Vintage Tales discussion
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What are you currently reading?
Awesome Holly. When I get to putting up the May Group read nominations, feel free to nominate it. Or you can read it after your other reads and tell us what you think.
I think I will nominate it. Thanks again. :)
Almost done with Wind in the willows and am reading Kingdom Keepers 7 the Insider. They are both pretty good.The Wind in the Willows
The Insider
I recently finished "The Kite Runner" (a modern classic) and Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis". Have just started "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame. Am going to start reading Voltaire's "Candide" and Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina".The Kite Runner
The Metamorphosis
Candide
Anna Karenina
Finished wind in the willows and it was a pretty good read. I hope to start on Frankenstein for our group read soon after I finish a read for review request on my ereader on my tablet.
At present, I'm reading Pulp Heroes - Khan Dynasty by Wayne Reinagle, a book I won a copy of in a recent Goodreads giveaway. (This is actually the second book to be written in a trilogy, but my understanding is that they can be read in any order, since the storylines are independent.) It's a homage of sorts to the fictional pulp heroes of the Victorian and early modern periods.
I'm on Part Two of Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy and have just started Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham.
I'm reading a thriller called Purified right now which is pretty good so far. It's another read for review request and am reading kingdom keepers 7 still too. I hope to do more classics later on.
I've just finished a trilogy called "Wool", really enjoyed it and I'm not sure what to read next!
Cool Ash. If you need any classics to read, there's Peter Pan and other classic discussions here. :)
'Manhattan Transfer' by John Dos Passos. Not sure I'm liking it...
I've just started 'Insurgent'. But,unfortunately, with revision, my reading has had to take a back seat :(
Hi Chloe, what do you think of the Divergent series? It seems like an interesting premise.
I'm currently reading:The Knife of Never Letting Gowhich is a pretty good read and will finish this week cuz it's due back to the library on Sunday.-hardback book
Kingdom Keepers 7 the Insider by Ridley Pearson-hardback book
Killer Rumors by Antonello Fiore as a thriller read for review request ebook
and got two read for review requests coming up with Ruthless by Steven F. Freeman and SmokeScreen by Tasha Lessey.-ebooks
I will hopefully read Frankenstein sometime this Summer since its a ebook on my tablet with Under the Dome and so on. Just got to finish what I am currently reading first.
Although I have a (free) Kindle app on my PC, I'm mostly a paper book reader; reading books onscreen doesn't fit into my schedule very well, so I can only read them intermittently that way. But it can be a useful way of trying out free e-books, to see whether they're worthy of purchasing a print copy. A book I started reading that way over this past weekend is The Lost Continent by Goodreads author Percival Constantine. It's a pulp action adventure yarn, with a lady archaeologist who's very much in the Lara Croft mold.
Hey Noam. Have you ever read The Child Thief? It's a pretty good and dark version of Peter Pan which the author brom was inspired to write after reading the original. def check it out. the artwork in it is amazing.
No problem Noam. Enjoy! After I read the Child Thief, I went and read the original Peter Pan to find out how he got his inspiration for it and the original peter pan is pretty nasty too.
I'm enjoying Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham. It's a "bildungsroman" (coming-of-age story) and is a blend of autobiography and fiction. This novel has been proclaimed as a masterpiece by Maugham. Then I'll probably resume reading Anna Karenina thereafter. Next on my schedule will be The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.
I think that's my favourite of Maugham's, Alice. It's the "meatiest," isn't it, although I do like the much shorter The Moon And Sixpence and some of his short stories. They vary quite a bit though.
The first few chapters about Philip's childhood are a bit slow, but once he goes to Heidelberg, the story starts to get interesting. The only other novel by Maugham that I've read is The Painted Veil. I was inspired by the movie and felt a certain affinity to the novel since it is set in Hong Kong (in part).
I can understand that, although I'm afraid I found it very dated when I read it.
I'm reading too many at a time right now. :) LOL.
I'm a fan of the classic pulp (no, that's NOT an oxymoron!) writings of both Howard Phillips Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, who were real-life pen pals. In Shadows Bend: A Novel of the Fantastic and Unspeakable, set in August 1935, authors David Barbour and Richard Raleigh posit a visit by HPL to his fellow writer --and it appears that the dark entities of the former's Cthulhu Mythos are manifesting themselves in (fictional) "reality." That's what I'm reading now. I got the book several years ago on BookMooch; it's been in my TBR pile(s) until now, so I'm pleased to finally get around to it!
Right now I'm totally immersed in world classics and I just don't know when I'll be able to extricate myself and branch out to other genres. As a matter of fact, I have little interest in any of the paranormal, sci-fic, fantasy, YA, NA and romance genres, which seem to be the rave of the younger generations. Well, I am what I am and I like what I like!I'm reading The Picture of Dorian Gray, which novel forms part of the book The Portable Oscar Wilde. I've already read the two plays Salome and The Importance of Being Earnest, both of which I loved very much. In fact, I had studied The Importance of Being Earnest at high school but it was only when I re-read it a few years ago that I had a much better appreciation of the deep satire of the play.
