The most recommended social media books

Ramsey Campbell deserves to be as well known to any horror reader – any reader of any genre really – as Stephen King and yet for some reason he isn’t. If you are coming to this without having read any of his impressive back catalogue, don’t worry because there are many, many treats in store for you. The Lonely Lands is most assuredly one of them and is a great place to start.

This story has echoes of Richard Matheson (in Where Dreams May Come) in its premise. The main character is dealing with the loss of his dearly loved wife and must endure the horrors of the other world. There the similarity ends as The Lonely Lands takes very different twists and turns, transporting the reader along with it in true Campbell style.

Expect the unexpected in among the scares and darkness, along with poignancy and themes that… show more.

This linked story collection is in the same inimitable vein as Egan’s bestselling A Visit from the Goon Squad—and every bit as good. Egan is such a gifted storyteller. She knows how to get and keep the narrative ball rolling and is extremely good at creating vivid characters you have no choice but to root for.

One of the things I love about this book of linked stories is its through-line, a fascinating science fiction conceit revolving around the idea of a mass-downloadable consciousness. In addition to capturing a reader’s imagination, this device allows Egan to display her virtuosity in creating gripping narratives with various highly creative and often experimental points of view.

For me, Egan is a genius, one of the most important and enjoyable short fiction writers of our time!

Tara Sivec, in my mind, is like that crazy aunt who has an unfiltered mind and says what she wants and it’s funny every time! Her words make me cackle and this story is filled with crazy fun, witty banter, and a really hot rainstorm scene! Kiss My Putt is a friends-to-lovers mixed with enemies-to-lovers mixed with second chance romance. The story revolves around a cool, calm, and collected pro-golfer who is forced to take some time off after throwing a royal tantrum on television during a tournament.  He goes home, to Summersweet Island, where everybody knows everybody and there’s no place to hide. Especially when he runs into his best friend, Birdie Bennett. This book is a must-read!

The humor in this book is delightfully… cheesy. Pun intended. Tweet Cute is about Jack and Pepper, son and daughter of the owners of a mom-and-pop deli and a massive fast-food chain, respectively, who get into a Twitter war once it is revealed that one has stolen the other’s secret family grilled cheese recipe. This book has three things that I absolutely adore: It’s set in New York City, the characters engage almost constantly in witty banter, and it’s packed with puns about—you guessed it—grilled cheese. But humor aside, Tweet Cute is a terrific story about tight-knit families, teenagers dealing with the pressures surrounding high school graduation, and ultimately, following your own path.

This is one of the most popular books on narcissism and really sheds light on the narcissism epidemic that continues to grow to this day. Twenge and Campbell have a gift of incorporating their important research on narcissism with entertaining and relevant anecdotes. This is a compelling, thought-provoking, and important book for understanding how deep-rooted narcissism has become in society.

Growing up, my mother got me hooked on books by Victor Gunn, who wrote under a number of pseudonyms, but I loved the Ironside thrillers with Inspector Cromwell and his dapper partner Johnny Lister. Bodmin Moor is a perfect setting for a murder, especially in the fog, and when a nurse working at a private clinic approaches the moor in her old car she hears a scream just as she's stopped at a signpost. She walks onto the moor through the fog to investigate and soon stumbles over a dead man whose face has been smashed in... then a local sheep farmer scares the wits out of her as he appears in the fog. This is a fast-paced read to be recommended to those who love a good old-fashioned thriller from times gone by without the razzamatazz of social media and mobile phones. Accept the period and enjoy the detective… show more.

This book teaches us that it’s ok to be yourself. In a world full of social media and TV it can be confusing for children to see themselves as different from the rest of the pack. I love this book because it teaches children that you can succeed by embracing who you are and using your own voice. 

This book contains lots of great ideas for handling your stress, again with humor. The book gives a “Stress’s Job Description,” notes how “sneaky” stress can be in getting you upset, and gives directions on how to become a “panic mechanic” by learning to identify what’s wrong (the “stress mess” and ways to cope) and how to avoid the world’s worst stress relievers, such as hurting or blaming others.

Darcie Wilder’s Literally Show Me a Healthy Person is a novel in short fragments perfect for the social media era, narrated by a woman unflinching and at times brutal—and brutally hilarious—in her honesty, reflecting on the death of her mother and chronicling sexual escapades, deep in her sadness yet lively within the freedom and energy of her early 20s. This novel is slim but packs a ferocious punch; it will make you laugh—out of surprise, relief, identification—and it will make you cry for the very same reasons.

I neglected two days of obligations to race through this deftly paced, addictive book.

It has the energy of a thriller with the sensibility of Black millennial Britain and I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it. This is a book that you will immediately want to discuss. I was lucky enough to get an advance copy but then kind of angry that I couldn’t go and discuss it with people straight away.

I literally told my friends, hurry up and read this so that we can discuss! I started a book club for my job (a suggestion I’d long been putting off) because this was the first suggested book we should discuss!!