what are you reading at the moment?

[[deleted user]]

discuss your current reads here

[[deleted user]]

Oooh I love that book - it's so gothic

[Ellie]

I'm currently reading Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (from my local library), and Angel City by Jon Steele (from NetGalley)

[[deleted user]]

I'm currently reading Dirt Music it's an Australian novel harsh and macho and yet quite poetic.
I'm also about half way through Where Angels Fear to Tread and 6 stories into Meet Me in the Moon Room a collection of really bizarre short stories. Oh and I hope to start Mason and Dixon soon

[Joy]

I'm reading A Cure For All Diseases. It's the first Daziel & Pascoe novel I've tried (and I haven't seen the TV series) and much to my disappointment I'm finding it very dull. The main problem (apart from the fact that nothing has happened yet; introducing the characters seems to be taking forever) is that the story is being told at one remove, in the form of emails from one character and by Daziel talking into a recorder.
Has anyone read it? Shall I give up or will it improve? Are others in the series better?

[[deleted user]]

Fraid my knowledge of detective novels ends in the 1950s!

[Gemma]

I've just started The Virgin Suicides.

[Hilary]

I'm reading "May we be forgiven" and not enjoying it one little bit to be honest. If I wasn't so convinced that it has to get better it might be one of the very few books I abandon.

[[deleted user]]

Hilary wrote: "I'm reading "May we be forgiven" and not enjoying it one little bit to be honest. If I wasn't so convinced that it has to get better it might be one of the very few books I abandon."

That's by A M Homes isn't it? I keep looking at her books and seeing all the good reviews and something always puts me off.
I don't like abandoning books either- but think of all those really good books out there you could be reading instead :0)

[[deleted user]]

Gemma wrote: "I've just started The Virgin Suicides."

I keep meaning to try that -must add it to my to read list - let me know how you get on with it.

[Laurel]

I'm almost finished The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes which, it goes without saying, it absolutely awesome. I'm also reading Rebecca West's The Fountain Overflows which I'm finding a bit difficult to get into but I'm going to persevere for a bit longer to see if it picks up.

[[deleted user]]

I liked the Fountain Overflows - but was not so keen on the sequels - which then put me off the Fountain - which is daft of me - must read it again sometime

[Hilary]

I'm not very competent at this sort of thing so I can't get the quote to repeat at the top of the post SO yes Lee it is a.m.homes (she doesn't seem to like capitals) and the reviews are good and I've bought a bundle of three of her books of which this is my first read. Consequently I really don't want to abandon her so soon!

[[deleted user]]

@ Hilary - I hope she gets better soon then :0).
Are you on a Tablet (as it were)? When I'm on my iPad I can't get the excerpt from the comment I'm replying to - I can only get it when I'm on a computer and there's a little reply button at the bottom of each comment.

[Ellie]

As well as reading The Unconsoled, I'm also trying to finish off Manuscript Found in Accra by Paulo Coelho. It's a struggle, because it is barely going to scrape a single star. It's absolute tosh. Serves me right for, in this instance, judging a book by its cover :(

But, I have never not finished a book in my life, and I am not about to allow this one to become the first.

[Hilary]

I haven't started any of this months reads yet so I'll have to get my skates on. I'm currently reading Nada the Lily by H Rider Haggard. This year I decided to read again the books I had loved in my childhood and have managed a few so far. Nada is one of them although I am seeing different aspects to it now I am older! Hoping to finish it by the weekend and start The Unconsoled. I have a copy of Boxalls coming this afternoon from Amazon and am looking forward to exploring it thoroughly tonight. I hadn't even heard of it until seeing this group.

[[deleted user]]

Ellie wrote: "As well as reading The Unconsoled, I'm also trying to finish off Manuscript Found in Accra by Paulo Coelho. It's a struggle, because it is barely going to scrape a single star. It's absolute tosh...."

