What are you reading in 2014?

[Charlotte]

70 pages...phew, seems hard work!

[Sam]

Very. I am so autistic I like to finish at the end of a chapter can't really do that with this.

[Linda]

Am reading House of Bathory. Novel about the infamous Elizabeth Bathory.

[Linda]

Am afraid I was a bit 'meh' about The Book Thief Lynne. May go and see the film though. However I can really recommend A Quiet Belief In Angels by R.J.Ellory. on sale for £1.49 in Kindle Store.

[Elizabeth]

Sam wrote: "Very. I am so autistic I like to finish at the end of a chapter can't really do that with this."

Me too, Sam! My husband can't understand why I can't just stop at the end of a sentence or paragraph. It has to be the end of the chapter and I get very frustrated with long chapters!

Sometimes I just have to give in and find a convenient place to stop, but I don't like it.

And some novels don't even have chapters. One I read recently didn't and I just had to make myself stop at the end of the paragraph.

[Elizabeth]

I started reading The Mammy by Brendan O'Carroll last night. So far so good. He's not a bad writer. Plenty of humour along with the serious stuff.

I'm a big fan of his comedy series Mrs Brown's Boys, and this is one of his series of novels, on which it is (very loosely) based.

[Jo]

I am reading A Commonplace Killing and admittedly I am only 70 pages in, but I feel like I am making myself read it. It's pretty dull so far, fingers crossed we are doing lots of scene setting and things improve because I want to enjoy it!

[Debbie]

A double whammy of Dickens - A Tale of Two Cities and Bleak House

[Charlotte]

Elizabeth wrote: "I started reading The Mammy by Brendan O'Carroll last night. So far so good. He's not a bad writer. Plenty of humour along with the serious stuff.

I'm a big fan of hi..."

I found the books to be far more enjoyable. A bit more realistic to life whereas the programme is hilarious but totally daft!

[Sam]

Making my way through the Cinder series at the moment. I've read the first book, am making my way through the short stories then I'll be reading Scarlet. Also about to start The Coming of the Third Reich since I've finished 199 Days: The Battle for Stalingrad.

[Jackie]

Going to start Winter in Madrid by CJ Sansom tonight (after I've watched Chelsea hopefully beat Galatasaray!)

[Jo]

Good Luck with that Jackie! (The Chelsea bit, rather than the book...)

[Paul]

Jackie wrote: "Going to start Winter in Madrid by CJ Sansom tonight (after I've watched Chelsea hopefully beat Galatasaray!)"

I finished that a couple of days ago. Stick with it as it is a little slow in starting

[Jackie]

Lol thanks Jo (they drew!)

Paul I'm only a few pages in. I see it's been compared to Sebastian Faulks. His Birdsong is one of my favourites so I hope this one is at least somewhere near as good as that.

[Paul]

And The Shadow of the Wind too. Which apart from being set in Spain it nothing like...

Currently most of the way through Ramble On: The story of our love for walking Britain. Liking it, but it is making me feel slightly homesick as I am in China at the moment. Also dipping into Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive, a comprehensive account of how a society fails.

[Sandy]

Have a safe trip. I see you are keeping up on your reading. :)

[Paul]

Sandy wrote: "Have a safe trip. I see you are keeping up on your reading. :)"

It would be rude not to!

[Sandra]

I'm 26% done with A Pledge of Silence by Flora Solomon. So far is being really interesting. It is a historical fiction about the American nurses serving in the Philippines during WWII.

[Linda]

Just started The Palace of Curiosities by Rosie Garland.

[Elizabeth]

I'm working my way, slowly, through a book of short stories The Love Object by Edna O'Brien. They have been good so far, but I just don't get on with short stories. Could take a while, at one or two a week!

Also, about to start A Commonplace Killing by Siam Busby, Nonsense by Christopher Reid, and Kiss Me First by Lottie Moggach. Busy reading week ahead!

[Sandra]

Today I'll be starting The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot for my book club.

[Linda]

Oooh thats a good read Sandra!

[Jo]

Just starting Elijah's Mermaid

[Elizabeth]

I started listening to Kiss Me First by Lottie Moggach this morning. So far quite good. Am curious to see where the story's going. Intriguing.

A Commonplace Killing is on hold for a while. Too many books on the go!

[Sandra]

Linda wrote: "Oooh thats a good read Sandra!"

I hope so! Everybody in my book club is excited about this discussion. Did you read it?

[Beatriz]

Sandra wrote: "Today I'll be starting The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot for my book club."

Amazing book!

[Linda]

I read it last year Sandra. I don't pretend to understand all the medical terms and it could be a bit dry in places but overall the story was fascinating and sad and I highly recommend it.

