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Original poster

Can you recommend an unputdownable book?

232 replies

Seemslikethat · 25/08/2024 19:47

As the title says really…

I enjoy reading fiction and non-fiction. Fiction - some books I’ve really enjoyed are…
Penance -Eliza Clark
All the broken pieces -John Boyne
The day Shelley Woodhouse woke up - Laura Pearson
Wrong Time Wrong Place - Gillian McAllister
Tell Me How This Ends - Jo Leevers
The Nightingale - Kristin Hannah
The Satsuma Complex -Bob Mortimer
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Five People you meet in heaven - Mitch Albom
The Stand -Steven King
Catch 22 -Joseph Heller
The Time Traveller’s Wife

I've also read quite a lot by Michael Connelly, Harlen Coben, Joanna Cannon, Jodi Picoult, Lisa Jewell, Hazel Prior, Rachel Joyce, Mike Gayle, Fredrick Bachman and Matt Haig. I hated the Crawdads book and wasn’t keen on the Thursday Murder Club.

Non-fiction - I like people’s travel tales or when they do ‘challenges’ eg Tony Hawks Round Ireland with a Fridge or the George Mahood books. I also like insights into people’s work eg Adam Kay or other medical people or people who work in police / prisons / courts etc. I read a good one about someone who was a disaster victim identification specialist.

Looking forward to your recommendations!

OP posts:
JosieRay · 31/08/2024 21:45

I never thought I would enjoy Greek mythology but these are books I couldn’t put down:
The song of Achilles
Circe
The silence of the girls
The women of Troy
Stone Blind

Meadowwild · 31/08/2024 11:25

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 25/08/2024 19:57

I always say American Dirt on these threads because I literally didn't put it down

The Only Plane In The Sky is riveting non fiction about 9/11

I have never heard of American Dirt so I will look that up. Thanks for the mention.

OP have you read The Midnight Library? It's not great literature but I found the idea absolutely addictive reading.
Another easy read but gripping to me - Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng.

Demon Copperhead. It's brilliant. One of the best novels I've read in years.

Station Eleven

Like PP I loved The Goldfinch but it does ramble on a bit at the end.

lilkitten · 31/08/2024 11:19

I've only ever read three books that I just couldn't put down:
Mrs Palfrey At The Claremont - Elizabeth Taylor
Room - Emma Donoghue
The Foundling - Stacey Halls

lilkitten · 31/08/2024 11:17

wakeboarder · 25/08/2024 20:59

I second The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. Also The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King are excellent , actually anything by Stephen King is usually very good.

I loved The Goldfinch, then my DP recommended The Secret History by the same author but I couldn't get into it

Dibbydoos · 31/08/2024 00:32

I thoroughly enjoyed the Calamity Jane series by Kathleen Bacua. You can get 1 free on amazon kindle, so try before you buy.

Great capers, funny and just 100% enjoyable.

TheGodOfSmallPotatoes · 30/08/2024 21:44

Citygirlrurallife · 30/08/2024 19:49

Anything by Kristin Hannah, Octavia Butler and Chiminada Ngozi Adiche

im not sure if they’ve been mentioned but The Mercies and Burial Rites are both fantastix

Oh I loved the mercies. Good call!

ihaveanaughtydog · 30/08/2024 20:40

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee is a fantastic novel about the prejudice faced by Koreans living in Japan. It's a beautiful book

Patiosong · 30/08/2024 19:51

TragicTess · 30/08/2024 19:43

Am on holiday & have both Grin

Show quote history

Ooh, so it's just the order then! Bee sting then Demon. Although I reckon you'll need a palate cleanser in between, so you can sink into the next batch of characters.

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 30/08/2024 19:49

@sequin2000

I was explaining 9/11 and what it was like to someone who was 1 at the time the other day. I felt ancient.

Citygirlrurallife · 30/08/2024 19:49

Anything by Kristin Hannah, Octavia Butler and Chiminada Ngozi Adiche

im not sure if they’ve been mentioned but The Mercies and Burial Rites are both fantastix

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 30/08/2024 19:44

@sequin2000

Yes, Come From Away, the Broadway edition is currently on Apple TV + I keep meaning to set aside a couple of hours for it. Only Plane... is an oral history and is lots of people just talking about their experience. It's beautifully done.

