This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Merkin · 26-02-2013 10:59pm

Half way through The Seamstress by Maria Duenas and thoroughly enjoying it. Just finished The Sacrificial Man by Ruth Dugdall and did not enjoy it at ALL!

IvyTheTerrible · 27-02-2013 11:04am

Just finished Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell and now onto Affinity by Sarah Watters.

adrian522 · 28-02-2013 2:52pm

adrian522 wrote: »

Moving on, I've now started The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt. I noticed some positive reviews earlier in this thread. It's incredibly easy to read, has a great pace about it and so far seems to be very interesting.

Have to say I really enjoyed this, it was very well paced, the characters were very likable and it was easy to read.

Currently reading Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan

Has anyone read it?

machiavelli99 · 28-02-2013 3:06pm

This week i am reading White Noise by Don Delillo. I read about the book in one of David Foster wallace's essays in "A Supposedly fun thing I'll never do again". White Noise was published in 1984 and its easy to see how this book influenced the likes of Franzen and DFW, i highly recommend it.

mackthefinger · 01-03-2013 9:19pm

adrian522 wrote: »

Currently reading Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan

Has anyone read it?

Read it for a book club and really enjoyed it. Very atmospheric and I remember
enjoying the language in it. One of the better books we've covered.

littlema · 01-03-2013 11:24pm

I'm not sure about-Sebastian Faulks' "A day in December".....a tad scattered and the ending was criminal......but it did make me ponder on some of the topics raised.

What did ye think??

Callan57 · 01-03-2013 11:39pm

little ma wrote: »

I'm not sure about-Sebastian Faulks' "A day in December".....a tad scattered and the ending was criminal......but it did make me ponder on some of the topics raised.

What did ye think??

I liked it but possibly not quite as good as Birdsong or A Possible Life which I thought were truly fantastic books. I think I've read everything Sebastian Faulks has written & he has never disappointed me. Some of the themes in Human Traces still keep me awake at night!

SarahBM · 02-03-2013 12:24am

Going to read To Kill a Mocking Bird for informal book club. does it count as a club if only 2 people are reading the book? mmm.

Has anyone gone to the Light House and chapters bookclub/film club thing. dying to go but I dont really want to go on my own.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 02-03-2013 1:04pm

After finally wading my way through the stinking pile of poop that was Madame Bovary I read Tell The Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt. I adored it. After Bovary I would have enjoyed a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, but I still think it was great. It was the kind of book that I could have read from cover to cover in one sitting because I kept wanting to read on, but at the same time I wanted to only read it a page or a chapter at a time because I wanted it to go on for as long as possible.
Goodreads has it tagged as "young adult" but I'm not sure it is. It's about a "young adult", I guess, but having read The Fault in Our Stars recently, which is very much young adult, I'd say Tell The Wolves... is far and away above that kind of book.

Callan57 · 02-03-2013 11:46pm

Next for me is Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

AnnyHallsal · 03-03-2013 11:04am

Stephen Grosz, The Examined Life

Catherine! · 03-03-2013 12:13pm

TimeRiders book 4 - The Eternal War, by Alex Scarrow

highlydebased · 03-03-2013 1:02pm

Have a bit of a let up in the reading for college so I've started "Never let me Go"- Ishiguro

Say it Aint So · 03-03-2013 7:58pm

Lucky Jim- Kingsley Amis

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 03-03-2013 8:15pm

Have started into The Cove by Ron Rash. Like it so far, nice style of writing, very easy to read.

marienbad · 03-03-2013 8:35pm

I just curious- a number of posters have used the expression ''easy to read'' in a complementary sense - is this a factor then in choosing books ?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 03-03-2013 10:59pm

marienbad wrote: »

I just curious- a number of posters have used the expression ''easy to read'' in a complementary sense - is this a factor then in choosing books ?

Can't speak for others but what I meant by that, in relation to this particular book, is that the writing flows very well. It's very easy to get into it and just keep reading and reading.

