What books are you reading now? (2020) Showing 451-500 of 2,222

[Nigeyb]

Susan wrote: "Going off track a little, On the Beach , a future Mod-Led Read is currently 99p on kindle, if anyone wants to pick it up."

Thanks for mentioning this Susan

I've purchased it - and look forward to the Mod Read and discussion

My first Nevile Shute was a great success. I'm looking forward to reading more

[Susan]

Yes, it was good timing!

[Nigeyb]

The reading Gods are smiling upon us

[Chrissie]

I have liked Giants of the Monsoon Forest: Living and Working with Elephants by Jacob Shell.

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

So now I am switching to a book of fiction--Driftless by David Rhodes. This will be another foray into contemporary literature.

[Chrissie]

Brian, I do not like to dump books ether. Some books do improve. Only if I simply cannot bear another second of it and if the chance of its turning around is nil, do I dump it. I rarely dump a book .

[Susan]

I used to struggle through books I disliked, but as I age, I think there are other books I could be reading and I have got better at walking away...

I just finished, and loved, The Sundial

Going to start Friends and Relations: A Novel

[Tania]

I wasn't able to get Our Man in Havana or Friends and Relations before the library closed, so probably won't join in with these ones.
I'm now reading Sunlight on the Lawn by Beverley Nichols, the last in the 'Merry Hall' trilogy which I have very much enjoyed. I'm also reading The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks and A Table Near the Band a collection of short stories (for adults) by A.A. Milne

[Susan]

I would love to read more by A.A. Milne, Tania. I really enjoyed his only mystery and he wrote so much for adults (not that I didn't LOVE Pooh as a child). I also really loved his biography, by Ann Thwaite: A. A. Milne: His Life

[Tania]

I have a copy of the biography somewhere, I think he wrote two mysteries, One has recently been republished along with this collection, Four Days' Wonder, and The Red House Mystery which I would guess was the one you read, being far less obscure. I haven't read either of these ones yet, but I do plan too.

[Susan]

Oh, I was under the impression he wrote only one mystery, Tania. Thank you for letting me know.

[Tania]

You're welcome, I hope to read Four Days' Wonder fairly soon.

[Susan]

I have downloaded it, Tania. When I will get to it, I really don't know, but I will be delighted to read another mystery by Milne.

[Tania]

Excellent news. It does look rather fun.

[Chrissie]

Tania and Susan, you both might be interested in these:

The Enchanted Places
The Path through the Trees
The Hollow On The Hill: The Search For A Personal Philosophy

a series written by Christopher Milne. I liked all three a lot. They should be read in the order listed.

[Susan]

Thanks, Chrissie. I will take a look.

[Chrissie]

Glad to help.

[Joy D]

Set in 1978 in the Rocky Mountains, this book about a young woman's journey to self-discovery and self-forgiveness. Themes include fear of failure, learning from mistakes, and redemption. It challenges us to look at the stories we tell ourselves, and how our perceptions influence our realities. A promising debut.

Among the Lesser Gods: A Novel by Margo Catts - 4 stars - My Review

[Tania]

Chrissie wrote: "Tania and Susan, you both might be interested in these:

The Enchanted Places
The Path through the Trees
[book:The Hollow On The Hill: The Search For A Personal Philoso..."

Thank you Chrissie, I will take a look when I can get to more books. Missing the library at the moment, but hoping to make a dent in some of the ones I own.

[Chrissie]

Tania, I found it a huge relief when I had worked through all the books I owned. I understand.

[Nigeyb]

I can only dream of such an outcome - though I hopefully have enough years left to achieve it, but only if I can resist adding to what's there already

[Chrissie]

Nigeyb wrote: "I can only dream of such an outcome - though I hopefully have enough years left to achieve it, but only if I can resist adding to what's there already"

I have a couple unread but they were gifts--which wee not really to my taste. Since then, every thing I buy I read or at least give a fair try.

[Alejandro]

Nigeyb wrote: "I can only dream of such an outcome - though I hopefully have enough years left to achieve it, but only if I can resist adding to what's there already"
I know that feeling. I have only bought a few that I have. The rest I "inherited" so to speak. Others were given to me or hand me downs. TBR keeps growing although not sure when I will get though the pile I have already. Bibliophile problems I guess. Haha

Happy Reading! : )

[Nigeyb]

Very impressive and inspiring Chrissie


I think my only chance is to go on an indefinite sabatical from RTTC and my real world book group, and not buy anything else, until I'd read every single book on my shelf and kindle

[Tania]

Well, I can only hope to make a dent, but that's ok, I don't want a house full of books I've already read, and I'm afraid I can't resist buying more when the book shops are open.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Yesterday I started Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon, I love the writing and it's easy to see he would develop to become a winner of the Pulitzer.

[Roman Clodia]

I've only read one Chabon so far: Moonglow which I liked a lot. I'd definitely like to read more by him.

I've just finished the new Ottessa Moshfegh which is as brilliant as I hoped it would be: review here: www.goodreads.com/review/show/3256478888

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Roman Clodia wrote: "I've only read one Chabon so far: Moonglow which I liked a lot. I'd definitely like to read more by him.."

