What are you reading in 2017?

[Katheryn]

I hadn't heard of Mr Penumbra's 24 hour bookstore, but when I saw both of your comments I was intrigued by the title. Have now added it to my TBR list!

[Paul]

I enjoyed it when I read it a couple of years ago. Just a random pickup in a library

[Sam]

I'm reading Tell the Wolves I'm Home, and I love it so far. The protagonist and I have a lot in common and it is so wonderful and rare to read about someone who could be me.

[Paul]

I am almost finished The Apple Orchard: The Story of Our Most English Fruit. It has been really good

[Louisereviews]

Almost finished Jenny Colgan's Little Shop of Happy Ever After. Not loving it as much as I normal do her stuff, but still enjoying it.

[Jan]

At the moment I'm reading Main Street by Sinclair Lewis. I think he's an incredible writer, and also an incredibly condescending snob. Anyway, the novel most certainly maintains my interest.

[Pat]

Ditto Salman Rushdie. However I guess we read their books and it's only the media that tell us how annoying peeps are.

[[deleted user]]

I am slowly working my way through The Gene: An Intimate History. It is interesting but also reminiscent of a text book, although a very well written one. Also, I am reading The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. I purposely know very little about the personal lives of any of the Star Wars cast but given Ms. Fisher's recent passing, some of the comments in the book are rather eerie.

[Paul]

Enjoyed The Gene: An Intimate History when I read it last year Lisa Ann. Haven't read the Carrie Fisher book yet though

[Mike]

Just finished The Circle - not everything about the book is brilliant, but it's very thought-provoking. Now reading At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails, very highly recommended by so many people - quite enjoying it so far. Also dipping into Zinn & the Art of Road Bike Maintenance: The World's Best-Selling Bicycle Repair and Maintenance Guide, as it's nearly spring. Have also just enjoyed Bike Snob: Systematically & Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling. A lovely meditation on life in the saddle, though it resonates most with those of us who ride in New York.

[Paul]

You might like It's All About the Bike: The Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels then Mike

[Mike]

I might. Actually my current ambition is to stumble across a distinguished old Holdsworth or Claud Butler frame and revive it with modern components.

[Jan]

Pat wrote: "Ditto Salman Rushdie. However I guess we read their books and it's only the media that tell us how annoying peeps are."

What are "peeps" Pat?

[Shay]

I am now reading Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe.

[Pat]

People.

[Pat]

Fried green tomatoes is great

[Pamela]

I have given up on Lying in Wait and sent it back to the library. It was just too similar to Unravelling Oliver but with even more unpleasant characters. I think I may read it sometime, but not now.

Instead am reading a couple of historical mysteries The Last Kashmiri Rose and A Simple Murder, and enjoying both.

[[deleted user]]

I'm currently reading Chango's Fire and The Museum of Extraordinary Things.

[Jan]

Just finished Main Street by Sinclair Lewis. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Paul]

Currently reading Spymaster: The Life of Britain's Most Decorated Cold War Spy and Head of MI6, Sir Maurice Oldfield. The author is the nephew of Sir Maurice Oldfield and it is written in a balanced way so far

[Jan]

Sounds fascinating Paul. I'm going to mark that one down.

[Jo]

I am reading Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent and listening to Sirens by Joseph Knox which is a pretty gritty story about the Manchester underworld and a troubled cop who steps the wrong side of the line, both professionally and personally. Not for the faint hearted and I think it's about to take an even darker step....

[Louisereviews]

Just started Katherine of Aragon, the first of Alison Weir's Six Tudor Queens series.

[Nikki]

I liked the first half of Mr Penumbra but then it irritated me. This was my review

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

[Nikki]

I loved unravelling Oliver so have marked Lying in Wait to read. It is just the best feeling when you discover an author that you enjoy.

I also love an Alison Weir, Katherine of Aragon us much under rated in my opinion, she was one formidable character. The Constant Princess by Phillipa Gregory is very good.The Constant Princess

[Jo]

Pamela wrote: "I have given up on Lying in Wait and sent it back to the library. It was just too similar to Unravelling Oliver but with even more unpleasant characters. I think I m..."

Pamela - I agree to some extent re Lying In Wait. It is very similar, even down to the "killer" opening sentence.... though I have stuck with it was the book I had with me on holiday so had no choice, and I am keen to see it through as a result.

