Hi! If you were a big reader and then had kids, you’ll definitely understand but anyone who went from literature reader to hectic life will get this.
I’m looking for well written, engaging books that aren’t heavy or more challenging to read right now. It’s probably going to be crime books (but not thriller crime so much…) because those fit the bill well. I don’t always have a ton of time to read nor time to plan time to read often so faster moving plots seem easier to keep me going. And I need books that will be easier to pick up if i haven’t had to read for a week or two.
For example, I love Hillary Mantel books, those are well written and I can think deeply about them but I can still enjoy them without the deep dive per se.
Doesn’t have to be fiction but I tend to lean into fiction more. Love anything with a bit of humor in it. Or any of those books that remind me of books from my youth (Terry Pratchett and Douglas Addams are good examples here).
Basically, I’m looking for books akin to a 5 mile run versus a marathon to train for.
Thank you in advance to all suggestions!!!
by Top_Information2758
3 Comments
Not a thriller, not a short book, but maybe the autobiography by agatha christie might fit the bill?
It’s a glimpse into a different timeline by a very self-aware and relatable woman – it’s about her growing up, working through war times, finding an losing and finding love again, travelling extensively to the middle east especially etc.
Not hard to follow at all, you won’t need to remember details or names or whatever. She’s a great writer obviously.
Richard Osmond’s Thursday murder club may fit the bill. It’s gotten both of my parents and a few friends back into reading after a slump. Basic premise is a group of pensioners start a cold case murder mystery club at their retirement village, and chaos and hilarity ensure. Characters are firecrackers. Plot is pretty fast paced. Definitely quick reads that you can dip in and out of. Not literature by any means, but highly enjoyable, funny well done.
If you want a bit more heft, slow horses by mick Herron is also great. Spy novels centred on a team of M15 agents who have messed up their careers and ended up at on the rejects team. Great spy thrillers, with notes of odd ball workplace drama. Also funny.
Both have dry British humour, so good if you liked Douglas Adams but fancy a murder mystery or spy thriller instead of epic space adventure
Oh yes, that feeling when they’re finally sleeping through the night and your brain no longer feeling like pregnancy and post-partum mush, and you can pick up a book… only to crash and fall asleep 5 minutes later because your attention span means Don Quixote and those Brothers Karamazov need to wait for a minute.
(Full disclosure: I’ve got my PhD in British Literature, and during my first pregnancy I craved non-fiction history books. Weird, I know. Anyway, I tried that Fourth Wing book and the first of the Court of Annoying Protagonist and Vaguely BDSM Elf Princeling and couldn’t stomach either, so ymmv)
My most engaging, non-demanding, but still well-written reading suggestions are as follows:
– Yellowface by R.F Kuang
– Wild by Cheryl Strayed
– Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
– I Might be in Trouble by Daniel Alemán
– The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Reid Jenkins
– Perfidious Albion by Sam Byers
And because I’m a bit of sci-fi fiend, The Captive’s War series by James S. A. Corey is quite good (only the first two books of the trilogy are out so far).
My best reading advice: make sure your kids see you reading. It’ll help them want to learn and read alongside you.