What Are You Reading Showing 4,551-4,600 of 6,935

[Trelawn]

Great Expectations is longish but not a difficult read at all. It's got some great characters in it like Joe and Miss Havisham and Wemmick.

[Seraphina]

Yes everyone here who has read it has given it great reviews and it's about time I read it I think. Haven't been disappointed with the classics yet

[Trelawn]

I don't think you'll be disappointed.

[Allan]

Seraphina, because Great Expectations has short chapters, it's a really fast moving book. I loved it when I studied it in school.

[Allan]

Before getting stuck into my Donegal based reading, I'm aiming to read Anne Enright's The Green Road, my first experience of the author, for my 'in person' book club next Thursday-so far I'm impressed with both her writing style and the narrative.

I'm also listening to Karl Ove Knausgaard's Dancing in the Dark, fourth book in the 'My Struggle' series, and my favourite of the books so far.

[Barbara]

I'm reading Life in Shetland ; a world apart by Ursula Venables a naturalist who moved there after WWII. It's quite a hard book to find and I got a copy from Germany a couple of years ago.

[Barbara]

I'm reading Life in Shetland ; a world apart by Ursula Venables a naturalist who moved there after WWII. It's quite a hard book to find and I got a copy from Germany a couple of years ago.

[Susan]

Allan, how is your in person book club going? Do you like it?

[Allan]

Susan, I've only really had one proper meeting, given that I was the only member to turn up for the Joseph O'Connor book. Last month was well attended, and was an enjoyable night. The venue is also a theatre and gallery, and their aim is to link their reading to their programme from September, so I'm not sure how that will work out, but the next two reads-the Enright and then 'Americanah' are worth attending, I reckon. No Hemmingway or self published authors anyway...!

[[deleted user]]

........the only person who turned up! You wonder about how books are selected don't you? Hope you get a better attendance next month and at least you have books coming up that interest you.

[Allan]

Theresa, the first meeting I went to was on General Election night, and was for 'Redemption Falls', the Joseph O'Connor novel that's a pretty tough book to follow-it meant though that I got to choose last month's book, 'The International', which went down very well, as it did in GRI, and introduced some people to Glenn Patterson / local fiction.

[Thomas, Moderator]

I have finished 4 of the 5 library books that I borrowed.

Jar City my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Trust Me my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Street Without a Name: Childhood and Other Misadventures in Bulgaria my review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Star Island my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Kevin]

I was unexpectedly ask to mind a pal's house while some labourers were doing some work for them. I was bored and searched for books with the only literature available being Fifty Shades of Grey and an abundance of dusty cookbooks. Desperate times folks. I'm too ashamed to add it to my read list but all I'd like to say is that although the story seems fairly compelling at the start, it gets a bit repetitive. Ana is a boring and reactionary character as well.

[Trelawn]

Ah kevin, you went over to the darkside?! you should have stuck with the recipe books

[[deleted user]]

Kevin wrote: "I was unexpectedly ask to mind a pal's house while some labourers were doing some work for them. I was bored and searched for books with the only literature available being Fifty Shades of Grey and..."

I feel for you Kevin I hated Fifty Shades of Grey only read book one and that's as much as i could take of them.

[Kevin]

Trelawn wrote: "Ah kevin, you went over to the darkside?! you should have stuck with the recipe books"

Erra I couldn't, Trelawn. One of them had a recipe for shark fin soup it was so archaic!

[Paul]

You described Fifty shades as literature . For shame.

[[deleted user]]

I am reading byEvie Hunter , I got this book for €2.99 and it looked good at the back have to say I had no idea what I was getting its well wrote and the story is good.

After that I am going to be reading byHarper Lee. I have been hearing mixes reviews on this book but looking forward to the read.

I have been following this case in the newspapers and TV so when I hear there was going to be a book I decided I would like to know how the Garda got their man.
by Paul Williams

[Kevin]

Paul wrote: "You described Fifty shades as literature . For shame."

I admit to a moment of weakness there alright. My bad.

Karen, I'd be very interested to hear how you get on with the Harper Lee

[[deleted user]]

I will I am going to started it this weekend

[Paul]

Our copy of Go Set a Watchman arrived today. Whatever else can be said, the edition is beautiful. The US edition has a lot more effort put into it. Nicer artwork , better quality paper and its French cut pages. Just have to finish my current book firstMagicianwhich is a long one at 800+ pages then wrestle the book from Trelawn.

