What Are You Reading Now? Showing 701-750 of 2,435

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished the 2nd book in the Lew Archer series, a must read for detective fiction fans:


The Drowning Pool by Ross Macdonald
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading the classic roman noir:


I Married a Dead Man by Cornell Woolrich writing as William Irish

[Dave]

I finished “Brokeback Mountain”, a powerful but sad story, the movie was very close to the story. Rated five stars.

I started”Open Season”, by CJ Box. This is the first of his “Joe Prichett” stories about a game warden in Wyoming.

[Darrell]

Natalie wrote: "Mary - I love The Great Gatsby. It’s one of my favorite books. I don’t like the characters or even the plot, but I love how beautifully descriptive the language is. ☺️"

Natalie wrote: "Mary - I love The Great Gatsby. It’s one of my favorite books. I don’t like the characters or even the plot, but I love how beautifully descriptive the language is. ☺️"

[Darrell]

the great gatsby was not so great.. for a highly recommended classic it was not good at all.. so bad that i probably wont read any more of his books.. but he wasnt as bad as faulkner and james.. they both suck and are a complete waste of time to read..

[Darrell]

Mary wrote: "I just started The Great Gatsby"

[Darrell]

its not good... definetly not a classic other than maybe a bad classic..

[Dave]

Darrell wrote: "its not good... definetly not a classic other than maybe a bad classic.."

I agree with you Darrell, I just didn’t see why it was considered a classic. I just finished The Beautiful and the Damned, thinking maybe it was just that one novel. I had to drag myself through the book. No more Fitzgerald for me.

[Luffy Sempai]

The Great Gatsby is an okay read superficially, but on a close read it lends itself to a lot of analysis. I have read it only once, but I'd go as far as say that it bears scrutiny under a feminist lens or even a post colonialist one!

[Greg]

Luffy wrote: "The Great Gatsby . . . on a close read it lends itself to a lot of analysis. ..."

Definitely!

[Dave]

Luffy wrote: "The Great Gatsby is an okay read superficially, but on a close read it lends itself to a lot of analysis. I have read it only once, but I'd go as far as say that it bears scrutiny under a feminist ..."

I admit that my opinion is a small minority. I know how close read, but was not inspired to do so with this book. Perhaps if I had read it when young, I would have thought differently.

[Dave]

Started “Open Season” by C J Box and “To the Lighthouse” by Woolf, narrated by Nicole Kidman.

[Natalie]

Ha! Good thing we all have different tastes! :D

I will continue loving and rereading The Great Gatsby, but I will say, I have not enjoyed any of his other novels.

[Darrell]

the only great thing about gatsby is that thank goodness it wasnt a 1000 pages long.. which would be pure torture .. as it is.. it is torture enough and a waste of time

[Luffy Sempai]

I'm reading this French book; Les six compagnons de la Croix Rousse, by Paul-Jacques Bonzon.

I'm a third way through it. It is a story that is derivative, but something in it rings unalloyed. I like it a lot and if the quality is there, I can see myself giving the book 4 stars.

[Natalie]

That’s great Luffy! Best feeling when you find a great book!

[Luffy Sempai]

Natalie wrote: "That’s great Luffy! Best feeling when you find a great book!"

Thank you Natalie. It is indeed a great feeling.

[Luffy Sempai]

My review of Les six compagnons de la Croix Rousse:-

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

[Dave]

I started “The Fellowship of the Ring”, narrated by Andy Serkis yesterday.

[Gavin]

Currently reading Spin

[Greg]

Dave wrote: "I started “The Fellowship of the Ring”, narrated by Andy Serkis yesterday."

Fun!

[Janice]

I am rereading The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished the classic domestic suspense novel


I Married a Dead Man by Cornell Woolrich writing as William Irish
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading the first Amelia Peabody mystery


Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters

[Dave]

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "I finished the classic domestic suspense novel


I Married a Dead Man by Cornell Woolrich writing as [author:William Irish|247321..."

I Married a Dead Man looks very good. I put it on my wish list.

[Dave]

I finished El Norte: The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America.

Started The Call of the Wild by Jack London.

[Dave]

Finished The Call of the Wild, began Nicolas Nickleby.

[[deleted user]]

Dave wrote: "Finished The Call of the Wild, began Nicolas Nickleby."

I read Nicholas Nickelby earlier this year - loved it! Hope you enjoy it, too :)

[Dave]

Cozy_Pug wrote: "Dave wrote: "Finished The Call of the Wild, began Nicolas Nickleby."

I read Nicholas Nickelby earlier this year - loved it! Hope you enjoy it, too :)"

Thank you, I always love Dickens.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Dave wrote: "I Married a Dead Man looks very good. I put it on my wish list..."

I liked it a lot. Hard to find a dead tree copy though.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished Hemingway's first novel and - as usual - my rating is based on personal enjoyment rather than a measure of literary merit:


The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading Dashiell Hammett's final novel, the basis for a popular film series during the Great Depression:


The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett

[Dave]

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "Dave wrote: "I Married a Dead Man looks very good. I put it on my wish list..."

