What else can I read??

Funny murder set in English country village for a bit of light relief?

Or The English Patient - I found this really, really annoying but it does have some lovely passages.

I didn't like A Fine Balance, but it does sound like the sort of thing you'd like.

Oh and have you read A Room With A View?

Isabel Allende - especially her non-fiction. 'Paula' is about the death of her daughter and the other one is called something like ' My Borrowed Country' but can't recall the title offhand.

You'll probably like The Kite Runner (though lots of people on here don't) and Half Of A Yellow Sun. Also, if you liked Mr Pip, you will almost certainly (fingers crossed!) like A Handful Of Dust by Evelyn Waugh.

Cloud Atlas was great. But I prefer Jacob!

Ooh Merry I was was very keen on Cloud Atlas, why haven't I read Thousand Autumns?! Will Kindle it tonight

Also, History of a Pleasure-Seeker, by Richard Mason, was entertaining, thoughtful but enjoyably non-taxing (and fairly cheerful, to counteract some of the gloom we've been recommending so far!)

Another vote for Poisonwood - brilliant. Also The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell, one of my all time favourites (set in 18C Japan). It is totally gripping. here

I wouldn't personally do A Fine Balance - one of the few books I've not managed to finish and SOOOOOO depressing, but I did have baby brain. I did finish The God of Small Things but was likewise depressed.

Definitely Barbara Kingsolver. Also you might like Fate, by LR Fredericks, and in a similar vein, The Meaning of Night, and The Glass of Time, by Michael Cox.

Have you read any Barbara Trapido? I really enjoyed Frankie and Stankie.

The Poisonwood Bible or The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

I'm just reading Notwithstanding by LdB at the moment and enjoying it. I'm also reading Meeting the English, but Karen Clancy (I think?).

I've recommended it befor on these boards but The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif is brilliant. Also the Amitav Ghosh novels and possibly my bestest ever book, Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow, by Peter Hoeg.

Winter in Madrid, by CJ Sansom? (Nothing like the Shardlake books)

The Cairo Trilogy - Naguib Mahfouz or anything written by him they are all great novels.
If you like Chinese Literature The Story of the Stone is one of my favourites comes in 5 volumes and over 2,500 pages but well worth it.

I'll have a harder think when I've got a bit more time, but if you want a really long read, try Naipaul's A House for Mr Biswas. Set in post-colonial Trinidad, it's a fantastic book. Or if you'd like to ease yourself gently into Naipaul's work, try Miguel Street.

Sounds as if you like books set in different countries/cultures. With that in mind, try:

A Disobedient Girl - Ru Freeman

State of Wonder and Bel Canto - Ann Patchett

A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - Lisa See

The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy