other than continuing her relationship with her boyfriend, Lewis. Her perfect world shatters when she’s kidnapped by a man who calls himself Clover and insists she call herself Lily. For months, she’s locked in his cellar with three other girls, who he’s renamed Rose, Poppy, and Violet. Her only hope of survival is praying that Lewis hasn’t given up looking for her…
Genre: Thriller
Age rating: 16+
TWs: offscreen sexual explicit scene (unconsenting), brief sexual explicit scene onscreen (mild tho), gore, death, cursing, murder, kidnapping
This looks so good!!! Thanks for suggesting it, Sha-Sha!
I’m looking for book recommendations!! I’d like it if the inappropriate stuff is Hunger Games level or lower
I can reccommend some of my favourite Middle-Grade/YA stuff! You’ll have probably seen some of it before, but hopefully a few will be new!
– Varjak Paw by S.F. Said. This follows a housecat and his adventure into the city as he tries to unravel the mystery of why his owners have been replaced by a mysterious gentleman with cat servants and the mysterious Vanishings. It features amazing illustrations, cat martial arts and a surprisingly dark story for MG xenofiction!
– Foxcraft by Inabli Iserles follows a young fox called Isla who goes in search of her kidnapped brother. It’s got really fun worldbuilding, fox magic and found family!
– The Wildings by Nilanjana Roy is a bit like Warriors but more mature and set in Dehli (India). It follows a colony of cats whose lives are upended after a kitten with mysterious powers enters the neighbourhood. It’s really fun with brilliant characters and a great story.
– The Last Dragon Chronicles by Chris D’Lacey starts off very small-scale with a story about a man who lodges at a house full of small dragon statues that come to life but quickly gets very, very cosmic and weird with polar bears, ancient prophecies, malevolent faerie-type creatures, alternate dimensions and lots more dragons!
– Secret of the Sirens by Julia Golding follows a girl who discovers that mythical creatures are real and she can communicate with them! It’s a four book series with really great coming of age and found family vibes. The creatures are also really cool.
– Song of the Summer King by Jess E. Owen follows a young gryphon, Shard, who must prove himself to his tryant king. Meanwhile, a confilct with the wolves who share their island is brewing and Shard finds himself the centre of an ancient prophecy. I loved the classical fantasy vibes and the sense of wonder with the magic.
– Un Lun Dun by China Mieville is pretty weird but also really clever in its subversion of a lot of the typical mg/ya tropes. It initially follows two friends: Zanna and Deeba who discover an alternate version of London. Turns out, it’s under threat from an evil force and Zanna is the one chosen to save it. I can’t say more or I’ll ruin what makes this book so brilliant! I’d honestly reccommend this to anyone regardless of age- it’s just so clever and creative and feel-good (if a bit wacky at points).
Ty for the suggestions! I remember reading Varjak Paw when i was younger and getting scared lol 😛
Yeah it does get a bit creepy :p I think the second one isn’t as bad though
Yeah, i read the second one too, it wasn’t as creepy lol 😛
Maybe Five Survive? It’s a standalone book that is honestly one of the greatest books I have ever read! The plot is six friends are in a RV, on the way to this holiday place. The tires get shot out and they’re stranded in the middle of the night with no cell service and a shooter who wants one of them to reveal a secret. Except they all have secrets, and don’t know which he wants. The shooter makes it clear one of them (the one with the secret) will die, and the other five will live. But who will be killed?
Sounds cool! I’ll check it out soon
FIVE SURVIVE IS SOOOO GOOOD
OH MY GOSH FRRRR
Holly Jackson has been blessed by the heavens with her writing talent istg 😭 Who is your favourite character? I like Simon and Maddy!
