Books you wish you could read for the 1st time again

[BusyTraybake]

I am currently in bed recovering from surgery. I can expect to be immobile for 6 weeks and I am already bored out of my mind. I actually had a little cry earlier as I am so claustrophobic already.

I have found reading helps. Please recommend any books you wish you could read again for the first time.

Thanks in advance. In desperate in need of mental stimulation as I have turned to food which is not something I usually obsess over. Probably would be best for my overall recovery if I don’t pile on a pad of weight.

My answer to the question: never let me go, love in a time of cholera and persuasion

I could never get to the end of never let me go (or Clara and the sun) so, I guess, take my recommendations with a pinch of salt.
Anything by Saramago, specifically The gospel according to Jesus Christ and Blindness.
Orwell's roses by Rebecca Solnit
Call me by your name by Andre Aciman
This is going to hurt by Adam Kay
Yellowface by Rebecca F Kuang
Ignorance by Kundera
Misbelief by Dan Ariely
Sum by David Eagleman

The house of sleep by Jonathan coe

Me before you. Jojo moyes

Possession by AS Byatt. I read it 30 years ago and have never read it again in case it does not live up to how I remember it.

I absolutely loved:

End of the world running club - Adrian J Walker
The end of men - Christina Sweeney-Baird
The girl with all the gifts - M R Carey.

The end of men has to be my top book of the last few years, it had me crying but it was amazing. They're all fairly easy reads, gripping wise, but obviously darker in nature than a "city career woman moves to countryside and ends up married to rough around the edges farmer".

They're all dystopian end of the world stories which is my go to genre. Oh how I really miss the newborn nap days of hours of reading!

Wishing you a speedy recovery (unless you come across a great series which mandates additional bedrest!)

Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell (the author not the comedian)

Jane Eyre
Middlemarch
The Cruel Sea
The Happy Prisoner by Monica Dickens
Pied Piper by Nevil Shute

All Jane Austin
All Terry Pratchett's discworld series.
All Agatha Christie
All PG Woodhouse "Jeeves and Wooster" series.

Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck
His Dark Materials Philip Pullman
All of Terry Pratchett
The Slough House books by Mick Herron

That sounds awful - I do feel for you.

The books that spring to mind for me are a mixture of things I loved and re-read endlessly when young and those that are really tricksy and engaging reads.

In the first category: things like Cold Comfort Farm, I Capture the Castle, The Dud Avocado.

In the second: all of Stuart Turton - The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle; The Devil and the Dark Water; The Last Murder at the End of the World. David Mitchell, The Bone Clocks; Hugh Howey's Silo series. Also One Hundred Years of Solitude, but I expect you've read that.

Pride and prejudice by Jane Austen
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Houssini
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
A court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.
All of Jane Austen.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.
The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy.
The Kenneth Williams Diaries.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. I was actually annoyed at having to go to work because I didn't want to put it down. I fell in love with the characters and it truly transports you to a different world, I re-read it at least once a year.
I hope you get well soon, that sounds so awful bless you.

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara.

An utterly beautiful, heartbreaking, incredible book.

Sounds heavy, but Crime and Punishment - riveting, beautifully written, amazing glimpse into that time and place.
Entertaining and lighter - anything by David Sedaris, and Bill Bryson (recently read At Home, so entertaining!). Robert Harris' Pompeii, and heard his Conclave is v good.

Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit. Agree with Terry Pratchett, particularly the Discworld books. I first read Mort which is a particular favourite of mine. The Colour Of Magic is the first one. Dune by Frank Herbert. I, Robot by Asimov. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, which is nothing like the recent film.

Apologies if you aren't into sci fi and fantasy books!

Skeleton Coast by John Marsh

True story of people shipwrecking during WW2 on the Namibian coast...

A prayer for Owen by John Irving
The gray house by Mariam Petrosyan
The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov
The unbearable lightness of being by Kundera

I remember how beautiful I found the language in The God of Small Things, especially so first time round. Some of the writing is so beautifully phrased and i love how she uses unusual combined words to make very evocative images.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

I found playing video games on the Switch helped when I was recently unable to get out and desperately needed distraction. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes was a brilliant puzzle game that was very absorbing.

Shantaram. Plus it's very long. It might fill the whole 6 weeks for you 😉

This may be a bit niche but The Apparition Phase. Took me back to my childhood when we used to love A Ghost Story for Christmas.

The woman who painted her dreams
Book by Isla Dewar

Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir.
Only read it once, I'm saving the second read for when I need EVERYTHING.