Books! What are you reading, recommendations & reviews

[Tree_]

Silly question but have you read any by Marian Keyes? I hate the way she's written off as "just" a chick lit author but she's bloody good! The Walsh sisters are great if you're looking for a connection with characters. Rachel's Holiday & Anybody Out There? are two of my favourites from that series. You don't really need to read them in order either.

This Charming Man is also really, really good too. I started re-reading her books when lockdown kicked in last March as a comfort blanket.

I love the Walsh sisters. Angels is one of my faves

And mammy walsh obviously

 

[Belleboo]

I’m struggling to read as much as I would usually due to a small baby but I have just finished The Cows by Dawn O’Porter. I really enjoyed it, it was funny and thought provoking, certainly different to the usual chick lit - in a good way.

 

[Hilopicklelo]

I've just finished these two. American dirt was actually an Asda substitute and I was a bit apprehensive as it isn't usually a genre I'd read. I couldn't put it down though and it was really poignant with the current attitudes to immigrants/asylum seekers.

Playing nice was a good easy read. Was interesting but felt a little predictable and I wasn't left with that "omg" feeling.

 

[Oohthedrama]

I LOVE how similar we all are when it comes to books on here

So is crazy rich Asians in a series of books? I honestly didn’t realise is there a specific order they should be read in?

yes!!! There are 3! I really enjoyed them! Like the ‘I Heart’ series by Kelk I have an emotional connection to them/that time

CRA
China Rich Girlfriend
Rich People's Problems.

 

[nbt]

I loved the Girls in Love series. You lot are making me feel so nostalgic! Gonna have to re read some of these for sure

 

[smellsofbiscuits]

Shuggie Bain was one of the best books I read last year. Douglas Stuart is also an absolute darling. But I did cry buckets at it. Not the best book to read when you've not long given birth

His next book is supposedly set in Glasgow and a love story between two men across the sectarian divide. Cannot wait.

 

[slabber]

Not sure if it's already been mentioned but just finished Never Greener by Ruth Jones (who also wrote Gavin and Stacey) and it was fab

 

[chocolate choux]

After the Jacqueline Wilson chat a while ago I picked up a box set - £15 for 10 books in The Works, very cheap even considering I’ve read half already. Just started Rent A Bridesmaid and feeling about 8 years old again Enjoying it in a mindless nostalgia sort of way

 

[50sGirl]

Just finished His Wife’s Sister but I shall leave my thoughts until the Book Club thread opens.

 

[Chablis1]

Ah, have you read ‘the secret history’? That’s such a brilliant novel and if you feel that way about Tartt I advise you to prioritise reading it if you haven’t already! I’m going to guess you have though... so may as well use this post to advise it to anyone else. It’s one of those perfect novels with everything - excellent writing, page turner of a plot and it sticks with you long after you finish it. It’s actually pretty rare to find a book both well written and easy to read. I think of them as unicorns and rejoice when I find one.

I’m currently re reading Lolita for the third time for my book group. It’ll be an interesting discussion, even ten years or so since I last read it, it’s impossible to imagine something like that coming out today. Id lost my old copy and got another, and even searching it on google brings up this...View attachment 89219

I love The Secret History. One of my all time favourite books.

 

[JLXRD]

Just hit book number 40 of 2020 (that was my goal for the year once lockdown happened )

I just finished Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter, it was a good read and a great crime story but the body horror/gore was too much for me. I had to stop reading a few times anyone else read this?

 

[Tit4Tattle]

Definitely worth a read if you like horror/crime fiction! But yeah prepare yourself as it is gory!

Oooh I want to read The Guest List, I’ve got The Hunting Party by the same author on my stack of books to read first though.

About to start Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman this evening.

Loved Eleanor Oliphant it’s so good! If you like that one you should try The Cactus (can’t remember who it is written by?) but it’s also good! I’ve challenged myself to read 52 books a year for the last few years and 2020 is the first year I think I may complete it (I’m on book 50)

 

[Death2unicorns]

Just started reading American Dirt by janine Cummins, seems really good so far

Before that last books I read were ‘a little life’ by hanya yanigihari and the goldfinch by Donna tartt, both excellent!

 

[Caffeine Fiend]

My Dark Vanessa was 99p on Kindle yesterday. Might still be. I bought it after seeing it recommended here.

 

[Apple In My Pie]

i got a Neil Gaiman story for Christmas - The Ocean at the End of the Lake. It’s a beautiful, magical gothic sort of story about childhood memories - the illustrations are beautiful too. I devoured it in a night which is testament to how good it is as I haven’t done that in years! I really recommend it!

I’m also reading loads of crime fiction for a module at university- Case Histories by Kate Atkinson was a massive favourite if you like interlinking stories. I also enjoyed Ian Rankin’s Knots and Crosses - that captivated me! And also Murder on the Orient Express. I read that on a train which I recommend

 

[Tit4Tattle]

I wish I had a big library in my house and when I shut the door, no one was allowed to disturb me. It would be filled with blankets and I would just lay in there reading allllll day.

That would he the absolute dream!

 

[Bubblesandflowers]

Kindle friends - Why did you not warn me that the kindle would be so addictive? I abandoned my paperback I heart Hawaii and started reading John Marrs - What lies between us. I don't think I have ever read a book this quickly whilst juggling everything else!

It was good - a few twists and turns. Would definitely recommend. Better yet it was free as part of prime reading.

Next on my list is T.M Logan's - 29 seconds. Has anyone read this one?

 

[smellsofbiscuits]

+1 for Marian Keyes - Rachels Holiday is an all time fave! I heard her on a podcast once saying how she disliked being dismissed as chick lit - she said something along the lines of if her books were written by men about men, theyd be heralded as fantastic insights into the human mind or something along those lines.

She writes fabulous, fully formed characters

Agree with every word you've written. I remember reading her books when I had (then undiagnosed) depression and kept thinking she summed up exactly how I was feeling. Her work is just out standing and appallingly overlooked.

Many people are surprised when I tell them Rachel's Holiday is primarily about addiction. They literally think it's about someone on holiday But it's a masterclass in the unreliable narrator.

 

[working9-5]

I’m a fully grown adult but I just ordered some Jacqueline Wilson books Her books were my life growing up and I’ve been desperately craving that childhood nostalgia to take my mind off things in my life. Anyone remember the Girls In Love/Out Late/Under Pressure series? I lived through those books growing up and kept feeling such an urge to read them again. So I am

I haven’t read these books but remember reading ‘Malory Towers’ growing up and I desperately wanted to go to a Boarding School because of it

 

[Horatio]

Daisy Jones and the Six.

Ah I read this for my book club last year. No literary masterpiece but a very enjoyable page turner - which is sometimes all you want. And people can underestimate the skill involved in making a story that compelling with characters so believable. No surprise to hear it’s being made into a series - by reese Witherspoon’s production company I think...