Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anything by Wally Lamb. All of his novels have a heavy psychological component and most have a historical component. He writes female characters incredibly well for a male writer, which I appreciate.

I just finished She's Come Undone which is probably my favourite by him. I Know This Much Is True is my other favourite. And I just saw he has a new one out!!

Absolutely! She's Come Undone and I know This Much Is True are books of a lifetime. I'm jealous of anyone who hasn't read them yet.

I love those books, and the way you put that pp!

Anonymous wrote:Anything by Wally Lamb. All of his novels have a heavy psychological component and most have a historical component. He writes female characters incredibly well for a male writer, which I appreciate.

I just finished She's Come Undone which is probably my favourite by him. I Know This Much Is True is my other favourite. And I just saw he has a new one out!!

Absolutely! She's Come Undone and I know This Much Is True are books of a lifetime. I'm jealous of anyone who hasn't read them yet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 2 Family House
Luckiest Girl In The World
The Headmaster's Wife
Her

Luckiest Girl was a fast fun read, but super-annoying at times. Very snotty voice.

I loved "Her" until the ending. Then I pretty much threw the book against a wall.

Was the Headmaster's Wife good? I bought it on impulse but haven't read it.

OP, try Disclaimer by Renee Knight, and if you can handle violence -- try Never Coming Back by Hans Koppel.

Agree with this. I was not sure if the author, who modeled the main character on her life, thought we should sympathize with her or not. It was a fast read, but I would not reccommend it.

You are the worst kind of reader! Not every character has to or should be "likeable" for a book to be good. Just go read Nicholas Sparks if you're going to approach books and characters that way.

plus 1

Disagree! It is an enormous skill to make an unpleasant character likeable.
Literature is filled with scrooges, gruffs, snobs, etc. Good writers give these characters nuance, depth and a great voice.

Anything by Wally Lamb. All of his novels have a heavy psychological component and most have a historical component. He writes female characters incredibly well for a male writer, which I appreciate.

I just finished She's Come Undone which is probably my favourite by him. I Know This Much Is True is my other favourite. And I just saw he has a new one out!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 2 Family House
Luckiest Girl In The World
The Headmaster's Wife
Her

Luckiest Girl was a fast fun read, but super-annoying at times. Very snotty voice.

I loved "Her" until the ending. Then I pretty much threw the book against a wall.

Was the Headmaster's Wife good? I bought it on impulse but haven't read it.

OP, try Disclaimer by Renee Knight, and if you can handle violence -- try Never Coming Back by Hans Koppel.

Agree with this. I was not sure if the author, who modeled the main character on her life, thought we should sympathize with her or not. It was a fast read, but I would not reccommend it.

You are the worst kind of reader! Not every character has to or should be "likeable" for a book to be good. Just go read Nicholas Sparks if you're going to approach books and characters that way.

I get this. The character doesn't need to be "likeable," but they at least need to be "interesting". Otherwise, after 100 or so pages, I'm no longer curious about what makes them tick or even about the plot they're immersed in.

Slightly off topic because I would NOT consider it a great page-turner, but did anyone read The Nix? I felt the same way about the main character. Neither likeable nor interesting enough to keep me engaged for such a LONG book. (I did enjoy it for awhile -- might have been better for me as a set of novellas?)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 2 Family House
Luckiest Girl In The World
The Headmaster's Wife
Her

Luckiest Girl was a fast fun read, but super-annoying at times. Very snotty voice.

I loved "Her" until the ending. Then I pretty much threw the book against a wall.

Was the Headmaster's Wife good? I bought it on impulse but haven't read it.

OP, try Disclaimer by Renee Knight, and if you can handle violence -- try Never Coming Back by Hans Koppel.

Agree with this. I was not sure if the author, who modeled the main character on her life, thought we should sympathize with her or not. It was a fast read, but I would not reccommend it.

Another +1

I almost bailed on the book after the first third or so. I just hated the narrator. Didn't want to spend any more time with her.

