Book recommendation, please - but rather specific!

[LucasNorthsTwiglets]

I want a book for my holiday but I'm very fussy :)

I want a real page-turner but nothing sad, no chick-lit and must be easy to read and not heavy-going. Kids probably won't let me read for more than 20 minutes at a time so I want something I can easily pick up again. I really enjoyed Gone Girl and The Girl On The Train recently and English Passengers was the perfect book many years ago!

Any ideas?

Gillian Flynn's other books are also good (Dark Places, Sharp Objects). Alex Marwood (Wicked Girls, The Darkest Secret) writes twisty books in a somewhat similar vein.

As you liked English Passengers I would also suggest The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert which I found easy going but interesting

Great, I'll check those out - thank you!

I enjoyed The Girl Before by J P Delaney recently and read while off on holiday with six year old dsd. Other favourite this year is I Let You Go by Clare MacKintosh.

Daisy in Chains by Sharon Bolton was a good one too.

I loved Taking Albert Home by Homer Hickham. Very funny and surreal, but strangely based on a true story.

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty, in fact any of her books.

Agree re Liane Moriarty - her books pretty much fit your description perfectly.

Ooh now that's interesting - Liane Moriarty was a name that came up when I was browsing on amazon but I'd never heard of her before.

Where'd You Go Bernadette

Shantaram

Anything by Douglas Kennedy.
Gripping stories, always with a female protagonist, often set against a significant political/historical background. Ignore the ridiculous girly covers. I'd start with A Special Relationship or The Pursuit of Happiness. Titles are also a bit twee, ignore them too.

I definitely second Douglas Kennedy!

Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels are perfect holiday reads if you ask me.

"Here Be Dragons" by Sharon Penman is good - it's historical, but a fictionalised account of true events iyswim, and is a great read but easy to dip in and out of too.

I was also going to say Liane Moriarty...I loved Big Little Lies. Couldn't put it down!

I too am looking for a holiday read. I need 3 really good books for my holiday.

I last read:

Sarah Waters : Paying guests.

khaled hosseini:
'A Thousand Splendid Suns', which I preferred to
'The Kite Runner'.

Let's talk about Kevin.

I thought all 4 were ok.

Any suggestions, please?

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. Really unusual. I read it twice which I rarely do.

I also love She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb.

Agree with the recommendation for Big Little Lies but didn't enjoy her others as much as that one (it was the first Liane Moriarty I read and the best!).

On the same theme as gone girl and girl on a train I read both of Ruth Ware's books (UK writer) and really liked them, hers are In a Dark Dark Wood and The Woman in Cabin 10. Just finished The Couple Next Door which was great and Luckiest Girl Alive (although there is a very dark side to this book). Another UK writer I really enjoy along the same sort of theme is Lucie Whitehouse, The Bed I Made was a brilliant read.

Dorothy Koomson The girl from Nowhere and the Light Between the Oceans.

Aren't We Sisters by Patricia Ferguson is brilliant.

Just finished Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - loved and not too heavy going although can be sad in places.

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton is a good read, I often guess any twists way before the end but this one kept me guessing.