I am trying to get into reading and I started with Brave New World, I have been reading the book for a year and have about 60 pages remaining. Before anyone mentions I am aware it is a small book that can be finished in a week, I am not used to reading. I normally read short stories, comics, and manga. I finshed the machine stops quickly, but I couldn’t get into Brave New World, it has a lot of boring parts.

After finishing Brave New World should I read the Tempest, the main character made me interested in the story. I only read one other shakespeare book Romeo and Juliet the sparksnote version, it was great.

  • themachinestops@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
    3·
    26 days ago

    I honestly don’t like romance, but I liked Romeo and Juliet. So I guess it depends on the story, but I mainly lean towards sci-fi and fantasy.

    Some books read: Animal Farm, The Machine Stops, Around the world in 80 Days, And The hunger games book 1.

    • Boddhisatva@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      26 days ago

      I honestly don’t like romance, but I liked Romeo and Juliet.

      That actually makes sense. Romeo and Juliet isn’t really a romance. It’s a tragedy. People just think it’s a romance because the main characters think they’re in love. I normally don’t recommend reading Shakespeare’s plays as they are much easier to follow when performed. But if you read and enjoyed Romeo and Juliet, you may enjoy The Tempest too. The Tempest is a comedy, rather than a romance or tragedy, if that matters.

      Since you like sci-fi and fantasy, I would second the recommendation of reading The Hobbit. It is fairly easy reading and a good story. For more modern material in the sci-fi vein, you might enjoy Leviathan Wakes by S. A. Corey. I found it to be straight forward reading with a good story and engaging characters. Like the Hunger Games book you mentioned, it is also the first book in a series. If you enjoy it, there are another 8 books in the Expanse series.

      Another reason I recommend Leviathan Wakes is that it is more modern than many of the books you mentioned. While the books you listed are good (The Machine Stops by E. M. Forster is amazing!) they can be a bit of effort to read because of outdated terminology and older writing styles. It occurred to me that more modern titles might be a better option for you because the writing style could be closer to what you are used to with comics and manga.