Word of Radiance showed me that The Stormlight Archive is my second favorite series and is going to be my second favorite series for years to come (nothing beats Harry Potter, at least not yet). What a friggin’ book! I laughed, I cried, I jumped out of my chair in excitement during some of the final scenes. If anyone has qualms about picking up a thousand page book, I hope you’ll set that hesitation aside and give the Stormlight Archive a try. It is firmly in the realm of fantasy, but I truly believe that it has something for everyone.

If you’re interested in giving the series a try and want to know what it is all about, check out my recommendation for The Way of Kings, the first book in the Stormlight Archive series. There are currently three books out, the last one being Oathbringer. I know I’m going to scare a few of you off by telling you this, but I’d like to be honest: this series is going to be ten books long. Each will likely be over a thousand pages (Oathbringer was 1200).

That being said, this is the story Brandon Sanderson has wanted to tell his whole life. He is immensely popular and I could very well see these books becoming a television series at some point. I hope you give this story a chance and become as obsessed as I am!

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August is a standalone book and the basic premise is given to you in the title. Whenever Harry August dies, he is sent back and starts his life over again. Like Groundhogs Day but over a whole life, rather than a single day. This sort of thing has been done before, but Claire North really does it right. It explores all the ideas of what it would be like to live over and over again and the personal conflict and benefits of that, but there is also external conflict that our protagonist has to solve and its really interesting and entertaining.   

The ratings from Amazon and Goodreads aren’t as high as I thought they might be, but they’re still very solid. The book itself is a quick 417 pages. I liked it so much that I read it twice, once on my own, once with my book club. While I hadn’t heard of North before this book, she’s a great writer, and I would definitely pick up another one of her books if it sounded right for me. If you end up reading this one, let me know what you think of it!

Red Rising is the first book in the Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown. It is a punch-you-in-the-face, action-packed, crazy-fast-paced science fiction book. The story takes place several hundred years in the future where society has been sorted into colors and the people within those colors have certain jobs and are even physically altered to perform their work. At the very bottom are the Reds. At the very top, the Golds. Throughout the series we follow a Red named Darrow who is trying to overthrow the caste system and the oppressiveness of the Golds. It is an utterly unique setting that makes for some great storytelling.

I know a few people who couldn’t quite get into it, but if you get past those first few chapters the book really starts to fly by. I mean, this is a series that moves. The plot twists are surprising because you don’t have time to consider where its going because of the intensity of the action. Brown always takes it further than you think it’ll go, too. Something I love in books. 

Brown has a writing style that is concise and to the point. He dispenses with any flowery language and I’d wager that he was influenced by people like Hemmingway and Cormac McCarthy.

Anyway, this is a really fun series that is really accessible. I know a lot of people who aren’t avid readers who liked this series. If you’re up for an action-packed sci-fi series then go ahead and pick up Red Rising, you won’t regret it.

You’ve probably heard of The Martian, either the book or the movie starring Matt Damon. It is about engineer/botanist Mark Watney, who is stranded on Mars after an intense storm forces his crew to evacuate without him, thinking him dead. Watney must use his mind and limited resources to try and survive as best he can.

Despite the desperateness of Watney’s situation, Weir gives him a sarcastic and hilarious personality. Watney is very down-to-earth and it makes for a really entertaining read. Not only does Weir do an amazing job with his main character, but I’ve never read anyone who can explain highly technical subjects in such a clear and understandable way. Weir has an engineering background and all his information on how someone might survive on Mars is ingenious and accurate.

The Martian is 372 pages and is a really quick and entertaining read. If you have any scientific interest, then this is a must read. If you don’t, well, this book is still probably for you. Check out the rating numbers below to see just how many people enjoyed this book (it’s a lot).  

This book definitely surprised me. I saw the reviews and description and decided to try it out. I’m so glad I did. A Man Called Ove is about an old curmudgeon who treats the world as if it were an annoying younger sibling who didn’t know what they were doing. Behind his disgruntlement, though, is a deeply emotional story that will leave you with an intense bout of the feels.

Overall, it’s a very funny, sweet, sad, and inspirational read. The rating statistics show just how many people connected with Ove’s story. It’s possible you may not be in the mood for a read like this, but definitely come back to it at some point. It’s a great read.