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What are you reading now?

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  • Jenny
    The book arrived this morning. My copy is a Folio Society copy (1993), and it has a very interesting introduction about the author and why he wrote the book.
    I've had a brief look through and I'm certain I will enjoy it.
    Our Writers' Club are having a lunch today, so I'll start reading the book later today.
  • Jan I have those sittng on my shelf, not started them yet though, and by the sounds of it might not bother.

    Am having a fun read with Tanya Huff Smoke and Shadows, its one of those nice easy going not really horror kind of things.  And working my way through the complete works of Mr Poe!
  • Carol - I wondered whether the book had arrived yet. Now that I've read more of it, I'm sure you'll like it.
  • Carol - Re The Age of Scandal - in the chapter headed Romance, there's a section on Gothic Revival in architecture (it's on page 137 in my copy).

    Part of it doesn't make any sense! I read it several times to see if I'd missed something and so did my husband and we still don't know what T.H.White was getting at.

    Once you've read that chapter, perhaps you could let me know if your copy says anything different to this:

    "Beckford's nightmare abbey at Fonthill had a tower three hundred feet high, nearly high enough for a PUPIL TO MANOEUVRE AN AEROPLANE WITH SAFETY, which fell down as soon as it had been put up."

    (I'd rather have used italics for the relevant words instead of capitals but I don't think they work on here.)
  • Yes, my copy says the same thing, but on page 142. Obviously not a successful building if it fell down every time it was put up. Obviously he was mixing his time periods, and referring to later planes in the 20th C rather than the 18th/19th C.
  • ive just finished the sevenwaters trilogy by juliet marillier. definately a BIG recommendation!!!

    i am now shooting my way through the elenium trilogy by david eddings. im on the final book and it is fantastic!!! it's only taken me a couple of weeks to get through the first two!! david eddings is most defniately my top author.
  • ive just finished the sevenwaters trilogy by juliet marillier. definately a BIG recommendation!!!

    i am now shooting my way through the elenium trilogy by david eddings. im on the final book and it is fantastic!!! it's only taken me a couple of weeks to get through the first two!! david eddings is most defniately my top author.
  • Eragon. I resisted for so long because of the hype, but was curious after hearing it was written by a teenager. There aren't really any surprises, in that it's like every other Dragon book you might pick up. But it's a good story and very exciting. I'd recommend to any child, adult and childish adult or adultish child, so that about covers everyone.
  • I'm now reading M is for Malice by Sue Grafton.  I needed something for a quick read - too much research reading has left me desperate for a break. I need to be brought back to the present (I read lots in Victorian period).
    The only trouble with this book is I'm about halfway through, and nothing's happened.  Yet somehow it keeps me reading and wanting to know what happens in the end.
  • 'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan' by Lisa See.  In first person, it details the life of Lily and her friendship with her 'old same' Snow Flower, and the agonies they go through during the process of footbinding are graphically described.  It's made me think about what those poor girls (ages 5-7) had to go through, and how they were deformed for life.
  • I’m reading several books at the same time (which I often do):

    The Ivory And The Horn – Charles De Lint (thanks to whoever it was on the Magical Realism thread that reminded me I wanted to try this author). This is a collection of short stories, some quite long and more like novellas. They’re all very good, I’ll probably try one of his novels soon.

    The Never-Ending Days of Being Dead – Marcus Chown. This came to me on Amazon as one of their ‘recommendeds’. I was intrigued. It purports to answer many of the unanswerable questions, such as how the universe works, whether aliens exist, what is ‘dark matter’ and whether Elvis is still alive. Very interesting.

    Captain Underpants – Dav Pilkey. This is a three-in-one collection that I bought for my son but had to read first to make sure that it was appropriate content (honest). Jokes about pants, hmm, quite appropriate for an eight year old, and v funny for me too. Except now he’s got it off me so I can only read it after he’s gone to bed. Boo.

    The Silence and The Scars – my own novel which is still in manuscript form. I’m re-reading it after two years because I’m thinking it needs another edit. When I do this, I try not to read any other novel, hence my reading short stories, non-fic books and silly children’s things.
  • I'm currently reading Talkback. (Heehee...sorry, that was like one of those bad dad jokes!)
    I'm reading Affluenza. It makes a very insightful read and explains a hell of a lot about society today.
  • I like Monkeynuts' reply.  Brings us all down to earth.

    I've been reading "The Ghost Road" - yep, finally caught up with it.  Tick.  Xinran's "The Good Women of China". Phew, something else.  Tick.  And "Grumpy Old Men" which makes me think I should move onto "Grumpy Old Women" because I often read it laughing away with tears streaming down my cheeks, much to Paul's bemusement. 

    Paul, by the way, has recommended "Barefoot Soldier" by, I think, Johnson Beharry, the bloke who was the first black geezer to get a VC from his work with the army.

    Another recent one (well, all right, last year) that I can thoroughly recommend if you like factual stuff is "Tailend Charlies" - google and you'll find it.  Excellent detail from the blokes who sat at the tail-end of planes during WW2.

