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Books/book club

Quick quick ! Holiday reads

(65 Posts)
Lucca Sun 04-Sep-22 22:16:02

Going away next week need holiday reads.
Not too fat a book .
Not fantasy
Not gory
Not too chick lit but not intellectually demanding
No Richard Osman !!

J52 Sun 04-Sep-22 22:26:14

Still Life by Sarah Winman set in London and Florence.

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Safak. Set in London and Cypress

The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan

Saving Missy by Beth Morrey

Where the Crawdads Sing by Daisy Edgar Jones

madeleine45 Sun 04-Sep-22 22:53:35

Miss Garnets Angels by Salley Vickers

The Girl with the Pearl Earring and
The Last Runaway by Tracey Chevalier
The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency and a lot of follow up books by Alexander McCall Smith

Hope you enjoy trying out some or all of these books

FannyCornforth Mon 05-Sep-22 05:01:26

Hi Lucca
Did you read The Carer?
Indeed any Deborah Moggarch.
I particularly like her Buffy (he’s a lugubrious ageing actor) books, start with The Ex-Wives.

Enjoy your break!

eazybee Mon 05-Sep-22 08:59:52

Salley Vickers The Gardener, gentle, beautifully written, undemanding.
Ellie Griffiths, books about an archaeologist in Norfolk who is frequently involved in unravelling local deaths, ancient and modern.

GrannyGravy13 Mon 05-Sep-22 09:02:01

I have just read Richard Coles debut novel Murder at Evensong, and enjoyed its description of parish life.

merlotgran Mon 05-Sep-22 09:06:12

The Ellie Griffiths Max Mephisto ‘whodunnits’ are also very good.

Another vote for Saving Missy.

Septimia Mon 05-Sep-22 09:07:40

Rebecca Tope's Cotswold and Lake District mysteries.

Witzend Mon 05-Sep-22 09:12:08

Another Salley Vickers one - Mr Golightly’s Holiday.

Lucca Mon 05-Sep-22 09:12:13

I’ve read a lot of these ! Plus a lot seem tobe about the elderly etc? A bit doom and gloom maybe ?
Any more ?!

Maya1 Mon 05-Sep-22 09:14:43

I'm with Merlotgran. Saving Missy, a lovely book. Susie Steiner's Manon Bradshaw crime novels are a good read.

TerriBull Mon 05-Sep-22 09:18:24

How to Kill Your Family Bella Mackie dark humour loved this book when I read it on holiday

The Vanishing Half Brit Bennett

Small Pleasures Claire Chambers

The Appeal Janice Hallett

GranyGravy, The Times recently stated that Richard Coles book "Murder at Evensong" is far better than the overrated ubiquitous Osman's cosy crime offerings may give that one a go myself.

Alypoole Mon 05-Sep-22 09:24:38

Learning to Swim also by Clare Chambers. I'd recommend all of hers.

All my Mothers.

Lucca Mon 05-Sep-22 09:28:10

Any non crime offerings? Sorry to be picky… I’ve read a lot of these eg salley vickers tracey chevalier ec and liked them.

Callistemon21 Mon 05-Sep-22 10:04:14

Jennifer Scoullar books about Outback Australia?

Daisymae Mon 05-Sep-22 10:11:08

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty. Excellent read, great characters and plot twists.

J52 Mon 05-Sep-22 10:23:49

Agree Terribull , How to Kill Your Family.
But it’s a numerous crime with a great twist at the end.

J52 Mon 05-Sep-22 10:24:12

Humorous! But also ‘ numerous’!

SunshineSally Mon 05-Sep-22 10:28:06

Have you read ‘A thousand splendid suns’ by Khaled Hosseini? Loved this book. He also wrote ‘The Kite Runner’ and although I’ve read both, I preferred the former.

Zonne Mon 05-Sep-22 10:30:06

All the light we cannot see, Anthony Doerr
The mermaid of black conch, Monique Roffey
The giver of stars, Jo Jo Moyes
Piranesi, Susanna Clarke
King Hereafter, Dorothy Dunnett
Anything by Kate Atkinson, although the Jackson Brady series are crime (sort of)

Nell8 Mon 05-Sep-22 10:49:23

Toast: the story of a boy's hunger by Nigel Slater. Food nostalgia. Very funny in places
Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier. Worth re-reading. A real page turner
The Sealwoman's Gift, by Sally Magnusson. Very well written.

TerriBull Mon 05-Sep-22 10:56:08

J52

Agree Terribull , How to Kill Your Family.
But it’s a numerous crime with a great twist at the end.

Yes it's pretty tongue in cheek crime and the description of the family she sets out to kill presided over by a Philip Green (esque) head honcho gives it a great humorous edge imo.

Witzend Mon 05-Sep-22 10:57:19

Ditto to any by Clare Chambers. I’m going to download ‘Back Trouble’ on to my Kindle. Read it years ago but IIRC passed the ‘proper’ book to a sister with very similar tastes.

Another I’ve loved and passed on to same sister is Two Caravans, by Marina Lewycka - about an assortment of illegal-immigrant (mostly trafficked IIRC) strawberry pickers. There’s a wonderful canine character, too, but I won’t go into any ‘spoiling’ detail.

Parsley3 Mon 05-Sep-22 11:02:01

The Black Widow by Christopher Brookmyre.

Aveline Mon 05-Sep-22 11:02:36

Just read and thoroughly enjoyed 'Diplomatic Baggage' by Brigid Keenan. She was a diplomat's wife and her book is about the ups and downs of life in their various postings. She's a very good writer and obviously has a great sense of humour. Strongly recommended.