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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:
allthecakesinalltheworld · 17/01/2024 19:28

The kite runner, Khaled Hosseini (his next book A thousand splendid suns is also excellent)

Chemenger · 17/01/2024 19:26

If you want something amazing that doesn’t seem to be widely known (I think) suggest “I Who Have Never Known Men” by Jacqueline Harpman. The most compelling book I have read in a long time.

Snoopsnoggysnog · 17/01/2024 19:25

Or South American authors? Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabel Allende, Laura esquival, Jorge Amado?

OakleyStreetisnotinChelsea · 17/01/2024 19:24

The House Without Windows by Barbara Newhall Follett.

Short but absolutely enchanting. She wrote it when she was 12 I think. Extraordinary. Then there is a very interesting mystery about the author which in many ways mirrors the book so lots to talk about!

Notellinganyone · 17/01/2024 19:22

@MaybeTooLate - yes - brilliant choice ! @Cotswoldmama - The Collector is pretty grim and v misogynistic.

Snoopsnoggysnog · 17/01/2024 19:21

I like these threads too. If they’re English teachers, what about classics from another European country. French, Spanish, German? I did a French degree and adored Balzac, Zola, Stendhal. Or more modern authors like Annie Ernaux.

Longlive · 17/01/2024 19:20

A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier, it was gentle and elegant. Loved it

Notellinganyone · 17/01/2024 19:20

@DarkAcademia - I’m a secondary school English teacher and have read all these. Didn’t rate The Miniaturist at all. OP think you need to have a shortlist. Backlisted podcast is excellent for ideas. I recommend Passing by Nella Larssen.

CuriousMoe · 17/01/2024 19:17

Third for Piranesi!! Read it in a few days on holiday and left it at the house. Revisited a year later and read again! Circe by Madeleine Miller is wonderful too and not too long. I also read The Leviathan by Rosie Andrew’s and adored it or The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock. I went through a serious mythology related phase… more highbrow than my current taste… rereading ACOTAR in anticipation for the new Crescent City release 😳

purpleme12 · 17/01/2024 19:12

Well my recommendation would be The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

Cotswoldmama · 17/01/2024 19:12

I've got a family WhatsApp group and there are loads of books we all rated highly but the ones that spring to mind are 'flowers for Algernon' by Daniel Keyes and 'The Collector' by John Fowles

EdithGrantham · 17/01/2024 19:08

Second Piranesi, I wish I could read it for the first time again

MaybeTooLate · 17/01/2024 19:06

A Month in the Country by JL Carr. The perfect bookclub book- elegant, consoling, tender, very short.

DarkAcademia · 17/01/2024 19:00

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch?

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/11/books/review/new-books-recommendations.html

DarkAcademia · 17/01/2024 18:58

Love this kind of thread.

How long is The Miniaturist? I BLAZED through it, so even though I think it's a bit long, it's also a page turner, and v book group friendly.

Circe by Madeline Miller is also a blaze-through book. Utterly wonderful.

The Pursuit of Love and/or Love in a Cold Climate - also Cold Comfort Farm in a similar vein/period. And I Capture The Castle. All of a "type" and all covered, probably, though, on reflection.

Oh - Piranesi is short and sweet. It's on my bedside table, but am currently reading Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, so it will be there for a while longer!

But do you need something super recent, I wonder? Like last 2 - 3 years?

Decorhate · 17/01/2024 18:56

I think if they are all avid readers it is safer to go for a new release as otherwise people are likely to have read it.