[[deleted user]]

Paul wrote: "Our copy of Go Set a Watchman arrived today. Whatever else can be said, the edition is beautiful. The US edition has a lot more effort put into it. Nicer artwork , better quality paper and its Fren..."

:-) Enjoy your book and I got my copy in hard back yesterday could not walk away when I saw it lol

[Allan]

Kevin, if I had been in your position, I'd have been breaking my normal habits and using my phone app to buy a Kindle title or something. I'm sure you got some looks from the labourers if they noticed what book you were reading!

Paul / Trelawn, are French cut pages the deckled edges? I love when I get a US edition with that finish. The novel I bought from the US which is set in Vegas a few weeks ago arrived today, and it has that finish. I have to say that the guys in No Alibis always encourage people to buy US editions, not because they make any more money from them, but because they are produced to a higher standard.

[Paul]

Yes that's the edging Allan. There's a few terms for it but I love them . I have a fair few editions like that and in some cases bought for that very reason.
I tend to decide on an edition based on the artwork but it is definitely the case that a lot of the US HBs are of a much better quality. Oddly I find the opposite is true with paperbacks in many cases.
The cost to order either edition on the internet is generally fairly close.

[Paul]

I hear Eason had to pull all their copies of Go Set a Watchman due to a major printing error , with some pages half blank.
A friend in work went into an Easons yesterday asking for the book and the staff member hadn't heard of it.

[Kevin]

Allan wrote: "Kevin, if I had been in your position, I'd have been breaking my normal habits and using my phone app to buy a Kindle title or something. I'm sure you got some looks from the labourers if they noti..."

I made sure the book was firmly opened so the cover never showed. Whenever I'd have to get up to give them a hand with something I would quickly close it and toss it in the corner...

[Sara]

As per usual I'm in the middle of a few different books. For now I've switched audiobooks from The Good House to The Picture of Dorian Gray. While I'm enjoying the former, it's too long (22 hours as an audiobook). Being as it's getting to be almost the end of the time period for our QIR I'm doing a dual read/listen of that. So far (19 pages in), Oscar Wilde's biting satire appeals to me, and I'm curious to learn more about Dorian Gray, however, I worry that this will be one of these classic novels where nothing much happens plot wise. I'm also really loving When We Were Outlaws with it's perfect blend of juicy gossip/personal drama and political intrigue. It's not masterfully written like And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic, but it still might be one of my favorites of the year, and I think Allan and perhaps Barbara would enjoy it.

[Kevin]

Paul wrote: "I hear Eason had to pull all their copies of Go Set a Watchman due to a major printing error , with some pages half blank.
A friend in work went into an Easons yesterday asking for the book and th..."

You'd wonder what they look for when hiring employees.

[Paul]

Obviously a brain isn't a requirement

[[deleted user]]

OMG that's bad I buy in Eason a lot glad i didn't buy my copy there

[[deleted user]]

Although I am enjoying Return to Killybegs by Sorj Chalandon it is vividly set in the Troubles and doesn't pull its punches. So, in contrast I'm listening to The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberbøl.

[Barbara]

Theresa wrote: "Although I am enjoying Return to Killybegs by Sorj Chalandon it is vividly set in the Troubles and doesn't pull its punches. So, in contrast I'm listening to [book:T..."

I've read both and neither one is a light read.

[[deleted user]]

Barbara wrote: "Theresa wrote: "Although I am enjoying Return to Killybegs by Sorj Chalandon it is vividly set in the Troubles and doesn't pull its punches. So, in contrast I'm list..."

Yes, I grabbed The Boy in the Suitcase from my library wish list. It occurred to me that it wasn't going to be a light read but somehow I can read fiction in a sort of suspended belief that it isn't real and this softens the impact. Having said that it's not turning into a good 'listen' so may well abandon it but will give it a bit longer.

[Frank]

I just finished reading The Insult. It was the first book I've read by Rupert Thomson and a big disappointment. It was supposed to have been some dark nightmarish vision, but never came together. Thomson writes well, but I thought the whole structure of the novel was flawed.

[Marcia]

I'm just finishing La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas-fils (the english version) I hadn't heard of this book until I happened to see it in the library. It is also know as Camille and the Lady of the Camellias. Really enjoying this book.

[Frank]

La Dame aux Camelias was the source for Verdi's La Traviata. That was one of Verdi's most popular operas. I've seen it several times at the Met Opera, but the current production is awful.

