what shall i read?

[AtYourCervix]

the last few free ones i'v kindled were so crap i can't bring myself to carry on with them.

i like jilly cooper, jane austen, kate atkinson, crime-ish stuff but not too gory, chick-lit if not too fatuous and bollocks and generally not too picky.

They have to be Kindle-friendly, do they?

if poss yes please.

Georgette Heyer books - if you've never read them, they're a bit like Jane Austen with much better heroines and much funnier. She does crime as well (but not too gory). Don't touch Penhallow or Simon the Coldheart - they're not good.

I was going to suggest books by the Mulgray Twins but they're not on Kindle (crime-ish but not too gory :))

Christopher Brookmyre does crime but it might be a bit gory for you - he's got a very black sense of humour though.

Do you like Marian Keyes? All good with the possible exception of her last one.
I also like Christina Jones but she might be a bit away-with-the-fairies for you.

Stella Gibbons, Cold Comfort Farm and NIghtingale Wood

i never got on with georgette. should i try again? what should i start with?

and i love CCF so will try tother one too. thanks

Pillars of the Earth (can't remember the author sorry)

For crime but not gory, try the CJ Sansom books - set in the 16th century and a really good read.

Read 'Pride And Prejudice With Zombies' - it is a work of genius.

CJ Sansom is good. Also Arianna Franklyn.

'The American Boy' by Andrew Taylor.

'The Historian' by Elizabeth somebody beginning with K.

On Georgette, if you want romance, then These Old Shades, but for humour I'd say The Grand Sophy (TOS does have it but the story really takes over). If you want history from her, then the Peninsular war , The Spanish Bride is excellent - pretty rubbish romance but the hero is the man who founded the town of Ladysmith in S Africa in memory of his wife, and the novel about Waterloo whose name I can't recall used to be used by Sandhurst.

How about a Dickens? at this time of year, A Christmas Carol or Bleak House (fog everywhere...).

And DL Sayers for crime? old fashioned but still good.

As a wild card, I kindled the works of Frances Hodgson Burnett (as in The Secret Garden) and found a inadvertently funny novel called The Shuttle - Edwardian passion and why US millionairesses have rights too.

Agree Cold Comfort Farm. One of the great great novels of the last century. V funny.

Finished Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd today, not bad. Just starting When God was a Rabbit, good already.

Into the Darkness Corner, Shadowlands, Carpture the Castle, all good recent reads.

Have you ever read anything by Emily Barr? They're really easy to read but very engaging and I really liked them.

The island - Victoria hislop also worth a read.

pillars of the earth is by Ken Follett.
nightingale wood I am sure you would like.

hmmm original suggestions, how about any Tracy Chevalier books?

have got a cheapy tracy chevallier on the go.

will looksy at ken follett and emily barr.

bleak house is an idea. haven't read that for simply ages.

I just read 3 fab ones in a row. The hand that first held mine. The room. And the help. All great suggestions off mumsnet. Have started reading I know why the caged bird sings but find it so depressing

A Visit from teh Goon Squad. Loved it.

The last few I've read include One Day, A Tiny Bit Marvellous (Dawn French), The Red Tent.

Others that I've loved from the last year include The Room, The House at Riverton and The Help.

Oh God! Don't read The Historian, it's shite!

How about some amusement. Have you tried any Jasper Fforde? The Eyre Affair is good, the next one, The Well of Lost Plots?? Is even better! The bloke is a fruit loop!

We clearly have v different tastes, Saggy. Jasper Fffffffffffffffffffff irritates the hell out of me. I like the concept of the books and I do like Miss Havisham's character - but he seems to be laughing at his own jokes all the time. A bit like Ian Hislop...

I agree with Saggy. I didn't enjoy The Historian either. I thought it was over long, could have done with a lot better editing. I struggled to finish it. It was a Richard & Judy book club recommendation a few years ago, and they made it sound an interesting and exciting story. It wasn't (for me, that is).

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox - Maggie o'Farrell
Sister - Rosamund Lupton
The Room - v.g.
Brixton Beach - Roma Tearne
Hotel at the corner of bitter and sweet - Jamie Ford (I think)A
Afterwards - Rosamund Lupton