Best book you read this year?

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!

The Whalebone theatre by Joanna Quinn is a long read but worth it.

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.

Cat out of Hell by Lynn Truss. I'm trying to find her follow up, The Lunar Cats, but haven't succeeded yet.

Thanks for the recommendations ladies. I’ve downloaded Demon Copperhead onto my Kindle and started it last night. Thanks Terribull. And I will download your suggestion too dragonfly ... Cloud Cuckoo Land’. It can be my next read.
😊

Clawdy thank you for the Kate Atkinson mention. I used Borrow Box and I have really enjoyed listening to it.

A difficult decision, but I think A Terrible Kindness is my choice.

Probably “Lessons in Chemistry”, rightly feted for its humour and the reminder of life for women in the 1950s

Definitely, Lucy by the Sea, by Elizabeth Strout, love all her books.

I have just finished The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. I listen to Audible books and I just could not stop listening. I am generally a fan of mysteries or memoirs. But this book was so unusual that I was hooked. Now I am listening to Wes Streeter’s autobiography One Boy, Two Bills and a Fry Up. Really liking it.

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Richard Duerr. It’s the best book I have read in a long time.

Lessons in Chemistry - really enjoyed it!

I’ve got Demon Copperhead waiting by my bed as I work my way through our book club choice (yes I’m bored with the book club book plus it’s too sad)

I enjoyed Lessons in Chemistry

I loved Miss Mole, by E.H. Young. I bought it on Kindle. Old-fashioned but eternally true.

Rosamunde Pilcher's "Comimg Home"
I love all her books and have read this one several times and always absolutely LOVE IT!!

‘Women of Troy’ by Pat Barker - a follow up to her ‘Silence of the Girls’. Couldn’t put either of them down. A wonderful writer.

I haven't been reading anything serious for a while other than Lessons in Chemistry but have just finished a light holiday read The People in the Platform which is very enjoyable and a quick read.

Agree, also loved his earlier work, Never Let Me Go - a brilliant author

Demon Copperhead.

The Madness by Fergal Keane.

grannydarkhair

My most enjoyed has been Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart. I really enjoyed his first book, Shuggie Bain and hope DS continues to write.
I enjoyed Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson but it’s definitely not my favourite of her books (Life After Life and A God in Ruins are), thought SoG could have been edited by quite a few pages.

I loved Shuggie Bain and I've downloaded Young Mungo to my Kindle, which I plan to read next after the book I'm just finishing.

Clawdy can't remember exactly how long it was, maybe 600 pages. A book is never too long if it captivates the reader because you never want it to end.

Do agree Grannydarkhair, KA's Life after Life and a God in Ruins both wonderful to that I would add Behind The Scenes at The Museum

My most enjoyed has been Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart. I really enjoyed his first book, Shuggie Bain and hope DS continues to write.
I enjoyed Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson but it’s definitely not my favourite of her books (Life After Life and A God in Ruins are), thought SoG could have been edited by quite a few pages.

several books by Philipa Gregory

Another good book I’ve got on my Kindle is called Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead.
Set in depression era US and also in the here and now about a female aviator, which sounds a bit boring but it’s anything but, a really good read.