what are you reading at the moment?

[Ellie]

I'm not even eating chocolate - I'm trying to lose weight! Possibly in my case I'm focussing my energy and motivation on that. Though that would mean I fail as a woman - shouldn't I be able to multi-task?!

[Angela]

Haha when it comes to chocolate Easter is a freebie! No one should diet at Easter/Christmas/birthdays/Saturdays. It's against nature.

[[deleted user]]

I totally agree - especially as I was the recipient of a giant Easter egg yesterday.
You can't be good all the time Ellie, it's bad for you :0)

[Hilary]

The last time I had a giant Easter Egg was when I was a child. Could I get one for myself, do you think?

[Angela]

Yes Hilary! I'm going to do the same thing :-)

[Laurel]

I'm supposed to be on a diet too but it's suspended over the bank holidays - there's no way I'm missing out on chocolate eggs lol! And yay for old fashioned hot cross buns too (especially with homemade rhubarb and ginger jam mmmmm)- although that might have been another thread....

[Howard]

Just downloaded a copy of The Goldfinch last night from my local library. I saw a really good review in the press somewhere last week, it was available last night so I snagged it. If memory serves me, it is somewhat lengthy, so will probably need the full two weeks. The reviewer was saying that it is destined to be a classic. Has anyone read it? What did you think?

[Hilary]

I've had this on my Kindle for a while but haven't got round to reading it yet. I've read a couple of her others and enjoyed them but I've also heard that this one is quite a tome! I'm reading Perdido Street Station as it was recommended by laurel. It took me a while to get into it but now I can't stay away from it to the detriment, not only of The Idiot, but to normal daily domestic tasks!

[[deleted user]]

I've got The Goldfinch on my kindle too - I've seen lots of reviews describing it as Dickensian so it should be right up my street.
I've just started reading Mr. Chartwell - which takes a hugely unlikely scenario and makes it entirely believable.

[Laurel]

I've also got The Goldfinch sitting on the kindle - the size keeps putting me off but have heard good things.... maybe when I finish up with Dante and The Man Without qualities both of which I have totally neglected!

At the moment I'm reading Gods Without Men which is intriguing - it jumps around in time and between lots of characters quite a bit which was hard at first but now I'm past the halfway point I am not wanting to put it down. Am also reading (on my kindle during my lunch breaks) Quiet Houses which is a collection of linked ghost stories.

[[deleted user]]

Just added Quiet Houses to the to read list - it sounds great.

[Joy]

I'm re-reading A Suitable Boy. Great story.

[[deleted user]]

Just started The Murder of Halland

[Hilary]

Just starting Claire Tomlins biography of Samuel Pepys and really looking forward to it.

[[deleted user]]

Just started Absolute Beginners and The Palace of Dreams

[georgiabread]

Catching fire by Suzanne Collins

[Joy]

Gibble Gobble Gabble wrote: "Catching fire by Suzanne Collins"

I really liked the first book in the The Hunger Games trilogy but have to say I didn't think the second two books were as good. Be interested to hear what you think.

[Howard]

Am like 480 pages into The Goldfinch, an excellent read. Detailed descriptions of background scenery, almost like watching a live play where you can see the sets, easy to visualize scenery and characters. The storyline is interesting and engaging. At this point I would say recommended, it may reach highly so by the time am done. Just downloaded from my local library another Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child, 61 Hours. My favorite action/adventure character right now (Jack Reacher). The stereotype: traveling from one place to another, minding his own business, accidentally stumbles into a situation where he ends up rescuing the damsel in distress, reuniting her with her kidnapped little girl, and in the process disrupts an international plot to assassinate a world renowned scientific genius and, once again, makes the world safe for democracy. Well written escapism, with good moral fiber and just the right touch of angst and internal conflict. Gotta love it.

[[deleted user]]

Sounds a bit like The Littlest Hobbo
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=banXT6azA-4

[Laurel]

I'm reading a couple of things at the moment - Michele Roberts memoir Paper Houses: A Memoir Of The 70s And Beyond, I'm nearly done with Quiet Houses and started Swamplandia! earlier which is good so far.

[Howard]

Finished The Goldfinch, right now it's a 4.5 with me, very good read. Kismet, and an excellent rendition thereof. Well written, somewhat episodic. Highly recommended, so am leaning towards a five star. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Just downloaded from my becoming favorite local library: The Maid's Version by Daniel Woodrell.

[Hilary]

@Lee. At a Memorial Service yesterday (see The Time has Come thread) I acquired - wait for it - Three Men in a Boat! Having started reading it with a cup of coffee this afternoon, I'm completely hooked! I'll give you my considered opinion when I finish it but so far I'm enjoying it immensely

[[deleted user]]

Yay- I love that you're loving it :0)

[Anna]

One of my favourite books of all time is the sequel Three Men on the Bummel. The same 3 (minus the dog) go on a cycling holiday in Germany a few years later. I've lost my copy of Three Men in a Boat so will have to get it on my kindle and give it a re-read.

[Anna]

I'm reading some of my TBR Mountain of magazines - about 8 months worth of Nat Geo, Which? etc.

