To ask you to name a book you couldn't put down?

[pinklite]

I've started getting into reading again and now looking for book recommendations. I don't know if it's just me not enjoying reading as much as I used to, but some of the titles I've read/attempted to recently just don't seem to grab my attention and I struggle to get through them.

I'm currently reading People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd. It's ok, but a bit slow.

I prefer mysteries and thrillers.

Please give me some ideas!

Random holiday cottage selection in rainy Wales a couple of weeks ago.
Conclave by Richard Harris.
The first unputdownable book i've come across in a while. Never read any of his books before, a bit too Blockbuster-y in appearance / promotion. But it was brilliant and I shall be raiding secondhand book shops for old paperbacks to see if his others are equally good.

I think you mean Robert Harris.

He's an excellent writer. Some of his books are what I'd call literary thrillers, others are more historical novels.

I'm a Bookseller and I recommend books all day!

I see that you like easy to read thrillers so would recommend the following:

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

Our House by Louise Candlish

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaeledes

A bit more left field, but try Yellow Face by R F Kuang or The Echo Man by Sam Holland

Even more left, left field is The Chain by Chimene Suleyman (a biography that will make your blood boil) and The List of Suspicious Things by Jenny Godfrey - a beautifully-written yet extremely easy to read family drama/crime/historical novel set in Yorkshire in the 1970s where everyone is obsessed with The Yorkshire Ripper...

I could waffle on for ages but will leave it at that for now.

Not a thriller but completely utterly thrilling - Endurance by Alfred Lansing about Shackleton’s voyage. I don’t often read non-fiction but I couldn’t put this down. It’s unbelievable and yet true.

Also the Constant Gardener by John Le Carre and Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton.

The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen
The End of the Affair, Graham Greene
Invitation to the Waltz, Rosamund Lehmann

I loved those when I read them as a teenager back when dinosaurs roamed the earth! Loved Dean Koontz in those days, too, and early Stephen King. I was 17 when Pet Cemetery came out. I didn't sleep for about a week.
Also couldn't put down
The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and latterly, Brandon Sanderson.
Elantris or the first Mistborn trilogy also by Brando Sando
The first 3 or 4 books of The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind. Richard Cypher is the perfect fantasy hero but after about book 4 the series becomes ever more just a mouthpiece for Goodkind's political outlook and his pomposity. Didn't stop me reading them all, though. You've got to finish a series after all.

Unravelling Oliver
Strange Sally Diamond
Yellowface
Bandit Queens
The 7!husbands of Evelyn hugo
All of the Strike books except the Ink Black heart which was rubbish!
The Chain - a bit silly but a real page turner
Last House in Needless street - creepy!
Anything by Jan Carson - but then raptures is fab
The Silence Project
Treachery of Spies
My sister, the serial killer
Shuggie Bain
Big girl, Small town

The Secret History by Donna Tartt.

Don't read anything about it beforehand; you don't want spoilers. Don't read the blurb on the back or in the front. Let it all be a surprise. It's just amazing.

Few classics I read recently and couldn't put down

• Albert Camus - The Stranger (I'm actually ashamed that I never read it before, I'm French so no excuse at all)
• Leo Tolstoy - The death of Ivan Ilyitch
• Emile Zola - Thérèse Raquin (I love all Zola's, but this one is really gripping)

@Mistycactus definitely persist with I am Pilgrim! I hope you enjoy it.

@beetlebrain thank you for the reminder of Piranesi! I really enjoyed that book. So unusual and imaginative. I've recommended it to lots of people!

PUSH, a psychological thriller.

Anything by James Lee Burke, but particularly The Tin Roof Blowdown which is set during the time of Hurricane Katrina.
His prose is rich and gorgeous in everything he writes and the depth of thought is breathtaking.
But his work is very much a slice of Americana, so if that's not your thing, skip it.

Housemaid (1st of 3). If you liked couple next door, you’ll love this.

Intensity by Dean Koontz. Very creepy and I could not put it down until I finished it.

Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.

Station 11

Doesn't fit into the criteria/genres you mentioned, but if you're open to sci-fi, try Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. He wrote the more well known The Martian, but I think Project Hail Mary is likely to appeal to a lot more people. It's less "dry" and definitely gripping.

@Touty The Five, House of Glass, A Life in Secrets are my three favourite non fiction, plus pretty much anything by Ben Macintyre

Sara Parestsky’s V.I. Warshawski series

Agree. Intensity was riveting.

The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey. It's not quite a thriller but it's definitely a thrill to read!

The Kurt Wallander series by Henning Mankell. The first book is Faceless Killers. I could read them time and time again.

The girl with no past by Kathryn Croft and Hide and Seek by Andrea Mara. Rom com wise anything by Fiona Gibson or Jane Linfoot

The Road, Cormac McCarthy. Brutal though.

Station Eleven

Great book, totally gripping

I’ve just finished none of this is true by Lisa Jewell. Read it in 2 days as I couldn’t put it down!

Also recommend anything written by T.M Logan, his are always good