Something like Redemption Falls or Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor have a very unique style, switching between narrators, extracts from newspapers, historical accounts, etc. and I found them quite difficult to really get into them. It took quite a few chapters to get a real handle on the story. They were worth it once I did, but I wouldn't describe them as "easy to read".

I wouldn't say it's a factor in choosing a book, mainly because you can't really tell if they are before you read them, but personally I find it a bonus if there's a good story accompanied by a nice writing style.

baconsarnie · 04-03-2013 11:18am

Say it Aint So wrote: »

Lucky Jim- Kingsley Amis

Really enjoyed this-genuinely hilarious stuff

Finised Budapest Chico Buarque there a few days ago. Magical

Started I, Claudius by Robert Graves a day ago.

Slattsy · 04-03-2013 12:33pm

Picked up Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.

Seems to have a few decent reviews, so i'll give it a whirl and report back.

Tom Joad · 04-03-2013 9:33pm

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Can't speak for others but what I meant by that, in relation to this particular book, is that the writing flows very well. It's very easy to get into it and just keep reading and reading.

Something like Redemption Falls or Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor have a very unique style, switching between narrators, extracts from newspapers, historical accounts, etc. and I found them quite difficult to really get into them. It took quite a few chapters to get a real handle on the story. They were worth it once I did, but I wouldn't describe them as "easy to read".

I wouldn't say it's a factor in choosing a book, mainly because you can't really tell if they are before you read them, but personally I find it a bonus if there's a good story accompanied by a nice writing style.

Great post - would agree 100% with that

IvyTheTerrible · 05-03-2013 9:47am

Just finished Affinity by Sarah Watters, great stuff.

Now reading The Best Man to Die by Ruth Rendell, nice little murder mystery.

Callan57 · 06-03-2013 12:39am

Finished Mystic River ... absolutely brilliant.

Next will be Sacrilege by S J Parris

AnnyHallsal · 06-03-2013 8:56am

Philip Roth, American Pastoral.

Roth.

Meathlass · 06-03-2013 12:39pm

AnnyHallsal wrote: »

Philip Roth, American Pastoral. Roth.

Great Book

OakeyDokey · 06-03-2013 12:39pm

Started The Host.. It's from thr same author as the Twilight Saga. I'm enjoying it so far

Compu Global Hyper Meganet · 06-03-2013 9:40pm

AnnyHallsal wrote: »

Philip Roth, American Pastoral. Roth.

Great book, excellent choice.

emeraldstar · 07-03-2013 1:45am

Reading my first Stephen King novel: Pet Sematary.

Monkeybonkers · 08-03-2013 12:00am

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

marienbad · 08-03-2013 12:11am

Meathlass wrote: »

Great Book

Indeed ,one of the greatest American novels.

Belle E. Flops · 08-03-2013 12:12am

Monkeybonkers wrote: »

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Absolutely loved this book. My dog ended up eating it so must get another copy!

marienbad · 08-03-2013 12:14am

Now on part 3 of 1Q84- still mesmerising. Also reading On The Natural History Of Destruction by W.G.Sebald- he really is such an extraordinary writer.

Sephiroth_dude · 08-03-2013 8:37pm

The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury by Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga

Callan57 · 10-03-2013 1:32pm

Going to start HHhH by Laurent Binet today ... it's the weather for a bleak read

marienbad · 11-03-2013 1:11am

The New York Trilogy- Paul Auster

baconsarnie · 11-03-2013 11:05am

Callan57 wrote: »

Going to start HHhH by Laurent Binet today ... it's the weather for a bleak read

I'd be interested in how you found it- I thought it was an outstanding read (but I don't know many people who have read it)

a0ifee · 11-03-2013 11:19pm

Been around two months now, and I'm still reading Les Miserables..still on Fantine! Slowly but surely, getting there...

