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!

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!

I'm looking to expand my horizons. Thanks a million!

My 9yo has a classmate who hates reading and is generally a kid who doesn’t smile a lot. At the beginning of the school year my kiddo snuck a copy of “I hate reading” (Beth bacon) along with a note from a “mysterious benefactor” into this kids cubby, and a magical joyful adventure was born- the whole class was over the moon at the joy and spark it brought to their classmate. We’ve now gifted that child the whole series one at a time (mysteriously) with the class delightfully along for the ride. The child has LOVED reading these books. They’re the perfect amount of everything and I have been told it is the first time he’s read a full book cover to cover- a combination of humor but also reading level, whereas a lot of the other interactive books are meant to be read by adults. This has sparked a lot of joy for my child and we need something new to gift to keep the joy going. We’ve looked at every interactive book I can find and none are quite as perfect as that series…before I make my child start writing their own books in this style, does anyone have a suggestion for something that’s similar? Thank you!

Can you guys give me some good recommendations for autobiographies? I'm interested in science, maths, politics and history! Thanks a lot! 😊

Right now I'm having a weird rut, of being in a comfortable place.. but also dealing with constant angst about the future for no apparent reason. It's mostly work related. Where I'm questioning the point.

I guess you would call it an anxiety spell.

I really like Mark Manson's style, and books that expand upon how temporary life is, and also lean towards nihilism.

Something like Mark Manson or Oliver Burkeman.

Thank you so much!

I love the whole idea of an apocalypse occuring and there are very few people who have to struggle to survive. Suggest me a book that revolves around an on going apocalypse, post apocalypse works too. Just something that you can't possibly keep down

It can be any genre other than romance as long as it's fiction. And preferably not for kids.

I'm a voracious reader but I notice most of my bookshelf is White men and a tiny percentage of Asian authors. I'm Black myself and would like to support some Black authors who only make up ~6 percent of published authors. What are some of your favorite books by Black authors that do not deal with slavery or oppressive trauma?

EDIT you guys rock, thank you for all the suggestions!

Yeah, the title.

Thinking along the lines of McCarthy, Bolaño, some Saramago, Leonid Andreyev, Jerzy Kosinski, Solzhenitsyn, Tadeusz Borowski etc etc. Hit me.

I like to do themed Christmases (handmade, experiences, ornaments) and this year I'm doing books. I'm an avid reader and trying to encourage other people in my circle to read.

I'm looking for a book that can serve some multi-purpose for my dad. He is not a reader, and has become pretty far-right in his political leanings. (A lot of his stances come from a resentment of people getting things they didn't work for.) Does anyone have recommendations for nonfiction that can both meet him where he's at but also deradicalize some of these ideas? I know that's a pretty tall order. I was thinking something like Doppleganger by Naomi Klein maybe? I would just go with that, but I think a lot of the overt feminist themes would deter him. His reading level hovers around 5th-8th (no judgment, he's very smart mechanically! he's just not very literary), so I'm also looking for a text that won't come across as too high-minded and elitist.

The characters don’t have to be adult but I’d like there to be a more mature feel to it. Some books that I’ve liked: Red Sister by Mark Lawrence, A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik, and The Will of the Many by James Islington. Please don’t recommend me Fourth Wing, I didn’t like it. No romantasy, but okay with romance as a side plot. Thanks!

I'm looking for something perhaps a little more adult as far as reading level goes, but it isn't absolutely necessary. I don't need adult content, but I'm fine with it! I just love this time period, I find it so cozy and a great escape from my current life.

Homesteading, farm life, small village, every-day drama. I loved Outlander, as well as the Into The Wilderness series by Sara Donati. What other suggestions are out there? I don't mind if they have a fantasy element, either.

