We read of course to entertain, to feel empathy and to learn about lives that are not our own, so naturally reading can sometimes put us outside our comfort zones and this is rarely a bad thing. Many of us like to be challenged by the books we read, and with this in mind we asked you for suggestions for books that pushed you out of your comfort zone and you gave plenty of replies.
Thanks to everyone who joined in, I’ve added all your replies together and based on your votes we have 20 books to put you out of your comfort zone, and hopefully a few for your TBR.
We Need to Talk About Kevin – Lionel Shriver
Possibly one of the most chilling books I have ever read that will stay with your forever, particularly if you are a parent. Great book and well worthy of the top spot.
We Need to Talk About Kevin US
We Need to Talk About Kevin UK
Lolita – Vladimir Nabakov
Lolita has been putting people out of their comfort zone for many years, and paedophilia and forbidden love will no doubt remain a topic that challenges the comfort zone.
A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
Another chilling read of a scary dystopian London. A Clockwork Orange is a book so violent that the author walked out of his own premier when it was made into a movie.
The Storyteller – Jodi Picoult
Picoult had more than one suggestion and 19 Minutes also got a couple of mentions, but it’s The Storyteller that makes our list. A tale of love and forgiveness it was Picoult’s twentieth novel.
The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins
There’s been a trend for books with unreliable narrators and unlikable characters of late and The Girl on the Train definitely fits into both boxes!
The Historian – Elizabeth Kostova
Many of you said you found the Historian disturbing, and even saying it gave you nightmares.
The Stranger Beside Me – Ann Rule
They say truth is always weirder than fiction, and this biographical tale about serial killer Ted Bundy chilled many of you.
American Psycho – Brett Easton Ellis
Probably the closest I have ever come to vomiting while reading a book. If you like gratuitous violence and you don’t mind losing your lunch, it’ll certainly put you out of your comfort zone.
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
I have to say the premise for this is a bit weird to appeal to me, but I can see why the story of a teenager raped and murdered may put some of you out of your comfort zone.
Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
This dystopian sci-fi is a more recent edition to the list, released in 2005 and it’s both chilling and plausible enough to put you out of your comfort zone.
11. A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini (review)
12. Salem’s Lot – Stephen King
13. Reading Lolita in Tehran – Azar Nafisi
14. The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood (review)
17. In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
18. Room – Emma Donaghue
19. The Catcher in the Rye – J. D Salinger (review)
20. The Rats – James Herbert
According to you, these are the books that put you right out of your comfort zone. Would you agree? Let us know in the comments.
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How can this list not include Jack Ketchum’s “The Girl Next Door” ?
You should mention all the books written by Gillian Flynn. Hellish, to be honest!
The Road by Cormack McCarthy was quite frankly disturbing. Sparse and dystopian with flashes of horror. I read it in one sitting then slept with the lights on.
I totally agree with the assessment of American Psycho. Easily the most disgusting and horrific book I’ve ever read. I had to keep putting it down but I also felt committed so read it to the end.On the other hand, I loved A Handmaid’s Tale, definitely disturbing but a brilliant read. Atonement by Ian McEwan deserves a mention I think since it’s scary what the imagination/misinterpretation of a situation can affect.
The End of Alice by A.M.Homes is at the top of my list. I didn’t eat the two days I was reading it and threw up anyway. NOT for the faint of heart.
Behind Closed Doors by B A Paris.
It’s funny that most if not all of these are horror, dystopian. My first thought wasn’t about books that grossed me out or exaggerated the forward motion of our present culture. But the ones that really made me think, question and reasses my beliefs and values.
Ones like; Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Siddhartha, Lamb, Johnathan Livingston Seagull, The Lord of the Flies, Heart of Darkness or Ender’s Game.
There are so many ways to be out of you comfort zone. Why restrict it so much?
This is exactly what I thought too. This seems more like a list of scary and disturbing books.
Infinite Jest.
I remember reading Fall On Your Knees and how it made me want to quit the book. But I had a nice cry and finished it.
I was extremely creeper out by Looking for Mr. Goodbar.
Anything by Ellen Hopkins! Identical really got to me, but her writing is brilliant. She addresses tough issues in a gritty, eye opening kind of way. Well worth the read.
120 of Sodom~ Marquis de Sade
Several on this list that I’ve yet to shake hands with. Many years ago my ‘comfort zone’ got smashed by a novel called ‘The Wolf Strikes’ by John S Morgan. I was a late teenager at the time & couldn’t finish it. Circa 28-30 years later I’m thinking I need to track down a copy/seems not a lot available. I’m recalling foggily how full on it was…I need to push myself!