What are you currently reading? Showing 2,051-2,099 of 2,099

[Werner]

Although I've read two or three poems by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825-1911), back in the 90s, when I was homeschooling our girls (the only one I actually remember is "Bury Me in a Free Land"), I've never read any of her prose. Her 1892 novel Iola Leroy, or, Shadows Uplifted has been on my to-read shelf for several years, and now I've finally begun reading it, as part of my project of reading more literature by writers of color.

[Vickie]

I finished Sense and Sensibility, and now I'm on to Mansfield Park.

[Reggia]

Great, Vickie! I just finished The Geometry of Holding Hands, and am also beginning Mansfield Park. :-)

Not familiar with those books, Werner, but I was also homeschooling in the 90s -- good times! (Yes, I had to throw that in!)

[Werner]

Didn't know you were a fellow homeschooler, Reggia; virtual fist bump!

Barb are I are continuing our reading of the Avenging Angels series by "A. W. Hart" (which is a house pen name used by multiple authors) with Overturned Heart. It's actually the twelfth, and final, series installment, so we're reading it quite a bit out of order. I wanted to find out whether the romantic arcs for our main characters that were begun (or in Sara's case, potential) in the first book really come to fruition. :-)

[Vickie]

Finished Mansfield Park yesterday and today I started Northanger Abbey. Trying to get through all these Austen books. 😊

[Laura]

Vickie wrote: "Finished Mansfield Park yesterday and today I started Northanger Abbey. Trying to get through all these Austen books. 😊"

Northanger Abbey is my favorite Jane Austen book. I hope you laugh as much as I did; parts of it are hysterical.

[Vickie]

Good to know, thanks!

[Werner]

With family coming soon for an extended visit, I wanted my current read to be a short one; and I'm also interested in expanding the very scanty amount of contemporary general fiction I've read over the years. (I've tended to be more drawn to older classics.) So I opted for Dead Poets Society by N.H. Kleinbaum. (It will also fit into a challenge I'm doing in a couple of groups.) Although it's a movie novelization, I've never seen the original film myself.

[Werner]

Although the novella Wolf Moon by Ed Gorman is incorporated in its entirety in the anthology that I'm currently reading, A Century of Great Western Stories, the fact that it was originally published by itself in book format seemed to me to entitle it to be counted (and reviewed) as a read in its own right. (The book pictured above was bulked up by the addition of another Gorman story as a bonus; that's apparently what explains the much higher page count.)

[John]

See What I Have Done, historical fiction approach to the Lizzie Borden murders from rotating perspectives.

[Laura]

I have started the first of the Brotherhood of the Black Tartan series, Suffering the Scot. There are four more books to this series, and if I like the first one I think I will finish the series.

[Laura]

Suffering the Scot was somewhat of a disappointment to me, so I'm not going to continue on in the series. I decided to the first book of a different series, Rescuing Lord Inglewood by Sally Britton. This is a part of the Inglewood series.

[John]

Nearly finished with Liquid Rules: The Delightful and Dangerous Substances That Flow Through Our Lives, a very approachable science book, structured around author's experiences during a long-haul flight.

[Reggia]

Hi everyone! Still reading Mansfield Park... and several intermittent nonfiction books.

[Reggia]

Well, I finished it today. Since it's my second reading, I'm not sure how to add it to my "books read" so that it counts for my yearly challenge. When I tried to do so, it brought up the date of last reading (2010) and I don't want that to disappear. Any advice? It must be possible, as I've seen multiple books on my list before (not done on purpose, lol).

So for now, I'm perusing the shelves trying to decide what's next.

[Laura]

Reggia wrote: "Well, I finished it today. Since it's my second reading, I'm not sure how to add it to my "books read" so that it counts for my yearly challenge. When I tried to do so, it brought up the date of la..."

On the book's description page, select "edit my activity" under the picture of the book to the left side of your screen (this is on the desktop version). Then at the bottom of "edit my activity" page, which will show your review and previous activity, select "add date read". Fill in the blanks. Then select "save."

I do not know how to do this on the mobile app. Sorry.

This is how I've done it in the past. I hope this helps!

[Vickie]

Yes, you should be able to add the new dates read. It will keep the original and add the new.

[John]

Listening to the audio edition of the novel, Beware of Pity. Was a bit daunted at first, but it's going well.

[Laura]

I'm also listening to an audiobook narrated by Jessica Elisa Boyd and she is making the story so enjoyable in The Spinster and I by Rebecca Connolly

[Werner]

This month, I'm taking part in another group's common read of Lyrical Ballads (1798) by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, although I've started late. As the first major poetry collection in the Romantic style to be published in England, this book has a landmark significance in British literature, despite its relatively short length. (I'm reading it in the 1969 edition of the Oxford Univ. Press printing, edited by W. J. B. Owen of Canada's McMaster Univ.)

