Page 4 | What was the last book you read that really got to your heart?

Yourinmyspot · 2026-08-23T10:05:00+00:00

Mine is Project Hail Mary, I didn’t know anything about the story before I read it, just the cover blurb. I really, really enjoyed it and it really tugged at my heart strings. I won’t say anymore about it as I don’t want to give any spoilers away.

PinkKimonos · 24/08/2026 07:50

Piknik · 24/08/2026 07:47

I think the 'problem' with A Little Life is not that continuous abuse is implausible - we all know it isn't. it's more that after a while it starts to read a bit like misery-lit - a bit.... how low can we plunder? Without giving away spoilers, one particular death did feel like Oh FFS - can he not have ONE thing? Do we have to spoil everything? Not implausible, but relentless.

Exactly. With the exact, graphic details of his sexual abuse in childhood held over like a narrative carrot to keep the reader reading.

wildflower4 · 24/08/2026 07:58

Piknik · 24/08/2026 07:47

I think the 'problem' with A Little Life is not that continuous abuse is implausible - we all know it isn't. it's more that after a while it starts to read a bit like misery-lit - a bit.... how low can we plunder? Without giving away spoilers, one particular death did feel like Oh FFS - can he not have ONE thing? Do we have to spoil everything? Not implausible, but relentless.

While individual elements of Jude’s history happen in the real world, the concentration of every single horrific extreme happening to one single individual is what pushes the boundary into artistic hyperbole rather than literal plausibility.

The author was determined to not let Jude have one good thing in his life. The death was just cruel! He represented safety and unconditional love for Jude.

DeafLeppard · 24/08/2026 07:59

Remains of the Day. Finally got around to reading it a month or two ago and cried like a baby, it’s so unbearable. I hadn’t gotten on with previous books by the same author so was surprised.

ItsPickleRick · 24/08/2026 08:00

The Lion Women of Tehran.

DeafLeppard · 24/08/2026 08:00

Mb57 · 23/08/2026 23:24

A gentleman in Moscow by Amor towls
a fascinating mix of Russian history and the life of a count sent to live in his hotel and not allowed to leave it. There is so much more but I don’t want to say too much

Oh this bored the tits off me 😄 We’re all different, aren’t we?

I loved A Little Life too.

wildflower4 · 24/08/2026 08:03

DeafLeppard · 24/08/2026 07:59

Remains of the Day. Finally got around to reading it a month or two ago and cried like a baby, it’s so unbearable. I hadn’t gotten on with previous books by the same author so was surprised.

Great book! It shows the heavy cost of giving your whole life to a job and a flawed master.

CatsFromSpace · 24/08/2026 08:14

HowardTJMoon · 23/08/2026 12:44

The Radium Girls by Kate Moore. It was both heart-breaking and enraging.

Such a good book! Those poor girls

Humanswarm · 24/08/2026 08:15

All the colours of the dark..
The Names

shellyleppard · 24/08/2026 08:17

The giver of stars by jo jo moyes.....the description of the area and the love story.....😍😍

BlackBean2023 · 24/08/2026 08:18

There are Rivers in the Sky - just beautiful

BlackBean2023 · 24/08/2026 08:21

Blackcountryexile · 23/08/2026 16:21

A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe

My family live near Aberfan, this one was hard.

thetinsoldier · 24/08/2026 08:34

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig.

Piknik · 24/08/2026 11:41

Oh also Never Let Me Go. heartbreaking

Avie29 · 24/08/2026 11:41

OnAJetPlane26 · 23/08/2026 21:16

Who’s the author, just had a look and there’s a few options.

Show quote history

Lesley pearse, quite a few of hers are very heart pulling, but remember me is especially so because its true.

Reader19 · 24/08/2026 11:50

Silas Marner.

DontSingSusan · 24/08/2026 11:59

RocknrollRhonda · 23/08/2026 21:31

Life after Life
The Names
The Nightingale

I also absolutely loved Life After Life and The Nightingale. We obviously have similar taste, so really looking forward to reading The Names (which I just ordered this morning!)

TinDogTavern · 24/08/2026 12:01

A Man Called Ove.

I’m not much of a weeper but that set me right off.

I have A Terrible Kindness in my list.

EmmaStone · 24/08/2026 13:12

Lots of these books are on my TBR pile, so that's good.

I love Sarah Winman's writing, it's beautiful.

This year, the books that have stayed with me are Say Nothing - written by Patrick Radden Keefe (who also wrote London Falling referenced above). A book about the NI troubles, the Price sisters, Gerry Adams, Brendan Hughes and Jena McConville. Have just binged the FX series as well, which was incredible.

I really enjoyed The Names like many PPs.

The Bee Sting was SO good, but quite long.

Yetanotherproblem · 24/08/2026 13:36

Three Sisters by Heather Morris (author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz). Just incredible and full of love in spite of the inevitable horrors they suffered.

Philandbill · 24/08/2026 13:40

This summer it has to be The Names.

outerspacepotato · 24/08/2026 17:05

Middlemarch. The writing was beautiful. GE had such a piercing, yet compassionate eye for her characters, she made them real. One of my top 3 ever.

OhBotherSaidPoo · 24/08/2026 17:12

My Dark Vanessa
In Memoriam

alloutofcareunits · 24/08/2026 17:23

@deedeemegadoodoo this is probably my favourite book ever, and I read a lot!

CarpeVitam · 24/08/2026 17:39

alloutofcareunits · 24/08/2026 17:23

@deedeemegadoodoo this is probably my favourite book ever, and I read a lot!

Likewise. Just loved it!

Philandbill · 24/08/2026 19:08

outerspacepotato · 24/08/2026 17:05

Middlemarch. The writing was beautiful. GE had such a piercing, yet compassionate eye for her characters, she made them real. One of my top 3 ever.

@outerspacepotato I'm currently reading The Road to Middlemarch: My life with George Eliot by Rebecca Mead. It's a reflection on the book and GE and is very readable.