What are you currently reading? Showing 1,251-1,300 of 2,091

[Werner]

For the rest of this month, I don't expect to have much chance to write book reviews. Since I like to write them while the books are still as fresh in my mind as possible, I wanted my next read (having finished one today) to be thick enough that I wouldn't need to review it until I have more time --but not so thick that it'll greatly interfere with a common read coming up next month, which will also be of a thick book. It remains to be seen whether I gauged that well in my choice. But there are no consequences for being off of schedule, and I expect to greatly enjoy both books!

The book I started today is The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian by Robert E. Howard. REH is one of my favorite writers, and Conan one of my favorite fictional characters; so I've had my eye on this posthumous collection ever since the Bluefield College library acquired a copy. As an added plus, all of the stories collected here are new to me; there's no overlap with the previous Conan collection I read, The Essential Conan.

[Christine]

I finished Time's Convert and was a bit disappointed. It felt hasty somehow, perhaps not as well thought-out as the previous trilogy. I've begun The Warded Man, which is enjoyable so far. I'm still waiting for Shardlake # 5 to arrive at my library.

[Werner]

Finally, I've started reading my review e-copy of FBOM by E. M. Bosso. The unfortunate acronym doesn't mean what you're probably thinking --it actually stands for "Foundation for the Betterment of Mankind." (Though whether or not the latter organization is really appropriately named remains to be seen....)

[Christine]

I've finished the Warded Man, and don't plan to continue on with the series. I'm *still* waiting for the 5th Matthew Shardlake book from my library. Just now reading some short volumes and graphic novels: I'm trying to catch up on my Reading Challenge, and I don't want to get involved in anything lengthy. We'll see.

[Christine]

Hi Werner! How is The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian? I have not read any Conan books in ages.

[Werner]

I'm almost finished with it, Christine, and it's on its way to getting a four-star rating. I hope to post my review of it this weekend, and whenever I do will link to it on the "Share Your Reviews?" thread.

[Christine]

Glad to hear it, Werner! I will watch for your review.

[Werner]

Earlier today, I started reading Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas, which is a common read this month in another of my Goodreads groups. I'm expecting this one to be a very worthwhile read.

[Reggia]

Werner, I read Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy with a local book group a couple years ago and find myself still fascinated by Bonhoeffer.

Charly, I'm eager to hear how you like A Room With a View -- it's still on my To Read list.

[Werner]

Reggia wrote: "Werner, I read Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy with a local book group a couple years ago and find myself still fascinated by Bonhoeffer."

I'm greatly interested in the read so far, but haven't been able to make as much headway as I'd like because our move to a new house (in the same town), and all the related process of packing, unpacking, etc., has swallowed up a lot of my reading time. (We slept in the new house for the first time on Saturday night, but a LOT remains to be done.) I'll have quite a bit of reading time to make up over the next few weeks!

[Christine]

: ) Wishing you both happiness in your new home, Werner!

[Werner]

Thank you, Christine!

[Reggia]

Happy Housewarming, Werner!

[Werner]

Thanks, Charly and Reggia!

[Werner]

Barb and I started on a new "car book" yesterday: The Witch of Blackbird Pond (1958) by Elizabeth George Speare. Despite the title, it isn't supernatural fiction; it's a historical novel set in 1687 Connecticut. Barb read and liked it, and recommended it to me, back in the 90s; but she's now mostly forgotten it, so I suggested reading it together. Speare is a new author to me; I never read any of her work as a kid.

[Christine]

I hope you both enjoy The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Werner. It was one of my favorites as a pre-teen.

Sadly, I have not been reading much this past week, and don't think I can concentrate on reading this week. My family tragically and unexpectedly lost my stepfather this past Friday. He was 75, in good health, but an aneurism took him from us, too soon.

[Werner]

Chritine, I am so very, very sorry for you and your whole family! My thoughts and prayers are with you.

[Christine]

Thanks, Werner. It's a very sad time, for which we were not prepared. All prayers appreciated!

[Christine]

Thank you so much, Charly. Appreciated!

[Janelle]

So sorry to hear your news, Christine. Sending love and praying for you and your family.

[Christine]

Thank you, Janelle. It's a difficult time. We are trying to cope.

[Reggia]

So sorry to hear of the loss to your family, Christine.

[Christine]

Thank you, Reggia. I appreciate your kindness in saying so.

[Christine]

Charly, I've just looked up My Father Had a Daughter: Judith Shakespeare's Tale. It sounds like my cup of tea... and a great form of escapism, too. Glad you mentioned it! : )

[Christine]

Thanks again, Charly! She sounds like a wonderful author. I'll be looking for her other works, after I try this one. : )

[Reggia]

Way to go on the classics, Charly! :-)

[Werner]

Reggia wrote: "Way to go on the classics, Charly! :-)"

Charly, what Reggia said!

[Werner]

On my Kindle app, I've started on my review copy of City of the Shrieking Tomb by Goodreads author Patrick A. Rogers, which is set in modern-day India. Since this is apparently his first novel, I don't really know what to expect; but I'm hoping the best for the read! :-)

[Christine]

I recently finished Lavinia, by Ursula K. LeGuin. Based on the character Lavinia, from the Aeniad, this historical fiction novel fleshes out the "what might have been" aspects of Lavinia's life, as she was only tangentially mentioned in Virgil's Aeniad. Very enjoyable! Now I need to write my full review.

I'm very behind on reviews, as I race to finish my overly-ambitious Reading Challenge of 100 books this year. The reviews may all have to wait for January as I finish the books (and take a lot of notes!).

I've currently started re-reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, but am not sure that I'll stick with it.

[Christine]

Hi Charly! I did read it in college in '84, but have not much memory of the details. As I start to re-read with 'older eyes,' lol, I'm not sure that this one is still for me. However, I am slowly plugging along. It may extend into January, as it looks likely to be a selection that month for one of my book clubs.

