I need your help for two of my goals. I need 20 books and movies recommended that I’ll read/watch. Will you help me out?
Movies
There’s a catch though. You can recommend me your favourite movie, but if it’s Saving Private Ryan or Victoria (the new Netflix Horror), I’m not going to watch it. I don’t watch horror movies or movies centered around wars. Especially the most recent ones. They just don’t appeal to me.
A few exceptions that I did watch are Pearl Harbor and La Vita E Bella. I don’t think these movies are war centered, but tell a story with the war as a background. I loved Memoirs of a Geisha and it’s still one of my favourites. The war is ever present, but it’s still not what the story is about.
I have watched a fair share of horror movies in the past. Recently, just seeing a realistic zombie is enough to give me nightmares.
(It happened after I saw the zombie mask in a Loot Crate box and I dreamed about a zombie apocalypse that evening. Not fun.)
So please, no horror movies or movies with zombies. I will not watch them.
Besides these two, I watch nearly everything that isn’t too art house. I probably won’t finish a French experimental movie about two dancers who only talk using dance. I did watch Coco Before Chanel (2008) and liked it more than I thought I would.
Movie genres I enjoy: romantic comedies, drama, fantasy, science fiction, animation (Eastern and Western), historical.
Movies I enjoyed: The Lord of the Rings franchise, Harry Potter franchise, anything Disney, Shawshank Redemption (1994), Stardust (2007)by, Pride and Prejudice (2005), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Angels & Demons (2009)
Books
This is where it gets interesting. I’m a bookworm and I’ve read so many books already, but there are even more that I haven’t read. I’m looking for non-mainstream books. The hidden gems. The names that don’t get pushed by the Big Five. Self published books are very welcome! I review nearly all of the books I read and I’ll happily do so for any self published work.
Even in books, there are genres that I don’t enjoy. I don’t enjoy thrillers or crime. Unless they have something supernatural. I’m all for angels and demons. Zombies in books are okay, but preferably not too many. I don’t read much horror, but I won’t skip over it if someone recommends it.
I will not read erotica.
Genres I’ve been reading lately: fantasy (not the epic kind), romance, young adult, dystopian, science fiction (not the hard kind), historical.
Books I’ve enjoyed immensely: the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, the Dark Gifts series by Vic James, American Gods by Neil Gaiman, the Wicca/Sweep series by Cate Tiernan, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Abarat by Clive Barker.
If you want to know which other books I liked and/or have read, check out my Goodreads profile.
I already asked UnwiseOwl and he recommended Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and someone else said It by Stephen King. Please leave your recommendation in the comments. If someone already named that book or movie, reply to that comment so I can bump it up on my priority list.
I’m looking forward to all your recommendations and widen my view on books and movies, discover new authors, actors and directors.
Well, an old favorite of mine is Kelky’s Heroes. That may fall into your story with war as a backdrop. Aside from that, Hidalgo, starring Viggo Mortenson.
I love me some Viggo! Thanks for the recommendations 👍
I know you said no French arthouse movies, but there is an amazing French movie that I heartily recommend: Le fabuleux destin d’Amelie Poulain. It’s lighthearted, romantic, a bit odd, but overall an amazing movie.
I think I heard the name before, but don’t know where. I’ll check it out, thanks!
Got a few books to recommend, but too lazy to check your goodreads account right now, sorry ;)
Stross: The Merchant Princes
Scott Meyer: Off to be the wizard (bit more humorous)
Philip Reeve: Larklight (I’d say age group more like Harry Potter, but kinda neat)
Robert Charles Wilson: Spin (SF)
G. Willow Wilson: Alif the Unseen (she also wrote the new Ms. Marvel)
Stackpole: The Dark Conspiracy trilogy
If you like Cyberpunk:
Brunner: The Shockwave Rider
Neuromancer etc.pp
Stephenson: Snow Crash et al
But for movies I’m probably the wrong person to ask.
