Recommend a really good read (pure pleasure, doesn't have to be worthy!)

coolaboola

Howdy!

I'm in a bit of a reading slump at the mo, dragging myself through books that should be brain candy. I'm hoping you can jump-start me out of this literary rut by recommending a really good, absorbing read.

I'm not necessarily looking for something worthy or weighty (but not excluding them either!) I've gone through several pages of the 10 books before the apocalypse thread and found some great ideas but an awful lot of 'high-fibre' worthy suggestions too.

I don't want something that will feel like a lot of work, no matter how worth it that might be. This is for pure pleasure, like chocolate (or crisps in my case!), not wholemeal lettuce which might be good for me but doesn't really whet the appetite. I've just been missing the sort of book that you can't wait to get back to and from whch have to drag yourself away.

I'm pretty open-minded about the style of book I read, however I'm not a fan of sci-fi or romance. Other than that, all suggestions welcome ... non-fiction as well as fiction.

Hope you can help

Sergeant

Anything written by Robert Harris.

Well written thrillers, usually historical, but as he says himself, he never lets historical authenticity get in the way of a good story. Good page turners.

analucija

My Name is Red, Pamuk

Name of the Rose, Eco

Gneez

Sergeant wrote: »

Anything written by Robert Harris.

Well written thrillers, usually historical, but as he says himself, he never lets historical authenticity get in the way of a good story. Good page turners.

I found him to be a bad writer and wouldn't recommend.

What I would recommend is cloud atlas by david mitchell, its a book about a soul being reborn throughout history, starting in the 1820's aboard a merchant galleon and again in modern times and again in a future dystopia and finally in a post apocalyptic hawaii, it's a fantastic book, very easy to read and engrossing.

alchemist33

Anything by Gerald Seymour - he does excellent, British-oriented thrillers.

Life of Pi by Yann Martel. The most digestible "literary" novel I've read and thoroughly enjoyable.

Denerick

Whats your angle OP? Are you looking for chicklit or light genre fiction? I take a healthy interest in historic/period novels, some I would regard 'high literature', the others would be more frothy and light.

Gordon Gecko

"The Hound of the Baskervilles" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a very well written and entertaining book, I'd highly recommend it.

Honey-ec

John Boyne's "Mutiny on the Bounty" - laugh-out-loud funny, but extremely well written with it.

Kalimah

I would agree with the John Boyne choice or anything by David Mitchell. I did like the Robert Harris Fatherland novel myself.
Anything by Sarah Dunant either. In the company of the courtesan or Sacred Voices I think was the name of the other book by her. Rivetting.

DazMarz

The Joe Ledger series of books by Jonathan Maberry are excellent action-thriller novels: Patient Zero, The Dragon Factory and The King Of Plagues. All concerned with the (fictional) American government agency, the D.M.S. (Department of Military Sciences), stopping global bio-warfare apocalypse. Excellent, gripping stuff.

Also, give Scott Sigler a look; a personal favourite of mine from his novels is Ancestor which is another gripping (albeit incredibly gory) read. Something like Predator mixed with Jurassic Park. Great actioner.

Patrickodon

Try 2666 by Roberto Bolano. Brilliant.

Sergeant

Patrickodon wrote: »

Try 2666 by Roberto Bolano. Brilliant.

An amazing novel, but not light reading!

VW 1

A couple I have read lately that I really enjoyed were by Ken Follett, Pillars of the Earth and the sequel World Without End. Both of them set between 1000-1300 AD easy to read, very enjoyable, compelling story, highly reccomend them to you OP.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Unbroken-Laura-Hillenbrand/dp/0007378017

maybe not literature but a compelling read for sure.

E.T.

I just read the Dexter series by Jeff Lindsay and loved them, nice easy reading, very funny at times. Gerald Durrell's autobiographical books about his eccentric childhood are some of my absolute favourites, especially 'My Family and Other Animals'. I don't know how many times I've read that book at this stage, and I never get bored of it.

SVG

How about some Agatha Christie? The Poirot books are my favourite comfort reading.

doomed

The collaborator - Gerald Seymour

Any of the Aurelio Zen books by Michael Dibdin

The English Passengers Mather Neale

The Devil's Star Jo Nesbo

Cloud Atlas David Mitchell

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Monkeybonkers

Why not try some Tom Sharpe or PG Wodehouse for some light relief. Both very entertaining

M.O.L.

Heres a few great novels for the hols.

The Bookseller of Kabul - Åsne Seierstad
I am David - Ann Holm
The Boy in Striped Pajamas - John Boyne.