You have been flying through your titles! I'm not as quick of a reader as I once was.

[Werner]

I've just now started on our group's common read of The House Without a Christmas Tree.

[Werner]

To meet my current goal in the annual reading challenge in another of my groups, before the end of the year I need to read one more book featuring an action heroine. I've had my eye on a YA novel in the BC library, Pirates! by Celia Rees, for quite a while; I think it's potentially a book that would qualify, and I'm expecting it to be a relatively quick read. So I started on it this morning.

[Reggia]

Hello everyone! Enjoyed perusing your current reads and comments... I haven't come close to meeting my meager Book Challenge, however, I think I've read more this year than last.

Right now, I'm reading Harry Potter -- yes, for the first time. I didn't expect I'd enjoy it. I'm about halfway through and trying to finish up in a few days for my neighborhood book group.

[Reggia]

I hope so if I can get a copy. I forgot to check, but will do it right now!

[Reggia]

Finished Harry Potter and now reading House Without A Christmas Tree on the Kindle.

[Reggia]

Sometimes, Charly, it's like your reading the titles from my abandoned books.

[Werner]

My friend Andrew Seddon gifted me with a copy of his latest story collection, In Death Survive: Ghostly Tales last fall, and I was finally able to start reading it this weekend. Having already beta read, and greatly liked, all or most of the stories (though it's been a while). I expect this to be a quick and rewarding read!

[Reggia]

Charly, no we can't! I'm just envious, lol. However, I'm also hurriedly trying to finish another title from my abandoned list so I can get closer to my Reading Challenge goal -- only two books and 9 hours away! I'm hoping for 1. ;-)

[Christine]

Reggia, I'm in a similar boat! 6 hours and 45 minutes, and 8 books to go! (I was over-ambitious with my 100 book reading goal this year.) I am now shamelessly reading children's books and graphic novels today, to try to finish, lol. (Though I don't really regret the children's books, as I'm an educator.)
Good luck finishing, Reggia! : )

[Reggia]

Loved your post, I'm encouraged all the more! Thank you, Christine! Read on! :-)

[Christine]

: ) I made it! Whoo-hoo! Thanks, Charlie. Hope you made it, too, Reggia!
Now, on to a more reasonable goal for 2019, Lol!

[Reggia]

Way to go, Christine! I just finished the one read... it was a big one and completing it had eluded me for several years. Now it's done!

I don't know which book to start with next, or if I should change my reading goal which has been the same for the last 2 years.

[Christine]

Thanks, Reggia! Congrats to you, too! : )
I suppose that setting your new goal really depends on what kind of reader you are?
I decided to lower my reading goal for this year, to 52, and plan on completing one book per week. I read multiple books at a time, but this will give me the impetus to finish at least one of them per week. So I'm hoping not to feel as rushed as I did in 2018, with a high goal, and never enough time to reflect, before writing a review (or neglecting to write one, lol).
I think I can handle 52, and if I surpass it, so much the better!

[Reggia]

I wish! It was Marie Antoinette: The Journey. I've decided I need a different translation for Les Mis, the one I bought was just boggling, or is that bogging, me down.

[Werner]

Over the weekend, I started reading two books. One I'm reading to myself; it's Bring It (Sabel Security #2), the second entry in my Goodreads friend Seeley James' Sabel Security series. (It's taken me six years to follow-up on this series, so it's about time!) The other one, Sharpshooter in Petticoats by Mary Connealy, I'm reading aloud to Barb. I gave her a copy for Christmas, so she's been looking forward to getting started with it.

[Werner]

On my Kindle app, I'm currently reading the novella Delayed Justice by D. E. Heil. It's a minor work that he gives away as an e-book to anyone who signs up for his electronic newsletter. (Although the words "True Justice Series" appear across the top of the front cover, the Goodreads description states that this is "A novella related to the author's True Justice series, but not actually part of the series.")

[Werner]

Related to my most recent post, I've now started on reading a review copy of the second installment of the True Justice series, Righteous Justice. I'm expecting this one to be a fairly quick read.

[Werner]

While I'm waiting for a book I've requested on interlibrary loan, I'm filling in the time with a short story collection I picked up a couple of years ago at the local mall bookstore, Vampires, Zombies, Werewolves and Ghosts: 25 Classic Stories of the Supernatural. Since I'm reading this as a book to dip into between other books, it's actually on my "being read intermittently" shelf, rather than the "currently reading" one.

[Christine]

Sounds like everyone is off to a good start in 2019! I have managed 5 books this month, while recovering from leg surgery and various flus: Elevation by Stephen King, 5 stars; Heartstone by C.J. Sansom, 4 stars; Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch, 4 stars; The Golden Name Day (a rediscovered childhood favorite of mine), still 5 stars; and Saga Volume 4, a graphic novel series that I'm reading with my teen son, 4 stars.
I've just started Lamentation, the 6th in the Matthew Shardlake series by C.J. Sansom, which is just as great as the previous tales. Highly recommended series, if anyone likes historical fiction, mysteries, Tudor England, and great characterization!

[Werner]

Since we put aside our "car book," Sharpshooter in Petticoats, until we can read the first two books of the trilogy, in the meantime Barb and I have started reading Love Finds You in Calico, California by Elizabeth Ludwig. It's one she's already read a few years ago (it was a Christmas gift from me); but she'd recommended it to me, and was willing to read it again, having liked it the first time. In a sense, this is also part of a "series" of historical romances from this publisher, all titled Love Finds You in...., and set in various real-life American locales; but the novels themselves are all independent of each other and written by different writers. (And yes, this was a rare case where I was captivated enough by the cover art to buy the book just because of that. :-) )