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This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Sammy Jennings

...continued from this thread

A Good School by Richard Yates

Slight, but some great moments

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AnnyHallsal

I'm enjoying two books at the moment. Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch. And the totally magical Bestiary, The Book of Barely Imagined Beings :eek:

IvyTheTerrible

I finished "A Long Road to Freedom", Nelson Mandela's autobiography. Really excellent read, I learned so much about how his politics developed. A must-read.

Now I'm about a third of the way through "Dominion" by CS Samson, it's great so far.

Call Me Jimmy

AnnyHallsal wrote: »

I'm enjoying two books at the moment. Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch. And the totally magical Bestiary, The Book of Barely Imagined Beings :eek:

I like the title, a good description of humans, but what could I expect from it? Can you give a bit more info, opinion?

emeraldstar

Recently finished Jeremy Paxman's The English: A Portrait of a People.

Now on to Lady's Chatterley's Lover. Just over a third of the way through this one and really enjoying it so far.

Wyldwood

Finished Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and really enjoyed it. An insight into the lives of a family trying to survive in the tenements of Brooklyn in the early 20th century and their determination not to let it define them.

Now reading Stoner by John Williams. Almost half way through and it's a very good read although Stoner is quite a sad, lonely character.

SarahBM

Just finished No Country for Old Men. Can't say I liked it. Lack of quotation marks is extremely annoying and frustrating.
On to the Contractors. And maybe Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.

Jijsaw

Currently on part 2 of 'A Clockwork Orange' by Anthony Burgess. The slang at the beginning was slightly off-putting but now I'm finding it brilliant

Callan57

Finished The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt ... disappointing, not at all in the same league as The Secret History or The Little Friend. IMO it could have done with being edited to about 500 pages.

Next for me is Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Finished The Book Thief last night.

It took a while to get into it but once the character of Max arrived I was hooked. The last 60 or so pages broke my heart though

It may have been the late hour I was reading or the fact I've been sick for a few days but yeah.... so sad

Huzzah!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Finished The Book Thief last night.

It took a while to get into it but once the character of Max arrived I was hooked. The last 60 or so pages broke my heart though It may have been the late hour I was reading or the fact I've been sick for a few days but yeah.... so sad

I loved this book, too, but it certainly is a tearjerker. For that reason, I'm a bit trepidatious about the film release next month.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Huzzah! wrote: »

I loved this book, too, but it certainly is a tearjerker. For that reason, I'm a bit trepidatious about the film release next month.

Same. If they get it right then the whole cinema will be a devastated mess, if they get it wrong the whole cinema will be a devastated mess

Wyldwood

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

It took a while to get into it but once the character of Max arrived I was hooked. The last 60 or so pages broke my heart though It may have been the late hour I was reading or the fact I've been sick for a few days but yeah.... so sad

I loved The Book Thief and must say the film is very true to the book and well worth watching.

I finished Stoner and it's another book that draws on the emotions. A beautifully written simple story of one man's life with all it's hopes, disappointments and regrets.

smokedeels

I've had a notion to read some "children's classics" that I didn't read as a kid. I've recently enjoyed Alice in Wonderland ("Take care of the sense, and the sounds will take care of themselves" is the quote that's stuck with me, I felt it unlocked the rest of the story for me) and Treasure Island (impossible to put down....missed a few bus stops because of it).

Can anyone recommend some more? Adventures with fantasy elements would be preferred.

...back in the world of Adult Fiction, I'm reading Another Country by James Baldwin. I'd highly recommend it.

Monkeybonkers

smokedeels wrote: »

I've had a notion to read some "children's classics" that I didn't read as a kid. I've recently enjoyed Alice in Wonderland ("Take care of the sense, and the sounds will take care of themselves" is the quote that's stuck with me, I felt it unlocked the rest of the story for me) and Treasure Island (impossible to put down....missed a few bus stops because of it).

Can anyone recommend some more? Adventures with fantasy elements would be preferred.

...back in the world of Adult Fiction, I'm reading Another Country by James Baldwin. I'd highly recommend it.

I recently read Robinson Crusoe and loved it. Was surprised at how much of the story I didn't know. Well worth the read.

Also Last of the Mohicans. Another one that I enjoyed.

SarahBM

Monkeybonkers wrote: »

I recently read Robinson Crusoe and loved it. Was surprised at how much of the story I didn't know. Well worth the read.

Also Last of the Mohicans. Another one that I enjoyed.

would that be classed as a childrens classic?? :eek:

Maybe its just me but I found it incredibly difficult to read. I didnt really like it tbh.

not really enjoying the Contractors. I find it boring. but I want to finish it.
Im getting a train tomorrow so hopefully I will get a good chunk read. Bringing Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, just in case I end up giving up on the Contractors.

Aenaes

smokedeels wrote: »

Treasure Island (impossible to put down....missed a few bus stops because of it).

Can anyone recommend some more? Adventures with fantasy elements would be preferred.

Treasure Island is fantastic. How about Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, The Three Musketeers and The Swiss Family Robinson?

SarahBM

Aenaes wrote: »

Treasure Island is fantastic. How about Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, The Three Musketeers and The Swiss Family Robinson?

Again, is The Three Musketeers a childrens book? personally I wouldnt have thought so. But it is a great book.

Childhood Classics - Roald Dahl.

Monkeybonkers

SarahBM wrote: »

would that be classed as a childrens classic?? :eek:

I got it as a book prize in first year in secondary school so I presumed that it was. Sorry for shocking you so much

Aenaes

I think all the stories mentioned have been printed as children's classics. Another two are Jules Verne's Around The World In Eighty Days and Journey To The Centre Of The Earth.

smokedeels

I have a copy of Three Musketeers, I think it'll fit nicely after Treasure Island.

I guess I can always dumb the wording down if my inner-child has problems with comprehension.

MagicMarker

I wouldn't call The Three Musketeers a children's book at all.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

What about The Secret Garden as a children's classic?

I'm currently reading The Thing About December. Man, it's hard going. It's quite funny in places, dark humour, but it's bleak, and sad, and depressingly realistic. I'm only at June but I'm already thinking about hitting the bottle to get me through.

I saw it compared to the film Garage in this thread and I'd say that's pretty spot on.

SarahBM

smokedeels wrote: »

I have a copy of Three Musketeers, I think it'll fit nicely after Treasure Island.

I guess I can always dumb the wording down if my inner-child has problems with comprehension.

I just meant that personally I find things translated from other languages hard going. Especially French. I think I would probably enjoy the three musketeers more now that I'm older.
I have the secret garden but haven't had a chance to read it yet.

Tom Joad

Loved Secret Garden as a kid. Another "Children's classic" to throw out there is Swallows and Amazons by Ransome.

Callan57

Gulliver's Travels ... read it as a child & reread about 2 years ago & loved it again

Monkeybonkers

+1 for Gullivers Travels. Read it recently too and loved it

diddlybit

I am reading nothing...and have not for at least a week. I am wracked with guilt over it.

Wyldwood

Finished The Light Between the Oceans.

The concept of the plot is very good and the pacing of the story is well done. The atmosphere & isolation of the island is described beautifully. However, the dialogue is very clumsy in places and doesn't flow well. It does raise some interesting questions about the moral dilemma of the situation Tom & Izzy found themselves in.

adrian522

Currently reading the Star of the Sea by Joe O'Connor.

It's really a great book, the writing is beautiful and the story is told via a few different methods(different peoples POV, letters to family members, the ship captains log, newspaper reports etc). It also gives good insight into the Ireland of the time.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Redemption Falls is also very good. Very very loosely a sequel to Star of the Sea but written in a similar style.