I would offer Elizabeth Moon's female characters in Deed of Paksenarrion and Vatta's War. Also, David Weber and Terry Pratchett are men who wrote female protagonists who are very interesting to me.

I don't read a lot of horror, but both romance and horror can be genres where the females are the opposite of heroic and I like to read about heroes.

It is amazing and wonderful when a book hits that way. Sometimes it's just the right book at the right time.

The ideals of what kind of writing is good writing shifted partway into the 20th century in favor of shorter, clearer sentences and paragraphs. I was taught that this was partly due to the influence of writers like Hemingway. You should have better luck with slightly more recent books.

Thank you for Last Chance to See. I started my love for books about animals with Willard Price children's books about collecting for zoos. I have followed this interest my entire life.

The first two discworld books in order are sub par. If you want to give it another shot, try something later like Going Postal or Small Gods. But Pratchett has a strong voice and it is not for everyone. The first two books are parody of very specific classic fantasy tropes and they don't hit the same way today.

East Bay here. We had it easy compared to the north bay. I've definitely seen storms with worse flooding but I guess it is too early to judge the impact. I feel horrible for the family in Occidental who lost their child.

Estate sales and thrift stores can be good sources for cheap books and the selection is random so you get a variety.

Or you could try a challenge like read a book from every country or read a book from every decade after a set starting year.

You could join an online book group or a group that meets physically. There is a group on reddit starting the Master and Marguerita and some other reddit book groups.

Thank you. I knew most of that, but the genital mutilation and a few other things were extra special. The book seems deeply and widely sourced and I appreciated the perspective of the colonized. Another recent book that provides an often unseen perspective is the Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen. It's now in my top five books ever.

There is a style of nonfiction that I have seen called journalistic nonfiction that is all about telling a good story that happens to be true. There are also introduction books to obscure topics aimed at general readers.

Books like And the Band Played On by Shilts or Endurance by Lansing tell a compelling story.

The Man Who Mistook his wife for a hat is an introduction to neurological diseases through interesting anecdotes.

Stolen Focus by Johan Hari is an expose of Social media impact on attention span.

Project Gutenberg has public domain books, they are just old. If you have estate sales in your country try that.

Thank you for your thoughtful comment. The only thing I would add and the reason I stressed dystopian fiction is that some of the behavior and requirements of the empire are culturally specific, arbitrary and intrusive in ways that remind me of the Handmaid's tale, or Mao's cultural revolution. It is an abusive eugenicist government that also fosters economic prosperity.

Which author for Stone angel? There are several.

I would be curious to see what answer you would get from r/askliterarystudies.

I have personally avoided Faulkner and Pynchon and James Joyce, but that doesn't make them bad writers per se. What they are trying to do with language is more like what Picasso or Dali or even Warhol tried to do with paint. They are highly skilled, I just don't like their choices.

Silmarilion is somewhat like the Bible. Large collection of disparate content including begats. It's not for me, but try it.

Have you read Elizabeth Moon's fantasy novels? Worth reading imho

I think to honestly answer your question requires more context than we can get from one sentence over the internet.

Cutting out abusive people is wise and prudent. Cutting out flawed people who care about you can be tragic for everyone involved.

Telling the difference can be hard.

Self help books that have helped me include Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, Peace is Every Step, After the ecstasy the laundry, Eat that Frog, the book of joy, Man's Search for Meaning.

You may benefit from counseling, or from honest feedback from a good friend. If you want advice about a specific person, Momforaminute or r/askwomenover30 are nurturing communities that might help.

TLDR some self help books are bad books with counterproductive advice. Some are useful.

Ask for help at r/whatsthatbook

I was clumsy in my phrasing. You are correct

They may not be teaching it anymore. This was the 80s.

See also the poem Dulce et decorum est

King Lear, Futile rage against the universe and a tough essay to write.

Ethan Frome, Never reading again if it is the last book on earth.

A Separate Peace, Meh

Crime and Punishment, So much resentment for being forced to share that man's feelings.

Death of a Salesman, powerful emotional experience, learned new perspective about life.

Death of Ivan Ilyich, Wow!

Not who you replied to but two of my favorite books are all creatures great and small and Watership Down. If you search the suggestion subreddits for best or favorite you will find a wide variety.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it is a dark vision of history. For me it parallels how actual civilizations rise and fall, and the role of monasteries preserving knowledge during the dark ages. In the end the sun will engulf us and I don't believe we will find a solution by migrating to other planets. War is baked into the human psyche. So is peace and idealism. We are a contradictory species.