What books are we reading at the moment ?

[Juan Martín]

I thought Chickenhawk was a terrific book.

[fuzzy]

Chickenhawk is one of those books I can go back to time after time. A great piece of writing.

On Saturday I found that I had a copy of 'Snuff' by Pterry Pratchett on the shelf that I had forgotten about. I shall crack on with it tonight

[LindaG]

Money Sex and Power by Richard Foster. And dipping in to Love's Redeeming Work. Bad choices when you can't sleep. Both excellent. Gore could have been responding to a thread on POBI in this place yesterday. What a mind.

[Tail End Charlie]

Vanished Kingdoms: The History of Half-Forgotten Europe  - Norman Davies

A book about countries that no longer exist. I'm only part way in and it's a gem. The author studied under the great A. J. P. Taylor and taught Polish History at the University of London. The prose is lovely and I wish I had bought this as a real book instead of on Kindle as it has maps,
Very thought provoking on the mutability of national identity. In some cases people remain stationary and their national identity changes (the old northern British kingdoms for example) in others their identity remains the same but the geographic location shifts (the five, ten or fifteen depending on how you count them Burgundies).

Got this book for Xmas, only a little way in, but it's very good. Just my sort of book.

[David Martin]

Chris Hoy's autobiography.

Shadowmagic (cos it was free on Kindle) and 'Discovering Statistics Using R' which seems to contain many elements of a good fictional novel.

[Quint]

Reading one of my Christmas books, when I picked this up I thought "why on earth buy me this ?" After washing up (on the big day) I picked it up and cannot put it down, The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng is so beautifully written, he is truly a word artist, even though the period/story line is a tad disturbing in places it makes me feel strangely calm, a brilliant book, shortlisted for the Man Booker prize I shall have to read the winning book to see if it really is better in some way or as so often happens in life the better talent is ignored.

[bikepacker]

Just picked up a copy of Cyclings Greatest Misadventures in a charity shop. Hope none of you or I am not in there. 

That was a free ebook on Kindle a month or so ago. I downloaded it but gave up halfway through - as you read it, you will probably discover why!

Managed to finish it but it was a depressing read.

Got Einstein and the Art of Mindful Cycling for Christmas. It is quite an interesting read.

[citoyen]

Just finished Emma Donoghue's The Sealed Letter. It's good but not as satisfying a read as Room. Interesting as a social history study of divorce and women's rights in Victorian England.

Next up is John Saturnall's Feast by Lawrence Norfolk, which I had to download for my Kindle after being completely grabbed by the first couple of pages. It's s historical novel concerning food, set around the time of the English Civil War. Doesn't look like an easy read but that's Lawrence Norfolk for you. I'm anticipating enjoying this one hugely.

d.

[geoff]

Boris Akunin: "Murder on the Leviathan" and it's jolly good

[rideron]

It's all about the Bike by Robert Penn. Mainly a history read and one man's obsession with Reynolds steel tubing.

[CrinklyLion]

Just finished Falling through The Earth by Danielle Trussoni.  I have no idea where it came from or how long I've owned it, and it's taken a couple of weeks to read, which is an unusual way for me to tackle a novel, but actually I enjoyed it....

[Hillbilly]

Hyperion by Dan Simmons.  Took me around 100 pages to get into this Canterbury Tales in space, but now thoroughly enjoying it.  In fact, I'm off to read another chapter 

[Bledlow]

Mrs B is reading Wonderful Fool by Shusaku Endo. She says the English translation is so good that she keeps forgetting it's in English, not Japanese. So, if you see any Japanese books translated by Francis Mathy S.J., be prepared for a good translation.

Published by her old university, where the translator was teaching - but not her, & she didn't know him. Excellent book in her opinion, BTW. I hope so, because when I get a chance I intend to read it. That's why I borrowed it from the library, not for her.

I just checked my edition of Silence, & found that the same university published the first English edition of that. Ah! I see why. Endo worked there from 1956. And it's Catholic.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I bought bobb A Street Cat Named Bob for Christmas and we've both read it. He's an excellent cat.

[Afasoas]

Finally got my reading mojo on and not only have I read Tolkien's The Hobbit, but I have read over a third of LoTR. Always wanted to read this books since childhood and it is a nice feeling to finally get around to it.

