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Books

29th Sep 2023

Stuck in a reading slump? You won’t be able to put these books down

Kat O'Connor

These are six of the best books to read if you’re stuck in a reading slump.

Cozy season is just around the corner which makes it the perfect time to get back into a good reading groove.

If you’re constantly starting books and barely getting through the first few chapters then don’t worry. I’ve put together a list of books that you won’t be able to put down. These books will put a stop to your reading slump and have you read more than Rory Gilmore.

Trust me.

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

This is my all-time favourite book so I had to feature it on this list. I recommend this book, and the series, to everyone. I very rarely shut up about this fictional band, I guess this is my version of the Roman Empire.

If you’ve been living under a rock and have yet to read Taylor Jenkin Reid’s New York Times best-selling novel then get yourself a copy this autumn.

Everybody knows Daisy Jones and the Six. From the moment Daisy walked barefoot onto the stage at the Whisky, she and the band were a sensation. Their sound defined an era. Their albums were on every turntable. They played sold-out arenas from coast to coast. Then, on July 12th 1979, it all came crashing down. They were lovers, friends, brothers. But they were also rivals. This is the story of their legendary rise and irrevocable fall. A story of ambition, desire, heartbreak, and music. Everyone was there. Everyone remembers it differently. Nobody knew why they split. Until now…

Happy Place by Emily Henry

Emily Henry is an author that can do no wrong in my eyes. She’s our modern-day Nora Ephron when it comes to perfectly crafted rom-coms. I’ve read all of her books, but Happy Place has to be one of the best by far. If you’re looking for something with complex characters and tricky relationships then this one is for you.

Harriet and Wyn are the perfect couple – they go together like bread and butter, gin and tonic, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. Except, now they don’t. They broke up six months ago. And they still haven’t told anyone. This is how they end up sharing the master bedroom at the cottage that has been their yearly getaway with their best friends for the past decade. For one glorious week, they leave behind their lives, drink far too much wine, and soak up the sea air with their favourite people. Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth. The cottage is for sale so this is the last time they’ll all be together here and they can’t bear to break their friends’ hearts. So, they’ll fake it for one more week.

It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). But how can you pretend to be in love with someone – and get away with it – in front of the people who know you best?

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue

I was struggling to find a strong read earlier this year, but The Rachel Incident was the book that got me out of my reading slump. This is a gripping, heartbreaking but moving story that you’ll be thinking about long after the final page.

Rachel Murray is 21 years old, platonically infatuated with her housemate James, and less-than-platonically infatuated with her enigmatic, married English professor Dr Byrne. Over the course of a year, as Rachel and James’s lives become more and more deeply entwined with those of Dr. Byrne and his perfect wife Deenie, tensions rise and a shocking secret threatens everything they hold dear.

 

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

This book has been shortlisted for a Booker Prize so it had to feature on my list.

The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie’s once-lucrative car business is going under – but rather than face the music, he’s spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His wife Imelda is selling off her jewelry on eBay while their teenage daughter Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge-drink her way to her final exams. Twelve-year-old PJ is putting the final touches to his grand plan to run away from home. Where did it all go wrong? A patch of ice on the tarmac, a casual favor to a charming stranger, a bee caught beneath a bridal veil – can a single moment of bad luck change the direction of life? And if the story has already been written – is there still time to find a happy ending?

No One Saw A Thing by Andrea Marr

Autumn is the perfect time to curl up with a gripping thriller and this one is perfect.

No one saw it happen. You stand on a crowded tube platform in London. Your two little girls jump on the train ahead of you. As you try to join them, the doors slide shut and the train moves away, leaving you behind. Everyone is lying. By the time you get to the next stop, you’ve convinced yourself that everything will be fine. But you soon start to panic, because there aren’t two children waiting for you on the platform. There’s only one. Someone wants revenge. Has your other daughter got lost? Been taken by a passing stranger? Or perhaps the culprit is closer to home than you think? No one is telling the truth, and the longer the search continues, the harder she will be to find…

The Break-Up Clause by Niamh Hargan