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Original poster

Absolutely Unputdownable Books

259 replies

spacemonkey · 27/02/2004 18:54

Just interested to know what books mumsnetters found absolutely impossible to put down ...

Here are some of mine:

  • Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
  • anything by Jane Austen
  • Villette - Charlotte Bronte
  • Diary of a Nobody - George & Weedon Grossmith
  • If This Is A Man - Primo Levi
  • His Dark Materials Trilogy - Philip Pullman
  • The Wrong Boy - Willy Russell
  • Moab is my Washpot - Stephen Fry
  • Things Can Only Get Better - John O'Farrell
  • The Consolations of Philosophy - Alain de Botton

and (ahem) all the Harry Potters

What are yours?

OP posts:
cazzybabs · 28/02/2004 11:24

I agree about the the Quincunx - excellent and also War and Peace - it is fanastically well written. And Harry P and Lord of the Rings.

monkeygirl · 28/02/2004 11:34

Just wanted to add my tuppence worth...
Quincunx is brilliant - maybe it should be considered for the 'reading group', might help solve some of its mysteries (she said trying not to give anything away).

I have also loved:

Prey - Michael Crichton (Was surprised at how much I enjoyed this).
A Prayer for Oweny Meany - John Irving (had me in tears)
Brideshead Revisted - Evelyn Waugh
Head-On - Julian Cope autobiography (brilliant and a fantastic nostalgia trip for an oldie like me)
Nicci French thrillers

So many more...but such a little brain for remembering...

shrub · 28/02/2004 11:47

the 'quincunx' eluded me, i started off really enjoying it then i got completely lost. 'follow your heart' - wonderful book, 'moab is my washpot' brilliant, 'the little friend' was such a disappointment after 'secret history'. my favourites:
'the alienist' caleb carr
'i know this much is true' wally lamb
'bad blood' lorna sage
'the magus' john fowles
'fingersmith' sarah waters
'the bronze horseman' paullina simmons
'les miserables' victor hugo
'the count of monte cristo' alexandre dumas
'the continuum concept' jean lleidoff
'after you'd gone' maggie o' farrell
'the power of one' bryce courtenay'
'the mind game' hector macdonald
'perfume' patrick suskind
can't remember anymore though i'm always looking for the next 'big' book thats going to keep me reading. shame you have to read so many rubbish ones to find the good ones - though i shall print this page for future 'amazon' purchases

Janstar · 28/02/2004 12:03

Melsy, I love Jeanette Winterson too - especially 'Sexing The Cherry'.

The Siege by Helen Dunmore
A Spell Of Winter and With Your Crooked Heart also Helen Dunmore.

Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess
All Marge Piercy books
Gervase Phinn books about his days as a school inspector.
Jupiter's Travels By Ted Simon

manna · 28/02/2004 12:07

just add a new joanna harris - holy fools. Read it in a day!

melsy · 28/02/2004 12:12

Janstar, will have to read that.

Good idea to print this page off.

Original poster
spacemonkey · 28/02/2004 12:13

lilibet - no I've never seen him on stage, but I think he's a brilliant writer and I love books about acting. I've got his autobiography which is also good, if you haven't read it email me through contact another talker and i'll send it to you

PERFUME by Patrick Suskind shrub - BRILLIANT BOOK!

OP posts:
Original poster
spacemonkey · 28/02/2004 12:35

I couldn't get through The Wasp Factory, I found it too disturbing

OP posts:
Original poster
spacemonkey · 28/02/2004 12:54

The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat by Oliver Sacks

OP posts:
SenoraPostrophe · 28/02/2004 13:00

Spacemonkey - I like that book too. But then felt very prurient when I saw a reviewer refer to Sacks as "the man who mistook his patients for a literary career". Made me laugh though.

Chinchilla · 28/02/2004 13:05

I couldn't get through 'The Little Friend' by Donna Tartt. I found the death of the brother too nasty to contemplate, and it really soured any chance of reading the book. I also found the narrative too dreary. My favourites are:

All the 'Cross Stitch' books - Diana Gabaldon
P & P, Persuasion & Sense and Sensibility - Austen
The Count of Monte Cristo - Dumas
Anything by Fiona Walker
Our Mutual Friend - Dickens
All the earlier Minette Walters books
The 'Wideacre' Trilogy - Philippa Gregory
The Thorn Birds (When I was 15)
The Winner - David Baldacci (trashy but great idea)
Asta's Book - Barbera Vine
The Crow Road - Iain Banks
Anything by Joanne Harris (except Holy Fools)
Vanity Fair - Thackery
Dialogues of the Dead & Death's Jest Book - Reginald Hill

Loads of others, but these were the ones that I just could not put down. I'm sure that I'll think of others!

hmb · 28/02/2004 13:05

Oh, I loved the Man who mistook his wife. There is a little bit of voyeruism, granted. But when I read the book I got the overwhelming feeling that Sacks truly respected these people for their differences. He recognises that they are different but relishes the richness that diversity brings to life. I'm thinking of Witty Ticky Ray and the Walking Grove. Sacks encourages us to see that different does not mean 'worse'.

