What books are you reading now? (2020) Showing 1,701-1,750 of 2,222

[Joy D]

Roman Clodia wrote: "I love what I've read of Shamsie, Chrissie, (Burnt Shadows, Home Fire) and have Kartography tbr."

I have also read and enjoyed Home Fire. I will definitely read more of Shamsie's work. I plan to read Burnt Shadows at some point.

[Chrissie]

The Grand Babylon Hotel by Arnold Bennett is a light fun read. A sweet cozy mystery.

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

It is available free of cost at Librivox.

I have now begun Astrid Lindgren i Stockholm by Anna-Karin Johansson.

[Chrissie]

Joy D wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Joy D wrote: "Set in Pakistan in the 1970s-1990s, the city of Karachi is integral to the narrative, becoming a character in itself. A family secret propels the narrative – each mai..."

Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

[Sue]

Chrissie wrote: "The Grand Babylon Hotel by Arnold Bennett is a light fun read. A sweet cozy mystery.

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

It is available free ..."

I've only recently discovered Arnold Bennet. I read his How to Live on 24 Hours a Day
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I've just started his Literary Taste - How To Form It which I'm enjoying very much. Obviously I'm expecting to become much more erudite by the time I've finished it!

I already have the Librivox version of The Grand Babylon Hotel downloaded on my phone so I'll just clear the other several dozen Librivox books out of the way and listen to that one soon! I have become a big fan of Librivox this year and have discovered some real gems there.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I have started Mosquitoes by William Faulkner. Published in 1927, it is his 2nd novel. I linked this edition particularly because it has a good introduction by Michael Gorra, providing some nice background on Faulkner and his presence in New Orleans where the novel is set. Though I'm not ver far in, I have read enough to know that if you are not familiar with Faulkner, this is probably not the place to start.

[Chrissie]

Sue, Arnold Bennett is a classical author definitely to be placed up there with the good ones. Some are light and amusing, others more serious. I wouldn't say The Grand Babylon Hotel is a favorite, others are better. Your review of How to Live on 24 Hours a Day made me smile. That Literary Taste one, is that written with humor? I think it rather amusing that he decries novels, these are what he mostly wrote.

[Nigeyb]

Sue wrote:


"I've only recently discovered Arnold Bennet. I read his How to Live on 24 Hours a Day

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

Splendid review Sue - thanks

I have How to Live on 24 Hours a Day, and am now even keener to read it

[Sue]

Chrissie wrote: "is that written with humor? ..."

Yes it's written with that similar light, wry humour - here's an extract from near the beginning where he is pondering on the reader's motivation to read more classics...

"You do not approach the classics with gusto — anyhow, not with the same gusto as you would approach a new novel by a modern author who had taken your fancy. You never murmured to yourself, when reading Gibbon’s *Decline and Fall* in bed: “Well, I really must read one more chapter before I go to sleep!” Speaking generally, the classics do not afford you a pleasure commensurate with their renown. You peruse them with a sense of duty, a sense of doing the right thing, a sense of “improving yourself,” rather than with a sense of gladness. You do not smack your lips; you say: “That is good for me.” You make little plans for reading, and then you invent excuses for breaking the plans."

Well, not only do I like the way he puts this, but I think a lot of us could identify with that attitude even today! Certainly I've found it with Dickens, which I've been trying to read for decades. I've managed one novel so far, plus A Christmas Carol.

I think I sometimes get too carried away with other people's enthusiasm for a book, only to find that it leaves me cold. It's terribly disappointing. It's one of the reasons I'm a great one for ditching books I'm not enjoying. I'm clearly not tuned in to that book in the way that the other person was and there's no point in dragging out the agony!

So I'm hoping that by reading this book, and dipping my toe into some of his suggestions, I might be able to work out what I like and why I like it.

[Sue]

Nigeyb wrote: "Splendid review Sue - thanks..."

Thanks Nigeyb!

[Tania]

Libravox is great for those obscure hard to get books, and that Arnold Bennett looks rather interesting. So far, I've only read The Grand Babylon Hotel.hotel
I'm reading An Introduction to Sally by Elizabeth von Arnim. When I looked at my copy, which is very battered, I saw that it had a bookplate from one of the subscription lending libraries, with date stamps from 1926. I've come across plenty of ex library books, but never one from a subscription library before.

