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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask for book recommendations?

31 replies

sleepfortheweek · 28/07/2021 15:53

Desperately trying to get back into reading. I used to read all the time but since having kids and the lure of my phone in the evenings, I've not read book all the way through for about 6 years!

I must have started about 10-12 books but I just can't get into them.

Anyone got a recommendation for an UNPUTDOWNABLE (that's a word right??) Fiction book?

I like science fantasy with a good love story - but open to most things except crime/horror - don't want to scare myself to sleep!

Thanks

OP posts:
SimonedeBeauvoirscat · 28/07/2021 16:01

Have you read Station 11 by Emily St John Mandel? It is INCREDIBLE

HotHointheavo · 28/07/2021 16:01

following this - in a very similar place

suspiria777 · 28/07/2021 16:01

Lullaby by Leila Slimani

ZaraW · 28/07/2021 16:09

IQ84

MartyHart · 28/07/2021 16:26

Sci-fi I would recommend The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell.
Fantasy The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb.
Both are unputdownable imo.

Sparklesocks · 28/07/2021 16:33

Something quite light might ease you back in. I quite liked Daisy Jones and the Six recently.

ShadowInVain · 28/07/2021 16:34

I really enjoyed Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro - finished it in one sitting.

Zealois · 28/07/2021 16:35

I was also going to recommend Station Eleven. Amazing book.

shivermetimbers77 · 28/07/2021 16:36

I second Station Eleven.

cornflakegirl · 28/07/2021 16:37

I loved Hamnet.

countdowntonap · 28/07/2021 16:37

Third Station 11.
The MaddAddam Trilogy by Margaret Atwood
The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood

Themadcatparade · 28/07/2021 16:39

Station 11 best one Ive read in years

LagneyandCasey · 28/07/2021 17:19

Flawed by Cecelia Ahern is really good and engrossing. It's young adult fiction but really engrossing for a 50+ Grin
If you like it, there's a sequel called Perfect.

Midnightstar76 · 28/07/2021 18:05

I have just finished The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, unputdownable and quite a quick read. Definitely recommended

sleepfortheweek · 28/07/2021 20:48

Thank you everyone! Think I might give a station 11 a go, will head to my local library tomorrow Smile

This will be a great thread to come back to for more recommendations, thanks again!

OP posts:
DameAlyson · 28/07/2021 21:05

The Chronicles of St Mary's series by Jodi Taylor.

OhWhatAPalarver · 28/07/2021 21:14

Just come on to say the St Mary's books @DameAlyson, I'm sold on them
They were recommended to me on here

BluebellCockleshell123 · 28/07/2021 21:16

I’ve found it very difficult to concentrate on novels since I had children…my attention span has just dropped!
One that gripped me was The Other Half Of Augusta Hope - beautifully written and heart warming.

Stuckhere2021 · 28/07/2021 21:22

Maybe not your genre OP but I recommend Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine and Shuggie Bain. Eleanor O is being made into a movie by Reese Wotherspoon’s company. Shuggie Bain is based in Glasgow and has a lot of Scots dialect in it but if you can get to grips with that, it’s a wonderful but heartbreaking read.

Lurcherloves · 28/07/2021 21:47

Circe by Madeline Miller, I just loved it
Also, Grown Ups by Marian Keyes brilliant and hilarious

Greydove28 · 28/07/2021 21:58

Hi! There's tons of reading suggestions on the reading board on mumsnet. I wouldn't ask on aibu. I picked up some great recommendations there Smile I have completed the one of the mumsnet reading challenges on the reading board for 2021. Book clubs are also great for reading different books and it makes you read. 1 book a month is definitely doable.

KatyaZamolodchikova · 28/07/2021 22:05

@cornflakegirl

I loved Hamnet.
Same! I read it in two days, couldn’t put it down.
KatyaZamolodchikova · 28/07/2021 22:08

Also to add The Hearts Invisible Furies by John Boyne is beautiful and funny and touching and sad and one of the best books I’ve read in a long long time.

Beebumble2 · 28/07/2021 22:21

I’ve just finished The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Dare. It’s set in Nigeria and is a remarkable book that every woman should read.

nocoolnamesleft · 28/07/2021 22:24

Another vote for the first book in the Chronicles of St Mary's. Then, when you're addicted, there are lots more books in the series to keep you happy.