2017: What are you reading? Showing 1,201-1,250 of 1,704

[Ashley Marie]

Currently reading The Lost World and hoping to wrap up a few more for the summer reading challenge here in the next day or two.

[Megan]

I just finished reading Meghan Masterson's The Wardrobe Mistress: A Novel of Marie Antoinette. It was a fast and enjoyable read, despite the few problems I had with it.

Now I'm currently about halfway through the second book of a military fantasy series - The Shadow Throne by Django Wexler - and really enjoying it. I'm seeing multiple parallels between elements of the French Revolution and Napoleon, although I wouldn't necessarily say that they directly inspired this book/series for sure.

[Carol]

Reading Apparitions: Ghosts of Old Edo, which takes place in Japan.

[PattyMacDotComma]

Like listening to gossip about first wife by second. Most enjoyable little book. Sisters by Lily Tuck.
5★ Link to my review

[Alice]

I am reading by Diana Gabaldon. It is her new set of short stories for Outlander

[Faith]

I'm plowing through my commuter book Lawrence and the Arabs by Robert Graves. It's fun reading a biography written by a contemporary of the subject. Also wonderful insights into the mess Britain and France left the Middle East in after WWI.

[Kerry]

I'm reading Golden Hill for writing inspiration for my next novel on the Spanish Civil War and - after wading through Hemingway for the same reason - I'm finding Spufford's style dazzling. It's quick, witty and such good fun. Did the same for The Artist’s Muse. Reading! How can any writer write without it?

[Sara]

I finish reading Skeletons at the Feast for the second time last night, and started on The Spy Lover which is about civil war

[PattyMacDotComma]

Kerry wrote: "I'm reading Golden Hill3732457] for writing inspiration for my next novel on the Spanish Civil War and - after wading through Hemingway for the same reason - I'm finding Spufford's style da..."

I loved Golden Hill and heard a reviewer say that the word "rollicking" was invented for it! I agree. I did review it if you're interested and haven't seen it, Kerry.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[PattyMacDotComma]

Recently enjoyed Sami Shah's informative, entertaining The Islamic Republic of Australia. Read and learn from a smart, ex-Muslim, Australian comedian!
4.5★ Link to my review

[Margaret]

I'm
Reading [The lost wife] by Alyson Richman it is a fascinating book

[Margaret]

The lost wife is beautifully written

[PattyMacDotComma]

Another 4.5★ read for me. Who'd have though that yummy Sourdough could lead to such an intriguing story? Author Robin Sloan, that's who. You may know him as the author of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, which was equally delightful.
Link to my review of "Sourdough"

[Gary]

Margaret wrote: "The lost wife is beautifully written"

I read Alyson Richman's The Mask Carver's Son. I agree; she does write beautifully.

The Mask Carver's Son

[Book Concierge]

Under This Unbroken Sky – Shandi Mitchell – 5*****
This debut work just about broke my heart. Mitchell’s writing is luminous and poetic in places, making the landscape and weather central characters in the drama that unfolds in the late 1930s on the plains of Northern Canada. The novel touches on the immigrant experience, the harsh realities of prairie life, domestic abuse, faith, friendship, charity, pride, survival and forgiveness. This is a book, and an author, that deserves a wider audience.
LINK to my review

[Michele]

Earl wrote: "Oh and funny you mention I, Claudius. I had a screenwriter friend suggest that book a few days ago. I added it to my to read section."

It really is an excellent read. And as I mentioned, if you enjoy historical television, Masterpiece Theatre did a stellar adaption of the book years ago -- Derek Jacobi, Brian Blessed, Jonathan Rhys-Davies, Sian Phillips, Patrick Stewart, Patricia Quinn, etc etc etc.

[Michele]

Finished Augustus, which of course then forced me to re-read I, Claudius since that's (kind of) the sequel.

Now re-reading It so I will be ready to face the movie on opening night next week!

[[deleted user]]

Just finished Sir Walter Scott's Kenilworth. It's a masterful piece of historical fiction, and portrays, I think, fairly accurately the personality of one of the great monarchs of history, Elizabeth I. The story itself ends rather abruptly, rather wrenchingly too, I think, probably as the author is working to preserve some semblance of historical accuracy. For me, the ending was very abrupt, and broke the flow of what had been a very enjoyable read, and a fascinating window into Elizabethan England. All good things must come to an end...

[Jasmine, Gatekeeper of Giveaways.]

I start too many books at a time! Currently reading
.

Three out of four are good so far. I just am not finding The Last Boleyn interesting. I think the amount of history she has changed already (I'm only 100 pages in) and the vapid characters make the book really hard to get through. Surprisingly it has a really high rating on Goodreads.

[PattyMacDotComma]

I freely admit I'm a sucker for short stories, and I've found a new (to me) author! Jacob M. Appel's latest collection, The Liars' Asylum, is excellent.
4.5★ Link to my review

[Margaret]

Just finished [My name is Lucy Barton] by Elizabeth Strout

[Margaret]

This is a comment on a mother
Daughter relationship in a poverty stricken dysfunctional family.

