Recommend a book

stones55

Hey!

I'm heading on holidays shortly & wanna buy a good book to read. I'm not a book person so would like your recommendations! Nothing too serious/politics. Something that can either make me laugh or cry or a true story :-)

spurious

'The Other Hand' by Chris Cleave is a good read.
It's been out a few years, but I'd never heard of it. In keeping with the author's request, I won't say what happens, but it is an eye opener into the world of some refugees.

jendafer1

Gone Girl - a good holiday read!

orchidsrpretty

Im reading Mr.nice by Howard Marks right now and im really enjoying it. It reads like a novel, very well written and its a true story! Would make a great holiday read.

Faith

"Me Before You" by Jojo Moyes. Meatier than chick lit, but light enough to fly through on holidays. Also it's an excellent book.

And I second Gone Girl.

iwantmydinner

The Help by Katherine Stockett - really great read. You'll fly through it, but it's a seriously good story.

meeeeh

I think Game of Thrones has some nice and fluffy stuff.

I do very little reading lately but I liked some of the John Banville novels.

Pang

The Book Thief- Markus Zusak.

An amazing book.

baby and crumble

If you want something to make you cry or at least think then I'd recommened "Room" by Emma Donoghue. Brilliant book

m'lady

Would third 'Gone girl' and I love anything by Dorothy Koomson- always a twist in her books!

My favourite book of all times and its an oldish one is 'Suzannah's Diary for Nicholas' ...by James Patterson... Amazing book

spurious

Another lighter holiday read is 'The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared' by Jonas Jonasson.

quinevere

To cry to A walk to remember by Nicholas sparks

My sisters keeper Jodi Pinchot

To laugh to
The shopolic books or how to kill your husband . . .

Rosy Posy

I really like Colin Bateman. He's irreverent and very funny. The Mystery Man novels are brilliant.

Blush_01

It's actually YA but I bawled so much reading it that I'd to change my pyjama top. "The Fault in our Stars" really thumped me in the feels but was pretty rewarding.

"The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao" was great too, though it's a few years since I read it.

"Tigers in Red Weather" was super, really, really good.

If you're looking at Irish fiction, Donal Ryan's "The Spinning Heart" is short but good.

+1s for "Gone Girl" and "100 Year Old Man..." above.

Carlos Ruís Zafón's books are also superb.

Have fun!!

Rosy Posy

Blush_01 wrote: »

"The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao" was great too, though it's a few years since I read it.

I loved this too but I'm not sure if I'd recommend it to someone who isn't a big reader, it's quite dense.

Like Water for Chocolate is beautiful and short.

Alexander McCall Smith's novels are lovely too and real page turners.

XxMCRxBabyxX

Rosy Posy wrote: »

Alexander McCall Smith's novels are lovely too and real page turners.

I'd second this. The Mma Ramotswa books are very true to life in Botswana too. His descriptions of places and people and personalities are right on the money

Trying to think of some of my own recommendations. I saw The Book Thief being recommended earlier. Wouldn't agree for a light reader. I found it very hard to get into myself.

Do you have a specific type of book that you're into?

MaxWig

The Sea by John Banville - wonderful book.

nitros7

orchidsrpretty wrote: »

Im reading Mr.nice by Howard Marks right now and im really enjoying it. It reads like a novel, very well written and its a true story! Would make a great holiday read.

Defo Agree
This was a brilliant read.....

LadyMayBelle

'What I loved' by Siri Hustvedt. Read it on my hols, loved it, didnt want it to end.

Merkin

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini had me lying on a beach on Thailand with snot running down my face - it's so sad. It is such a powerful book, you'll be absolutely glued.

I just finished After the Fall by Charity Norman and would recommend it. So easy to read and you'll fly through it. The kind of book where you can stop reading mid-sentence and easily pick it back up again, perfect between sea dips and cocktails

Sleepy

Audrey Niffeneger's The Time Traveler's Wife. The movie was so-so, the book was fantastic.

Daisy78

Merkin wrote: »

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini had me lying on a beach on Thailand with snot running down my face - it's so sad. It is such a powerful book, you'll be absolutely glued.