Callan57 · 11-03-2013 11:42pm

baconsarnie wrote: »

I'd be interested in how you found it- I thought it was an outstanding read (but I don't know many people who have read it)

I'm roughly a third of the way into it and I agree it is outstanding & really a gripping read. Not having heard or read any opinions or reviews of it I have to admit I picked it up purely on the basis of the intriguing title - not my usual method of selecting a book but there you go. Anyway must get back to it.

eire4 · 12-03-2013 5:57pm

Finished a re read of Michael Connelly's The Last Coyote.

Tom Joad · 12-03-2013 9:15pm

a0ifee wrote: »

Been around two months now, and I'm still reading Les Miserables..still on Fantine! Slowly but surely, getting there...

Stick with it's only warming up now

Paddy Samurai · 13-03-2013 12:10am

Part 2.
Set 100 years after " WolfsAngel", hopefully with more Werewolves and dark magic .About 3 chapters in , and liking it so far.........................

The Vikings are laying siege to Paris. As the houses on the banks of the Seine burn a debate rages in the Cathedral on the walled island of the city proper. The situation is hopeless. The Vikings want the Count's sister, in return they will spare the rest of the city. Can the Count really have ambitions to be Emperor of the Franks if he doesn't do everything he can to save his people? Can he call himself a man if he doesn't do everything he can to save his sister? His conscience demands one thing, the demands of state another. The Count and the church are relying on the living saint, the blind and crippled Jehan of St Germain, to enlist the aid of God and resolve the situation for them. But the Vikings have their own gods. And outside their camp a terrifying brother and sister, priests of Odin, have their own agenda. An agenda of darkness and madness. And in the shadows a wolfman lurks. M.D. Lachlan's stunning epic of mad Gods, Vikings and the myth of Fenrir, the wolf destined to kill Odin at Ragnarok, powers forward into new territories of bloody horror, unlikely heroism, dangerous religion and breathtaking action.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO · 13-03-2013 1:13am

I've been reading Shall We Gather At The River by Peter Murphy.

I don't know what to make of it. It's written in a really weird way. It's almost like reading the non dialogue bits of a screen play, if that makes sense. Almost like a voice over, just giving you very small bits of information, and very distinct scenes. It jumps through time, switches to different characters, I'm not sure I like it to be honest.

IvyTheTerrible · 13-03-2013 11:38am

Dodger by Terry Pratchett.

It's the "real" story of the Artful Dodger from Oliver Twist. It's not Discworld but I can see how Ankh Morpork was inspired by Dickensian London.

Really enjoying it so far.

adrian522 · 13-03-2013 11:41am

adrian522 wrote: »

Have to say I really enjoyed this, it was very well paced, the characters were very likable and it was easy to read.

Currently reading Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan

Has anyone read it?

Finished out this last night. It was an enjoyable read, some of the prose really put you in the locations being described but the ending left a bit to be desired, plenty of outstanding questions that were left hanging etc. Not a bad book, but not great either.

Now going to start Seven Deadly Sins by David Walsh about Lance Armstrong and all that.

Meathlass · 14-03-2013 2:58pm

adrian522 wrote: »

Now going to start Seven Deadly Sins by David Walsh about Lance Armstrong and all that.

Really enjoyed reading this. Felt it tailed off a bit by the end though. Almost as if he got bored of talking about it though it's probably the result of the book being rushed out after the UCI ruling.

Callan57 · 14-03-2013 3:34pm

Nothing to read at lunch so picked up Two Pints by Roddy Doyle ... good laugh, only 89 pages so I'll probably finish it on the way home

eire4 · 16-03-2013 5:59pm

Finished a re read of Michael Connelly's The Poet his first non Harry Bosh novel and probably the best of his early books.

Callan57 · 16-03-2013 6:56pm

The Weekend by Bernhard Schlink

Courtesy Flush · 18-03-2013 1:45am

Reading "The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga

Callan57 · 18-03-2013 2:50pm

Tonight I'm starting Foreign Bodies by Cynthia Ozick

eire4 · 18-03-2013 5:18pm

Finished a re read of Michael Connelly's Trunk Music this weekend.

This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

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