Need a "good" book that will suck me in and hold my attention

Just recommended this on another thread, and doing so again with no apologies due to how much I loved this book.

Monica Ali's Brick Lane is fantastic. I was daunted by how big it was, but once I read the first page I was hooked. I haven't loved a book so much for ages, and I miss Nazneem (the central character) and the weight of it in my canvas bag which now feels sad and empty.

Seconding The Paris Wife. Also Cold Mountain, Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow (it's old), The Shepherd's Tale (James Rebanks, non fiction). Frederick Forsyth's autobiography is especially good at the beginning, and your OH if male, may enjoy it too but it's fairly lightweight.

Wolf Hall, if you haven't already!

The Poisonwood Bible
Either of Brady Udall's books - The Lonely Polygamist or The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint
Under the Jewelled Sky by Alison McQueen. Not read her other book The Secret Children but it's on my read list for this summer.
Anything by Diane Chamberlain or Denise Mina but they might fall into the trashy category!

Cold Mountain, Charles Frazer.
Secret History, Donna Tartt
Revolutionary Road and Easter Parade, Richard Yates.

Book mark

I also have similar taste to you. Highly recommend Jonathan Franzen. Both 'The Corrections' and 'freedom' are brilliant.

Jamaica Inn is fab SwedishEdith. In fact you could get stuck in to any Daphne DuMaurier OP, eg The House on the Strand is totally gripping.

I always mention an Instance of the Fingerpost and Quincunx- both proper gripping books 😊

I like Douglas Kennedy as well but assumed they were a bit trashy

Best recently was Jamaica Inn

A Little Life and The Goldfinch are two of my favourites OP. Also Secret History Donna Tartt), the God of Small Things Arundhati Roy) and A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry).

I would really recommend Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt. Absolutely gorgeous sad yet life affirming book with some wonderful characters. If you fancy something a bit funnier then I love The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson. It's about the grown up children of these terrible and monumentally up their own backsides conceptual artists. I thought it was brilliant, and I love a lot of the books you mention in your op.

Depending on what genre you like..ive read all of the following and really enjoyed them. Anything written by Curtis Sittenfield
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Post Birthday World by Lionel Shriver
The Narrow Road to the Deep North
A Thousand Splendid Sun's
anything by Kate Morton

I was also going to recommend The Passage. It's part of a trilogy which has some hit or miss bits but is largely excellent

southern I'm reading Fates and Furies atm and it's not holding my attention...does it get better?

Been mentioned previously but Life after Life and God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson are both really gripping, especially GIR- I still think about it every now and again, so good!

Have you read any Michael Cunningham (e.g. The Hours) or Ann Patchett (Bel Canto).

These definitely fit the brief

As does any Kate Atkinson, Sarah Waters, Maggie O'Farrell (The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox), Jonathan Coe (The Rotters Clib), Rohinton Mistry, Patrick Gale, Jon McGregor, Elizabeth Taylor (Angel).

I recently read The Lake House by Kate Morton which I really enjoyed.

The passage is amazing. Its sequel the twelve much less so.

Sounds like you have very similar taste to me OP.

Have you read any Maggie O'Farrell? I have read all of hers and really enjoyed this year's 'This Must be the Place'. Also this year I've liked 'The Life and Death of Sophie Stark', and 'Black Swan Green', which was an older David Mitchell I hadn't read before (love his others too).

Last year I whizzed through all the Poldark novels after being mesmerized by Aidan Turner's scything on TV, and I'm a big fan of the Game of Thrones aka 'Song of Ice and Fire' series although ususally I stick to modern lit.

Have you joined Goodreads? I get a lot of my recommendations from there. If you add books you've read and give them a rating of 1 to 5 stars it will suggest other books you might enjoy.

I hated that Ove book

The writing was very clichéd. The bloke reminded me if my dad (arsey bastard who didn't mind who he insulted). I took it on holiday to read (after recommendations on here) and left it in the apartment library with the other tosh

I really enjoyed the Ove book mentioned above and have exactly the same concentration issue!

I'm reading East of Eden and it's fascinating.

Weatherland is next on my list.

Fates and furies - Lauren Groff. Similar feel to A Little Life, although the plot was very different.

Anything by Douglas Kennedy - I've never been able to out any of his books down. A Special Relationship was the first one I read. State of the Union had me up all night reading. *The Heat of Betrayal^ had me totally gripped one lunchtime, I had to flexi the afternoon off!!

Other authors -"The Paris Wife" by Paula McLain. Fascinating novelisation of Ernest Hemmingway's early years as an author in France and Spain during the "Belle Epoque". Didn't think I'd like it when a friend recommended it, but I loved it.

Poison wood Bible - not Kingswood, see, I am rubbish