Recommended Reads

Where can I get these books? You can get all of these books, and many more, for free from your local library, see https://www.suffolklibraries.co.uk/ or call into your local library.

Don’t like our recommendations? Then send us yours and we will add them to the list, which we will update regularly. If we get enough responses, we will split the list into genres. Email your recommendations to

Disclaimer: These recommendations are the personal views of library staff and do not represent the views of West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust or the Library and Information Centre. We do not endorse or promote any particular author or genre.

These recommendations

TITLE / AUTHOR / GENRE / BLURB (No plot spoilers please!) / STAR RATING / REVIEW
Life After Life / Kate Atkinson / Historical / A bit like Groundhog Day in that it’s the story of a girl’s life lived over and over again.. Starts in 1910 and moves through to the 60s. / ***** / Not complicated and very easy to become absorbed in the story
Etta and Otto and Russell and James / Emma Hooper / Journey/quest / An 82 year old Canadian woman, who is starting to forget, & who has never seen the sea leaves her husband and friend to walk to the ocean. / **** / Gentle story – if you liked “The unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry”, you’ll probably enjoy this
Crossing Places / Elly Griffiths / Crime / Ruth Galloway series, 7 books so far. Ruth is a Forensic Archaeologist so not the usual detective angle. / *****
The Left Hand of Darkness / Ursula le Guin / Science Fiction / Written 40 years ago but still has a fresh feel to it and the technology is believable. Set on an imaginary frozen planet, Winter, and telling the story of the first ‘alien’ who lands there. The unique characteristic of Winter is that the people there have no fixed gender, it is fluid. Perhaps as a consequence, they have never experienced war. / **** / More a story about friendship and loss rather than alien invasion. Very thought-provoking.
The Signature of All Things / Elizabeth Gilbert / Historical / This tells the story of a woman who, through a series of events, spends her life studying various mosses. She comes from a very wealthy family and meets many interesting folk on her travels throughout her life and makes a startling and fundamental scientific discovery. / ***** / By the same author of Eat, Pray, Love but with a very different style and subject-matter The story draws you in and despite the subject matter I found it riveting.
The Blade of Fortriu / Juliette Marillier / Fantasy book 3 of 3.
Book 1: The dark mirror
Book 2: The well of shades / The third book of the Bridei Chronicles, tells the story of Faolan, the kings’ assassin and spy. / **** / I think this was the best of all three books.
The Bone Clocks / David Mitchell / Science fiction/fantasy/fiction / The story follows mostly one character, Hollie, for forty odd years, in the form of a time slip novel with echoes of a vampire theme. / ***** / I’ve only just discovered Mitchell, but what a find. This book is hard to categorise, like nothing I have ever read before but clearly influenced by some great writers. The plot is pure fantasy but totally believable because the writing is just so good. He is particularly good at characterisation and dialogue. It’s one of the funniest books I’ve read in a long time.
The Winter Ghosts / Kate Mosse / Fiction/ghost story / She of Labyrinth and Sepulchre fame. It has the same setting, in the mountains of the Carcasonne, but it’s a lot shorter in length.. I accept she will write about what she knows, but I think she has done the Carcasonne to death, if you will excuse the pun. / *** / An atmospheric book and I liked the wintry descriptions of the landscape, but it was not scary. It was quite daft in places and it all felt a bit tired
The Button Box / Lynn Knight / Non-fiction/social history / This book traces women’s social and industrial history from about the 1870s to the 1980s through the clothing they wore, at all levels of society. It’s part-biography and part historical fact / **** / This is a really fascinating read. Women had it so hard, simply to clothe themselves and keep clean, let alone clothe their families and uphold social conventions.
1.Mistress of the Art of Death / Ariana Franklin / Historical fiction
Other books in the series:
2. The death maze
3. Relics of the dead
4. The assassins’ prayer
Winter Siege – not part of the Adelia series, completed after the authors’ death by her daughter. / The main character is a female doctor (pathologist, really) in the 11th century, investigating a series of child murders. The story is set in Cambridge, and is the first in a series. / ***** / The premise of the book was a little unlikely, but if you get past this, the book is extremely enjoyable. I really empathised with the main character, Adelia, and the author makes some startling and interesting points about the treatment of women without it being too preachy. This was a book written with real warmth and humanity.
Our Endless Numbered Days / Claire Fuller / Fiction, post-apocalyptic / A survivalist dad takes his daughter off to live in the woods, telling her the rest of the world no longer exists. As she grows and starts to suspect this is not actually so the novel grows darker and more shocking, more so because the reality of her situation is left largely for the reader to deduce. / **** / Described as ‘haunting’ and I would agree, this stayed with me for a long time after I finished it. I gave it four stars because it left me feeling rather low, but it was very well-written.
The Wall / Marlen Haushofer / Fiction, post-apocalyptic, dystopian / A woman wakes up one morning to discover she is all alone. There are no chapters, just one long account of how the main character survives and thrives, to some extent, with just a few animals (whom you will come to love) for company. / A glutton for punishment, this was recommended by a colleague. One of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Described as a feminist classic and a radical criticism of modern civilisation, I felt it was all of those things, but mostly it was a very human story, deeply moving, shocking and I couldn’t get it out of my head. When I finished it, I felt lost. The main character’s loneliness and feelings of desolation are palpable, but despite all that, it’s a wonderful read.
Sentinel Mage
(Cursed Kingdoms #1) / Emily Gee / Fantasy, book 1 of 3 / The story of a terrible curse that strikes an imaginary world, made up of seven kingdoms (yes, it’s a bit Game of Thrones but without the violence and misogyny), one of which produces mages or witches. Mages are reviled in the remaining kingdoms and treated as outcasts, but in order to lift the curse (which forces people to turn on each other and murder friends and family), a group of mages must work with a royal-born mage to defeat the curse. The blood and hands of the royal are required, but they don’t have to be attached to a living being, so every Tom, Dick and Harry is after the group of reluctant allies. / **** / I’m not a huge fantasy fan, but this was well-written and from a female point of view. There is a burgeoning romance and it’s pretty clear what is going to happen, but for a smooth, enjoyable not-too-challenging read, this fits the bill. About halfway through I realised they couldn’t lift the curse by the end of the book, hence the next two instalments, but I enjoyed it so much I’ve ordered books 2 & 3 from the library. There is some violence, but all in context, and some good, strong female characters.