Recommend some easy but well-written reads

[Redleavesfalling289]

I love reading (did an English Lit degree), but find with working life I'm usually too knackered to delve into anything too taxing come the evening.

Can anyone recommend any books that are well-written/thought-provoking, but not too hard on the old brain To give you examples of books I've enjoyed recently 'The Midnight Library,' 'Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine', Susan Hill's Simon Serrailler series, 'The Thursday Murder Club.'

In terms of themes, anything with intrigue, or concerning human relationships/character examination is of interest to me (sorry to be so vague.)

Hit me with your favourite bedtime/evening recommendations

once upon a river
City of brass & sequels

The Windsor Knot by S Bennett.

I just read Thursday murder club too - really good! Also enjoyed the midnight library a lot and Elinor Oliphant to a lesser extent but still good!
Reccos in the same vein:
The humans by Matt Haig if you've not read it already.
The brightest star in the sky Marianne Keyes - my favourite of hers a very satisfying book & a bit different to her normal stuff
The fifth child - but don't read if you're pregnant
The testaments - Margaret Atwood (it goes alongside handmaid's tale)
We are all completely beside ourselves - Karen joy Fowler (twisty and weird)
The husband's secret - liane Moriarty ( gripping as you read but then a bit forgettable)

Where the crawdads sing

The one and future witches
The lost lights off St Kilda
Where the crawdads sing
59 Memory Lane
The secret mother

Enjoy!

The unlikely pilgrimage of Harold fry
The Night circus

I like all the books you've listed. Try The Rosie Project, and if you like it there are two sequels, although I didn't think the second one was as good.

I like the books you've read and I have really got into books by Lisa Jewell recently. Started with The Family Upstairs and have read I found you and then she was gone and enjoyed them both.

Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy had me spellbound years ago, keep meaning to read it again . Film was crap by comparison.

Donna Tartt's Secret History

You've probably read Elizabeth is Missing.

I'm mostly placemarking...

@Vargas

Where the crawdads sing

I came on to recommend this one. I've also recently enjoyed The Frequency of Us which is a kind of mystery but really it's about relationships.

This Is How We Are Human by Louise Beech
The Keeper of Lost Things Ruth Hogan

Kate Grenville’s The Idea of Perfection
Laurie Colwin’s Family Happiness
Becky Chambers’ The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

The Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths (first one is The Crossing Places; murder mysteries with an archaeological slant) and the Cazalet series by Elizabeth Jane Howard (first one is The Light Years; family saga from 30s onwards - much better than that sounds! )

@Vargas

The unlikely pilgrimage of Harold fry The Night circus

LOVED The Unlikely Pilgrimage when I read it years ago - beautiful story. I'll check out The Night Circus

I'm currently reading The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. It's really good so far.

I too am too exhausted to read anything even slightly taxing, but I've read half of it this evening. And there's lots more in the series as well. Been a long time since I actually finished a book and I'm excited about it!

The Cadfael series by Ellis Peters - herbalist Benedictine monk in Shrewsbury during the Stephen/Matilda conflict solves mysteries (mostly involving murder). They are beautifully written.

Most of them can be read not strictly in sequence, but read the first two before any of the others (major spoilers in all the subsequent books). A Morbid Taste for Bones and One Corpse Too Many.

In a similar vein, the Falco series by Lindsey Davis - PI in Vespasian's Rome. The Silver Pigs is the first one.

Have you read Discworld? Equal Rites, Mort, Pyramids or Guards! Guards! are good starting points.

Cactus, The Offing and The Librarian

The girl with the pearl earring
Behind the scenes at the museum

The Memory Watcher by Minka Kent.

Any of the three books that Graham Norton has written. All different. All fabulous.

Hamnet
(Indeed, anything by Maggie O’Farrell)
Small Pleasures (Clare Chambers)
Anything by Anne Tyler

I usually find that books that have been short/long listed for the woman’s prize for fiction fall into the readable and intelligent category.

Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood, absolutely loved it. Very funny, easy to read and l finally understood what the Tempest was all about.
The dinner - Herman Koch - very well written and easy to read.
American dirt - easy to read but not an easy read, highly recommended.
Slightly older, but in case you haven’t read it: Apple tree yard is one of these books l still occasionally think about.
I liked all the books you mentioned.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is a beautifully written and intriguing book.

If you haven’t already discovered him, Patrick Leigh Fermor’s books about his walk across a now vanished Europe, are wonderfully evocative , they start with A Time of Gifts.

I also really enjoyed A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.

Apple tree yard is a great recommendation. Recently reread that and enjoyed it just as much the second time around.