    Whooh.  You must have got me started off again!
  • The Common People 1746-1946 by G.D.H. Cole and Raymond Postgate. Partly background research, part from interest.
    Really enjoying it, especially the chapter of the tour round England in 1746, before the major changes occured with the Industrial Revolution, and canal building.
    Yes I know I'm strange!
  • Congratulations, Kangaroo! This seems to be the most read post. (Hmm. Wonder if I should do all my posting here as so many people read it ...)
  • Ooooh, Carol, just my period!!  There was at the time a penchant for doing the Grand Tour of Europe, too, which was clearly mainly for the rich as they could afford to do the thing.  Off they went to study all the classical sites and works of art in France and more particularly Italy.  But they went off all over Europe and the parts in Britain are a privilege to know about when you think industrialisation hit hard not long afterwards.

    Hence, a lot of the idyllic paintings by artists like Reynolds and Gainsborough.  Based on classical formats.  Even though people like Hogarth and Voltaire (in France) were quick to point out that the world was far from "ideal" at the time.
  • i've just started 'charlotte's web' (very sweet), and i keep trying to read 'northern lights' (first in the 'his dark materials' series) but i can't get into it. i can, and will, read pretty much anything, but for some reason this book isn't capturing my attention. i think reading should be a bit of escapist pleasure, not hard work (the only time i have actively forced my way through a book was with 'lord of the rings'- have read the trilogy, 'the hobbit', but couldn't face 'silmarillion'. it was worth in the end, but a total slog through all of the winding footnotes and appendices.) anyone else had trouble with 'his dark materials'?
  • TT, I love stuff about the 18th century. I thought I might find the book difficult to read, or only be able to read short amounts, but the narrative is so unobtrusive, it's as if you are in an armchair with headphones on and getting a guided tour of the country.
    I'm still only on the early chapters, and it's now talking about London. The  details are very succinct, they don't weigh you down with information.
  • Carol, you'll probably come across Hogarth's etchings/cartoons of "Gin Lane" and "Beer Street", then.  It's good to hear your enthusiasm.

    Sometimes, I wish we were more like the French and didn't stand for any old nonsense from govt. and/or landed classes/monarchy.  We would no doubt then have had a revolution, too!
  • Hogarth's pictures are wonderful.
    A few years ago I saw a touring exhibition on fashion, and it had a few Rowlandson  (think that's the spelling)prints, which were from 18th/19th century. Hogarth was showing the stark realities of life.
  • im currently reading 'black notice' by patricia cornwell. shes so blunt!! love it!!

    anyone read 'black magician' trilogy by trudi canavan? absolutely brilliant!! sad ending though!!! but it did make me go all lovey-dovey inside a bit :S.
  • "Special Topics in Calamity Physics" by Marisha Pessl. I think its GREAT!!
  • How great is Trudi Canavan! I read her black magician trilogy and now I'm half way through Priestess of the White. Nothing much happens when explaining the plot 2 someone else but it feels like there is sooo much! Love it!
  • 'Les Quatre Vies du Saule' by Shan Sa.  I'm finding quite a few Chinese books translated into French (or written in French, as in this case), so I'm reading about China and improving my French all at once.  Fab.
  • A Dangerous Man, by Anne Brooke. (You'll find her via Links - Other Writers' Sites.)

    At the moment, it's looking like one of those books I wish I'd written. I'll tell you more about it later.
  • i had written a reply earlier, but it got lost as before i could 'submit' i had a horrible man come into work and i got a bit upset and fed up with it all, so was allowed to work out the back.

    anyhoo...

    katzkrew: yes i know what you mean. i find the same with david eddings. i have heard that her 'priestess of white' books aren't as good as her 'black magician' ones? also, did you know she is currently writing the prequel and sequel to the black magician trilogy?

    finished 'black notice'. it was goooooood. now reading 'the holiday' by erica james... AGAIN!! needed a bit of a lift this week. justt he book for me.
  • I’m reading ‘The Woman in Black’ by Susan Hill, which is the book for March for the reading group I’m about to join. We’re going to the theatre to see the adaptation in April, so that’s quite exciting. Not sure how I feel about its spookiness, though, because I get scared at Scooby-doo (honestly, I really do!)
  • josie, i havent read the book but i went to see the prodution of the 'woman in black' for gcse drama. excellently done. as for spookiness, itl be up to you to judge. our whole year was terrified though. lol. very well done though.
  • Jenn: That is fantastic news! I don't really know which is the better of the two trilogy's. They are quite different so maybe people who like one may not like the other. I've read on another thread that somebody hated the black magician books so everyone to their own.

