What are you currently reading? Showing 551-600 of 2,082

[MichelleCH]

Just finished Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter. Now reading Swann's Way.

[Helena]

Just finished Jesus' Son and I've started A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again and I'll be starting Gone Girlfor a group read.

[Werner]

My Action Heroine Fans group is doing a common read of The Hunger Games this month, so I'm taking part in this. (It was actually my idea in the first place! :-) )

[Nicole]

Finally giving Treasure Island a go!

[Tria]

I'm another who reads several simultaneously - frequently in various genres. Currently actively reading:

Carola Storms the Chalet School by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer (1960s girls' school story)
The Stones Of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston (children's time fantasy)
Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch (crime/fantasy)
and Mary Anne and the Library Mystery by Ann M. Martin (YA mystery/babysitting).

I'm also beginning a re-read of Terry Pratchett's delightful Monstrous Regiment (comic satirical fantasy).

[Werner]

Since I'll be starting a common read in one of my other groups at the beginning of February, I wanted to pick a book I knew would be a quick read; and preferably one from my mountainous physical to-read piles, which need badly to be reduced. So, I've started another (I've read two before, in the last few years --and one or two as a kid, though I don't recall the titles) of Donald Hamilton's Matt Helm spy novels, The Shadowers. At 142 pages, it won't take very long to finish!

[Tria]

What was it about 20 year re-reads I missed? I'll post my currently reading stuff from my internet browser on my phone shortly as comments from the GR app don't allow book or author links (a major flaw IMO!).

[Werner]

Tria, I think you're referring to something that was said about the classics challenge(s). We said something to the effect that you could count a classic you'd already read but were reading again, provided at least twenty years had elapsed since you read it the first time. :-)

[Tria]

Haha. That sounds a little bit excessive to me -- I'm only 26!

[Werner]

You mean you didn't read things like War and Peace and Don Quixote when you were six years old? :-) --Werner

[Tria]

I'd read Ibsen's Ghosts and Sheridan's School For Scandal by then, but no, not War and Peace. *g*

[Reggia]

LOL, Werner, it took 3 attempts for me to finally finished Don Quixote, and we'll just say decades after age 6.


Welcome, Tria! :-)

[Rhonda]

I just picked up Justine by Lawrence Durrell, fortunately already in my library, along with the other three which comprise The Alexandria Quartet, for a new book club discussion at the local library. I regard this work (the quartet) to be among the finest pieces of literature of the 20th century. I remember thinking that the vast breadth of human emotion that he managed to convey, especially when I did not care for the subject matter at hand. I wonder if, upon this reading, I shall have any reason to change my mind!
Lawrence Durrell, in addition, wrote some very funny books about the British Foreign Service.

[MichelleCH]

Just finished Mary Barton. Now reading Ragtime.

[Tria]

Thanks for the welcome :)

I can't include links from the app, so I'll edit those in later by web. Current reading:

A Chalet Girl From Kenya by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer (fiction/girls' school stories)
The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker (fiction/speculative/science fiction)
The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels (nonfiction/theory of religion)

[Nicky]

I always find myself reading too fast to check in with threads like these -- I always feel like its old news. But I'm currently reading Kazuo Ishiguro's When We Were Orphans, and recalling how much I like his narrators. I've read Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go -- any thoughts on where to go next with Ishiguro?

[Tria]

Gideon's Fear by J.J. Marric, not yet on GR (guess I'll have to add that in the morning!), still A Chalet Girl from Kenya, and working through the course of The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron - I'm doing the course with a group at my Unitarian chapel. :)

Nikki, I've not really got to Ishiguro yet, sorry!

[Werner]

For February, my Fans of British Writers group is doing a common read, with a choice of two alternate selections. The one I opted for is Murder on the Orient Express by one of my longest-standing favorite authors, Agatha Christie. Over the years, I haven't read in the mystery field as heavily as I have in the speculative genres; but I do like it, and hope to read more widely in it eventually.

