Can you recommend a read that I can cope with at the end of a hard day....

[stargazeypie]

I'm not really into lightweight stuff, but I really need something where I can read just a few pages each night before dropping off. I'm a teacher, I LOVE reading, but sadly have got into the habit of hardly reading during term time cos by the time I fall into bed I'm knackered! Need to sort this cos I'm sure there are loads of great reads out there. Authors I like are:
Susan Hill
Ian McEwan
Kate Atkinson
Bernice Rubens

I've just been reading Black swan green by David Mitchell. It was ideal as it's not really plot driven, so you can read it in little bits, and it doesn't matter too much if you don't read every night. It took me a while, but loved it - i think david mitchell is a fantastic writer and i've read all his stuff.

It's a year in the life of a 13 year old boy growing up in the 80's - it really took me back to playing scabby queen on the school bus and shouting 'ace in your face!' wicked.

New Tracy Chevalier 'Burning Bright' was an easy read (I managed it when heavily pregnant a few weeks ago).

have you tried India Knight? It is not chick lit but is light and easy and you can pick it up put it down.

If that is too lightweight memoirs or diaries are good as they are not pl;ot driven and so you can dip in and out - Stephen Fry is good but I know it is a marmite love it hate it thing with him.

Bill Bryson? Obseravtions on the English - very funny and again not plot driven.

Falining that old classics (Pride and Pred) are good as you know the plot already and so can read a few snatches.

Or join a book group - the pressure to read is enough to get you into it and then you get caught up.

The Last Secret of the Temple by Paul Saussman (sp of surname??!) really really good read!!

How about John Irving? I wouldn't suggest Owen Meany, Son of a Circus or Until I Find You at the moment if you're tired because they are really dense reads (Owen Meany is so wonderful though). But Widow for One Year, Hotel New Hampshire and The World According to Garp are lovely books. I always find that when I start reading him I can't stop.

How about short stories? Annie Proulx writes interesting novels full of dark and odd American characters and communites, which are quite involved, but there are two pretty large books of her short stories.

I've just started reading again. It's taken 17 months after having DS. I'll read anything. It's heaven!

I have just read 'the hungry years' by william leith and can thoroughly recommend it. It's extremely familiar and involving reading. Don't know if you've heard of it but it's a fantastic read. Untaxing but completely unputdownable.

Wow - am really with suggestions coming so quickly! Have read Bill Bryson - hilarious. Please keep posting.

okay, coming from completely offside here with another suggestion - erotic fiction. It has changed completely over the last few years from lurid and badly written to well written, liberating and different. It is escapism in a different way and can pull you away from the day to day stresses and worries in seconds. It is a recent eye opener for me and I recommend it fully.

The ship of Brides by JoJo Moyes

"This Book Will Change Your Life" (on R & J's current list). Really good but not too taxing. I'm a teacher too and read it in two evenings.

2 writers I would really recommend for a light but intelligent read are Libby Purves and Caro Fraser. Think chicklit, but with a bit more substance and style!

Any Human Heart by William Boyd (or any William Boyd actually). Also, for diaries have you read The Insider by Piers Morgan? I loved it, it's hysterical.

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - by Marian Lewycka. Don't be put off by the title. It's a very funny and quirky novel about Ukrainian exiles in the UK. You'll love it.