[Nigeyb]

I picked up Bennett’s collected works for a song on kindle

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I have liked Bennett, but I couldn't disagree more with his comments on the classics, Decline and Fall aside.

[Sue]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I have liked Bennett, but I couldn't disagree more with his comments on the classics, Decline and Fall aside."

To be fair, he then goes on to talk about how we might explore classics in order to avoid this problem and, instead, find classics that we feel genuinely enthusiastic about, rather than begrudgingly reading them for all the wrong reasons. I probably didn't explain the context, which is that he wants to encourage us to love them as much as he does!

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Oh, good, Sue. I might have added that it is perhaps ironic (out of context) that Bennett has become a classic.

Now 20 years into the 21st Century, much of any 20th Century literature still being read can now be relegated to "classics". Perhaps the definition of that term has some fuzzy edges.

[Chrissie]

I have completed Astrid Lindgren i Stockholm by Anna-Karin Johansson.

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

I have begun The Half-Life of Marie Curie by Lauren Gunderson

[Judy]

I was a bit disheartened by Bennett's comments on the classics as I love so many, especially Dickens, but am pleased to hear he loves them too! I have not tried Gibbon though.

[Chrissie]

Sue wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "is that written with humor? ..."

Yes it's written with that similar light, wry humour - here's an extract from near the beginning where he is pondering on the reader's motivation ..."

There are extremely good classics--you just have to find the ones that fit you. I don't like Dickens either. In terms of the Victorians I like Anthony Trollope better, his books have humor and he draws women well, but having read a few one finds them, or at least I find them, repetitive. W. Somerset Maugham's are all different -- this is why it is fun reading them. You don't knw what kind of book you are going to get. Please do try Cakes and Ale. Here is my review of that one:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Each of us are so different. If you are interested in classics You could check out my favorite classics (https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...) My reviews are linked there too.

I also get carried away by other people's enthusiasm, but if the book fails you at least now you know this so it was not a waste of time.

I thought that on GR I would eventually find someone who consistently thinks as I do. This does not happen--we all have different experiences so we relate to books differently.This is the conclusion I have drawn.

What is also fun is that when you have read a ton of books when a book mentions another you've read it and you get the inferred connection. No reading is a waste of time.

[Chrissie]

Tania wrote: "Libravox is great for those obscure hard to get books, and that Arnold Bennett looks rather interesting. So far, I've only read ."

Thanks, I will go now and check out An Introduction to Sally by Elizabeth von Arnim.

One has to admit though that the Librivox recordings are less professional, so if one cannot evaluate the narrator separately from the story, appreciating them can be difficult.

[Susan]

I have started The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths. It features the same detective as in The Stranger Diaries and looks to be another clever, literary mystery. I love it so far.

[Chrissie]

Tania wrote: "Libravox is great for those obscure hard to get books, and that Arnold Bennett looks rather interesting. So far, I've only read The Grand Babylon Hotel.hotel
I'm reading [book:An I..."

I cannot find that title on Librivox. Does it have a second title?

[Tania]

Sorry Chrissie, the Elizabeth von Arnim is a book I bought and seems so obscure that the most popular title on Goodreads is in Italian, her lesser known works do seem to be creeping back into print though, so maybe it will come back eventually.

I agree with you about the readers, there are some good ones, but plenty are not so good. I can't listen to American readers reading British classics, which often happens. I found someone called Karen Savage a really good reader, I listened to her reading Jane Austen.

[Chrissie]

Here follows my review of The Half-Life of Marie Curie by Lauren Gunderson:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I have begun The Idiot by John Kendrick Bangs. It's clearly written in a satirical vein. It is available free of cost at Librivox.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Chrissie wrote: "One has to admit though that the Librivox recordings are less professional,"

Yes, they are volunteers. It is the gutenberg of audio.

