tell me a book you where you said "wow, that was blankety, blank amazing!

[christie1]

I am in a dry spell, been filling it with some solid mysterys interspersed with Dr. Zhivago, but I am craving a reall good read where I fall in love with the book. Help me please! I read anything from chick lit to classics but find everything I pick up, bores me.

Ellie, it took me ages to get into, but when I finished it, it left a real impression

Another vote for The Red Tent - I read it after reading about it on here - couldn't put it down!

Agree with Bint that Helen Simpson is fab.
We Need To Talk About Kevin is a great novel but very harrowing-I was in tears.
Fave comtemporary author is Anne Tyler.
Douglas Kennedy tells a great story.
The Shipping News by Annie Proux is my all time favourite read.
I know it's not fashionable but I love Anita Brookner- restrained and uptight characters living unfullfilled lives.

I was totally surprised at how gripped I was by 'Restoration' by Rose Tremain, as I'm not one for romantic fiction but this was brilliant, such a 'real' central character that it was like losing a friend when I finished the book.

Also recently loved "Lady Audley's Secret" by ( I think) Mary Ann Braddon, it's a victorian 'suspense' novel, very readable.

Wideacre by Phillipa Gregory.

Oh yes, forgot about those douglas kennedy books - really enjoyed those - easy to pick up again if you get interrupted and they're a good story. Unlike my Saturday Ian Mcewan which I am trawling through at the moment.....Am I really going to like that eventually - I'm really trying!
I loved Atonement (unlike another on this thread).

I loved the Red Tent too and then bought another one by her but I've forgotten what is was called and didn't enjoy it at all.

Was it 'Last Days of Dogtown' or something McDreamy? I didn't rate it either, although I really liked Red Tent.

Pollyanna - I read 'Never Let Me Go' recently too. Shocking, but brilliant. It was more believable as he glossed over the technicalities of the donations...

Love in Black and White by Robert James Waller which I picked up in Oxfam the other day and read to the end before looking in the cover to see that it is the book the the movie The Bridges of Madison County is based on.
I have never seen the film(I will soon though) but this book is soooo beautifully written that it made me cry. It's without doubt one of the most moving books I have ever read.

Agree with Hannahsaunt on finding Adriana Trigiani an unexpectedly enjoyable read. Also love anything by Paullina Simons, Douglas Kennedy or Maggie O'Farrell. Have recently really enjoyed Maile Meloy's 'Liars & Saints' and 'A Family Daughter'. Dodie Smith's 'I Capture the Castle' was lovely too.

I LOVE reading and never have a book to read cos I read them all so quickly.

'The Time Traveller's Wife' can't remember the author off hand but one of the best books I've ever read.

blinkacat
just noticed you have that one- did scan for it but missed it the first time.

It definitely deserves another mention though!

mmmmm...i thought The Red Tent was a mills & boon set in biblical times. interesting because of the choice of setting (not the wild west, or the regency era!) but about as well written as mills & boon...

Star of the sea
Shadow of the wind
T.T Wife
Wild Swans
Birdsong
Rebecca

Rebecca is my all time favourite book, love it love it love it. Beautiful.

Hi christie1,
Like you I am an avid reader.
I like alot of chick lit and crime thrillers with a bit of romance and horror thrown in

Some of my fave authors are:-
Jill Mansell (chick lit)
James patterson (crime thrillers)He has quite a few of his books made into movies (along came a spider/kiss the girls)....There is a set that I have which is brill, 1st to die, 2nd chance, (cant think of the 3rd title) and 4th of July...These are great, unputdownable lol.
Louise bagshaw (chick lit)

wow I could go on for ages.....I wont tho, I'll shut up now

Birdsong - probably the first book that made me cry.
Atonement - Ian Mc Ewan.
Star of the sea - Joseph O Connor.
Anything by Joanne Harris - Gentlemen and Players had the best twist I've ever read.
The Red Tent.
Rebecca - just so understated it worked.
Am currently reading Jane eyre and am loving it.
I could go on.....

if nobody speaks of remarkable things - forgotten who it's by though..

multitasker, we have similar tastes I think!
Also love dred tent.

Really enjoyed the five people you meet in heaven. Parts of it shve stuck with me , very moving

Just came back to this thread to check what I was missing and... JackieNOOOOOOO!!!!! PLEASE tell me Keira Knightley is not going to be in Atonement?!?! I literally cannot bear it - was she not content with ruining Pride and Prejudice?

Any other of my favourite reads she would like to butcher? The Blessing by Nancy Mitford? The Green Knowe series by Lucy M Boston? The Leopard by Lampedusa? I'll give her a complete list so she can work her way through them.

Sorry - I just noticed it was Pollyanna revealed keira Knightley's crime, not Jackieno. I was evidently too upset to read properly.

I can read anything really as long as it is good. I really like atonement and another book of his, a child in time (I think that is the title). Any Ian Rankin fans out there. I confess, went to the library and came back with a silly chicklit called How to Murder your husband. STupid but was a light funny read. Wouldn't recommend it for buying but borrowing is fine. I think I am attracted to the pink book covers. Am I really that shallow. To redeem myself, still slogging through dr. zhivago. I see he has a new one out in the rebus series and I have it at hte top of my christmas list.

Am in the middle of Jane Eyre at the minute and have to say I haven't read anything more beautifully constructed in a long time. I was reading it in bed the other night and (dh was asleep thankgod) was crying my eyes out at the part where Mr Rochester proposes. I saw bits of the tv adaptation recently but had never read it, so this is a real literary feast. Anyone got any Jane Austen favourites as I have complete works but only ever read P&P.

Time Travellers Wife by Audrey Niffenger. Fabulous!

pride and prejudice is good. I am reading small island and finding it really good.

multitasker, I love Northanger Abbey, as a great piss-take of all those gothic thrillers. But they're all great, really.