And I would highly recommend Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Naidylady

Hey,

I read the book 'The Slap' recently enough. It is an easy read but a book that will get you thinking too. It is set in Melbourne and based around the fallout of an incident at a barbeque, where a parent slaps someone else's child.

If you want a laugh out loud read and have ever done some backpacking, I would recommend William Sutcliffe's 'Are You Experienced'. It is so short you will read it in a few hours but so funny you will find yourself laughing about it a few days later.

I also really enjoyed 'Room' by Emma O' Donoghue. Again it is an easy read but with a really interesting theme and style.

old gregg

If you've never read it before then To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee could be an interesting option. It's easy enough to be read by transition year students but has so much depth as to stimulate as far as you want to take it. A wonderful book and a winner all round I reckon.

M.O.L.

old gregg wrote: »

If you've never read it before then To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee could be an interesting option. It's easy enough to be read by transition year students but has so much depth as to stimulate as far as you want to take it. A wonderful book and a winner all round I reckon.

Forgot to mention that. ,

To Kill a Mockingbird is literally one of the best story's ever written.

skylight1987

if you want a good story that you cant put down i would recommend The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton the story goes from 1913 to 1975 to 2005 and is pure reading pleasure

HornyDevil

Any of the books in the Strangest series are quite amazing.

http://www.strangestbooks.co.uk

apsalar

Anything by Boris Akunin...very funny, very witty

Stephen King is my rainy day comfort read. It is always great for me.

Recently read Hell at the breech by Tom Franklin - a cracking read

Also try the story of edgar sawtelle, by david wroblewski, one of the best books I've read.

Also anything by Barbara Kingsolver....she's clever, funny and tells a good story, the poisonwood bible is my favourite of hers.

hatful

'Born to run: the hidden tribe, the ultra-runners and the greatest race the world has never seen' - Christopher McDougall.

HornyDevil

Does anyone actually listen to recommendations on here . . and buy?

I doubt it, so what's the point.

hatful

HornyDevil wrote: »

Does anyone actually listen to recommendations on here . . and buy?

I doubt it, so what's the point.

I must be the only one who does. Oh god I feel embarrassed now :eek:

Mink

HornyDevil wrote: »

Does anyone actually listen to recommendations on here . . and buy?

I doubt it, so what's the point.

I do. I go through a few of these threads, write down about 10 or 20 titles & authors that sound good, get a few mentions etc.

Then I head into Chapters, see if can get them 2nd hand or else I buy them new (not all 20, 1 or 2 at a time!). I have some weird thing where I can't read a book on loan, have to actually own it & put it on my shelf afterward.

+1 for the Ken Follett books - Pillars of the Earth and the sequel. It's like a medieval soap opera, very very readable. They're both 1100 pages long but you really don't notice it.

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden is another great read.

Travel is good

hatful wrote: »

I must be the only one who does. Oh god I feel embarrassed now :eek:

Another one here, I like getting the recommendations. It opens up my reading range. I don't always like reading the same stuff.

Toby Take a Bow

You could try Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. It may look like a weighty tome (and it's written as if it was a Victorian novel) but it's a really light read that people tend to fly through. Very funny in parts and a fascinating story.

Anything by Richard Yates (if you want something darker). His Easter Parade is actually quite funny (but also very, very depressing).

Have you tried Daphne Du Maurier? My Cousin Rachel and Rebecca are very light reads, with some interesting twists thrown in for good measure.

Toby Take a Bow

HornyDevil wrote: »

Does anyone actually listen to recommendations on here . . and buy?

I doubt it, so what's the point.

I guess you have to take the OP at his/her word and assume that when they specifically ask for a recommendation, they may actually take you up on your suggestion.

Ormus

Toby Take a Bow wrote: »

You could try Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. It may look like a weighty tome (and it's written as if it was a Victorian novel) but it's a really light read that people tend to fly through. Very funny in parts and a fascinating story.

Anything by Richard Yates (if you want something darker). His Easter Parade is actually quite funny (but also very, very depressing).

Have you tried Daphne Du Maurier? My Cousin Rachel and Rebecca are very light reads, with some interesting twists thrown in for good measure.

I love this book. It is bloody huge but I'm down to my last 150 pages and wish I had more left. I hear word of a sequel but I don't know when.

Selfheal

I'd recommend any of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books.

Toby Take a Bow

Ormus wrote: »

I love this book. It is bloody huge but I'm down to my last 150 pages and wish I had more left. I hear word of a sequel but I don't know when.

