Books to read – As recommended by you.

I have just finished a REALLY good book (The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain) and I feel like I have got the reading bug back.  In years gone by I have become a holiday only reader, as I seldom find the time to read once I am back in the land of ‘working mum life’. The books sit on my bedside table, winking at me and I stare back at them with guilt and a million excuses in my head. But reading is a discipline like anything else and I must make time. After all, reading is to the mind, what exercise is to the body. Switching off the screen and picking up book is really important and I read this great piece recently which really hit home.

One of the things that I have struggled with this holiday is seeing how much time my children would choose to spend on their screens, if they weren’t policed. I have had to force the eldest to read a book (she has read ONE) and seem to spend much of my time nagging them to put their screens away. I have had to enforce a ‘HAND-YOUR-SCREENS-OVER-TIME’ at night, (in caps because I am usually shouting this command) and I will be attempting to continue this once we get home. It’s the only way to get them to read books. And if I don’t do it, how can I expect them to?!

It helps, of course, to have a really great book, so I asked you lovely lot for some recommendations today.  I thought I would list them here for my own quick reference and for anyone that might be looking for a recommended read.

1. The Gustav Sonata – Rose Tremain
2. ‘A Little Life’ –  Hanya Yanagihara  Recommended by many but did come with a warning of harrowing scenes from a few people. 
3. The Couple Next Door – Shari Lapena
4. The Goldfinch – Donna Tartt
5. Tin Man – Sarah Winman
6. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman
7. Mad – Chloe Esposito
8. The Cows – Dawn O’Porter 
9. The Dry – Jane Harper (recommended by MANY)
10. Vinegar Girl – Anne Tyler 
11. Any Human Heart – William Boyd
12. Before I go to Sleep – SJ Wateson
13. Standard Deviation – Katherine Heiny
14. My Brilliant Friend – Elena Ferrante
15. The Girls – Emma Cline
16. A Man Called Ove – Fredrick Backman
17. The Marriage Pact – M J Pullen
18. The Nightinglae – Kristin Hannah
19. Sealskin – Su Bristow
20. All the Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr
21. The Husband’s Secret – Liane Moriarty
22. Maestro
23. I see you – Clare Mackintosh
24. The Marriage Pact – Michelle Richmond
25. Any titles by Elizabeth Strout!
26. The Summer Book – Tove Jansson
27. What Alice Forgot – Liane Moriarty
28. The Widow – Fiona Barton
29. The Girls – Emma Cline
30. Fluke – James Herbert

I will add to this list as and when more recommendations come through. But for now, its not a bad list to work my way through! Wish me luck…

* post update. I gave up on the book I was reading in the cover pic. I have decided life’s too short to struggle through a book. *

Love,

Chloe x