Book recommendation, please - but rather specific!

[LucasNorthsTwiglets]

I want a book for my holiday but I'm very fussy :)

I want a real page-turner but nothing sad, no chick-lit and must be easy to read and not heavy-going. Kids probably won't let me read for more than 20 minutes at a time so I want something I can easily pick up again. I really enjoyed Gone Girl and The Girl On The Train recently and English Passengers was the perfect book many years ago!

Any ideas?

[Wormulonian]

Gillian Flynn's other books are also good (Dark Places, Sharp Objects). Alex Marwood (Wicked Girls, The Darkest Secret) writes twisty books in a somewhat similar vein.

As you liked English Passengers I would also suggest The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert which I found easy going but interesting

[LucasNorthsTwiglets]

Great, I'll check those out - thank you!

[Matilda2013]

I enjoyed The Girl Before by J P Delaney recently and read while off on holiday with six year old dsd. Other favourite this year is I Let You Go by Clare MacKintosh.

[Matilda2013]

Daisy in Chains by Sharon Bolton was a good one too.

[SkivingAgain]

I loved Taking Albert Home by Homer Hickham. Very funny and surreal, but strangely based on a true story.

[missyB1]

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty, in fact any of her books.

[TheweewitchRoz]

Agree re Liane Moriarty - her books pretty much fit your description perfectly.

[LucasNorthsTwiglets]

Ooh now that's interesting - Liane Moriarty was a name that came up when I was browsing on amazon but I'd never heard of her before.

[SatsukiKusakabe]

Where'd You Go Bernadette

[fufulina]

Shantaram

[BikeRunSki]

Anything by Douglas Kennedy.
Gripping stories, always with a female protagonist, often set against a significant political/historical background. Ignore the ridiculous girly covers. I'd start with A Special Relationship or The Pursuit of Happiness. Titles are also a bit twee, ignore them too.

[SanPel]

I definitely second Douglas Kennedy!

[thatsnotwaynesbasement]

Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels are perfect holiday reads if you ask me.

[PomBearWithAnOFRS]

"Here Be Dragons" by Sharon Penman is good - it's historical, but a fictionalised account of true events iyswim, and is a great read but easy to dip in and out of too.

[CheerfulYank]

I was also going to say Liane Moriarty...I loved Big Little Lies. Couldn't put it down!

[Oblomov17]

I too am looking for a holiday read. I need 3 really good books for my holiday.

I last read:

Sarah Waters : Paying guests.

khaled hosseini:
'A Thousand Splendid Suns', which I preferred to
'The Kite Runner'.

Let's talk about Kevin.

I thought all 4 were ok.

Any suggestions, please?

[Extua]

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. Really unusual. I read it twice which I rarely do.

I also love She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb.

[SPARKS17]

Agree with the recommendation for Big Little Lies but didn't enjoy her others as much as that one (it was the first Liane Moriarty I read and the best!).

On the same theme as gone girl and girl on a train I read both of Ruth Ware's books (UK writer) and really liked them, hers are In a Dark Dark Wood and The Woman in Cabin 10. Just finished The Couple Next Door which was great and Luckiest Girl Alive (although there is a very dark side to this book). Another UK writer I really enjoy along the same sort of theme is Lucie Whitehouse, The Bed I Made was a brilliant read.

[gruuumbleweec]

Dorothy Koomson The girl from Nowhere and the Light Between the Oceans.

[Clawdy]

Aren't We Sisters by Patricia Ferguson is brilliant.

[Nannplum666]

Just finished Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - loved and not too heavy going although can be sad in places.

[Sirrah]

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton is a good read, I often guess any twists way before the end but this one kept me guessing.