Books to read during self-isolation

Oh lemon that was bluddy brilliant! You are clever!
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lemon?!

Ah, Wodehouse!
‘I was sprawled in my armchair pondering the vagaries of life, when Jeeves shimmered into the room and coughed apologetically.Am sorry to bother you sir, he said, but there is a gentleman at the door who wishes to speak to you most urgently.Then show the blighter in Jeeves, show him in...oh and rustle up another Manhattan would you, with two olives this time.
As I was straightening myself up in the chair, who should rush in but Binky Nosethrottle, I hadn’t seen him in months,
And gave him the glad hand. Sit down old fruit I entreated him warmly, what news from Tottering Towers?Binky looked in a frightful stew, why, haven’t you heard he cried, looking around wildly, I’m a marked man!
I boggled at him, what on earth are you burbling about Binky,
Marked in what way? He slumped onto the damask divan and put his head in his hands....it’s the police he murmured in a broken voice, they’re onto me...I, I broke the curfew, went into a shop and bought....an Easter egg!! As I looked on aghast at this news, he started to sob.
Jeeves! Come here at once, I cried, this is a job for that great brain of yours, but at that moment the doorbell rang, and then there was a great thumping at the door and a booming voice yelled ‘Constable Higgins ‘ere sir, we knows you ‘ave a fugitive in there!’
We’re done for Jeeves, I whispered........

Wodehouse. Lots and lots of P G Wodehouse.

Good choice mini moon. I will return to my Rebecca shaw books loved them. I’ve read a lot of Erica James books and reading ‘ a sense of belonging’. Lovely.

SD & LG, I hated The Goldfinch, but loved Tartt's other two. The Little Friend and The Secret History. I will reread the latter while in isolation.

Currently rereading (first time in 20 or so years) Michelle Roberts, Daughters of the House.

Oh yes, Middlesex! Eugenides. I used that as part of my MA thesis. Wonder if I'd still enjoy it?

And anything (mostly) by Atwood. My favourite writer since I was 15.

I am currently reading A Year in the Chateau by Sarah Long - perfect if you want easy-going escapism.

SueDonim I agree wholeheartedly about Donna Tarrt (Tarte?) books, doesn’t she have an editor?!

I may re-read Any Human Heart by John Boyd, a marvellous book, also anything at all by the author David Mitchell, I have all his paperbacks.The best is The Thousand Autumns Of Jacob de Zoet.
Good supernatural book, Thin Air by Michelle Paver ( not sure of spellings).

I’ve just read Wall of Days by Alastair Bruce.
I’ve read loads of books recently but this one was unusual and very good.

Urmsongran, I laugh out loud reading his books also- My daughter saw him some years ago and then gave me one of his books to read and I was hooked-

I really want to gently push everyone to read Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn- Just a little at a time, to help everyone relax- It's 700+ pages, you can read a little each day to decompress, focus on breathing and be calm-

Another little book I think might be fitting to read, to help us understand and appreciate our collective circumstance is the novella The Pearl by John Steinbeck- Its a quick read with deep meaning-

My last library book was Where The Crawdads Sing, and as it cant be returned I may well read it again, it was so good.

Before the lockdown my sister gave me:
The Salt Path
TheCloudSpotters Guide
The Stopping Places

Lots of recommendations for good books to lose yourself in, thank you everyone

I’ve bought the Sedaris book and read a couple of chapters which made me laugh out loud (unusual for me). I went to see him at the Lowry in Salford Media City a few years ago it was money very well spent!

Also pre-ordered the new Anne Tyler, to be on my Kindle 9 April.
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I have the new Hilary Mantel. But I have also bought The Source by James Michener. I have read it before. A lovely big chunky book. If I finish that I will get Hawaii. ButI have six library books to read first. Not that Ican return them any time soon

@ millymouge
I agree about Charles Dickens. I've got most of them from school days.

You might enjoy The Workhouse Waif or The Matchgirl by Lynette Rees. Both books are available in Kindle, paperback and audio formats.

Ooh I love David Sedaris - thanks rosecarmel that’s one to buy!

I too loved ‘Education’ GagaJo. Uplifting doesn’t do it justice.

‘Year of Wonders’ was our most favourite book club read of all time SueDonim when we read it a few years back.

I’ve just finished ‘American Dirt’ and couldn’t put it down.

I’m searching for a new book or two for my Kindle so I’ll keep checking this thread!

SueDonim.Thanks for the recommendation of The salt path,started it yesterday and loving it so far ?

Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn

Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls by David Sedaris

Plus one for “The Heart’s Invisible Furies” Terribull. Also liked his “The House of Special Purpose”, but disappointed with “A Ladder to the Sky”.

I would recommend Black Water Rising by Attica Locke, a very well written thriller which I found really tense and engrossing. It was serialised on TV fairly recently and a friend who had watched it told me it was a gripping story.

Secret History by Donna Tarte is another all-time favourite of mine - a sort of psychological slow-burning thriller. I found The Goldfinch, by the same author, also very readable up to about three quarters of the way through and then it sort of petered out.

Scott Turrow's The Burden of Truth is another of his legal mysteries/thrillers which had quite an unusual and unexpected resolution.

Lissa Evans' Crooked Heart is a fairly lightweight but funny and touching story which made me laugh out loud.

Most of Anne Tyler's books are very readable - she draws characters so well you feel you know them. I especially liked Saint Maybe and Breathing Lessons. I recently re-read The Accidental Tourist but, on reflection, decided I prefer the film, in which William Hurt played the main character brilliantly.

When God was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman is laugh out loud funny at times, and at others achingly sad.

Books are a very personal thing, though, and what appeals to one reader may not appeal to another.

I found The Hearts Invisible Furies tedious. It started off well but I got bored. Same with The Goldfinch. Whatever happened to editors? Sometimes less is more.

Oh yes “Hearts invisible furies” gets my vote too TerriBull I enjoyed it so much I didn’t want it to end .

Yes another here who would highly recommend Tara Westover's "Educated" definitely one of the best books I read last year. Many accolades on GN but I'm going to mention it again "Hearts Invisible Furies" John Boyne, loved it so much. Also these all wonderful, imo "The Goldfinch" Donna Tart, "Life After Life" Kate Atkinson, "Middlesex" Jeffrey Eugenides, "The Blind Assassin" and "Alias Grace" Margaret Atwood, "The Crimson Petal and the White" Michel Faber,
this following one a real tome 1,200 or so pages "The Quincunx" (Latin - sounds rude but it isn't) by Charles Palliser. A Dickens pastiche - five families and an inheritance at the heart of the book, easier to read than Dickens. Loved it, should keep anyone going for a while.

I second Education by Tara Westover GagaJo . A harrowing almost unbelievable read . How on earth did she stay sane ?