Recommendations to get me back into reading

[Snorkmaidensanklebracelet]

Common experience I think. I was an avid reader as a child, teenager, young adult.

Now in my mid 30s I never read! Years of studying and work and then having a child, I've just lost the interest (and attention span!)

But I remember so fondly the feeling of being utterly immersed in a story. I never feel like that anymore. Phone addiction doesn't help.

Can you recommend some books that would be good for someone like me who has mush for brains who has lost the spark for reading? I need something easy to get into but that's either completely gripping or enchanting. Remember getting lost in Harry Potter as a kid? That was nice...

What sort of genre are you into?

Wide range, I think...

Some favourite books over the years were The Complete Pratt, The Hitchhiker's Guide, anything by George Orwell, To Kill a Mockingbird, Silas Marner, His Dark Materials, really enjoyed all of Stephen Fry's novels.

I like a lot of non-fiction and autobiographies. I still "read" a lot of these in audiobook form. But I'm looking for fiction that I can get lost in (though not necessarily fantasy).

Never enjoyed sci-fi or horror. Movies, yes, but books not so much.

Rivers of London series.

My sister the serial killer

I am Pilgrim

The martian

The Rosie project

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine

Where the Crawdads sing

Big little Lies

American dirt
I couldn't put it down!!

Anything by Lianne Moriarty or Maeve Binchy. Both v good.
Graham Norton's books are also v good.

You could try rereading an old favourite to get you started. Harry Potter maybe, I reread it every few years and still find it gripping as an adult.

The Hearts Invisible Furies by John Boyne

Graham Norton's written books?

Did not know this 🤔

I am a bit similar - only time I read these days is when on holiday. However have recently started to make more effort. I read The Silent Patient over the last bank holiday weekend which was very good. And since then have read I Found You by Lisa Jewell which was a good read.

I also liked the rivers of London series.

Frederick Bachman has some great books. Anxious people and a man called ove being two!

Written by D A Lee... I'm on the last few pages and I've found it hard to put down. Gripping and so well written. It's about arranged marriage and all the ups and downs and ins and outs... Absolutely heartbreaking in parts and the end is a real twist! I've loved every page!

I thought Manda Scott’s Boudicca series was amazing. Kept me very entertained last winter. Might be worth a try. Definitely immersive if you click with it.

Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy
Boy Parts by Eliza Clark
Amy & Lan by Sadie Jones
Everyone in this Room will Someday be Dead by Emily Austin

are all books that that I have enjoyed recently. None of them massive chunksters but distinct voices/perspectives.

I’d second going back to Harry Potter! Also Terry Pratchett

If you are a JK Rowling fan then try the Strike books. Not usually my genre but I loved the Cuckoos calling and looking forward to reading the rest.

We need to talk about Kevin - not exactly enjoyable but I couldn't put it down!

I got back into reading by going back to Agatha Christie and also some more modern crime writers like Elly Griffiths and Anthony Horowitz.
Books and authors I have read recently that have engrossed me in the same way as childhood books include Leigh Bardugo, Robin Hobb, The Magicians by Lev Grossman, House in the Cerulean Sea, Rivers of London.

Some people are a bit sniffy about them but I have really LOVED Richard Osman's 'Thursday Murder Club' books. Real page turners. Recently, I've been reading 'The Goldfinch' by Donna Tartt - it's hefty but great; once I'd got started, I didn't want it to end.

Mandy Morton's No. 2 Feline Detective Agency. Very light reading, one of those weird series that obviously isn't aimed at kids but feels very childlike, all the main characters are humanoid cats. It's bonkers. The books are also short easy reads and they helped me get back into reading after a LONG hiatus. Once I'd read a few of those, I was able to read a ton of much denser novels.

There are also a lot of Japanese novels (not manga) in my library's international section. The ones I've read have felt different to Western novels, more episodic. Japanese plot structure is often different as well. But they can be short reads and they often have this beautifully simplistic style to them.

Thanks everyone for the recommendations- Googling them all now 📚

Nancy Mitford given you have mentioned some humorous books. Very light & easy to get into. Evelyn Waugh if you get on with her.

100% this!

also, The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

The Vinyl Detective by Andrew Cartmel

Mr Penumbras 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloane

The Stranger Times by CK Mcdonell

The 7 husbands of Evelyn Hugo really grabbed me.

I’m just the same as you, op. I was once an avid reader and I’m really sad that the easy fix of phone scrolling has taken over from reading my book in bed.

I’m determined to get back into books, and had the brainwave of trying short story collections to bridge the gap between a full length book and my current attention span! To that end I ordered ‘Normal Rules Don’t Apply’ by Kate Atkinson, which coincidentally arrived today. I have high hopes! Good luck!