What else are you currently reading? Showing 701-750 of 1,050

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza)]

Oh Patricia, I loved the Tales of the City books, I just finished reading them 2 months ago!

[[deleted user]]

Hannah, I've only read one book by John Irving so far, that was A Widow for One Year and I didn't really like it. Some parts were really good, but others got on my nerves so much. Irving used a lot of coarse language that really annoyed me, and he had three main female characters in his book that didn't feel authentic, you could tell that they were women invented by a man. I have heard a lot of good things about his other books though, especially about A Prayer for Owen Meany, The World According to Garp, and The Hotel New Hampshire.. So I'm not really sure if his other books are better or if John Irving is just not for me.

[Lori]

Hannah, I read The Cider House Rules and really liked it. It was quite different from the movie, which I saw first (and really liked as well). I own A Prayer for Owen Meany but I haven't read it yet.

[whichwaydidshego, the sage of sass]

Thanks, Heather, for posting that 84 Charing Cross Road site for me. Marion, I wanted to say that the shop is no longer there. After reading it, I went on to google maps street level and compared the buildings to the old photos of the shop to figure out it is now a restaurant. Very sad, indeed. But that site tells the story of the shop, including it's ending. Anyway, I'm pleased there are a few more convert to the lovely book! Hanff is just SO up my alley! We both have an equal amount of the sassy in us I think.

[whichwaydidshego, the sage of sass]

P.S. I'm currently barely reading because have all these BBC miniseries & series I've checked out from the library that are keeping me involved! I completely miss reading, but there are so many to get through and it's hard to read for long with my injury. I can't wait to get back to it, though, honestly. It's far more fun than anything on the telly - though with the telly being less absorbing, I can do other things while I watch. Anyway... soon.

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza)]

Due to reading 84 Charing Cross Road it's also fascinating to read how the bookstore was involved in that weird price fixing ring that was a huge sensation back in the day.

Here's the excerpt from Wikipedia:
Marks & Co were members of a then-secret and illegal "book ring", whereby a group of London book dealers declined to bid against each other at auctions. Instead, one of them would buy at prices kept low by the lack of competition, the ring would then bid privately between themselves and the surplus would be shared amongst the unsuccessful ring members.

When the secrecy surrounding the bidding ring was broken, a scandal was threatened. In order to avoid this, an undertaking was signed, at the offices of the Times Literary Supplement, by the ring's members to bring the practice ("if it existed") to an end.

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza)]

And until you can read I will feed the BBC Miniseries addiction!

[AngieA]

Deanna wrote: "I'm currently reading The Time Traveler's Wife, and I love it so far. "

I, too, loved this book and am looking forward to the movie.

[AngieA]

I'm currently reading "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini. It was recommended by a friend and I doubt I would have picked it up myself. I'm just under 1/2 way through and it's good.

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza)]

I just picked up the sequel to 84, Charing Cross Road and I can't put it down! Only 40 more pages to go!

[Hannah]

Thanks for the info on John Irving. I picked up A Widow for One Year. But now that I'm back into Anna K., I might take it back to the library and put it on my list to read later. I had forgotten that John Irving wrote "The Cider House Rules." I might read that one first as an introduction to John Irving.

[Kristel]

Angie wrote: "I'm currently reading "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini. It was recommended by a friend and I doubt I would have picked it up myself. I'm just under 1/2 way through and it's good. "

Angie - I totally agree, I've read the Kite runner last year. It's a great story.

[Dini, the master of meaning]

I just started Edith Wharton's The Children -- one of her less known work, it seems. It reads really quick. I can already see some of the elements she often uses in her story: troubled marriages, divorces, scandal.

[Ana]

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón - few more pages left to go. Very good book.

[Lisa]

I'm currently reading "The Poisonwood Bible". I can't wait to really get into it! I just finished "The Outlander" by Gil Adamson...I am feeling "eh" about the whole book. Sort of slow, but kind of good at the same time. Not a must-read though.
Lately I'm recommending "God of Animals" by Aryn Kyle. It's her first novel, and I absolutely loved it! It's not a very big book so you could easily read it in a day or two :) Happy reading!

[Lori]

Lisa, I wasn't really impressed with The Poisonwood Bible when I read it for class, but the last 100 or so pages were simply unnecessary.

[Debbie]

Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

[AngieA]

I just finished "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini. This was a fascinating book. The protagonist was a sort of anti-hero, very real. I was extremely moved by the story and it's complex characters. I recommend you read this book.

[Casey]

Lisa wrote: "I'm currently reading "The Poisonwood Bible". I can't wait to really get into it! I just finished "The Outlander" by Gil Adamson...I am feeling "eh" about the whole book. Sort of slow, but kind of..."

Lisa

I LOVE LOVE LOVE that book. I love to read about other parts of the world and that was written so well I thought. I had a hard time getting started at first but then I couldn't put it down by the end.

