Does anyone else find it quite hard to find a 'good' book? Or can you read anything?

[YorkieButtonsizeMen]

I'm not trying to imply that most books aren't good, not at all - I can see they are well written and so on.

I've only started reading properly again in the last few months after a very long break (maybe 20 years, seriously - I was a teenager) and really enjoying certain books, which I then finish and feel totally bereft.

Trying to find something else to look forward to at bedtime is quite difficult.

I have loads of books I've collected over the years (family getting rid of them, (inherited hundreds last year) or occasionally charity shop buys) and I'm gradually going through them but more often than not I try a few pages and just don't feel comfortable in them.

Like, perhaps the style seems a bit artificial, a bit pretentious or unnatural (Arundhati Roy, God of Small Things) or I can't like the protagonist (Annie Proulx - Shipping News) or it all just seems too unrealistic (Age of Miracles) and sensationalist...I don't like to be messed with or shocked, it has to make plausible sense!

I couldn't even get into Proust at all as it's so poetic, so complicated and full of analogy. It's hard work, isn't it?! And I wanted to get into that as my old English teacher sent it to me . I got to page two.

Maybe it's my brain, I don't process very quickly, but there are books I really blooming love and get through very fast indeed.

Recent ones - Captain Corelli, (absolutely beautiful), The Talented Mr Ripley (very very clever and interesting) and High Fidelity, which was a quick read and a bit facile but still readable.

Tried to read Cold Earth by Sarah Moss and had to skip large chunks but it wasn't as hard as a lot of books seem.

My sister read about two novels a day when we were young, she can read anything. I can't seem to.

Sorry for the essay, I just sort of wanted to check that it's common to find this. And also ask if anyone has any suggestions based on the above!

Thanks if you got this far.

I think I must have read all the "plots" now, because nothing surprises me anymore. People go on about an amazing twist, and I'm like "twist? What twist?" Because I've seen it coming - I've already figured out that it wasn't him who did X, it was his brother; or that the unreliable narrator is not what ... well, I won't go on. Or they are good reads in a page-turning sort of way, only to collapse in a limp and implausible ending.

I know what you mean op...

Some recommendations of books with a story, that require a bit of thought, but aren't going to kill you, and I found really engrossing. There's a lot of others I haven't found as good!

The poisonwood bible
The Humans
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
The 100 year old man who stepped out of a window
The Snow Child
Tiny Sunbirds Far Away
The Night Watch
The White Tiger
Pigeon English

I'm also much fussier now, if I'm not enjoying a book, I'll move onto something else. I don't have enough concentration on reading time for anything else!

I think as my youngest Ds is 2 I won't waste my precious time reading something that I don't love... I wish I could find a book I love :)

I find the vast majority of literary fiction is unsatisfying, even books that have been hyped to high heaven. I have a far higher hit rate for good books when reading Young Adult - the stories are tighter and less likely to have literary pyrotechnics for the sake of it.

I would have had to disagree Countess if you'd said "all" rather than the vast majority.

Some of the YA novels I've read this century - by, for example Meg Rosoff or John Corey Whaley have been outstanding - but I could never say they offer the breadth and depth of any half way decent novel written for adults.

I think one problem is that contemporary adult fiction writers are, on the whole, less well educated (perhaps I mean less classically educated) than those of the 20th century and earlier. So they produce stories that they genuinely think are "new" but which seem like turgid cliché to anyone who's been reading for a long time.

I have read quite a lot for the 50 book challenge this year and last year. I don't agree with books needing to be like an old pair of jeans. I like to read some books like that but I also like to read books that I feel are challenging or difficult, that I have to work through and feel a sense of achievement at the end. I don't need to absolutely love them or even particularly like them because I always take something from them.

I also tend not to give up on a book because sometimes a book can change so much through its entirety. I read a book I hated last year, The Plumed Serpent by D.H Lawrence, but I am still glad I read it because I did learn something from it. I think striking a balance is good, some books for a quick esay read, some books that are lovely, some that make my head hurt.
Also, it's hard to recreate that feeling you have when you are young and you just fall in love with a book (especially when, like me, you are knackered looking after your own young ones).

whippet I guess we've interpreted the OP differently. When she says

Something you can just wear, or read, without standing or thinking in a certain unnatural position.

I didn't really understand that as meaning intellectually unchallenging - perhaps because I'm too familiar with trying to twist myself into an uncomfortable shape to accommodate or tolerate an unsatisfactory or unambitious book. So I took it to mean finding something that fits, that encompasses a fair bit of all the million things I have in my brain - comfy jeans with incomparable tailoring, cut, stitches, fabric, the ones that outlast all the cheaper pairs thrown together in turquoise polyester.