I had only read previously his The Final Solution. Not having read any Sherlock Holmes, I'm sure I missed a lot of subtleties in it, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Many have asked me if I've read his The Yiddish Policemen's Union due its setting in Sitka, only 100+ miles from here. There is no such thing as a "Federal District of Sitka" for one thing, but even if there were, it's simply not a place that could support millions (or even a half million).

[Nigeyb]

Roman Clodia wrote: "I've just finished the new Ottessa Moshfegh which is as brilliant as I hoped it would be"


Did someone say "new Ottessa Moshfegh"?

I love love love her

[Roman Clodia]

Fingers crossed you get it from NetGalley - I just raced through it!

[Chrissie]

I have completed Driftless by David Rhodes

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

I have begun Train to Nowhere: One Woman's War, Ambulance Driver, Reporter, Liberator by Anita Leslie.

[Nigeyb]

Roman Clodia wrote: "Fingers crossed you get it from NetGalley - I just raced through it!"

Thanks RC. I'll let you know

[Susan]

I just finished The Viral Storm: The Dawn of a New Pandemic Age. which I found fascinating the current climate.

[Chrissie]

Susan wrote: "I just finished The Viral Storm: The Dawn of a New Pandemic Age. which I found fascinating the current climate."

You are brave to read that now.


********************

I have been looking for something cheerful!
I am enjoying Train to Nowhere: One Woman's War, Ambulance Driver, Reporter, Liberator. Despite that it is about the author's experiences as an ambulance driver in the Second World War, she doesn't bemoan the situation. She maintains the famed, so-called stiff-upper-lip. She has the ability to throw in humor, without demeaning the suffering caused by the war. It is amusing how she draws generation differences--her mother's letters keep reminding her to not let her skin be "spoiled" by the sun, the fad of the day!

There are amusing lines and interesting people. I laughed at the words of Aziz el Masri's son. Father told son that one day we must all die and then we will be buried, for example like there, under that grass. He tells, asks his son something like that will be good, right? The son replies, "No, it would make a lump in the lawn," I guess I am messing this up, but it did make me smile.

[Susan]

Well, I'm interested in what's going on... It was a really fascinating read.

[Roman Clodia]

Yes, it's been interesting to see how current events have affected friends' reading choices: some have been going for light and amusing books, others see it as an opportunity to read those 'big' books on the tbr. One of my work colleagues is reading Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year and is finding it oddly comforting.

Interesting fact: Shakespeare wrote his Venus and Adonis when the playhouses were shut for plague in 1593 - and it was an Elizabethan bestseller!

[Nigeyb]

My latest real world book group choice is...


The Plague by Albert Camus

We always do an accompanying form, it is....

Contagion

[Susan]

I have started One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time by Craig Brown

I expect good things!

[Chrissie]

I just want to say that Train to Nowhere: One Woman's War, Ambulance Driver, Reporter, Liberator isn't only amusing. The horrors of war are equally well described. Movingly described. The author captures magnificently different nationalities and people and places and landscapes. At the moment I think it deserves five stars. This book has me near tears and laughing and thinking. This is what I want a book to do to me.

[Joy D]

Entertaining fictional look at the friendship between Mary Pickford and Frances Marion, 1914 - 1969, and the early history Hollywood:

The Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin - 4 stars - My Review

[Chrissie]

Train to Nowhere: One Woman's War, Ambulance Driver, Reporter, Liberator by Anita Leslie fit me to a T. If you are like me you will love it.

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

I have begun the classic Le Grand Meaulnesby Alain-Fournier

[Joy D]

A very literary work which won the National Book Award in 1962. It is an existential work about a man who feels great malaise.

The Moviegoer by Walker Percy- 3 stars - My Review

[Val]

Some of us read Le Grand Meaulnes in the Bright Young Things group (which was the forerunner to this group).
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Chrissie]

Val wrote: "Some of us read Le Grand Meaulnes in the Bright Young Things group (which was the forerunner to this group).
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/......"

Oh, that's cool. I'll check it out later.First I want to see how I react to it on my own. I do know that it has been compared to The Great Gatsby, but I think that is mostly in reference to the title--Great versus Grand. I love how a word in one language will not be quite the same when translated to another. For me the feel of the two books are quite different. Alain-Fournier's is more dream-like. I recall reading that a parallel can be drawn with the author's own love life. He died in the First World War soon after the book's publication.

[Chrissie]

I have completed The Lost Estate It goes also by the title Le Grand Meaulnes. The author is Alain-Fournier.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
It is important to get a good translation!

Now I am reading An Elephant in My Kitchen by Francoise Malby Anthony

[Jill]

I have An Elephant in My Kitchen It was recommended by a friend. I will be interested to see what you think

[Chrissie]

It seems to be an easy read, so far........

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I have started a Hampton Sides: In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette.

[Chrissie]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I have started a Hampton Sides: In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette."

I bet it will be a good read for you.

[Nigeyb]

I finished a couple of books recently....



Serotonin by Michel Houellebecq - review
4/5


How Not to Diet by Michael Greger - review
4/5

[Jill]

Chrissie wrote: "It seems to be an easy read, so far........"

I read The Elephant Whisperer back in 2013, and really liked that, as he gave it so much feeling. So as this one is by Anthony's wife, I wondered if it is written with as much emotion.