AIBU To ask for book suggestions

[Bumble1830]

I got a Kindle for Christmas, I enjoy reading, but never know books to choose,

Any suggestions would be good. TIA x

It really depends on your taste. I (like PPs) really loved Elinor Oliphant; my sister thought it was badly written and trite.
Rebecca? East of Eden? Jude The Obscure? The Poisonwood Bible?

The Power by Naomi Alderman is really good

One of the reasons I love Kindle is it recommends me books based on what I've already read. It also allows you to search by genre.

I had a deal flash up yesterday for 3 months f Kindle Unlimited for 99p. If that offer is available give it a try. There's a load of rubbish on there but also some great stuff. It's basically a library where you borrow up to 10 books at a time. I can read that in a week so the £8 a month saves me a fortune.

I also really enjoyed the Chronicles of St Mary’s series.

The Second Cure by Margaret Morgan
Lock in by John Scalzi
Flowertown by S.G Redling

I like Molly Harper’s books if I need something light and funny.

Happy New Year, Op. There is a Canadian site called fadedpage.com from which you can download books free of charge. These are out of copyright so nothing modern but good for the classics, biographies, vintage crime, even Enid Blyton!

My favourites this year:

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie (fiction about British Pakistani radicalisation. Not too long, brilliant read)
Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney (not sure why I loved this but did, beautifully written, her other book was on Obama’s 2019 favourites!)
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant (set in biblical times and based on a character who has a one sentence mention in the bible. Not religious but found it beautiful)
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn (fiction based on true stories of female spies in WWI)
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (beautiful, beautiful fiction about the hardships of the Igbo people. Simultaneously interesting, delicious and heartbreaking)

Popular ones this year were Eleanor Oliphant (thought it was OK), Sweetpea (thought it was shit and returned to amazon for refund!) and Where the Crawdads Sing (haven’t read yet)

Could go on but depends what you like! There are some Facebook book clubs like “lost in a good book” for inspiration.

You could also join Good Reads, start a reading challenge and track your reading. It’ll recommend books based on what you like and you can also see what your Facebook friends have read and rates.

Bill Bryson, very funny writer about travelling through the US, Europe and the UK

I got Christopher Ecclestone's book 'I love the bones of you' last night for 99p. Its about his relationship with his Dad, Ronnie (who was an awesome bloke) and dementia.

Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris

The Binding

When you disappeared - John Marrs (brill twist!!)

Currently reading perfect child by Lucinda Berry

SJ Watson, second life- really enjoyable thriller.

Definitely download a sample of each book before you buy. You know in that first chapter or so if it's for you or not. I often google what I'm looking for so if I feel like crime I might google "best British crime novels" lots of lists come up. Good reads is a good place for inspiration.

PP A Gentleman In Moscow was my DH's favourite read of 2019, he keeps recommending it.

The Seven Deaths of Helena Hardcastle is a mind-blowing read.
Also worth giving Liane Moriarty’s books a go - Big Little Lies is a good place to start.

If you haven't already read them, Hilary Mantel's books about Thomas Cromwell ("Wolf Hall" and "Bring Up The Bodies") and his role in the reign of Henry VIII are fantastic. The third one will be out later this year, so you will have the joy of reading all 3 in fairly quick succession.

Anna Burns' "Milkman" is one of the best books I read in all of 2019.

Three women writers who've never written a bad word, far less a bad book, are Maggie O'Farrell, Rose Tremain and Helen Dunmore (who died far too soon a year or two ago). I'm also a big fan of Sarah Waters' work.

And I have just finished, and thoroughly enjoyed, "Wakenhyrst" but Michelle Paver. It's gothic in its genre, I suppose, but also much more than that. It's a mystery and a love story, a history and a rural tale but also dark, and has a feminist underpinning.

I’d recommend a huge book that you’d never contemplate reading due to the weight. Maybe some Dickens or Middlemarch by George Eliot. Like me you’ll find out why Classics have stood the test of time.

Gotta love long books!

The d.i corrigan series of books by Luke Delaney, proper page turners!

Gallows pole is excellent.

I loved Elinor Oliphant too, for all those recommending it, read 'A man called Ove' by Fredrik Blackman. Two great books that I currently recommend with huge success.

If you like long books and the Tudors, I recommend C J Sansom's Shardlake series. The main character, Matthew Shardlake, is a lawyer who investigates crime, and is also unwillingly sucked into the politics of the later years of Henry VIII. Very well researched, and really gets across how terrifying it was for ordinary people who got dragged into affairs of state.

Sign up to Bookbub - they have free/ cheap kindle book offers, good for trying new authors/genres.

Keep an eye on the deal of the day and sign up for Kindle firsts of you have Prime. I find that leads me to read lots of different books that I may not have picked out of they were higher price.

What kind of books do you like? I like something meaty, reasonably long, stories about people mostly. I would recommend Kate Atkinson, Liane Moriaty & Jodi Picoult. All good authors with decent back catalogues.

Lindwood Barclay.... No time for goodbye

I loved Our Endless Numbered Days about a young child taken into the wilderness by her father, she’s told that they are the last people on earth. Incredible.
I also loved Tenderness of Wolves, by Steph Penney.
Incendiary by Chris Cleave grabbed me from the first sentence. I felt my heart beating faster and faster towards the end of the book. It’s a strange book as it’s quite bleak and the heroine is totally flawed and actually unlikable but it was a book that stayed with me for ages.
I agree that Linwood Barclay is a fab thriller writer and I also adore Anita Shreve and Jodi Picoult too.