If your looking for books similar to Warriors, there’s Bravelands, which is also by Erin Hunter!!! It’s about a lion and an elephant and I’m explaining this terribly but it’s a wonderful books series 😀
Since Red has already recommended Foxcraft 😛 I’ll add Wings of Fire by Tui T. Sutherland instead! It’s actually really interesting book series about dragons that I found really easy to get into after Warriors. The first book is called the Dragonet Prophecy, and it’s about a bunch of dragonets (one from each dragon tribe) who were raised to fulfill a prophecy to end a war 😀
Another one is Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger!!! 😀 It’s about a girl named Sophie who can read minds, and I absolutely LOVED this series it’s amazing 😀 it still ongoing, with book 9.5 being released this December!!
I’ll also recommend absolutely anything by Rick Riordan (the middle grade books)!! He writes mainly about Greco-Roman mythology, though he also has some series’ about Norse and Egyptian 😀 the first series is Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Artemis Fowl is another AMAZING book series. It’s by Eoin Colfer, and it’s about a child genius/criminal mastermind named Artemis Fowl, who discovers the existence of Fairies!! I’m still not over this series the ending was absolutely earth-shattering. The sequel series, the Fowl Twins, is about his younger brothers, Myles and Beckett Fowl 😀
Next I’d like to suggest Loki’s Wolves by Kelley Armstrong and Melissa Marr!!! It’s about some kids who are descendants of the Norse gods, and now they all have to join together to stop Rangarok 😀 i read this one really recently and I LOVED it 😀
That’s all I can remember rn, but hope you enjoy!! 😀
Those books sound cool!! 😃
What are some books that you get nostalgic about/read when you were younger? Mine are: Warrior Cats (obvi!) Holly Webb’s books (in 3rd grade they were the ‘trending’ books at school XD), Varjak Paw (scared me a bit lol) and Magic Puppy books (similar to Puppy Place).
Omg I remember reading Holly Webb’s books in 3rd grade tooo like wow those were cooool 😀
Mine has to be the Trials of Apollo, even though I read it literally last year 😛 it’s still probably my favourite book series ever
And there’s also Artemis Fowl, which I read six months ago 😛 but wowww why is the series already over it was so good-
Yess Holly Webb books were like the book gods XD also i just noticed that all these books are animal books lol 😛 i have always been a weird animal book nerd lol 😭
holly webb was top tier in 2nd grade fr 😛
i have sooo many so i’m just gonna list them hehe:
– the magic treehouse
– a-z mysteries
– the boxcar children
– because of winn-dixie
– the puppy place
– ranger in time
– a wrinkle in time
– the last dogs
– the one and only ivan series
– a wolf called wander
– going wild series
– land of stories series
– junie b. jones series
– stone fox
these were all books i read from kindergarten-3rd grade and they were all soooo good. especially the magic treehouse, boxcar children, a-z mysteries, the last dogs, and ranger in time! read them if you haven’t yet >:3 despite mainly reading ya now, middle grade will always contain my comfort books <3
I remember reading a book called A Wolf called Wander! It was good from what i can remember
I remember the magic treehouse lol 😛 But I read the Wrinkle in Time recently! It was good
Ohhh, I read both magic puppy and puppy place. Otherwise, the Penderwicks books, which I got as a birthday gift for my 8th birthday, Ivy & bean, Zoey & sassafras, and lots of others I can’t remember right now. And I read like one book by holly webb lol
lol 😛
Dav Pilkey books are very nostalgic 🙂 I’m probably going to watch the Dog Man movie when it comes out just because
Elephant & Piggie books are also nostalgic
These books are veeerry old for me (I read them in, like, 2nd-3rd grade) but they’re the first that comes to mind so I’ll just put them anyways
I’ve read a few Dav Pilkey books!
Boxcar Children was a big one, I also read a ton of Puppy Place, Magic Puppy and ALL its companion series, Dragon Masters, The Tail of Emily Windsnap, Betsy-Tacy, the Little House books, Dragon Keepers, the How To Train Your Dragon books, the Wizards of Once series, and definitely more that I don’t remember, i was a big reader as a kid 😛
Me too 😛 i used to get in trouble for reading when i was supposed to be listening to the teacher oof
Puppy Place for sure 😭 I reread one of them recently and aaa 😭 Warriors will always hold a special place in my heart, so that one too!