I'd just finished the great anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front which had me in tears (not many books do that to me). The writing quality is brilliant: the young soldier Paul speaks directly to you about the terror of it all and it really gets to you emotionally. So I need a few days to get over it before starting another book.

[[deleted user]]

I love 3 Men on a Bummel too - my Dad thinks it's even funnier .
I haven't seen copies of the National Geographic since I was small - when I used to sell my Grandpas own copies back to him for 2p a copy every time we we're staying with him and my Granny!

[Hilary]

I've started The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford and although I'm not far in I'm finding it very intense. You know from the very beginning that something awful has happened but I suspect you will not find out what it is until the very end. It has a strange disturbing atmosphere about it. Has anyone else read it?

[[deleted user]]

No but it's on my list

[Howard]

Almost done with The Maid's Version, very good read, a literary work of some vision with at times stark portrayal of small town underprivileged life in the Ozarks a couple of generations ago. Very well written, solid four stars.
Just downloaded, from my favorite local library, a copy of The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout. I loved her Olive Kitteridge, so am really looking forward to it.

[[deleted user]]

Just started Ben-Hur and The Seville Communion

[Laurel]

The Maid's Version looks good - I've got Winter's Bone on my kindle so hopefully will be able to try that soon.

[Howard]

Finished The Maid's Version, ended up giving it 5 stars. Want to read more of his work. Highly recommended.

[Howard]

Just started 1493 by Charles C. Mann. Nonfiction account of ecological and multicultural globalization as the result of Columbus' 'discovery' of the 'new world.'

[Anna]

Had a few days break after reading All Quiet on the Western Front (which I still can't get out of my mind). So only just started my overdue library book Girl with the Pearl Earring and enjoying it so far.

[[deleted user]]

I really liked that one - not so keen on her later novels though.

[Anna]

Oh that's a shame. Still, glad I've picked her best one to read. I quite like the sound of Remarkable Creatures so I might try that some time in the future.

[Hilary]

@Anna some time ago I read Robert Graves autobiography Goodbye to All That which includes his time in the trenches in WWI. It also stayed with me for a long time. You just can't imagine what it must have been like to experience it. I've now ordered All Quiet on the Western Front after reading your comments about it, although I imagine the experience from the German perspective was very similar to that of the allies. Equally ghastly.

[Howard]

Just started Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meachem. On a history kick for some reason.

[Hilary]

I'll be interested if you would recommend this Antipodes. Jefferson was mentioned so much in my reading about the French Revolution I thought I'd read a bit more about him - but haven't got around to it yet!

[[deleted user]]

Just about to start on the humongous The Man Without Qualities

[Howard]

@Hilary - am only about 20% into the Jefferson work (by the way, I misspelled his name on my previous link, should be Jon Meacham. But yes, definitely a recommended, may go to highly. Meachem is a Pulitzer Prize winning historian and this work so far is written from s more personal point of view (Jefferson's), as if seeing the unfolding history from how it affected him and his decisions. Like how for several months during the first Continental Congress he had received no return mail from his young wife and their child and was frantic to find out why - he knew there was an epidemic and was worried sick. More personal stuff like that than just the public historical facts. But of course the personal is in context with well written national and international history that unfolded during his lifetime. Definitely well worth the time. I believe it is listed at 800 pages.

[Hilary]

@Antipodes. Thanks, the length doesn't worry me if it's worth reading. Looking forward to hearing your final opinion.

[Howard]

@Hilary - am now exactly 20% in to the Jefferson biography and can confidently provide a strong recommendation. It is wonderfully written and executed, mixing in excellent proportion broad stroke historical account with amazing personal life detail, not just of Jefferson, but also many of his contemporaries. I have learned details on his personal religious leanings and how they relate to his public stance, with greater clarity on just what that stance entailed than I have found anywhere. Just outstanding detail. One can easily see the worth of Meacham's previous Pulitzer.

[Hilary]

@Antipodes - Thanks for this I'll add it to the To Buy list.

[Cleo]

I read Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power last year and Antipodes is correct; it is excellent!

[Anna]

I'm still on fiction but will keep the Jefferson book in mind as I enjoy factual history/biography as long as it's not too academic.
Just started The Light Between the Ocean by M. L. Steadman for my local book club. Has anyone else read it? It's got mixed reviews on this website. So far I'm finding it quite readable and enjoyable but perhaps not very challenging.

[Jenny]

Hilary wrote: "@Anna some time ago I read Robert Graves autobiography Goodbye to All That which includes his time in the trenches in WWI. It also stayed with me for a long time. You just can't imagi..."

I've always been meaning to read Goodbye to All That, and hopefully will this year. All Quiet...is one of my favorite books ever.

I am currently reading Stoner and I am finding the writing superb, but I really hadn't prepared myself for how emotionally draining this book would be.

[Angela]

I've got that on the list too Jenny - keep us updated on how it's going :)

[Jenny]

will do! I'd already say it's a recommendation though!

[Hilary]

I loved Stoner and think I did a review of it here. Beautifully written but so sad. I know what you mean by emotionally draining.