[Vickie]

I just started Persuasion the other day. This is the last Austen book for me, yay! But my goodness, so far the beginning is rather boring and not grabbing my attention at all. Somebody please tell me it gets better!

[Bionic Jean]

Yes, it does Vickie! In fact it's one of my favourites of hers! 🥰

But it is different from the huge middle ones: more contemplative and gentle. A lovely book to complete her too-short life; she was ill when she wrote it.

[Vickie]

Okay, good to know. Thanks Jean!

[Bionic Jean]

You're welcome Vickie. I hope you end up loving it too!

[Werner]

Earlier today, Barb and I started reading the latest installment of the Barks and Beans Cafe' mystery series by Heather Day Gilbert, Knight Brew, which will bring us up to date with the series. Since I've read nine of them so far, I've mentioned these books frequently on this thread. :-) This particular one is set against the backdrop of a Renaissance Fair taking place in our series setting, Lewisburg, West Virginia.

[Werner]

Although I've read novels by both Charlotte and Emily Bronte, Anne is the only one of the three sisters whose work (until today) I hadn't sampled. So, to remedy that neglect, today I started reading her first novel, Agnes Grey (1847). The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (which is on my to-read shelf) is generally regarded as the superior of the two; but at present, I want a shorter read, and wanted to "save the best for last." :-)

[John]

I've recently started Cabaret Macabre, third in the Joseph Spector mystery series. Recommended for those who are interested in locked room puzzles.

[Werner]

Another group I'm in is doing a common read of And the Shofar Blew (2003) by Francine Rivers during the month of August, and I'll be taking part. But since I'll be out of town visiting family from Aug. 1-5 (and I don't take my personal reading along with me on vacations, where the object is to spend time interacting with people I don't often see), I went ahead and started on it a bit early, so as to keep up better.

[John]

About halfway through The Fortnight in September, which I feel others here might like. Framework of the same family holiday (destination) for many years, ageing is a part of life.

[Werner]

My Goodreads author friend Liane Zane kindly sent me a paperback ARC of her latest supernatural fiction/paranormal romance novel, Helsing: Demon Slayer, which arrived on the same day I finished reading my preceding book; so I was able to start it immediately! It's meant to be the opening book of The Dragon's Paladins, a spin-off series from her earlier trilogy, The Elioud Legacy.

[John]

I really liked the Victorian crime novel The House on Vesper Sands, so am listening to its recent sequel The Naming of the Birds. The usually gruff, impatient Inspector is actually quite patient with his sidekick (from whose point of view the story is told).

[Werner]

The novella Benito Cereno by Herman Melville, published serially in 1855, is currently a common read in another group I'm part of; I'm joining in, and started reading it yesterday. (I'm reading it from the 1969 collection Great Short Works of Herman Melville, edited by Warner Berthoff.) This will be the third longish fiction work by Melville that I've read (I've also read and appreciated his short story "Bartleby the Scrivener"), but he's a writer whose work I've wanted to read more of for some time.

[Werner]

Years ago, I watched and really liked the 1995 movie A Mother's Gift (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113859/ ), starring the under-appreciated actress Nancy McKeon; and ever since then, I've wanted to read the novel it's based on, A Lantern in Her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich. I've finally gotten a chance to work it into my reading schedule while I'm waiting for an October group read, so I started on it this past Friday.

[Werner]

I put the anthology Golden Age Detective Stories, edited by Otto Penzler, on my "being read intermittently" shelf earlier this year; but since I read only a couple of pages then (long story!) I didn't mention it here. Now, however, I'm dipping into it seriously before starting a common read in another group on Oct. 1; and after that, I plan to get back to it later this year, while I wait for an interlibrary loan book.

[Werner]

Barb and I have now begun the fourth and final book of the Sheriff Bride series, Sheriff Bride Rob's Story, this one written by Joi Copeland. (All of these are short books, a bit over 100 pages each.) Although I was intrigued by the premise of the series, in my estimation both the actual writing and the production of the books themselves is amateurish. But Barb enjoys them more than I do; so I'm enjoying her pleasure in the reads. :-)

[Reggia]

I've been reading Faulkner's Light in August, but struggling a bit as it doesn't seem to flow well for me.

[Werner]

The Stones of Muncaster Cathedral (1991) by British author Robert Westall is a common read this month in another group, and I'm joining in. I'd previously read and liked this author's short story "The Haunting of Chas McGill" (which appears in Favorite Ghost Stories); so when our own Bionic Jean made me aware of this book last year, my interest in reading it was piqued.

