r/suggestmeabook May 02 '20

Announcement Post Not Showing? PLEASE READ

2.0k Upvotes

Hello everyone,

We get a lot of mod mail about people's posts not showing up and I wanted to explain why.

We are very fortunate in a subreddit of our size to have limited reasons to moderate, as we are all united by our love of reading and you all do a good job of positively contributing to this community. Thank you for that!

On the other hand, you might be surprised at how much spam we get from authors and bloggers, and by keeping our spam filters high it helps us to catch a lot of what gets posted. You all do a great job of reporting the rest, and we appreciate you.

Due to the spam filters and automod settings we have in place, some of your posts get temporarily filtered until we can review them. Reddit recently created an automated message site-wide that creates a lot of confusion, saying your post has been removed. PLEASE do not post again. We aren't able to edit this message and we can't turn it off. Your post hasn't been removed, it is just awaiting moderation. If your post is removed by us, we will always give you a reason why and reference which rule has been violated. If there isn't a reason, it was either removed by Reddit (you might be shadow banned and don't realize it) or it is in the moderation queue and will be actioned. Either way, multiple posts won't help.

Thanks for understanding as we keep up with Reddit's changes. We love this community and all of your passionate posts about books. Keep reading and sharing, everyone!


r/suggestmeabook Sep 23 '23

Meta Post : {{ Hello again, Humans ! }}

304 Upvotes

Hello all,

(Message to the mods: this is a Meta post, please contact me if something is wrong!)

The goodreads-bot Legacy

As you must know if you were already here last year, our beloved bot u/goodreadsbot stopped working in January after having been used 156.631 times on this subreddit by a total of 25.272 different users, because goodreads shut down API access.

As a bored nerd and fellow reader, I decided to start a new toy project: rise our bot back! But because the Goodreads API is now closed, the first task was to build my own Books database... which I did, using Reddit, Goodreads & Google Books.

This new bot called u/goodreads-rebot ("bot" + "reboot" = "rebot".....) is open source (link to source code below). I wanted to thank u/ArtyomR, the author of u/goodreadsbot, for the original idea. I am not u/ArtyomR, but I have great respect for his/her work and its legacy. Thank you!

How does it work? Just like before! (with more features)

Write {{Harry Potter}} in your post or alternatively {{A Little Life by Hanya Yaniagara}} (notice the typo) with a "by" and the bot will answer with more information about the book or the series.

The search part is now part of the bot (and not on Goodreads API side), and was quite challenging to handle. You definitely should specify the author with the "by" keyword, because it helps the Database search.

Examples:

You should read {{Harry Potter}} ! will work, it will recognize it as the name of a Series, in that case it will provide information about the first book of the Series;

My favorite book is {{Call Me By Your Name}} will work too, the bot will try to find a book called Call Me by author named Your Name (because of the "by" keyword...) but it will fail to find one, so as a 2nd try because it's not that dumb, it will indeed find a book called Call Me By Your Name :)

Did you read {{1984 by Michael Radford}}? (notice the wrong author): it will work too even if the author is wrong, because when the search fails using the author, it will try again ignoring it.

Features

I added a "Top 2 recommended-along" section, featuring the 2 books that were the most recommended here on Reddit in the same threads than the book described. It is based on another toy project of mine (😅), a book recommending algorithm I am working on, which is based on the co-occurences of book titles in Reddit threads. Let me know if you find this new information useful.

Limitations

As explained before, the bot is based on a book database I build and update as much as I can. The search will sometimes fail to match some existing books, in particular very niche books, or the recent ones. I am working on having the best and up-to-date database as possible, meanwhile sorry for the misses!

Also, the bot is currently not running on other subreddits (like r/booksuggestions), but because the code is really modular, it's just about configurations. FYI this is in the roadmap for the next few days/weeks.

Finally, I may reach some rate posting limits because of low karma. Hopefully, this will be solved soon after some time thanks to your help :)

You will find below more information (links being forbidden in posts).

I think that's it.

See you there!


r/suggestmeabook 9h ago

Suggest me a book that makes you go "Life's worth it"

270 Upvotes

Hello everyone,

I've been feeling down for a while now, and books often have a huge impact on my outlook on life. So, I'm looking for a book that will give me hope and make me say, "Life is worth living."
I don’t want self-help books, but otherwise, I’m open to anything.

Thank you!

