I love a good story that you can sink your teeth into and discuss at length. I need depth in my media. At times that means a story isn't sunshine, rainbows, and unicorns. Here are some of my suggestions for good books that are not light reading.
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By "not light reading" I mean that they involve sex, the old west that has its own rules, revenge, murder, the poor on the streets, prostitution, war, a handful of suicides, and probably a lot of death. We are talking about Les Miserable, the whole Lonesome Dove series, The Count of Monte Cristo, and Tolkien in general. Light? No, we aren't speaking of what you read your kids at night. Some of it also includes older English words (archaic words, sometimes). Strap in. I will put the trigger warning for each book individually, as well.
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
It translates to "the miserable ones", so I think you know what to expect. Jean Valjean gets out of prison and steals from a priest, who gives him a second chance. This leads to his redemption and a change of identity. All the while, he tries to help those who are in bad situations. This is all happening in France during the barricades and revolution against the king. He does die at the end. It will make you cry.
Trigger warnings include prostitution, the destitute on the streets, death, a nasty description of the sewer systems that Jean Valjean has to go through, battles, and a lot of thieves. Basically, the miserable ones. Yep, this one is pretty straightforward. It is also very long and about 1500 pages. Strap in for this one. It'll take you months, even as an avid reader. It has a lot of tangents on convents and war, too. Don't pick it up if you can't finish a small novel. Just watch the movie if you can't read long books. Also, Hugo likes having multiple plotlines. If you can't follow more than one plotline you'll get really confused real quick.
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If you like this one, The Hunchback of Notre Dame by the same author is excellent. And long. And has long descriptions of a cathedral, as well as proof the British accused people of witchcraft, and the cartoon movie was not accurate at all. Oh, and it talks about lust in priests and how Esmerelda was only 16, and the soldier was a real drunken jerk. The Catholic church hated Les Miserables and the Hunchback of Notre Dame. The government of France did, too. It's on the banned books list.
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Take Les Miserables and imagine he didn't redeem himself. The book describes how Edmund Dantes gets wrongly imprisoned, figures out who put him there, and then destroys their homes from the inside out by sheer influence under another identity. He escaped prison and slowly destroys the lives of those who wrongly claimed he was a political traitor. Revenge is never pretty.
Trigger warnings include murders by poison (including a child being poisoned), a distressing death via seizure, at least two almost suicides and two successful suicides, revenge that goes way too far, and French politics in general. It also includes archaic words and a lot of older English. It is not something a ten-year-old (I tried) could understand well. I reread it as an adult and now fully understand why I was so upset by a character's death (seizure death, not pretty).
This is not an easy book to read. Just know that. It is worth it, but please don't read it to younger children. It is a level of intensity that is only for adults who can understand the storyline. You will cry and gasp all book long. All the plotlines weave into each other, so if you get confused it will all make sense eventually.
The Lonesome Dove Series
This is a series about two Texas rangers, Woodrow Call and Gus McCrae. Each book can be a standalone or part of the series. It can be read in any order, but it goes in this timeline: Dead Man's Walk, Comanche Moon, Lonesome Dove, Streets of Laredo. They are excellent, but quite clearly show the lawlessness of the untamed West.
Trigger warnings include death, torture, sex, rape, murder, bad treatment of women and generally captives, mistreatment of animals, mentally distressed captives, suicide, sexually deviant people, cussing and language, hangings, native American raids, death by disease, prostitution, and man-burners killing settlers. Also, Mexican bandits, death by poison, and death by gangrene.
I will say that he doesn't describe sex in a way that sensualizes it or makes it romantic. No, he is so vague that when he describes several rapes in a row he describes the lighting so your mind does the work. Also, the sex is mostly one short paragraph and it is not graphic in physical descriptions. I could read it, so keep that in mind. The west was not a tame zone and the Native American tribes were not all nice, especially Kiowa bands and Comanches. These are also long books, but if you sit down for a good few hours you'll get a lot read in one go.
JRR Tolkien
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And here we have a lot of fantasy and lots of pages. Tolkien has a loyal fanbase. Fortunately for those who don't want sex in their fantasy, Tolkien didn't put it in. At least I think he didn't. Correct me if I am wrong. In this collection we have The Hobbit, The LOTR (Lord of the Rings) trilogy, and The Silmarillion (which it is joked that you get credit for trying to read). The movies are long and so are the books. It is one fantasy series that is deemed hard to read by some individuals.
Trigger warnings include battles, death, child abuse, slavery, suicide, and orcs being their disgusting selves. This book is tame compared to other fantasy series. What may dissuade you from reading it is the way the author writes. Large vocabulary and writing style means you need to take your time reading it. This isn't going to take one afternoon; it'll take getting used to Tolkien's style. This one has archaic words you may not understand. Pull up your Google dictionary if you need to. It won't be the movie, fellow readers, just know that.
It is recommended that you start with The Hobbit, then go into the trilogy. Don't start with the Silmarillion. The Silmarillion is a history of middle earth and won't be a light read. If you tackle this one try reading along with an audiobook or The Prancing Pony podcast (season 1, specifically).
The Fantasy Series I Tried To Read
A Song of Fire and Ice was attempted this year. I got 1/6th through the first novel and noped out fast. It was like the book got heavier and my will to read it dwindled into nothing. I'd look at it and say "not today" every day. I decided that after sobbing over a direwolf and seeing how cruel the royal family was I was not going to make it through even book one. I tried. I had even acquired four of the books. I got rid of all of them (and got less than a dollar back from a used bookstore).
Why am I telling you this? Because George RR Martin is a master of writing characters. And he was too good at writing for me to keep reading (weird, I know). I can't read that much cruelty and brutality in a book. I can't watch the Starks be destroyed like that. Let me regale you with the trigger warnings for this book: abuse, rape, graphic violence, animal killing and death, incest, and gay characters. I added the gay characters here for those who don't desire to read books with homosexuality in them. I didn't reach that character 1/6th of the way in. Be warned. If you cannot handle brutality and cruelty in a book I'd leave this one be.
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Jack Thomas is running from a past case. He's hiding in Wrenville. Is his past case catching up with him?
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