I’m after light reading for my dad (76), as he’s had a tough year and so I don’t want to give him potentially grim lit fic for Christmas. His idea of light reading doesn’t overlap much with mine, however, hence turning to Reddit. The main criteria is the writing quality has to be decent (he couldn’t finish a Robert Galbraith because of the crappy writing) and the plot good/well paced. Some authors and books he considers light reading include:
Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe series
Patrick O’Brien’s Master and Commander series
John le Carre’s Smiley trilogy
Peter Temple
Alan Furst
Sarah Waters
So, Reddit, any books out there from the last few years that are well-written, cleverly plotted and don’t leave you feeling like the world is a terrible, terrible place when you finish them? He’s not really interested in spec fic (though it’s most of what I read). Thanks!
by Successful-Escape496