I love John Lancaster too. My favourites of his are Fragrant Harbour, set in Hong Kong, and Mr Philips.

I got my reading mojo back last year by joining the 50 Books Challenge thread and reading everyone's reviews. It also made me go into bookstores and the library and really take my time over choosing my next read. Now I read voraciously again and seem to really enjoy most of the books I pick. Reading has become a pleasurable habit again.

I didn't like Captain Corelli, only read the beginning, but loved his other books so you may not. I haven't been able to get into a book for a couple of years now really - start them but nothing seems to grip me. Used to read ever so much :/

Lol I don't think it's your brain . I need a good book too I research for ages to find a book. Suggestions please :)

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. It has won the Pulitzer Prize and I looked forward to reading it every day until I finished it and then I wanted to read it again. It is so much more than a war story. I really cared for the characters and the writing is lovely.

I know this is an old(ish) thread, but I'm so relieved to see it pop up!

I agree with many of you; I used to be a voracious reader (my degree was in Literature) but now I just can't seem to find anything which really draws me in and keeps the pages turning. I've read a lot of the recent 'popular' novels (Gone Girl, 100 Year Old Man blah blah blah, Goldfinch) but they were all a struggle and I have to admit to giving up with most of them or just being hugely underwhelmed. For the same reasons that a lot of people have mentioned; dragging plot, boring protagonists, overwrought language, predictable twists...

The last few books (all pretty old now) I really enjoyed were:

'House of Leaves' by Mark Z. Danielewski
'Beyond Black' by Hilary Mantel (yes, I've tried 'Wolf Hall'...yawn)
'1974', '1980' and '1983' (the Red Riding trilogy) by David Peace
'Lunar Park' by Bret Easton Ellis

I tend to find that I'll read something by a really terrific author and rush out to buy their next offering, only to find it really disappointing (I'm looking at you, David Mitchell...)

I usually resort to crime fiction because at least they usually have a vaguely compelling plot, but I don't really enjoy them and they're all so formulaic these days.

If anyone has any recommendations, happy to hear them! I like quite dark, twisty stories, with some sort of 'supernatural' element, real or implied, set in the real world rather than fantasy.

I'm not into crime fiction really but really enjoyed Steve Mosby's books. Probably because he studied philosophy and I can see that in his work.

I've read voraciously all my life and I can relate to the struggle to find a really good book to read amongst new publications.

As has been said already, I don't think that today's writers are educated as broadly and as deeply as those writers who were publishing 25 years ago. Many highly applauded new novels seem to be the results of a creative writing school and lack that certain something that takes them above the mundane.

I spent my twenties reading Anne Tyler, Margaret Forster, Margaret Attwood, Alice Munro. Would dearly love to come across a writer with the gentle perception and incisive writing of Margaret Forster. My Mum bought me her latest book for Christmas's and birthdays.

Other favourites are Susan Howatch and Barbara Kingsolver.

I too gravitate to detective fiction as I know that my attention will be kept - although I've struggled with these a little bit recently.

For me, the best reads in recent years have come from writers who have a foot in two - or more - cultures. I'm thinking of Roma Tearne, Aminatta Forna, Abraham Verghese and Sharon Maas. I think that it is because they are drawing on a complexity of feelings and experience and that, for a large part, the novel is their vehicle for expressing these feelings and experiences. It can make for very rich reading.

That's a very interesting point, tormentil. I find the more I read of recently published novels the less satisfied I am and yet, when I read older novels or those from exploring different cultures my love of reading increases again. Agree Roma Tearne is a good writer - I loved Brixton Beach. I find I enjoy Japanese novels particularly - fond of Murakami Also some truly wonderful novels from Irish writers in recent times - Toibin, Banville, Donal Ryan, Sebastian Barry.

Apologies for lack of paragraphs and dodgy punctuation - on phone.

If anyone has any recommendations, happy to hear them! I like quite dark, twisty stories, with some sort of 'supernatural' element, real or implied, set in the real world rather than fantasy
Skeppers have a look at Gillespie and I, and also The Observations, by Jane Harris. I think you might like them. I guess you may already have come across Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet, by Sarah Waters. If not, have a look at them too.

tormentil have you read any Ann Patchett? Bel Canto and State of Wonder are particularly good. Looking at the authors you like, Earth and Heaven by Sue Gee might also suit you.

