That's lovely - you're never too old to be read to, and it's a great bond. I read them to my wife in the same way.

some books become old friends, i reread the aubrey/maturin books every year, and have done for about twenty years now

I love anything narrated by Julia Whelan. For laugh out loud books, the Finlay Donovan series is great.

>So much of the joy in Shakespeare is taken out by high school English Studies though

Agree. I had a few teachers who turned it into little more than a 'translation' exercise. But it is awesome when you have the right teacher with the right Shakespeare text.

Also early/mid 90s in Australia with Lord of the Flies on the curriculum, but I loved it.

Gravity’s Rainbow is a tough read. Took me six weeks and it’s a 2 out of 5 stars book.

the First book ! I like it!

>Fly Away Peter - David Malouf

First reference to Malouf I've seen in years - let alone to Fly Away Peter. May I ask whether you went to school in Australia? Malouf never seemed to find much success elsewhere.

I really, really wanted to get into lotr. I always get 100-200 pages in, then my brain just says “make it stop” and I just can’t read it anymore. It’s an amazing series, don’t get me wrong, but the pacing for me is terrible

The Boys in the Boat, read by the grandpa from Gilmore Girls! I listen once a year, it’s so soothing and an amazing story.

1984 (George Orwell) for fourth-year high-school English and Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad) in sixth-year high-school English Literature. Both are brilliant and have stayed with me ever since.

We had The Hobbit (JRR Tolkien) in third-year high-school English. Enjoyed it, but reluctant to say it had a lasting impact.

Intro to Shakespeare was Julius Caesar in third-year high-school English. What a great way to start on his work!

Was somewhat jokingly told that we couldn't finish a BA in English Literature without reading Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. Fair enough too, but unfortunately less of an impact, possibly because its reputation left me expecting too much .

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We also had The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald) and The Europeans (Henry James) in sixth-year high school-English Literature which did not work for me at all, but which I expect a few other people would have loved.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller was not compulsory, but what I read for a free choice assignment in third-year English. Absolute masterpiece and such a breath of fresh air from the typical set books up to that point. A massive impact on my life.

Surprised so many people wrote Amazon. Amazon has the lowest book prices because they are trying to become the leading bookseller and hope to put other bookstores out of business. Eventually, they could have a monopoly on books if they are successful and prices could rise. This will damage business for indie bookstores

Calm down-You were offering an alternative to Amazon. A lot of people don’t know Abe books is owned by Amazon now. I don’t know how that qualifies as buying from a small independent bookstore when it’s owned by the biggest worldwide seller in the business. Happy New Year to you.

I think an attempt was made not long ago and abandoned in the early stages? Or at least, there hasn't been an update for quite a while.

I utterly adore this book and recommend it to probably too many people...

The amount of thought put into how such a radical change to 'human' physiology would change culture, plus how the environment affects things too, and especially bearing in mind that there are several very different nations mentioned or featured strongly, is phenomenal.

As a narrator Genly works both as the character who knows things and can explain things to us, and who knows very little and is as baffled as we are. I remember there's that section where he talks about being so disorientated by how the people of Winter judge you solely on your personal merits and how gender expectations and attractiveness plays no part whatsoever and how even after two years he still hasn't quite adjusted.

It really does feel like it could have been published yesterday.

I mean, I'm a guy, and I do notice breasts. I will not normally talk about it, but I do that. So for me it's just a detail that adds to the character. Also Stephen King mentions a whole lot of gross details like that, that's the point of his writing. For me personally, it's something along the lines of saying openly what everyone's thinking. Like, I know this subject is gross, but it affects my life, and I like that someone was able to discuss a similar experience.

Please post recommendation requests in /r/suggestmeabook or the weekly thread. There are also some related subreddits you might find interesting in our wiki.

Of all the languages, you chose to speak facts. instant up-vote from me.

They start going there when they're 11. That's Grade 5/6 in the US, and elementary age.

Please post recommendation requests in /r/suggestmeabook or the weekly thread. There are also some related subreddits you/she might find interesting in our wiki.

Same here. I like Hercule as well when it comes to mystery novels.

Have fun :)

Sherlock is favorite, but Hemingway is too Legen...(wait for it)...dary to be left out. So i guess both.

Yeah, I figured they may not be your thing. Sorry. I think I might give Permafrost a try though. Thanks for the recs.

it is a stream of consciousness novel. A narrative technique where the thoughts and emotions of a narrator or character are written out such that a reader can track the fluid mental state of these characters It wont be difficult once you start and keep at it. good luck

I can’t even see past Sherlock. I’ve been a fan for 25+ years.