I agree! I'm a voracious reader but I am very put off by books that I find to be, to borrow the phrase, "garbage." I spend a lot of time curating my reading list, as a result, and I'm always on the lookout for solid recommendations.
Hey there. I'm not sure where I'd start, to be honest. My wife and I recently had our 3rd child. As a result, I've been opting for easier reading material over the last ~4 months. I don't really maintain reading lists, or lists of reading recommendations. But, I do endorse the books that I read and enjoy.
Here are the books I've read in the last 4 months, not in order:
* Frank Herbert - Dune
* J.R.R. Tolkein - The LotR trilogy + The Silmarillion
* Stephen King - 'Salem's Lot
* Stephen King (short story) - Jerusalem's Lot
* Stephen King (short story) - The Night Flier
* Stephen King (short story) - The Children of the Corn
* Stephen King - The Stand (uncut version)
* Stanisław Lem - The Cyberiad
* John Whyndham - The Day of The Triffids
* Arkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky - Roadside Picnic
* Vernor Vinge - A Fire Upon the Deep
Okay, so... Dune was a re-read ahead of the film release. LotR was a re-read that was provoked by some conversations I had with a group of friends (who form a loose book and movie club) after we discussed the Dune film and books / universe.
Lots of comparisons were being drawn to LotR (both the books and the film adaptations) and I wanted to confirm that my memory of Tolkein's prowess and effectiveness as a writer were accurate (they were).
I had never read Stephen King before this year and I found that I quite liked him. I started with 'Salem's Lot and Jerusalem's Lot because of the TV series Chapelwaite (an adaptation of Jerusalem's Lot -- I am a fan of horror film and television) which I want to watch.
I really liked King, so I pushed a little deeper. I'll come back to him later this year.
The books that remain are Sci-Fi books that I had either had on my own backlog (Roadside Picnic and A Fire Upon the Deep) or were recommendations that I saw in HN comments (The Cyberiad and The Day of the Triffids).
edit/ There were probably between 4 and 6 books that I started, read a few chapters of, and put down in this time frame, too, FWIW.
