I need some books that will make me fall in love with reading

[Strider55]

I'm in a reading rut and really want a book (ideally the start of a series) that will make me want to read instead of waste my time scrolling on YouTube.

Books/authors I love:
Jane Austen
Harry Potter
Have read all the Strike series except the latest because I want to get the physical copy of the book
Jane Casey "Maeve Kerrigan" series - read them all and obsessed
Mitch Albom
Cecelia Ahern
LOTR

Things I don't like:
Romantic fantasy (I read the first two in the ACOTAR because my work colleagues raved about it but it just felt like teenage fanfiction to me)
Anything "spicy", not my cup of tea at all!
Jane Eyre
Wuthering Heights
Just tried "Binding Thirteen" on the suggestion of a colleague who was raving about it and again just couldn't get into it

Any suggestions very gratefully received (and even better if they are cheap/free on Kindle unlimited 😁)

Echoing what pps have said about:
The Shardlake series by C J Sansom.
Precious Bane by Mary Webb.
The Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard.

And adding Ruth Rendell, but not the Inspector Wexford Books - I find them a bit plodding. I mean the more psychological thriller-y ones, including those written under her pseudonym Barbara Vine. I have recently started re-reading them all from the beginning and am engrossed.

Another enthusiastic vote for Jodi Taylor’s books. She’s rapidly become my favourite currently actively publishing author.

Have you read her Frogmorton Farm and the ELizabeth Cage series. They are not quite as enjoyable as St Marys but very nearly!

I am really happy there are several other Jodi Taylor fans. I feel as though they must not be as good as I think they are because they are so hard to describe to people. But I just love reading them. I look forward so much to her new releases - sign up for them in advance and then wait until exactly the right moment to sit down to read them!

Agree with Shardlake series

Yes I have and I’d agree, very readable but not quite as good. I don’t think the characters are as rounded. I love the Time Police series though

I’ve recommended them to a few people but either they haven’t read them or not enjoyed them as much so I’m always happy when I come across other fans!

Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans. Funny and easy to read, set in WW2. First of three if you like it.

Apparently there was a Jodiworld in the UK in 2023!

I love the Time Police almost as much (maybe the same) as St Marys. I love the way they intertwine. And also the Smallhope book as well.

The Slow Horses series is brilliant

I’d have gone to that! 😂

I honestly feel like I know her. That is probably the saddest thing I have ever written, and I apologise. I tend to think "poor thing" if someone says that about a famous person, but it is what it is 😂

Best plot twist of all time

May I ask what ACOTAR is?
I love Marian Keyes and Diane Chamberlain

I recommend this series too. I read all 5 books in quick succession and loved them. They’re a good read but not too difficult (IYKWIM). I’ve struggled with reading since multiple bereavements and associated stress and I found them immersive in a way I haven’t experienced for a while.

There was one in May 2025 in Coventry as well. See you at the next one!!

For sure!

Second this, plus Winter in Madrid by same author but it’s a stand alone book while Shardlake is a series and a really good one.

I really enjoyed 2 books by Dana Schwartz - she does the noble blood podcast. First book is anatomy, the second is immortality.

I just read Warhorse which whet my appetite for more fiction after a longish hiatus.

Onesbi recently enjoyed.
Empress orchid by anchee min. Or memoirs of a geisha. Both set in a world so far away from ours, with strong women at the centre.
American dirt.
Lessons in chemistry.
The women by kristen hannah. Not read any of her books before, and now reading the nightingale.
The 7 husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

I loved the Cazalet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard

it’s historical fiction (wartime) focussing on the different women in the family and is very well written and easy to read, the people feel real and you root for them, loved it

I am struggling to find something I like as much

The Jackson Brodie series by Kate Atkinson are really good. Or actually lots of Kate Atkinson's books.

Katherine Heiny books are very thoughtful and really funny too.