Help me back on track

[Wildwaterfalls]

Help help help!

I used to love reading 'proper, good' books, such as classics (Trollope, Bronte), contemporary fiction (Donna Tartt, Margaret Atwood) and funny stuff too (Wodehouse particularly).

I have always had a weakness for crime fiction (Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes) but recently my standards have kind of slipped and I am reading lots of crime 'series' which are easy to read but not particularly well-written.

So... I'd really like to get back on track and hear about the good books you're reading, especially if you have a similar taste in books to me. Stuff that has really made you think, or made you laugh, or challenged you somehow.

Many thanks

I recently enjoyed The Innocents by Francesca Segal, which takes its inspiration from Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence. I got very involved with the characters and was surprised to find that the one I thought I liked the least was actually the most complex by the end.

Alys, Always by Harriet Lane was very good, it had slight tones of Notes on a Scandal about it.

A Kind of Intimacy by Jenn Ashworth is a favourite of mine and I recommended it recently on the thread about The Magpies by Mark Edwards.

Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd has been a favourite for a long time, it tells the story of a woman called Hope Clearwater and how she came to live on the coast of Africa, via a divorce in England and a job on the Grosso Avore Chimp Reserve.

Thanks Sarah, I really appreciate the tips! Can't wait to get started!

I'd really recommend Peter May's Lewis Trilogy - it starts with The Blackhouse. They happen to fit in to a sort of crime genre, ish, but they are beautifully written so might bridge a gap.

Have you tried any Sarah Waters? Not really whodunnits but certainly really good stories with a twist in the tale.

I would urge you to try The Light Between Oceans by ML Thompson. It is a very thoughtful story with believable characters who are given a life changing dilemma. The research on lighthouses and the effects on returnees from the 1st World War really captures the mood of post World War 1. I was captivated by the writing and the emotions conveyed in the main protagonists' dilemmas.

Also just read Restless by William Boyd which fascinated me. If you're looking for a kind of war/crime/thriller type this is very well written with excellent research. I have Waiting for Sunrise to read which may also interest you.

Oh thank you all! Some excellent suggestions here which I am looking forward to trying. I like the idea of a good book that has a but if a crime-ish theme, to wean myself off the detectives