In a reading rut, help!

[1wokeuplikethis]

Automatically I click on kindle bestsellers, look for what has the most reviews, try a sample, read, buy, sigh, feel dissatisfied, repeat.

I am really sick of reading "thrillers" you know; the "most unputdownable (worst descriptive word ever invented and utterly overused) thriller that will keep you guessing with a TWIST AT THE END YOULL NEVER SEE COMING!!!! Richard & Judy book club best seller hot new debut fab fab fucking head exploding incredible thrilly mind bending twisty twerker edge of your seat MUST READ that you'll have to finish in one go!" Etc etc and they are all pretty...meh.

In my dissatisfied rut I've returned to some old favourites and read some Stephen Kings I've not read before. Read Marian Keyes new one and then one of her old ones I've read before. And I'm thinking I'll just buy penny vincenzis new one and maybe when I come back to bestsellers there will be something decent.

I do like thrillers when they are good, but there is a lot of bumpf about right now as it seems the hot topic. I like real-life fiction and I like horror and I like a bit of humour like the 100 year old man or Danny Wallace. I'm rather eclectic, most of all I just like a GOOD BOOK. That I want to get to bed early for to read. Probably not felt like that since I read the hunger games.

Help a bookworm out, please!

Armistead Maupin Tales of the City - 9 books in total and just a joy to read. Re-reading these for nth time!

Is the keeper of lost things any good?

Yes! I absolutely loved this book. A definite departure from thrillers but really enjoyed it. I’ve pre-ordered her next book, I was devastated to find that this is her only one (so far).

One of my best recent reads has been Ready Player One, it’s 25yrs old but so relevant but also very enjoyable.

DH & I recently set up amazon family sharing, so we can access one another’s kindle books. Ready Player One is one of those I’d have ordinarily skipped straight past had it not been for his recommendation, v glad I did.

Oops, bold fail

The 100 year old man who climbed out a window is an absolute must-read for anybody that enjoys reading. I laughed, I cried and I gasped reading this.
The movie is ok, but the book just packed full of fun and adventure. It’s my most favourite book.

When I was stuck in a reading rut, it was around the time the BBC did its 100 Great Reads so I set myself the task of reading all of them - or at least reading all of the ones I hadn't already read. It took me about three years in all because I was interspersing them with books of my own choice. You might not want that big a challenge, but if you look on something like Pinterest there are loads of book lists of all descriptions. Why not choose a list you like the look of and set yourself the challenge of reading them all. What I found is that I read books I never would have considered, some, to be honest, that I didn't really enjoy, but it also introduced me to new authors I would never have tried but found I loved and I followed that up by reading their other books.

I have become more discerning in my reading choices in latter years for three reasons:

1. joining a book club (a highlight was reading East of Eden by Steinbeck)
2. contributing to the 50 book a year challenge on MN
3. making a new friend who is a prolific reader and lends me loads of books I would never think of reading

I've completely ditched all those 'unputdownable' thrillers, chick-lit and anything like that. I just find them so same-y. The last few that I have read (Gone girl, The Girl on the train, Let me go), I read in French ;)

Back again! Nearly finished the hearts invisible furies to come to have a peruse of the recommendations here again.

I've enjoyed this book, moreso towards the middle and definitely towards the end now. Didn't like all the sad stuff at the start (aren't I delicate!)
I read the 100 year old man a while back and enjoyed that.

I was thinking of going back to Kate Atkinson but now am worried about when will there be good news, thanks for the warning as it sounds like something I should avoid.

I'm so glad I started this thread, you've introduced me to some wonderful authors and stories!

There are some great suggestions here, I'm glad you started the thread too!
I've recently signed up for Kindle unlimited which is £7.99 a month and brilliant value. Some of the books are shorter that a normal kindle book but I've discovered so many authors I wouldn't have even known about.
I think I'm saving a small fortune on Amazon, some months when I added up what I'd spent on books was shocking.

Anthony Horowitz is a great author of thrillers with a brilliant story line that isn't usual sensationalist nonsense, ie don't rely on violence against women or children. Magpie Murders and The Word is Murder both very enjoyable

The Light Between Oceans.

I loved the Light Between the Oceans. I gave it to my daughters who wanted to read it on a long haul flight. She said, I should have warned her to save the end until she got home. One of the Cabin Crew asked her if she was O.K. I found the whole book so believable and the moral dilemma faced by them all really well expressed.

Hi everyone, I'm new here but there are so many good suggestions on this thread! I know the feeling of a reading rut, there's so much choice out there and still I felt like I was reading the same things over and over again. I joined an online book club subscription last year to try and find new books. (Rare Birds Book Club... it's brilliant!) One of the books was The Silent Companions, which had a few great twists in it. Never would have picked it myself but when I started reading I couldn't put it down. Great for anyone who likes atmospheric ghost stories, old houses, Daphne du Maurier-ish

I agree with using charity shops (and libraries obviously).
My local one does 5 books for £2 or 50p each. It's not such an expensive mistake if I don't enjoy them. I also couldn't afford to read as much as I do without this fab shop!