[Linda]

Jo wrote: "Just starting Elijah's Mermaid"

I really enjoyed this too. I am a massive fan of Essie Fox and recently finished her latest The Goddess and the Thief.

[Jo]

Linda, I read The Somnabulist last year and absolutely loved it. So Gothic and Glorious! It turned me onto a genre I hadn't really tried before.

I was awake early this morning and cracked through the first 50 pages, so pleased to be finally started.

I've already got the Goddess and the Thief on reserve at the library.

[Debbie]

Jo wrote: "Linda, I read The Somnabulist last year and absolutely loved it. So Gothic and Glorious! It turned me onto a genre I hadn't really tried before.

I was awake early this morning and cracked through ...

I had no idea Essie Fox had published more. I loved The Somnabulist too.

[Jackie]

I'm just starting The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz.

[Francine]

I'm reading The Bloodletter's Daughter which I got free on kindle, a new author and a fascinating novel about Prague, Romania, the Hapsburg Dynasty and a girl caught in this world ca. 1600. It is well very well written and hard to put down. I got it free on my Kindle (yes I have a Kindle) and I think it's worth a look...should be a best seller IMO.

[Debbie]

Jackie wrote: "I'm just starting The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz."

I hope you like it, I read it last year and loved it.

[Debbie]

I'm reading The Shock of the Fall and James Fenton An Introduction To English Poetry. Just to break up Bleak House I had forgotten how long a book it is.

[Paul]

Most of the way through Crossing to Safety which i should finish today.
Then aiming to read The Long War, The Cosmic Puppets and then For One More Day

[Jackie]

Hiya Debbie

It's just ok for me at the moment. I didn't like the beginning at all, I thought I was going to have to abandon it after 30 or so pages but then it picked up a little. So I'm finding it a bit 'patchy'. I'm enjoying picking up some spanish words that I didn't know before though!

[Betty C.]

I'm in the middle of The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson. It's a book with very mixed reviews but I have liked it so far. Good, not great, and definitely original.

I've also been doing academic reading for my Cambridge DELTA Module 3.

I also completed the Winter Challenge (5 books) but it isn't marked because I finished the 5th one on March 1st rather than February 28th! Oh well, it still felt like winter here, I think it was snowing that day in fact!

I haven't chosen to do the group reads lately, partly for lack of time but also because they haven't necessarily caught my fancy. But I did just buy The Rosie Project, which definitely sounds up my alley.

[Paul]

I have modified the end date Betty. You should now show that you have completed the challenge

[Anna]

I'm going to have to avert my eyes at some of the books people are saying they like a lot on herd as I'm determined to get through the books on my to read shelf, as I'm not a fast reader and there are a lot to get through!!!

At the moment I'm reading The Whispering Road by Livi Michael as my commuting book and I've just started This House is Haunted by John Boyne as my night read (might not be wise!!!)

[Jackie]

Debbie - I finished Oscar Wao this morning. I'm really glad I stuck with it as it was bit of a slow burner for me and I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I thought I was going to. I gave it 3 stars but if Goodreads had the facility to (I wish they'd sort it!) I would have given it 3 and a half.

[Paul]

Just started The Long War. I enjoyed the first one so was kind of looking forward to this, but the reviews are a little critical of it.

[Jackie]

Going to start Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane.

[Jan]

Reading The Lonely Crowd by David Riesman.

Interesting: theorizes social development as tradition-directed (associated with rather fixed social roles and extended families) to inner-directed (with character imprinted from nuclear family but pursuing personal goals associated with the advance of civilization) and finally with declining population to outer-directed (focused on adaptability to society)

[Paul]

Cracking on with Sean Yates: It's All About the Bike: My Autobiography today. I have watch him suffer on a bike for three decades now, and have a lot of respect for the guy.

[Danielle]

Reading Butcher's Crossing at the moment.

[Sam]

Jackie wrote: "Going to start Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane."

Be interested to know what you think of that one. It's on my to read list. I'm reading his Mystic River now and enjoying his style so far.

[Jackie]

Hiya Sam.

I've nearly finished Shutter Island, got about 30 pages left. I've really enjoyed it. He does seem to have an easy to read style doesn't he. I haven't read any of his other books and I've got Mystic River on my TBR list so I'd like to know what you think of that when you've finished.

[Elizabeth]

Started reading Mad About the Boy yesterday. So far so good. Such a long time since I read the first two that I was shocked Bridget was 52. Must have been nearly 20 years ago the first novel was published.

[Mel]

I loved mad about the boy - such a fun read and interestingly her character hasn't changed in the slightest. I enjoyed her decent into twitter and the comedy involved in it.

[Pat]

Good fun wasn't it?