What is the most gripping, incredible book you have ever read that you just couldn't put down?

[tripletsandtwins]

I desperately need an incredible book! I'm on bedrest and I'm suddenly finding myself with time to actually read, but no good books!

Currently, I'm reading Harry Potter 7, but I'm nearly finished!

Help!

Try Hurting Distance by Sophie Hannah

It's is gripping and although I probably wouldn't go as far as incredable, it is very good - a few good twists.

have you read the northern lights trilogy?
Blardy marvellous.

Or even better try

The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney

Which is incredible, beautifully written, gripping etc etc etc

I'd second that - The Tenderness of Wolves is brilliant (although some inconsistencies and slightly unbelievable stuff, so no good if you are pedantic!).

I found Jonathan Strange and Dr Norrell by Susannah Clarke really compelling too. And very long!

Also, The Secret History, by Donna Tartt, if you didn't read it first time round.

Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett Its long, good not up in the excellent range but you want to know whats going on ...There is a follow up out as well not read it yet.

Anna Karenina/War and Peace
All of Dickens
all of Dostoevsky
Margaret ATwood
You want something with a massive narrative arc that you can lose yourself in.
Vanity Fair
Zola

"massive narrative arc that you can lose yourself in"

There is a great series by the Egyptian author Naghib Mafouz - the Cairo Trilogy.

here is is

That would keep you going for a bit and is a bit out of the ordinary run of things.

William Boyd, The New Confessions

I second The Northern Lights trilogy. Gripping, and incredible, describe those books perfectly. You really HAVE to give those a go. I bet you won't be able to put them down.

I mean, if you've enjoyed Harry Potter, these books are a thousand times better - better written, an incredible imaginative experience...

Wow! Thank you, I shall have to check those all out.

I'm still in the dark ages when it comes to books, I have't read anything from cover to cover for 3 1/2 years! LOL. So thanks for helping me out!

Barbara Vine's A Dark-Adapted Eye or A Fatal Inversion. You will not be able to put them down, I promise.

Also fantastic, although a bit more "literary", is Donna Tartt's The Secret History.

Zoe Oldenbourg - The World is Not Enough
Irene Nemirovsky - Suite Francaise
Jeffrey Eugenides - Middlesex
Michel Faber - The Crimson Petal and the White
Sarah Waters - The Night Watch
Robertson Davies - The Salterton Trilogy

some quite new, some old, all books you can lose yourself in
Hope you are OK

Between Two Eternities by Rosemary Kay

I wrote to the author. Only time I've ever done that. She wrote back.. tis a treasured possession!

am glad the cairo trilogy is reccommended, i'm about 70 pages into the first one & it hasn't grabbed me yet, but i will persevere.

yy Barbara Vine and The Secret History
To Kill a Mockingbird if you haven't already read that.

oh, my recommendations:
balkan trilogy, olivia manning
tales of the city series, armistead maupin
a vicious circle, amanda craig

Hoxtonchick - do persevere with it - it is worth or (at least, I think so). I found it a bit hard to get into at first. It's describing a culture that is so very different and I think that can be hard to get your head round sometimes. Once all the characters are introduced though it really gets going - you'll by gripped once you are halfway through!

brill, thanks.

Northern Lights Trilogy - a definite must if you are enjoying Harry Potter. If you like fantasy have you tried the Lord of the Rings trilogy? Bit long and dull in places (don't slate me fans!) but kept me gripped for weeks.

Chick Lit wise I would try French Relations by Fiona Walker. Great way to escape from boredom and the cold weather.

Hope you are feeling ok tripletsandtwins?

Kafka on the shore by haruki murakami, odd but i couldnt put it down!

Michel Faber - The Crimson Petal and the White
Sarah Waters - The Night Watch

Two of the best, most readable yet beautifully written, stories I've read in ages.

I think when you're on bedrest you need big books or series books. I read Possession by A S Byatt, stacks of Balzac (talk about prolific). I imagine Northern Lights would do the job too.

Carter beats the devil by Glenn David Gold
and
An instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears are both big and utterly un-put-downable

anything by Rose Tremain

Bleak House
Great Expectations

Shadows of the wind "look at www.amazon.co.uk/Shadow-Wind-Carlos-Ruiz-Zafon/dp/0753819317"

or the time travellers wife