Random list of books I’ve read!
Wings of Fire
Wilderlore
Percy Jackson
Trials of Apollo
4 of the heroes of Olympus
Keeper of the lost cities
Bureau of supernatural investigation
The graveyard book
Pages & Co.
Bravelands
Going wild
Predator prey
The babysitters club
The babysitters club little sister(when I was younger)
And about a jillion more!
Awesome!!! What’s Wilderlore about?
I have a book recommendation, and also would like some middle grade/young adult books! So, the recommendation is The Lost Girl of Astor Street! It’s a middle grade book with some slightly sensitive topics, but good, nonetheless. Anyway, I would like a middle grade book, most preferably fantasy, and without much sensitive language or adult content. It can have a little bit of gore, but I am extremely jumpy. I also really love romance books, so those would be appreciated as well. Other than that, it’s pretty much just good with anything! Those are just guidelines. Thank you!
The best I can think of is The Folk of the Air series! If I remember correctly, it has one very very watered down sexual scene in one of the books that lasts for like half a page, and maybe some kissing and stuff, but other than that, it’s pretty chill! I really enjoyed it 😀
I’ve been reading more classics recently, and one main thing I’ve noticed about classics that I haven’t in modern books is the presence of a narrator.
In modern books, you will always get a character’s perspective or “POV.” However, in old books, there’s always an outsider who is telling the story- and they’re often a major character in themselves.
I think this is partially due to the media available to the authors: modern authors have social media where individuals share their own perspective and thoughts on stories and news, but classical authors got their news from newspapers that share multiple people’s perspectives which can often be vastly different from each other. I think that’s why the presence of a narrator-character has faded from stories.
Do you miss it? I kinda do. But I love POVs too!
you’ll still find some classical books written in the first person. Epistolary novels (where the narrative framing is that of letter-writing) like Dracula are a good example 🙂
I haven’t actually read a book like that! I am pretty new to the classical genre, though 🙂
Although, you mentioned “letter writing” which makes me think my point about media still stands- but isn’t it interesting that “letters” almost seems to have continued on in a way- I’ve read quite a few books that are almost letters to the audience, like Perks of being a Wallflower.
Perks of Being a Wallflower is absolutely an epistolary novel! it also happens to be one of my favourite books
I would recommend Dracula – there’s a reason it’s defined the vampire genre in the English speaking world. Beyond the genuine creepiness, the cast of characters is absolutely delightful (my favourites being Mina, Quincy, and Dr. Seward), and you might get a kick out of the faulty science. Just to warn you, it’s quite antisemitic. Not *explicitly*, but it is a pretty well understood fact in academia that Dracula is meant to be a stand-in for Jewish people.
Tysm for the recommendations! Are there any other classical books you’d recommend?
Edit: dw, I’ve just seen Silv’s exact same question lol
I never heard that about Dracula (the antisemitism) and it certainly didn’t occur to me when I read it (which was many years ago). I wonder if it would have been more apparent to a Victorian reader. Of course there’s lots of overt antisemitism in Victorian novels, e.g., Dickens or Trollope. However that may be, Dracula is certainly the a classic in its genre.
I still enjoyed Dracula. it’s definitely coded and not explicit, but once it was laid out for me by a prof, I’ve never been able to *unsee* it. I’m not trying to, like, “cancel” Bram Stoker in 2024, or get Dracula banned or anything, but I think it’s useful to look at coding and subtext in any media we consume. I might have been overestimating the degree to which academia has agreed on this issue, and I never want to overgeneralize; I wrote that comment relatively quickly, but I think looking back, there’s obviously going to be some scholarly discourse on it.
