What Are You Reading Showing 3,301-3,350 of 6,935

[Paul]

Quite the current reads Gavin ☺

[J.S.]

Finished The Spinning Heart,

over too soon and shall eventually read again. Loved it.

[Cathleen]

J.S. wrote: "Finished The Spinning Heart,

over too soon and shall eventually read again. Loved it."

On my to be read pile...moving closer to the top :)

[Allan]

JS, I loved The Spinning Heart when I read it last year, and have had Ryan's latest on my TBR shelf for nearly a year. I think I'm scared to read it in case I'm disappointed, having loved his debut so much.

Cphe, I read the Williams novel during the summer and really enjoyed it. Gerry nominated 'Augustus' by Williams for the monthly read a couple of months ago, and I quite fancied it as well. He was obviously a pretty diverse author when it came to subject matter!

Personally, this afternoon, I finished the audio book of Dylan Landis' 'Rainey Royal', the debut novel of the writer who was in Barbara and Sara's book group. I had fancied this one since Sara had posted info about it prior to release, due to its primary NYC 1970s setting, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'll definitely be looking out for Landis' future work.

I've now started Belfast Noir, and unsurprisingly am loving it, with the settings of the two stories I've read so far being so familiar. I'm particularly looking forward to the Glenn Patterson story, to see how he tackles the crime genre.

[Gavin]

Paul wrote: "Quite the current reads Gavin ☺"

Got to keep sane some how :)

[Cathleen]

I picked up a book at the library the other day--The Black Hour --a debut suspense novel by Lori Rader-Day. A sociology professor is apparently randomly targeted and shot by a university student. He's completely unknown to her, having never taken any courses with her, and the professor and her t.a. try to figure out why. It's listed as a "whydunnit" rather than a whodunnit. So far it's okay...we'll see :)

[Donna]

I finished We Need to Talk About Kevin (and am still haunted by it) and am onto the October monthly read The Barrytown Trilogy: The Commitments / The Snapper / The Van.

[Donna]

Here is a link to 21 Books You Should Have Read By Age 50:

http://www.aarp.org/entertainment/boo...

I've read eight so far, so I'm way behind.

[Susan]

I've read 12 and I would really quibble with some of the choices. The Alchemist is one of the biggest pieces of drivel I've ever read. The author of the article's author one claim to fame was one of her books was picked by Oprah. I haven't really cared for anything she's written.

[Barbara]

I have both the kindle and audiobook of Under the Volcano. I started with the audiobook which is 15 hours but switched to the kindle version. The audiobook is 15 hours but reading my kindle tells me I have less than half that reading time. Also I am finding I get more enjoyment out of reading the prose as much of it is quite beautiful. The narrator's Spanish pronunciation is annoying and quite drawn out. Most of the Spanish in the text are signs and other non-essential things and having it read is unnecessary.

[Seraphina]

Sounds like a good read barbara, I'll wait for your final verdict :)

[Sara]

Last night I finished Locke and Key: Welcome to Lovecraft #1 which is super creepy (making this the perfect time of year to read it). It was perhaps, however, not the best thing to read in bed right before I went to sleep. I'm almost done which The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness It's illuminating and depressing. I also wish it was bit more solution oriented. On my commute to the new job I've been listening to Orphan Train. The audiobook narration bothered me at first. I was also worried that it was going to be a bit too saccharine for me, but I've slowly warmed to it. t. One of the two characters is an Irish immigrant girl, and there are references to Anne of Green Gables, one of my favorite books from childhood. Finally I've started Bad Feminist: Essays. As it is a collection of essays, it should be great to dip in an out of in the evenings even if I don't have much time with the new job.

[Catherine]

Good morning, everyone! If people like "The Orphan Train", I think they'd really like The Chaperone. Have you heard of it? It's the story of a woman who chaperones a character (who was actually a famous star in the US) on a trip to NY, and in addition to the story of the young star and her family, we learn that the chaperone had been born in one of the work houses the Catholic Church had for unmarried mothers and had been chosen to be sent out on a train for adoption. Excellent. I recommend it.

