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
A reader says:
Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. Engaging, poignant, hilarious, full of twists and turns, just the perfect mystery novel.
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
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
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
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
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
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
Buy this bookJulie says:
The second of 3 follows love despite facial disfigurement in WW2 and class.
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
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
Buy this bookSally says:
Love his writing
Little Weirds
Buy this bookKailee says:
So surprising - loved, loved, loved this book! So personable, funny, and heartwarming.
Water
Buy this bookBiddy says:
Beautifully written, acute observation of the human condition, really interesting flowering of the plot
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
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
Buy this bookMalcolm says:
Images of the mind and experience exquisitely painted in word and verse.
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
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
Buy this bookDee says:
Its a good read
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Buy this booknorthernseoul says:
Never read anything like it before. A magical realist epic
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
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.
The Girl Upstairs
Buy this bookBridget G says:
For me, I knew I was going to enjoy this book after a few pages. Felt I was a part of the characters,and the problems they got involved with. One of my many books that will remain on my shelf.
s
The Chrysalids
Buy this bookCalicoSoneji says:
I loved this book as a kid and recently re read it and loved it all over again. Exciting science fiction story with the age old dangers of treating people badly because of their differences with heart wrenching moments along the way.