I just finished Life After Life by Kate Atkinson and it was sooooo good! At 527 pages, it kept me busy for a couple of weeks, but I would have finished it sooner had I had more time to read (or, more accurately, been able to keep my eyes open past 9pm). My friend Kim recommended it and let me borrow her copy; now I recommend it to you!
And now I need a new book. I feel myself haunted by the empty nightstand. This book has stuck with me and I’m sad I’ve finished it. What are you reading right now?
I can’t say enough good things about “Eleanor and Park” by Rainbow Rowell. It’s YA, but adults can totally relate and it’s soooo good.
Agree about Eleanor & Park – great book. Just finished The Goldfinch. Long but I really loved it. Glad to hear you’re feeling better Lauren!
I absolutely LOVED Life After Life. I actually read it twice back to back because I missed so many of the details trying to gallop forward! Oh what to read next (esp after something that great) is so difficult! I 100% second your friend’s reco for Eleanor and Park. I will add the People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks because I recently got it used at Left Bank and I learned so much by reading it. I can’t wait to see what others list here! Best kind of post!
I just started Peyton Place – it’s a classic for a reason! So engrossing.
I just devoured Hilary Mantel’s “Wolf Hall” and “Bring Up The Bodies” 2 parts in a trilogy (she’s writing the 3rd) about Thomas Cromwell. Historical fiction, pretty dense but sooo worth it. I’ve been struggling to fill their shoes, i’ll check the library for “Life After Life”…..Thanks for the recommendation! alison
Oh I wish I was reading anything. Maybe next year 🙂
I really liked “Life After Life,” it was so well written. I also have to say that “Eleanor & Park” was incredibly emotional and gripping. I’m reading “Tell the Wolves I’m Home” right now and it is amazing.
Oh! I just read this one too and loved it! I wish we could discuss it!
I highly recommend The Secret Keeper, by Kate Morton. Lots of twists and turns and so so so good. I also enjoyed The Engagements, by J. Courtney Sullivan. I learned a lot and it was fun fiction as well
Wow, thanks ladies! I can’t wait to add these to my reading list… which now has Eleanor and Park at the top! Thank you for all the great recommendations.
The Secret History or the Goldfinch were both amazing. I read Eleanor and Park but didn’t love it (but didn’t hate it). Several of my co-workers really loved it, though!
Tell the Wolves I’m Home was really good!
So many books, so little time!
Haruki Murakami! I have been obsessed, and it really strikes me that you might like his books as well. I enjoyed _The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle_ and lot, and now I’m reading _Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World_. If you’re not intimidated by length, I recommend Wind-Up Bird. A fascinating book. It took me awhile to get into Hard Boiled, but now I’m really enjoying it. He seems to write a type of Japanese magical realism, and I totally dig it. Hard Boiled is what would happen if M. Night Shyamalan make a movie that was a combination of The Giver and The Matrix. Yes, really.
I just started this one! I’m glad it gets a good review, but I too feel so sad when an engrossing book is finished.
Hi hon, I’m late to the party, but…if you liked Atkinson’s latest I recommend her earlier works. Her short story collection “Not The End Of The World” is one of the most undervalued books in modern literature. It’s golden. I recently finished Murakami’s 1Q84, which I ended up loving in spite having hated most of the early Murakami works (save for Norweigian wood). I really recommend “Arcadia” by Lauren Groff for a fun, easy read, or anything by Karen Russell (even though I’ve been struggling to finish “Swamplandia!”). I’m starting Tea Obreht’s “The Tiger’s Wife”, of which I’ve heard good things. Speaking of wives, “The Crane Wife” by Patrick Ness is a pretty good read too. Also if you haven’t read Tove Jansson’s “The Summer Book”, do yourself an immense favor and get it right away 😉 Happy Springtime reading!
“The Goldfinch” and “Where’d You Go, Bernadette?” have been my most recent favorites – totally different books for sure, but I loved both and couldn’t put either down.
I know this is really late, but I’d like to throw in “Night Film” by Marissa Peshl. Best book I’ve read in a long time. People compare it to “Gone Girl” but I’d say it’s a lot more complex and touching.
I’ve just torn through Eleanor and Park in about two days. My house is a mess, I’m not making dinner and my kids are running around with snacks and juice boxes. I haven’t been so engrossed in a book in years. Thanks for the recommendation!!!