CatieB Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Following the threads on here I have bought, and am in love with, my kindle. I am so happy that it has got me reading again. Since having the kindle I have read Michael McIntyre, Gok Wan and confessions of a GP. So I seem to be liking light hearted funny books at the moment. I have just finished Jodi Picoult House Rules and was a little disappointed. I usually like a real story and the moral dilemma type book but the story in that one just wasn't right and the ending a little dull. I just went oh not wow. Whereas I loved her book Ninteen Minutes and one of my favourites ever is the Lovely Bones (which has been read a number of times) Bearing that in mind anyone got a recommendation I really fancy a novel I can get my teeth into, not put down and like the characters? Not fancying a thriller at the moment although I sometimes like them too. Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Toast by Nigel Slater. Fab. I read it in a day. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larson. Unputdownable. Have downloaded the other books in the series. Am reading More Blood, More Sweat and another Cup of Tea by Tom Reynolds. It is the reminisences of a paramedic. It's OK-ish. Written 'blog' style. I'd be glad of a few more suggestions too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Jane Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 If you liked Lovely Bones, have you read A Time Travelers Wife? I enjoyed that book, bitter and sweet, also loved Birdsong, and if you've never read Captain Corelli's Mandolin, that's another of my favourites. Winter in Madrid by CJ Sansom was good, and if you like "detective" stories, it is worth checking out Sansom's books about Matthew Shardlake - I don't know anyone who doesn't enjoy them. I love the Millennium trilogy too, but the books can be a bit hard to get into. My brother put Dragon Tattoo down aftre 40 pages, but picked it up again and was hooked. I hope you find plenty to read. I had a Kindle for Xmas too, and it is so nice to think that I will never be short of reading matter again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couperwife Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 im reading 3 cups of tea by Greg mortenson and David Oliver Relin at the moment it says "one mans mission to promote Peace, one school at a time" Im loving it has anyone else read it? cathy x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 If you want something light & seasonal,then 'A Winters Tale' by Tricia Ashley is a great little read. In fact all of hers are good. 'Toast' is great,as is 'The Time Travellers Wife' The Bill Bryson books are wonderful,if you like very funny travel books. 'A walk in the woods' is one of my all time faves. 'Eat Pray Love' is also really good,by Elizabeth Gilbert 'The island' by Victoria Hislop is really good too,a really evocative story,set in Greece,on an island leper colony (but its not all as morose as it sounds!) 'The Red Tent' by Anita Diamant should be read by EVERYONE. It is just fabulous.....it sort of takes the story of a minor biblical character & elaborates on it. It is wonderfully atmospheric & really draws you into that era. 'Memoirs of a Geisha' is another must read,for many of the same reasons. More chick-lit recommendations from me would be Lisa Jewells books,especially 'Ralphs party','Twenties Girl' by Sophie Kinsella and anything by Carole Matthews. The True Blood series are excellent,& if you are into historical novels then 'The Other Boleyn Girl' by Phillipa Gregory & any of the Shardlake books by C J Sansom are all brill....in fact I am quite addicted to Shardlake at the moment. Or you could go for 'The Poisinwood Bible' & join us in the book group! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmommasally Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 I'm currently reading my first CJ Sansom novel - Dissolution - and really enjoying it, finding it hard to put down. My all time favourite books are Time Travellers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger; Pillars of the Earth and World Without End by Ken Follett; The Far Pavillions by MM Kaye. If you like Historical novels then Phillipa Gregory is really good - my favourite of hers is The Other Boleyn Girl. If you like Crime writers try Mark Billingham - Scaredy Cat/Sleepyhead/Lazy Bones all great reads I also enjoyed Remember Me by Lesley Pe"Ooops, word censored!" about a young convict girl sent to Australia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhapsody Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 City of Thieves and the newish Mutiny on the Bounty are very gripping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms Marple Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Brilliant suggestions on here already - love almost all of them. Others worth consideration- The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini or 100 Splendid Suns by same author- about Afghanisatan and growing up. Kite runner made me cry at times, but then so did the Time Traveller's Wife and The Poisonwood Bible. Others I have recently read and enjoyed are Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel - if you like Historical- paints Thomas Cromwell in a new light ( well for me anyway). It is about a relatively short period in the in time of Henry 8th when he is trying to divorce Catherin of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn; The Help by Kathryn Stockett- set in Jackson Mississipi in 1962 about black maids in service- Really enjoyed this tale of courage; The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd- this was my bookgroup's most recent read. It is quite an old book. It is the story of a young girl from Edinburgh who travels to the Far East to marry, has a scandalous affair, an illegitimate baby by a Japanese samurai ...I found it a really interesting read and not something I would have picked up at first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoopsie Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 I'm very biased because my friend wrote it but i'm re-reading 'And anyway about me' by Tara Shilling. Also I got 'Dewey' by Vicki Myron for Christmas - it's a a true story about a library cat in Iowa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel - if you like Historical- paints Thomas Cromwell in a new light ( well for me anyway). It is about a relatively short period in the in time of Henry 8th when he is trying to divorce Catherin of Aragon and marry Anne Boleyn That sounds right up my alley - have just added it to my Kindle I agree that A Thousand Splendid Suns is great,and The Kite Runner,but I didn't get along with The Help at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatieB Posted January 1, 2011 Author Share Posted January 1, 2011 I love the recomendations.... I have taken the first one and downloaded toast straight away. It ticked all the boxes, although I know its not a novel I knew immediately that it was the next book to read THANK YOU. There are some good books