You're made of sterner stuff than me Ellie - if a book really doesn't agree with me that's it! I have a nasty feeling that there's a Coelho book in the 1001 list - lets hope it's a better one :0)

[[deleted user]]

Hilary wrote: "I haven't started any of this months reads yet so I'll have to get my skates on. I'm currently reading Nada the Lily by H Rider Haggard. This year I decided to read again the books I had loved in..."

I remember really enjoying Kings Solomon's Mines and She when I was younger - Nada the Lily sounds like it might be rather different from those two - less stiff upper lip and daring-do.

[Ellie]

@Lee - I finished the Coelho; was not going to let it defeat me, particularly as it was a mere 194 pages of largish type.

Now getting on with The Unconsoled, Bitter Like Orange Peel and Nineteen Eighty-Four

[[deleted user]]

3 is the optimum number of books to have on the go at the same time, I think. I frequently try to read more but some of them get left by the wayside!

[Ellie]

3 is my limit; before Goodreads I was a one-at-a-time kinda gal, but I've been introduced to or reminded of so many good works and places to get them that I want to cram in as much as possible. Just about keeping on top of these three. They are, respectively:

- a group read
- a NetGalley read
- a library read

which is how I'll try to balance it from now on. "Library" in this instance will need to be either the local public library or my own pile of books.

Quite how I'm going to fit in the Cheltenham Festivals reads, I haven't worked out yet....

[Hilary]

I struggle to read two novels at a time but generally have a non fiction and a novel on the go. I'm also in a poetry group so that has to be fitted in as well.
Currently I have a deadline for

The Unconsoled
Death in Venice
Pickwick Papers
And our poetry group monthly selection which is I think Carol Ann Duffy
Also the selection for September for my book group which The Genesis Project

I'm nearly finished Nada the Lily and my non fiction which is an autobiography called Mr Nice is half read.

But what I really WANT to read next is The Naked Civil Servant which I found in a second hand book shop this week. It's very thin though so I might just slip it in somewhere!!

I've also got to organise my book shelves as I have spent about an hour trying to find a book I know I have somewhere, just not sure where.

Apologies for this very incoherent rambling post - back to reading OOPS no, looks like dog walking next before the rain starts.

[[deleted user]]

@Ellie what's Netgallery?

[[deleted user]]

@ Hilary - I suffer from book location problems too - all my bookcases are over flowing and have books piled on top and in front of them. I'm also not entirely sure what I've got on Kindle - but at least I can search on that!

[Laurel]

I'm still in the early stages of The Unconsoled and also reading Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh on my breaks at work (it's easier to fit in my handbag)

[[deleted user]]

I really enjoyed Sea of Poppies - a really colourful, exciting adventure story and I learnt an awful lot about the opium trade as well!!

[Ellie]

@Lee NetGalley.com "NetGalley is a service to promote and publicize forthcoming titles to readers of influence. If you are a reviewer, blogger, journalist, librarian, bookseller, educator, or in the media, you can use NetGalley for FREE to request and read titles before they are published."

[[deleted user]]

Ellie wrote: "@Lee NetGalley.com "NetGalley is a service to promote and publicize forthcoming titles to readers of influence. If you are a reviewer, blogger, journalist, librarian, bookseller, educator, or in th..."

Thanks for that, Ellie.Just had a peek at the site - it looks really good - don't think I could commit to reviewing new books regularly at the moment though - something to keep in mind for the future.

[Laurel]

Lee wrote: "I really enjoyed Sea of Poppies - a really colourful, exciting adventure story and I learnt an awful lot about the opium trade as well!!"

I'm enjoying it so far - the stuff about opium is quite interesting as I've been reading Sherlock Holmes and The Mystery of Edwin Drood lately and obviously opium dens feature in those stories so it's nice to see the other side of it, where the stuff actually comes from.

[Joy]

I'm definitely a one-book-at-a-time person. Over the weekend I re-read The Eyre Affair which is one of my favourites and have started a John Grisham - I don't think I've read any of his before, but I'm enjoying it so far.

Laurel - I thought Sea of Poppies was a great book.

