@adam
Adam
Hey hey! I'm Adam, Hardcover's founder. I love science fiction, fantasy, sciencey-nonfiction and anything that helps me learn a little bit more about the world, or help empathize with others.
Adam's Books by Status
989 Books
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Adam's Reading Goals
Goal
2/100 books2026 Reading Goal - Graphic Novels
Read 100 books by . They're 45 books behind schedule.
Adam's Pinned Prompts
Featured Prompt
5,985 booksWhat are your favorite books of all time?
When you think back on every book you've ever read, what are some of your favorites? These can be from any time of your life – books that resonated with you as a kid, ones that shaped your personal...
Featured Prompt
86 booksWhat fantasy romance books have left you spellbound?
Some readers differentiate between “fantasy romance” in which the fantastical elements of the storyline are more prominent, and “romantic fantasy” in which the romantic elements of the storyline ar...
Featured Prompt
67 booksWhat are your favorite book recommendations for new readers?
New readers often struggle to find books that they connect with. It often takes exploring different genres and writing styles from a many points of views to understand your own tastes. If you've ma...
Featured Prompt
64 booksWhich books had characters you resonated with the most?
Memorable characters can leave an impression as long as the story or plot. What characters stand out to you the most? These could be characters who you were able to identify with, ones that inspire...
Featured Prompt
59 booksWhat is the most unique or thought-provoking time travel book you've ever read?
Time travel books are a great way to explore the possibilities and consequences of changing the past. They can also be a lot of fun, as you follow the adventures of characters who travel through time.
Prompt
8 booksWhat are your favorite dark academia books?
Fantasy books set in school have a certain allure. That school experience is one we can all relate to. Couple that with learning about a new fantastical world and you get a recipe for a world that ...
Featured Prompt
105 booksWhat are your favorite science fiction books of all time?
Science fiction as a genre includes a wide range of topics. From imaginative and futuristic concepts to space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, extraterrestrial life and more. What stan...
Prompt
8 booksWhat are the most fun science fiction series?
There are many great stand-alone fun science fiction books, but what about series? Connected stories that stay lighthearted while tackling serious situations. What’s the first book in that series p...
Featured Prompt
169 booksWhich books made you think deeply about freedom, truth, and society?
Books have the power to challenge our perspectives, reveal hidden truths, and inspire us to think critically about the world around us. Stories—both real and imagined—can illustrate the importance ...
Featured Prompt
116 booksWhat book are you still thinking about?
What’s a book that left a lasting impression on you - one you found yourself thinking about long after you finished reading?
Adam's Pinned Lists
List
23 booksBooks everyone should read
Here are some of the books that have most shaped my view of how I see the world. There’s a focus on empathy, understanding, personal growth and history. I’ve left out some popular ones often read in high school, and focused on books that I remember changing me in some way even though I wasn’t expecting it.
List
10 booksFavorite Programming books
Programming books that inspired and helped shape my mindset on how to be a developer.
List
15 booksFavorite Reads of 2025
In an attempt to try to remember my favorites from each year, I'm going to start creating a best-of list to look back on. This will only include books I rated 5⭐ for the year, so to even make this list meant I thought it was very worthwhile book. Lowest number is my favorite of the year.
List
100 booksNPR Top 100 Science Fiction Fantasy
More than 60,000 ballots were cast in NPR's annual summer reader's survey. These are the top 100 winners - ordered by the number of votes they received.
List
28 booksOn Deck
Books I'm planning to read soon are added to this list to help keep track of what's high on my want to read list.
List
27 booksRecommendations
These are some of my favorite books of all time that I constantly recommend to anyone who will listen. 😂
Adam's Most Popular Reviews
After reading a few other magic school books this year (The Will of the Many, The Scholomance), I wasn’t sure this one would live up to the hype of being the #1 trending book on Hardcover. Turns out it did.
Forth Wing takes place in a cutthroat school for dragon riders. Students learn the skills needed to defend their homeland from invading forces and protect society.
At times it reminded me of The Hunger Games, LOTR and others in the dark-academia genre while still managing to be original enough to keep me wondering. Sign me up for the next in the series.
After seeing Circe as the Goodread readers choice for best fantasy book of 2018, I knew I would need to check it out. The story itself follows Circe, a Greek goddess, nymph, and daughter of Helios. The prose is also striking. Each scene feels epic in nature somehow – partially from prose, but also because they're populated with familiar characters - Charybdis, Odysseus, Daedalus and too many others to name.
If you have an interest in Greek Mythology you will enjoy Circe immensely. Madeline Miller knows here classics and weaves a tale of many different gods and men together into something completely new and original while staying true to the characters. It's a retelling of the same history, but from a new point of view – shedding light on areas often passed over. If you're interested in Greek Mythology, you will likely love this one as much as I did.