People Are Sharing The Most Underrated Books They've Ever Read, And I'm Adding Each And Every One Of These To My Reading List
While it's fun to read the latest Booktok smash hit, there's something especially satisfying in reading and enjoying a book that isn't splashed all over social media.
1. Time Song: Journeys in Search of a Submerged Land by Julia Blackburn
Penguin Random House / Via penguinrandomhouse.com
" Time Song by Julia Blackburn is one of the most remarkable nonfiction books I've ever read... It is nominally a history of the now-submerged land between England and continental Europe, but it is also a memoir about loving and losing and loving again, and it is also a meditation on what it means to exist and be remembered, and it is also literal poetry and a masterclass in sentence to sentence writing. I love this book so much." — assholeinwonderland
2. Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry by Leanne Shapton
3. The Dream of Scipio by Iain Pears
"I read it in a college course, but beyond that I've never seen in mentioned anywhere. It's a really beautiful novel about what it means to be human and what civilization means. It takes place in one town in southern France over three distinct historical moments: the fall of Rome, the Black Death, and the Vichy period. It's one of my favorite novels." — katiejim
4. The Rice Mother by Rani Manicka
"If you like intergenerational stories like Homegoing and Pachinko, I recommend The Rice Mother by Rani Manicka. It tells the story of Lakshmi, a Ceylonese girl born in 1916 who is married off to a man in Malaysia at 14, and follows multiple generations of her family up to the early 21st century.
The book gives an interesting insight into 20th century Malaysian history, including multiple immigrant cultures and the brutal Japanese occupation during WWII, and is a fascinating portrayal of complex characters and family relationships from multiple perspectives. The descriptions are beautiful and there is an underpinning of magical realism and themes of fate." — nashamagirl99
5. The Women in Cages by Vilas Sarang
6. The Knife Man: Blood, Body Snatching, and the Birth of Modern Surgery by Wendy Moore
Crown Publishing Group / Via penguinrandomhouse.com
7. Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster
"It's my favorite book of all time, and has the most lovable heroine I have ever had the pleasure of getting to know. A mysterious nameless man sends an orphan girl to school, and she discovers the secret of happiness through all of the little wonderful things in life. The musical is also fantastic. She calls the man Daddy-Long-Legs on account of him being so tall, long-legged, and fatherly." — BruisedSkidd
8. Billy and the Cloneasaurus by Stephen Kozeniewski
9. Epitaph for a Peach by David Mas Masumoto
"It's about how he saves a variety of organic peaches his immigrant grandparents planted. It follows a year at the farm and his process to make the farm organic. Beautiful tribute to farming, families and the work ethic of immigrant families. Saw so much of my family in the book. Warning, you will crave peaches for years after reading it." — Wanderingirl17
10. Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith
11. Just in Case by Meg Rosoff
Penguin Random House / Via target.com
12. The Canning Season by Polly Horvath
13. American Street by Ibi Zoboi
14. This Body by Laurel Doud
"I picked this book up in a $2 bargain bin maybe 10± years ago and it blew me away. I don't know anyone else who has read this book... I always thought it could have been made into an amazing screenplay.
From Amazon's description:
'WHAT IF YOU HAD LIFE TO LIVE OVER AGAIN?
WHAT IF YOU WERE RICH? WHAT IF YOU WERE SKINNY? WHAT IF YOU HAD A SECOND CHANCE TO FIND TRUE LOVE?
Katharine Ashley, in the prime of her life, is a dutiful mother of two whose heart suddenly stops beating. Thisby Bennet is a rich and skinny young woman whose dangerous taste for drugs and men leads to her equally untimely death. When Katharine's departing soul finds its way into Thisby's lifeless body, the story of This Body begins...'" — Creative-Tomatillo
15. by Rebecca Hall
Simon and Schuster / Via simonandschuster.com
" Wake by Dr. Rebecca Hall. It's about women-led revolts throughout the trans-Atlantic slave trade. It's a graphic novel, memoir, and super interesting dive into not well-known history. I finished it last night and haven't stopped thinking about it." — spanishpeanut
16. The Book of Qualities by J. Ruth Gendler
HarperCollins / Via amazon.com.au
"It's a poem book that personifies human traits (greed, pleasure, compassion, and beauty). It is a very sweet book." — margirl100twirl
17. The Fruit Bowl by Dominic Holland
Dom Holland Books / Via amazon.com
"He's Tom Holland's dad (yes, that Tom Holland) and is mostly known as a comedian though he's a writer as well. I love all his books but The Fruit Bowl has so much heart and it'll make you cry at the beginning and again at the end. Really loved it." — Zoe_Croman
18. In Search of April Raintree by Beatrice Mosionier
Highwater Press / Via amazon.com.au
"Takes place in my home city where the author grew up, and is inspired by true events of her life. Changed my perspective on life. Story partly includes residential schools of Canada." — Due_Anteater9116
19. American Hippo by Sarah Gailey
Macmillan Publishers / Via amazon.com.au
"It's hippo cowboys doing a heist. It rules." — Hms-chill
Okay, now, tell us your totally underrated books! Share in the comments below, and let us all add even more to our TBR!
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