Loved The Goldfinch, what next?

[VivaLeBeaver]

It's been a long time since I read a book which has made me so sad to get to the end. I don't think I enjoy "heavy" books......but maybe I do as a some people seem to think The Goldfinch is heavy going? I haven't at all.

So, what next?

[CoteDAzur]

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton.

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Thanks. Was looking at the Luminaries but was put off by all the reviews from people who gave up. Will give it a go.

[Preminstreltension]

I have just started The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton which is great so far (Dutch theme, family story...blurb says if you liked The Goldfinch you'll like this)

[lalalonglegs]

I think that is slightly self-aggrandising of JB's publicist... It's nothing like The Goldfinch but I would suggest The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters (in fact, anything by Sarah Waters).

Two non-fiction books that I have found really satisfying since finishing The Goldfinch are Damian Barr's Maggie & Me about his spectacularly dysfunctional childhood growing up in (post) industrial Lanarkshire and Ben Watt's Romany and Tom about his parents and their not-so-gentle slide into old age.

[antimatter]

If you liked the american part of The Goldfinch I could recommend Lean on Pete – by Willy Vlautin

The main character is 15 years old and IMHO has a lot in common with Theo.

Much shorter book, under 300 pages, I read it yesterday and loved it.

[southeastdweller]

I second The Paying Guests, which came very close to being the all-consuming read that The Goldfinch was. It's just £2.99 on Kindle, btw.

[DuchessofMalfi]

The Paying Guests is a really good story, lots of twists and turns and historical detail. I preferred it to The Goldfinch, which I found dragged quite a bit. Was rather disappointed that I didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much as The Secret History and The Little Friend.

If you're looking for something a bit different then you might like to try The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber. It's quirky and I rather enjoyed it.

[tidalwaveover]

Sorry to be obvious but The Secret History.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Should have said that ive read Secret History already. Will check someof these out, Paying Guests sounds good.

[tigerdog]

I found The Luminaries completely tedious and gave up. I've just read All the light we cannot see, which I absolutely adored and was very sad to finish, I'd thoroughly recommend it.

[CoteDAzur]

I know people who have given up on The Goldfinch as well. Give The Luminaries a go, OP.

[FuckingLiability]

Have you read The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova? It's a Dracula book but beautifully written and very engaging.

A Place in the Hills by Michelle Paver is also a superb read. I had it sitting in my wishlist for ages, then read it on holiday and beat myself up for not reading it sooner.

See also:

An Instance of the Fingerpost and Stone's Fall by Iain Pears.
The Bone Clocks/Cloud Atlas/Ghostwritten by David Mitchell

[FuckingLiability]

Also by Michelle Paver, Dark Matter. It's very much more of a creepy ghost story but I loved it.

[VivaLeBeaver]

Fab, am adding all these to my Amazon wish list.

I love creepy ghost stories so Dark Matter sounds good.