But I'm glad I stuck with it. I think I'm willing to give the author the benefit of the doubt about the main character. That she was more "complex" than straight up "snotty". Maybe? Either way, I did not find her likeable at all. But the story was affecting. I won't soon forget it (as I do many other quick-read novels.)

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. Hard to put down.

Anonymous wrote:When Breath Becomes Air. Couldn't put it down. But, be warned: it is a memoir, not fiction, and very sad. I was in tears. But beautifully written and moving.

Totally agree. It's heartbreaking but the writing is so beautiful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 2 Family House
Luckiest Girl In The World
The Headmaster's Wife
Her

Luckiest Girl was a fast fun read, but super-annoying at times. Very snotty voice.

I loved "Her" until the ending. Then I pretty much threw the book against a wall.

Was the Headmaster's Wife good? I bought it on impulse but haven't read it.

OP, try Disclaimer by Renee Knight, and if you can handle violence -- try Never Coming Back by Hans Koppel.

Agree with this. I was not sure if the author, who modeled the main character on her life, thought we should sympathize with her or not. It was a fast read, but I would not reccommend it.

You are the worst kind of reader! Not every character has to or should be "likeable" for a book to be good. Just go read Nicholas Sparks if you're going to approach books and characters that way.

Wait, what?

I don't need my characters to be likeable. I love Jonathan Franzen, for instance. Also Coetze. And Nabakov and all kinds of writers who write about awful protagonists But the writer's voice in Luckiest Girl was snot-nosed and insufferable.

Sarah J Maas Throne of Glass series is excellent. Agree with others on City of Thieves.

When Breath Becomes Air. Couldn't put it down. But, be warned: it is a memoir, not fiction, and very sad. I was in tears. But beautifully written and moving.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 2 Family House
Luckiest Girl In The World
The Headmaster's Wife
Her

Luckiest Girl was a fast fun read, but super-annoying at times. Very snotty voice.

I loved "Her" until the ending. Then I pretty much threw the book against a wall.

Was the Headmaster's Wife good? I bought it on impulse but haven't read it.

OP, try Disclaimer by Renee Knight, and if you can handle violence -- try Never Coming Back by Hans Koppel.

Agree with this. I was not sure if the author, who modeled the main character on her life, thought we should sympathize with her or not. It was a fast read, but I would not reccommend it.

You are the worst kind of reader! Not every character has to or should be "likeable" for a book to be good. Just go read Nicholas Sparks if you're going to approach books and characters that way.

plus 1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 2 Family House
Luckiest Girl In The World
The Headmaster's Wife
Her

Luckiest Girl was a fast fun read, but super-annoying at times. Very snotty voice.

I loved "Her" until the ending. Then I pretty much threw the book against a wall.

Was the Headmaster's Wife good? I bought it on impulse but haven't read it.

OP, try Disclaimer by Renee Knight, and if you can handle violence -- try Never Coming Back by Hans Koppel.

Agree with this. I was not sure if the author, who modeled the main character on her life, thought we should sympathize with her or not. It was a fast read, but I would not reccommend it.

You are the worst kind of reader! Not every character has to or should be "likeable" for a book to be good. Just go read Nicholas Sparks if you're going to approach books and characters that way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 2 Family House
Luckiest Girl In The World
The Headmaster's Wife
Her

Luckiest Girl was a fast fun read, but super-annoying at times. Very snotty voice.

I loved "Her" until the ending. Then I pretty much threw the book against a wall.

Was the Headmaster's Wife good? I bought it on impulse but haven't read it.

OP, try Disclaimer by Renee Knight, and if you can handle violence -- try Never Coming Back by Hans Koppel.

Agree with this. I was not sure if the author, who modeled the main character on her life, thought we should sympathize with her or not. It was a fast read, but I would not reccommend it.

Anonymous wrote:The glass castle by Jeanette walls

Devil in the white city

Loved Glass Castle. You should read In Cold Blood- awful and heartbreaking.