I honestly thought it was one of the worst books I've ever read - had to quit at 300 pages in, after reading several pages about a woman sloshing around in soup.

Bet it'd make a great show, though.

Jeffrey Eugenides.

Virgin Suicides is decent, but Middlesex by him is absolutely fantastic.

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. MY GOD.

Dual narrative. One part - Nao, a Japanese school girl - had a really interesting narrative; the other, a Canadian author called Ruth (really? she had to name the character after herself?) found Nao's diary washed up and was reading it, in between doing all sorts of dreadfully tedious things with her dull, dull partner.

The ending launched into some weird metaphysical dream sequence, and then Nao's section abruptly stopped. It was obvious why, but the fact that I'd wasted so much of my time slogging through the monumentally monotonous 'Ruth' sections to then have zero closure with the 'Nao' sections made me want to hurl it across the room. I was in a cafe when I finished this book so alas could not, but rather swiftly donated it to a second-hand bookshop.

Half of a Yellow Sun by Adichie is excellent as well; My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite is a short, fun novel set in Lagos. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi starts in Ghana, ends in the USA.

There's also The Memory of Love; This Mournable Body; The Girl With The Louding Voice; Marie Ndiaye's work, and Scholastique Mukasonga too.

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata. My god. I read Convenience Store Woman by her and LOVED it - a cute, quirky story about rejecting societal expectations. Earthlings is in a similar vein but includes child abuse, paedophilia (some of the text made me squirm in my seat), and cannibalism. Absolutely bonkers.

Now they're understanding the drama of it, they're a lot more into it - they actually asked to continue reading the other day, but it was the end of the lesson so I had to send them off! Kudos to you for reading it independently - don't think I'd have been able to hack it as a teenager! Had to come back to some books as an adult that I just didn't 'get' as a teen (The Handmaid's Tale springs to mind).

I know 😭 I've yet to read 'And The Mountains Echoed' - it's on my bookshelf so it may be my next read (just starting The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende now).

It's love but a different kind! I'm actually teaching Wuthering Heights to a class of 13-14 year olds, and they're finally getting into it (chapter 9 was the turning point)!

Confession: I've tried to read Pride and Prejudice at least 3 times now, but just cannot get along with it (and I'm an English teacher!) Might give Persuasion a go.

Just finished Wuthering Heights today - Cathy (the elder) and Hareton are my faves. I also sympathise with Edgar and Isabella and the mess that they found themselves dragged into!

Yes to The Kite Runner! For characterisation, I'd say Mariam in A Thousand Splendid Suns is my favourite of his.

Favourite characters include:

Kambili in Purple Hibiscus; Bahram/Barry in River of Smoke; George in Of Mice and Men; Kitty in the Crazy Rich Asians series