[Alice]

Reading a really good book right now set in 639 AD China

by Weina Dai Randel

[Alice]

Finished Do Not Say We Have Nothing. 4.3 stars. A riveting family saga set in a tumultuous and inglorious period in China's recent history.

My review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Carol]

I am reading Apparitions: Ghosts of Old Edo by Miyuki Miyabe. I rarely make it through a book of short stories but these are interesting, take place in Tokyo some time ago and I am a new fan of Miyabe's writing style.

[Margaret]

I'm reading Midnight Rose by Lucinda Riley

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

I finished "The Essex Serpent" and starting "Asylum"

[PattyMacDotComma]

5★ for Jesmyn Ward's new novel Sing, Unburied, Sing.
Mississipi, where the dead make themselves heard.
Link to my review

[[deleted user]]

[Alice]

Carol wrote: "I am reading Apparitions: Ghosts of Old Edo by Miyuki Miyabe. I rarely make it through a book of short stories but these are interesting, take place in Tokyo some tim..."

I really liked The MIdnight Rose. I hope you do too.

[Linda]

Just started Beneath a Scarlet Sky. I can already tell it's just the kind of HF I love! Excited 😊

[PattyMacDotComma]

Linda wrote: "Just started Beneath a Scarlet Sky. I can already tell it's just the kind of HF I love! Excited 😊"

I've never heard of that, but I just had a look, and it DOES look interesting!

[Tanya]

Halfway through 100 years of Solitude but keep shifting from that to the Chronicles Series by Jeffrey Archer when it gets too difficult to read.

[PattyMacDotComma]

Tanya wrote: "Halfway through 100 years of Solitude but keep shifting from that to the Chronicles Series by Jeffrey Archer when it gets too difficult to read."

Tanya, I loved Gabriel García Márquez's long One Hundred Years of Solitude but he sure does challenge the memory with the repeating names, doesn't he?

On my review, I posted a picture of a family tree I found that was really helpful. I can't take credit for the imaginative illustrations of the characters, of course. Hope you find it useful.
Link to my review

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

I finished "Asylum" and starting a re-read "Jane Eyre"

[PattyMacDotComma]

You know those people you enjoy except when they relate intimate details to you a little too loudly in public? CRINGE! That's Audra.
Katherine Heiny's new Standard Deviation is a lot of fun.
4★ Link to my review

[Melanie]

Currently reading Life Class by Pat Barker. Really enjoying it.

[Alice]

Two weeks ago, a neighbor lent me a non-fiction title called The Stolen Village: Baltimore and the Barbary Pirates by Des Ekin with high praise. It's a little-known piece of 17th century Irish history about the sack of the coastal town of Baltimore by Barbary pirates and the subsequent enslavement of the villagers.

I've started reading it.

[Jackie]

This week I finished Jurassic Park and started Wonder Woman: Warbringer.

I'm so annoyed with the library because I ordered the group read- The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra, which they said was available and when I went they said it was "missing" but not marked on the website. I had to order it from another library so who knows if it will even come in this month.

[Michele]

Finished It, then saw the movie. "We all float down here..."

Next up, I think: The Traitor Baru Cormorant.

[Dem]

Finished and enjoyed The Trip of a Lifetime
My review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/2073435547

[Margaret]

I'm reading Belgravia by Julian Fellowes

[PattyMacDotComma]

I decided I wasn't as interested as I'd hoped in Dan Mooney's demons in Me, Myself and Them. 2.5★
Link to my review

[Book Concierge]

Death at Wentwater Court - Carola Dunn – 3***
I really enjoyed this cozy mystery debut. Daisy is a delightful central character and amateur sleuth. I’m a little unhappy with how the book ends –but it’s true to the time, place and social class.
LINK to my review

[Alice]

I am reading one of my favorite historical cozy series

by Rhys Bowen

[Megan]

I'm about to start reading Just One Damned Thing After Another. Historians travelling through time? Sign me up.

I also have The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra to get around to for the group read. Sarah Schmidt's See What I Have Done, a retelling of Lizzie Borden's story, is sitting on my bedside table too.

[PattyMacDotComma]

Sadly, I'm obviously not the audience for The Girl from Munich by Aussie author Tania Blanchard.
Link to my brief notes

[Elinor]

Dodie Smith, where have you been all my life? I cannot believe that I have never read her classic I Capture the Castle until now. I am enjoying every word.

[[deleted user]]

[Book Concierge]

Under Fishbone Clouds - Sam Meekings – 3***
This is a love story and family saga set against the backdrop of 20th century Chinese history. We watch Jinyi and Yuying grow through their childhoods, courtship, early marriage, and mature years. Meekings also gives the reader insight into how the wars, Japanese invasion, and Mao’s Cultural Revolution impacted the people of China.
LINK to my review