I love immersing myself in great character-driven, compelling books, with strong story lines, regardless of the genre. Recently, a waitress at Terroni overheard my group’s conversation about good novels and proceeded to take down all our suggestions along with our order! Here are a few of my favourites:
Fiction
Winter Tale by Mark Helprin
The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Senker
Three Day Road and The Orenda by Joseph Boyden
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Moonfleet by John Meade Falkner
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Jack Maggs by Peter Carey
Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald
The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Where Did You Go, Bernadette? By Maria Semple
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow by Rita Leganski
The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter
Non-Fiction
Open by Andre Agassi
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls
Unbroken and Seabiscuit by Lauren Hillenbrand
Three Moons in Vietnam: A Haphazard Journey by Boat and Bicycle by Maria Coffey
Running with Scissors: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs
Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition by Owen Beattie and John Geiger
Explorers of the Infinite: The Secret Spiritual Lives of Extreme Athletes and What They Reveal About Near Death Experiences, Psychic Communication, and Touching the Beyond by Maria Coffey
David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell
The Places that Scare You by Pema Chodron
Allergies: Diseases in Disguise by Carolee Bateson-Koch
The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
Fantasy
The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay
The Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
The Lord of the Rings by J.R. Tolkien
Memory, Sorrow & Thorn (trilogy) by Tad Williams
The Earthsea Trilogy by Ursula K. LeGuin
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Grimbold’s Other World by Nicholas Stuart Gray
TREDSUP 
Thanks for those, Jod! Have read a couple of them, but look forward to trying out some others!! Have just finished This is How you Lose Her by Junot Diaz – didn’t love it, to be honest. Now reading Circling the Sun by Paula McCain which is really good and about Kenya so I think you would like it too. Takes place early 1900s and features Karen Blixen, Denys Finch Hatton and Beryl Clutterbuck Purves, an equestrian and aviator. Only half way through but really enjoying. These two books were our most recent book club reads. I also read LOADS of books about India or by Indian authors, so let me know if you want me to recommend any of those.
Just back from the Jaipur Literary Festival which is now the biggest in the world. It was really amazing – great authors and journalists, poets and artists – some doing individual talks, others on panels on current affairs. Favourite was a panel discussing frontline war reporting. Margaret Atwood was a keynote speaker, along with Stephen Fry, Alexander McColl Smith, Marlon James etc etc. Really good event, 300,000 people go over 4 days. And Jaipur, in colourful Rajasthan, is one of my favourite cities in India.
So when are you coming to visit…???
Sad news about Mr Miller, eh? Such a tough time for them all. Truly sucks.
Hope all good with you and your lovely family.
Miss you xx
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The festival sounds amazing! Liv just wrote her thesis on Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale for school, and Fry is one of my favourites. I would have loved to have joined you. Would love your top 5 all time best reads.
I have a lot of news to share w/ you so I will call!
Love j
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