Long haul flight book recommendations

[Flourshiba]

I’m off to NZ for Christmas so will have two very long journeys & reading is my favourite way to pass plane time.

Things I’ve read recently & enjoyed

All the Colours of the Dark
The Wedding People
Small Pleasures
Homecoming
Kala
Intermezzo
Good Material

I know that’s bit of an eclectic mix, but I’ve enjoyed all of them.
I don’t love flying so I’d prefer nothing too gritty or tense (Kala, All the Colours of the Dark etc) but love a good story with interesting characters.

I haven’t tried any cosy crime yet? Richard Osman etc as thought I might find it ‘meh’, but everyone seems to rave about it.

So do you have any suggestions of good, engrossing (not too bleak, or anxiety inducing) reads that could help while away many, many hours on a flight.

Thank you ✨

Kate Atkinson - the Jackson Brodie series

I loved Kala, Small Pleasures and The Wedding People so I think we must have similar ish taste!

Have you read The Bee Sting by Paul Murray? It’s such a good book - and long so it will take quite a while to read!

I agree with PP The Rachel Incident is very good too.

Try John Boyne's "The Heart's Invisible Furies". It is a fabulous book, so good I was raging when I finished it a couple of years ago. Then for the first time EVER, I read it again over the Summer. Just as good!

Another vote for The Luminaries although I did find it rather masculine, but I guess that shows what a good Victorian pastiche it was (it's set during the NZ Gold Rush). For something about Maori culture what about The Bone People, Once Were Warriers or The Whale Rider.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah and Half a Yellow Sun are both absorbing and very well written. Robert Galbraith's Strike books good too and would be excellent for a long flight.

Both the Ukestu books Strange Houses and Strange Pictures would be good for a long haul flight because they are page turning but also the nature of them (sort of a built in puzzle/whodunnit) means that you get more out of it if you read it when you can remember what's gone before. Very amenable to a one sitting or two sitting read in other words.

Have you read The Lincoln Highway? I also liked All the colours of the dark and this book likewise is a good story with interesting characters. Nowhere near as intense though.

Had to force myself to finish the first Richard Osman book, didn't go back for a second!

Have you ever read any Lesley Pearse books? The earlier ones are great for travelling. The more recent ones are a bit meh though.