Absolutely recommend this....read it two months ago and I'm still thinking about it. It's easy to read but at the same time makes you realise how lucky you have it as a western born woman.

stones55

Thanks for all the replies..too much choice now! Think il be getting more than one..:-)

Rosy Posy

A Thousand Splendid Suns is amazing! I couldn't believe it was written by a man. So so sad though, I'm not sure I'd bring it on holiday- I'd be crying into my cocktail...

Snoopy1

Merkin wrote: »

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini had me lying on a beach on Thailand with snot running down my face - it's so sad. It is such a powerful book, you'll be absolutely glued.

I just finished After the Fall by Charity Norman and would recommend it. So easy to read and you'll fly through it. The kind of book where you can stop reading mid-sentence and easily pick it back up again, perfect between sea dips and cocktails

I loved the Kite Runner so much by him, ive got that book lined up to read.
I hated Gone Girl, it was horrible, i wouldnt reccomend it at all.

Merkin

Snoopy1 wrote: »

I loved the Kite Runner so much by him, ive got that book lined up to read.
I hated Gone Girl, it was horrible, i wouldnt reccomend it at all.

I loved the Kite Runner as well. You know he's just released a new one as well? It's still hardcover though so shall have to wait for it's release in paperback. I've heard great things!

Gone Girl is an absolute cringe-fest. It is probably one of the most badly written books I've ever encountered but I also found it hugely entertaining. I wouldn't rate it at all on literary merit but for a holiday would highly recommend it as it's quite a gripping and entertaining story if you can get past the poor quality writing.

Snoopy1

Merkin wrote: »

I loved the Kite Runner as well. You know he's just released a new one as well? It's still hardcover though so shall have to wait for it's release in paperback. I've heard great things!

Gone Girl is an absolute cringe-fest. It is probably one of the most badly written books I've ever encountered but I also found it hugely entertaining. I wouldn't rate it at all on literary merit but for a holiday would highly recommend it as it's quite a gripping and entertaining story if you can get past the poor quality writing.

Finally someone who agrees with me.
I might try get that book on my Kindle

Merkin

It's called And the Mountains Echoed - enjoy!

iwantmydinner

Merkin wrote: »

Gone Girl is an absolute cringe-fest. It is probably one of the most badly written books I've ever encountered but I also found it hugely entertaining.

Ah, sh!te anyway, I just bought it recently!

Snoopy1

Merkin wrote: »

It's called And the Mountains Echoed - enjoy!

I just got it for £0.99 on Amazon

Merkin

iwantmydinner wrote: »

Ah, sh!te anyway, I just bought it recently!

Read it! You'll still enjoy it because you'll be sucked in by the story. The writing style is quite grating though so once you get over that you will be fine.

Merkin

Snoopy1 wrote: »

I just got it for £0.99 on Amazon

:eek:

For the Kindle presumably? On to Amazon I go! Cheers

Snoopy1

Merkin wrote: »

:eek:

For the Kindle presumably? On to Amazon I go! Cheers

Yea for the Kindle.

vitani

iwantmydinner wrote: »

Ah, sh!te anyway, I just bought it recently!

I'm about a quarter of the way through it and I'm loving it so far. I was delighted to see that the hype was justified, for once.

Different strokes for different folk.

Snoopy1

vitani wrote: »

I'm about a quarter of the way through it and I'm loving it so far. I was delighted to see that the hype was justified, for once.

Different strokes for different folk.

Yea everybody is different, thats why its so hard to reccomend books to people. My tastes have changed over the years too. Ive gone from chic flic to really dark crime.

iwantmydinner

I haven't read a thriller in quite a while so I am still looking forward to it. Sometimes a strong storyline can make up for poor writing!

anewme

Anyone who liked the Kite Runner would love Half of a Yellow Sun.

Great story!

biko

Mists of Avalon.

MonaPizza

When I finished reading the last page of Kite Runner, I was in a bar in Amsterdam.
I closed the book, lit a cigarette, took a sip of my pint and then the tears came. Only a few books have reduced me to sobs but the Kite Runner shattered me. Amazing book.

But if you want something hysterically funny to read I would recommend McCarthy's Bar by Pete McCarthy.

MonicaBing

Absolutely hate Gone Girl too, couldnt believe it made the NY times bestseller list! It got fired off the wall when i finished it!

Shantaram, Gregory David Robert, its nearly 10 years old but a book i find myself reaching for and re-reading over and again.

