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Original poster

Easy to read book that isn't a love story

62 replies

Adollop · 24/10/2019 18:57

I'm looking for a new book. I loved Eleanor Oliphant and also just finished The Lido, great book.

So long for something like that, not keen on love stories these days. I'm in my fifties and find them a bit sickly. I've enjoyed a lot of Marian Keyes books, also Lisa Jewell, although not as much her latest ones. I prefer books set in Britain.

So what have you read recently and enjoyed that fits the bill?

OP posts:
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Mothership4two · 08/11/2019 04:06

The Braid by Laetitia Colombani
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Original poster
Adollop · 30/10/2019 21:48

Ooh I read and loved Bad Girls, Good Wives a long time ago! I'll look at her others.

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Butterisbest · 30/10/2019 18:42

Winter Solstice by Rosamund Pilcher and all her other books too.
All books written by by Marcia Willett.

Beebumble2 · 30/10/2019 18:31

Anything by Rosie Thomas, she has written several books, all very well researched and in a variety of content.
My favourites were The Cashmere Shawl, White, Bad girls Good wives and Iris and Ruby.

Another good author is the American Anne Tyler. A Spool of Blue thread, The Clock Winder and Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant are good.

Daddystilllost · 27/10/2019 01:03

Max Pemberton "Trust me, I'm a (Junior) Doctor

Absolutely brilliant! So so funny too

Original poster
Adollop · 26/10/2019 22:36

Thanks, I've just downloaded some more sample chapters Grin

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Papergirl1968 · 26/10/2019 22:02

Oh yes, Jeffrey Archer writes a good book.
Does anyone else walk up to a random shelf in the library and make themselves choose a book off it? It’s a good way of discovering new authors.

Cathpot · 26/10/2019 18:57

Liked lots of these - Circe, Man called
Ove, night circus . First 15 lives of Harry August is good but involves reliving the same life so could count as sci fi although that is the only woo bit about it, the rest is set in normal life . I
just read the boy and his dog at the end of the world. Written from the point of view of a young teen- not a love story quite gentle, easy read, set after a sort of benign apocalypse . Also the seal woman’s gift which is the best book I’ve read in ages but not easy emotionally.

BernardBlacksWineIceLolly · 26/10/2019 18:47

How about Ben Elton’s Identity Crisis
I whipped through that recently

FranneKipankinstein · 26/10/2019 18:40

I liked ' The Night Circus' too. How about 'Power' by Naomi Alderman .
I also like to re-read classics like Huckleberry Finn .

NeedingCoffee · 26/10/2019 18:36

I’ve loved many of the above (Rosie project, Eleanor Oliphant, Cazolet Chronicles), and also love the Lovely Lane series by Nadine Dorries, and the Clifton Chronicles by Jeffery Archer. The latter hugely unfashionable I’m sure, but such good stories, incredibly easy to read, and a whole series to lose yourself in without having to “get to know” new characters.

Original poster
Adollop · 26/10/2019 18:23

Thanks Mother, I'll have a look.

OP posts:
MotherForkinShirtBalls · 26/10/2019 17:24

How about The Night Circus? More magical than sci fi but a lovely read.

Original poster
Adollop · 26/10/2019 15:46

I've read some Jenny Eclair Eclairs and enjoyed then, but don't recognise that one. I'll look at the Graham Norton one too.

I'm not keen on sci-fi books.

Yes, The Shell Seekers is wonderful, I've reread it many times.

I've read and enjoyed This is Going to Hurt.

I'll look for the Rosie Project sequels.

Thanks everyone, I'll look at all the suggestions.

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AnnaNimmity · 26/10/2019 15:25

My sister the serial killer
Convenience store woman

I loved Circe

Crystal87 · 26/10/2019 15:11

The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon and the Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan were a couple I really enjoyed a while ago.

InvisibleWomenMustBeRead · 26/10/2019 14:08

Baking cakes in Kigali was also very good.

Deecaff · 26/10/2019 13:41

Reading The Word is Murder and have read Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz- both whodunnits but with an original angle on the genre.

MotherForkinShirtBalls · 26/10/2019 12:50

I've just reread The Shell Seekers. A big, comforting, winter day book.

Shockers · 26/10/2019 12:02

I was also going to suggest Graham Norton as easy reads.

I enjoyed Elenor Oliphant too OP.

BigFatLiar · 26/10/2019 11:55

May not be your scene but you could try
We Never Make Mistakes, or/and
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch
both by Solzhenitsyn

I was a bit doubtful about reading Solzhenitsyn but actually enjoyed most of his books (same with Steinbeck & Hemingway)

Just give authors a try. Sometimes you find yourself enjoying the most unlikely reads.

Tried any Sci-Fi (even if you don't like fantasy, some sc-fi is good)

squashyhat · 26/10/2019 10:25

The Woman at the Window by Jenny Eclair and The Keeper by Graham Norton. I usually give celebrity authors the swerve but these are quite well written and enjoyed by my book club (although the very end of The Keeper is a cop-out).

Tableclothing · 26/10/2019 10:25

Would you read non-fiction?

The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery is fab. She's a naturalist who develops an interest in the titular creature. The book is quite episodic, and she describes lots of amazing things about octopuses, her learning to scuba dive and then diving to see octopuses in the wild, getting to know some (they definitely have individual personalities) in an aquarium, pen portraits of some of the people she meets along the way. It's a very readable, enjoyable, often funny book.

highheelsandwitcheshats · 26/10/2019 10:19

Of Mice and Men is excellent, short and easy to read in terms of being taxing, but it does stay with you afterwards.
This Is Going To Hurt is laugh out loud funny but takes a dark turn.

I enjoyed The Cornershop in Cocklebury Bay by Nicola May. It's the first in a series, but I didn't like the second one.

BigFatLiar · 26/10/2019 08:58

Not particularly long but I enjoyed it
'Of Mice and Men' Steinbeck