[Chrissie]

Tania wrote: "Sorry Chrissie, the Elizabeth von Arnim is a book I bought and seems so obscure that the most popular title on Goodreads is in Italian, her lesser known works do seem to be creeping back into print..."

OK now I understand why I couldn't find the book. I like von Arnim, so I want to rea more by her. Have you read Love? It's very good. All that is left for me now are a couple at Librivox. I thought I would try The Pastor's Wife. It's fiction but with autobiographical content.

Thanks for the tip about Karen Savage.

[Joy D]

Published in 1988, this is a story of forming a sense of family with close friends and establishing a sense of home in a new location. It is a story of how a nurturing environment can help a child flourish. I cared about the characters. They grow and develop over the course of the narrative. I enjoyed the use of humor to offset some of the weighty topics. If you like novels about strong women pulling together to face life’s challenges, pick this one up.

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver- 4 stars - My Review

[Chrissie]

I have finally goten around to writing my review of The Idiot by John Kendrick Bangs:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

It's available at Librivox and has a very good narrator.

I have begun The Real Life of Sebastian Knight by Vladimir Nabokov. The writing attracts me from the start.

[Tania]

Thanks Chrissie, I haven't read Love yet but I will move it up my list of hers to read, I liked The Pastor's Wife. I'm probably going to read Father next, which has just been brought back into print, so hopefully an audio version will follow. I also have an eye on The Jasmine Farm.

I thought Libravox narrator of Red Pottage did a good job.

[Chrissie]

Tania wrote: "Thanks Chrissie, I haven't read Love yet but I will move it up my list of hers to read, I liked The Pastor's Wife. I'm probably going to read Father n..."

Good to know you liked The Pastor's Wife. Good luck with your next one.

[Tania]

Thank you. Hope you enjoy The Pastor's Wife.

[Chrissie]

I have completed Vladimir Nabokov's first novel written in English, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight. The previous nine were written in Russian under the pseudonym V Sirin.

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

Today I listened to Virginia Woolf's very short, short story, Kew Gardens. It is only 18 minutes long! I will listen to it again when we discuss it here in the group in February.

My short review of Woolf's short story: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
It is only my review, others may react differently.

Now, finally, I am digging into a longer novel, the Russian classic Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol.

[Joy D]

The Crossing is a coming of age story set in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s near the US-Mexican border. It is the second book in McCarthy’s “Border Trilogy,” but may be read as a standalone. Billy, the protagonist, makes three trips across the border from US to Mexico in the 1930s & 1940s, involving a wolf, the family’s horses, and a missing person. None of these quests turns out as planned. Themes include guilt, fate, heroism, and the desire to live an honorable life (which he finds to be harder than it sounds). The tone is dark. McCarthy leaves many Spanish words and phrases (and a few paragraphs) untranslated, so passable knowledge of Spanish is helpful. This book was published in 1994.

The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy - 4 stars - My Review

[Joy D]

As this book opens in 1986, John Wade, a politician, has suffered a landslide defeat in his bid for the US Senate. He has retreated with his wife, Kathy, to a cabin at the Lake of the Woods in Minnesota near the border of Canada. Within 36 hours of arriving at the cabin, Kathy disappears.

The narrative offers different hypotheses of what may have happened to Kathy. It also flashes back to John’s childhood, relationship history, hobbies, Vietnam service, and career in politics. Themes include relationships, suppression of horrible memories, appearances versus reality, and the psychological scars of war. The tone of uncertainty is maintained to a degree I would not have imagined possible. As a warning, it includes detailed gory descriptions of the war-related carnage against civilians. I put aside everything else I was reading to finish this book. I found it fascinating.

This book was published in 1994.

In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien - 5 stars - My Review

[Chrissie]

I am very glad to have read Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol. It belongs among those books everyone should read.

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

This morning I picked up 24 Hours in Ancient China: A Day in the Life of the People Who Lived There by Yijie Zhuang. I am liking it as much as 24 Hours in Ancient Rome: A Day in the Life of the People Who Lived There and more than 24 Hours in Ancient Athens: A Day in the Life of the People Who Lived There. You notice right off the bat that it's good. Hope it stays good.

