What books are we reading at the moment ?

[her_welshness]

Just finished 'The Gift of Rain' by Tan Twan Eng.
A very good read, and very moving in places. A great read if you are into swords and/or martial arts.

I am not into that sort of thing but my husband is, so will procure that for him - thanks so much!

[Deano]

I had to look up "prolix" as I haven't encountered the word before. It's a good word.

It is a good word, though I always think it sounds like it should mean something different.

I enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

I generally shy away from sequels not by the original author and I'm not entirely sure why I picked up the PD James. So Pride & Prejudice & Zombies doesn't really appeal, tbh, though I imagine at least it might be a bit more amusing and a lot less pretentious than Death Comes To Pemberley.

d.

I adored Pride and Prejudice so I'll avoid the PD James book. I read one of her novels years ago and didn't think much of it - tedious characters and a very slow plot. It resembled Midsomer Murders, in that she chucked in an extra corpse every hundred pages or so, presumably to wake up the readers.

On sequels not by the author, I generally avoid them as well, but I recently read the Final Solution: A Story of Detection by Michael Chabon, which is sort-of a sequel to the Sherlock Holmes stories (he's never mentioned by name, but I don't think I'm spoiling it for anybody) and it was wonderful. It really captured the Englishness of the setting and the strangeness of Holmes, the confidence and adventurousness of Empire, and the inevitable decline. I must read more of Chabon's stuff - that and the Yiddish Policeman's Union are the only books of his I've read, and both are excellent.

[mark]

Brunelleschi's Dome, a history of the design and construction of the dome of the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. An excellent book, I'm reading it in preparation for a cycle tour through Italy (leaving in 5 days).

[citoyen]

Similarly, I started reading Dubliners yesterday while I was in Dublin. Marvellous, though, er, not really much use as a tourist guide...

I want to read Ulysses next and am already regretting not having read Joyce before.

d.

[citoyen]

On sequels not by the author, I generally avoid them as well, but I recently read the Final Solution: A Story of Detection by Michael Chabon...

Everything I've heard about Michael Chabon makes me think I'd like his stuff... <adds two more books to ever-expanding To Read list>

Edit: just realised I already have The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier & Clay on the list...

d.

[2_Flat_Erics]

Just finished "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold. An excellent read. I'm not really an emotional person but even I found myself with a lump in my throat several times during this book.

[2_Flat_Erics]

Decided to get the 'Game Of Thrones' series for the Kindle-slab - I've heard enough about the TV series that it finally piqued my interest. Rather enjoying it in spite of the sometimes blatantly obvious Tolkien influence.

I read through the whole series of books a few months back. The first book "A Game of Thrones" was superb. A little slow at first but gathered pace and pulled me in with some unexpected twists. At the end of the book I was eager for more and wanted to know what was going to happen with some key characters that I had become attached to.

The next couple of books were also pretty good with a few unexpected twists.

Unfortunately by the time I got to book 5 "A Dance with Dragons" I felt that the author had rather lost his way with the story. The story does not really move on and all of the main characters just stagnate. There are still a couple of unexpected twists but even these don't move the story on much. By the end of book 5 I was rather loosing interest and was almost glad when I had finished it.

I still want to know what happens to some of the key characters like Deanarys, Bran and Especially Arya. It looks like there are two more books planned for the series and I will read them when they are published but I really hope that George R R Martin can re-find the passion that came through in the first few books.

[dasmoth]

Finally made it through Reamde by Neal Stephenson.  It's a weighty tome, but worth the effort.

Some similar premises to Stross's Halting State, but a very, very, different novel.

(click to show/hide)

...and interesting to read about a game with baked-in support for RMT, just a few weeks before Blizzard launch one...

[lou boutin]

I'm reading 'Last Legion' by Valerio Massismo Manfredi. So far, it's been a good read, I'm quite enjoying it.

[Deano]

Currently, Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind.

It is a really daft tale of high magick and irascible wizards and dragons and Dark Lords and stuff. However, for some reason the main protagonist is called Richard. Apparently there are nine books in this series, and I doubt I'll bother reading them all.

I'm cheering for the Dark Lord. I mean, it's not his fault - if you're named Darken Rahl, there aren't that many career paths open to you. Darken Rahl, Fresh Milk Daily? I don't think so.

[Peter]

I'm cheering for the Dark Lord. I mean, it's not his fault - if you're named Darken Rahl, there aren't that many career paths open to you. Darken Rahl, Fresh Milk Daily? I don't think so.