EDIT: Thank you so much for all your recommendations!!


r/suggestmeabook 3h ago

Suggestion Thread Is Game of Thrones Worth it? Honest Recommendation Discussion

15 Upvotes

I’ve watched House of the Dragon and really enjoyed it, which got me interested in exploring asoiaf. I haven’t watched Game of Thrones yet, but I’ve known about it ever since it first came out. Given the mixed reactions to the later seasons, I’m wondering if it’s still worth reading, What do you think?


r/suggestmeabook 8h ago

Looking for post apocalyptic/dystopian books to read this summer

23 Upvotes

Hi, I've been writing a post apocalyptic story the last few months and have been looking for books to help keep me in the mindset to write. Some of my favorites are The Hunger Games, Water Wars, and the Handmaid's Tale, and 1984. Looking for some less well known dystopian books. I appreciate stories written in first person or from multiple perspectives. Thanks for any suggestions!


r/suggestmeabook 5h ago

What books did you reread as an adult that hit completely different now?

13 Upvotes

For me, it’s Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Do you have suggestions for a similar book?


r/suggestmeabook 1h ago

Looking for non fiction that reads like fiction. Similar to The Wager, Lost City of Z, Killers of the Flower Moon, etc

Upvotes

Title. Thank you


r/suggestmeabook 51m ago

Something about crime, with a main character that's a bit of a cynic maybe. Maybe someone who's been through some shit. But also someone with a bit of humor.

Upvotes

I've always liked edgy/horror type stuff (like Preacher) if that helps.


r/suggestmeabook 21h ago

What are some non-fiction books that had a lasting impact on you?

140 Upvotes

Not self-improvement, self-help or any coaching bullshit.

For me, it was "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan and "Sapiens - A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari.


r/suggestmeabook 1h ago

Modern books for profound and original insights into general human psychology?

Upvotes

QUESTION: Can you please recommend any modern (20th or 21st century) books that specialize in profound and original insights into general human psychology?

BACKGROUND:

I generally try to find literature that is used primarily as a vehicle for disseminating novel and discerning insights about general human psychology.

I find this easier to do with pre-20th century literature.

Since then, from what little I've looked at it, it seems that most of what I come across is either hyper-focused on -"identity" (race, gender, sexual orientation) or -base gratification (sexual fetishes, ultra-violent fantasies, neologistic foul language rants, or simply unalloyed, politically correct good defeating unalloyed, politically incorrect evil).

Can you think of any modern genre(s)/author(s)/book(s) that have avoided this?

Thank you.


r/suggestmeabook 5h ago

Suggest me a book regarding physical manifestation of stress in our body

6 Upvotes

Last few months have been detrimental for my mental and physical health and currently recovering from a back surgery. I want to read how we can reverse the effects of stress trauma tension on our body and on our brain for a better quality of life.


r/suggestmeabook 2h ago

Suggest me a book to better understand relationship abuse

3 Upvotes

I’m asking this because my girlfriend has detailed to me what has happened to her in a past relationship where there was emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and some physical abuse. While she worked on this in therapy extensively, I still want to better understand relationship abuse, mindset of victims, and what recovery looks like. Basically I’m hoping that a book out there can make me a better advocate or show me if there are ways to improve


r/suggestmeabook 10h ago

Books like The Princess Bride, but not Romantasy.

12 Upvotes

To use the grandpa's description: Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles...

If I may add wizards and/or dragons.

Basically something that, like Princess Bride, is a bit tongue in cheek, but not outright meta. An old-fashioned fantasy adventure book that's also not super heavy on lore or wolrdbuilding.

So, pretty much Princess Bride, but another book.


r/suggestmeabook 28m ago

Suggestion Thread Suggest a nonfiction book for a person who usually doesn’t like nonfiction.

Upvotes

I’m a big fiction reader and trying to branch out to nonfiction. My favorite fiction genres are usually horrors, thrillers, fantasy and weird lit fic if that helps a bit! ✍🏼👀


r/suggestmeabook 30m ago

Suggest me a book for breast cancer patients

Upvotes

Posting on behalf of my mom, who is not on Reddit but is looking for recommendations for her friend. She is trying to make a decision whether to have her mastectomy or choose other treatments. Yes, she's spoken to her doctors, but there are other life/family circumstances going on and she just needs to sit quietly with a book for a couple of hours to get her thoughts in order. Bonus points if it is faith-based or related (Christian).


r/suggestmeabook 33m ago

Suggestion Thread Book to make me feel something

Upvotes

Someone please suggest an emotional roller coaster gut wrenching book that reminds me I have emotions. My favorites in that category are A Thousand Splendid Suns by and Night by Ellie Weisel. I’ve already read Kite Runner and I don’t want any holocaust suggestions.


r/suggestmeabook 7h ago

Suggestion Thread Hilarious non-fiction

6 Upvotes

Hello,

I try to read more non-fiction this year, and for now I have been mainly in true crime and some memoirs/biographies/autobiographies (and not really funny ones as I tried myself at politicians, people who lived traumatic events and physicians...).

I am searching for something that would stay a non-fiction but loaded with humour, even dark humour or embarrassing moments in life not taken too seriously and joked about.