[MichelleCH]

Just finished My Ántonia, now reading The Law and the Lady. Also in the group for a year-long read of Proust.

Tria: The Age of Miracles looks like a very good read. Hope you are enjoying it.

[Tria]

MichelleCH: I did as far as I got, but my loan expired and I couldn't renew it as someone else wanted it. I'll just have to snag the ebook or go back in the queue to finish it!

Currently reading - damn this app's failings:

Lady Blue by Zabrina Faire (fiction/romance)
Have His Carcase by Dorothy L. Sayers (fiction/crime) - re-read
Necropolis: London and its Dead by Catharine Arnold

And some sewing textbooks. The last on the above list is one Nikki reviewed a few months ago that I thought sounded interesting, and I was lucky enough to find it at my nearest library last night. :)

[Tria]

Oh, and Necropolis is non-fiction, about - well, its subtitle! It does what it says on the tin, so to speak. ;)

[Werner]

Michelle, what did you think of My Antonia? I read that one back in my high school days. It's one of my favorite novels; I gave it five stars!

[MichelleCH]

Tria: oh, no! I hope you get to finish it!

Werner: it was my first Cather novel and I think that she captured the settlement of the Midwest really well, especially in her description around the newly arrived Eastern European community. What a time for women in these towns as well. Lots of opportunity for creativity and entrepreneurship! The ending was bittersweet but just right.

[Werner]

Michelle, those were some of my reactions to the book, too! Her short story "Neighbor Rosicky" (which makes use of the same geographical setting) is really good, also.

[MichelleCH]

Werner, thank you for the recommendation!

[Werner]

You're welcome, Michelle; if you can track it down and read it sometime, I hope you like it. I regret that I've never read more than this of Cather's work; but I have several of her books on my to-read shelf, so I hope to remedy that someday! If I read more of her work, I think it's very likely that she'd become one of my favorite authors.

[Werner]

A comment from Charly on another thread reminded me that I haven't updated you all on my current reading for awhile! In a couple of days (hopefully just in time to start a planned buddy read with a friend) I'll finish Sword and Sorceress XII, one of the story collections in the long-running series of swords-and-sorcery tales with strong female protagonists, edited by the late Marion Zimmer Bradley. I always enjoy these collections, and this one is no exception.

I'm also intermittently reading a book on my seldom-used Kindle app for PC, The Geneva Decision by Seeley James, because I had the opportunity to get the e-book for free. But I'm NOT using the e-book as a substitute for the print book; I told the author up front that if I like it, I'll be buying a paperback copy! (So far, it looks like he's going to be making a sale. :-) )

[Werner]

My friend Jackie and I have started the buddy read I mentioned in my previous post; we're reading the first novel in Faith Hunter's Jane Yellowrock series, Skinwalker, featuring a vampire-hunting Native American shapeshifter. Despite my fondness for supernatural fiction, I haven't read much in the "urban fantasy" subgenre, except for some of de Lint's work; this is proving to be a good choice for broadening my acquaintance with this type of writing!

[Patti]

Just discovered the books of Jean Echenoz. He's so much like Raymond Queneau and even Georges Simenon in tone, atmosphere, and odd POV that I love him. I've just started "Chopin's Move" (p.26).

[Reggia]

I'm reading The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap... not sure what I think of it yet but I sure relate to the desire to run my own little bookshop. :)

[MichelleCH]

Finished Bossypants, still reading 1Q84.

[MichelleCH]

Finally finished 1Q84, now reading The Once and Future King.

[Werner]

While I wait for another book that I bought online to be delivered by mail, I'm filling in the time with another spin-off novel from the Charmed TV series, Beware What You Wish. As I knew it would be, it's proving to be a light, quick read, which is why I chose it.