I’m checking out all of the books and series tomorrow. I’ve heard some names before, but haven’t read any of them yet. So, yay! Thank you so much
I posted a few recommendations on my blog But I’ll also second the recommendation of Nogamara for Scott Meyer’s Off to be the Wizard, it’s a fun read and full of pop culture references though it can be a bit sophomoric in some parts.
[…] through a handful of goals in a year. Regardless she put out a post the other day asking for book and movie recommendations so I though I’d at least throw out a couple of my favorite books as recommendations. Well, […]
Movies…I loved much about Altered Carbon, the Lost In Space reboot was pretty great, if only they’d let the Robinsons stay with the colony and jettison Dr. Smith. I’ve loved all the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Lots of good moments in Avengers Infinity War with a needless ending. Thanos is a gnarly blockhead, not sexy, just as a toss in. Have not seen Black Panther yet but I know I’ll love it.
Books…Ann Leckie’s Ancillary series is spectacular, The Expanse series by James SA Corey is the best space based novel series perhaps ever. Mur Lafferty’s Six Wakes is a great blend of mystery and science fiction. The Alchemists Daughter and European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman by Theodora Goss are what they used to call scientific romance, though there’s little romance. I loved Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw and have it’s sequel on my pile. Modern day with a Victorian feel, she’s a physician to…monsters.
I see Kelley Armstrong in your Goodreads list. Have you read her Otherworld series? 13+ books, supernatural urban fantasy aplenty.
Max Gladstone’s Craft Sequence was a surprise find for me. It’s an odd genre blend of fantasy magic and modern concepts (necromancer lawyers, god-run states, magic users as head CEOs of corporations, etc.) that somehow works, coming together to form a unique world.
You mentioned self-published works, and one of the more famous ones, a web serial, Worm by Wildbow, came to mind. You may have heard of or read it already; it was pretty popular a few years back. I found it via recommendation via another blogger, and I recall getting sucked into its vortex for at least a week.
I’m definitely going to check if my library has more Kelley Armstrong books. I enjoyed the ones I read 😄
I’ll check out the others. They sounds very interesting and up my alley. Thank you so much!
Since you mentioned animation (eastern and western) there are 3 anime movies I recommend. Maybe you already watched them already bust just in case:
Your Name, Silent Voice and HAL.
They are all romance movies although take completely different approaches to it. HAL in particular is about dealing the loss of loved one, so if that isn’t a topic you wish to watch right now then just skip it.
I still cry watching Your Name. I’m adding the other two to my list. I need more movies like that. Thank you for recommending!
Books:
The Four (Galloway)
Norse Mythology (Gaiman)
Way of Kings (Sanderson) (fair warning, may get sucked in)
Creativity inc. (Catmull)
Movies/Shows:
Moon
Blackmirror
Master of None
Mindhunter
Expanse
Well, you already have my classic book recommendation. I’d have added Count of Monte Cristo to it, but I see that you’ve already ticked that one off.
Moving more recently, I see you’ve read Bill Bryson’s Short History of Nearly Everything, which is okay but not my favourite. Have you tried his A Walk in the Woods, my personal favourite of his?
I also see that you’re a fan of the slightly wistful novel, thus can I add The Guernsey Literature and Potato Peel Pie Society, which is a lovely little romance, and if I may allow my religious side out a little, Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead, an epistolary novel that I really enjoy.
As to films…I’m not really a film buff, but I’m a sucker for a romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks. Therefore, gimme Sleepless in Seattle or You’ve got mail, or even better, both back-to-back in that order, and that’s a perfect night in.
OK for movies, couple of great 80’s Fantasy films often forgotten about, Hawk the Slayer and The Sword and the Sorcerer. Very 80’s very cheesy, but great fun.
As for books, I will go with Fantasy/Sci fi. If you enjoyed Barker, I highly recommend Weaveworld and/or Imajica, both brilliant. And Dan Simmons Hyperion.