‘It was so gripping I read it in two sittings’: 11 books to pull you out of a reading rut

For many people, reading has been difficult this last year - but a breakthrough is always possible. Guardian readers describe the books that drew them in

Reading about the hope in others' hopeless lives kept me going'
Bukowski's often seedy stories are a wonderful break from normality. I don't know how I'd have got through lockdown without them. Being sheltered this past year for medical reasons was one of the loneliest times of my life. I don't have a family nearby; I'm gay and on my own. My friends were the baristas, pub landlords and restaurant owners of my area. Most of them are gone. There were times when I didn't think I would make it, but then I'd read a story by Bukowski about the hope in the hopeless lives of other people, and it kept me going. Gary Comenas, 65, writer, London