What books are you reading now? (2020) Showing 1,451-1,500 of 2,222

[Chrissie]

For me it depends on the series, if they should or not be read in order. I think it best o investigate this before you start. This is what is so good with GR--you can ask others, you know.

I am a kind of organized person so generally I want to start with the first, BUT sometimes the first isn't very good and it puts you off from reading the rest . The Cadfael series by Ellis Peters is a perfect example!

[Val]

I quite liked 'A Morbid Taste for Bones', it adds a humorous twist to the other books (view spoiler)[that the veneration of the relic of Saint Winifred is based on a deception only Cadfael knows about (hide spoiler)], but it wasn't the first I read.

[Chrissie]

I liked A Morbid Taste for Bones, but did you find it one of the series' best? Not me. Reading it first, I didn't discover the really special ones until years later. Cadfael is a marvelous series.

[Val]

I read most of them too long ago to remember which I liked best Chrissie. Of the three I have put on Goodreads, I gave #18 The Summer Of The Danes the highest rating.

[Chrissie]

Val wrote: "I read most of them too long ago to remember which I liked best Chrissie. Of the three I have put on Goodreads, I gave #18 The Summer Of The Danes the highest rating."

I haven't read that one......

[Val]

I hadn't at the time. There may be a few others I haven't read either and I wouldn't mind reading some again, but not when I have so many books queued up as I do at the moment. Unusually for crime novels, they are not spoiled by knowing who did it, or how and why.

[Tania]

Good to know, I didn't even finish A Morbid Taste for Bones, but that was years ago, maybe I should try it again sometime.
I'm currently reading The Slaves of Solitude and The Mitfords: Letters between Six Sisters which is absolutely fascinating, I'm now past the ones with Unity and Diana gushing about Hitler, which I can see would put some off.

[Jan C]

I haven't finished Morbid either. My excuse is that I was reading it on my Kindle Fire and I got a new one. Unfortunately the new one will only let me read 4 books at a time. I find this extremely limiting. Of course, this way I may actually finish some books! Closing in on the end of Richardson's First Case.

[Val]

As Chrissie points out, the first book is not the best, so perhaps try one of the later ones and only go back and read the series if you enjoy it.

[Tania]

Noted. I enjoyed the series on telly, though that was many years ago, so I think I'll give them another go.

[Chrissie]

Tania ad Jan C, skip the first. Read One Corpse Too Many instead. It's the second and its a very good one. Then you will want to read mor of the series.

[Joy D]

Set in Argus, North Dakota, from WWI to several years past WWII, this book is rich in period details and beautifully written. By the end, the author has taken the reader in unexpected directions and several secrets are revealed. I need to read more from this author.

The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich - 4 stars - My Review

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Joy - That was my first by Erdrich. She is very good. Read Love Medicine next and then keep reading.

[Tania]

Thanks Chrissie, I'll give it a go. So many people love this series,

[Susan]

I read Cadfael when I was young, and loved them. However, reading them again I find them too similar - there is always the love story, etc. I think, if you do read Cadfael, my advice would be to spread the books out.

[Chrissie]

Tania wrote: "Thanks Chrissie, I'll give it a go. So many people love this series,"

I was happily surprised by the second. See what you think.

[Chrissie]

Susan wrote: "I read Cadfael when I was young, and loved them. However, reading them again I find them too similar - there is always the love story, etc. I think, if you do read Cadfael, my advice would be to sp..."

Yep, I totally agree. Don't read them one after the other and begin with the second, not the first.

[Chrissie]

Well, The Odd Women by George Gissing I liked a little bit better than the last one I read by the author, but it is by no means a wow book for me.

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

Now I am wondering if I wouldn't have preferred a shorter one of his books.

I am about to begin Last Orders by Graham Swift. Having liked the author's Waterland a lot, I have wanted to try more by him. Here goes.

[Jan C]

Chrissie wrote: "Tania ad Jan C, skip the first. Read One Corpse Too Many instead. It's the second and its a very good one. Then you will want to read mor of the series."

I think I am at about 85% in Peters' first book. So I will finish it before moving on.

[Chrissie]

Jan C, that makes complete sense, having come that far. The thing to remember is that you'll like the second book more. I remember wishing someone had told me that the first book wasn't as good as the following. As a result, I put off reading the next for ages! I am not a fan of series, so at the start I was skeptical despite that many had told me the books were good. I tend not to trust what anyone tells me! I know I don't always react the same as others.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I finished up Madame de Mauves in anticipation of our buddy read. I look forward to the discussion. My review.

[Jan C]

Chrissie wrote: "Jan C, that makes complete sense, having come that far. The thing to remember is that you'll like the second book more. I remember wishing someone had told me that the first book wasn't as good as ..."

I think this book is okay. I activated it on another kindle.

[Susan]

Glad you liked Madame de Mauves, Elizabeth. I did too and it has made me want to read more Henry James.

Jan, I agree - I liked the first Cadfael book.

[Judy]

I have just tried something slightly different by Angela Thirkell, her historical comic romance Coronation Summer, set during Queen Victoria's coronation in 1838, which is on Kindle Unlimited. I quite enjoyed this (lots of Dickens references, as Thirkell was a huge fan!) but for me it isn't as good as her Barsetshire novels.

[Roman Clodia]

Susan wrote: "Glad you liked Madame de Mauves, Elizabeth. I did too and it has made me want to read more Henry James."

I liked Mme de Mauves too - and am always up for more James. Lucky he was so prolific. I'll open up the thread tomorrow.

