Best book you read this year?

😊😊
Really looking forward to it Iam. More so now!

Urmston - I enjoyed American wife”

Thankyou Clawdy and Terribull, reserved both books at the library and am now enjoying Shrines of Gaiety very much and awaiting Demon Copperhead. Love the books thread, so many recommendations x

Love rosamunde pitchers books too. Coming home was lovely.

P.s. thank you Terribull x

caravansera ‘Stoner’ (written I think in 1932 or 29 is one of my all time favourite books. I read it several years ago. I still have the paperback on my bookshelf and your mention of it has reminded me it is there. I may well revisit it later this year.

I’ve popped back in to say oh dragonfly I really couldn’t take to ‘Cloud Cuckoo Land’. I tried. Time slip novels aren’t my favourite genre and once the sci-fi aspect kicked in as a third storyline, then I was itching to check out! I have little or no imagination so can’t handle pondering upon the inside of a spaceship! Anyway I flirted it at 28% on my Kindle.

I like threads like this. Gives me ideas for novels to think about.

I’ve now downloaded ‘American Wife’ by Curtis Sittenfeld onto my Kindle. I’m 100% sure there won’t be a spaceship in it.

😁

Just read Bridge of Clay by Marcus Zusak.

Beautiful, tough, haunting, generous, rugged and lyrical.
Wish it wasn't over.

We Danced On Our Desks by Philip Norman.. iconic book about the 60's

Millie22

The People on Platform 5

Light reading but a fascinating view of the people you may regularly see on a train.

I finished that recently on Audible (easier on my old eyes with train travel, and can continue listening in the car). I enjoyed it.

I've just (this morning) finished Tell Me How This Ends: (A BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick) by Jo Leevers, again a light read but I would really recommend the Audible version, read by Ell Potter. She has a very good voice for this book, where one of the characters is a little "quirky".

I also enjoyed American Dirt and several of the other novels mentioned here including Anthony Doerr's Cloud Cuckoo Land and Bonnie Garmus's Lessons in Chemistry. Elizabeth Zott is a great character.

I have read Shrines of Gaiety too. It rattled along but I wasn't convinced by some of the characters. I felt there were too many in it to allow Kate Atkinson to develop any of them enough. She has written better imo, Life After Life and A God in Ruins.

In a recent edition of A Good Read, Niamh Cusack choose Lila by Marilynne Robinson. The discussion prompted me to go back and reread the first in the series, Gilead. John Ames must be one of the loveliest, kindest and most thoughtful male characters in literature. It's a very moving story and highly recommended. So, although it's almost 20 years old, Gilead has been my favourite read this year. If you read it and enjoy it you might also like Stoner by John Williams.

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins .. set in Mexico and tells the story of a woman and her son's escape from a drug cartel ... couldn't put it down!

Not a new book but I only read it this year. Three Hours Rosamund Lupton. A psychological thriller about a siege at a school in rural Somerset. The three hours of the title refer to the length of time the siege lasts. It's gripping.

I've read many books by Millie Jo888hnson. I love Anne Tyler and Ann Strout.

The People on Platform 5

Light reading but a fascinating view of the people you may regularly see on a train.

Urmstongran

I loved ‘Demon Copperhead’ it was really engrossing Terribull thank you! A long read too and these days that’s a real bonus for me if I’m enjoying the book.

Now for your suggestion dragonfly. I will start it tomorrow.
It’s bedtime here now for us.
x

So glad you enjoyed it Urmstongran, yes a book is never too long if it's as good as this one was.

Sending you best wishes at a difficult time nice to read your posts. x

I can’t deny it I’d probably say Demon Copperhead too - but I also loved The Book of Eve by Meg Clothier - a feminist fantasy - I’m a fantasy fan but read all sorts, write reviews for local paper and reviews for a Midwifery magazine.

I loved ‘Demon Copperhead’ it was really engrossing Terribull thank you! A long read too and these days that’s a real bonus for me if I’m enjoying the book.

Now for your suggestion dragonfly. I will start it tomorrow.
It’s bedtime here now for us.
x

Hope you like it Urms it takes a bit of getting into.

Oh yes, The Marriage Portrait is great.

Almost finished The Third Wife by Lisa Jewell couldn't put it down a tale of blended families with a secret.

I've just re-read Still Life by Sarah Winman and loved it just as much as I did first time round.
I've also loved Mother's Boy by Patrick Gale and A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning Wroe 2023 is turning out to be a very good year for books.
I'm presently "swithering" whether to download Shrines of Gaiety. Kate Atkinson is a favourite author but I've heard mixed reviews about this one.

This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel. It was an eye opener, and you fell in love with the characters in the family.

this description from the publisher:

"This is Claude. He’s five years old, the youngest of five brothers, and loves peanut butter sandwiches. He also loves wearing a dress, and dreams of being a princess.

When he grows up, Claude says, he wants to be a girl.

Rosie and Penn want Claude to be whoever Claude wants to be. They’re just not sure they’re ready to share that with the world. Soon the entire family is keeping Claude’s secret. Until one day it explodes."

The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Another who loved Demon Copperhead, I'd also add The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell.

Philippa111

I've just finished White Swans... in many ways a really gruelling book to read but it's fascinating as well. It's about China and Mao's rise to power and the extreme cruelty that he did to his own people. It's historical but also has insights into Chinese culture etc. There is some amazing recounting of strength, determination etc.
Not for the faint hearted as the descriptions of cruelty are very, very graphic.
I read it as apparently it is one of the 100 books you should read. I'm glad I did.

oops. Its called Wild Swans!