I really REALLY need help finding a new book to read

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You like Jennifer Weiner but not Where the Crawdads Sing?! Weiner is the absolute bottom drivel of chick-lit and she writes women like they are petty, self absorbed monsters.

What about The Nightengale?

OP here - Hmm, I read some Jennifer Weiner years ago and thought it was OK, better than Jane Green. Maybe it's worse than I remember. The thing is though, books like that are unabashedly drivel and that's OK. No surprises, no pretention. The thing I didn't like about Crawdads was that it felt soooo Try Hard and like it wanted to be real literature but it just wasn't. It was kind of cheesy and predictable (I did like the descriptions of nature, though).

I will look into The Nightengale!

[Anonymous]

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nothing to see here, Kevin Wilson
Magpie murders, Anthony Horowitz

I loved Nothing To See Here!

OP: If you feel like somehow you are failing yourself by enjoying some light reading right now, then NTSH might be a good gateway back to what you consider worthier books.

But I just want to say: Don't give yourself a hard time! 2020 is hard and all our brains are over-taxed! But even if that weren't the case it's still fun to get sucked into a stupid thriller sometimes!!

You might want to check out Laura Lippman's mysteries - those are fun reads that have a little literary cache to them if you feel you need that. Megan Abbott's books, too - they are tons of fun, and also Serious People read them in case you want to feel like you're back among friends in your reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You like Jennifer Weiner but not Where the Crawdads Sing?! Weiner is the absolute bottom drivel of chick-lit and she writes women like they are petty, self absorbed monsters.

What about The Nightengale?

I also like Jennifer Weiner - sue me; I enjoy a light read sometimes - and could not get more than a couple of pages into Crawdads. I just hated it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

I loved that book, too

You might try Convenience Store Woman as well - it's literary but light and short and fast

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing to see here, Kevin Wilson
Magpie murders, Anthony Horowitz

I loved Nothing To See Here!

OP: If you feel like somehow you are failing yourself by enjoying some light reading right now, then NTSH might be a good gateway back to what you consider worthier books.

But I just want to say: Don't give yourself a hard time! 2020 is hard and all our brains are over-taxed! But even if that weren't the case it's still fun to get sucked into a stupid thriller sometimes!!

You might want to check out Laura Lippman's mysteries - those are fun reads that have a little literary cache to them if you feel you need that. Megan Abbott's books, too - they are tons of fun, and also Serious People read them in case you want to feel like you're back among friends in your reading.

Thank you! I read some Serious Literature earlier in the fall (Southern Gothic...Capote and McCullers - highly recommend!!) but definitely feel the need for something lighter right now. I tried re-reading Vanity Fair earlier this month but couldn't get back into it, despite loving the book, I think because I remembered all the main plot points.

[Anonymous]

Oops, 10:30 post was OP, forgot to include that.

[Anonymous]

Second the rec for A Gentleman in Moscow. Read it after someone here suggested it, and really liked it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You like Jennifer Weiner but not Where the Crawdads Sing?! Weiner is the absolute bottom drivel of chick-lit and she writes women like they are petty, self absorbed monsters.

What about The Nightengale?

I also like Jennifer Weiner - sue me; I enjoy a light read sometimes - and could not get more than a couple of pages into Crawdads. I just hated it.

I will sue you! Just kidding. I think there's enough room for all the opinions here

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing to see here, Kevin Wilson
Magpie murders, Anthony Horowitz

I loved Nothing To See Here!

OP: If you feel like somehow you are failing yourself by enjoying some light reading right now, then NTSH might be a good gateway back to what you consider worthier books.

But I just want to say: Don't give yourself a hard time! 2020 is hard and all our brains are over-taxed! But even if that weren't the case it's still fun to get sucked into a stupid thriller sometimes!!

You might want to check out Laura Lippman's mysteries - those are fun reads that have a little literary cache to them if you feel you need that. Megan Abbott's books, too - they are tons of fun, and also Serious People read them in case you want to feel like you're back among friends in your reading.

Thank you! I read some Serious Literature earlier in the fall (Southern Gothic...Capote and McCullers - highly recommend!!) but definitely feel the need for something lighter right now. I tried re-reading Vanity Fair earlier this month but couldn't get back into it, despite loving the book, I think because I remembered all the main plot points.

You know what else you might like? Have you read Normal People by Sally Rooney - the book that got made into that miniseries? She's a Serious Writer but her books are so fast and easy you get the sugar high of a romance novel.

[Anonymous]

Chick-lit adjacent - Normal People (also a show on Hulu)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Forgive me, litterateurs of DCUM, for I have sinned.

It's been awhile since I read a book I was really into. I am normally pretty picky about what I read, but I've been feeling desperate for something to do after work. Last weekend, I took some old books to a Little Free Library in the neighborhood, and as I was about to close the door something caught my eye. A paperback copy of Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. I read The DaVinci Code years ago and rolled by eyes while speed reading as quickly as I could to find out what happened at the end. So, I knew what I was getting into. I have no excuse. Yes, I took the Dan Brown novel and am now actually reading it.

Help!

I like classic literature, mysteries, the better-written echelon of chick-lit. Nabokov, Hardy, Vonnegut, Christie, the first couple Shopaholic books, some Jennifer Weiner.

I do not like biographies or any fiction that's meant to be heart-warming. I did not like Where the Crawdads Sing and I thought Little Fires Everywhere was just OK.

Any suggestions?? Thanks!!!

Because it's a terrible and implausible book. No idea why it became such a hit. I couldn't even get through it.

[Anonymous]

Louise Penny or Jacquline Winspear. Start at the beginning of both their series. You are welcome.

[Anonymous]

The Silent Patient is good if you don’t think too much about it after you finish it.

[Anonymous]

Writers and lovers, Lily King