What have you read lately that you really enjoyed?

[TwoIfBySea]

Looking for some inspiration really, apart from Philipa Gregory's The Boleyn Inheritance I have no other recommendations.

Open thread really so any genre of books welcome.

Dh got my Dear Charlie by Reg Thompson for Christmas. Very sad had me in tears but very deep made me change my attitude towards dc when I'm having a bad day and they are driving me mad. Reg is Charlotte's father and when she was killed crossing a railway junction in December 2005 aged 13 his life ended he wrote letters to her to keep her alive telling her want was going on with him his wife and sons. Explaining when he went places they had last visited together. Very moving I'd recommend any parent to read it it really left me feeling so special that I have my children and gave me a greater love for parents who have lost theirs.

I'm looking for some new inspiration too, so will check out your recco and come back to this thread. Lately I've enjoyed :
Richard Dawkins - The God Delusion
Salley Vickers - The Other Side of You
Kate Atkinson - Case Histories
I'm also looking forward to JM Coetzee - Slow Man and Patrick McGrath - Ghost Town, Tales of Manhattan Then and Now

The Ex-boyfriends handbook
made me laugh, predictable, but good for escaping into, totally couldn't put t down, even went to dinner with MIL with the book in hand as i NEEDED to finish it

the 'Winter Book' by Tove Janson, she of the Moomins fame, lovely wierd and wonderfu l short stories written mainly from a child's point of view about the islands around Finland, very evocative. Read them while bfeeding.

The Glodilocks Effect by Paul Davies

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, by Susannah Clarke. Bleedin brilliant. Also, Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber. Bit saucy, but absolutely top.

The Island - Victoria Hislop.
Fictional novel based upon the real life and true events on the last Greek leper colony of Spinalonga (Crete). So moving and well researched - I cried all the way through (sad and happy tears) and cried when I finished it as I didn't want it to end! Would make absolutely brill film too.

I loved Case Histories too, phatcat. I've also really enjoyed a couple of children's books I Coriander by Sally Gardner and Inkheart by Cornelia Funke - both really powerful, magical tales, but in very different ways. Have recently read Alison Weir's novel about Lady Jane Grey which I can't remember the name of but if you like Phillipa Gregory you should enjoy it.

Mukiwa by Peter Godwin
Fav book of all time

The Hungry Years by William Leith - painfully familiar and pretty much un-putdownable.

another shout for Case Histories and the Crimson and the White - both fab. (rowan1971 - I find myself spookily having lots in common wiht you on the last few threads I looked at.)
The Kite Runner - Khalid Hossien (sp)

'Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behaviour' by Temple Grandin

The author has Asperger's and is an animal behaviour expert. Her theory is that the way an autistic mind works has some similarities with the way animal minds works, eg visual rather than verbal thinking, attentiveness to detail. The book covers issues such as dog training and humane slaughter. I found it fascinating and hard to put down.

DD2 (22 months) also particularly enjoyed the animal pictures on the cover

Oh I should have put what I've been reading on my own thread, durr!

At the moment I am reading Justine Picardie's Wish I May, which is a nicely written book but I am wondering where it is heading to, a wee bit aimless but an enjoyable experience anyway. Before this I read Vienna by Eva Menasse which was really good, about a family, guess where they are from, anyway it takes you from just before the war until present day through the lives of the family members. I would recommend this highly as I lose interest too quickly in some books but really enjoyed the narrative of this one!

A letter from Inland Revenue saying 'we owe you £6000'.

Divine Intervention by Hazel Courtenay

at Norksbride!
"This book will save your life" by A.M Homes

The Observations by Jane Harris, just out in p/b, esp. if you like historical novels.
Really quite witty and a fab story too.

Hey Dimpled. Like what? Apart from taste in literary filth?

Lisa Lee, Snowflower and the something, v. good story about Chinese women in the 19th century, featuring women's secret language.

Just finished Little Face by Sophie Hannah (I think). Good book about a woman who thinks her newborn dd has been abducted and replaced by someone else's newborn dd. Really compulsive reading! Also second The Island - fantastic book, enjoyed every bit of it and also didn't want it to end!

Griff Rhys Jones 'Semi-Detached'

Tried to start a thread about it but no-one else has posted yet!

'Semi-Detached' - I've recently read it. The author is really semi-detatched from his past - especially his time at university (a bit of a blur!) Amazed that the ex-girlfriend of years is still a friend!

I always read the Guardian magazine at the weekend. Very interesting and funny in a lot of places. Leaves me smiling every time!

just finished Ben Eltons Chart Throb which was fantastic.

have you read the detective ben elton one tres rude!