[whichwaydidshego, the sage of sass]

I am, for the first time believe it or not, reading The Secret Garden. I noticed a respected friend from this group isn't such a fan (to put it mildly), but I'm having a lot of fun with it. I'll finish it tonight, I should think, as well as two other books... unless I get too tired, then only two total - LOL.

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza)]

Yeah, I have made my opinions well known on that score :P Those little kids just really rubbed me the wrong way, but I'm happy you're liking it....I do wish I could go to the gardens Burnett based the book on!

[whichwaydidshego, the sage of sass]

Hahaha! *I* didn't name any names! LOL!! Agreed about the gardens.

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza)]

WHAT! There are other friends you know who hate The Secret Garden...we MUST form a support group! Haters of classic childrens literature :p

[Anna]

I think The secret garden was ok, but I hate some other classics for kids like Anne of Green Gables.

[Lori]

I'm in my usual school time rut of having started about 14 books. I just haven't found anything that has completely sucked me in. I'm hoping to start The Help today, which I've heard that those who get into it can't put it down. I really hope I'm that lucky.

[Hannah]

Lori, I'm right there with you in the school time rut. Every time I pick up a book, I enjoy reading it. But the thought of reading.... I think I'm almost boycotting just because I know that school is starting. I'm still trying to truck along though. I only take my book for breaks at work, so I read about 30 minutes a day. I guess it's slowly but surely. The Help sounds good. I hope it gets you out of your rut. :)

[Kristel]

I have finished Brideshead Revisiteda few weeks ago. Although I liked the first part of the book quite a lot, the protagonist Charles Ryder is coming of age in that first part. He meets up with interesting Sebastian Flyte in Oxford and that's the beginning of their bromance/romance, that's how I interpreted the story. Slowly we get more insight in Sebastians complicated and catholic family. We follow Charles as he meets the lot of them.
I must say, the book was interesting enough, but it was a bit crime and punishment I thought. In the first part Evelyn Waugh let's his protagonist 'struggle' with his sexuality (although it's never literally implied, Sebastian and Charles do spent all their time, day and night together), while in the second part of the book Charles is very straight. I think it's very autobiographic, Waugh was at first struggling with being gay and then apparently found catholic religion. I do recommend the book and no-one should find it daunting to read it. It was compelling at times, melodramatic, tragic and I really liked the imagery. Waugh can really paint with words. However, I found the second half of the book a bit predictable and the catholicism, well...

[whichwaydidshego, the sage of sass]

I was saying you outed yourself, Miss Eliza!

Finished The Secret Garden, and did like it, but liked Ballet Shoes far better... except for the gardens bit - how it shows the outdoors can nourish you in ways you can't imagine. I'm thinking Artemis Fowl next, but if I do it I must be swift because I've heard it's dark and I can't bear the weight of that for very long with the irritations of life being severe enough at the moment to cause me to be at DEFCON 1! (I'm hoping it's just a War Games incident and cools down a bit over the weekend... fingers crossed.)

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza)]

Yeah, I do like to be the person who points the finger at myself :) But wouldn't it be great if there were all these people you knew who liked and hated the same books...oh wait, it's you guys!

Maybe some light happy reading is in order? I'd recommend Alan Bennet's The Uncommon Reader, short, fluffy and makes you happy. I haven't read Artemis Fowl yet, but evil fairies might also be distracting....

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza)]

I'm happy they are slowly re-issuing all the Streatfeild books, because she wrote an astonishingly high number of books and like only 3, now 5 this year, are in print in the United States.

[AngieA]

Elizabeth wrote: "Yeah, I do like to be the person who points the finger at myself :) But wouldn't it be great if there were all these people you knew who liked and hated the same books...oh wait, it's you guys!

Ma..."
I've read 5 Artimus Fowl and found them fun and entertaining. Love to decode the messages at the bottom of the pages that are in Gnomish. It's kinda fun that the protagonist is a little evil!

[whichwaydidshego, the sage of sass]

Finished Artemis... I liked it. And Elizabeth, the fairies for the most part aren't evil, just like with humans there are some that are too enterprising for their own good and some are criminals or drunks, but it's the fairies you hope win the struggle, NOT Artemis! I liked it. I'll likely read more of them down the road.

Just now I want to continue on one or the other of my lists... or perhaps just a book I actually own (but that isn't on any list) as I have several hundred sitting but a few feet away, unread, and begging for my attention. Which is why I'm so often distracted - they call to me, and I am daily tempted. I wish I could quite literally devour the lot of them. What's worse is now I've got these library books leering at me because of their deadline. So irritating, them. I mean I obviously want to read them, but I truly hate demanding books. The cheek of them!

I'm sipping my tea and vacillating between caving to their demands and picking one of them up or throwing out the rule book for a few days and reading something ridiculous and entirely unrelated to any list - or even any series I'm in the middle of. I'm being entirely too efficient and organized about my reading all of the sudden!