But the ideas of him being eastern European, with curly hair and a large nose, who tries to infiltrate Britain to steal the blood of women and children to use in rituals is all very reminiscent of the old blood libel trope. especially since the greatest protection from Dracula is a cross!
of course, there are other, more prominent themes in Dracula that Stoker definitely did intend to convey, regarding repressed desires, especially from Harker. Conversely, there is significantly more explicit racism toward, say, the Roma that live outside his castle. All that said, I think it’s a really fascinating framework of analysis, and might provide some good insight into contemporary English perceptions of Jews and Judaism
Personally, I like both storytelling ways!
Also, it’s been a long time, Ambi! I hope that life is treating you well. 😀
I personally prefer POVs, but narrators are cool too!
This is really cool! I want to read more classics now 😛
Does anyone have any classical books that they would recommend?
The only one I remember reading is Black Beauty, which I enjoyed!
Also, what makes a book qualify as a ‘classic’?
Honestly, I define classic as something that, while maybe around for a long time, ages well and lives up to the times <3
Some books that follow that definition (in my opinion) and that I recommend include Watership Down, the Hobbit, and To Kill A Mockingbird! They all take a while to read but are all very well written, even in the modern day 🙂
DISCLAIMER: All books contain violence and death of some sort and To Kill A Mockingbird especially holds sensitive topics, like racism. Be cautioned that you might not want to read these novels unless you are at least the age of an older apprentice.
*cracks knuckles* i have shelves of classics 🫠
black beauty, anne of green gables, the secret garden, a little princess, the little house series (written by laura ingalls wilder, the most famous installment is little house on the prairie), and others I can’t recall at the moment
a classic should be a few generations old, illustrate common and articulate themes, and continue to attract readers even as it gets older. typically it should be about 100 years old before being classified as ‘classic’, although some incredibly popular books are considered classics before then.
hope this helped!
on an unrelated note – how are all your display names so aesthetic 😭
gonna second Anne of Green Gables for three reasons:
1. it’s good. it’s a beautiful story, and if you enjoy it, there’s a whole series
2. as a Canadian, it’s one of our few cultural exports
3. it’s relatively easy to read despite being written over 100 years ago, since it’s a children’s book.
otherwise, have a list:
Horror:
– Dracula
– the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
– the Tell-tale Heart
– the Picture of Dorian Gray
Coming of Age:
– Little Women
– To the Lighthouse (sort of. that’s the best genre approximation I can guess)
Comedy/Satire:
– the Importance of Being Ernest
– anything by Jane Austen, but Pride and Prejudice and Emma are two of her most beloved works. I also love Mansfield Park, but that’s a little controversial within the Austen sphere ahah
– the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Tragedy:
– the Bacchae
– Agamemnon
– Trojan Women
– Medea
– Antigone
– Richard II/King Lear/Othello/Hamlet/Julius Caesar/the Scottish Play
– the Crucible (you can debate if this belongs in satire or not, but it’s certainly not comedic)
– Ariel if you like depressing poetry (it’s Sylvia Plath)
– Hedda Gabler (spelling?)
Dystopia/Political Commentary:
– 1984
– the Handmaid’s Tale* (I have…opinions on Margaret Atwood, but I would recommend reading this at least once. DO NOT READ THE SEQUEL)
Misc:
– Waiting for Godot (it’s existentialist)
– the Epic of Gilgamesh
– a Doll’s House
Say more about your opinions about Margaret Atwood (another Canadian cultural export). I’m generally a big fan of hers, but I won’t be offended if you’re not.
There is a lot to like about the Handmaid’s Tale; I think a dystopian novel that centres on misogyny as the crux of the society’s slip into authoritarianism is really interesting and a great pushback against earlier dystopias that really never dealt with gender at all. I also think the fact she only included parallels to real historical or contemporary events in her construction of Gilead is really important.
