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Original poster

ok i am rubbish at reading but i love Bridget Jones (a bit too much) - what else will i like to read?

40 replies

stillenacht · 17/01/2009 19:23

Please help - have always been rubbish at reading - nothing really ever inspired or motivated me to read until i read Bridget. I try to get my DS1 to read (he hates it too) and my DH never ever reads bar the paper.

What other books/authors will i like - i am too scared to go into Waterstones and get something i will put down after 2 pages.

Thanks

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bellabelly · 19/01/2009 23:41

There's another novel by Helen Fielding, called Cause Celeb, which I really enjoyed. Also Olivia Joules and the overactive imagination which was fun.

cheesesarnie · 19/01/2009 23:35

slummy mummy,yummy mummy,sophie kinsella,cecelia ahern,india knight,

i just go browse charity shop or libary.

FossilSister · 19/01/2009 23:32

And can I just recommend to you all "Hens Dancing" by Rafaella Barker. I've given it to all my friends now so there's no-one else to evangelise to. Light, readable, Georgette Heyer meets Jilly Cooper as a single Mum in the Norfolk countryside. Perfection.

FossilSister · 19/01/2009 23:28

Oh yes Stephanie Plum - good call 20p. A New Jersey gal, bounty-hunter on a good hair day, very very funny.

twentypence · 19/01/2009 23:22

Lipstick Jungle, Shopaholic series, Queen of Babble. Any of the Stephanie Plum stories.

For your ds Astrosaurs and Geronimo Stilton.

FossilSister · 19/01/2009 23:17

Also very readable and charming - No 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith - about Precious Ramotswe who starts the first ladies detectiv agency in Botswana. You must have seen the series. Absolutely lovely but not chick lit at all!

If your son is a youngish 9 maybe Horrid Henry, Astrosaurs, Captain Underpants. Think they might be for 7/8 tho.

LolaLadybird · 18/01/2009 22:34

Jane Green also v readable and not yet mentioned.

skramble · 18/01/2009 00:14

Was going to suggest the shopaholic series, but I see someone already has .

FeminineWear · 18/01/2009 00:09

Have you read all 3 of the books? I have read 2, what's the third one like??

BumpermightsuetheSindie · 17/01/2009 20:31

Oooh, has anyone read Adriana Trigliani (I think thats how you spell it?), she writes some quite nice, if not a bit schmatlzy, stuff, usually centred around Italian families.

popmum · 17/01/2009 20:27

how about these for the alex rider cds book poeple - saw them the other day when searching for something else.

I'd also recommend Anita shreve for you.

Original poster
stillenacht · 17/01/2009 20:27

thank you everyone

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janeite · 17/01/2009 20:25

The Shopaholic books do get sillier and sillier: I read the first one because a friend lent it to me, then read another couple on holiday last summer because they were in the apartment and I'd run out of books. However, for a reluctant reader, the first one or two might be quite appealing.

Original poster
stillenacht · 17/01/2009 20:24

I have tried reading Harry Potter but didn't like it/enjoy it at all. Sorry.

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BumpermightsuetheSindie · 17/01/2009 20:22

See now I find the Sophie Kinsella series really stressful! I read the first few and recently tried shoppaholic and baby but got pretty frustrated by it!

Audio books for DS would be good. The only way my mum could get my bro to read was to buy him Beano type annuals every year, he would read them on the toilet

This sounds silly stillenacht but have you read Harry Potter? I was so against reading them, thought I would hate them, but I absolutely fell in love with them, they are easy to read but there are a lot of more adult issues in them to keep you interested. I'm obsessed by them and always listen to the audio books on long journeys in the car

Original poster
stillenacht · 17/01/2009 20:19

I have watched the BBC version ad nauseam (except i am not nauseous at all!) I love it!

Am yet to watch the Keira version (I don't like her that much tho).

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janeite · 17/01/2009 20:17

I'd recommend renting a "Pride And Prejudice" DVD (I like the Kiera Knightley one, although lots of people on here don't) and watching that before trying to read it, if you're not that big a reader. It will help to know the characters and the story beforehand and of course you'll see the links with B Jones.

I also think you'd like the Shopaholic books.

llareggub · 17/01/2009 20:12

If you like Bridget I'd second Slummy Mummy.

FossilSister · 17/01/2009 20:08

I was thinking of story CDs for your son. would he listen in bed at night? Easier to get into the story quickly and might make him want to read more. Alex Ryder, young James Bond - for later, Artemis Fowl by Eaoin (?) Colfer (described by author as Die Hard with fairies), Philip Pulman, Roald Dahl, Lemony Snicket all good.

FossilSister · 17/01/2009 19:59

The Adrian Mole books have moved on - he's grown up and becomes a young chef in celeb London (Cappucino years) and a single Dad on a council estate in Leicester (Weapons of Mass Destruction). Try it again!

Original poster
stillenacht · 17/01/2009 19:58

He is 9 and getting him to read a page of the Alex Rider books takes over half and hour of tantrums every 4 words or so that "Its borrrrring!" (we have tried Roald Dahl - he didn't mind it) but he is still at the stage where he is reading the words and not taking in the story

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samsonara · 17/01/2009 19:57

You'd probably enjoy the Sophie Kinsella shopaholic books

BumpermightsuetheSindie · 17/01/2009 19:56

Jane Austen is like the original Helen Fielding, a total piss take of her time. Persuasion is great and also pretty short so less daunting. G'wan give her a go, you won't regret it. How old is DS2, most libraries have a children's section and even ones that don't are much more relaxed than they used to be and don't mind children making a noise

FossilSister · 17/01/2009 19:56

I second the Sophie Kinsella "Shopaholic" series - Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic, Shopaholic Abroad, Shopaholic Ties the Knot etc. I am a bit fed up of "Chicklit" - I've read some really rubbish books - but these are genuinely charming like Bridget. Clever and funny, but easy to read. Also second Adrian Mole - very very very funny.

How old's your son? There are some great kids books around. I really think we're living in a golden age of childrens literature.

Original poster
stillenacht · 17/01/2009 19:54

yes i had heard she was writing a more updated version- where is it?????

dittany - yes have read and re read the edge of reason too

Adrian Mole - i think i read that as a teenager.

Pride and Prejudice - love it love it (and also Loved Lost in Austen on ITV1 earlier this year too)

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