I’m surprised there’s so much acclaim on here for “Time Traveller’s Wife”. I thought it was a ludicrous premise badly executed, and with a charmless protagonist who groomed a child who had little say in how her manipulated life turned out.
Just me though, eh?
“The Lovely Bones”, I found wonderfully hypnotic and affecting. Her autobiographical “Lucky” even more so just because it was real and so obviously informed “Bones”.
I also agree with the couple of posts above about “First Light”, a superb account of unassuming bravery and the tragedy of the loss of young life. And while Wellum’s finest hour may have happened early in his thankfully long life, a life is the sum of all you are and do. He’s still miles ahead of most on those terms.
I recommend “The Virgin Suicides” for a shameless wallow – very moving. The film’s very good with Kirsten Dunst playing Lux, but the book is so much better.