First person, I like to read up on.

[Dearelliot]

I want to read a good book written in the first person, just to learn from. Something contemorary, any thoughts.
I have to get it from the library so it has to be a reasonably well known book...hopefully in large print.

 

[iwatchus]

Pretty much any romance

 

[BobbyBrandt]

If you like adventure tales, I would recommend any of the Jack Reacher stories by Lee Child.

Nelson DeMille also wrote some great first person novels, such as "Gold Coast"

 

[SmilingLez]

I want to read a good book written in the first person, just to learn from. Something contemorary, any thoughts.
I have to get it from the library so it has to be a reasonably well known book...hopefully in large print.

A Movable Feast by Hemingway is one of my favorite books.

 

[StillStunned]

"Rivers of London" by Ben Aaronovitch, if you like somewhat tongue-in-cheek urban fantasy/police procedural.

 

[WaxPhilosophic]

"Divergent" by Veronica Roth. First person, present tense, if I remember correctly.

 

[ADirtyPerv]

"Paper Towns" by John Green. Easy, breezy read, one of my favorites. Couldn't put that shit down. It's from 2008, so not too old.

 

[ADirtyPerv]

A Movable Feast by Hemingway is one of my favorite books.

There's a passage in there were he kinda alludes to most of his interactions just being fuel for writing. I really, really get that.

 

[YmaOHyd]

I want to read a good book written in the first person, just to learn from. Something contemorary, any thoughts.
I have to get it from the library so it has to be a reasonably well known book...hopefully in large print.

What are you trying to learn?

 

[StillStunned]

hopefully in large print.

I've been reading on Kobo for about twenty years now, and the font size has grown with the years.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I want to read a good book written in the first person, just to learn from. Something contemorary, any thoughts.
I have to get it from the library so it has to be a reasonably well known book...hopefully in large print.

If you enjoy SciFi/Fantasy, I warmly suggest Red Rising by Pierce Brown. It's a coming-of-age story in a dystopian society, packed with action and emotion. And the author doesn't shy away from killing off characters.

 

[TheRedLantern]

I LOVE 1st person narration:

"Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas" by Hunter S Thompson
"Fight Club" by Chuck Palaniuk
"Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

 

[Erozetta]

"Paper Towns" by John Green. Easy, breezy read, one of my favorites. Couldn't put that shit down. It's from 2008, so not too old.

Turtles All the Way Down is a good one, too.

 

[THBGato]

"Fight Club" by Chuck Palaniuk
"Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

Seconded.

 

[ColtonWrites]

"Divergent" by Veronica Roth. First person, present tense, if I remember correctly.

Opinions vary on quality there but its definitely fast paced. I dont know that I'd call it "contemporary" - its dystopian

If youre open to near-future sci-fi "The Martian" and "Project Hail Mary" are both first person and some of my personal favorites.

Also remember that your local librarians would absolutely love to give recommendations.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Some libraries do e-book loans, which might give you more options for readability.

Another rec: Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries series, beginning with All Systems Red: told from the POV of a corporate security construct that just wants to watch soap operas but keeps on having to save people

 

[redgarters]

Leaning into sci fi to get some very different character pov's:
The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells
The Martian - Andy Weir
The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula LeGuin
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - Robert Heinlein
Old Man's War - John Scalzi
Ancillary Justice - Ann Leckie

 

[Nynah]

Another rec: Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries series, beginning with All Systems Red: told from the POV of a corporate security construct that just wants to watch soap operas but keeps on having to save people

I love Murderbot so much; as someone who is neurodivergent and generally wants to be left alone, I relate on a visceral level.

Something contemorary, any thoughts.
I have to get it from the library so it has to be a reasonably well known book...hopefully in large print.

If you want something contemporary, I have a few recommendations (these all link to StoryGraph where you can read the description/synopsis to see if it's something you might be interested in):

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Border of Paradise by Esmé Weijun Wang (this has a number of different POV characters so it's a bonus!)

Ancillary Justice - Ann Leckie

I want to like Ann Leckie's stuff so bad but I'm not smart enough to get past her prose / storytelling style.

 

[Dearelliot]

Thank you all...Some great books, and I'll pick some of them up at the library...I'm writing something in first person and I want to see if I could learn a little by reading from them.

 

[Dearelliot]

If you like adventure tales, I would recommend any of the Jack Reacher stories by Lee Child.

Nelson DeMille also wrote some great first person novels, such as "Gold Coast"

God, years ago, I've read most of Lee Childs, and I didn't notice if they were first person.

 

[TheRedLantern]

Thank you all...Some great books, and I'll pick some of them up at the library...I'm writing something in first person and I want to see if I could learn a little by reading from them.

If your goal is to get better at writing in first person, shoot me a DM. The biggest jump my writing ever took was when I read Chuck Palaniuk's (author of Fight Club) lessons on writing. He writes almost exclusively in first person. I have the PDF, and I've sent it to a couple of other authors here.

 

[redgarters]

I want to like Ann Leckie's stuff so bad but I'm not smart enough to get past her prose / storytelling style.

She's not easy. I felt the Imperial Radch Series got harder to read in book 2 and 3, so much that I nearly gave up as well. But that first one is an absolute marvel. Just her use of nonbinary language where all pronouns are female, as a worldbuilding element, is worth reading this book.

 

[YmaOHyd]

Thank you all...Some great books, and I'll pick some of them up at the library...I'm writing something in first person and I want to see if I could learn a little by reading from them.

What kind of thing? The first-person writing of a Hemingway is going to be very different from the first-person writing of, say, Suzanne Collins, and they'll both be very different from Vonda McIntyre.

 

[Dearelliot]

What kind of thing? The first-person writing of a Hemingway is going to be very different from the first-person writing of, say, Suzanne Collins, and they'll both be very different from Vonda McIntyre.,

Yeah thats true

 

[SmilingLez]

If you enjoy SciFi/Fantasy, I warmly suggest Red Rising by Pierce Brown. It's a coming-of-age story in a dystopian society, packed with action and emotion. And the author doesn't shy away from killing off characters.

I just finished his 1st book in that series. Excellent writer. Supposedly, he's going to release the final book in the series in the summer of 2026