    I'm reading the second book now, 'Last of the Wilds' - that is if coursework doesn't take a turn for the worst. Has anyone got any thoughts on 'The Historian' by Elizabeth Kostovo or 'The Observations' by Jane Harris? Ahh too many books to read!!!
  • Too many books to read?  Know the feeling!  Research is a wonderful thing, especially when you're genuinely and incurably passionate about the subject you're researching, as I am.  However, it gets to the point when you're absolutely addicted (there is no other word) to the kind of books you've needed to read, out of a personal interest, enjoyment, to continue learning because you never want to stop learning.  The books jump off the shelves at you in the bookshops, shouting 'Buy me! Buy me!' and you can't help but do exactly as they ask.

    Or is that just me?
  • No it's not just you. It's almost like a hand thrusts out of the shelf an latches onto my shoulder and won't let go. I have to be strong!!!
  • Time and Again by Jack Finney and Stir of Echoes by Richard Matheson. I have found I need to read two novels at once these days to work through my list.
  • I've just finished Why Don't Penguins Feet Freeze? - intriguing questions and answers from readers of the New Scientist.

    It included some useful facts and advice, such as ...

    Don't take too deep a breath near your dustbin as the smell comes from bacteria that include the one that causes bubonic plague!

    If that's true - as it presumably is - it's rather worrying considering that some councils don't collect refuse every week.

    For some reason the book prompted me to wonder who decided that poking your tongue out is insulting?

    It's not exactly a scientific question, so I can't send it to the magazine!
  • Surely it's symbolic (right word?) of something else!
  • Jay - I suppose it is - but who do you think started it?!!!
  • That's who as in which era - not what his name was!
  • Oh Jenny,

    Go on let us have the originator's name. There is no certainty in it being a male antagonist.
  • Jenny: people get unduly hysterical about the notion of "bacteria". The fact is they're all around us: they're on our skin, we breathe them in, we have them living inside our guts. It has now been demonstrated that the move towards increasing sterility of our environment actually harms us in the long run. By being exposed to micro-organisms we build up the immunity that our bodies need.

    Tony: is "Stir of Echoes" the book that the wonderful film, starring Kevin Bacon, was based on? It's one of my all-time favourite creepy films, and I'd love to know how the book would compare!
  • When I was eleven I had a teacher who decided it would make lessons on Stone Age history more interesting if we could identify the way of life with a particular person - one with a name.

    He called his Stone Age chap Waldo - so that's who I'll credit with starting tongue-poking-out. A man of imagination, that Waldo!
  • Yes Amboline it is the novel the film was adapted from. The book compares much better than most, which is one of the reasons why I am reading it again. It has a very cinematic style that I am hoping to inject into my book. It is by Richard Matheson whose books always seem to be made into quite good film versions in my opinion; Somewhere in Time being one of the best.
  • Amboline - I hope you're right. It would be nice to think we've all built up immunity to Yersinia pestis (previously Pasteurella pestis)!
  • currently reading dan brown's 'angels and demons'. enjoying it very much. i will admit he isn't a great writer, but plot wise i think he's brill!!! his plots keep me glued to the book so that makes a good book for me.
  • 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith. Originally serialised on a daily basis in The Scotsman newspaper and set in and around Edinburgh. Very easy, enjoyable book to read. Great characters, fun, characters that you actually care about, accurate background, nice pace. Would never win the Whitbread or such like but you would enjoy it.Neither male or female orientated.Not really age targeted either.
    Good book.
    Aegean
  • Typical! Not one of you is reading any of my books! I am appalled, simply appalled! LOL
  • I'm reading 'Cotton Wool World' by Anna Westwood. It's the most original and honest book I've come across in years. It's a novel but also delves into serious social comment whilst making you laugh at the same time. I'd be interested if anyone else has read this book - I fell upon it by accident at Amazon and had not heard of it before....
    Arctic Jill.
  • now reading 'forest mage' by robin hobb. not sure what im going to make of it. it looks very different to anything else ive read before, so we shall see how it goes.
  • Just finished Tenderness of Wolves (Costa Book of the Year) and a non fiction book about Disney 'Imagineering' (the process that takes them from an idea on a napkin to a finished concept at one of the Disney parks - fascinating)halfway through Moondust, Ode Less Travelled is my current 'course' book and there's a stack of about a dozen waiting!
  • Just started "Falling Into Me" by Michael Holloway Perronne. It's even shorter than "All About Sex" (for newcomers, that's one of mine), coming in at 136 pages. The print's so big I can't help wondering if it's aimed at the visually impaired. And it's not right-justified. It's a sequel, and I've yet to discover whether his new publisher understands where to put apostrophes. It's actually quite a fun book but, from what I've seen so far, could do with a bit more editing. Not sure what the title means, but then it's American. They probably have the same problem with us. And who am I - the author of "Slubberdegullion" - to speak?
  • "Like the time she put the laxative in her boss' coffee." Nope, I think there are still problems. And I won't mention the ems and ens. There's a new word, too: partiers. Doesn't seem to be in the dictionary. But it does make me want to read on, even though I have a feeling I know how it's going to end.
  • And one of the characters keeps saying "Geez". Which, as you all know, is an Ethiopian language. But, despite this, I am enjoying it. Even if there's a certain inevitability about the whole thing, and a lack of conflict.
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