[Allan]

Having finished the terribly bleak The Black Snow, as I'm presently looking over the Donegal Atlantic coastline, I am keen to continue books set in the county, so am about to start Frank McGuinness' Arimathea, set around the same time as the Lynch novel, but hopefully with a bit more positivity through it.

I've also started my audiobook version of The Brethren by Robert Merle, which I still think would be right up Susan's street.

[Susan]

You're probably right, Allan, but for some reason French history is not as exciting to me. I think I have a little of that American disdain of France.

How do you like Donegal? Is it beautiful?

[Allan]

Unsurprisingly so, Susan-I'm taking it easy, while others in the family are taking advantage of the weak Euro-for example, today, I went to Portnoo / Nairn beach for a nice long walk with the dogs after having a relaxing morning reading etc overlooking the sea, while the others went to Letterkenny shopping-different priorities!

It was even sunny on Sunday, so much so, that I even have a new trick-I can take off my aviator shades and you can still see their outline on my face, thanks to the double whammy of me not thinking to pack suncream and falling asleep on the sunlounger. Thankfully the contrast is fading and I'm going browner, but it was a lovely shade of red and white on Sunday night! :)

[Susan]

I am glad your vacation is going so well. It sounds lovely. I love the sunglasses story. The story of my life.

[Donna]

Emma wrote: "Just finished reading Not That Kind of Girl which I was disappointed with to be honest. Now reading The Bees by Laline Paull. Interesting so far. Really, really want to start with Outlander though ..."

You will have to tell me what you think of Outlander, Emma. I'm a bit of a fanatic where Diana Gabaldon is concerned. Most people either love her books or hate them. BTW, love your new pic. You are very pretty!

[Donna]

Oops, I was confused, especially since you are both blondes as well. Sorry!

[Trelawn]

Oh it's nominations again soon isn't it? I am about 50 pages from the end of Go Set A Watchman. I am really enjoying it, in parts it seems very familiar but it's obviously a different story than TKAMB. I think it's a very good debut, I can see why the editor was drawn to the flashbacks to Scout's childhood though, they're very evocative. Can't say I agree with the negativity surrounding this book.

[Thomas, Moderator]

I am currently reading Death in Breslau This will satisfy Poland in my UN country/US state challenge, which I decided to do in GR Mystery group. If there are mystery fans who want to see my thread, see https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I have posted review links for some of these books.

[Barbara]

I am racing through The Novel Habits of Happiness: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel by Alexander McCall Smith. Not much happens in these novels but I love them:) It arrived last night and I want to finish it before I leave Friday night. I am about 2/3rds done 'thanks' to 2 longish waits today - one at the Division of Motor Vehicles. BTW, by waiting 45 mins for a supervisor today at DMV, I got $150 fine waived:) Book (and yarn) money!
I may continue Making Peace by George Mitchell before I leave. I have put Beyond Belfast: A 560 Mile Journey Across Northern Ireland On Sore Feet aside for now. It's supposed to be funny but I am not finding it so. I now have the impression that Canadian humor (at least this writer) is like some British humor - just not that funny.
A bit off topic but to me THIS is one of the funniest bits I've seen this year. But, it may be highly contextual - Bushwick is a gentrifying neighborhood in Brooklyn and corner "gangstas". It does make the point that what is funny in one country/culture may not be in another.

https://video.search.yahoo.com/video/...

[[deleted user]]

I have finished by Evie Hunter enjoyed the story a great deal and was a quick read.

I am near finished byHarper Lee, I have to say I am enjoying the book alot but can be challenge when it comes to names of people for example Henry is also know as Hank
Alexandra is alson know as Zander.
Jean Louise has also a habit of going off in her head when talking to people and it does take me a couple of mins to sort it out in my head but other then that I am enjoying the story.

I am hoping to start reading this weekend by Paul WilliamsI watch this case Unfold in the papers and tv.

[Trelawn]

I have been reading 84 Charing Cross Road and The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street both by Helene Hanff. The first is the correspondance between Hanff in New York and a book dealer at Marks & Co in London between 1949 and 1969. It is completely engrossing for all that nothing terribly momentous happens. The second book is a diary of Hanff's first ever trip to London after the UK publication of 84 Charing Cross Road. If you love books and have an emotional connection to your favourite bookstore then you have to read these books. It won't take long, 220 pages all told.

[[deleted user]]

So glad you enjoyed 84, Charing Cross Road. :)

[Trelawn]

I really did Theresa, I hope to read more of her works.

[[deleted user]]

I don't think that I've read anything else of hers so will be interested in what you have to say about her other works.