Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
What we're reading

Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

Original poster

Books you particularly enjoyed this year

27 replies

whatausername · 14/12/2023 15:01

Provincial Lady's Daughter (R.M. Dashwood) surprised me! Quite funny in some parts.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde) I liked a lot.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, at one point I thought it was the same navel-gazing every teen has with the exact same analysis every teen has but it got better and the twist surprised me.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Mohsin Hamid, I read in two days, something a bit different!

Edit: Stephen Chbosky was author of Wallflower. Had to go and search.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
rainbowmummy2023 · 20/12/2023 13:01

Best books this year:
Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Grams
The Lost Apothecary - Sarah Penner
It's a (Wo)man's World - Stella Beake
Cloud Cuckoo Land - Anthony Doerr

TimeIhadaNameChange · 20/12/2023 12:20

The Seven Sisters' series. Am saving the last one for after Christmas. Read so many FB posts about them I thought I'd try them, not thinking I'd really get on with them. I've been blown away. Not great literature, but so clever in a very subtle way.

Also enjoyed A Tidy Ending by Joanna Cannon, which I also thought was clever. The reader is led on a merry dance indeed!

Tornado70 · 19/12/2023 23:58

Remarkably Bright Creatures.
read it over the past few days. Loved it and it’s definitely my top book of the year.
Never knew I could love an octopus so much!

PandaPacer · 16/12/2023 07:06

My top five for the year - I think. Still going with Babel and The Count of Monte Cristo and hoping to finish both by the end of the year.

In no particular order .....

Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Angle of Repose - Wallace Stegner
Kristin Lavransdatter (I have only read books 1 and 2 so far) - Sigrid Undset (Tiina Nunally translation)
Trespasses - Louise Kennedy
Fingersmith - Sarah Waters

MsInterpret · 15/12/2023 19:25

Demon Copperhead

Hamnet by Maggie OFarrell

The Light in the Dark: A Winter Journal by Horatio Clare

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 15/12/2023 18:56

Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo
Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda
Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

To name a few

pharmachameleon · 15/12/2023 18:41

@AngryBirdsNoMore I listened to it on Audible. I may not have liked it so much if I read the actual book.

AngryBirdsNoMore · 15/12/2023 17:40

pharmachameleon · 15/12/2023 08:01

I loved Demon Copperhead. I finished it mouths ago and I still think about it regularly.
The Long Song by Andrea Levy. She deals with such a harrowing subject with grace and humour.
Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller. This was a great summer read.
Days Without End by Sebastian Barry.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. Loved this.

I hated Song of Achilles. I can’t remember why I hated it so much - read it back in January - but I actually get a bit cross every time I see it on my bookshelf 😂

chorusline79 · 15/12/2023 09:56

Thanks @AngryBirdsNoMore I will try that one. A place called Winter was my first Patrick Gale and I was captivated by his writing so will put that one on my list!

Mothership4two · 15/12/2023 09:30

I thought The Sealwoman's Gift by Sally Magnusson was a great read - based on a true story that I knew nothing about. I also read The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (very late to the party) which I had put off as I struggle with her plots/themes and absolutely loved it and can see what all the fuss is about.

I loved the Burial Rites by Hannah Kent which I read several years ago now and always recommend it.

EvilRingahBitch · 15/12/2023 08:04

I read all the Slough House series by Mick Herron. Lightly comic spy thrillers. Most fun reading I've had in years.

pharmachameleon · 15/12/2023 08:01

I loved Demon Copperhead. I finished it mouths ago and I still think about it regularly.
The Long Song by Andrea Levy. She deals with such a harrowing subject with grace and humour.
Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller. This was a great summer read.
Days Without End by Sebastian Barry.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. Loved this.

Flamango · 15/12/2023 07:41

Venemous Lumpsucker
Kill Your Friends

both brilliant.

mynameisnotmichaelcaine · 15/12/2023 07:17

*Kingsolver

mynameisnotmichaelcaine · 15/12/2023 07:17

Demon Copperhead by Barbara King silver
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter
Strong Female Character by Fern Brady
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
I'm Glad my Mom Died by Jeannette McCurdy
The Trees by Percival Everett
Toxic by Sarah Dictum

AngryBirdsNoMore · 15/12/2023 07:11

chorusline79 · 14/12/2023 15:04

Lady tans circle of women was a great read. Also really liked the Witches of Vardo, Shuggie Bain and a place called Winter by Patrick Gale.

I love a Place Called Winter! I read it a few years ago and still think of it sometimes.

I recommend Notes from an Exhibition if you liked Patrick Gale.

Rolypoly2961 · 15/12/2023 06:31

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
Strange Sally Diamond
The Rivers of London series
Babel

terraced · 15/12/2023 05:57

Following this thread as I haven't had much time to read this year (big house renovation which is almost done). I now have a snug/reading room to getting back into it. Thanks for the recommendations.

Flatandhappy · 15/12/2023 05:56

I have just finished John Boyd’s “Water” and loved it.

eandz13 · 14/12/2023 23:29

Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt - was suggested on a thread here and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

clpsmum · 14/12/2023 23:15

Strange sally diamond
Currently reading the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo and enjoying it much more than I expected to

Isthatascratchonmygrandmother · 14/12/2023 23:02

Blueschild Baby by George Cain

Cheeseplantalltheway · 14/12/2023 22:40

Foster by Claire Keegan

Original poster
whatausername · 14/12/2023 22:34

Blackcountryexile · 14/12/2023 22:30

The Windsor Knot, A Three Dog Problem and Murder Most Royal by S J Bennett
Trespass by Louise Kennedy
Kala by Colin Walsh

Oooh two of these are on my shelf! Three Dog Life and Windsor Knot.

OP posts:
Blackcountryexile · 14/12/2023 22:30

The Windsor Knot, A Three Dog Problem and Murder Most Royal by S J Bennett
Trespass by Louise Kennedy
Kala by Colin Walsh