Nikki - my advice is to leave a gap of a few books until you read it!

[Jo]

I am now listening to Rivers of London for our March Fiction read. Love it so far.

[Paul]

I am a quarter of the way through Caraval at the moment.

[Nikki]

I am doing a mixture of reading and listening to Rivers of London. It is such a great book.

[Nikki]

Thanks Pamela. People are sending me books to read and so I have plenty to keep me occupied

[Jon]

Starting The Last Policeman. A mystery set in a pre-apocalyptic future. A policeman investigates a suspicious suicide while an asteroid on a collision course with Earth comes ever closer. We're all going to die in six months, but he refuses to let things go

[Rebecca]

I've got that one, not got round to reading it yet but will be interested in what you think of it Jon.

[Linda]

I'm wondering if I should revise my BookBuster challenge to exclude titles with words like "girls", "boys", etc. Look at this: so far I've read The Girls, The Girl Before, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, The Woman in Cabin 10 and All the Missing Girls. They're getting progressively worse, too...

[Linda]

Paul wrote: "I am a quarter of the way through Caraval at the moment."

Do you like it? I'm thinking about buying it.

[Paul]

Alberthe wrote: "Paul wrote: "I am a quarter of the way through Caraval at the moment."

Do you like it? I'm thinking about buying it."

It isn't bad, but neither is it superb. If you liked The Night Circus then you get on fine with it.

[Paul]

Alberthe wrote: "I'm wondering if I should revise my BookBuster challenge to exclude titles with words like "girls", "boys", etc. Look at this: so far I've read The Girls, [book:The Girl Before|2801..."

Have you not read The Girl on the Bandwagon then? :-)

[Linda]

Paul wrote: "Alberthe wrote: "I'm wondering if I should revise my BookBuster challenge to exclude titles with words like "girls", "boys", etc. Look at this: so far I've read The Girls, [book:The..."

:-D

[Jo]

I have recently started Himself by Jess Kidd and am listening to Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris. Quite excited about both.

[Paul]

Most of the way through How to Survive a Plague: The Story of How Activists and Scientists Tamed AIDS now. It is a detailed and quite dense story of the beginnings of the AIDS virus and how it devastated so many lives in America.

[Jo]

I've just realised my book club is next week and I haven't started the book yet, so Himself on hold whilst I read The End of the World Running Club. All members who've read or started it so far are saying it's brilliant.... hope so.

[Paul]

Half way through Kapp To Cape: Never Look Back: Race to the End of the Earth. Good so far

[Paul]

Aiming to read Sealskin and The Roanoke Girls this weekend

[Louisereviews]

Just started Cheer Up, Love: Adventures in Depression with the Crab of Hate by Susan Calman. Hoping to finish that this weekend, Just ordered Poison City and hoping it arrives soon.

[Nikki]

I loved The Night Circus and so I might give Caraval a go.

[Toyah]

Now I'm done with the epic A Suitable Boy, I'm reading Dreamwalker by JD Oswald. The first of 3 books in the series. Halfway in and so far so good! I really wanted to branch out on my fantasy reading.

[Joy]

I'm trying to read A Place of Greater Safety, but I'm not getting on very well - I've only read just over 100 pages in the last week.
There are so many secondary characters that i can't hold them all in my head and with the main characters I find I become interested in one's circumstances / problems only for the next section to be off somewhere else with someone else.
The copy I have, from the library, also has quite tight print which I'm finding hard going. If I could space the actual print more widely that might help, but I don't feel inclined to buy a kindle version because I'm not enjoying it enough.

[Jo]

I have had to put Himself to one side, to finish my book club book The End of the World Running Club which is great so far, a pacy unusual post-apocalyptic tale.

Also listening to Going to Sea in a Sieve which is an utter joy to listen to.

[Nikki]

Danny Baker is a natural story teller I bet his book is great

[Jo]

Nikki wrote: "Danny Baker is a natural story teller I bet his book is great"

Nikki, it's a brilliantly told "story" and narrated from the heart. The portrayal of his early family life is both hilarious and touching (I would have loved to meet his Dad!).

[Emma]

I'm currently reading In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park. It's about her life in and escape from North Korea. It's fascinating so far. Not a happy read but an insightful one.