Reading Recommendations for the group

[Chris]

I thought it would be a good idea to set up a folder/forum where people could put their recommendations for others to read, either individually or for bookclubs. Or even their don't-touch-this-with-a-barge-pole titles.
Sure we can get recommendations from Goodreads in general but sometimes that can be a bit overwhelming.
And if you wanted to add a bit of colour (without spoilers) this could help even further. You can still post on Goodreads too, of course.

[Louise]

I would like to recommend Elemental to the group and have included my Goodreads review. Set in the UK from the beginning of the 20th century and ending in Western Australia in 2011, it was a highlight of my 2015 reading year. I see that there is a copy available at Forster but not at Taree at present.

Amanda Curtin is the author of novels, Elemental, The Sinkings, and a short story collection, Inherited. Elemental was shortlisted for the 2014 WA Premier’s Book Awards (Fiction and People’s Choice categories).

Curtin asks the reader to consider questions of morality through a prism of passing decades and the changes that occur to societal norms and expectations throughout these years. Although this sounds like a challenging, dry and unappealing task, Curtin’s achingly sad but beautiful writing, the supreme sense of place she evokes and above all the strength of the voice of the protagonist Meggie Tulloch ensure that this is not the case. Themes of love, grief, memory, the changing role and expectations of women and children within families, superstition and war, so deftly woven into the fabric of the story gave me much to think about.

[Chris]

Thanks Louise for launching this idea with our first group recommendation. And a good one at that.

The only downside I can see to starting this whole thread is that I could end up with a rather daunting must-read list :)

[Chris]

I'm going to add A Man Called Ove to the recommendations list.

There are some flaws with this novel and if you're looking for dark, complex, challenging reads then this may not be for you. But if you do enjoy a novel that richly explores the better side of humanity, it will pay dividends.

There are interesting discussions points, though not necessarily deeply delved into, nor particularly controversial. Having said this I suspect that it would be popular with many bookclubs and I'm sure that for some people it could easily be one of the best novels they've read in a while. It really does grab a hold of you in many good ways. Even for curmudgeons (a word highly relevant to this novel) "A Man Called Ove" may just turn out to be a guilty pleasure.

[Chris]

This is a post on behalf of Lesley, who recommends Fear Is the Rider.

Lesley says:
This horror story looks very good. I don’t ‘do’ horror myself.

Thanks Lesley.