Original poster
spacemonkey · 28/02/2004 13:05

SP, that's a funny remark I have to admit, but I think Sacks is a good writer so nurrr to the reviewer!

OP posts:
hmb · 28/02/2004 13:06

Oh, just read another list.....loved Asta's Book, couldn't put it down!

OldieMum · 28/02/2004 15:08

Some more I've remembered

Ian McEwan, Atonement
Penelope Lively, Moon Tiger
Vikrram Seth, A Suitable Boy
Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose
Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea
Jonathan Raban, Bad Land
Carole Shields, Larry's Party
Annie Proulx, Accordion Crimes
Lorna Sage, Bad Blood

I agree about the excellence of War and Peace. I read it at ages 15, 20 and 32 and found different things in it each time. Time to read it again, perhaps.

OldieMum · 28/02/2004 15:10

Spacemonkey - I thought 'Perfume' was brilliant, too.

suzywong · 28/02/2004 15:19

Yes yes to 'Perfume' and 'Wide Sargasso Sea' is one of my all time faves. Jean Rhys's short stories 'Let them Call it Jazz" are equally haunting

Also
Toni Morrison, 'Beloved' and 'The Bluest Eye'

donnie · 28/02/2004 15:25

agreed on Toni Morrison, I love all her stuff, esp the Bluest Eye.Other faves
Moon Palace - Paul Auster
Grapes of Wrath - Steinbeck
Hard Times, D Copperfield - Dickens
Handful of Dust- Waugh
Falling Angels, Giirl with a pearl earring - Tracy Chevalier
Birdsong - Faulks
Wonam in White - Collins
Jane Eyre - C Bronte
can't remember, toomany to mention!

prufrock · 28/02/2004 15:35

I forgot Katherine, by Anya Seton. Out of print, but you can get second hand copies and the most amazing historical romance that seems to transcend the genre - we are not talking mills and boon here.
And whilst I know they aren't as highbrow as some of the others on here I really enjoyed the Earths children series by Jean M Auel, the endless repetition of the sex lives of Cro Magnon man can get a bit tedious, but they are a very easy read.

Chinchilla · 28/02/2004 19:30

I thought that 'Larry's Party' by Carole Shields was yawnworthy! Oldiemum - please explain what you saw in it...maybe I missed something. Someone else recommended it on here, and I wonder if I was not in the right frame of mind to read it.

I also love 'The Woman in White' was fab, if a bit (lot) unrealistic. I also like 'The Moonstone' by Collins. After watching'The Wyvern Mysteries' on tv, I read it, and it was good too. I like that Gothic mysterious type book!

Marina · 28/02/2004 21:16

Hoxtonchick, another fan of Robertson Davies! Especially the Salterton Trilogy, it really is a special world. It's my main comfort read.
Great thread and nice to see some of my favourites (Donna Tartt, Philip Pullman, War and Peace, Jonathan Coe, Anya Seton - hello there Prufrock) mentioned.
Here are some of my other favourites:
I Claudius and Claudius the God, Robert Graves
Carter Beats the Devil, Glen David Gold
A Place of Greater Safety, Hilary Mantel
Woman on the Edge of Time, Marge Piercy
Life: a User's Manual, Georges Perec
Persuasion, Jane Austen

The book club will be able to get loads of ideas from this thread!

suzywong · 28/02/2004 21:21

Anna Karenina - Tolstoy
Just don't think of Sean Bean

hoxtonchick · 28/02/2004 22:03

Marina, I don't think I've ever met another Robertson Davies fan, how exciting! Have to say, I haven't read it for years but I do remember it making me very happy when I did so am going to re-read imminently.

OldieMum · 28/02/2004 22:18

Chincilla - Sorry you didn't like Larry's Party. I liked it for several reasons. One was Carol Shields' ability to get inside a man's head. Another was the way in which she showed depth of feeling and emotional growth in someone whom it would be easy to dismiss as very limited at first. I have a soft spot for novels and films which show how we can find redemption in very unpromising circumstances. I also liked the gentle humour and compassion with which the story is told.

OldieMum · 28/02/2004 22:20

Marina - Oh yes, yes, three cheers for a Place of Greater Safety. Have you seen her recent autobiography? I have read extended extracts from it (in the London Review of Books, I think) and it's both harrowing and moving.