134 posts
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Post by romeo94 on Jul 13, 2019 18:54:27 GMT
I'm looking to delve into a good drama this summer- any recommendations for some essential books to check out?
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Post by danb on Jul 13, 2019 19:39:53 GMT
I’ve got the new David Nicholls & the new Mike Gayle lined up for my Summer reading...
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Post by justfran on Jul 13, 2019 22:12:42 GMT
I love all of the David Nicholls books (particularly think The Understudy is underrated, I found it hilarious in parts) so can’t wait to read the new one.
It’s a few years old but I recently read and enjoyed The Rosie Project so would recommend that.
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237 posts
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Post by harrietcraig on Jul 14, 2019 20:54:25 GMT
The new Kate Atkinson (Big Sky). Probably best if you have read the earlier books in the Jackson Brodie series first.
Also curious about Joseph O’Connor’s new novel, Shadowplay, about Henry Irving, Ellen Terry, and Bram Stoker (nothing like a good backstage novel), although the reviews I have read have been somewhat mixed—anybody here read it and have an opinion?
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5,707 posts
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Post by lynette on Jul 14, 2019 22:55:31 GMT
Have you found Mick Heron, the Slow Horses books? Start from the first one which I believe is called Slow Horses and then plough on. Terrific characters and good plots right up there with contemporary conspiracy theories. All about failed secret service operations.
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235 posts
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Post by Jane Parfitt on Jul 15, 2019 12:29:41 GMT
I love all of the David Nicholls books (particularly think The Understudy is underrated, I found it hilarious in parts) so can’t wait to read the new one. It’s a few years old but I recently read and enjoyed The Rosie Project so would recommend that. I have a copy of The Understudy that I've read and am about to send to charity, if anyone would like it PM me and I'll send it to you instead! |
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235 posts
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Post by Jane Parfitt on Jul 15, 2019 18:53:22 GMT
I love all of the David Nicholls books (particularly think The Understudy is underrated, I found it hilarious in parts) so can’t wait to read the new one. It’s a few years old but I recently read and enjoyed The Rosie Project so would recommend that. I have a copy of The Understudy that I've read and am about to send to charity, if anyone would like it PM me and I'll send it to you instead! Now rehomed 😊 |
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999 posts
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Post by Backdrifter on Aug 21, 2019 10:56:51 GMT
Part 3 of Jonathan Coe's Rotters Club series is now out in paperback, Middle England. I'm eagerly anticipating getting it for my birthday. I love his books, anyone unfamiliar with them and up for giving them a try, I recommend starting with The Rotters Club or The House Of Sleep.
I love me some good non-fiction and am finding Love by Paul Gambaccini, about his arrest as part of Yewtree following false accusations against him, a grimly compelling read but leavened with humour and positivity. I've also started on Charlotte Bingham's 'Coronet' books.
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543 posts
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Post by freckles on Aug 21, 2019 11:20:20 GMT
Finished the David Nicholls yesterday. Total page-turner. I think everybody has had many of those experiences, and I loved it. Maybe not as deep as "One Day" perhaps, but still could happily have read another volume about them all.
I've just enjoyed this too. Much better than the last one, which I didn't even finish.
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8,160 posts
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Post by alece10 on Aug 21, 2019 12:59:22 GMT
I've just bought Peter Crouch How to be a footballer to take on my hols.
I hate football and no nothing about it but I hear the book is a good read and he is very funny.
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Post by justfran on Aug 21, 2019 18:25:11 GMT
Much better than the last one, which I didn't even finish. Far smoother, isn't it. I did quite like "Us," but I think this is easier to relate to as we have all been there. ‘Us’ is currently being made into a 4 part TV series, starring Tom Hollander as Douglas according to imdb. |
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2,059 posts
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Post by Marwood on Aug 21, 2019 19:11:32 GMT
I’m taking the new Chuck Palahniuk book with me to NYC tomorrow but I’m thinking that it (like most other books I take on holiday) will come back largely unread (unless the weather is biblically atrocious)
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5,707 posts
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Post by lynette on Aug 21, 2019 20:27:03 GMT
Just discovered Abir Mukherjee. Detective stories set in 1920s Raj India. Usual double act of jaded copper and keen sidekick but here with the undertones/overtones of exotic and dangerous Indian setting. Start with A Rising Man.
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1,347 posts
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Post by tmesis on Apr 5, 2020 20:29:06 GMT
Thought I'd resurrect this since it's nearly Summer and I'm reading even more than usual because of lockdown.
Read The Outsiders by S E Hinton for the first time and thought it really good and touching. I always loved the film but only just got round to reading the book. Amazing it was written by a 17 year old.
Also just got round to reading Frankenstein which has sat unread on my bookshelf for 40 years. I enjoyed it, read it quite quickly, but it's just so poorly written. It almost reads like a parody or a Jeffrey Archer novel! This was also written when Mary Shelley was young (19) but frankly it shows. Maybe I didn't help myself by re-reading Jane Austen's Persusion just before it. This was published more or less at the same time as Frankenstein but is just in a different league.
I've also re-read, and really enjoyed, the first two novels in the Simon Raven Arms to Oblivion series. These won't be to everyone's taste but I also like Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time (I've read the whole sequence of 12 novels three times) and they are rather like that but with filthier characters and a more crowd-pleasingly engaging style.
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781 posts
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Post by latefortheoverture on Apr 5, 2020 23:01:53 GMT
I just finished reading 'Half A World Away' by Mike Gayle, the first time reading his work. Completely loved it.
Might not be up everyones street, but the novel was lovely. I read it with ease in a couple of days. I found I was in the characters' head's, and cared for them so much, a testament to the writer.
By the end I had floods of tears. Never have been so emotional at a book before. Don't know if it was just my mood, or the story? Probably a good mix of both.
If it sounds like you'd like it then I'd 100% recommend. Think I might read 'This Lovely City' next, but have a great deal to get through in this quarantine!
P.S. This is my first post on here since the 'lockdown'. Normally I'd check on here everyday, and write, but I have been feeling so so down I just didn't want to. This weird time is really testing me, but I know it's only temporary and soon we can hopefully get back to some sort of normality. I am fortunate enough to be with my family, where as so many aren't as lucky. I hope everyone is staying safe, and that you and your families are all safe.
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