What book are you reading atm??

4Ad

The High Hills of Portugal by Yann Martel, (who also wrote Life of Pi)
Very strange but still a good read.

Cheshire Cat

Just finished Emotionally Weird by Kate Atkinson. Pretty random, but also engrossing. I enjoyed it!
Thought it was better than Behind the Scenes at the Museum

Ipso

Just started The Grapes of Wrath.

gutenberg

Ipso wrote: »

Just started The Grapes of Wrath.

Love Steinbeck!

I've started Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing, a novel following successive generations from west Africa, through slavery, and into modern times. It's good so far, if harrowing in places.

Dial Hard

Dial Hard wrote: »

A Book of American Martyrs by Joyce Carol Oates. The protagonist is a racist, sexist, bigoted evangelical Christian whom I thoroughly hate. I'm bet into it.

Well after getting off to a promising start this ended up being an utter chore to read, so much so that I only finished it at the weekend and I normally read at a ferocious rate.

Oates used a couple of really clumsy devices constantly throughout the book and it all just got very tiresome. The focus also shifted onto two other characters who were just plain annoying. I really couldn't recommend it, at all.

I'm re-reading Stephen King's Joyland for a break after that odyssey, and then it'll be The Earlie King and the Kid in Yellow, which is post-apocalyptic fiction set in Ireland and looks like it might be a bit challenging, but hopefully no Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing because, quite frankly, my brain can't take it after 700-odd pages of Oates trying to be literary.

Sandor Clegane

Just about to start the road.

Witchie

gutenberg wrote: »

Love Steinbeck!

I've started Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing, a novel following successive generations from west Africa, through slavery, and into modern times. It's good so far, if harrowing in places.

Loved that book. Read it a few months ago and it is heart wrenchingly beautiful.

Ipso

Sandor Clegane wrote: »

Just about to start the road.

I must re-read this. I read it before I had children, I'm sure I'll have a different perspective now.

Thargor

Grapes of Wrath is probably my favourite book, the writing is amazing. East of Eden also well worth a read.

Ipso

I loved East of Eden and Of Mice and Men. A few chapters into The Grapes of Wrath now, it hasn't grabbed me straight away like East of Eden did.
I like the way the geography of the area in both books is almost like a character in itself.

the purple tin

Thargor wrote: »

Grapes of Wrath is probably my favourite book, the writing is amazing. East of Eden also well worth a read.

Cannery Row is a good one too.

Daisy78

Grief is the thing with feathers by Max Porter. It's been on my reading list forever but only getting around to it now.

JohnnyFlash

Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain. An entertaining read about how bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are a complete scam, and an ecological disaster.

quintana76

Am reading Alan Furst at the moment. Just bought a new one of his book. Have just finished the last one. Missed reading him. He creates a brilliant evocation of France (particularly Paris) and of Eastern Europe during the interwar and WWII period. Some say he is an acquired taste, I find otherwise. His books don't always end with a bang and with all strings neatly tied up but that is part of the appeal. Very impressive atmospheric recreation of time and place with imperfect protagonists. A bit Eric Ambler but with a very unique style specific to the author.

Carry

quintana76 wrote: »

Am reading Alan Furst at the moment. Just bought a new one of his book. Have just finished the last one. Missed reading him. He creates a brilliant evocation of France (particularly Paris) and of Eastern Europe during the interwar and WWII period. Some say he is an acquired taste, I find otherwise. His books don't always end with a bang and with all strings neatly tied up but that is part of the appeal. Very impressive atmospheric recreation of time and place with imperfect protagonists. A bit Eric Ambler but with a very unique style specific to the author.

Thanks for the reminder, I completely forgot about him. I enjoyed his books immensely. Must look what's new since the last book I've read (it's years ago).

