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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:
Sakura7 · 25/08/2024 23:34

The Heart's Invisible Furies, Still Life and Circe have been my favourites from the last couple of years.

Just finished a Claire Douglas thriller (The Woman Who Lied) and really enjoyed it.

LBOCS2 · 25/08/2024 23:31

I really enjoyed Alex James' (him from Blur) autobiographies @LaMadameCholet - he's got two, the first is all sex, drugs and rock & roll; and the second is all cheese. It made me laugh a lot 😁

LaMadameCholet · 25/08/2024 23:27

When the Dust Settles by Lucy Easyhope is superb - she's a disaster planner and it's her professional autobiography.

I really like musicians' autobiographies and most recently enjoyed Duff McKagan's and also Dave Grohl's.

Fictionwise, anything by Kate Atkinson and there's the sequel to
The Satsuma Complex about to come out. The Stephen King short story collection You Like it Darker is good - the story The Answer Man is a tour de force.

DriveInSaturday · 25/08/2024 23:19

You enjoy books that give an insight into people's jobs and mention the law. You might have read these already, but they are all very readable.

No Comment - Jess McDonald, about being a fast track recruit in the Met Police.

Dr Amanda Brown is a compassionate woman who has written three books about being a prison doctor -The Prison Doctor, Women Inside and The Final Sentence.

Chris Atkins - A Bit of a Stretch, The Diaries of a Prisoner. He is a journalist and film maker who ended up in prison for fraud. He writes very well about how awful prisons are.

awkwardturtle · 25/08/2024 23:02

Still Life by Sarah Winman - in fact anything by Sarah Winman!

ihaveanaughtydog · 25/08/2024 22:43

The Women - Kristin Hannah

Cattery · 25/08/2024 22:36

Rebecca- Daphne Du Maurier
Edited to add: any Barbara Vine

Abby8989 · 25/08/2024 22:34

Proseccoagain · 25/08/2024 22:05

Another for The Heart's Invisible Furies.
Shrines of Gaiety, and Transcription, both by Kate Atkinson.
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, by Maggie O'Farrell

Yes The Vanishing Act, also The Marriage Portrait

Blackcountryexile · 25/08/2024 22:31

Maybe try
The Searcher Tana French
When the Dust Settles Lucy Easthope
Paper Cup Karen Campbell
Kala Colin Walsh
Big Little Lies Leane Moriarty
Windmill Hill Lucy Atkins
The Household Stacey Hall

SheilaFentiman · 25/08/2024 22:27

If you liked Wrong Place, Wrong Time, I thought the book below was even better, and the other is good too.

  1. Girl A - Abigail Dean
  2. Just Another Missing Person - Gillian McAllister

I assume you have read Lisa Jewell books?

Lucy Clarke (holidays that go wrong, sometimes fatally) and Louise Douglas (Mediterranean relationships and mysteries) are also gripping.

wutheringkites · 25/08/2024 22:23

Hamnet
Life after Life
Circe
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

Original poster
Seemslikethat · 25/08/2024 22:21

Justlurking10 · 25/08/2024 21:33

A few I’ve read recently that I loved and couldn’t put down are:
Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus
the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid
A thousand splendid suns- Khaled Hosseini (This one made me cry which I’ve never done at a book before)
Elanor Oliphant is completely fine- Gail Honeyman
The giver of Stars- Jojo moyes

Ive also read The nightingale and loved that one. Do you look on Goodreads- I use it to read reviews and also see what my friends are reading for inspiration

Edited

I’ve read Elinor Oliphant and The Giver of Stars but I’ll take a look at the others.

I do use Goodreads but mostly only to rate books so I can remember what I’ve read!

OP posts:
Original poster
Seemslikethat · 25/08/2024 22:17

SheilaFentiman · 25/08/2024 21:05

Bill Bryson for travel stories

I love Bill Bryson but I’ve read everything he’s written so often that I could almost quote it verbatim.

OP posts:
Original poster
Seemslikethat · 25/08/2024 22:16

Yes! I enjoyed that one.

OP posts:
Original poster
Seemslikethat · 25/08/2024 22:15

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

Oh, yes, I did read The Only Plane in the Sky!

OP posts:
Proseccoagain · 25/08/2024 22:05

Another for The Heart's Invisible Furies.
Shrines of Gaiety, and Transcription, both by Kate Atkinson.
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, by Maggie O'Farrell

Lesmiserables2024 · 25/08/2024 22:00

A Little life by Hanya Yanagihara is wonderful book...one of the very few that I have reread again

TooMuchRedMaybe · 25/08/2024 21:49

MapleTreeValley · 25/08/2024 20:58

I recently loved Half of a Yellow Sun

It's a great novel. Adichie's other novels Purple Hibiscus and Americanah are brilliant as well.

Ophelia24 · 25/08/2024 21:48

Justlurking10 · 25/08/2024 21:33

A few I’ve read recently that I loved and couldn’t put down are:
Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus
the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid
A thousand splendid suns- Khaled Hosseini (This one made me cry which I’ve never done at a book before)
Elanor Oliphant is completely fine- Gail Honeyman
The giver of Stars- Jojo moyes

Ive also read The nightingale and loved that one. Do you look on Goodreads- I use it to read reviews and also see what my friends are reading for inspiration

Edited

Another vote for Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.

Ophelia24 · 25/08/2024 21:47

Min133 · 25/08/2024 20:10

Another vote for The Hearts Invisible Furies and Demon Copperhead

I bought The Heart’s Invisible Furies as a result of a recommendation on another thread last week and read it in two days/late nights.

Justlurking10 · 25/08/2024 21:33

A few I’ve read recently that I loved and couldn’t put down are:
Lessons in Chemistry - Bonnie Garmus
the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid
A thousand splendid suns- Khaled Hosseini (This one made me cry which I’ve never done at a book before)
Elanor Oliphant is completely fine- Gail Honeyman
The giver of Stars- Jojo moyes

Ive also read The nightingale and loved that one. Do you look on Goodreads- I use it to read reviews and also see what my friends are reading for inspiration

trader21c · 25/08/2024 21:20

Victoria Darke the house on the water is gripping!

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 25/08/2024 21:19

parrotonmyshoulder · 25/08/2024 21:18

Life after Life
East of Eden
Project Hail Mary
Say Nothing

Great taste. All excellent shouts.

parrotonmyshoulder · 25/08/2024 21:18

Life after Life
East of Eden
Project Hail Mary
Say Nothing

watchingsmurfs · 25/08/2024 21:16

The Time Travellers Wife is my favourite book.

I suggest - The Night Circus, A Fine Balance, Shantaram, The Tesseract, All the Light We Cannot See

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