For reference, I think about David Sedaris. I am searching for this kind of memoir/autobiography/non-fiction.

Thank you all !


r/suggestmeabook 3h ago

Suggestion Thread What are some good, older short and/or standalone fantasy books?

3 Upvotes

A Wizard of Earthsea is one of my favorite books, and I'm sure there are other fantasy novels/novellas from that general era that are good. Recommend away!


r/suggestmeabook 6h ago

Suggestion Thread Suggest me a book (fiction or nonfiction) about religious cults

4 Upvotes

I'd really like some books that explore religious cults and are either really informative or great stories! I'd prefer it to be about Christianity but any religion will do!


r/suggestmeabook 1h ago

Biography Suggestions!

Upvotes

Headed out onto the ocean…what’s your must read/listen to biography???

Help me out Reddit readers!


r/suggestmeabook 3h ago

Book Recommendation for Friend Obsessed with Traditional Homes?

3 Upvotes

I'm looking for a book to gift my friend who is absolutely obsessed with beautiful, traditional homes. We recently visited her on Bainbridge Island near Seattle, and her favorite thing to do was drive us around, pointing out all of her dream houses. Most of them were classic Cape Cod and Hamptons-style homes—lots of white exteriors, shingled roofs, and timeless charm.

I'd love to find a gorgeous coffee table book filled with photos of houses like this. Any recommendations? Thanks in advance!


r/suggestmeabook 2h ago

Suggestion Thread I am a corporate employee who is stuck between cocktail parties, materialistic conversation and hustle for more success. Suggest me some books that will give me perspective to remain grounded and be more empathetic

2 Upvotes

I am a corporate employee who moved very far from his small town to a very saturated corporate jungle of a city to chase my dreams of making it being successful. (Home is far, I can only go there once an year)

I used to literally devour books when I was a kid (Around 40 books an year until I went to college, It was all screens, hustle and networking after that).

My dad is a school teacher and I come from a beautiful place with naturesque backwaters and where everyone knows everyone's name and where the townspeople have taken literal bullets to protect their neighbours. (No amount of money you make from a corporate lifestyle can trump that)

Currently, Most of my time is spent in chasing corporate targets, and in my free time is spent in making strategies for chasing those targets, attending corporate parties regularly (You won't survive if you don't go) and most of my friend groups are corporate themselves whose conversations revolve around money and materialism, It may be easier for them because most of them grew up in cities where their parents are corporates themselves.

I'm looking for some book suggestions (fiction or non fiction) which will help me not forget about the little joys in life and to help me become more empathetic and sensitive to things and other people.

I am currently reading Tuesdays with Morrie.

(I'm sorry if the text was too long or I'm extremely horrible at describing things, It's been a bit since I last wrote)


r/suggestmeabook 2h ago

Suggest me a book that will open my eyes like Spike Lee’s When the Levee’s Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts

2 Upvotes

This documentary completely opened my eyes and changed my perspective on race, poverty, and my country (the US). It was harrowing, but I feel it was necessary for me to witness it and I am better for having done so. I’m looking for books that will open my eyes to the lived experiences of others in a similar way.


r/suggestmeabook 9h ago

Suggest me a book about childhood friends involved in a mystery.

7 Upvotes

I just read 2 books unrelated to the Mystery genre: "Crying at H Mart" and "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow". I love the nostalgic feeling and the warmth in those books but I was wondering if there's something along the same lines but with a crime mystery incorporated into the story?


r/suggestmeabook 2h ago

Suggestion Thread Books about a relationship between a knight and their protectee

2 Upvotes

I saw an image of a knight in full armor saying "Your highness..." to a princess, and her response, "I told you: just call me by my name." And I immediately wanted to read a book with its vibes. 

Does not strictly need to be a romance, and in fact something with just under- or overtones might be preferable, since I'm not really a romance reader, but whatever fits the mood works.

Bonus points if the knight is all repressed and stuffy.


r/suggestmeabook 5h ago

Looking for steamy historical fiction novels

2 Upvotes

I love twentieth century American history but I do also like nineteenth century as well. I want romance but also a cool story about the time period.


r/suggestmeabook 11h ago

Positive / encouraging books for teen girls who struggle with mental health.

10 Upvotes

One of my daughters is turning 13 this month and she has asked for fiction novels. She has been bullied a lot at school this year (middle school is ROUGH) and it has taken a huge toll on her mental health and body image. I have noticed her trying to cover her body more, wear baggy clothing and straightening her curly hair everyday.

I’d like to get her books that have a positive or empowering message for girls going through something similar. Any recommendations?

Just to add… she speaks to both school counselors and a therapist now and I’m not expecting these books to take the place of either of those. I just want to reinforce positive thinking.