I felt exactly the same reading it. Must try some of her other stuff. Apparently her collection of short stories if very similar to the stories in the footnotes throughout Jonathan Strange.

cailinoBAC

I loved 'City of Thieves' by David Benioff

Still waiting to find somebody else who has read it, or who I can persuade to read it (well got my boyfriend to, I suppose he counts!)

An entertaining story, that can't be accused of being too light either. I'm just waiting for the movie now!

Mink

The Sookie Stackhouse series (True Blood is based on it) by Charlaine Harris is a very good light/fun read. I really enjoyed them

johnayo

HornyDevil wrote: »

Does anyone actually listen to recommendations on here . . and buy?

I doubt it, so what's the point.

Bought "One Day by David Nicholls" and read it recently. Good read. It was recommended on a boards forum.(where I saw it).

emeraldstar

^ Awful book! Hated the characters.

KazM

Cannot believe no-one has recommended the Jasper Fforde "Thursday Next Chronicles" lol
"The Eyre Affair", "Lost in a Good Book", "Well of Lost Plots", "Something Rotten", "First Amongst Sequels" - an hilarious voyage through the bits of literature that will have you kinked laughing - cannot wait to get to "One of our Thursdays is Missing" myself to catch up with shenanigans in BookWorld!

Have a lurk around Jasper's website - you can get a feel for the type of stuff he writes:

http://www.jasperfforde.com/index2.html

donfers

animal farm is nice and simple and short and thought-provoking, it's one of those rare books beloved by young kids and snobby academics - just a great read, i'd enjoy the story for what it is on first reading and if you enjoy read it again as it references a particular time in history and most of the characters represent a real person or group of people so you'll be getting a nice history lesson too

so there you have it, an enjoyable read, an allegory, a morality tale and a history lesson all wrapped up in about 100 pages

tbh

for those recommending "Pillars of the Earth" (which is great, and fits the OPs request perfectly) I would also suggest his latest "Fall of Giants"

DazMarz

Frederick Forsyth's stuff is also cracking, especially his debut The Day Of The Jackal. Great detail in these books, meticulously researched and they all whip along at breakneck pace, ensuring you're always turning the page to see what happens next.

Jopari87

tbh wrote: »

for those recommending "Pillars of the Earth" (which is great, and fits the OPs request perfectly) I would also suggest his latest "Fall of Giants"

Anyone who enjoyed Ken Follett's books might also like the Shardlake series by CJ Samson.

They are crime novels based in Tudor London. There are five in the series but can be read separately without having read the previous ones (albeit reading in order will help understand the characters more).

azzie

I'd agree with Life of Pi - great book. Also Kate Atkinson's Behind the Scenes at the Museum - that's maybe more of a 'woman's' book.

Sconsey

Someone mentioned Robert Harris at the start there, highly recommend 'Imperium', easy reading and really enjoyable.

Another book popped into my head reading this thread, Winterdance, read it years ago and loved it, if you like dogs or general endurance type stories this is great (true story if i recall correctly).

To the person wondering about who reads these recommendations, this board is probably responsible for about 90% of the books I read nowadays!

Niles

Read The Catcher in the Rye for the first time earlier in the year, I'd highly recommend it. It's humourous and flows well, just about the right length too.

grohlisagod

DazMarz wrote: »

Frederick Forsyth's stuff is also cracking, especially his debut The Day Of The Jackal. Great detail in these books, meticulously researched and they all whip along at breakneck pace, ensuring you're always turning the page to see what happens next.

I'd hardly call that a comfort read, due to the incredible level of detail but it is a fantastic book.

Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby is a thoroughly enjoyable and funny book. I'm not sure if you have to be a sports fan to really get it. I'd assume it's still enjoyable if you aren't.

Swampy

The Passage by Justin Cronin.

Brilliant book.

The Passage begins in the near future and details an apocalyptic and, later, post-apocalyptic world that is overrun by vampire-like beings that are infected by a highly contagious virus. What begins as a project to develop a new immunity-boosting drug based on a virus carried by an unnamed species of bat in South America eventually becomes the virus that transforms the world. The novel begins in 2018 and spans more than ninety years as colonies of humans attempt to live in a world filled with superhuman creatures who are continually on the hunt for fresh blood.

bullpost

The diaries of Adrian Mole are very funny and an easy read:

http://www.adrianmole.com/

Mr.Saturn

Douglas Coupland's name gets bandied about for the likes Gen X, but I'd skip initially that and go for the Mircoserfs/J-pod. Brilliant stories.