This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Belle E. Flops · 18-04-2014 3:14pm

I am currently reading Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Absolutely love it.

It's so imaginative and one of those books that has me torn whether to fly through it and see how the story unfolds or to read it slowly and just savour it.

beauty101 · 19-04-2014 12:34am

Just started Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. It's a bit, erhm, weird so far!

Last week I finished Middlemarch, I was reading it for about 3 months (for me that's extremely long as I'm a quick reader), I liked it but found it a tough read and emotionally quite draining!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 21-04-2014 1:28am

Half way through Bereft by Chris Womersley.

Set in Australia just after the end of WW1. Quinn Walker returns to his small town home ten years after he fled from accusations that he raped and murdered his 12 year old sister. He hides out in the bush where he meets a young girl who seems to be living wild out there on her own. She helps him hide and sneak home to visit his dying mother. It soon becomes clear that they share a common enemy and she wants Quinn to do something about it.

I'm loving it so far. I've been reading a lot of Australian books lately, there's something about the settings, especially in Western Australia that I love. This one is ticking along nicely and I've no idea where it's headed. Good stuff so far.

Callan57 · 21-04-2014 11:25pm

Finished The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides ... it was Ok but nothing to get excited about.

Anyway now it's back to Auschwitz which I left aside while on holiday

Rothko · 21-04-2014 11:41pm

I recently finished reading Dubliners which I thought was brilliant.

I've just started The Great Gatsby and I'm enjoying it. Although it seems that popular opinion seems to be divided on it sometimes.

Ipso · 22-04-2014 6:43am

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Half way through Bereft by Chris Womersley.

Set in Australia just after the end of WW1. Quinn Walker returns to his small town home ten years after he fled from accusations that he raped and murdered his 12 year old sister. He hides out in the bush where he meets a young girl who seems to be living wild out there on her own. She helps him hide and sneak home to visit his dying mother. It soon becomes clear that they share a common enemy and she wants Quinn to do something about it.

I'm loving it so far. I've been reading a lot of Australian books lately, there's something about the settings, especially in Western Australia that I love. This one is ticking along nicely and I've no idea where it's headed. Good stuff so far.

Any other Australian recommendations?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 22-04-2014 12:30pm

Ipso wrote: »

Any other Australian recommendations?

Anything by Tim Winton. I loved Cloudstreet, but it seems to divide opinion a lot. Dirt Music was good too and Breath is probably the one I'd say to read if you're only going to read one.

Then there's Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally, not really set in Australia but about Australian nurses in the war.

Looking back through my Goodreads list I haven't read as many as I thought I had. Some I read weren't that great but I still loved the settings. I do have quite a few on a "to read" list so I might get back to you with more in a while

Callan57 · 22-04-2014 4:03pm

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Anything by Tim Winton. I loved Cloudstreet, but it seems to divide opinion a lot. Dirt Music was good too and Breath is probably the one I'd say to read if you're only going to read one.

Then there's Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally, not really set in Australia but about Australian nurses in the war.

Looking back through my Goodreads list I haven't read as many as I thought I had. Some I read weren't that great but I still loved the settings. I do have quite a few on a "to read" list so I might get back to you with more in a while

I second Thomas Keneally and add Colleen McCullough, Markus Zusak, Kate Morton & Kate Grenville to name but a few
oh and Peter Carey

Rory Gallagher · 22-04-2014 4:39pm

Finnegans wake.

bh ., lk biol;''''''''''''''''''

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 22-04-2014 4:59pm

Callan57 wrote: »

I second Thomas Keneally and add Colleen McCullough, Markus Zusak, Kate Morton & Kate Grenville to name but a few
oh and Peter Carey

Hannah Kent's Burial Rites is great too, if we're just naming Australian authors and not books set in Australia.

a0ifee · 22-04-2014 6:59pm

I have officially given up on human traces, it was becoming painful to read. Reading some good old F.Scott Fitzgerald - This Side of Paradise to try and forget that tome!

SarahBM · 22-04-2014 7:23pm

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Hannah Kent's Burial Rites is great too, if we're just naming Australian authors and not books set in Australia.

I have heard a lot of good things about Burial Rites.

Callan57 · 22-04-2014 7:28pm

a0ifee wrote: »

I have officially given up on human traces, it was becoming painful to read. Reading some good old F.Scott Fitzgerald - This Side of Paradise to try and forget that tome!

Sorry to hear that - I though it a profound and amazing read but each to his/her own.

Aenaes · 22-04-2014 7:31pm

Ipso wrote: »

Any other Australian recommendations?

Try Nevil Shute, particulary A Town Like Alice.

I finished Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout, was grand. Typical detective story, one little slip of the tongue was the clue that was pounced on.