[John]

Reggia wrote: "I've been reading Faulkner's Light in August, but struggling a bit as it doesn't seem to flow well for me."

We read that for literature in college. Came away feeling "Okay, I've read him, don't need more."

[Reggia]

Thanks for the feedback, John! I started it in August and haven't gotten very far. I'm prepping for a long-distance move... may try again when I'm not so distracted.

[John]

I'm most of the way through Vanishing Fleece: Adventures in American Wool, a look at how the product goes from covering the sheep to covering you (sweater, etc.) - author's enthusiasm keeps this nonfiction title anything but dry!

[Werner]

Around the end of August, another one of my groups started on a long, slow read (basically, a chapter per day) of Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens; and I finally joined in today. However, since I read at my own speed, and also don't take occasional breaks like the group does, I'm confident of my ability to catch up. Though I discovered Dickens' work as an eight-year-old kid, there are still quite a few of his novels that I haven't read; but I hope to read all of them if I live long enough.

[Reggia]

So much for Light in August, I don't know who packed it where (I had many helpers at the end). Meanwhile, I've begun An Enchanted April because it's on my Kindle. Yes, my months (and seasons) are all mixed up! So am I... this was a huge move to a colder climate that I had hoped to do last summer. Conversely, I had moved to Arizona 21 years ago in the middle of summer, so there's that... Do I sound giddy? I suppose I am... starting my new life, taking another trip tomorrow, but mostly I'm so excited to have my computer back after 3 weeks.

Have a great week everyone!

Oh! anyone planning to read A Christmas Carol this year. I'm thinking of doing a re-read, and it'd be great to discuss if anyone else is interested.

Also, if you haven't heard there is a new movie version coming out with Johnny Depp starring as Scrooge. I'd love to see him play the role, however feeling unsure as to why it's being promoted as a "darker" version -- not sure what to think about that.

[Bionic Jean]

There is a very good film of The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim, Reggia, with an excellent cast.

Oddly enough, I have known about the film music for longer than either! It is on a CD of music by Richard Rodney Bennett, and my brother and I (who both played his piano music) both commented on the "romantic" title, but just thought it was programme music. Years later, after he had died, I heard of the film, and since Goodreads, the initial book! It all seemed to happen backwards ...

Please let us know if you enjoy it 🙂

[Bionic Jean]

Werner, have you noticed how the read of Martin Chuzzlewit is deliberately structured to echo the original? As you say it is a chapter per day, and the "occasional" breaks come at the end of each installment.

There were 20 installments over 18 months and we are taking 3 months, so are reading it 6 times as fast as they could, but I suspect with the same sense of dramatic suspense - or as much as 21st readers can sustain!

[Werner]

Yes, Jean, I do understand the reasoning behind the deliberate slow structure of the read, as partially replicating the original reader's experience (it also provides opportunity for more in-depth discussion than most group reads do). For your group as a whole, I think it's a good idea, and it works well for lots of readers.

For me personally, I read (to myself) one paper book at a time, usually just for half an hour a day, which is all the time I can spare. So I don't read as much as I'd like to as it is; I'm 73 years old, and have a LOT more books I'd like to read before I die. If I'm going to read a book, I concentrate on it, and reading it as steadily as I can works best for me. That's especially true for group reads in the Dickensians! group, where I typically have to start late because of commitments to common reads in other groups. It wouldn't be practical for me to join in the former at all if I didn't approach them the way that I do. Hope that makes sense!

[Reggia]

It is fun how that happens sometimes, Jean! Thanks for the mention of the movie, as I do love following up a read that way.

[Bionic Jean]

Thanks for your replies, both 🙂

Edit - Werner I might have give the wrong impression here ... I've understood and accept your reasoning each time there has been a slow group read. We're of an age, and certainly this year my reading has been dominated by just two books, which is not a situation I'm altogether happy with.

That aside though, I thought you might not have realised the significance of our "occasional" days off. It's not just that the read is slower than modern readers usually read, but that the breaks come where the original readers had to wait a month. So those specific breaks allow for similar reactions to (and reflections on) cliffhangers which might easily be missed when reading straight through.

[Werner]

Thanks for the clarification, Jean!

Louis L'Amour is Barb's favorite author, and I've liked all of his fiction that I've read. So his 1974 historical novel Sackett's Land was a natural choice to be our next read together, and we started on it yesterday. (Goodreads treats it as Book 1 of the Sacketts "series;" but the books are loosely connected over many generations, and I don't approach them as a series.)

[John]

I've started Miss Austen, story of Cassandra's life with and without Jane. Juliet Stevenson is 'smashing' the narration. As I believe today's youngsters might put it (grin).