Epic book needed

[rainydogday]

I rarely have time to read anymore but miss it so much. I have a holiday coming up and I am on the hunt for an amazing new book. Please help! I usually trawl on here for ideas. Examples of books I have loved and was recommended on here over the years are; The Goldfinch, The book Thief, Life after life, The kite runner, Eleanor Oliphant, Crawdads, and loads of thrillers in between! Has anyone got a recommendation for me! Thanks in advance

My user name is a clue to an epic read already mentioned.

The de bernieres ones- South American trilogy or corelli/ birds without wings or his vaguely flambards inspired wwI books.

1000 autumns of Jacob de zoot.

It’s utterly brilliant until an edge of the seat rescue/mercy killing, then a formerly interesting character gets sidelined for some Boy’s Own war stuff…

But you’ve reminded me to reread! It even has a sexy sex scene during a sandstorm!

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray. Shortlisted for the Booker and it should have won.

Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro. Not so long, but wonderful.

Agree with this

I'm reading the Beartown trilogy by Fredrick Backman atm. Bloody love his use of language and his characters are stunning.

Also loved Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and The Starless Sea, also by her.

I've got Demon Copperhead on my pile of books so it's good to see all the recommendations for it. 📚

Demon Copperhead as well. It was so good.

The circle and the every both by Dave Eggers

Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi - won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction and was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize.
my review at the time finished Not a cosy read (Miss Marple it ain't) and not a book I would say I enjoyed, but glad to have read it and would recommend.

The book of Chocolate Saints by Jeet Thayil
Parts of this I really liked. Parts of it I really didn't. Parts of it I was decidedly "meh" about. There was a lot to enjoy, and more to admire. Good use of language, and gave a sense of atmosphere.

The Colour of Heaven by James Runcie - this one I loved ;-)

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee... it was a good book BUT. I'm glad I read it, but I wouldn't recommend it to a teenager.

oh, and have you read the Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry?

I'll second this. Really enjoyed this book.

Currently reading Demon Copperhead and enjoying that as well.

I haven't read this since I was about 16 and I really must reread it.

Mantel's Wolf hall trilogy is pretty epic. I mean, it's on an epic scale. A few classics that I'd also say are epic:

War and Peace
Middlemarch
Bleak House
Lord of the Rings
A Dance to the Music of Time

Thank you everyone. I have gone with Demon Copperhead. Downloaded it on Audiobook and have got a second book on the way! Cheeting a bit to make sure I get really into it before I go on holiday! So far so good! Lots of other recommendations on here that I have for after

Another vote for Hearts Invisible Furies, my favourite of last year
Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver
In Memoriam - Alice Winn
Silence of the Girls - Pat Barker - pair it with Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller - same story but from very different perspectives.
Circe - Madeline Miller
Regeneration - Pat Barker
Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow
Dictionary of lost words - Pip Williams
Prophets Song - Paul Lynch (this one comes with a health warning, absolutely incredible book but pretty bleak, so maybe not a holiday read but would still recommend!)

Lonesome Dove
It really took over my life I was obsessed - and shocked because it’s not the type of book I normally go for.

A Thousand acres by Jane Smiley is epic.
An American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Completely agree, it was absolutely brilliant. I've since read Skippy Dies by Paul Murray and that was good too, but The Bee Sting was sublime.

Somebody else mentioned Prophet Song by Paul Lynch (Which did win the 2023 Booker) and it was one of the best books I've read in a long time, but maybe not holiday material.

Cloud Atlas or The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
What a Carve Up! by Jonathan Coe

Also, if you enjoyed Life After Life, have you read A God in Ruins? It's a sort of sequel.

Alvesdon, by James Holland. A really evocative and well-written book about the early days of WWII.

Ford Madox Ford's Parade's End is a forgotten masterpiece – a real epic set before, during and after WW1.

I completely agree - one of the best books I've ever read.

Such great recommendations here!
i see you've gone with Demon Cooperhead (great choice)
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry chimes with what you're after and previous books you've read. Set in India, it tells the story spanning about 25 maybe more years (?) of an uncle and his nephew when they move from a poor country village to Mumbai and try and make their fortune. One of my favourite books. Its haunting and it's one I've reread a few times

(Shantaram, not so much! Book is supposedly biographic. Author comes across as a dick)

Lulu Deans Little Library of Banned Books.

If biographies are your thing, David Baddiels was brilliant, especially on audiobook

Another vote for Seven Sisters 😊

I read cloud cuckoo land on holiday earlier this year and I loved it, definitely recommend it based on the books you’ve enjoyed.