What books are we reading at the moment ?

[her_welshness]

Arrrgghhhhhhaaaiiiieeee.

Am 4 pages in on 'Parrot and Olivier in America' and am already bored  . And its 450 pages long  Mayhap my Booker quest is at an end? 

[Katie]

I'm between books having lost volumes 5 and 6 of Scott Pilgrim somewhere in the depths of the house.  Must make a trip to the library...

Hurrah! Found them.  Back on SP until I find  the time to find a "proper book".

[Flying_Monkey]

Rather embarassingly, I started on a copy of The Other by David Gutterson, recently purchased from a bargain bin, only to realise I had already read it last year... clearly it wasn't very memorable.

[David Martin]

Just read the Man in a white suit (or similar title), the Stig autobiography.

[onb]

Lustrum by Robert Harris

[Bledlow]

Rather embarassingly, I started on a copy of The Other by David Gutterson, recently purchased from a bargain bin, only to realise I had already read it last year... clearly it wasn't very memorable.

Done that - and I can't even remember what the book was, which shows just how memorable it was.

[IanDG]

Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne

[Notsototalnewbie]

So far have read 'Room' by Emma Donoghue, very good stuff - I think she gets into the mind of the little boy really well.

Have just started reading 'The Long Song' by Andrea Levy. So far, so good 

I've just finished Room, I thought it was brilliant - a real page turner.

I liked Andrea Levy's Small Island so I may give the Long Song a go.

[her_welshness]

So far have read 'Room' by Emma Donoghue, very good stuff - I think she gets into the mind of the little boy really well.

Have just started reading 'The Long Song' by Andrea Levy. So far, so good 

I've just finished Room, I thought it was brilliant - a real page turner.

I liked Andrea Levy's Small Island so I may give the Long Song a go.

I am pretty certain that you will enjoy 'The Long Song' - I think its already been adapted for the BBC.

Am about 87 pages into 'Parrot and Olivier' (Peter Carey) in America, and it is still doing my head in  Part of me thinks 'dump him, hes not worth it' and the other part is saying 'No, you have got to carry on with the quest' 

[citoyen]

Send it to me - I'll read it for you. I like Peter Carey.

d.

[her_welshness]

Send it to me - I'll read it for you. I like Peter Carey.

d.

I would, with all joy in my heart, except its the libraries' copy  I hope you enjoy it if you read it.

[her_welshness]

Have finished reading 'Parrot and Olivier in America'. I have to say that Peter Carey is a writer of extraordinary imagination, you cannot help admire him for it. But (and you could tell there would be a but), it is awfully hard to engage with and like the characters, and ultimately they are not the easiest books to read.

Next book on the Booker Quest is 'C' by Tom MacCarthy.

[Notsototalnewbie]

I struggle with books where I'm not engaged by, say, the first 100 pages. Even doing Eng Lit at uni, if I really hated a set book I wouldn't finish it if I could get away with not discussing it in a seminar or somesuch, or didn't especially need to include it in an essay. Well done for finishing! I might take a look at the free preview and see what I think. Although the Long Song is next on my list. So many books...

I'm currently in the middle of The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Very good and very readable.

[Mr Larrington]

Agent Of Evolution - a biography of Bill Hicks.

It's crap.  Srsly.  It appears to consist of nine or a dozen of Hicks' friends telling the "author" what drugs they did, and when, and where.

This grow tedious after the second relating of the same incident.

[geoff]

It has made me want to read up a bit of the history.  It seems that the prevailing view (judging by the published histories and biographies, or the Wikipedia summaries of them, at least) of Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell over the last couple of decades have been reversed.  TM in Wolf Hall is not the same TM of A Man for All Seasons.

Might I recommend you add Peter Ackroyd's Life Of Thomas More to your reading list. It's more towards the Man For All Seasons end of the spectrum in its portrayal of More, which may or may not be a good thing depending on where your sympathies lie, but it's a fantastic read.

I've not read Wolf Hall yet but it's high on my list.

d.

resurrecting this... I'm on Wolf Hall at the mo. It's a lovely read.

[BrianI]

I'm currently reading  "Potatoes Not Prozac: How to Control Depression, Food Cravings and Weight Gain" by Kathleen Desmaisons .

Interesting reading so far!

[her_welshness]

I struggle with books where I'm not engaged by, say, the first 100 pages. Even doing Eng Lit at uni, if I really hated a set book I wouldn't finish it if I could get away with not discussing it in a seminar or somesuch, or didn't especially need to include it in an essay. Well done for finishing! I might take a look at the free preview and see what I think. Although the Long Song is next on my list. So many books...

I'm currently in the middle of The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Very good and very readable.

It is bloody hard work reading something that you are not into. If I were you NSTN I would not bother with Carey's book.

'The Help' is one of the most reserved books in the library (the most reserved one at the moment is 'A journey' by T. Blair  ) - I am looking forward to reading that one when I can get my hands of it.

I was going to read 'C' by Tom MacCarthy but I felt so weighed down by the massive tome of Carey's that I have opted to read 'In a Strange Room' by Galgut. Its all about travel, but very much inverted upon itself. Most travelogues and books are normally uplifting and generally approving about the type of travel involved, this is more about the hardships of travel, both as a group, with a singular travelling companion and having to baby-sit someone else. Not bad at all.

[Zoidburg]

The Blood Meridian

Not quite at the end but I think the Judge is the actual devil leading men astray to meet their doom in the desert.

[Deano]

The Little Red Rider - a list of amusing, incredible and otherwise items bands have added to their riders.

The best so far (if not ever) is Iggy Pop:

A sharp knife
Chinese gunpowder tea
A monitor man who speaks good English and is not afraid of death
Seven dwarves
a Bob Hope Impersonator
An English language newspaper

[Riggers]

This thing of Darkness (Harry Thompson)

27 pages in and I'm-a-luvin' it. Thought about getting it from Amazon, then traipsed up to local 2nd-hand shop. Bingo. They had it for £2.

This Thing of Darkness: Amazon.co.uk: Harry Thompson: Books

[Riggers]

And, currently listening (or more accurately, Listening Again) to Harry's narration of his book about cricket, on the radio right now, only to hear the introduction as by … the late Harry Thompson. And what a shame it is, when you read the obituary below. The untimely death. What he died of, and how sad to be married on the day you die.

This time, a tearful 'smiley' just won't do it for me.

Harry Thompson | Times Online Obituary

[jogler]

I should be reading Mark Beaumont's "The Man Who Cycled Round the World" courtesy of this forum's lending library but mrs. jogler got to the post-delivery first & hasn't yet put it down
It must be good 'cause she is reading it avidly;something she very rarely does

I finally have the book

[her_welshness]

I have finished reading 'In a Strange Room', I highly recommend it. And its bloody short too!

Thats 4 out of 6 books read, 2 more to go. Next one to read will definitely be 'C' by Tom McCarthy - in the last few days it has had thousands of pounds in bets placed on it as potential winner. 5 days to go!

[her_welshness]

Still in Booker Prize territory, this link here is about a village in Scotland that read and rated the shortlisted books:

BBC iPlayer - The Culture Show: Britain's Biggest Book Prize: A Village Decides

Am about 50 pages into 'C' at the mo, its challenging and am finding it hard to get its context.

Sad to say that I will probably not be able to finish all 6 books now as 'The Finkler Question' is not within my grasp yet, there is still time though!

[Palinurus]

Lanark, A life in four Books by Alisdair Gray

One day I'll finish it. I've had that one hanging around for years.