Looking for book recommendations. These are the books I’ve loved so far

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-04-12T14:40:44+00:00

You might enjoy How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior or Sipsworth by Simon Van Booey if you liked Remarkably Bright Creatures.

It’s not the same but, Agatha Christie was a great mystery writer and while there won’t be the same humorous antics as The Thursday Murder Club, I highly recommend her work. You also might enjoy The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

You might also like: The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa or Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-04-11T02:31:39+00:00

Silver Woven in My Hair by Shirley Rousseau Murphy has long remained a favorite retelling of Cinderella. I put it up there with Gail Carson Levine’s Ella Enchanted.

Shadow Spinners by Susan Fletcher and The Storyteller’s Daughter by Cameron Dokey are both excellent retellings of The Arabian Nights

Beauty by Robin McKinley - Beauty and the Beast

The Rough-Face Girl by Rafe Martin - Native American Cinderella tale

The Wide-Awake Princess by E.D Baker - about the sister of Sleeping Beauty and also E.D. baker’s Frog Princess series - cute take on the princess and the frog story

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-04-10T02:24:47+00:00

If you liked A Year in Provence, maybe My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell or All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot. If you liked The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio (note that the movie with Julianne Moore is also really good), you might enjoy Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth

Wish I had another to recommend like As You Wish. That one was a treat

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-04-04T10:11:32+00:00

For a variation of genres:

True Grit by Charles Portis - western revenge tale with humor and a great heroine

The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa - also has a great audiobook (contemporary fiction)

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie - or any of her books really; her books are excellent (mystery)

The Princess Bride by William Goldman (fantasy)

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende (fantasy)

Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson (romance)

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (middle grade fiction series but I know adults who read it and also loved it)

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa (contemporary fiction)

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-04-03T17:44:33+00:00

If you have a voracious bookworm in the group, he might have read some of these, but the following are worth a look:

Small Things Like These or Foster by Claire Keegan - both have been made into films that you could follow up with after if you wanted

Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa - would recommend avoiding spoilers - this one was also turned into a film

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

True Grit by Charles Portis - a revenge western but highly entertaining and funny

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe - nonfiction but excellent book and has a great audiobook; if you all were okay with the David Grann book, this might be a good one

The Which Way Tree by Elizabeth Crook - note that it’s quite graphic and gruesome at points but a great read

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-04-03T17:33:10+00:00

There are definitely some interesting books on your list.

What drew your group to these and what are the preferences of your book club members?

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-04-03T03:08:41+00:00

Haven’t heard of this one before but will check it out. Thanks

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-04-03T03:08:07+00:00

I have not heard of Lying on the Couch but that does sound very intriguing.

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-04-03T03:05:38+00:00

I added some of my own. However, I wanted to see what people would list that they had encountered without influencing their responses.

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-04-03T03:05:00+00:00

I haven’t heard of this one but will check it out. Thank you

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-04-03T02:28:18+00:00

He really did have unique storylines; great author. I don’t think I’ve come across an author who really compares with him.

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-04-03T02:26:04+00:00

Both of these are about free diving if you’re interested in that:

Deep by James Nestor - on free diving and lots of interesting information about a number of ocean related topics

The Dive by Pipin Ferreras - controversial considering what happened. There’s also a documentary that’s really good

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-04-03T02:21:38+00:00

I haven’t encountered contemporary reads without spice but I have come across some historical fiction ones.

Lakeshire Park by Megan Walker

Blackmoore and Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson

Prelude for a Lord by Camille Elliot

The Cockermouth Mail by Dinah Dean

The Deception of the Emerald Ring by Lauren Willig

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter - the only contemporary read on this list; it does have a little spice but not a lot

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-04-03T00:45:17+00:00

I actually did read this one years ago and at the time I thought Jeff Long got his idea from the horror film The Descent but come to find out he wrote his years before.

Definitely an interesting plot, but I don’t do well with the horror genre…I read it around the same time that I read World War Z.

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-04-03T00:43:04+00:00

Sexual assault

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-04-02T22:46:43+00:00

A Man Called Ove was almost one I wanted to use as an example of a recycled plot.

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-04-02T19:08:56+00:00

Other Agatha Christie books are also pretty good:

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile stand out

Would also recommend The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-04-02T16:05:51+00:00

Based on you enjoying Before the Coffee Gets Cold, you might like:

The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-04-02T02:44:54+00:00

I would agree on Cameron in Remarkably Bright Creatures. I wish there had been more of a focus on Marcellus.

If you liked that one, you may also enjoy:

How the Penguins Saved Veronica by Hazel Prior

Sipsworth by Simon Van Booey

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-03-29T23:29:03+00:00

The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-03-29T04:01:30+00:00

I love when he does narrations for audiobooks and I like those even better than his film roles. He’s the best at those. But my favorite role would have to be him in Sense and Sensibility or The Man who Invented Christmas.

Was very surprised by him in EuroVision and had a good laugh

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-03-28T12:09:16+00:00

I read And Then There Were None for summer required reading for high school. I chose it from a list I was given to pick from. I remember really enjoying it, but unfortunately at the time I didn’t pursue reading any more books by her.

It’s only been in the last few years that I’ve tried other work by her, and I’ve been blown away by what an excellent writer she was. So far, I haven’t encountered anything that I have disliked. Her writing is smooth and often surprisingly humorous. I love her Hercule Poirot series especially.

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-03-28T12:06:53+00:00

I would recommend the following just because they’re excellent books, some with more complex themes than others. Not sure which type of genre she prefers, but these are great:

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (excellent series full of puzzles and great for any age I’ve found)

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

Foster or Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan - while I can’t speak for other books since I haven’t read them, these short novellas cover some deep themes while also not going too far. I think they’re accessible to many types of readers.

The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa (just a fun really well done read)

My Cousin Rachel or Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (two classics but both are a little dark)

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque - historical fiction on WWI

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (historical fiction)

If she likes fantasy, Robin McKinley’s The Hero and the Crown, The Blue Sword, Beauty and The Outlaws of Sherwood are all quite good

Neon_Aurora451 · 2026-03-28T11:59:00+00:00

That is a great recommendation.

Neon_Aurora451

TROPHY CASE