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Original poster

Is there a (fiction) novel that is universally acclaimed and loved?

116 replies

JMSA · 17/01/2024 18:45

Looking for book recommendations for a book group I've just joined. I'm a little nervous about putting forward my first title, as I really don't know these people very well. I'm thinking it makes sense to 'play it safe' with my first choice of book. It has to be fiction and not onerously long. Max 400 pages.
We've just finished Hidden Windows by Jason Rekulak.
Group is mostly made up of secondary school English teachers, so something a wee bit different would be good, as the Classics will have been covered!

Thank you very much Smile

OP posts:
ReJoyce · 17/01/2024 20:58

The Loney - Andrew Hurley

Mothership4two · 17/01/2024 20:56

I wasn't overly impressed by the ACOTAR series. Books one and two were OK but I felt it nosedived after that

madeleine85 · 17/01/2024 20:54

The ACOTAR series by Sarah J Maas is getting rave reviews right now. I love anything in the 3 series she has written. They are fiction, and it is very clever how she has woven all three series together into her "world". Highly recommend, but expect to be reading for months on end as there are so many to get through :).

MadamVastra · 17/01/2024 20:48

Oh sorry also

Midwinter Break by Bernard MacLaverty

MadamVastra · 17/01/2024 20:46

Blackwater Lightship by Colm Toibin

similarminimer · 17/01/2024 20:44

Trespasses by louise Kennedy. Beautiful, 380p, the main character is a teacher, heartbreaking, set in the Troubles in NI, lots to talk about, morally ambivalent. Ignore all other recommendations

NoraLuka · 17/01/2024 20:37

Miss Benson’s beetle by Rachel Joyce. I’m not sure how well known it is but the people I know who have read it liked it, and one of them doesn’t even like reading usually.

İcantusethat · 17/01/2024 20:37

The Mad Women's Ball by Victoria Mas

Foster by Claire Keegan

NooNakedJacuzziness · 17/01/2024 20:36

Not Piranesi - I thought it was a load of pretentious guff! Some will love it, some will hate it.

myphoneisbroken · 17/01/2024 20:33

Lolly Willowes by Silvia Townsend Warner was another huge hit in our book club

The Wall by Marlen Haushofer is a very unusual book and unlikely to have been read by most people

Worthalltheyears · 17/01/2024 20:31

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.

myphoneisbroken · 17/01/2024 20:31

Brideshead Revisited - is also a brilliant audiobook read by Jeremy Irons

Second the suggestion of Passing by Nella Larson, that went down brilliantly at our book group.

EdithGrantham · 17/01/2024 20:30

Oh yes to Flowers for Algernon too. I also really liked The Bees by Laline Paull, not sure if it's universally liked but it was unusual and really stuck with me

Sundaefraise · 17/01/2024 20:29

Music and silence by Rose Tremain is excellent. I think some of these such as ‘The Kite Runner’ will already have been read by your group.

Mothership4two · 17/01/2024 20:28

The Poisonwood Bible is a favourite of mine, but I wouldn't suggest it for book club because it's massive

TygerPassant · 17/01/2024 20:26

NinetyNineRedBalloonsGoBy · 17/01/2024 20:21

These were my exact words!
Also "The Poisonwood Bible"

Signed: another English teacher

Show quote history

I also think The Poisonwood Bible is one of Barbara Kingsolver’s weaker novels — I love her earlier stuff, and Prodigal Summer!

CatChant · 17/01/2024 20:26

Frost in May by Antonia White
The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald
Unexplained Laughter by Alice Thomas-Ellis
The Shooting Party by Isabel Colegate
No Talking after Lights by Angela Lambert
English Passengers by Matthew Kneale
Little Boy Lost by Marghanita Laski
The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West

Isthiscorrect · 17/01/2024 20:25

My favourite book last year (retired school librarian) was A terrible kindness by Jo Browning Wroe.

Another book I really enjoyed was Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi, an Omani author. Panchenko was good. Reread the Far Pavillions after many many years. Absolute pile of enjoyable tosh. A sweeping epic they might say.

The Joy luck club by Amy Tan. It's written from an interesting point of view based int he game of mahjong.

NinetyNineRedBalloonsGoBy · 17/01/2024 20:21

impressivelycunty · 17/01/2024 19:36

I've never met anyone who didn't love The Heart's Invisible Furies...

These were my exact words!
Also "The Poisonwood Bible"

Signed: another English teacher

HuntingoftheSnark · 17/01/2024 20:16

I love lots of these suggestions but I would go with A Passage to India - Forster.

Mothership4two · 17/01/2024 20:16

Off the top of my head, the books that were universally enjoyed at my book clubs over the past few years were:

The Braid by Laetitia Colombani
The Penguin Lessons by Tom Michell
Any Human Heart by William Boyd
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri
Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

Joanna Cannon books always go down well too

Zephyry · 17/01/2024 20:12

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters- I only recently read for the first time and thought it would be good book club material

TygerPassant · 17/01/2024 20:11

impressivelycunty · 17/01/2024 19:36

I've never met anyone who didn't love The Heart's Invisible Furies...

I’m afraid I loathe everything I’ve ever read by John Boyne. He’s about as subtle as a head butt, and his prose makes me itch.

cariadlet · 17/01/2024 20:09

My book club loved The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue. I can't remember how many pages it is, but it was a fairly quick read and gave us lots to talk about.

SheilaFentiman · 17/01/2024 20:09

Kris Radish is v good - I always recommend “The Elegant Gathering of White Snows” about a group of female friends who go for a walk and learn about each other.