I just finished reading Tara French's Faithful Place. Excellent! and am almost done with Colm Toibin's "Brooklyn" Then I'll start "The Girls from Ames", which is a true story.

[Barbara]

I plan to start Colm Toibin's new book Nora Webster this weekend. BTW BBC radio Books at Bedtime have NOra WEbster currently:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04m7bpf

I saw Toíbín Weds. night and he was brilliant. He gives such erudite responses to the questions. I think that inspired some good to excellent questions beyond "what is your writing process" question which is sooooo boringggg. Yes, I am being a snob. Actually I don't mind if a younger person asks this, but I know one person who is well past 50, and she asks this question all the time. Luckily she wasn't there. She also complains that contemporary Irish novels are all depressing. I have encouraged her to set up her own Maeve Binchy book club. I read all of Maeve's books and agree with Donal Ryan who just said when here in DC she was a very good writer. I would say the "Irish novels are too depressing" crowd tends to be Americans who join because they identify with being Irish not because they particularly like Irish novelists. Having 1/8th Irish ancestry or whatever has nothing to do with liking the literature. Imagine how that would limit one's reading if you had to have an ancestral connection to the country of origin of the writer. I guess it's our American obsession with ancestry and justifying a link to Ireland. I suspect Irish people are more polite in the face of this than I am. But we Yanks like to be blunt and confrontational, and say things like "what a load of cr_p". OK - soap box is being put away as I am off topic.
BTW, Nora Webster promises to be both sad, but also a beautiful read (or listen). Fair warning to those who want happy clappy books.

[J.S.]

happy clappy ! * smirk *

I'd really like a novel that gives a free lobotomy and will induce a stupor so that ebola, ISIS, the ricocheting stock market, and yes, the new water charges in Ireland; can all be forgotten with every line. Plus it has to have the smell of peat on a scratch-and-sniff tab inside the front cover.

Let me know if anyone finds this.

[Cathleen]

Barbara wrote: "I plan to start Colm Toibin's new book Nora Webster this weekend. BTW BBC radio Books at Bedtime have NOra WEbster currently:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04m7bpf

I saw Toíbín Weds. night and ..."

Lucky you, Barbara, to hear Colm Toibin. I heard him on a podcast a year or so ago, and it was the best 40 minutes of my week.

I think those who complain that Irish novels are too depressing are probably the same people who complain that "literature" (as opposed to popular fiction) is too depressing. On the whole, Americans don't read very many novels per year, so although your acquaintance reads regularly, her response reminds me of comments from people who read infrequently.

[J.S.]

Cathleen wrote: "...On the whole, Americans don't read very many novels per year, so although your acquaintance reads regularly, her response reminds me of comments from people who read infrequently. ..."

Hmmmm. Not sure about that as a generalization. I prefer collecting jfk ashtrays on trips to Killarney. Killarney, the home of gourmet irish food like pizza.

Or should that be, peat-za?

The big publisher model looks more like, let's sell 5 or 10 million of this at Walmart, call it a bestseller ( despite the number of unsold returns and thus trees killed for no good reason ) and then the Irish chain booksellers will stock that bestseller. Right up front on the tables, the paid space.

We work very hard to export the worst of our US culture. Not our fault when the world flocks to buy it. ....Is it ?

On my way out of Dub airport, I can purchase the finest of latest oirish "bestsellers", usually a certain mind-numbing quality to them. A decade ago it was chicklit written by daughters of government figures, all about shopping for lattes and designer handbags on Grafton Street. Really enlightening literature.

Also on the way out of Dub airport, one can stock up on hardened chocolates past their sellby, dubious personal scents, scratchy Aran sweaters, green fuzzy leprechauns made in Korea, and *thankgod* real uisce. Not your fault. ... Is it?

[Cathleen]

J.S. wrote: "Cathleen wrote: "...On the whole, Americans don't read very many novels per year, so although your acquaintance reads regularly, her response reminds me of comments from people who read infrequentl..."

