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Original poster

What have you read recently that was AMAZING?

82 replies

JemimaMuddledUp · 28/12/2016 16:49

Looking for recommendations to add to my list for 2017.

My favourite recent reads are:
Shylock is my Name - Howard Jacobson
A Week in December - Sebastian Faulks
The Muse - Jessie Burton

What have you loved and why?

OP posts:
auberginesrus · 08/01/2017 23:57

My friend gave me a copy Peripheral Vision by Patricia Ferguson for my birthday in October and I have read it over Christmas/New Year. Not a new book, was published in 2007 i think. Can't recommend it enough, it follows a cast of characters in the 1950s and 1990s and how their lives intertwine. It's about coincidences and families and love. It's brilliant.

Destinysdaughter · 08/01/2017 15:10

Agree Americanah and The Power were both excellent, thought provoking reads.

Tarahumara · 08/01/2017 15:05

The last two books I read that were amazing were A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra and Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver.

user1475253854 · 08/01/2017 13:22

I second The goldfinch, room and americanah.

HelenaJustina · 08/01/2017 12:03

All the Light I Cannot See
The Dovekeepers
A God in Ruins

SeaweedSa1ad · 08/01/2017 11:47

Oh, I read that Celeste Ng last year and loved it too blueberry. Also loved loved loved "A Little Life".

Just finished "The Blazing World" by Siri Husvedt which was very good, but not sure I loved it.

I read Elena Ferrante's "A Brilliant Friend" recently, but definitely didn't love it and won't be continuing with the rest of them.

blueberry2310 · 08/01/2017 11:40

I've just read everything I never told you by Celeste ng. Was really good.

Wheelycote · 08/01/2017 11:14

Piulling up a seat and taking note....haven't found a good book in ages!

Feckinlego · 08/01/2017 11:09

Try 'schtum' by Jeremy lester, fabulous.

absolutelynotfabulous · 03/01/2017 17:32

I've just read How Green Was My Valley again. It's a lovely book, and captures Victorian South Wales beautifully.

Also read Secret History, and found it gripping not sure why, as the characters are arseholes.

cloudchasing · 03/01/2017 17:25

Ooh I'll put that on my list Vallar I read The Accident by the same author last year and really liked it.

VallarMorghulis · 03/01/2017 17:09

I've just finished The lie by CL Taylor and really enjoyed it.

JudithTaverner · 03/01/2017 16:30

ooh I've got that in my unread pile Piebald - I may read it next

slug · 03/01/2017 16:12

"The Power" by Naomi Alderman. What happens when women evolve the power to deliver electrical shocks to men

piebald · 03/01/2017 16:12

A place called winter by Patrick Gale is by far the best book i read last year

cloudchasing · 03/01/2017 16:07

I've just finished Room and absolutely loved it. Best book I've read for ages! Don't know whether to watch the film or not, I think I might be disappointed.

jimijack · 03/01/2017 16:03

I enjoyed the girl on the train, haven't read anything really good in ages though unfortunately.

Trooperslane · 03/01/2017 15:58

I captured the castle is the most amazing, lovely book.

I'm reading Jeeves and Wooster for the first time. Also love Evelyn Waugh - the sarcasm is hilarious.

Jemimapuddleduk · 03/01/2017 15:40

Lie with me Sabine Durrant- a really excellent psychological thriller with a male as the narrator and main character (most of the thrillers I have read always have a woman as the main lead).

JudithTaverner · 03/01/2017 15:39

I read All the Light We Cannot See too and really enjoyed it - one of my best books of 2016.

Also really loved A Little Life, enjoyed Americanah and Bernadette too.

SatsukiKusakabe · 03/01/2017 15:36

I really liked Bernadette.

KeithLeMonde · 03/01/2017 15:21

I loved Americanah - genuinely made me think afresh about race and identity, as well as being very readable, funny and lots of mouth-watering descriptions of Nigerian food (resolution for 2017, visit a Nigerian restaurant).

I was very moved by Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal. I've never really read anything by Winterson before, and thought she was a bit of an arse, but the writing was beautiful and the story of her adoption and depression was both heart-breaking and uplifting in different ways.

On a much lighter note, I finally got round to reading Where'd You Go, Bernadette? which was funny and clever - snarky but warm-hearted.

SatsukiKusakabe · 03/01/2017 15:17

Last two books I've finished All the Light We Cannot See and The Essex Serpent, both very good reads and would recommend.

thriftymrs · 03/01/2017 14:27

I came very late to it as it's a classic, but just read 'I Capture the Castle' by Dodie Smith (who also, as I discovered, wrote '101 Dalmations'). It's funny and smart and I didn''t want it to end. I also really enjoyed '84 Charing Cross Road' by Helene Hanff - funny and insightful true story of the American author's correspondence with a bookshop at that address post-World War II. Really engaging and just lovely, feel-good writing. Can't recommend highly enough.

DementedUnicorn · 28/12/2016 23:18

I read a few Louise Jensen thrillers lately and enjoyed them.

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