Beach Music, Pat Conroy, another oldie even older than above! Conroy is an amazing writer who literally helps you to smell, taste and see the world he writes about,i fell in love with Italy because of him.

+1 on anything from Dorothy Koomson, she's fantastic and i love her twists as i never see them coming.

sunshine and showers

Blush_01 wrote: »

It's actually YA but I bawled so much reading it that I'd to change my pyjama top. "The Fault in our Stars" really thumped me in the feels but was pretty rewarding.

"The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao" was great too, though it's a few years since I read it.

"Tigers in Red Weather" was super, really, really good.

If you're looking at Irish fiction, Donal Ryan's "The Spinning Heart" is short but good.

+1s for "Gone Girl" and "100 Year Old Man..." above.

Carlos Ruís Zafón's books are also superb.

Have fun!!

I love him. Can't recommend The Shadow Of The Wind enough!

--Kaiser--

Rosy Posy wrote: »

A Thousand Splendid Suns is amazing! I couldn't believe it was written by a man. So so sad though, I'm not sure I'd bring it on holiday- I'd be crying into my cocktail...

What's so good about this book? I couldn't get past 50 pages it was so dull and artless.

I'm going to recommend Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre because it's bloody hilarious and All the Pretty Horses because it's an accessible (for Cormac McCarthy), lyrical, touching and profound read

ShazGV

Blush_01 wrote: »

It's actually YA but I bawled so much reading it that I'd to change my pyjama top. "The Fault in our Stars" really thumped me in the feels but was pretty rewarding.

+1. Started it in JFK & finished it on the flight home, absolutely loved it & may have shed a tear or ten as everyone else around me slept.

leahyl

This is a great thread - I'm always looking for good books to buy for my kindle so I love reading the reviews on all of your suggestions on amazon and then deciding which ones to buy - shantaram sounds really good

Pretty Polly

The Help is a brilliant book, I would definitely recommend it as well.

Rosy Posy

MonicaBing wrote: »

Shantaram, Gregory David Robert, its nearly 10 years old but a book i find myself reaching for and re-reading over again.

Wow can't believe you reread Shantaram...it's over 1000 pages long right? Although I can't talk, I've read A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth four times now!!

Rosy Posy

--Kaiser-- wrote: »

What's so good about this book? I couldn't get past 50 pages it was so dull and artless.

I thought it was beautiful- really developed the characters and made me care about them. I also thought it gave a rich picture of Afgan life and culture. Also thought the plot was really nicely done. To be fair if you only got 50 pages in you didn't really give it a chance- you didn't even meet some of the most interesting characters.

--Kaiser--

Rosy Posy wrote: »

I thought it was beautiful- really developed the characters and made me care about them. I also thought it gave a rich picture of Afgan life and culture. Also thought the plot was really nicely done. To be fair if you only got 50 pages in you didn't really give it a chance- you didn't even meet some of the most interesting characters.

If a book hasn't grabbed me by 50 pages then I don't think there's any point on wasting my time on the rest. Most of my favourite books grabbed my with the very first sentence. Some really good books don't let go until you've got to the back page. So, really, I did give it a chance but perhaps I'm not the target audience of the book

Snoopy1

Rosy Posy wrote: »

Wow can't believe you reread Shantaram...it's over 1000 pages long right? Although I can't talk, I've read A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth four times now!!

A suitable boy is my favourite book. Its very long though so I didnt recommend it here
Ive read it about 10 times

Rosy Posy

Snoopy1 wrote: »

A suitable boy is my favourite book. Its very long though so I didnt recommend it here
Ive read it about 10 times

Argh! It's my favourite book too! Have you read The Golden Gate by the same author? It's amazing! It's inspired by Eugene Onegin and is written in verse. I met his brother in India and he told me that the character of Haresh is based on their father and he based Amit on himself. He didn't say but from meeting him and hanging out with him for a few days the brother reminded me of Dipankar. Anyway, totally off topic, just got a bit excited there!

goldensyrup

Merkin wrote: »

It's called And the Mountains Echoed - enjoy!

I have read all Khaled Hosseini's books and I didnt really like 'And The Mountains Echoed' as much as the other two...
I think 'A thousand splendid suns' is his best book There were lots of tears at the end though...