Currently I'm reading the Celcius Daly series by Anthony J. Quinn. It's about a catholic PSNI-detective working murders in the borderlands of Northern Ireland, always coming across dead bodies and other crimes from the past, that resonate until today, mixed in with all the bigotry that still prevails up North.
I'm on the third book and not sure yet if I really like them. Still I keep on reading, just for the historical aspect. The stories are gripping, but very, very dark. Sometimes I need to read the joke thread on AH in between to be able to smile again ...

Neames

Phantom

From the Harry Hole series.

So far so good.

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor, decent read could see it being made into a movie or tv show

branie2

Just finished a novel called Sepulchre by Kate Mosse, a mystery novel set in France during the 19th and 21st centuries.

Cheshire Cat

branie2 wrote: »

Just finished a novel called Sepulchre by Kate Mosse, a mystery novel set in France during the 19th and 21st centuries.

Loved that book!

Mangan_Liam

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt. Have it a few years now and hadn't had the chance to read it yet. Quality read so far - would recommend

Carry

Mangan_Liam wrote: »

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt. Have it a few years now and hadn't had the chance to read it yet. Quality read so far - would recommend

I love all the books by Donna Tartt (well, she only wrote three so far), but this one is her best, imo. It's quite a tome, but the story unfolds in such a gripping, though slow way and is so thoughtfully written and well-worded that it's a pure pleasure.

Her books combine high literature with excellent storytelling, including lots of food for thought.

Highly recommended!
As are the other two ("The Secret History", "The Little Friend").

Means Of Escape

God is not great by Christopher Hitchens
Pure genius

indioblack

A friend of mine is obsessed with Conn Iggulden and he's given me the books about Julius Caesar, The Wars of the Roses and the Mongol empire.
I'm just finishing the last of the Mongol books. Quite brutal - understandably, given the periods in history encompassed by the books.
A helluva a lot of reading - I found I was suffering from information overkill. I felt after five lengthy books on the Wars of the Roses that I knew a little more about the period - but most of it had been lost in the reading!
I'm trying to decide if Iggulden is a very good author or simply a prolific one.
In return I gave my friend Eagle in the Snow by Wallace Breem. As expected, my friend complained that there was too much story and not enough blood and gore!

Manic Moran

Canister! On! Fire!

A rather obscure, but a few chapters in so far, very encompassing and well researched book (two volumes) on Royal Australian Armoured Corps operations in Vietnam.

yeppydeppy

I have just finished A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - it's now one of my favourite books ever.

Dial Hard

Ray Bradbury, The Illustrated Man. Literally only starting it so haven't formed any opinion yet.

8mv

The Temporary Gentlemanby Sebastian Barry. All the components are there - good story, well written as you would expect, but for some reason it left me cold.
Just starting The Road To Little Dribling by Bill Bryson.

Kitty6277

I'm reading Origin by Dan Brown right now. Enjoying it so far!

Hande hoche!

Manic Moran wrote: »

Canister! On! Fire!

A rather obscure, but a few chapters in so far, very encompassing and well researched book (two volumes) on Royal Australian Armoured Corps operations in Vietnam.

Out of interest do they cover that tank that was used in a nuclear test and went on to see service in Vietnam?

Ipso

indioblack wrote: »

A friend of mine is obsessed with Conn Iggulden and he's given me the books about Julius Caesar, The Wars of the Roses and the Mongol empire.
I'm just finishing the last of the Mongol books. Quite brutal - understandably, given the periods in history encompassed by the books.
A helluva a lot of reading - I found I was suffering from information overkill. I felt after five lengthy books on the Wars of the Roses that I knew a little more about the period - but most of it had been lost in the reading!
I'm trying to decide if Iggulden is a very good author or simply a prolific one.
In return I gave my friend Eagle in the Snow by Wallace Breem. As expected, my friend complained that there was too much story and not enough blood and gore!

The Wars of the Roses is fascinating, I enjoyed his books but even with him omitting stuff, I found there are way too many characters to keep track of.
I'm not too crazy about his writing, I much prefer Bernard Cornwell.