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Original poster

Ok so I am on a plane for 27 hours - what shall I read?

39 replies

flagging · 06/05/2011 15:52

I need a few really unputdownable/page turning books that easy to read (no Kafka please) but not crap fiction either. Last time I did a huge flight I read Angela's Ashes and before that Twilight! Any suggestions as I spent ages in Waterstones yesterday and didn't buy a thing. Grin

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Ruthie32 · 28/05/2011 23:10

Flagging - would love to know how you get on with The Climb

WorzselMummage · 28/05/2011 20:53

He last book I read and really enjoyed was Ken Folletts Pillars of The Earth.

Mellowfruitfulness · 28/05/2011 20:48

Wild Swans by Jung Chang helped me through pre-eclampsia - effectively took my mind off it. It's an autobiographical account of three generations of women in China, before and during the Cultural Revolution.

UltimateTurkey · 28/05/2011 20:44

Try Shantaram - one of the best books I have ever read and it kept me engrossed on a long haul

BlackSwan · 28/05/2011 20:41

Try reading the side of a packet of Valium for 5-10 mins then sleep for the rest of the journey. Be sure to ask someone to check you're still breathing before everyone disembarks.

allegrageller · 28/05/2011 15:31

I suggest Sophie Hannah's books. Intelligent, readable, gripping.

VivaLeBeaver · 28/05/2011 15:22

Just thought - White Spider by Herinich Harrer. If you liked Touching The Void then you'd like this one.

VivaLeBeaver · 28/05/2011 15:20

Joe Simpsons other books are fab - This Game of Ghosts been my favourite. Its like reading about my youth of climbing in the Peak District, hanging round Sheffield, going out to the Alps. Love it.

PieMistress · 28/05/2011 13:04

If you like Touching the Void try Andy Kirkpatrick's Psychovertical.

Would also recommend Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet

Original poster
flagging · 16/05/2011 21:56

Have just ordered The Climb. Read reviews of Book Thief but I don't like Holocaust literature (Primo Levi finished me off) so not sure it is for me.

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typsical · 16/05/2011 19:22

Anything by Lesley Pearse! I love her work. Favourites are 'Trust Me' and 'Hope'. But they are all fab! I think you should make room for one more in your luggage! :)

pirateparty · 16/05/2011 15:23

Haven't finished it yet but if you like an epic 800 pager The Crimson Petal and the White is good so far...

Also Wolf Hall for another good, long book....

Ruthie32 · 16/05/2011 15:16

Flagging and Pounamu - if you liked Touching the Void I would read any about the disaster on Everest in 1996. They'll make you cry but are gripping. I liked Boukreev's the best but there are many

Pounamu · 15/05/2011 22:35

Ah yes Touching the Void. My DH and I have both read that one, except he read it on the Tube while commuting to work. Picture smartly dressed suited man sitting on the Tube holding a book with one hand, while other hand is clasped over his face in disbelief and horror at what Joe Simpson went through. Fantastic reading though...

I will also second (third, fourth, whatever) The Book Thief, another great read

Original poster
flagging · 15/05/2011 22:21

Yes love non fiction ruthie. Have read Touching the Void - it was very good.

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Ruthie32 · 15/05/2011 19:16

I really liked American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld, and also The Book Thief but be warned, that made be ball my eyes out so might depend if you're okay crying on the plane!

I really enjoyed The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton and Under the Dome by Stephen King too

Do you like non-fiction? I love Everest/climbing books, Climb by Anatoli Boukreev is really good and so is Touching The Void

Original poster
flagging · 11/05/2011 14:45

Ok so I went out this morning and bought A Thousand Splendid Suns, Winters Bone, The Passage and Fine Balance. My hand luggage is going to weight a ton.

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ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 09/05/2011 17:36

I didn't like 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' tbh. I thought it was overly cartoonish in its depiction of the 'villain' husband. Sensation without style.

sprinkles77 · 09/05/2011 10:45

the leaflet in the packet of sleeping pills before you fall deeply asleep!

Original poster
flagging · 09/05/2011 10:42

Have read The Kite Runner but not A Thousand Splendid Suns.

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stabiliser15 · 08/05/2011 20:32

Oooh yes, The Kite Runner. And also A Thousand Splendid Suns.

ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 08/05/2011 20:03

That helps, yes! Have you read The Kite Runner? It's probably not long enough though.

Itsjustafleshwound · 08/05/2011 19:52

TTW and Millenium trilogy are really marmite books - I really hated both

I really enjoy the Sansom series

Original poster
flagging · 08/05/2011 19:49

Well I have to google the lot of them as many I had never heard of Blush but I will get The Time Travellers Wife and the Book Thief.

I have read the Millenium Trilogy (and I have to be honest got bored half way through number 2 and limped through it and last one). Sorry sarsa but I hated Alias Grace and only read first 100 pages. And Harry Potter has just never appealed (am I being shortsighted?)

I need to be gripped early or I can't be bothered with books. Winter in Madrid sounds interesting but I know nothing about CJ Sansom.

Recently read Water for Elephants and Book Seller of Kabul and loved them. Does that help?

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ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 08/05/2011 17:49

Tell us which ones you like the sound of so far then, so we're not shooting in the dark. :)

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