I have not been able to finish a book in months. None have gripped me enough to pass the half-way mark. I am in desperate need of help. What I love most about a book is a gripping sense of atmosphere, where the images are so very vividly created in your head as the author describes the setting so perfectly. The books I have attempted recently were not lacking in this (e.g. love in the time of cholera and birdsong) but I failed to complete them because they were just not fast paced enough. Therefore I need a book with a strong sense of atmosphere and gripping plot to get me back into reading! I am not adverse to childrens books either. Suggestions please!

Hi, usually I like my no brainer girly chick lit to wind with but occasionally I like a book to keep me on the edge of my seat with thrills and excitement. I think Jodi Picoult is the author of best choice for this. The first of her books I read was nineteen minutes and she is now one of my faveroute authers. Give it a try and I'm sure you won't be able to put that one down - the twist at the end is worth it!

Happy reading!

Back to basics could be your answer. Try looking at the 19th century authors - Dickens, Dostoyevsky, Wilkie Colins. They had time (and the kind of publishers that had time) to indulge in the atmosphere!

Michael Dibdin wrote a great series starring an Italian detective Aurelio Zen, there's plenty of atmosphere in those. Donna Leon does a great job with Venice as the venue but her protagonist is a gentler family man. Dibdin is sadly no longer with us but Leon is still going strong.

Try A Spy in the House by Y S Lee. It's the first of the Agency trilogy, and just came out in the UK. The story centres around a women's detective agency in Victorian London. It's a gripping mystery and really atmospheric. Also, have you read Paul Theroux's Mosquito Coast? Different kind of atmosphere entirely, but a great book...

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Try OF VICARS AND TARTS by Sonja Bigg. Read it, loved it. Took it to my reading group who all raved about it. Brutal, dark, hilarious, sad. Every emotion going. And there is not a single thing that you will see coming. Full of surprises, beautifully written, shocking and intelligent. You won't be able to stop reading it.

Try Kristin Hannah's books; Luanne Rice; The Bay at Midnight by Diane Chamberlain.

I'd suggest three: "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" by Louis de Bernières, "Dune", (the original), by Frank Herbert and "The Cider House Rules" by John Irving. All invoke, for me, the sense of atmosphere you say is important for you. So much so in the case of Dune that, part way through, I could close my eyes and almost smell the world depicted. I found the books so rich and engaging, with the characters so precisely realised and the locations so brilliantly described that I almost didn't want them to end. I've gone back to all three more than once in the years since I first read them.

Hope this helps.

I wonder which are these books you've started but never finished. Could you please list them; may help to help you. Maybe you need a book with more action than description so that the plot keeps moving; that would make think of a book like one of James Patterson (eg: "1st to die", it's really fast paced with many twists...you just can't put it down).

'The Time Traveler's Wife' by Audrey Niffeneger, is one of the best books ever written, it's heaven to read, and I could not stop reading it, moreover, I've reread it several time since the first time I read it two years ago. Hope this helps.

I would recommend HIERS TO THE KINGDOM PART 1 THE BOWMAN OF LOXLEY I know how you feel i was the same at the bigging of the year and was also recommed this book by a friend of mine and i wasnt able to put it down its by a new author named Robin John Morgan it is his first book in a series and the best thing is you dont have to wait a year for the next one as its due for release at the end of this year heirstothekingdom.com is the books website where you can find loads of info on the book its self and other asspects such as village life family trees and character pages also let me know if you pick it up and give it a try and also what you think of it.

Definitely try Tides of Change, by Deborah Brewer. I bought it on the strength of the reviews and I wasn't disappointed!

Of Mice and Men!

I can really recommend No. 1 Chesterfield Square by Nick Jones. This is a compelling read, beautifully written with superb descriptions and places. As the customer reviews on here say, and the ones I have seen in the Press, you can step into the book with the characters and live their lives wth them. Enthralling, moving and absorbing. It's uplifting with a great ending. As you can see, I loved it and was hooked from the first pages.

If you want atmosphere then you have to read Dostoevsky, as someone already suggested. Hemingway is another who was a master of creating atmosphere. I also agree with one of the others that Dune has a great atmosphere, and it was incredibly intelligent as well (I read it years ago but that has stuck with me, and the whole series was good if I remember right). For a new author, check out Harald Sortskaeg. The atmosphere he creates is one I've never come across before, and I can't imagine that you wouldn't be able to finish his book, which is so thought provoking that I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I read it months ago. Another one to try is Jack London, who creates a cold, almost primal, atmosphere, that really puts you in the setting and makes you think about the forces and laws of nature.

Hallo J.D.,
Check out the reviews for Nails and Bottle by D.M. Samson. They're gritty with atmosphere. read inside at www.davidmsamson.com.
Dave

What about some William Boyd? I like "Restless" and "Any Human Heart"

I think you might have some bother finding a book that's both atmospheric and fast-paced; plotty books aren't usually evocative. You might try The Tryst by Dibdin; Ring by Suzuki; Finishing Touches or The Fates by Tessier. Not such light reading and a far better book would be The Assignment by Durrenmatt--this is probably closest to meeting your requirements.
If you've not yet read Dostoevsky please please don't try him when you're in the mood for a fast-moving plot. You'll only be disappointed and possibly put off reading a great author for life.

Try John Huffam; The Quincunx. A "Tour de France". Atmosphere, you can bottle it and get good money for it after reading this marathon work based loosely and very mysteriously upon a part of Charles Dickens' unknown past, fiction with a capital F.

Have a look at my book "The Last Bature", plenty of atmosphere and excitement and set in West Africa during the immediate post colonial era. See it on Amazon.

Try Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy - don't be put off by the very poor film version - The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruis Zafon or The Book Thief by Marcus Zuzack. I woudl be very flattered if you would give my book Half-Truths and White Lies a shot. It won the Daily Mail First Novel Award last year and is described by Joanne Harris as 'a story of secrets, lies, grief and ultimately redemption charmingly handled by this very promising new writer.' (My current favourite children's book is Leon and the Place Inbetween but this is for the artwork by Grahame Baker Smith - it is a thing of beauty if you have anyone to buy for!)

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The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Books with atmosphere - have you tried Fingersmith by Sarah Waters? Quasi-Dickensian atmosphere, gripping plot. Classics such as Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. Or for a more modern atmosphere (70s/80s) - Engleby by Sebastian Faulks.