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Original poster

Looking for recommendations that are a step up from chick lit but not too highbrow!

39 replies

VagueButExcitlng · 05/08/2016 15:52

I'm on holiday now. I've read an Anne Tyler book which I loved. I'm now reading Elizabeth is Missing. It's a bit too sobering for my current mood.

Any suggestions? Short and easy but not just a boring predictable rom com!

OP posts:
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Indiaplain · 14/08/2016 19:51

Yes, I agree the new Maggie O'Farrell one, this must be the place, is great.
Lisa Jewell and liane Moriarty are also really good.

wineoclockthanks · 14/08/2016 10:20

Anything by Adele Parks, good stories but thought provoking.

whitehandledkitchenknife · 13/08/2016 21:05

I second Sarah Dunnant and Sarah Waters. Also, anything by Louise Doughty. If you like scandi crime lit - Camilla Lackberg is great.

junebirthdaygirl · 13/08/2016 20:58

Came on to say anything by Maggie O Farrell. Great holiday reading.

travellinghopefully12 · 13/08/2016 20:56

I loved Monica Ali's Brick Lane. The size of it put me off picking up for years and years, but once I did I couldn't stop reading. Warm, and funny, and human and girly and glorious. I was sad when it ended, and still feel a little shipwrecked without it after lugging it around for weeks.

Thebooktrail · 08/08/2016 15:16

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Randomishusername · 07/08/2016 10:21

Just finished Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman and loved it - it's a "darkly comic family drama". Basically a good storyline, great characters and some very witty writing. I'd highly recommend.

TenarGriffiths · 07/08/2016 09:02

Have you read any Alice Hoffman?

Not difficult, but well written with some great storylines.

I'd recommend Practical Magic, The Probable Future, The Ice Queen or Here on Earth.

Cary2012 · 06/08/2016 20:55

Anything by Sarah Waters is good.

MissBattleaxe · 05/08/2016 22:19

Helen Dunmore is very good.

Katy92 · 05/08/2016 20:00

Not too sure if it's be classed as chick lit as such, but Girl On The Train is awesome!

flightywoman · 05/08/2016 20:00

What about Sarah Dunant? Historical, nicely researched, gripping, they're fab! Sacred Hearts is really good, and Blood and Beauty is all about the Borgias and is a cracking read.

CoodleMoodle · 05/08/2016 20:00

Anything by Mil Millington, especially Things My Girlfriend & I Have Argued About. I love it, it's my all time favourite book.

M1ssunderstood · 05/08/2016 19:57

Just what I was about to post! No 1 Lady Detective series excellent but can also be read standalone

jazzmin · 05/08/2016 19:56

Dorothy koomson books would fit the bill. The ice cream girls was made into a tv adaptation.

CalpolOnToast · 05/08/2016 19:55

I would try Anita Shreve or Barbara Kingsolver

ktjb39 · 05/08/2016 19:53

Try some of Alexander McCall Smith's books they are fantastic stories but lighthearted too.

carrotcakecupcake · 05/08/2016 19:45

Tasmina Perry is my guilty pleasure, but I prefer her older books including Original Sin, Daddy's Girls and Goldiggers. I also recently read the Rosie Project and loved it, there is a sequel called the Roaie Effect which is also quite sweet. I recently read Before I Go To Sleep at book group which was a really fast read and quite entertaining. I'm currently reading The Night Circus which is really good too.

slkk · 05/08/2016 19:38

Rowan Coleman is amazing. I also enjoy Dorothy koomson

Original poster
VagueButExcitlng · 05/08/2016 19:35

Thanks!

I've read the Rosie Project and We are all completely beside ourselves. Loved both of them.

I have downloaded miss pettigrew and also the Jane Austen book club by following a link from the author.

I'll come back to this thread if I finish them!

OP posts:
PolkadotsAndMoonbeams · 05/08/2016 18:27

Eva Ibbotsen - The Morning Gift, A Company of Swans, The Magic Flute, The Secret Countess, A Song for summer. They're marketed as YA now, but they're beautifully descriptive and just nice stories.

Jeffrey Archer - Not A Penny More, Not a Penny Less. Not chick lot, but easy to read (and very clever - it's a bit like The Thomas Crown Affair in a way).

seahorse106 · 05/08/2016 18:26

Anything by Diane Chamberlain

1WayOrAnother · 05/08/2016 18:21

The Rosie Project by Graham Simsion . Fabulous book, recommended it to all sorts of people. they all loved it. Laugh out loud, heart warming, fabulous book.

goodapple · 05/08/2016 18:17

Jenny Eclair's Life, Death and Vanilla Slices is great.

I really enjoyed reading In the Land of the Long White Cloud trilogy on my last holiday, nothing too taxing but a good (long) story.

neolara · 05/08/2016 18:10

Miss Pettigrew lives for a day. It's 1920's chick lit but a classic. So high-brow as well.....

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