While I do have to respectfully disagree with you about one thing: not every new book feels like a rehash of an old story; and sometimes a good rehash can be better and more engaging than the original. And some story tropes are as old as the Iliad (like the Hero's Journey story arc) and for good reason. They just work, and if done right can make for an engaging storySurvivor11 wrote: I'm just gonna go on a limb here and probably ruin someone's day somewhere, inevitably...
I used to read a ton... I stopped a few years because everything just read the same and felt like it was just the same story with a reskin, no matter what genre I read.
My point is, don't tire yourself out on books too quickly like I did. Take your time.
I do agree that a lot of modern books are lacking that certain oomph that pulls on your heartstrings in the same way that the older books written by the masters (London, Dickens, Bradbury, Wells, Kipling, etc.) had in spades. I think it's due to the topics that writers can safely cover these days. Older writers had more liberty to express controversial ideas and to delve into topics that modern writers can't/won't explore (Collins and racial injustice: To Kill a Mockingbird, London and the duality of Mankind by showing simultaneous senseless brutality and high moral philosophy from the same character: The Sea Wolf, Bradbury and the hubris of Man: The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451, Wells and Humanity's tendency to change with things we have no right to mess with: The Food of the Gods).