Hi J.S., My comment about Americans' reading habits are based, in part, on a Pew Research survey done last year. I thought it was an interesting snapshot of the state of reading. http://www.pewinternet.org/2014/01/16...

[Cathleen]

Emma wrote: "That's probably true Cathleen. Some people just aren't into depressing books. They prefer the lighter reads which is fair enough. Personally I like a bit of mix depending on what mood I'm in, but t..."

I do, too. That's part of the reason why I like mysteries so much; the older mysteries generally include some righting of wrongs and all that. I couldn't exist on a reading diet of Kafka and Coetzee, as much as I admire their writing :)

[J.S.]

zzz--- tooo many raw numbers and graphs.

Am trying to make it through Eimear McBride's novel, which I call Half-Finished based on predicting that I certainly ain't never gonna finish it.

Actually, the Pew raw data looks more flattering than numbers seen elsewhere, that a fair % of adults have not read any book since high school. Many Yanks don't read. If you've tried to date the average male here lately, they think the menu at Hooter's is a book. ( I consider it neither a menu nor a book.)

[Barbara]

Cathleen wrote: "Emma wrote: "That's probably true Cathleen. Some people just aren't into depressing books. They prefer the lighter reads which is fair enough. Personally I like a bit of mix depending on what mood ..."

Pew polls are considered among the best and this is interesting. It shows that a higher percentage of black Americans have read a book in the last year than white Americans. Judging by my local library (and this is a very mixed area) plenty of people of all races/ ethnicities use it. Therefore you don't necessarily have to have a budget for books - just a way to get to the library.

Emma - I will say that the large crowd who showed up for Toíbín, was at least white-haired and older folks, had a fair number of younger people there (20-30's) there as well. It bodes well for the future of this kind if writing, but Washington is a city full of readers.

[Cathleen]

Barbara wrote: "Cathleen wrote: "Emma wrote: "That's probably true Cathleen. Some people just aren't into depressing books. They prefer the lighter reads which is fair enough. Personally I like a bit of mix depend..."

It's a strong argument for the importance of public libraries. I also thought the info on the types of books people read: print, e-books, audiobooks was really interesting, too.

[Trelawn]

@ Emma Paul informed me that the next book in the Austen Project will be Emma by Alexander McCall Smith. I'll definitely be reading that. I also have Northanger Abbey by Val Mc Dermid to read.

[Trelawn]

Well as it's getting close-ish to christmas we have a book buying embargo of sorts in our house so I may not get it as soon as it comes out. But I am enjoying the Scotland Street series a lot so it'll be interesting to see what he doea with Emma.

[Trelawn]

Yeah we'll see what Santa says :-)

[J.S.]

IF anyone else tried this, please comment. The choppy flow is schizophrenogenic.

[J.S.]

Not the word I used. Not referring to the character, but the style.

Imo, the average adolescent does not have this disjointed a thought process. The style is distracting and affected.

[pauline_nlp]

I will read "Emma" by Jane Austen in the plane while my travel to NYC :D

[Paul]

Enjoy Pauline . The trip will be great

[Trelawn]

Enjoy the book and your trip Pauline :-)

[Paul]

Finished the Commitments so I'll get stuck into The Vanishing Witch by Karen Maitland now ☺

[Barbara]

I decided to read Derry The Troubled Years by Eamon Melaugh which I got free in 2007 on Irish Book Day. Melaugh was a photographer but stopped taking pictures related to the Troubles in the early 1970's as it took such a toll. It is a good followup to Shadows on Our Skin which I finished this week.
I also started Nora Webster by Colm Toíbín this morning.

[Paul]

7 years on the shelf before reading. Thats a sign of a decent tbr ☺

[Barbara]

Paul wrote: "7 years on the shelf before reading. Thats a sign of a decent tbr ☺"

:) also some books are better read in context:)

[Paul]

Absolutely . It makes sense . Uts akso goid to know there are others out there with books wauting a few years for reading ☺

[Seraphina]

Paul had developed a new language lol ;)

[Paul]

Ouch. Fat fingers on a phone keypad can be disasterous. ☺

[Sara]

So I'm taking tomorrow (Tuesday) off after nine straight days of work at the new job. I have a doctor's appointment in the morning and a few other commitments, but I plan to devote a chunk of the day to reading! I have about 45 minutes in the audiobook of Orphan Train which should cover my drive to and from the doctor's office. I also hope to finishKabu Kabu, Bad Feminist: Essays, and The Snapper.

