Hey Pandas, What’s The Best Book You’ve Read That Most Have Never Heard Of? (Closed)
I love finding new books to read or listen to that I can't put down. Share the best book or series that you have read, anxiously awaiting for the masses to discover it, and the movie to come out, only to find you are one of the only people to have read it? Or a book that was amazing but remains unread by many because of lackluster reviews.
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"Quick Change" by Jay Cronley. The movie version with Bill Murray and Geena Davis is great but the book is even better.
Idk if people have heard of this one but: Book Thief.
It talks about a german family, hiding a Jew during world war 2, but it talks about this girls life in a way that is not super depressing every single chapter. It also cover a side less spoken about: What was it like to be a german, just trying to live, back then?
Oh my god I LOVED The Book Thief!!! You can see the water damage from my tears on the pages of my copy
The Pure Trilogy by Julianna Baggott. Book #1-Pure #2-Fuse #3-Burn
This is a post apocalyptic dystopian fiction trilogy. It is written in rotating POV'S of the main characters.
Society has been decimated by The Detonations. The privileged few were notified and bought tickets to live in luxury in The Dome while The Wretches were fused to anything around them during the blast. They live in an ash filled wasteland if what used to be a city.
Pressia is a 16 year old teen living with her grand father in a blown out barber shop. She is in hiding because once children turn 16, they are recruited into OSR (once Operation Search and Rescue, now a sadistically run Operation Sacred Revolution.)
OSR is run by El Capitan (my favorite character by the 3rd book- hated in the first) who has his little brother Helmud fused to his back. Helmud is a shell of himself and only echoes the tail end of what El Capitan says. They are looking for Pressia, under strict orders to find her and immediately promote her to an officer (for reasons unknown to El Capitan)
Partridge is the son of Willux, who rules over the dome. He is a teenager undergoing "codings" which enhances hos DNA to make him stronger, faster, smarter. He lives in the Dome and goes to The Academy for school. He meets Lyda and uses her to escape the Dome. Lyda is put into rehabilitation (which is run by her mother) where they shave her head and try to "get the truth" about Partridge's escape out of her.
Bradwell has been listed as dead. He lives in an old butcher shop and teaches "shadow history" every week. He is fused with a flock of birds that flew into his back when the Detonations went off.
Pressia is hiding from an OSR Death Spree (where they round up the weak and hunt them like animals) and hides where Bradwell is teaching a lesson about the truth of the Detonations and they eventually fall in love.
The best characters/settings are the ones running beneath the main characters. You have the "dome worshippers" who think the Dome is a holy entity and is a version of heaven they will go to if they worship enough.
There are "The Meltlands" which used to be suburbs and now are blobs of twisted plastic playgrounds where The Mothers live. The Mothers were all abandoned by their husbands and formed their own warrior tribe. Most are fused to their own children. "The Basement Boys" also live there. They survived the detonations because they were gaming in their basements and now are fused to their gaming systems.
There is the Dome itself where they are taught a complete different history of what happened and believe they are waiting for the earth to renew itself and one day they will emerge from the dome and the Wretches will be their slaves.
My description is abysmal but these books are amazing and I bought the second and third the day they came out. If you like post apocalyptic fiction or dystopian trilogies like the Hunger Games (books) then you will love these books. They were supposed to make a movie in 20l3 but I guess the popularity never peaked so it didn't happen.
"Perdido Street Station" by China Meville.... The greatest example of Steampunk/ Dark fantasy/ New Weird...
World building at it's finest....
A book where the main character is the city itself....
But don't expect a map....
Also, the 2 sequels " The Scar" and "Iron Council"...... Awesome stuff!!
#1 The Client by John Grisham
It's a pretty famous book, but surprisingly, none of the other kids I know have heard of it. I read it when I was 11 and my little mind was blown. It's *that* good.
The Client is a suspense/crime/legal thriller novel that explores themes of justice, loyalty, and the complexities of the legal system.
The story begins when 11 year old Mark Sway and his little brother Ricky go into the woods for a smoke. They encounter a man, Jerome Clifford, who is attempting suicide in his car. Mark tries to stop him, but Clifford drags him into the car.
Clifford reveals that he is the lawyer for a ruthless mafia killer, Barry "The Blade" Muldanno, who has murdered a U.S senator. The cops know for sure that Muldanno is guilty, but they need the body, or there is no case. Clifford reveals to Mark where the body is hidden.
Mark manages to escape and Clifford shoots himself, sending Ricky into a trauma induced coma.
The FBI want Mark to reveal the critical information that Jerome Clifford told him about the location of the body, but the Mafia will do anything it takes to silence the boy.
It's an amazing book that I finished in one sitting (as are all John Grisham books) with heaps of suspense, drama and action.
This was made into a film in 1994, starring Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones. It's really good.
Ooo probably The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa. One of the best books I’ve read and NO ONE has heard of it.
“Bookish high school student Rintaro Natsuki is about to close the secondhand bookstore he inherited from his beloved bookworm grandfather. Then, a talking cat named Tiger appears with an unusual request. The feline asks for—or rather, demands—the teenager’s help in saving books with him. The world is full of lonely books left unread and unloved, and Tiger and Rintaro must liberate them from their neglectful owners.
Their mission sends this odd couple on an amazing journey, where they enter different mazes to set books free. Through their travels, Tiger and Rintaro meet a man who leaves his books to perish on a bookshelf, an unwitting book torturer who cuts the pages of books into snippets to help people speed read, and a publishing drone who only wants to create bestsellers. Their adventures culminate in one final, unforgettable challenge—the last maze that awaits leads Rintaro down a realm only the bravest dare enter . . .”
I think it might potentially be in the school curriculum, at least in my country, so I’m surprised I’ve never met someone who remembers The Wreckers by Ian Lawrence
'Room on the roof' by Ruslin Bond. Prolly The story i could relate the most to. It is a teen book so maybe many people wont like it but I think it is evergreen.
I dont wanna spoil it. So, please read it and tell me what do you think
The Bonny lad by Jonathan Tulloch, you have to read it with a Newcastle accent but it’s the only book that has ever made me laugh out loud!
One of my favorite books is The Clockwork Dynasty by Daniel H. Wilson. It has enough action to keep the plot moving, but not so much that it gets overwhelming. It jumps between the past and present throughout, but in a way that makes sense. All of the characters feel like real people and go through a lot of character development as the book progresses.
Darth Bane trilogy. Just absolutely fantastic books in the Star Wars universe.
It is too hard to choose one particular book but my favourite series of books is the Emperor's Edge book series by indie author Lindsay Buroker.
Blue Moon Rising by Simon R Green. It's a fantasy novel about an unwanted second prince who is sent to slay a dragon. He rescues the dragon from a princess and they battle demons. I have read it dozens of times.
The Man Who Fell To Earth by Walter Tevis.(the writer of The Queen's Gambit.)
It's a story about a man,T. J. Newton, who came to earth in order to save his people on his planet called Anthea. Though TJ is an alien, he experiences very human issues such as lonliness and alcoholism.
It's not completely unknown, but I think it doesn't get the atttention it deserves.
I wouldn't say this is the best book I've read, but I do think it is underrated as not many people seem to know it? it is the dark visions trilogy by L.J Smith (fantasy)
and the Front Desk series by Kelly Yang is lovely :D I've read the first book (it is a bit below my reading level but was a fun read). I can't find the eBooks for the other books in the series though. :(
Girl in the box by Robert J Crane there is a good 56 of them. And more still to come out