TragicTess · 30/08/2024 19:43

Patiosong · 30/08/2024 19:39

I would do bee sting and demon. Both fairly hefty in size though. Both of them easy reads.

Show quote history

Am on holiday & have both Grin

sequin2000 · 30/08/2024 19:40

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 30/08/2024 16:03

Gosh @sequin2000 sorry about that it's a few years since I read it and just remembered being riveted. My other recommendation is definitely harrowing also so be prepared for that one should you try it (Only Plane In The Sky)

I'll definitely try that too thanks. Have you seen Come from Away the musical with a similar story line? It's absolutely amazing. I've not read the book but it's based on The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland

Patiosong · 30/08/2024 19:39

TragicTess · 30/08/2024 19:35

Trying not to replicate any previous books but recent reads I couldn’t put down :
Yellowface
Little Eve
The Anomaly
Cecily

Am about to start reading The Bee Sting, but wondering whether to swop to Demon Copperhead?

Have just finished Birds without Wings which has taken 2 separate attempts to get into, but once I was past 300 pages (halfway through…) couldn’t put it down! l think LdB is magnificent but that tested me somewhat….

I would do bee sting and demon. Both fairly hefty in size though. Both of them easy reads.

TragicTess · 30/08/2024 19:35

Trying not to replicate any previous books but recent reads I couldn’t put down :
Yellowface
Little Eve
The Anomaly
Cecily

Am about to start reading The Bee Sting, but wondering whether to swop to Demon Copperhead?

Have just finished Birds without Wings which has taken 2 separate attempts to get into, but once I was past 300 pages (halfway through…) couldn’t put it down! l think LdB is magnificent but that tested me somewhat….

Freysimo · 30/08/2024 18:44

Ophelia24 · 25/08/2024 21:48

Another vote for Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.

Show quote history

I thought E O is CF was a very poor Margaret Forster rip off and found it boring after all the hype it received.

BertieBotts · 30/08/2024 18:19

Ooh I think we have similar taste so I will mark place.

I have loved these:

The end of the world running club - post apocalyptic musing on family life/roles
The Rosie Project - fun characters and intriguing mystery
The Midnight Library - Sliding Doors-esque story.
In the Heat of the Moment - this is brill, it's by a firefighter-turned-psychologist.
The Happiness Project - Gretchen Rubin changes one thing a month for a year.
Yes Man - Danny Wallace - absurd and hilarious. He just says yes to everything and documents the results.
The Heathrow Doctor - loved this (insight into job one)
Marie Browne Narrow XYZ books - she renovates a narrowboat and moves into it with no prior experience.

HarryGrotter · 30/08/2024 18:11

Maureen Lee is another fab author, just love her books, most I find real page turners

tobee · 30/08/2024 17:20

Ooh and The Woman in White

tobee · 30/08/2024 17:18

Currently halfway through listening to Snap by Belinda Bauer. Excellent so far. It's a bestseller murder genre but so much better written than most. Some lovely humorous elements.

I always recommend The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters. She creates a brilliant sense of time place and people.

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 30/08/2024 16:03

Gosh @sequin2000 sorry about that it's a few years since I read it and just remembered being riveted. My other recommendation is definitely harrowing also so be prepared for that one should you try it (Only Plane In The Sky)

sequin2000 · 30/08/2024 15:59

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 25/08/2024 19:57

I always say American Dirt on these threads because I literally didn't put it down

The Only Plane In The Sky is riveting non fiction about 9/11

I bought and am loving American Dirt (can't put it down either) but wish you'd warned how harrowing it is!! (admittedly I should have read the blurb!) This this one will stay with me like The Kite Runner did.

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 30/08/2024 15:48

WhyamIinahandcartandwherearewegoing · 30/08/2024 14:44

Anyone know when the new Cormoran Strike is out?

No release date yet but it's called The Hallmarked Man

Treelichen · 30/08/2024 14:58

Any book with contact adhesive on the cover.......

CalmConfident · 30/08/2024 14:50

Saving this excellent thread !

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