I need a book that will make me forget what time it is.

[Kayemm]

You know what I mean. One that you don't actually read because you are there with the characters.

I've loved:-
The Woman in White
A Prayer for Owen Meaney
Persuasion
Watership Down.
The Book Thief.
A Tale of Two Cities.

Not so much
Eleanor whatshername.
Misery memoirs.
Cloud Atlas

Throw your best suggestions at me?

Thanks.

[BestIsWest]

My Cousin Rachel - it’l raise your stress levels though.

[SlightyJaded]

Glad you enjoyed The Hearts Invisible Furies OP. Definitely my 'standard' :)

[Kayemm]

I read The Heart's Invisible Furies after all the recommendations and you were definitley not wrong.

Oh it was wonderful, and is my new must recommend. What fabulous characters. My heart broke more than once.

I'm reading Circe now by Madelaine Miller, first impression is that it's not as good as The Song of Achilles which I loved.

[GrumpyGran8]

And anything by Stephen King who is seriously underrated and dismissed as a 'horror writer' when he is so much more.
I second that - he's a terrific storyteller.
Of his books that I've read, I can recommend
22/11/63
Lisey's Story
Under The Dome
Dolores Claiborne
Doctor Sleep
The Institute

He's also written some wonderful short stories, so try some of his story collections, such as Full Dark, No Stars, and The Bazaar of Bad Dreams

[peanutbutter00]

Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed. Horrific concept but great dystopian fiction. I burnt through it in one evening

[Wauden]

Anything written by the great Thomas Hardy.

[OhioOhioOhio]

My husband's secret

[tobee]

I second In Cold Blood

[321youreback]

These two - lovely books !

[Lollee]

Wilbur Smith has done six books in the Egyptian series, all excellent, and Ken Follett has done two follow up books to Pillars of the Earth. Both still set in Kingsbridge but generations apart.

[Lollee]

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, there are 8 books so far. When you have read them you can have the absolute joy of watching the series too!

[SlightyJaded]

Bumping to say that I have now started and finished 'Crawdads' and loved it. Couldn't stop reading (hence posting at this time). Highly recommend.

[SlightyJaded]

@princessspotify Yes - should have included it. Wonderful book.

I am about to start 'Where the Cawdads Sing' based on this thread.

[Teaandscone]

Katherine by Anya Seton

[ElaineMarieBenes]

Any Human Heart

A Brief History of Seven Killings

& another vote for ‘Lincoln in the Bardo’

I agree with you about ‘A fine Balance’ - beautifully written but still have nightmares!

Also anything by Patrick de Witt!

[Bitsnbobs78]

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. It is about a girl growing up in Alaska with her dysfunctional parents. If you like Educated or The Glass Castle (also fab) it is an absorbing read.

[princessspotify]

@SlightyJaded have you read a thousand splendid suns? it's by the same author athe kite runner
I was sobbing at the end.

[SlightyJaded]

....Oh and of course, One Hundred Years of Solitude and The House of Spirits

[SlightyJaded]

Love many of the books recommended here:

I would second/third:

The Heart's Invisible Furies
The Goldfinch
The Poisonwood Bible
The Help
Life after Life followed by A God In Ruins (destroyed me, but in a good way)
Beloved
The Kite Runner
Rebecca
Memoirs of a Geisha

All brilliant and absorbing.

Would like to add:

The Binding
The Secret Life of Bees
Year of Wonder (especially relevant at the moment)
The Thirteenth Tale
The Tattooist of Auschwitz
And anything by Stephen King who is seriously underrated and dismissed as a 'horror writer' when he is so much more.

[Howgreenwasmyvalley]

A man called Ove is a lovely book.
Also recommend the The Cazalet Chronicles.
Anything by Jo Jo Moyes or Lisa Jewell.

[AgentProvocateur]

@Ohffs66 you’ve listed all my favourites there, but I’ve never heard of A Quiet Belief In Angels, so thanks for that. I’m going to order it now.

[princessspotify]

I second the time travellers wife, a beautiful book.

[Standrewsschool]

Seven Sisters - Lucinda Riley
Maeve Binchey books
Rosamund Pilcher books
Jeffery Archer books

[Catandchicken]

Erin Morgenstern - The Night Circus,
The Starless Sea
Carlos Ruiz Zafon - The Shadow of the Wind
Truman Capote - In Cold Blood
Palimpsest
Girl, Woman, Other
Julian Barnes - love some: The Sense of an Ending
Willa Cather
Mary Lawson
Geraldine Brooks - her non-fiction is amazing, too

[Ohffs66]

A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry, The Goldfinch and The Secret History bith by Donna Tartt,, A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, A Quiet Belief in Angels by RJ Ellory