Mind-blowing books.....?

[CakeBeTheFoodOfLove]

I'm looking for a book that will grip me from the start, be hard to put down and when I've finished I want to think....... 'wow!' I know this is a big ask but I'm bored of reading books that are just ok. Any ideas?

Narziss and Goldmund by Herman Hesse. I was blown away.

Middlesex. Yes, truly amazing.

Would second star of the sea by Joseph O'Connor. Also his later book ghost light is absolutely beautifully written, a really really good read

Following for reading inspiration. I've just started reading again after a bit of a break (babies)

I really enjoyed Middlesex. That one is due a re-read.

Had a late night amazon ordering session so have a few of these suggestions arriving soon! Just finished my second book since the start of August, having read half a book in the previous year.

Some great recommendations here.

I loved A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. So incredibly moving, not light reading but honestly the best book I have read in years.

Hawaii by James Mitchener. What a story! Loved it. Still one of my favourite books which stands out after many years of reading. A film was also made from it which told a large section of the book but there is more. Begins with the birth of the Islands, the story of the missionaries which is wonderful and continues through the years to the Second World War, Tsunami etc.

I thought Lincoln In The Bardo by George Saunders was wonderful, but most people in my book group didn't agree!

If you haven’t read the Handmaid’s tale it should be no 1 on your list. I’m a big DuMaurier fan - Rebecca really stuck in my mind. I still love it.

Great thread reminding me of some books which have really changed things for me, so a good few of these are repeating what others say -

Life of Pi - don't want to read it again but it genuinely shifted reality for.a bit
Middlemarch
A Fine Balance
The Goldfinch
Bleak House
The Accidental Tourist

I really enjoyed Circe by Madeline Miller recently.

Tampa

'The Heart Goes Last' - Margaret Atwood

Just read 'But You Did Not Come Back' by Marceline Loriden-Ivens.

An important & true piece of Holocaust literature, it was her biography written as a letter to her late father, I honestly could not put it down.

I loved Bel Canto Bluesrun

Lots of my favourites on here already, so just to add

Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake trilogy
The Night Watch, by Sarah Waters
1984

Definitely also seconding 'The Help' and 'Instance of the Fingerpost' (and agree it's the only one of that author's which I've liked!). 'English Passengers' is also brilliant but I'm not sure I'd describe it as gripping as such. I'd put 'Notes on a Scandal' by Zoe Heller in the same category - a great read which I'd thoroughly recommend, but not gripping in the sense of 'unable to put it down'.

Gosh @carbuncleonapigsposterior we seem to have the exact same taste, read most of those and loved them and will watch out for the couple I haven't

Lionel Shriver - The Mandibles,a brilliant and too close for comfort read about the future, not my usual read but loved it!

William Boyd - Any Human heart

Michelle Paver - Dark matter

The Siege by Helen Dunmore

I’ve just read Behind closed doors (B A Paris). Omg I was hooked, struggled to put it down!

Katherine Kerr - ooh yes, loved those as a teenager. May have to re-read.

In a similar vein - The Dark is Rising series ( good one for long winter night) by Susan Cooper

Stef Penney - The Invisible Ones mystery/detective story featuring travellers

Currently reading To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris, not in my top 20 but it has kept me reading and I'm hard to please. I open a book at random and it has one page to convince me.