Now reading A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin, the second in the series. Have to say, I'm really getting into the mood of the whole world of it and I'm not much for fantasy novels. I especially love the stories of the uprising and how Robert Baratheon won the throne.
This will also be my first proper following of a series since Harry Potter.

Slattsy · 22-04-2014 10:30pm

Giving A Tale of Two Cities another go (wish me luck)

SarahBM · 22-04-2014 10:45pm

Slattsy wrote: »

Giving A Tale of Two Cities another go (wish me luck)

Best of luck!!!

Callan57 · 23-04-2014 10:01am

The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville

IvyTheTerrible · 23-04-2014 12:41pm

Aenaes wrote: »

Try Nevil Shute, particulary A Town Like Alice.

I finished Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout, was grand. Typical detective story, one little slip of the tongue was the clue that was pounced on.

Now reading A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin, the second in the series. Have to say, I'm really getting into the mood of the whole world of it and I'm not much for fantasy novels. I especially love the stories of the uprising and how Robert Baratheon won the throne.
This will also be my first proper following of a series since Harry Potter.

I'd second A Town Like Alice, I loved it!

Bosley1421 · 23-04-2014 12:43pm

Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 23-04-2014 6:11pm

Finished Bereft earlier.

Kind of an abrupt ending but at the same time it was kind of what the whole story was building towards so.... yeah. I really liked it.

Now it's either Dubliners or Room.....

Miss.Mayhem · 23-04-2014 10:46pm

Just started Slam by Nick Hornby.

Rory Gallagher · 24-04-2014 4:41am

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Finished Bereft earlier.

Kind of an abrupt ending but at the same time it was kind of what the whole story was building towards so.... yeah. I really liked it.

Now it's either Dubliners or Room.....

Dubliners!

Wyldwood · 24-04-2014 11:38am

Read George Saunders Tenth of December collection and wasn't that impressed. I liked the Tenth of December story and Victory Lap but I found the rest of the stories very "samey", as in, socially awkward, underprivileged people who were envious of those who had succeeded. Some were disturbingly dark. I didn't really like the stunted style of writing either.

Now reading Burial Rites by Hannah Kent and so far I'm loving it.

Meathlass · 24-04-2014 3:52pm

Just finished 'The Sign of the Cross' by Colm Toibin. Published in 1994. Part travelogue, part autobiographical with the author visiting areas of Catholic Europe in the early 90s. Very interesting and readable and occasionally funny as it was researched just after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

a0ifee · 24-04-2014 4:10pm

Callan57 wrote: »

Sorry to hear that - I though it a profound and amazing read but each to his/her own.

I thought it was beautifully written, but there was nothing in the story that interested me, and I found it pretty difficult to follow. I might come back to it one day :pac:

Paddy Samurai · 25-04-2014 2:13pm

About 150 pages in ,and liking it big time.

It is 1536, and the expert swordsman, Jean Rombaud, has been brought over from France by Henry VIII to behead his wife, Anne Boleyn.

But on the eve of her execution Rombaud swears a vow to the ill-fated queen - to bury her six-fingered hand, symbol of her rumoured witchery, at a sacred crossroads. Yet in a Europe ravaged by religious war, the hand of this infamous Protestant icon is so powerful a relic that many will kill for it...

From a battle between slave galleys to a black mass in a dungeon, through the hallucinations of St Anthony's Fire to the fortress of an apocalyptic Messiah, Jean seeks to honour his vow.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 25-04-2014 2:34pm

Have started Dubliners. Only read a few so far but I like them. Short stories are very hit and miss for me, but these ones are great. They are, as it says on the tin, short stories, but they feel like complete stories not just half ideas as I sometimes find with shorts.

Early days but I think it'll go in the pile with My Oedipus Complex and For Esmé - With Love and Squalor.

Callan57 · 25-04-2014 3:44pm

Finished The Lieutenant - a quick, enjoyable read. If you liked The Secret River you will like The Lieutenant, it covers similar territory.

Now it's on to The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

That_Guy · 25-04-2014 8:53pm

Almost finished Jose Mourinho: The Dark Side Of The Special One by Miguel Torres.

Fascinating insight into Jose Mourinho's time at Real Madrid. I've read sports books/autobiographies before but I've lost count of the amount of times I've uttered the words, "holy sh*t" throughout.

Highly recommended for any football fan or sports fan in general.

Moving on to the Darth Bane trilogy next. Star Wars fiction written by Drew Karpyshyn.

Spanish Eyes · 25-04-2014 9:05pm

How do you all decide what books to read?

I mean what makes you choose a particular book? There a lot of obscure titles in this thread, so I just wondered how you found them!

I hope you understand what I mean. Not many blockbuster/best sellers in the thread! So is it a College/Uni/Bookclub thing, or an interest in a genre or author?

I am amazed at the variety of titles here, many of which I would never have heard of. But many I did and have read.

Maybe a generational thing. But a good book transcends everything, in my book!

This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

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