Iasa, it's currently out of print (it was published in 2000); but Amazon lists some dealers with remaindered or used copies to sell, and over 240 libraries have copies, which means it won't be hard to get by interlibrary loan if your local library doesn't have it. If you do read it sometime, I hope you like it!
I've just finished The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Portable Oscar Wilde.My 4-star review of "The Picture of Dorian Gray":
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I'm glad that I've found Wilde's poem "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" (which he wrote while in prison) in "The Portable Oscar Wilde". I'm reading the poem - it's so heart-wrenchingly sad!
Haven't been reading any classics lately but got a bunch of read and review requests right now that I'm reading that is a whodunit mystery thriller serial, two paranormal romances, and a dark fantasy. they are all pretty good thus far.
I'm reading Neil Gaiman's short story collection Smoke and Mirrors for another book group, and I just started listening to the sf classic A Voyage to Arcturus as a LibriVox audiobook. (LibriVox is a volunteer organization that provides audio readings of books in the public domain.)
I did the group read too, although it was a reread for me. I finished Smoke and Mirrors. I had read a few of the stories before, but not the whole thing. I didn't completely love it, but there were a few brilliant stories. "The Wedding Present" is a short but very haunting love story. "The White Road" is a beautiful and creepy retelling of the fairytale "Mr Fox." "Murder Mysteries" is a story set in Heaven, before Lucifer's rebellion, about the first murder. It completely blew my mind. Saying more than that would probably give it away.I also read the epic Gilgamesh, in a very accessible verse translation by David Ferry. Not my favorite classic, but it has some powerful moments. It's basically about death and the impermanence of things. The end of the story has been lost, and it cuts off sort of in the middle of things.
I just finished Age of Bronze Volume 1: A Thousand Ships, Eric Shanower's comic about the Trojan War. My library has just the first two volumes, but there are two more out so far.
I'm reading non-fiction The Wives of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser as well as continuing with Anna Karenina after 3 weeks' lapse (I had to return the book to my library while midway through, as there was a request on the book and I couldn't renew).Recently I read A Midsummer Night's Dream as a group read and The Last Day of a Condemned Man by Victor Hugo.
My friend Andrew M. Seddon recently sent me a signed copy of his latest book, Saints Alive! New Stories of Old Saints: Volume II Celtic Paths. This is a collection of a dozen short historical fiction stories drawn from the lives of Christian saints, several of which I beta read, though it's been awhile since I did. I started reading it yesterday to refresh my memory, and to pick up the new (to me) stories I haven't read.
During July, I'll be taking part in a common read of Norah Lofts' historical novel
in the Lofts fan group here on Goodreads. I started it early yesterday evening, since my copy was borrowed through interlibrary loan and has to be returned by July 21. That might cut it close, especially since I'll lose several days of reading the week after July 4, when we'll be gone on vacation.
I have a few going this month. Working on finishing some series books: The Lunar Series, Just finished Uglies and am going to start Pretties, Burn from the Pure series, And going to start Goddess and Reborn today. I can't seem to just read one book at a time!
I recently finished Karen Russell's Swamplandia!. For the most part, I liked it, but I'm not sure what to make of the ending. Currently reading J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century and taking lots of notes.
I'm between books for common reads in one of my other groups; so in the interim, I've started the collected stories Robert E. Howard wrote for Weird Tales, back in the late 1920s and early 30s, featuring his Puritan swordsman Solomon Kane, The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane. (Some were first published only after Howard's death in 1936.) Kane's a larger-than-life hero, a swashbuckling adventurer who travels the 17th-century world fighting supernatural evil.
I finished 80AD: Hammer of thor which was pretty good so got some others to finish then got my book club reads coming up for the reading for pleasure book club and others.
I'm currently reading Midnight's Children for a book club buddy read at the reading for pleasure book club which is pretty good so far and others.
Amber wrote: "I'm currently reading Midnight's Children for a book club buddy read at the reading for pleasure book club which is pretty good so far and others."I love that book! It's difficult to read at first, but it's amazing.
Hey guys! I'm new and am currently reading David Copperfield. I'm almost finished with it and find Dicken's characters to be quite charming. He has a way of creating a comical silver lining, in even the most dismal of situations. Although many people find hi unrealistic, I feel that in his writing, he does exactly what we tend to do; that is, embellishing that which needs embellishment and humor. :)
Lyza, Dickens is one of my favorite authors. I've actually read only a few of his novels, but David Copperfield is definitely one that I enjoyed, too!
Thanks beth! I'm enjoying it thus far.
You're in good company there Werner - it was his own favourite too, I believe! (I have this compulsion to chirp up if there's any mention of my favourite author LOL!)
My wife and I always have a book we keep in the car, for me to read to her aloud when we're riding together. We just finished one yesterday, Son of the Morning by Linda Howard, and started a new one, Mark of the Lion (2006), the first book of Suzanne Arruda's Jade Del Cameron historical mystery series, set in British East Africa right after World War I.
Lyza wrote: "Hey guys! I'm new and am currently reading David Copperfield. I'm almost finished with it and find Dicken's characters to be quite charming. He has a way of creating a comical silver lining, in e..."
Awesome! :)
I am enjoying it a great deal. It's very long!
Vintage Tales
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I have the Barnes & Noble Classics edition.