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Do you read fiction besides fanfiction? Any favorites?

TheCharredDragon

Tis the Hour to Reload
Okay, I know this is a bit of weird topic but hear me out.

When I was young, the stuff I liked to read the most was, well, about other stuff. Animal books, myth books, history books, all of them fascinating to me and made specifically for kids. The only fiction I read was because I was made to (and even they were versions made for kids). And then when I discovered fanfiction, that's pretty much what I read for a long time.

And to be honest, it's still a big chunk of what I read in my free time, but recently I've been reading things that aren't fanfics, like "Frankenstein", "Dracula" and "Dragons of Autumn Twilight". And a few short stories like "The Reluctant Dragon". And it made me wonder how many of the writers here actually likes, well, reading fiction.

And it leads to the second part. Do you have any favorites? I wonder this because, well, I'm curious, and also want to add to my "To read" list beyond fantasy and sci-fi books.

As for me, I can still honestly say my favorite is Irving Washington's "The Specter Bridegroom" that was in a short story collection I have that included his more famous "Rip Van Winkle". Yeah, it's a simple story but it's the only story I've read again and again because I like it.
 
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shoz999

Back when Tigers used to smoke.
I remember in my childhood, I used to read the instruction booklet to Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen!
 

Captain Jigglypuff

Leader of Jigglypuff Army
If something catches my attention, I’ll read it. I am writing a few fanfics about a few different shows including a crossover to the God’s Shoes episode of Married With Children and Family Guy focusing on Marcy and the Griffins after the Bundys move and another about Cecil the Turtle from the Looney Tunes cartoons where Bugs keeps “helping” him from danger only to purposely put him into another dangerous situation such as Shredder chasing him because he looks like a Ninja Turtle and being beaten up by Mario after Peach screams thinking Cecil is a Koopa sent to kidnap her again.
 

Kyuu-Tales

織田信長☆FAN
Not really, though that might be because I'm surrounded by books all day and my job requires me to know everything about them. Fanfiction is my number one way of unwinding after a hard day.
 

Kutie Pie

"It is my destiny."
Well of course I still read books. However, I've been reading more historical/political biographies than just regular fiction at the moment, although the last book I read was A Song for the Stars. Which is based off of a true story anyway, so I dunno how "fictional" that is, but it was something I tackled in two days, so it wasn't a long read.

But still, I don't see how fan fiction can replace actual fiction when fans wanting more of a fictional series is why fan fiction exists. But fan fiction is easily more accessible than the majority of fiction out there. More often than not, if you don't have books at home, you have to go to the library or to the nearest bookstore to look around and see what catches your eye. You do the same thing with fan fiction, but you don't have to pay for it, or have to be put on a waiting list to check it out. And that's why it's very easy to fall into the pit of voles and not crawl out of it.

That said, one of my favorite books as a kid was the fantasy-romance, Song in the Silence. It's apparently the first of a trilogy, but I never read the other two. I still think one of the best books I've ever read was The Princess Bride, and yes, if you've seen the film, you've pretty much read the book, but the book came first and it's a fantastic parody of the fairytale romance. I also got around to finally reading Jurassic Park last year, and that was really interesting to do a compare-contrast with the film. That's the thing about film-adapted books, although you can still read them as stand-alones, if you've been more familiar with the film before reading the book, you can't help but make comparisons and the like. Although Dominic Noble's "Lost in Adaptation" series really helped with that.
 

TheCharredDragon

Tis the Hour to Reload
Well of course I still read books. However, I've been reading more historical/political biographies than just regular fiction at the moment, although the last book I read was A Song for the Stars. Which is based off of a true story anyway, so I dunno how "fictional" that is, but it was something I tackled in two days, so it wasn't a long read.

-googles it- I'm probably gonna do as much research as I feel to see the real story because first page doesn't show much. Even then, with my South East Asian descent, and my liking of Moana, I'm instantly interested.

But still, I don't see how fan fiction can replace actual fiction when fans wanting more of a fictional series is why fan fiction exists. But fan fiction is easily more accessible than the majority of fiction out there. More often than not, if you don't have books at home, you have to go to the library or to the nearest bookstore to look around and see what catches your eye. You do the same thing with fan fiction, but you don't have to pay for it, or have to be put on a waiting list to check it out. And that's why it's very easy to fall into the pit of voles and not crawl out of it.