I think I'm quite lucky though, because in the last couple of weeks I've bought from there,
The Essex serpent
Alias Grace
Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine
The sudden appearance of Hope
His bloody project
Hag-seed
What the dickens
Shift
And finally Dust (I already have Wool although that was there too).

Some weeks I'll go in and there nothing I want. Others it's overflowing! It's my favorite shop ☺

Well I went back to good old Kate Atkinson who I was introduced to thanks to this thread. I love her! Already read life after life and started early took my dog, so I went to the beginning and read case histories. Absolutely hoovered it up!

I will keep dipping into Kate's books because they are deliciously readable (not felt so excited to discover an author with a plethora of books waiting to be discovered since stumbling upon liane moriarty). I'll be sad when I've finished all of her stuff so I am rationing myself by reading other books in between.

I'm 40% of the way through The Tattooist of Auschwitz and it's hauntingly wonderful, I don't ever read books based on history so this is a step away from the norm for me and I'm so glad I did. Beautifully written, would recommend to anybody wanting a change from the thriller theme saturating the market. Let's be honest, it is a thriller purely by the theme but utterly different to all the bumpf being produced right now.

Glad to finally be able to add a recommendation on here rather than just taking others'.

I was in a real reading rut last year. Then I read 'spill simmer falter wither' by Sara Baume and it completely kick started my year again. I love those books where you're itching for just five minutes to read another couple of pages and this was the first I'd had that with for a while.

A misfit man finds a misfit dog. Compelling story, interesting writing and - warning - you WILL cry.

If you like thrillers which are more complex than the action hero type, Lisa Unger writes terrific mysteries. I particularly enjoyed her first two, Sliver of Truth and Beautiful Lies, (they're related), and found them genuinely unsettling.

Jane Goodall's The Walker is haunting and unusual - set in the 1960s, it's a genuinely scary detective story.

Zoe Sharp's series featuring Charlie Fox are action thrillers, but Charlie is a kick ass heroine. The Blood Whisperer is a stand-alone, but it's terrific and I keep hoping for a sequel.

The Seven Sisters series by Lucinda Riley (a nice, not too challenging but still interesting read)

The Neopolitan Series by Elena Ferrante

I recently read the Hunger Games series as well which I couldn't put down.

Other young adult fiction I have read recently and liked -
The Changers series by Cooper and Cooper

I never read thrillers or crime books.

Back again! Resurrecting this thread because I finished another book last night and can't find one that spikes my interest for tonight. Worst of all, it was a Kate Atkinson one and .....I really hated it. Plodded through it hoping it would get better but it didn't and my love affair with her has dimmed somewhat. Not in a hurry to download her next one.

Need some more good suggestions please, have enjoyed some brilliant books off the back of this thread!

We just read True Story by Michael Finkel in book club - my first True Crime as I never thought I’d get on with but it was fascinating.

Also feeling the same about recent GIrl on the Train style thrillers being too same-y.
However I picked up Lullaby a French one and am loving it so far. Trigger you know some children are murdered on the first page.

Can I ask what Kate Atkinson book you hated, 1woke? I’ve really enjoyed her books. Could not put down Case Histories!

Have you tried Sarah Waters? Would highly recommend The Little Stranger and The Paying Guests.

I’m currently reading Wilkie Collins’ The Dead Secret, as I really enjoyed The Woman in White on BBC1.

It was One Good Turn, just so slow and I felt that not a lot really happened. It felt like one of those books that a popular author is forced to put out due to the publishers and monetary advances. I might be wrong, but didn't feel like her heart was really in it, just plodded along. There was no suspense and I didn't find myself itching to go to bed early to find out what was happening.

There hadn't been any new suggestions on here when I went to download a new book last night so I had a rummage around and bought Grey Justice. It is certainly a page-turner so far, already looking forward to going to bed to read more!

I'm sure I have read the paying guests by Sarah Waters. Will have a look on my kindle and see if it's there. Definitely rings a bell.

I've just read Wool by Hugh Howley - first of a trilogy. Really enjoyed it. It's a bit different, basic premise is set in the post-apocalyptic future where people live in a giant underground silo with no knowledge of what is outside, other than it's not survivable. There is a camera which people get sent to 'clean' if they express the forbidden desire to go outside or commit some forms of crime. That description doesn't really do it justice though - never was any good at book reviews! Look it up online and I'm sure you'll find a better description!

I’ll second ‘the paying guests’- I thought it was brilliant. And it’s a bit thrillerish, kind of.

If you’re into reading hist fic at the mo, I’d recommend ‘dear mrsbird’ by a j Pearce or ‘The war nurses’ by lizzy page set in the 2nd and 1st ww’s respectively.

I’m reading ‘the awkward age’ mumsnet book club at the moment- it’s v well written but not me. Yet.

I want to read ‘darling’ next by Rachel Edwards, ‘Post Brexit novel...’