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Original poster

Help me decide on a book to take on holiday next week

163 replies

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 06/04/2014 15:45

A real, live book - not Kindle. Has to be one I've not read before and has to be big. Ideally it will - be well written without being literary, have either a who-dunnit or historical or dystopian or apocalyptic element to it, or indeed all of those.

Things that would tick those boxes but that I've already read are:
Anything by Wilkie Collins
The Passage / The Twelve
CJ Sansom's Shardlake books
This Thing of Darkness

Don't fancy sci-fi at the moment and don't want anything in the best seller lists.

Thanks in advance.

OP posts:
Johnogroats · 10/04/2014 17:14

I am holiday and reading Donna Tartt's Goldfinch. It's brilliant!

booksshoescats · 10/04/2014 17:04

And what about Curtis Sittenfeld? All of hers are fantastic. Prep and American Wife are amazing; The Man of My Dreams is a bit like Jeffrey Eugenides' The Marriage Plot (but better, imho). Haven't read Sisterland yet but it's next in line. She's definitely one of my favourite authors. I'm know she would be described as literary, but she's so so readable - pure pleasure.

CheckpointCharlie · 10/04/2014 17:01

Ben Aaronavitch books, Rivers of London is the first one I think.
Jasper Fforde -Shades of Grey.
Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness. If you got all them you would read them all in one week they are all awesome!

booksshoescats · 10/04/2014 16:59

Just had another thought - I'm reading Dave Eggers' The Circle. Everyone I know has loved it - and it is most definitely dystopian. Can't put it down - it's so sinister.

widdle · 10/04/2014 02:06

Can't remember the author (it was a while ago) but loved Skippy Dies about a boys school. Very big tome, funny and heartbreaking.

enjoy your hols!

Ewieindwie1 · 09/04/2014 23:03

I'm coming late to this thread which I have really enjoyed reading but could I second the nomination of Kate Atkinson's Life After Life? I didn't enjoy Behind the Scenes but Life After Life is extraordinary and plays with your mind. Please give it a go - it's genuinely unputdownable.

Original poster
RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 09/04/2014 21:12

Have read, "An Instance of the Fingerpost" too, but found it all rather wearing and didn't feel it offered a great deal for the investment in it. A shame, as it should have been right up my street.

OP posts:
Original poster
RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 09/04/2014 21:10

Read all three of those. Didn't like The Corrections much, Stone's fall had a stupid ending, liked The Passage and The Twelve.

EvelynJ - what do you mean by modernist? A lot of my v favourites are classics (Austen, Wilkie Collins) and my other favourites involve quite a few Stephen King books, plus Lolita and A Clockwork Orange. Tbh though, I'm preferring non-fiction more and more.

OP posts:
eastfield10 · 09/04/2014 13:45

The Passage - Justin Cronin?

Suedonim · 08/04/2014 22:59

Stone's Fall by Iain Pears? www.amazon.co.uk/Stones-Fall-Iain-Pears/dp/0099516179. He also has an earlier book which I found hard to put down.

evelynj · 08/04/2014 21:49

The corrections? Can't actually remember any 'big books' that I've read- I tend to read about 5 normal ones on holiday.

Please OP could you list your top 10 or 20 modernist novel recommendations if you wouldn't mind as I like your selectivity ;)

Original poster
RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 08/04/2014 17:54

Thank you all.

The Book Thief - read / like
The Road - read/nowhere near as good as The Stand!
What about The Suspicions of Mr Whicher - read

Really don't like Kate Atkinson.

Game of Thrones - read the 1st 2 and like the idea but hate the writing.

Read most of Peter Carey's, and The Iliad. Read (and hated) A Fine Balance and The Quincunx. Read one of the Shakespeare ones and didn't get on well with it.

Googling the rest now. Agh - I have read too many books and I am too bloody awkward.

OP posts:
bumpertobumper · 08/04/2014 11:52

Another vote for Shantaram... very good read

paperclip2 · 08/04/2014 11:19

Darkmans is a good choice.

InkandPaper · 08/04/2014 10:27

My suggestion would be Darkmans by Nicola Barker. Although it's written by a woman, it's long (838 pages) and definitely has supernatural elements to it without being sci-fi. It was shortlisted for the Booker in 2007- does that necessarily make it too literary?!

Review in the Guardian www.theguardian.com/books/2007/may/05/featuresreviews.guardianreview3

QueenAnneofAustria · 08/04/2014 08:29

Remus- I don't have a suggestion abd I see MrsBungle loved The Lighthouse, but erm it was dark boring the saving grace was that it was short and different.

LillianGish · 08/04/2014 08:22

Sorry that should be The Quincunx (spell check wants to make it plural for some reason!).

LillianGish · 08/04/2014 08:20

The Quincunxes by Charles Palliser - an absolute doorstop of a book. One of my absolute faves.

Ludways · 07/04/2014 22:43

I love the shardlake books and wanted something similar as Samson takes so long to write a book, lol. I tried the Shakespeare books by Rory Clememts, the first book wasn't great but they just keep getting better, I thoroughly enjoy them. There's 6 books now.

Swoosg · 07/04/2014 22:33

I dislike the same books as you - have got through The Goldfinch but don't recommend it!

For big books, A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry is amazing (though not cheery) and based in 70s India. Or Devil's Acre by Jonathan Bastable - for a mix of Russian history, a Cold War love story and beautiful writing.

notnowImreading · 07/04/2014 22:29

Or The Iliad? They don't get bigger, more historical or more manly. The Song of Achilles is a likeable read but the original is the best. (The fact that it repeatedly refers to Hector's flashing helmet is in no way the best thing about it. Oh no.)

LeBearPolar · 07/04/2014 22:22

Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth?

notnowImreading · 07/04/2014 22:22

Or something by Peter Carey? Oscar and Lucinda is historical and harrowing but not hardgoing.

LeBearPolar · 07/04/2014 22:21

I'm assuming you've done Game of Thrones et al...eye-wateringly manly Grin

notnowImreading · 07/04/2014 22:16

You didn't like The Crimson Petal and the White, did you?

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