[Werner]

As I mentioned a few days ago, I've been waiting for a book I bought online to come in the mail. My wait wasn't long! The book is Sword Woman, a collection of five stories by Robert E. Howard (one of which was actually completed by another writer after Howards's death). Among them are the stories he wrote featuring his "Dark Agnes" character, which were a recent common read in the Goodreads REH fan group I belong to. (I'll be chiming into the discussion a few days late, but that's okay!) There are two Howard story collections with this title (the first Agnes tale, "Sword Woman," is the title story in both); this is the one originally published by Zebra, with an introduction by author and Howard fan Leigh Brackett.

[Nicole]

Reading White Cat by Holly Black. Promising so far...

[Werner]

I've been doing some beta reading for a Goodreads friend, but it's of a still unfinished novel that isn't listed in the Goodreads database. However, now that I've finished with that, I've just started on Fire Storm, written by another Goodreads friend, Mackenzie Dare.

[Reggia]

I'm reading Vanity Fair... it's going take awhile!

[MichelleCH]

Finished The Sparrow, reading Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore.

[Angela]

Hello, I'm new to this entire site. It is wonderful! To answer the posed question, I am currently reading Before the Chop written by Henry Rollins; published by 2.13.61 .

[Werner]

My Goodreads friend Henrik Harksen is the owner of a small press that publishes mostly books with an H. P. Lovecraft connection; so, knowing that I'm a Lovecraft fan, he recently sent me a review copy of one of his most recent publications, Lovecraftian Covens. It's a collection of pieces (short stories, mostly)) by Franklyn Searight, whose father was a pen pal of HPL, and like him was an author in the Weird Tales circle.

[MichelleCH]

Werner, I live right down the road from where H.P. Lovecraft is buried. His fans leave small tokens which are always changing. I do own some of his books but as of yet have not read any. What a great gift from your friend.

I have just finished Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore and am starting A Game of Thrones / A Clash of Kings.

[Werner]

Michelle, I didn't realize you lived in Providence! Yes, Lovecraft was born and raised there, spent most of his entire life (except for a short stint in New York City) there and is buried there. Providence's Brown Univ. has a special collection of his papers.

I'm very grateful to Henrik for the gift of this book, and another Lovecraft-related one that he recently sent to me!

[Werner]

Charlie, I knew that you're a Rhode Islander. :-) Three cheers for your state, and here's hoping that you guys get some warmer weather up there soon! (It'd be nice if we could get some here in Appalachia, too.)

[MichelleCH]

Werner, yes, in Providence, and I love my town. Although originally I am from Texas - I went from the one of the biggest states to the smallest. I always say that I was a New Englander born in the wrong place.

Right now it is predicted that on Thursday we will be up to 90 degrees. So it goes in NE, we jump from cool to hot in the blink of an eye!

[Werner]

At the same time he mailed me Lovecraftian Covens, Henrik also sent me another review copy from the press of Harksen Publications: Hex Code and Others by Goodreads author John Mayer. Like the Searight book, it's a collection of fiction with a few poems; the title story is a 100+ page novella). By now, I'm well into reading this second one, and greatly enjoying it!

[Werner]

Last night, I started Six-Gun Bride of the Teton Bunch, and Seven Other Action-Packed Stories of the Wild West, by pulp-era Western author Les Savage, Jr. (the same writer who created the character Senorita Scorpion, though there aren't any of those stories in this collection). The book was a kind gift from a Goodreads friend who's running out of room for additional book shelves at his house. :-)

[Reggia]

Somehow I've acquired a copy of The Shack... started to read the other night... uncertain about going on... that picture of a shack at the beginning of each chapter... just bugs me. We shall see. :-p

[Ahmad]

im currently reading Shutter Island

[Werner]

After reading The Hunger Games earlier in the year, I've been anxious to read the rest of the trilogy. So, when the BC library added the second book, Catching Fire, to its collection last week, I was the first person to check it out; and I started reading it over the weekend.

[Reggia]

Don't you just love when a favorite book becomes a series, Werner?

Charly, the author's narrative is pulling me in but seeing the shack at the beginning of each chapter is creepy. LOL, I think I'm afraid of it... I also think I may have figured out a major connection in the book just a couple chapters in... and not sure if that's his intention or not.