I'm on leave from work so have too many books on the go: have just started A Place of Greater Safety, am re-reading The Handmaid's Tale (prompted by my binge-watch of the Hulu series), and my hold of next month's The Portrait just came through :)

[Tania]

Judy wrote: "I have just tried something slightly different by Angela Thirkell, her historical comic romance Coronation Summer, set during Queen Victoria's coronation in 1838, wh..."

I have read two of her earlier, stand alone books and they aren't a patch on her Barsetshire stories.

[Pamela]

I quite liked Madame de Mauves but I can't see James becoming a favourite author. I find him rather enervating.

[Susan]

To be fair, Madame de Mauves is only the second James I have read and both have been short. I am looking forward to discussing it

[Roman Clodia]

Pamela wrote: "I quite liked Madame de Mauves but I can't see James becoming a favourite author. I find him rather enervating."

I have friends who have a similar reaction, Pamela - they find James exhausting, whereas I find him compulsive in the intricacies of personal relationships. He's like an emotional archaeologist, endlessly sifting and dusting off.

[Roman Clodia]

Susan wrote: "To be fair, Madame de Mauves is only the second James I have read and both have been short. I am looking forward to discussing it"

I always feel there's so much to discuss in trying to understand James' characters - a bit like Bowen, I suppose.

[Val]

Bowen can be enervating as well.

[Susan]

I don't find her so, but then I know there are mixed opinions about her!

[Val]

I like her books, but certainly don't find them relaxing.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Val wrote: "I like her books, but certainly don't find them relaxing."

Agree. There are authors who make you work a bit harder. And, yes, James is usually also one of them.

[Chrissie]

I wanted to read another by Graham Swift. This time I tried Last Orders.

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

I prefer the author's Waterland.

Back to non-fiction. I have begun Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth. It seems to be as good as the last one I read by her.

[Hugh]

Chrissie wrote: "I wanted to read another by Graham Swift. This time I tried Last Orders.

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

I prefer the author's Waterland..."
Having read about 7 of them, I would agree that Waterland is his best book, but it is a long time since I read either that or Last Orders. I did rather like Mothering Sunday too.

[Roman Clodia]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Agree. There are authors who make you work a bit harder. And, yes, James is usually also one of them."

And that's precisely what I love about James, that we're forced to actively grapple with his most difficult fiction, we can't just sit back and absorb. I find it exhilarating.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Roman Clodia wrote: "And that's precisely what I love about James, that we're forced to actively grapple with his most difficult fiction, we can't just sit back and absorb. I find it exhilarating."

Agree with this also. What is wrong with work? Reading doesn't always have to be relaxing - for me, anyway, reading isn't a mid-morning break or a vacation. (Not that I don't have those, too.)

[Roman Clodia]

Well, exactly - there's room for all kinds of reading in our lives :)

[Chrissie]

Hugh wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "I wanted to read another by Graham Swift. This time I tried Last Orders.

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

I prefer the autho..."

Mothering Sunday I will get to this month or next.

[Brian E]

I am starting Journey by Moonlight by Antal Szerb (whose The Queen's Necklace is the subject of this group's buddy read) and my non-fiction is Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, so I have a lengthy virtual Balkan trip in store.

[Chrissie]

Rebecca West's is fantastic. Definitely my favorite by her. Maybe it helped that I read it before visiting Croatia.......

[Roman Clodia]

I'm starting The Color Purple, one of those 'modern classics' that has somehow slipped by me. It looks like a fast read with lots of blank space on the pages as it's written as a series of letters.

[Chrissie]

I have put off reading Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth way too long. Don't make the same mistake I did. I think it is even better than The Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times.

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

This morning I began Transparent Things by Vladimir Nabokov. The writing is disconnected I have a hard time following what is said. It's short. If I don't get a grip on it soon, it will be over before I can figure out what it is about.

[Susan]

Having failed to get into Elizabeth Bowen: A Literary Life as I struggled with the writing, I have turned to my second hand copy of Elizabeth Bowen, an Estimation by Hermione Lee and immediately feel in safer hands.

Interestingly, in the introduction, Lee states that, Elizabeth Bowen is an exceptional English novelist who is indebted to Flaubert and to James. I was curious about this, as we have just read the James novella. I certainly enjoy Lee's biographies - loved her biography of Woolf and want to read Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life.

[Jan C]

Susan wrote: "Having failed to get into Elizabeth Bowen: A Literary Life as I struggled with the writing, I have turned to my second hand copy of Elizabeth Bowen, an Estimation by [..."

Have you tried the Glendinning biography? I have it but haven't read it yet.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Susan wrote: "Having failed to get into Elizabeth Bowen: A Literary Life as I struggled with the writing, I have turned to my second hand copy of Elizabeth Bowen, an Estimation by Hermione Lee and immediately feel in safer hands.
"

I am so glad to see this - the "and immediately feel in safer hands" part! This is the biography I have. I won't start it until next month, but as I look at the calendar, that's not far away.

[Roman Clodia]

Hm, I have A Literary Life... hope to make a start this week. Hope I like it better than you, Susan.

[Roman Clodia]

I somehow got in a complete book muddle this month and read both Original Sin and Bats in the Belfry: A London Mystery which are next month's Detectives reads. I loved Bats!

[Susan]

I haven't got the Glendinning biography, but I did read Love's Civil War: Elizabeth Bowen and Charles Ritchie, Letters and Diaries 1941-1973 by her, some years ago now. I would like to read it, Jan, but copies are fairly expensive and - as I already have two biographies about her - I feel I need to read at least one first!

It may have been my fault, but I just couldn't get on with A Literary Life. I wouldn't say I didn't like it, but I had both - as I ordered the Lee biography during lockdown, thought it wouldn't arrive, and then it turned up - I just decided to swop to the Lee before being too far in.. I probably gave up on Literary Life too soon, but may go back to it later.