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Original poster

recommend me an easy but addictive read

64 replies

avocadogreen · 17/04/2014 18:18

I need distraction. Going through a messy separation and I have found myself drawn to Closer magazine and Eastenders for light relief, ignoring my poor Kindle. It has to stop!

Can anyone recommend something fast-paced and entertaining, not too heavy, definitely not romance. Usually I love authors like Maggie O'Farrell, Audrey Niffenegger, Ian McEwan, Dave Eggers... I recently read Gone Girl and enjoyed that, also loved the new Bridget Jones.

OP posts:
Original poster
avocadogreen · 17/04/2014 21:20

Some great ideas thanks! I had forgotten aboit Jackson Brodie, I have read one or two of those before and quite liked them, and I also liked the tv series.

Cool, I can spend my evening researching books instead of composing hatemail to my ex that I never actually send...

OP posts:
EyelinerQueen · 17/04/2014 21:17

Oh YY to Rachel's Holiday! It's one of my desert island books.

I've read it 10+ times and every single time it has me crying my eyes out and laughing like an eejit. It's so good.

Ubik1 · 17/04/2014 21:14

Oh yy Marian Keyes - hugely underrated and always entertaining, particularly Rachel's Holiday, have read that a few times Blush

BikeRunSki · 17/04/2014 21:03

The Pursuit of Happiness - Douglas Kennedy
Ignore the girly cover, i was gripped, then read everything else he's written.

The Paris Wife - Paula McGlynn, semi biographical novel about Ernest Hemmingway's early career, had my up all night.

ilovenetmums · 17/04/2014 21:00

Louise bagshawe dead readable

stardusty5 · 17/04/2014 20:59

Was going to recommend Susan Hill and Kate Atkinson but i've been beaten!

The Cuckoo's Callingis the one that Jk rowling wrote under an alias (Robert Galbraith) i really enjoyed that. I notice its only £2 in kindlestore too!

MercuryRising · 17/04/2014 20:46

Also second the Jackson Brodie books.

PeteCampbellsRecedingHairline · 17/04/2014 20:45

Agree with Bill Bryson and The Detective's Daughter recommendations too.

I also raced through The Cuckoo's Calling by JK Rowling although a lot of people didn't like it.

BarbaraPalmer · 17/04/2014 20:42

Kate Atkinson - the Jackson Brodie ones. Just the right side of trashy.

Beastofburden · 17/04/2014 20:42

The Susan hill detective stories.

mymatemax · 17/04/2014 20:40

what about the Agatha Raisin mysteries, really easy read always with a little twist.

MercuryRising · 17/04/2014 20:38

Im reading The Likeness by Tana French and Im finding it to be a really good escape from the assignment I should be writingSmile

Cheboludo · 17/04/2014 20:12

Oops, I took too long to write my suggestions & cross-posted with virtually everyone! Grin

napoleonsnose · 17/04/2014 20:11

The Detective's Daughter and A Kind of Vanishing by Lesley Thompson
Any Jo Nesbo
The Light Between Oceans - M L Steadman

Cheboludo · 17/04/2014 20:11

I'd second Room and The Eyre Affair. Room was surprisingly uplifting and The Eyre Affair is hilarious.

Very light but readable recommendations would be Love, Nina, the Rosie Project, the Husband's Secret.

I hated Before I Go to Sleep because I thought there were way too many plotholes but I recently read ALex by Pierre le maître and it was amazing -one of the best crime novels I've read in a very long time (though it is quite graphic without being gratuitous.)

Other recommendations which aren't light or fluffy but are exceptionally good are The End of Everything by Megan Abbott, The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, Crooked letter, Crooked letter, any Angela Carter or Jeffrey Eugenides.

I find YA excellent for keeping my attention when I'm stressed or worried: the Hunger Games, The Northern Lights etc.

I hope things get better and less messy very soon.

MincingOnBy · 17/04/2014 20:10

Quick and easy light reads for chick lit/funny - Sophie kinsella, Marian Keyes, Jodi picoult, Alexandra potter - be careful what you wish for

Good thrillers - shutter island, the millennium trilogy by stieg Larsen if you haven't already read them, child 66 by Tom rob smith, Linwood Barclay, Sophie Hannah

I also second hunger games, and if you like those try divergent by Veronica Roth.

EyelinerQueen · 17/04/2014 20:09

Now that The Hunger Games has been mentioned I feel like I can recommend A Song of Ice and Fire without losing credibility Grin .

They are seriously addictive books. I read the lot in a couple of months and I was an absolute fantasy hater. I have never felt so completely immersed in a fictional world!

Ubik1 · 17/04/2014 20:04

I would rather read the DM website than read Eat Pray Love Grin

Ubik1 · 17/04/2014 20:03

I read alot on nightshift and it had to be reasonably easy and addictive so I don't resort to daily mail website instead.

I enjoyed The Hunger Games trilogy fir sheer escapism (which is what you need) also Stoner was good -nothi g really happens but it is beautifully write .

I also like Jon Ronson for a bit of popular journalism -The Psychopath Test and Themwere very good.

Oh also any Daphne Du Maurier -she is a master storyteller, Rebecca especially.

Also Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy -it is unputdownable and good quality writing: " Every man carries the seeds of his own destruction" never a truer word written.

mmack · 17/04/2014 20:02

Do you ever read crime? The Jo Nesbo Harry Hole books are very addictive and would keep you reading for weeks. Or The Passage by Justin Cronin. I couldn't put it down when I was reading it last year. Or any of the Curtis Sittenfeld books, all very readable and not romances.

SpringyReframed · 17/04/2014 20:01

The first book I managed to read in those dark days you're going through was Eat Pray Love. It really cheered me up. I then watched the film several times, and took up yoga Grin

5ofus · 17/04/2014 19:58

Wool by Hugh Howey.

Actually I think a teen read but it grabbed me.

Foosyerdoos · 17/04/2014 19:57

The Days of Anna Madrigal was released recently Avo, I re read the earlier ones recently in preparation but I am saving the new ones for my hols.

I also like Bill Bryson if I want something not to taxing and cheery.

Hiphopopotamus · 17/04/2014 19:57

The Hunger Games - written for adolescents, so very easy read. But very very addictive!

TurnOverTheTv · 17/04/2014 19:55

The Husbands Secret. Took me a day to read. I couldn't put it down!

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