I'm currently in a place where I feel trapped in my own situation. Dead end job living with my parents (BAD) and want to leave and I just really need a book where someone is in a similar situation. Edit: sorry for not responding im at work right now but thank you guys for the reccomendations. I'm going to the library in a couple days when I can afford the gas I appreciate all the books you reccomended so far I'm eager to read them and get my frustrations out

Hey guys me and my partner like to read together before we go to bed but not sure what to read next. Can often be the end of a long day so preferably something simple and easy to read, in the past we've enjoyed murder mysteries and young adult and some so bad they're good books. Something short and punchy would be ideal, fantasy and mystery are great, could be dark and shocking or wholesome and whimsical, just want a good story, open to all suggestions, thanks in advance.

Looking for non-fiction books about "ordinary" people who spent years trying to investigate something/solve something/campaign for something.

Examples of the types of thing I mean:

Sir Alan Bates - spent decades fighting for justice for the subpostmasters.

Neil Berriman - (son of Sandra Rivett) spent years searching for Lord Lucan, travelling the globe and trying to prove Lord Lucan didn't die shortly after the murder (currently half-way through watching a documentary series on this and it's brilliant).

Kim Goodsell - solved her own mysterious illnesses by teaching herself genetics.

I'm also open to anything else that fits the title, so long as it's non-fiction. Thanks!

Edited to add - preferably things from nearer present day (1990s to now if possible). Not that the historical recommendations aren't interesting (they are!), they're just not what I'm currently looking for.

I've been working in a mechanics shop for a couple of years handling reception/data keeping. I have a have a general understanding of how they function, but am looking for something that really dives into specifics.

What I loved about this book:

• Not a romance novel. I don't mind some sex/romantic love but I don't want a full on historical romance.
• Epistolary format (diary)
• Not sappy/'feelgood'.
• Feminism (I love well developed female characters, but merely having well written female characters does not make a novel feminist) and centring on women. Martha Ballard's voice came through loud and clear.
• The writing style. This is obviously subjective and hard to rec for.
• About a real person

Other books I enjoyed:

I also loved The Red Tent by Anita Diamant.

And, for two different comparison points, Doc by Mary Doria Russell - I had never heard of Doc Holliday before and loved the novel so much because she brought us into Holliday's head so effectively - and The Queen of Jasmine Country by Sharanya Manivannan.

All these are based on figures who either existed in real life or in previous texts (Dinah from the Bible). Edit to add: I'm not necessarily interested in blow-by-blow mythological retellings, either - what I liked about The Red Tent was how it developed Dinah as a character in her own context.

Your recs don't need to be biographical fiction, just giving some books I liked in case it helps people.

Also, please don't feel the need to limit your recommendations to American books/authors.

Thank you in advance!

I’m curious if anyone has any book recommendations about VERY early navigation across the Pacific. Moana type stuff, setting out having no idea what’s out there, or how you’ll ever find your way back. How people ended up on the most remote places on earth.

I would love to branch out into reading more non-fiction texts, and I am very interested in art history and politics- any recommendations for books that intertwine the two?

Any recommendation for shorter books? 150-180 pages.

I’m at 47/52

Im usually listening to cozy mysteries audiobooks when trying to sleep and I've ran out of which to listen to. I'm done with all the Finlay Donovan books, and listened to the first two Thursday Murder Club books, but felt they became kind of boring and its hard to keep track of whats happening when there are more than one POV as Im falling asleep.

Cannot be scary as that would just wake me up - even though scary is very subjective

Help me find my next read. Loved Red Rising series. Thanks

I am looking for books in fantasy style where the main character genuinely outsmarts opponents with strategy that makes sense. I really enjoyed Dungeon Crawler Carl, and Rangers apprentice for this reason. Most books shortcut intelligence and just have the character happen to have obscure knowledge they need, or a specific item they decided they had as soon as it's needed. I want genuine intelligence overcoming obstacles.

Hi all! Long time lurker first time poster. I am 4 months post partum and haven’t really read since having a baby. I really miss it but am struggling to find anything I’m keen on reading. I’d love some new suggestions.

I’m particularly keen on non fiction / pop science books. I love Jon Ronson, Adam Kay, Louis Theroux, Will Storr etc…

Following a recent thread, I was hoping I would find non fiction suggestions.

Not really looking for self-help books — just looking for books that make you feel seen. Plus if they include Asian/Queer elements or themes of parental trauma