You know that feeling when you completely agree with what someone else is saying and then facepalm for not realizing it yourself that it's so obvious? Yeah, that's how I feel right now because the biggest problem I have in reading "regular" fiction is getting it. i know theres amazon and stuff but still

That said, one of my favorite books as a kid was the fantasy-romance, Song in the Silence. It's apparently the first of a trilogy, but I never read the other two. I still think one of the best books I've ever read was The Princess Bride, and yes, if you've seen the film, you've pretty much read the book, but the book came first and it's a fantastic parody of the fairytale romance. I also got around to finally reading Jurassic Park last year, and that was really interesting to do a compare-contrast with the film. That's the thing about film-adapted books, although you can still read them as stand-alones, if you've been more familiar with the film before reading the book, you can't help but make comparisons and the like. Although Dominic Noble's "Lost in Adaptation" series really helped with that.

Well I guess I'll probably glad about not having seen or even heard the film. I have read "Jurassic Park" but saw the movie first (like a lot of people) though that was like a while ago. I know it's different and yet I can't help but personally feel they're both fine for their mediums. I will admit though I kind of like uh...Dennis last scene in the book more for the simple fact of the Dilophosaur having been a more original design. also thank you for that. yet another youtube channel to download a bunch of vids from

Which reminds me, it made me remember that I'm reading "Alamut", the book that inspired Assassin's Creed. It's got my interest piqued on how the story will go, at the very least.
 

Kutie Pie

"It is my destiny."
-googles it- I'm probably gonna do as much research as I feel to see the real story because first page doesn't show much. Even then, with my South East Asian descent, and my liking of Moana, I'm instantly interested.

Tbh the only research you'll have to do is on James Cook since he's played out slightly differently compared to what actually happened, but the author acknowledges this in an afterword. The book's based off her ancestors, she just had to change a couple of names and she exaggerated/made up events to make it more engaging/romantic. But it's fine for what it is, I just found it a bit hard to get into at first without pushing myself through it (I don't like present-tense first-person POV that much).

But yeah, if you like Moana, you might like it.
 

shoz999

Back when Tigers used to smoke.
You know. Have you guys ever read the Mistborn or Stormlight Archives series? They are really good that it's difficult to put it down. I read the Mistborn series in less than a week if I remember.
 

Starlight Aurate

Just a fallen star
Late to the game, but I read fiction waaaaaaay more than I read anything else (including fanfiction). I actually don't read much fanfiction; I much prefer writing it. Lately, I haven't been reading much fiction and have mainly done spiritual/theological reading but that's also partly because my job requires me to. It also helped me a lot when I was in an emotional funk the last two years and didn't have the motivation to read or do much anything at all.

Growing up, I didn't have friends; I had books instead (which was definitely not healthy lol but that's how it was for me). Reading was what I did for fun; The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings, the InkHeart series, the Eragon series, stuff by Oscar Wilde, and countless others. I love things that take place in the Middle Ages or Victorian-era novels. The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of my favorites. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell is also really good. I really enjoyed reading Frankenstein and right now I'm reading Dracula, which I also really like.

I still think one of the best books I've ever read was The Princess Bride, and yes, if you've seen the film, you've pretty much read the book, but the book came first and it's a fantastic parody of the fairytale romance.
YES to the Princess Bride! Still one of my all-time favorites.
 

shoz999

Back when Tigers used to smoke.
Not a lot of children books catch my eye but have you guys ever read The Rithmatist? Really good, has a magic system built around chalk and I'm waiting for the sequel. Funny thing is the author, Brandon Sanderson who is rising as one of the more famous fantasy authors up there with Tolkien and Rowling, is such a rapid writer, writing so many projects in short time that it's kind of crazy and I just realized that ever since he's been working on other books, the Rithmatist released in 2013 lol. This guy is working on the Stormlight Archives, which is like fantasy Star Wars in my opinion, the Mistborn series which is one of the best fantasy trilogies I've read.

So in the Rithmatist which is more focused on children but is enjoyable by older people too in the same vein as the Hobbit, you have this world full of magic but here's the interesting part. The main character literally, I mean LITERALLY has not an ounce of magic. What he does have is intellect and his best friend, Melody, who can use magic but lacks certain knowledge to use it properly and that's just such an interesting Brains & Brawn dynamic if you ask me for a kid's book.
 
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