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Original poster

Can someone please recommend a wonderful book!

39 replies

Nowillpowerarall · 09/05/2023 18:31

Something that will totally grip me straightway but thats also really well-written.
Thank you

OP posts:
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clpsmum · 14/05/2023 09:45

Two I e read this year that I just couldn't put down were
The girl you lost
Strange sally diamond

SometimesNine · 12/05/2023 11:30

The vanishing of Margaret Small. If you have Amazon Prime, it's currently free.

MrsNS17 · 12/05/2023 11:15

All Donna Tartt - my fav is The Goldfinch. Read it almost in one go, couldn't put it down.
The Lacuna - Barbara Kingsolver
Strike novels - Robert Galbraith (aka J K Rowling)

For something lighter, but still really good and easy to get into, I'd look to Persephone Books. If you phone them they're usually really good at suggesting something :) Off the top of my head, my favourites are: Miss Buncle's Book, The Home Maker, Patience, The Priory, Milton Place...there are definitely more!

MarkWithaC · 12/05/2023 11:04

Anything by Sarah Waters, although my personal favourites are Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith.

I second Demon Copperhead; could not put it down. Kingsolver is brilliant generally.

Original poster
Nowillpowerarall · 11/05/2023 09:42

Thank you all!
Behind the scenes at the museum is a great book.
I've started American Dirt, absolutely gripped!

OP posts:
carbuncleonapigsposterior · 10/05/2023 21:58

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver - Absolutely my best book so far this year. Agree with some of the others mentioned here, most notably American Dirt, The Heart's Invisible Furies, Blind Assassin and Alias Grace, all wonderful.

endofthelinefinally · 10/05/2023 21:57

The Pillars of the Earth. Ken Follett.
The Coroner's Lunch. Colin Cotterill.

heymammy · 10/05/2023 21:56

I've just finished Moloka'i by Alan Brennert, wasn't a book I had ever heard of but picked it up in a charity shop...brilliant find, loved it from start to finish.

lanawinters · 10/05/2023 21:54

Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors
The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis are two that I have just read and loved.
Both completely different though!!

Eloradannin2nd · 10/05/2023 21:53

Alys, Always by Harriet Lane, and Her also by Harriet Lane.

runo103 · 10/05/2023 21:52

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue! One of the best books I've read in years.

Panicmode1 · 10/05/2023 21:49

A Fine Balance - Rohinton Misrty or The Hearts Invisible Furies would be my top two. Concur with Elizabeth Strout as a recommendation, too. Oh and The Night Circus if you haven't read it.

Doobydoo · 10/05/2023 21:46

Anything by kate Atkinson...but go for Behind the Scenes at the Museum.
We need to talk about Kevin
Revolutionary Road

SiouxsieSiouxStiletto · 10/05/2023 21:43

TragicMuse · 09/05/2023 18:49

Old Filth by Jane Gardam
Anything by Dorothy Whipple
Any Human Heart by William Boyd
Sacred Voices by Sarah Dunant
Blood and Beauty, also Sarah Dunant
The Floating Book by Michelle Lovric
Across The Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn

Oh I do like a Sarah Dunant Wink

waltzingparrot · 10/05/2023 20:55

I read Perfect by Rachel Joyce 6months ago and I'm still thinking about it now. The mother character was so brittle - so well written.

FuckoffeeBeforeCoffee · 10/05/2023 20:26

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

Creepybookworm · 10/05/2023 20:16

Little by Edward Carey. Its the most gripping book I have read for ages.

Original poster
Nowillpowerarall · 10/05/2023 18:43

Thank you

OP posts:
ThreeKneeRepeater · 10/05/2023 12:12

All My Mothers, and The Other Half of Augusta Hope.
Both by Joanna Glen. Beautifully written proper stories.

Original poster
Nowillpowerarall · 10/05/2023 09:57

Thank you all!

OP posts:
4LeafClover21 · 10/05/2023 01:44

"Piece of cake" by Cupcake Brown true story and hard to put down.

blackpearwhitelilies · 10/05/2023 01:36

Elizabeth Strout is wonderful, as is Anne Tyler.
totally agree about Dorothy Whipple - brilliant.

MagpieCastle · 10/05/2023 01:34

Still life by Sarah Winman and The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn - both are immersive and have great characterisation.

Nat6999 · 10/05/2023 01:21

If you like political type books I'm reading Alastair Campbell's diaries from when he was a Labour spin doctor, it's a cross between a political thriller & true life, I can't put them down.

FoFanta · 09/05/2023 21:57

I second The Hearts Invisible Furies. Absolutely brilliant story.
Anything by Maggie O'Farrell - each of her books is better than the last. Amazing writer.
I'm a big Margaret Atwood fan - the Blind Assassin, Cats Eye and Alias Grace all fantastic reads.

Barkskins by Annie Proulx is good if you want a big sprawling epic story.
I know Barbara Kingsolver has a new one out, but from her back catalogue I would recommend Prodigal Summer or The Lacuna

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