[Chrissie]

Are you in the mood for a short story by Virginia Woolf? I just listened to The Mark on the Wall and liked it. It is available free online at Librivox and is very well narrated by Elizabeth Klett. I have provided a link to it in my short review, here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Judy]

I've started listening to our forthcoming mod read When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro, read by actor Michael Moloney - I read it when it was published 20 years ago, but am not sure where I have put my copy! I'm enjoying it a lot so far - I love Ishiguro's writing style.

[Nigeyb]

I've recently started listening to one of Susan's Audible deals of the day


So far, I am really enjoying Shadowplay (2019) by Joseph O'Connor.

It's a bravura reimagining of the real-life relationship between Bram Stoker and the two greatest stars of Victorian theatre, Henry Irving and Ellen Terry

Huge names come and go: Oscar Wilde has a tragicomic cameo; Jack the Ripper terrorises the London streets; WB Yeats is glimpsed on a Dublin bridge, his appearance serving only to fire Stoker's need to escape to London.

So far, so splendid - great narration too

Thanks Susan, another top tip

[Roman Clodia]

Ooh, that sounds good - and I don't have an audiobook on the go at the moment, sounds just the thing.

[Susan]

I haven't read that one, but I have liked other books by Joseph O'Connor.

The Thrill of It All would undoubtedly appeal to you, Nigeyb.

[Nigeyb]

Roman Clodia wrote: "Ooh, Shadowplay sounds good - and I don't have an audiobook on the go at the moment, sounds just the thing."

You could do a lot worse RC

Susan wrote: "The Thrill of It All would undoubtedly appeal to you, Nigeyb."

I'm sure you're right Susan - you usually are. Any book named after an early Roxy Music track gets my vote.

[Susan]

He is the brother of Sinead O'Connor, so he should know something about the music business :)

[Roman Clodia]

What a talented family the O'Connors are! And what a lovely voice the narrator of Shadowplay has :)

[Nigeyb]

There’s two narrators. The Ellen Terry sections are narrated by the wonderful Anna Chancellor 🤩

[Roman Clodia]

Ah, something to look forward to, Anna Chancellor.

[Chrissie]

24 Hours in Ancient China: A Day in the Life of the People Who Lived There by Yijie Zhuang is a non-fiction book that I believe many will like. It's on the light side, but there is nothing wrong with hat. It kept my interest. I enjoyed it

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

Now I am reading Amok, another one by Stefan Zweig. There is a special feel to his writing. It is atmospheric. It pulls you in.

[Joy D]

Published in 1999 and set in the small rural community of Holt, Colorado, this book tells rotating stories among several residents: high school teacher his sons who are missing their mother, a pregnant seventeen-year-old, and two middle age unmarried ranchers. A second teacher serves as a connection point among the characters. It is a quiet story about loneliness and reaching out to others for help. It will appeal to those that enjoy realistic, character-driven stories about life.

Plainsong by Kent Haruf - 4 stars - My Review

[Brian E]

Chrissie wrote: "Now I am reading Amok, another one by Stefan Zweig. There is a special feel to his writing. It is atmospheric. It pulls you in. "

That's interesting as, a few hours ago, I started reading Zweig's The Post-Office Girl.

[Judy]

I thought The Post Office Girl was wonderful - hope you enjoy it, Brian.

[Brian E]

Judy wrote: "I thought The Post Office Girl was wonderful - hope you enjoy it, Brian."

Thanks, Judy. I did see your 5 star rating for it when I added it to My Books.

[Chrissie]

Amok by Stefan Zweig is fantastic. I gave it five tars, and so of course I recommend it. I have read quite a number of books this month, and it is the only one I have given five stars.

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

I have begun Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness by Peter Godfrey-Smith. The second chapter practically put me to sleep. I am hoping it will improve now, since it has finally gotten around to talking about octopuses and other cephalopods!

[Chrissie]

Brian wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Now I am reading Amok, another one by Stefan Zweig. There is a special feel to his writing. It is atmospheric. It pulls you in. "

That's interesting as, a few hours ago, I started..."

Now I want to read that too!

Susan, thanks for letting us know that one is good too.