In my youth I often went with my brothers to watch Middlesbrough at Ayresome Park (this is one of the reasons I still support Newcastle!).  On one of the street corners was a sign proclaiming "Wet Fish Daily".  Ever after, we turned left at "Wet Fish Daley's".  Bet you can't get much of a laugh on your way to the Riverside - or when you get there, even.

[rockaperoon]

Round Ireland in Low Gear
by Eric Newby, Wanda Newby
a wee cracker of a book just started it

[Quint]

West Coast Jazz by Ted Gioia quite good

[geoff]

Recently:

The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins. Cracking yarn, part penny dreadful and all the better for it.

The Power and the Glory - Graham Greene. I've not read much enough GG: so impressed by his love of language, e.g. the graveyard angel  with "lichenous wings".

+ two Ians: Ian M. Banks and a Rebus: both Ok but lacking in excitement.

now: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark. Indisputably the crème de la crème.

[AndyK]

Catch 22. It's been a while since I last read it. Had forgotten how funny it is.

[Jacomus]

Hesitation Kills: A female marine officer's combat experience in Iraq by Jane Blair (Lieutenant USMC. Retd.)

America fosters the idea that the ideal woman is the weak woman. Just look in any Vouge at the emaciated but often physically unfit women who are deemed beautiful. Meanwhile, in GQ, equally beautiful men are expected to maintain their physique through weightlifting and exercise. If women were held to that standard of physical fitness, we'd have much different expectations of them. Women would no longer be victims, portrayed as fragile creatures in need of men's care and protection. They would be thin and muscular, capable of any task that fell before them.

That quote from her gives a small insight into her attitude. It is a fascinating read, so very different to other similar books that I have read as she doesn't simply write her observations of what is happening, but also includes her feelings. Her writing is very engaging and draws you into her life, she has had me feeling nervous, frustrated, sad and excited.

[nightrider]

Natural Navigator:Tristran Gooley.Its a book that's intended to teach people how to navigate,using natural clues.We all do this to a certain extent anyway.I don't know if this book will help me navigate or not,but what it is helping me with is understanding the countryside, I love so much.On a personal level I think cycling has helped trigger this of for me.Travelling through the countryside at about 15mph,experiencing the change of temperature etc,much more of a experience than looking at the world from within a car.All in all a good book written in a easy to understand text.

[LindaG]

Natural Navigator:Tristran Gooley.Its a book that's intended to teach people how to navigate,using natural clues.We all do this to a certain extent anyway.I don't know if this book will help me navigate or not,but what it is helping me with is understanding the countryside, I love so much.On a personal level I think cycling has helped trigger this of for me.Travelling through the countryside at about 15mph,experiencing the change of temperature etc,much more of a experience than looking at the world from within a car.All in all a good book written in a easy to understand text.

I might take a look at that one.

[her_welshness]

Round Ireland in Low Gear
by Eric Newby, Wanda Newby
a wee cracker of a book just started it

Eric Newby's 'A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush' was cracking.

Just finished 'The Moment' by Douglas Kennedy. As good as 'The Reader' by Schlink. Will be ordering copies for my Reading Group ladies 

[clarion]

Finally finished the Complete Father Brown Stories by GK Chesterton.

Now onto something I downloaded a couple of weeks ago: Hope and Glory by Stuart Maconie.  I like his sense of humour.

[RJ]

Recently finished Andrew Greig's Preferred Lies: A Journey to the Heart of Scottish Golf.  It is to golf what At the Loch of the Green Corrie is to fly-fishing:  golf here is not so much the subject matter, but rather the occasion for wider reflection on relationships and life and death.  I couldn't really care less about either golf or fishing, but both books are thoughtful and  beautifully written; Greig's alter ego as a poet shows in in prose, and his deep interest in the wider outdoors lies close to the heart of the two books.  Highly recommended.

Also enjoyed over Easter Robert Penn's It's All About the Bike, with a vicarious extra interest having lunched with my parents in the pub where the first draft was apparently largely edited (the Crown at Pantygelli).

Plus Riddle of the Sands and Raffles and a 1980s Elmore Leonard that was new to me.

About to start Iain M Banks' Against a Dark Background

[Mrs Pingu]

About to start Iain M Banks' Against a Dark Background

I love that book

[her_welshness]

Currently reading 'Frank Sinatra has a cold' by Gay Talese. Different chapters about the various people (famous or not) that he has interviewed.  Very refreshing to read a different genre and a different writing style.

[Biff]

[tiermat]

The Disappearing Spoon and other true tales of madness, love, and the history of the world from the periodic table of the elements, by Sam Kean.

Makes the periodic table make sense to me, like it never did when I was at school.