[Donna]

I have finished The Barrytown Trilogy: The Commitments / The Snapper / The Van and have started The Orphan Master's Son.

[[deleted user]]

Just finished the following:


Did not like this book
and Loved these short storys can't wait for book three:-)
Love this book cant wait to see how book 4 turns out
I am reading at the mintue I love Ed James writing

[miteypen]

Any reactions to Tana French's latest, The Secret Place? I like her very much, but when her last book came out I noticed there was a fair amount of negative feedback. How is Tana French regarded in Ireland?

[miteypen]

Emma wrote: "She isn't. She's not even of Irish descent. She is American and Italian. She just happens to currently live in Ireland."

Oh, I didn't know that. Thanks for the info!

[Allan]

Barbara, the Melaugh book that you are reading sounds like a great companion to Eamonn McCann's 'War and an Irish Town' that I am nearly through with.

I always find the present day McCann an interesting commentator, and having seen him talk about Free Derry on various occasions on tv, knew that he'd 'tell it as it was' at the time in his writing. I decided to read this mainly to give me the context for the Johnson book, which I plan on reading soon.

I'm also listening to The Orphan Master's Son on audio, and I'm really starting to get into the story.

I'm so looking forward to my week long half term break that starts on Friday, as I have great plans for getting stuck into my tbr pile...!

[Trelawn]

I just started The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessey which is a follow on from The Unlikely Pilgrimmage of Harold Fry. I think it's going to be one of those stories that break my heart.

[Allan]

Cphe, is it a NYRB list that you're referring to? I know that Hard Rain. Falling is one of theirs, as this one seems to be. Can I recommend A Meaningful Life by LJ Davis from their catalogue? It has a great intro by Jonathan Lethem, and tells the story of an early NYC gentrifier.

If you were able to find and post the link with the worthwhile titles, I'd be interested in it, btw...

[Seraphina]

If you like chess you should read endgame Cphe, such a good description of Bobby Fischers life in and out of chess.
Glad your liking the orphanmasters son Alan, it has quite a dystopian feel at times

[Allan]

Right, time to change it up a bit and go for a bit of NI fiction :D - I'm starting The Feast Of Lupercal this evening, and am looking forward to my fourth Brian Moore read.

[Barbara]

Allan wrote: "Barbara, the Melaugh book that you are reading sounds like a great companion to Eamonn McCann's 'War and an Irish Town' that I am nearly through with.

I always find the present day McCann an inte..."

Allan wrote: "Barbara, the Melaugh book that you are reading sounds like a great companion to Eamonn McCann's 'War and an Irish Town' that I am nearly through with.

I always find the present day McCann an inte..."

Lucky you on half term! We do have a week off for Thanksgiving at the end of November. I love Thanksgiving and miss it terribly when I am out of the country so will read, knit, cook, see friends, and start my Christmas shopping.
I am almost done with Nora Webster and love it. I will probably be done with The Third Policeman audiobook today. I have to finish Under the Volcano but am itching to start The Orphanmaster's Son. Luckily I am skipping one of my face-to-face bookclubs this month as well as one in November (we meet the same night as an Usher concert in the same neighborhood). Ill have to go over to the books acquired thread today as I have ordered and gotten a few...

[Allan]

Cphe, thanks for the link to the list-as I suspected, it contains books published by NYRB. I notice that there are a couple of JG Farrell titles, including our Quarterly Read from last year, 'Troubles', that I absolutely love. There's another recommendation for you!

Barbara, I look forward to reading about the latest batch of books that have made it over your threshold!

[Allan]

BTW, Nora Webster is Radio 4's 'Book at Bedtime'.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04l0hs6

By the sounds of things, this'll be my audiobook choice when my new credit arrives...