Would anyone like to help me get my holiday reading sorted?

[VolumniaDedlock]

Lovely mate just got me some Waterstones vouchers for my birthday. I'd like something cheerful/whimsical, as I've been reading some properly bleak stuff recently. Nothing too challenging. I quite like Sarah Waters, Kate Atkinson, Ian McEwan, that sort of thing.

[yesbutnobut]

I have similar tastes to you OP and wonder if you've read any Helen Dunmore? I think you'd enjoy The Siege and the Betrayal (about Stalinist Russia but don't let that put you off!) or The Lie.

[Costacoffeeplease]

Indeed Scribbler

[SuperScribbler]

I must assume that either Cote is Lisa Jewel, knows her intimately, or the nuances of her words have been lost in translation. All else would be arrogance indeed.

[CoteDAzur]

Around these parts, we mostly get mère readers. I'm one myself

[DuchessofMalfi]

I couldn't resist - this is where you will find Mere readers :)

[Costacoffeeplease]

Good grief, 'mere reader' it gets better!

[CoteDAzur]

I'm sorry I gobsmacked you, Costa. I happen to know a little more about L Jewell than a mere reader, so feel I can safely say that she aspires to write better literature than chick-lit.

[Providore]

Have you read Longbourn by Jo Baker? Just finished it and can't stop thinking about it.
Second Liane Moriarty; fantastic holiday reading.
The Cuckoo's Calling is excellent too.

[SuperScribbler]

At no point have I asserted that genre writers are necessarily the best writers (although that is subjective). I am merely pointing out that most genre writers would aim to be the best writer "in that genre". You seem to think that a literary writer is by some token a better writer than a genre writer and I would maintain that that is just not so. There are mediocre literary writers and there are genre writers who are at the top of their game.

By the same token I have watched mediocre stage actors and masterful soap actors.

[Costacoffeeplease]

How patronising to decide what Lisa Jewell would or wouldn't do? Maybe she's happy doing what she's doing? Gobsmacked at that

I haven't actually read any of her books yet, I have a couple in my huge TBR pile, but from reviews I've read, I thought they might fit the op's brief.

[CoteDAzur]

Well, chick-lit writers are probably not taken seriously because the genre is light, easy, and superficial. Just like dick-lit. Then again, dick-lit readers aren't arguing that the genre should be taken seriously or that its authors are just the best.

It's not snobbery. It's just fact that there are lighter books and more literary ones and chick-lit books by definition are light. Their authors are not the best authors in the world, and that is a fact. Lisa Jewell would write The Goldfinch if she could, but she is no Donna Tartt. Lee Child would write Cloud Atlas if he could, but he is no David Mitchell. Neither are about to win a Booker Prize anytime soon.

I read literary books and I also have my fun reads (mystery, sci-fi, spy novels... not chick-lit) as I suspect most people do. What I don't pretend is that my fun reads are great works of literature and their writers brilliant authors.

[SuperScribbler]

Perhaps not, but there is a certain snobbery to referring to a "better" writer (even when crossed out). The point is that genre writers aim to be the best writers of that genre and genre readers aim to read the best examples of their chosen genre.

I also think it is a shame that writers and readers of chick-lit are generally ridiculed or not taken seriously, whereas readers of other genres (thrillers, scifi, horror) don't generally suffer the same negativity.

For what it's worth I wouldn't consider Liane Moriarty a chick-lit writer (no matter how her publisher might package her) and it's best to keep in mind that one person's good read is another person's potboiler.

[CoteDAzur]

I don't think it's snobbery to call a chick-lit writer a chick-lit writer. I like reading Jack Reacher books but have no problem admitting that Lee Child writes... erm.... dick-lit

[ArthurMcAffertyhastwocats]

Nancy Mitford is always entertaining
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld is great
I loved 11.22.63 by Stephen King. Not horror, but a beautifully told and gripping story
I'd also recommend The Cazalet Chronicles, though I've not read the last one yet

[GetHappy]

have you read the rosie project? qas my holiday read last year

[ShanghaiDiva]

Barbara Trapido - have enjoyed all her novels
Americanah and Half of a yellow sun
Cutting for Stone - book club read which we all enjoyed

[juneau]

And I agree costa. I read a huge range of books and am quite fond of a light read every now and again. You can't beat JoJo Moyes!

[juneau]

If you're looking for whimsical, how about some Modern Classics? I find books from the early 20thC pretty good for this. Several big publishers do these - Penguin, Vintage and Virago. Anything that is still being read almost 100 years after it was written is pretty much guaranteed to be a good read IME.

[RoadRunner123]

Have you read Sue Monk Kidd's books? They sprang to mind when I read your post.

[DuchessofMalfi]

Well said, Costa :)

[Costacoffeeplease]

So much snobbery, jeez, a good book is a good book, whatever the genre - room for everyone, people. And it's perfectly possible to like more serious books, and also lighter, quicker reads that don't require the same concentration, all depends on the circumstances and mood

[DuchessofMalfi]

I try to keep the mood brighter when I'm on holiday. I can read more serious books when my children are not interrupting. constantly.

[DianeLockhart]

Everything i never told you - Celeste Ng
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
Moth smoke - mohsin hamid
Snowdrops - AD Miller
Tiny sunbirds far away - Christie Watson

Not really whimsical but all books I really enjoyed and which I think might suit you.

[CoteDAzur]

Sure, like all great literary writers step in and out of chick-lit

I guess she is trying to appear like a better more serious writer by deliberately choosing one sad/serious/tragic subject matter after another.

Marian Keyes is another chick-lit writer.

What is the relevance of books you would or wouldn't like to take with you on holiday to chick lit? I just read books I like to read when on holiday, as at any other time (which is not chick lit, whether it talks about domestic violence, mental illness, or whatever )

[DuchessofMalfi]

Maybe she is a writer who can step in and out of a genre depending on her subject. Marian Keyes dealt with the unpleasant subject of domestic violence in This Charming Man. Again not one I'd want with me on holiday.

I rather like a good thriller for holidays. Something gripping that keeps me turning the pages or a good old fashioned crime novel like Agatha Christie or Ellis Peters' Cadfael novels.