It is quite striking how much is left out of the films. And what a good read it has been. Might get on and join a book club later this year. I will also be looking back over this thread for moooore suggestions I think.

[fuzzy]

For Chrimbo last year (2011) my Crumblies bought me Pterry Pratchetts Snuff (Discworld novel) which I put on the book shelf then forgot about. Just found it languishing in a forlorn fashion so started it. It is a Sam Vimes/ City Watch book so I'm hooked already.

[tiermat]

Fuzzy, it is indeed a good book, and the other book mentioned in it has kept TLD busy all Xmas.

I am currently reading "The Bicycle Diaries" by David Byrne (he of Talking Heads fame.

It is interesting, the cycling being a mear sideline in the book.

[Quint]

Finally got my reading mojo on and not only have I read Tolkien's The Hobbit, but I have read over a third of LoTR. Always wanted to read this books since childhood and it is a nice feeling to finally get around to it

       Highly recommend Embers by Sandor Marai different from the above but excellent

[mark]

Finally got my reading mojo on and not only have I read Tolkien's The Hobbit, but I have read over a third of LoTR. Always wanted to read this books since childhood and it is a nice feeling to finally get around to it.

It is quite striking how much is left out of the films. And what a good read it has been. Might get on and join a book club later this year. I will also be looking back over this thread for more suggestions I think.

I read The Hobbit for the first time at age 10 (1967), and I've read The Hobbit and LOTR several times each since then. Some of his other work is still available if you dig around a little. Smith of Wootton Major, Farmer Giles of Ham and Tree & Leaf are all excellent. I've gotten well into The Silmarillion a few times, but never quite finished.

[rogerzilla]

General George S. Patton's "War As I Knew It".  Contains gems such as

On the twenty-second,  I decorated a number of nurses with Bronze Stars and also Lieutenant James H. Fields of the 4th Armored Division with the Medal of Honor.  I told Gaffey I did not want Lieutenant Fields sent to the front any more, because it has been my unfortunate observation that whenever a man gets the Medal of Honor or even the Distinguished Service Cross, he usually attempts to outdo himself and gets killed, whereas, in order to produce a virile race, such men should be kept alive.

and

It is interesting to remember that the average Maltese has never seen a mountain, a river, a lake, a forest or a railway train, and, according to my friends, he has no desire to meet any of them.

[citoyen]

A Room With A View

Read it once many years ago, though I'm not sure I finished it then. Enjoying it hugely. It's striking how faithful the Merchant-Ivory film is to the book and I wonder how much that is affecting my feelings towards it. (I adore the film, of course.)

d.

[LindaG]

A Room With A View

Read it once many years ago, though I'm not sure I finished it then. Enjoying it hugely. It's striking how faithful the Merchant-Ivory film is to the book and I wonder how much that is affecting my feelings towards it. (I adore the film, of course.)

d.

Me too.

Does the book have Julian Sands inna field innit?  Sigh ...

[citoyen]

Does the book have Julian Sands inna field innit?  Sigh ...

I've always thought Julian Sands a bit wooden in the film but that aspect of his performance seems to be true to the book - George Emerson is a bit of a plank.

d.

[Dibdib]

JK Rowling - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

No, I'm not twelve... but after taking the piss out of them for so long, I decided that I really should give JK Rowling half a chance and at least try one of the Harry Potter books. It's only fair, and I figured if I hated it then at least I'd have a reason to carry on taking the piss.

Y'know, it's really not that bad. Sure, it's not Shakespeare, but it's a decently entertaining read. I feel a bit bad for ripping into it so much in the past.

My only criticism so far isn't the book, but the cult it's spawned. You can't buy the Kindle ebook from Amazon UK, oh no. That'd be too simple. Instead, Amazon diverts you to "Pottermore", JK Rowling's own online store, and you have to buy it from there and then have it zapped to your Kindle (or other ebook reader of choice - they support a bunch of them). I wouldn't mind, but I had Amazon gift card credit to spend and instead I had to pay proper money.

[Mr Larrington]

The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared ~ Jonas Jonasson.

Swedish oddness.