Reader recommendations
Looking for a good read? Below you'll find some of the books our readers have been recommending recently.
Top pick! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
![Hattie Brings the House Down by Patrick Gleeson](/assets/hattie-89fabde5bd5b0a21b9556a39f814cafcefa3fa81f257ce89e7af680d6119b98b.jpg)
Hattie Brings the House Down
A reader says:
Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. Engaging, poignant, hilarious, full of twists and turns, just the perfect mystery novel.
![Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBcXNJIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--be797abc6b71b5a65b381bf8c54b113dc52fb47d/9781471136726.jpg)
Ugly Love
Buy this bookCaitlin says:
Now I know there are many mixed opinions on this author and her books. However, her books are easy-reads and recommendable to everyone, including those who are beginner readers or even those who are in a reading slump and need an easy-read to get out of it and back into books again. Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover is a raw and intense journey through love, pain, and the complexities of human emotion. The story delves deep into a tangled web of heartache and passion, capturing the rawness of love and the agony of its complications, which resonates with those who understand the darker side of love and loss. I believe Ugly Love is a compelling exploration of loves underbelly, and it’s a book that will stay with you long after you turn the final page.
![Dearest Rose by Rowan Coleman](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBcW9JIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--737107d5036069b3b8e6070f8f83faea091c0489/Screenshot%202024-01-19%20at%2018.58.52.png)
Dearest Rose
Buy this bookGarden Girl says:
The believable characters.
![The Flavours of Love by Dorothy Koomson](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBcWdJIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--38faacca34499d2e58f3300443eb1ebf32b7c0e7/Screenshot%202024-01-19%20at%2017.49.03.png)
The Flavours of Love
Buy this bookSharon says:
Great thriller with twists and turns. Couldn’t out this book down once started
![The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Deborah Rodriguez](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBcVVJIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--125f8b99360723f4b7189c46268d9f258ab3426e/9780345514769_p0_v2_s192x300.jpg)
The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul
Buy this bookSharon says:
Amazing easy read. Entertaining in terms of the characters and how women are stronger in adversity and supportive. But also provides social history into Afghanistan and Kabul.
![Agatha Christie by Lucy Worsley](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBcVFJIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--ee89683397899a7401a2d4f557d607c97f67bec1/9781529303919.jpg)
Agatha Christie
Buy this bookSharon says:
Just completed this book o got given at Christmas. I don’t read many autobiography books but this was brilliant as it not only talked about the author but went through social history
![The Suspect by Fiona Barton](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBcUVJIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--efd2274b4a588c44f325dce17f459263853f5d93/Screenshot%202024-01-18%20at%2019.00.39.png)
The Suspect
Buy this bookAhamed says:
The plot of this book is amazing and the twists in the storyline would make you gasp audibly. To be honest, not many authors have that skill but this one do. I love the book for the amazing characters it introduced into my life which I couldn’t forget even if I wanted to!
![A Terrible Kindness by Jo Browning-Roe](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBcG9JIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--c89002eceb6c1e600bc5360f62c4f093abf90931/9780571368310.jpg)
A Terrible Kindness
Buy this bookMary says:
It's a heartbreaking insight into the Aberfan disaster through the eyes of a young, newly qualified embalmer. Beautifully written - I highly recommend.
![Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBcHdJIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--e65960cce0e06cd080b1c7aeea6046fb917c2dff/Screenshot%202024-01-18%20at%2009.21.49.png)
Flame in the Mist
Buy this bookAmy says:
Fast paced and thrilling fantasy romance duology with elements of Japanese folklore, got me out of the reading slump that I was in :)
![The Heroes Welcome by Louisa Young](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBcGNJIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--773f8c82a2c03f49bc2e63681878f8fa82c5dc9b/9780007361472.jpg)
The Heroes Welcome
Buy this bookJulie says:
The second of 3 follows love despite facial disfigurement in WW2 and class.
![After You’d Gone by Maggie O’Farrell](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBcFlJIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--ce338197ffe5654565b75b62c1b1f3a55531377e/9780747268161.jpg)
After You’d Gone
Buy this bookBookloverJo says:
Superbly written, story of complex relationships and emotions, draws you in emotionally and keeps you hooked till the end.
