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Original poster

I need GRIPPING page- turners...

154 replies

tethersend · 19/09/2013 09:16

Am off work with a broken shoulder, in pain and so, so bored...

Please recommend me some absorbing books!

I love books about WW2, but am up for reading anything set at any time, ever.

Please help. I need books to blow me away and take my mind off things.

OP posts:
Trills · 27/09/2013 08:17

I am one who was not impressed by The Book Thief. I can barely remember what it was about. Is that the one with Death? Yes. The Kite Runner is in the same category - I read it, didn't find it particularly gripping, it left no mark on me.

Laquila · 27/09/2013 08:22

Lorna I was right beside you on your first three recs (LOVE Michael Faber! Have you read Under The Skin?) but then you mentioned Shantaram, which is the worst book I've ever read and made me want to track down the author and beat him about the head with a shovel.

BOF YES. I loved 11/22/63!

valiumredhead · 27/09/2013 08:28

I'm waiting for the other typist to get cheap on kindleGrin

strawberrypenguin · 27/09/2013 08:35

Ooh I haven't shrinking I'll add it to my list!

magpieC · 27/09/2013 08:51

I'm another one who doesn't really get The Book Thief but would go with those recommending Sophie Hannah.

Another one set in WW2 (Russia) is The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons - essentially a love story set against the backdrop of the war.

BoreOfWhabylon · 27/09/2013 08:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

valiumredhead · 27/09/2013 09:22

Thank you trills!Smile Thanks

BoreOfWhabylon · 27/09/2013 11:54

My earler post contained an inadvertent spoiler (that's what comes of MNing while working) so I've asked for it to be removed. Here's the redacted version!

For those who like Connie Willis, her 'Doomsday Book' is one of my all-time favourites. It's time travel back to the 14th century. Definitely gripping.

WWII - Neville Shute, Requiem for a Wren.

MrsBodger · 27/09/2013 12:07

For WW2, definitely agree with Robert Harris' Fatherland and Engima.

Recently read and loved loved loved Restoration by Rose Tremain - set in the 17th century but just a brilliant book with one of the best, most lovable protagonists I've ever come across, and deeply gripping and moving and funny. Sigh.

Also, if you haven't read A Week in December by Sebastian Faulkes you must. As soon as I'd finished it, I read it straight through again.

Sonotkylie · 27/09/2013 13:15

Doomsday Book! Read it years ago and loved it, but had forgotten about it. Must re read. Great thread. I now have a very long reading list. Hope the shoulder and other broken bones are improving.

BoreOfWhabylon · 27/09/2013 17:23

So pleased someone else loves it too! Think I might give it a re-reading this weekend.

yy to Fatherland and Enigma too.

And more thanks to Trills for the link.

What a lovely thread!

MrsSlocombe · 27/09/2013 21:18

HHhH by Laurent Binet (partly a biography about Heydrich, Himmler's henchman, but primarily about the Czech partisans who assassinated him)

Sockywockydoodah · 27/09/2013 23:10

Laquila - ooh, now I loved Faber's Under the Skin. Did you know it's going to be made into a film? (Uh...how? was my first thought)

Sorry for not replying earlier Tethers, but I would cut your losses now if you're not feeling it. So many other great recs on here!

Bedat10 · 28/09/2013 08:11

The Bronze Horseman! Thank you so much MagpieC - I read this book about 10 years ago when I was travelling - did a book swap for it - I really loved it but could never remember the name or author or anything identifying features of it. Just read your post and it all came back to me - have googled and discovered its part of a trilogy! Yey! Thank you so much!

ScarerAndFuck · 30/09/2013 10:26

I vaguely remember that James Herbert's '48 was quite good. It's like an alternative reality to how things could have been after the war.

I liked Apple Tree Yard, although I suspect that a major point of the author writing it was to show people how manipulative and unfair the justice system can be.

Have you read Wool by Hugh Howey, and the following book, Shift? I was completely gripped with the first book just within a few pages. It seemed like a very simple story but I had to know what happened.

And how about Liars and Saints and then A Family Daughter by Maile Meloy? The first one starts in the second world war and follows the lives of the Santerre family through several generations.

Sophie Hannah has been recommended and I'm going to un-recommend her. Her plots always sound very compelling but she's getting more unbelievable and bizarre with each book. She can suck you in with a great blurb, but the actual books have increasingly left me wondering how she got them published and what voodoo she's worked on me to have me keep giving them a go in the hope they've gotten better. If you have to try one, avoid Lasting Damage like the plague, it's dire and has three endings.

magpieC · 30/09/2013 19:55

Ooh bedat10 I didn't realise there was a third one - will go and search it out!

Laquila · 02/10/2013 16:53

Sockywocky wasn't it brilliant?! One of those books that you want everyone else to read so you can discuss it! I've seen a couple of stills from the film, of Scarlet Johanson, and am unconvinced...apparently they're changing the story slightly - I think I read that they're making it a bit more ambiguous where they are from.

ScarerAndFuck I've just finished Wool, thought it was very good. I'm a bit annoyed that Shift is prequel, though - I want to know what happens next!

Also, I sort of agree with you in Sophie Hannah, despite having read quite a few of her books. Also, I find all the police officers very annoying.

BOF · 02/10/2013 19:21

The Connie Willis ones defeated me, I'm afraid- just not my cup of tea. But I've enjoyed the Robert Harris Enigma, and I've bought Codename Verity and The Other Typist to get going on next.

blueseventytwo · 02/10/2013 20:24

You could try Dominion by CJ Sansom - I really enjoyed it - it is set around the time of WW2 but its a story about what might have happened if there was "alternative history" .......... it's a really good read. (In my opinion)

ubik · 02/10/2013 20:37

I alot of tedious nightshift and need page turners which are not too demanding.

I loved The Secret History, Donna Tartt, The Poisonwoid Bible, The Gathering by Anne Enright.

The Hinger Games excellent at 4am

An old favourite is Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes which is dressed up a 'chick lit' but is really funny and quite affecting really - it's about a girl who goes into rehab.

Trills · 03/10/2013 08:07

I am reading Blackout now and I think I preferred Doomsday Book.

BOF · 03/10/2013 08:26

I only managed two chapters and got a refund for both.

BOF · 05/10/2013 18:38

Just finished Code Name Verity. It was emosh. Loved it.

Icyalittle · 07/10/2013 18:20

This one is absolutely brilliant - Between Silk and Cyanide: A Codemaker's War, 1941-1945 by Leo Marks. (Yes, it's on Kindle). It is funny, clever, agonising and intense. I can't recommend it highly enough. If you read the first sentence you will see what I mean.

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