My issues come from – and maybe this is more of a symptom of her writing in the midst/end of second wave feminism – both the strange treatment of race (“The Underground Femaleroad” always rubbed me the wrong way), and the lack of a thorough examination of the girls in the club that Offred’s college friend was sent to. I can’t really go into depth on it here, but it seemed like Atwood was implying that those women were better off than the Handmaids, despite essentially being in the exact same position, though with the former not being able to bear children. Maybe some of my goodwill toward Handmaid’s Tale was ruined when I read the Testaments, which is. comically bad.
As much as the Handmaid’s Tale is a significantly more important book than the Edible Woman (the only other Atwood I’ve read thus far), I actually much preferred the Edible Woman. I think Atwood is quite funny when she wants to be
I have read and enjoyed a lot of Atwood’s work. I haven’t read The Edible Woman, and I didn’t know about Testament until you mentioned it. I probably won’t add that to my reading list, though you make me curious about how a writer as good as Atwood could produce something as bad as you say.
Among the books I have enjoyed are the MaddAddam trilogy—a different dystopian vision, the biotech version of the apocalypse—Cat’s Eye, The Robber Bride, and Alias Grace.
I’ve heard good things about Alias Grace and Cat’s Eye
the Scottish play :p
I adored Betsy-Tacy as a kid and still reread it sometimes, it’s a semi-autobiographical series that takes place in the late 19th to early 20th century and follows the main character Betsy and her best friends Tacy and Tib from age five to marriage, it’s a really sweet series that’s relatable to any age, and I relate so much to the high school books despite being a teenager over a hundred years later 😛
Of Mice and Men is a brilliant book, I imagine it’s a great one for people new to the genre. It’s a shorter novella with characters you’ll get really attached too!
I am a huge fan of the novels of Anthony Trollope. He was a contemporary of Dickens and wrote an enormous body of work. He is especially known for his two big series novels, the Barsetshires and the Pallisers, each comprising six large volumes. The Barsetshires are set among the clergy in the fictional cathedral town of Barchester. The Pallisers concern liberal members of parliament and their families. These may sound to you like incredibly boring subjects, but they’re really about human relationships; they’re vast, sprawling multi-generational soap operas. There’s no sex or violence that would disturb a younger reader, but they might be a bit of a slog because of their old-fashioned language and their sheer size. They might be best for high school–age readers who have already red some Dickens, Elliot, etc.
A good single-volume novel by Trollope is The Way We Live Now, which concerns the rise and fall of a corrupt financier.
-I know two people have already suggested it, but Anne of Green Gables is such a lovely coming of age-type story, it’s so fascinating to read Anne’s journey throughout the book and the overall series. Plus, the writing is beautiful and not too difficult to read, and I read the whole series when I was ten (except for book 1, longggg story) and though there were things in the later books that I didn’t understand, it was still very enjoyable to read.
-Another series by the same author as Anne of Green Gables is Emily of New Moon, it’s about a girl who goes to live with her mother’s relatives, and though I only read book 1, I still found it just as immersive and enjoyable. You might also enjoy The Story Girl, about a group of cousins and their adventures one summer in PEI. (If you can’t tell, I love L. M. Montgomery 😛 I may be a wee bit biased, since I’m Canadian, but her books are genuinely good)
-The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are some of my favourite novels, I don’t think I need to introduce them but they are fantasy quest stories, they help kindle my love for epic fantasy and nice good vs evil stories. The writing is kind of dense and the beginning is a bit of a drag, but it gets good.
-Others I liked are Little Women, Emma by Jane Austen (I haven’t read much, but I’m really enjoying it so far), and Through the Looking Glass (kind of a sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, I liked it more).
(Also, unrelated, but does anyone think I should read Black Beauty again? We read it in fourth grade and let’s just say out dislike made the school remove it from the curriculum, but should I pick it up again now that I’m a bit older?)
I loved the Story Girl books too, I read basically everything L.M. Montgomery wrote, have you read Pat of Silver Bush?