In a(nother) book slump - help me DCUM!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Laurie Frankel's new book, Family Family was very good.

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston is a great mystery/thriller.

If you like historical fiction, The Frozen River by Ariel Lawthon is excellent. I'm not normally a historical fiction reader, but my book club chose this and I love it.

This might be a stretch but you said you like quirky stories - Skippy Dies by Paul Murray. I loved it.

Some others I've loved recently are:
The Hop by Diana Clarke
The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue
None of This is True by Lisa Jewell
Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth
James by Percival Everett

DP Wasn't Skippy Dies great in such a quirky way? Loved it! Now I've got The Bee Sting on my list.

[Anonymous]

If you like older classics and mysteries I’d recommend The Count of Monte Cristo and The Woman in White, both of which I listened to as audio books in the past year or so and enjoyed.

I was recommendations on this site for Nothing to See Here and Someone Else’s hire and enjoyed both.

For decently written romance, last year I read and enjoyed “In a New York Minute”.

These are all older at this point but I could imagine you liking The Historian (Elizabeth Totova); The Golum and the Jinni; and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell as all are well written fiction with some mysterious elements.

[Anonymous]

I enjoyed Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto.

The It Girl by Ruth Ware was also a very good mystery.

I read The Alice Network, which I've seen recommended here and on the other thread a lot and I just didn't enjoy it. Half of the book (the part set in WWI) was very good, but every-other-chapter was set right after WWII and the main character in those scenes is just so terrible and such an unbelievable Mary Sue. Basically, if that book was just about the female spy network in WWI and their lives post-WWII, it would have been great. But the framing device of having the spy get dragged back into it by this college girl post-WWII was bad and that girl's whole story was really lazy.

[Anonymous]

OP here, so far I've read 3 of the recommended books.

1) Thus Was Adonis Murdered (Sarah Caudwell)
Mini review: Overall liked, based on the writing I thought this book was set much earlier than it actually was (1980). Story was pretty good, though the buildup to the 'whodunnit' could've been better executed. Characterization was OK. I'd read more of the series, but didn't love it enough to immediately rush back to the library.

2) The Rachel Incident (Caroline O'Donoghue)
Mini review: Decent read, got invested in the characters and story at least to some degree, though the plot is a bit thin. I'm not a Sally Rooney fan and this book is kinda in that same genre (down to the setting in Ireland).

3) The Quiet Tenant (Clement Michallon)
Mini review: Pretty good thriller, I definitely got invested in the story. Some aspects were reminiscent of a Lifetime movie, there were some definite plot holes and the characterizations of the secondary characters was nonexistent. Still, I would recommend as an airplane read / if you're in the mood for a page-turner!

[Anonymous]

Oh and I forgot, I read one of the Sophie Cousens books - This Time Next Year. Definitely a decent chick lit / rom com!! --OP

[Anonymous]

I just finished reading Annie Bot by Sierra Greer and believe it should be required reading for all women.