What should I read next?

[NuffSaidSam]

I used to read loads and then not at all. I'm slowly getting back to it, but my concentration isn't what it was. I need lighthearted, easy to read, page turners, preferably with short chapters. Fiction or non-fiction.

I've recently enjoyed:

Shakespeare - Bill Bryson
The Thursday Murder Club - Richard Osman
The Queen and I - Sue Townsend

Any recommendations for what I should read next?

You might enjoy the Expanse series!

The Paper Palace - it’s the first book I have actually finished in the last 6 years. I completely lost my reading mojo.

If you liked The Thursday Murder Club, have you tried Anthony Horowitz? There is a series that starts with Magpie Murders.

It's not quite as lighthearted, but not an intense murder mystery.

Most of Bill Bryson's stuff is great. A Short History f Nearly Everything is one of my all-time favourite books.

If you're interested in Shakespeare, try Harold Bloom's Invention of the Human. If nothing else, read the introduction, the conclusion and the chapters on Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear and Henry IV. It's a beautiful tribute to his lifelong love of Shakespeare. Absolutely wonderful book.

I do love books about other writers. Peter Ackroyd's book on Blake is a classic. John Higgs' book on Blake is also pretty good. Oh, and Richard Ellman's biography of Oscar Wilde.

If you like Sue Townsend, you obviously enjoy comic writing. Have you tried P. G. Wodehouse? Right Ho Jeeves is pretty close to a perfect work of art. Try the Stephen Fry audiobooks as well. Evelyn Waugh is also extraordinary. If you can, get hold of Michael Maloney reading Waugh's Decline and Fall. Spellbinding. I'm also massively into Douglas Adams atm. I'm a recent convert and am madly working my way through his collected works

Not a fan of Richard Osmond's stuff tbh. But if you like murder mystery how about Sherlock Holmes? Again, try the Stephen Fry audiobook. Agatha Christie is also worth a look.

Have you read 84 Charing Cross Road?

Hens Dancing and Summertime by Raefaella Barker are in an easy to read diary style

Patricia Fisher - Steve Higgs.

Away with the penguins
Mrs Benson beatle
The lido

I have recently enjoyed Claire Keegan's Foster and Small Things Like These. They are very short but beautifully written.

Robert Thorogood books have a similar feel to the Thursday Murder Club series. There's 3 so far, Marlow Murders series.

Making a list! Thanks everyone.

@Cooper77 I'm not particularly interested in Shakespeare tbh but I found the details about London at the time and the quirky stories really engaging. Also, it's very short! I tried A Short History of Nearly Everything, but it's far too long and in depth for me at the moment (it's on the bookshelf for another time).

Seconding Anthony Horowitz books-
Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders
loved them
Have you tried Kate Atkinson?
Ruth Rendell?
Lisa Jewell?

The glass castle by Jeanette walls, its a staggering childhood memoir .

American dirt, possibly the best book I've ever read, a family's escape from the cartel.

Then she was gone, terrifying psychological thriller

This charming man, Marian keyes chick lit with a dark side

The brightest star in the sky, Marian eyes, ditto above

Helen of troy by Margaret George. Gripping retelling of a good story.

You might want to give this cosy mystery series about the late queen as a detective a try. Not as bizarre as it sounds! Written by S J Bennett the first one is called The Windsor Knot and there are currently 3 more.

The Mystery of Rufford Abbey: A dual timeline novel with a paranormal twist by Stephen Taylor

I've just discovered this author and I'm really enjoying his novels

Bill Bryson books are brilliant. If you are looking for something less meaty than A shirt history, then have a look at A Walk in The Woods or any of his other travel ones.

Shout out for Bill Bryson
Plus Ancient Evenings by Norman Mailer and A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

This sounds perfect!

I've read a few of the travel ones before and they are very easy to read. I should revisit these. I've also got his autobiography on the shelf, so maybe time to give that a go.

They don't sound super lighthearted 😂

I'll put these on the list for when I've built back up to proper reading again!

Ha! Totally missed the 'lighthearted' bit, yes ignore my list totally!!!!!

You might like Peter Ackroyd’s stuff. He has written a heck of a lot, including biographies of everyone from Charlie Chaplin to Geoffrey Chaucer. But he’s just as interested in the time and place in which they lived. His biography of William Blake, for example, really brings 18th-century London alive.

I add my vote for Bill Bryson. How about Notes from a Small Island?

Do you like audiobooks? If your concentration is a bit ropey, they can be great. I love listening to Stephen Fry’s voice. It’s so soothing. Laying in a hot bath while he reads P. G. Wodehouse or Sherlock Holmes is my idea of heaven. Brian Blessed has recorded his autobiography on audiobook as well, and it makes me laugh so much I can’t listen to it while I drive. I also love listening to Peter Ustinov. If you can track down some of his recordings you won’t regret it. My all time favourite is Michael Maloney reading Evelyn Waugh’s Decline and Fall. The first half is the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.

If you liked Richard Osman try the much better written-but similar feel-books by Richard Coles.