From what you have said, I wouldn't go for Surfacing - I found it very difficult. Have you read The Handmaid's Tale? I really enjoyed that.

I used to read voraciously, but find it much more difficult now. It's a relief to see what other people have said about the internet and attention spans - I find it so hard to focus these days and I thought I was the only one.

I do find that if a book grips me then I will be hooked all the way through, but I am much more selective now. I have started choosing books by going to Amazon and typing in a book that I have recently enjoyed and then following the 'people who bought this book also bought..' thing at the bottom. I really don't bother with anything that is going to be heavy or intellectual, my poor brain can't cope with it anymore!

Have you read any John Irving? I love his style, it is so humorous and intelligent. Or the Book Thief by Marcus Zusak - very moving. The Help by Kathryn Stockett was also great, really historically interesting and again, moving. Or The Time Traveller's Wife - one of my favourites.

Recently, I also loved The Snow Child, Skippy Dies and Girl on a Train.

Cheesy (and others ) another good way of finding recommendations for new books is literaturemap Just type in the name of an author you like and suggestions for similar writers come up.

librarything is also good but takes longer. You basically input your own favourite books and are matched up with people who like similar stuff. You can then explore their own online library for new ideas. Really good if you like that kind of thing and don't mind devoting a bit of time to it.

These sites are seductive though - I sometimes think I spend more time researching what to read than actually sitting down and getting on with it. A fortnight's holiday in a caravan with no internet is needed I think

I am a voracious reader and I read at high speed too, but in order to commit to reading a book, I read the back synopsis and the first paragraph and if they don't grab me I don't bother.

I have found this works really well. However, in the unlikely event a dud slips through the net, I am happy to charity shop it on the spot.

Life is TOO SHORT to spend reading BAD BOOKS.

The classics are different - if I commit to reading a classic, I will persevere until the end. If I find it hard going, I might reference a "notes on" book or the internet to get a concise view of the main themes, character relationships, plot synopsis etc.

higlandcoo I will definitely check those sites out. I find it much easier browsing for a book on the internet as I often make bad choices when 'under pressure' in a book shop (though I do love those too). The three for two offers always suck me in and then end up gathering dust.

ohMittens I totally agree that Life is TOO SHORT to spend reading BAD BOOKS!

I have this, too, and think I need to be more discerning like some P.P's are, in my book choices. I'm big on characterisation in novels, so if I feel that the author hasn't fully captured their characters voices, then this disrupts the flow of the story for me and inevitably leaves me feeling disappointed. There's few writers out there that can write truly three-dimensional characters - Donna Tartt, Zadie Smith, Sarah Waters are a few that immediately come to mind who can.

I have this processing "thing" too but am very high on the autistic spectrum. It takes me ages to "take in" a book, even great ones I've read again and again (The Crimson Petal & The White; The Secret History).

I often get 100 pages in and abandon a book. Unlike many people who'd just schlep through, to the end in a "I've started so I'll finish" fashion.

Are you on the spectrum?

I remember how difficult it was to focus on books when the children were young but it helped being in a book group where you got one book a month you wanted to read to be able to contribute. Now I read voraciously again but authors that give you satisfying characters and flow well for me have been: anything by Barbara Kingsolver - The Poisonwood Bible, Prodigal Summer, Flight Behaviour; anything by Anne Tyler; Adichie - Americanah, Half of a Yellow Sun; anything by Rose Tremain. Or you could try short stories by Alice Munroe, Doris Lessing. Good luck! Hope you find something from all the suggestions everyone has made

I'm suffering this too - from being an avid bookworm pre-kids, to having the attention span of a gnat now. I used to have at least a couple of books on the go all the time, fiction and non-fiction. Now the whole business of researching, buying, reading a book seems like one more job on my to do list - and not a high priority. Dipping into MN / guardian online / FB / whatever on my phone / iPad is commitment free, easy to pick up and put down five minutes later because someone needs me to do something, and fills that five minutes in bed before I pass out with exhaustion. I used to read in bed for hours: now I'm so tired by then, I do not have the energy or enthusiasm to get into anything - and the previous time I do have, I don't want to risk wasting it on a crappy book.

There is hope though;) I joined a book club recently which has got me reading a bit more and at least thinking / talking about literature (though it's mostly wine and gossip;) I am the youngest member, and certainly have the youngest children, the others generally have self sufficient older teens, or grown up children, and the difference is clear. They have time and energy to read about, think about and read books again. It gives me something to look forward to when this stage of life passes!