'What was the last book you devoured?' Twitter shares books you'll be 'greedy to finish'.

The desire to immerse oneself in the written word is a basic human instinct for most of us; and, as a thread on Twitter showed us this week, the desire to rediscover a love of reading with brilliant books is a common one.

TV writer Caroline Framke tweeted, “I want to remember how much I love reading in 2019”, and called for her followers to share the books “So good it made you greedy to finish it all at once.”

My suggestions would be many, but a stand out is The Widow, by Fiona Barton. It was so good, exciting, complex and fascinating, that it was the longest discussion we had about a book at book club, ever. (As opposed to a quick chat and then talking about ourselves.)

The Widow was actually recommended to us by an author you may have heard of – Stephen King – who regularly suggests excellent reads. So far, he hasn’t missed the mark on any of them.

That’s the way most of us read books, though, isn’t it? On a recommendation by someone we trust.

After her first tweet, Caroline Framke also explained she had just read Celeste Ng’s Everything I Never Told You, which ‘destroyed’ her, and was the motivation for her tweet for more books to inhale.

So, what did Framke’s followers suggest for her? The tweet was liked 9000 times, and received 3500 comments – and Framke was so overwhelmed by the responses, she complied a Google Doc called ‘Books to Get Lost in 2k19’, divided into categories.

How helpful is that?

Framke shared what she called the “Top Contenders”, explaining; “These, to my eye, are the books that have been suggested the most. Of course, I’m just one person scanning through literally thousands of options, so the margin for error is sizeable here, but I did my best and am excited to read them all!”

This is her list, in her words:

“Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine,” Gail Honeyman
“Conversations with Friends,” Sally Rooney
“Less,” Andrew Sean Greer
“My Year of Rest and Relaxation,” Ottessa Moshfegh
“Circe,” Madeleine Miller
The Broken Earth series, N.K. Jemisin
“Pachinko,” Min Jin Lee
“The Golem and the Jinni,” Helene Wecker
“Little Fires Everywhere” / “Everything I Never Told You,” Celeste Ng
“Homegoing,” Yaa Gyasi
“Station Eleven,” Emily St. John Mandel

Listen to Mamamia’s new Book Club podcast…post continues after.

Framke also compiled a list called “Ooh Yes, That One”, which featured titles such as Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, The Hate You Give (AMAZING) by Angie Thomas, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (BRILLIANT), and the entire Crazy Rich Asian series by Kevin Kwan (YES).

Framke’s final list was “The Old(er) Standbys”; the books which have endured in popularity and excellence. Some of the titles included, 11/22/63 by Stephen King (AMEN), Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman, and Gone Girl and Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (OF COURSE).

And if all of that isn’t enough for you, here’s some of the suggestions which I know from personal experience are excellent (and yes, one was even recommended by Monica Lewinsky):

Do you have a book you devoured? Tell us in the comments below.

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