What to do... what to do?

[Lori]

Michelle, I've got this same problem! Well, minus the library books. My cheeky books are the ones that I've started and are now languishing and the ones I'm supposed to read for my various book groups. I don't know what to tell you other than: tell me what you end up doing because I could use the advice.

[whichwaydidshego, the sage of sass]

I caved to one of the demanding library books that was from a list I'm working my way through... and perhaps it's good I did because honestly it really wasn't all that fun and so I pushed really hard through it so that I could get to more enjoyable things... I mean, I couldn't leave it languishing because it had to go back to the library! One more ticked off of that list!

I just picked up two that I'm excited to read, but have one more that is due quite soon... so not sure which order I'll read them. I think I'm going to go straight for the Pratchett first, then jump back to the other, just for a bit of whimsy.

I'm pretty excited, though, because if I finish 3 more books by Monday, I'll have read 60 books so far this year! Woohoo! That's crazy when I think how I read only two books one month. But this month I've read 16 SO FAR - and that's with 10 days of no reading earlier in the month!!

Anyway, so almost sure now I'll be biting into The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett. Almost. Maybe Good Night, Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian will wield it's way back to the top, though, before I go to the bookshelf.

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza)]

Go for the Pratchett, the other is great but depressing in the end.

[Kristel]

I'm reading Going Postal by Pratchett! OMG, 60 books this year alone. With my current rate (I've read a depressing amount of 6 books this year)that will take me about 5 years...

The colour of magic is hilarious.

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza)]

Oh, and they're filming Going Postal right now for a tv movie, awesome cast!

[whichwaydidshego, the sage of sass]

Like less than five pages in on The Colour of Magic I was sitting in the doctors office and some guy doctor I didn't know walks by and I burst out laughing at the "Big Bang" theory of the universe in the book. He said something to me about it being a funny book. I TRIED to say something about a world on the back of a turtle... he thought I was utterly insane. No really, he honestly looked worried... also, he never responded, but just pretended he'd never said anything to me at all. Did I mention this was the gynecologist's office? Sadly I've not gotten too far in because I'm all over the place with projects. It's kind of ticking me off.

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza)]

But anyone whose anyone should have heard of the age old quote "It's turtles all the way down." I think you should be more concerned the doctor lacked a good education :P

[Kristel]

Elizabeth wrote: "But anyone whose anyone should have heard of the age old quote "It's turtles all the way down." I think you should be more concerned the doctor lacked a good education :P"

Here here!

[[deleted user]]

I'm still reading Perdido Street Station. Finally moved to MA, but I was so busy during Orientation that I didn't get to finish it. Now that classes started, I'm having more time on my hands.. How weird :D

[AngieA]

Just started "Princess Academy" by Shannon Hale. Picked it up on a trip to the book store with my 2 year old granddaughter and noticed it was a Newberry Honor Book. I enjoy YA fiction and love to be able to read it and recommend it to younger girls. It caught my interest right away. The protagonist is intriguing.

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza)]

I loved Princess Academy, as well as Shannan Hale's Books of Bayern and Book of a Thousand Days, such great sweet books!

[Misty]

I thought Princess Academy was great, too. And it's nice to have a book for younger girls with a strong female lead like that. I enjoy Shannon Hale immensely.
I think I'm going to start Catching Fire here in a little while. My fingers have been itching for it since I got it, but I haven't had a chance yet...

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza)]

You will LOVE it Misty, I couldn't put it down!

[Misty]

Oh, I'm anticipating that. I read The Hunger Games in one (midnight) sitting; couldn't put it down.

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza)]

Right now I'm reading Lauren Willig's The Betrayal of the Blood Lily, luckily I'm sick (odd to hear someone say that) because I don't want to put it down, and I'm really not up to anything else.

[Misty]

Elizabeth wrote: "Right now I'm reading Lauren Willig's The Betrayal of the Blood Lily, luckily I'm sick (odd to hear someone say that) because I don't want to put it down, and I'm really not up to anything else."

But lazing in bed, reading and watching massive amounts of bad TV is the only good thing about being sick. Embrace it!

[whichwaydidshego, the sage of sass]

Misty, agreed! Well, so long as it's the kind of sick that you can do that with (I'm remembering migraines and such things).

I think at the end of last month when I realized I'd hit such a huge milestone in my reading numbers, I flipped out and haven't read much since. Okay, two other factors: I started playing Mafia War on Facebook and am mildly addicted (my addictions are always shortlived). Also - and this is the biggest one - I got too many books from the library in my list mania and got overwhelmed with the looming deadlines. Deer in headlight syndrome - I froze.

Anyway, all that to say I'm still in the midst of The Colour of Magic.

[Lori]

I just finished reading The Help last night. Oh it was good! I read close to 250 pages yesterday because I simply HAD to finish. It was nice to be that absorbed in a book.