[[deleted user]]

Oooh - I love the Eyre Affair.
I bet I'd probably get through more books,more quickly if I stuck to reading one at a time - I just don't think I can manage it though

[Hilary]

John Grisham is a favourite of mine, I've read quite a few and loved all of them. What is it you are reading?

[Joy]

Hilary wrote: "John Grisham is a favourite of mine, I've read quite a few and loved all of them. What is it you are reading?"

It's The King of Torts (I'd left it in the garden when I posted earlier and couldn't remember the title!) I'm about half-way through now & finding it very readable - though I think I'm ready for a twist or new plot development about now.

[Hilary]

I haven't read that one, I think my favourite is The Firm. I think they made a film of it but can't remember when or who was in it. A friend has just read The Rackateer and said she couldn't put it down.

[Ellie]

I need to get my reading skates on - Sebastian Faulkes' Birdsong has arrived on my doorstep, in readiness for the next Cheltenham Festivals book club on 5th September.

[[deleted user]]

That's one of my favourites, Ellie -really moving

[Hilary]

That's on my TBR bookshelf with an intimidating number of others. I really enjoyed Pat Barkers Regeneration Trilogy which I read ages ago also set in WW1. Have you read them?

[Ellie]

I haven't, the world wars aren't normally a topic I would go for, but by all accounts Birdsong is a good read so it will be interesting to give it a go

[[deleted user]]

I love WWI (that sounds really bad but you know what I mean!) - Birdsong is the best novel I've read about it - though I really like Strange Meeting by Penelope Lively too.

[Joy]

I remember finding Birdsong very moving, though I must admit I can't recall the storyline very well (I read it when it first came out in paperback.)

[Joy]

I was a bit disappointed by The King of Torts in the end. Very gripping up to about halfway but then it became plodding. I was hoping the bimbo girlfriend was going to turn out to be either secretly plotting behind Clay's (the hero) back or else saving the day for him - but no she was just a bimbo.

Hilary - thanks for the suggestion of other Grisham's. The first half of this one was good enough to make me want to give him a second try.

[Jo]

I've just started The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. At the moment the characters are a little flat but I could still be suffering from a book hangover from finishing Possession which was such a bore and I can't shake myself, but we'll wait and see :)

I've only read one Paolo Coelho book and that was The Alchemist and that was life changing book but I couldn't really explain why. It was one of those books that had me gripped days after I had finished it, I couldn't get it out of my head. However I have heard loads of people saying his other stuff isn't very good... I'm scared to try another of his just in case it ruins The Alchemist for me lol

[Ellie]

I *may* give The Alchemist a go at some point, though I have ad too many other must-reads right now!! Harold Fry is on my list - Rachel Joyce lives in Gloucestershire so she's very nearly a neighbour!! Lol

[Hilary]

I recently attempted to read Aleph by Paul Coelho but only got half way through before abandoning it in favour of something I could actually understand. It's still there on my shelf, beckoning, but I'm finding it very easy to resist!

[Joy]

I've just read The Ocean at the End of the Lane. It's short - a novella really - so I read it all in one go this morning. Delightful story, both disturbing and entrancing.

[[deleted user]]

Harold Fry is in my to-read pile too - I noticed the other day that she has another book out Perfect which sounds interesting ( I had no idea she was a local, Ellie)

Theres a Paul Coelho on the 1001 list - Veronika Decides to Die - hopefully it's an Alchemist and not an Aleph :0)

[Shirley]

Jo, it does get better, keep reading!

[Ellie]

@Lee: Perfect is on my to-read list too; Rachel Joyce did a talk and a reading from it a few weeks ago in the Cheltenham Waterstone's

@Joy: The Ocean at the End of the Lane is also on my to-read list (it's a long list!), sounds like it's a nice easy read so I may give that a go very soon.

[[deleted user]]

I don't usually get on too well with Neil Gaiman - but I've heard so many good things about the Ocean at the End of the Lane that I think I'm going to have to give it a try.

[Laurel]

I really like Gaiman - I'm just waiting for the paperback version cos am trying to keep the old spending down.