What are your favourite books that aren't highbrow or fluffy?

[purplefig]

My maternity leave is starting soon and I'd like to have a list of books I can delve into. (Should that opportunity presents itself!)

I'm not after anything too highbrow, but equally not total fluff either. I'm thinking along the lines of...

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - Gail Honeyman
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
Notes on a Scandal - Zoe Heller
Casual Vacancy - JK Rowling
Normal People - Sally Rooney
Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier

Any suggestions?

Kate Atkinson, Jasper Fforde, Rivers of London series.

It’s hard though isn’t it, easy to sound snobby about other people’s favourites when you discuss what you think is fluff!

I don’t think op has described anything as fluff yet... but doesn’t want a list of mills and boon’s to keep her occupied!

I loved Donna Tartts the goldfinch but most of my reading is young adult dystopian fiction so probably not your cup of tea! The italian wife by Kate furnivall is good, plus the couple next door by Shari lapena I’ve just read and enjoyed

Any Marian Keyes (but maybe not Watermelon as it's about a woman whose husband leaves her just after she has their baby!) Definitely not fluffy even though they are classed as "chick lit"

They’re a bit man-splainy but I enjoy the Dan brown books too

@ThursdayLastWeek ahh no, my original list is the kind of 'middle ground' book I'm after. I'd definitely never dare call Donna Tartt Fluff!

Bel Canto - Ann Patchett
Big Little Lies - Laine Moriarty
All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Duerr
Everything that ThursdayLastWeek mentioned
The Garden of Evening Mists - Tan Twan Eng
Anything by Barbara Kingsolver
Anne Tyler

I had the same ambition for my mat leavr and ended up reading most of them on my commute when i went back to work 😂

Oh I know, I was just recognising how subjective it is!

(I loathe Danna Tartt )

See I always recommend Lianne Moriarty because I enjoy it but I would deffo call it fluff too.

I've just read Adele parks lies lies lies and a book called She by an authors name who escapes me! Which is helpful I know haha
Both really good books though

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

I'm really enjoying the Chronicles of St Mary's by Jodi Taylor, 9 books in total and I'm just finishing book 6 (I have a month left of my maternity leave and started them when he was a month old to give you an idea of getting through books)

I would also recommend:
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Anthony O'Neill
The Looking Glass Wars series by Frank Beddor
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon
The Child Thief series by Bella Forrest

General chic lit but I wouldn't call fluffy:
Marian Keyes
Adele Parks
Jenny Colgan
Stella Newman
Sophie Kinsella (anything BUT the Shopaholic series)
Alexandra Potter

My suggestions would be The Sealwoman's Gift, Sally Magnusson , The Immortalists, Chloe Benjamin and The Strawberry Thief , Joanne Harris.

I have a soft spot for David Nichols who wrote One Day.
My favourite of his is ‘Us’ which made me laugh and cry, which makes it the perfect novel for me. Incidentally, it was on the Booker prize long list, but a lot of highbrow snobby critics were very snotty about it at the time.

Anything by Philippa Gregory especially the cousins war series

Also Elizabeth Chadwick- does medieval fiction really well

ThursdayLastWeek I know, but op said not total fluff and i love her books

Margaret Atwood's 'The Testaments' is being criticized as being a page turner and plot driven so maybe that would suit!

I read All Creatures Great and Small when DD1 was a baby. And Alistair Cooke's Letters from America which we use to listen to every week when I was a child. So comfort reading in a way and short essays are easy to pick up and put down.

I am a big fan of Crime books. But only British. Love Elly Griffiths, Stuart McBride, Margaret Kirk, James Oswald, Peter Forbes and Val Mcdermid.

I do like some other genres as well. Love Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series and Jean Auel's Earth Children series. Ken Follett's Kingsbridge series and Bernard Cornwall's Last Kingdom

Lucinda Riley, Leah Fleming, Rosanna Ley, Tracy Rees and Kate Norton are all really good authors ☺☺!

Amy Tan’s books especially The Bonesetters Daughter and The Joy Luck Club. I drift away to another time and place her writing is very dreamy at times (if that makes sense)

Liane Moriarty books I love all her books I think Big Little Lies is my favourite

I can’t get into Donna Tartt find her books really hard going I gave up very quickly (was also bored) bit too high brow for me

Love early Marian Keyes books not read recent books

I really like Jane Harper all set in Australia very atmospheric

Absolutely loved Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine my favourite book of the last decade. I look forward to Gail Honeyman’s next book

Lisa Jewell

I've really enjoyed Tracy Bormans 'The King's witch' and 'the Devils slave'. They are very well written set around James 1 takeover of England, witch hunts and gun. Powder plot. The author is a very experienced historian worked for the Royal palaces etc so there is a lot of accuracy to them but they aren't heavy going.
The familiars and the binding are set in a similar time line and are also good.

The Discovery of Witches trilogy is a bit like Sabrina meets Twilight but better written and the books are far better than the drama they made.

Another set of books I enjoyed, whilst technically children's books were the Rick riorden series, they are an easy read but the history behind the stories, Greek myths etc made the books enjoyable.

Celeste Ng 'Little Fires Everywhere'
Circe' and 'Song of Achilles' by Madeline Miller
Jonathan Franzen especially 'Freedom'
Jane Harris 'the observations'

The circle (a bit schlocky) Dave Eggars (also loved AHWOSG by him)

Sarah Waters

Kate Atkinson is my fave author and I loved 'life after life' and 'a God in ruins'

I am going to steal your recommendations

Ooh also 'where'd you go Bernadette?'

The Ben Aaronovitch - Rivers of London series. The concept sounds odd (can’t begin to explain!) but they are really well written.