What are you reading in 2016?

[Paul]

Good. :-)

[Paul]

How many of you use twitter for book related stuff? Thinking of joining, but the handle I was intending on using has been taken

[Jackie]

Going to start reading The Mirror World of Melody Black by Gavin Extence later today. Really enjoyed his Universe Versus Alex Woods.

[Pamela]

Paul wrote: "How many of you use twitter for book related stuff? Thinking of joining, but the handle I was intending on using has been taken"

Yes I do, I get a lot of recommendations from Twitter, follow publishers and bloggers and have won quite a few giveaways there too

[Paul]

Just realised I posed this in the wrong thread! I signed up last night

[Joy]

I'm reading The Island of Dr. Moreau but finding it quite hard-going.

[Mike]

Currently buried in The Switch: How solar, storage and new tech means cheap power for all - interesting stuff though he does make some assumptions - which you have to when you're trying to predict the future.

[Paul]

Sounds fascinating Mike, We have had solar panels now for 5 years, and coupled with very insulation and things like low energy LED lamps (I am a development engineer for a lighting company) we use much less power

[Mike]

That's interesting. I only realised quite recently that LEDs had much lower power consumption.

I moved into a new office two years ago and was appalled to find out that we had always-on fluorescent lights in every office - no light-switches. I had mine disabled (I hate fluorescent light, anyway) and work with just a sidelight, which I can turn off when I go off to lunch or a meeting. No-one else in the office seems too troubled by it, though. I did my PhD on climate change and I seethe every time I am the last to leave and walk down the corridor past brightly-lit offices that I know have been empty for at least an hour.

[Paul]

They are about 10% of the old filament lamps and half that of fluorescent lamps.

[Paul]

Aiming to read Uprooted and Arctic Dreams this week

[Jackie]

I'm starting A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry today. It's a friend's recommendation so I'm quite confident I'll enjoy it. If I don't..well..I'll post it back through her letterbox with a little note attached haha :)

[Jackie]

Blimey there's tumbleweed blowing through here - what's going on? Apart from nothing..

Today I'm going to start reading Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee.

[Katheryn]

Started reading The Girl with All the Gifts and A History of Britain in 21 Women

[Paul]

Currently reading A Natural History of the Hedgerow & The Meaning Of Birds

[Tara]

Jackie wrote: "Blimey there's tumbleweed blowing through here - what's going on? Apart from nothing..

Today I'm going to start reading Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee."

I read it years ago and loved it, I hadn't expected how much I would like his writing.

[Paul]

Jackie wrote: "Blimey there's tumbleweed blowing through here - what's going on? Apart from nothing..

It is very quiet at the moment!

[Jackie]

It's great so far, Tara. I think I'll be having a look at his(?) other books at some point too.

[Pamela]

Alongside a couple of books for the Book Hunter challenge, I'm also about half way through Paradise Lodge by Nina Stibbe. It was a giveaway win, and I'm finding it full of very sharp and witty observations, as well as bringing back memories of the 1970s

[Wendy]

Started A Tale of Two Cities for the book hunter challenge and also a cheeky reread of the very marvellous Grief Is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter

[Paul]

Currently reading Hell of a Journey: On Foot Through the Scottish Highlands in Winter

[Jackie]

Going to start reading The Stone Boy by Sophie Loubiere today. It's a psychological thriller set in Paris.

[Paul]

Halfway through Snow, which is short but oh so good, and will be starting The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land In Between later tonight

[Pamela]

Went away for a short break so started reading Phantom by Jo Nesbø because I can only read thrillers or mysteries on holiday. The book is quite good though.

[Joy]

Read the first few chapters of a sci-fi / space adventure, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. Seems promising.

[Paul]

I have a copy of that from the library too Joy. Her second has just been released

[Katheryn]

Just started Inside the O'Briens, about a man diagnosed with Huntington's Disease

[Pat]

Pamela. I love those genres on holiday too. Usually easy to read and nothing like my life, hopefully. I did start John le Carre last hols. Not finished yet but that's because I think my brain is still on hols. Haha.

[Pamela]

Yes my brain is still on holiday too Pat. It likes to escape now and then :)

[Jon]

Just started The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil, a satirical political allegory that tackles demagoguery and the scapegoating of immigrants

[Paul]

Started East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity yesterday. It is a very well written personal account of the quest to bring Nazi to justice at the Nuremburg trial

[Wendy]

Got a couple started in the last week The Handmaid's Tale for the group classics read which I'm not sure if I love or hate at the moment and To the Lighthouse which I was a bit nervous about starting, as I've seen a few people haven't liked it, but which I'm enjoying at the moment.

[Jon]

Started reading The Professional. A book about a professional boxer that has the reputation of being one of the greatest sports books ever written. Both Ernest Hemingway and Elmore Leonard were fans of it. I've never been that big of a boxing fan, but as dramatic stories go, boxing can't be beat (Rocky, Cinderella Man, Raging Bull, Requiem for a Heavyweight, The Great White Hope. Million Dollar Baby, etc)

[Pamela]

Currently reading The Sinister Student which I won in a giveaway - it's a classic crime style murder mystery, nice light read. Also The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World, fascinating and the style is very straightforward.

[Paul]

The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World is a fascinating book.

[Gail]

Just picked up The Running Hare: The secret life of farmland from the library as Paul gave it 5* and I enjoyed Meadowland: The Private Life of an English Field.

[Paul]

Gail wrote: "Just picked up The Running Hare: The secret life of farmland from the library as Paul gave it 5* and I enjoyed Meadowland: The Private Life of an English Field."

And it is excellent Gail

[Jon]

Started Matt Gallagher's Kaboom: Embracing the Suck in a Savage Little War. He served in Iraq and it's based on the blog he wrote about his experience there. So far. so good. The book is satirical in spots and well written

[Wendy]

Right! That's it! The Gormenghast Trilogy has been sat on my shelf intimidating me for upwards of six years. I promised myself I would start it this year so here goes!

[Paul]

Good Luck Wendy

[Amy]

Just finished . Excellent.

Reading and

[Paul]

Half way through The Marches at the moment. It isn't bad so far

[Mike]

Wendy wrote: "Right! That's it! The Gormenghast Trilogy has been sat on my shelf intimidating me for upwards of six years. I promised myself I would start it this year so here goes!"

For what it's worth, I also had to nerve myself to tackle this - but once I started reading I couldn't put it down. Books are a very personal thing and you may not like it as much, but if you do, you are in for a very enjoyable read.

[Wendy]

Mike wrote: "Wendy wrote: "Right! That's it! The Gormenghast Trilogy has been sat on my shelf intimidating me for upwards of six years. I promised myself I would start it this year so here goes!"
..."
Mike, it's early days yet as I'm only 60 pages in but I'm really enjoying it so far. The language is really something to be savoured!

[Paul]

Don't read many Christmas books, but i am enjoying Village Christmas And Other Notes on the English Year so far. Laurie Lee is an author that I have been meaning to read for a while now and I am regretting for not starting before

[Jon]

Started Steinbeck's In Dubious Battle and like it so far. I'm actually surprised how overtly political it is (especially for the time period). The book opens with the main character joining "the Party" and becoming an activist for them. It's obviously the American Communist Party. I suppose the Red Scare didn't really gather momentum until the '50's (the book was wrtitten in 1936), but still.

[Paul]

Starting The Hanging Tree. Been waiting a while for this.

[Paul]

Starting Arboreal: A Collection of Words from the Woods today. Have been looking forward to this for a while

[Jan]

The Three Musketeers. First time

[Jo]

I have just started My Brilliant Friend and am nearly finished with The Girls.