here so I will come back to this thread so keep adding them. I already have the girl with the dragon tatoo on the kindle as someone at work raves about it but I just can't seem to bring myself to want to read it- how odd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helenp Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 I'm reading Fall of Giants by Ken Follett. It is unputdownable, loved The Pillars of the Earth & World Without End too. If you like Sebastian Faulks, try "A week in December", it is very different but captures the society we live in at the moment all to perfectly. Loved Wolf Hall & Phillipa Gregrory's new trilogy (2 so far published) The white queen, followed by The red queen are also very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigmommasally Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 I'm reading Fall of Giants by Ken Follett. It is unputdownable, loved The Pillars of the Earth & World Without End too. I'm waiting for Fall of Giants to come out in paperback, around June I think. But good to hear that you are enjoying it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meezers Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 I haven't long finished Room by Emma Donaghue, very good and a bit different - written as though by a 5 year old. Am now reading Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger ( author of Time Travellers Wife) again, a bit different, a sort of light hearted ghost story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Has anyone read Jean M Auels Earths Children series? Book 7 is due out in March! It's been a long wait - hope it's worth it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patsylabrador Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 The Far Pavillions by MM Kaye. Absolutely brilliant, I go back to this over & over again, I love it. Currently reading and loving Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir ( Lady Jane Grey ) 1000 years of annoying the French by Stephen Clarke ( factual & fun) The Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton ( Special forces in Afghanistan) Red One by Capt Kevin Ivison GM ( Bomb disposal ) I tend to read several books at a time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadietoo Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 There are some really good recommendations here already, I would add, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón Any novel by Anne Tyler We are all made of Glue by Marina Lewycka Half of a yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry . The first is about Biafra and the second India and so neither are exactly light-hearted reads but they are nevertheless excellent . For Crime stories I've really enjoy Susan Hill's Simon Serraillier novels. Have fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couperwife Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Has anyone read Jean M Auels Earths Children series? Book 7 is due out in March! It's been a long wait - hope it's worth it! I loved these books I leant them to someone, and never got them back ill have to look for them as ebooks cathy x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newcountrygirl Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Hi I love my kindle too. I have just read Her Last Letter by Nancy C. Johnson and Remix by Lexi Revellian. They were both good but not too heavy. Only trouble was I had to read them more or less straight away as they were the sort of book that kept you wanting to know the answers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majorbloodnock Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Good characterisation, relatively likeable characters and a reasonable degree of humour, but not a thriller. I can think of quite a few books that fit those criteria, but my choices would generally not be all that recent. Dice Man - Luke Rhinehart. Espedair Street - Iain Banks Anything by Terry Pratchett (assuming you haven't already devoured his work en masse already), but for a change I'll suggest Good Omens - his collaboration with Neil Gaiman. The series of Lord Peter Wimsey books by Dorothy L Sayers - I know they're crime detection but I don't think they could qualify as thriller even in the loosest sense of the word. Master and Commander - Patrick O'Brien. The first of the 20 Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin novels. Although not a humourous book per se, there is humour within, and it's very gentle. Other than that, it and its successors are just plain and simple riveting stories with marvellous characterisation. I can think of many more, but those are my suggestions this time around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 I have always meant to read Master and Commander......and now I certainly will,due to that report.....although they are sadly not available on Kindle yet. Have you read the Shardlake books by CJ Sansom? That fit the same criteria. I have also just downloaded the first of the Earths Children books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Chick Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 If you like lighthearted books then Tony Hawks books are hilarious. Round Ireland with a Fridge is comedy genius as are the rest of his books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 I'll be making a list of all these books to take to the library (as I've done before!) . I agree, 1000 Splendid Suns and the Shardlake books are excellent as is Shadow of the Wind . Read another book by Jean M Auel (can't remember the name) but it was very good. I had totally the wrong idea about the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo before I started it. I loved it and read the other 2 in quick succession! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoopsie Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I recommend the 'Outlander' seried by Diana Gabaldon - absolutely amazing books and a lot of detailed history too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickendoodle Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 I haven't long finished Room by Emma Donaghue, very good and a bit different I would heartily recommend this book. It in one of those novels that you can't really describe to anyone else without giving it all away. It was a Booker nomination (which I usually find a turn off as they can be incredibly dull). I passed it on to my ED who read it in one sitting and has now passed it on to one of her friends. It is a truly amazing book - very difficult central subject but as it is written from a 5 year old's viewpoint most of the stuff going on passes over his head. He is in a room with his mother and he has only ever known "Room" as he calls it and it is his entire world together with the objects in it. It is strangely not a depressing book (given the subject matter) and it is beautifully written. One I will definitely re-read. Also love the C J Sansom books. If you want something funny the Shopaholic series had me in fits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