![The Map of Love by Adhaf Souief](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBcFVJIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--7856b5bd1fae82d26910249805461fae6a4cd61d/Screenshot%202024-01-17%20at%2019.03.55.png)
The Map of Love
Buy this bookKate says:
Fascinating insight into the culture and history of Egypt during a turbulent time made personal by the characters and stories in the book switching between the present day and the past
![The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBcE1JIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--46a8f9262d1ec3ac2ec36fdd4e1d8739e8c9b5a4/9781784161002.jpg)
The Heart's Invisible Furies
Buy this bookSally says:
Love his writing
![Little Weirds by Jenny Slate](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBbzhJIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--721e1accb1610d2ecc0fabfd5021f2019b97ec93/9780349726427.jpg)
Little Weirds
Buy this bookKailee says:
So surprising - loved, loved, loved this book! So personable, funny, and heartwarming.
![Water by John Boyne](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBbzRJIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--4dfe68cd5224cf7202c7ace7afc58bf572c0b5f3/Screenshot%202024-01-17%20at%2010.15.25.png)
Water
Buy this bookBiddy says:
Beautifully written, acute observation of the human condition, really interesting flowering of the plot
![Restoration by Rose Tremain](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBb3dJIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--6d6103999f21f90a977ea11740efd8f39c1850c9/9780099529637.jpg)
Restoration
Buy this bookSmilla says:
Written originally about the greed and politics of the restoration (reflecting the same in 1980s Thatcher years), it is also poignant and humorous
![Give Me Liberty by Frank Miller & Dave Gibbons](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBb3NJIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--3bda0bf05acfa3a562e9ef0e22d97b4b62d0aa90/Screenshot%202024-01-16%20at%2018.58.57.png)
Give Me Liberty
Buy this bookBolton Graphic Novel Reading Group says:
It is one of the best graphic novels from the 1990s, offering an action-packed, political dystopia from the mind of Frank Miller and beautiful drawn by Dave Gibbons that play like a film in head after you read it
![Shifting the Silence by Etel Adnan](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBb2dJIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--312fec372354c757d4c51a495ae236a9da8515eb/9781643620305.jpg)
Shifting the Silence
Buy this bookMalcolm says:
Images of the mind and experience exquisitely painted in word and verse.
![Stolen Focus by Johann Hari](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBb1VJIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--b9e246feba540c7e47421f6fd6dd1baa1ab09fcb/9781526620217.jpg)
Stolen Focus
Buy this bookRebel Book Club - Bristol says:
Your attention, just like everybody else’s, is being systematically destructed. You intuitively know this (how many times have you glanced at your phone today?), but it’s actually one of the world’s greatest problems. Johann Hari identifies 12 factors that destroy our attention. He looks at causes you’re probably aware of, like disruptions from technology, constant multitasking and mental exhaustion, but also at causes you might not suspect, like crippling of our flow states, collapse of sustained reading and the surge in stress. Join us for the RBC January events to talk about the book, explore solutions and reclaim your focus.
![Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBb0VJIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--c0c40dc67cd817affffd4ebcaeeb6d057aa6eff2/9780099302780.jpg)
Guns, Germs and Steel
Buy this bookClare says:
I think it is so simple that particular plants and animals that happened to be in certain places helped civilisation flourish.
![The Accused by Owen Mullen](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBb01JIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--d06ed5ad48acd4d15c4d6006de81046261486d87/Screenshot%202024-01-15%20at%2016.55.16.png)
The Accused
Buy this bookDee says:
Its a good read
![One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBb1FJIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--d56fd441b37fcdf2f8ce1febb812892eb52c9b08/Screenshot%202024-01-15%20at%2017.06.33.png)
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Buy this booknorthernseoul says:
Never read anything like it before. A magical realist epic
![Bleak House by Charles Dickens](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBb0lJIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--40d712cc66714253ce623858f94f30d87035c7fd/Screenshot%202024-01-15%20at%2016.53.47.png)
Bleak House
Buy this bookGill says:
The plot is intriguing & very suspenseful and has much to say today. Inspector Bucket is often cited as the first 'detective' in fiction. Rather long, though, as a book club read I think!
![The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks](/rails/active_storage/blobs/redirect/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBbjBJIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--c6fa63e443eb69413e3050d634e7535585f476e2/Screenshot%202024-01-15%20at%2010.27.47.png)
The Widow of the South
Buy this bookWendyDarling22 says:
Based on a true story and set in the American Civil War. Beautifully written, the characters on each side, have their reasons. It doesn’t read like historical fiction in the way of Philippa Gregory or Hilary Mantel; this could be a modern love story of people you know well.