I liked it a lot. Hard to find a dead tree copy though."

Not a problem, I read Kindle or Audiobooks.

[Wreade1872]

@RJ I really enjoyed the Thin Man its a fun time, despite the noir not really being my genre.

Finished Titus Awakes by Maeve Gilmore [3/5] review a while ago and now
The Bone People by Keri Hulme [3/5] review

Still reading The Second Sex for a non-fiction target and just started another Cabell book, Gallantry .

[Gavin]

Reading Ascendance of a Bookworm: Part 1 Volume 3

[Scott]

The best line in The Thin Man:

'Well, we didn't come to New York to stay sober!'

There is a LOT of drinking in that novel...

[Scott]

I'm reading The Doll, a Polish classic. It's a bit slow and tiresome, frankly.

I just finished The Good Soldier Svejk, which was hilarious. Highly recommend it!

[Dave]

I started The House at Pooh Corner, Dracula, and Thank You Jeeves.

[Nadine]

Lilly wrote: "Thank you, Lynn! It is really interesting to see which authors are known in which countries - or not known. Enid Blyton is often thought to have been Europe's most influential children's book autho..."

I can add that she is well known in Germany. I don't know the original titles... but I loved her twins in boarding school series and the 5 friends one with Timmy, the dog. In my youth in the 80s it was huge! Both as books and as audio book variation on tape. Yes, old enough to have grown up with tapes. :-)

[[deleted user]]

Dave wrote: "I started The House at Pooh Corner, Dracula, and Thank You Jeeves."

Thank You Jeeves is so funny, one of my favorites! Are you listening to an audiobook of it?

[Dave]

Cozy_Pug wrote: "Dave wrote: "I started The House at Pooh Corner, Dracula, and Thank You Jeeves."

Thank You Jeeves is so funny, one of my favorites! Are you listening to an audiobook of it?"

Yes, its a hoot. All my “reading” is on audiobooks, but “heavy” books I also read along on Kindle and underline. I’m doing that now with”East of Eden” and Hannah Arednt’s “The Life of the Mind.”

[[deleted user]]

Dave wrote: "Cozy_Pug wrote: "Dave wrote: "I started The House at Pooh Corner, Dracula, and Thank You Jeeves."

Thank You Jeeves is so funny, one of my favorites! Are you listening to an audiobook of it?"

Yes,..."

Is your edition read by Jonathan Cecil? He's my absolute favorite reader of the Bertie and Jeeves books.

[Greg]

Dave and Cozy_Pug, I loved that Jeeves book too - it's hilarious!

[[deleted user]]

Greg wrote: "Dave and Cozy_Pug, I loved that Jeeves book too - it's hilarious!"

It really is! It always makes me cry with laughter, and that's a sign of impressive writing I think.

[Brian E]

Thank You, Jeeves is the only one of the 36 Wodehouse's I have read that I didn't laugh all the way through. I laughed at the setup but couldn't continue laughing at about the book's middle. I tried to adapt to the times it was written, but I just couldn't laugh at the use of blackface and the "n" word which were key elements of the intended humor. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Greg]

Brian wrote: "Thank You, Jeeves is the only one of the 36 Wodehouse's I have read that I didn't laugh through. I tried to adapt to the times it was written, but I just couldn't laugh at the use o..."

Hmm, I don't recall that Brian, but I wonder if the version I read was sanitized?

Recently, I participated in the group read of The Sun Also Rises, and I noticed that my audio copy had several instances of the n-word as well as "faggot" removed from a number of places in the book. And I recently finished another book And Then There Were None that went through different incarnations historically as it was sanitized of offensive material (first it was titled Ten Little Niggers and then And Then There Were None: or Ten Little Indians until settling on the current title).

I'm a little torn about sanitizing like this because I think it's important for people to understand how things were so they know what things used to be like. Otherwise, how could they understand what the civil rights movement was all about? But when it comes to something that's basically for entertainment, I can see how it could destroy the enjoyment as well. On my nephew's spring break, we were watching a very old comedy movie, and he said that certain parts were "creepy." And he's right, they were creepy, even though I might not have noticed way back when it was in theaters.

[Brian E]

As I said in my review: "I also understand historical context, but this is not the use of a term for historical and social commentary and accuracy as with Huck Finn." I don't like sanitizing literature for the reasons you mention, but it just means that something that may have been funny at the time is now harder to laugh at.

I brought this up because I was afraid that a non-Wodehouse fan, after reading the prior raves about the book, would choose to read this book as his first Wodehouse, and be turned off to him by the racial humor. As a big Wodehouse fan I hate to see anyone turned off to him.

Another reason this is not a good Jeeves novel to start with - hardly any Jeeves!

[Greg]

Brian wrote: "As I said in my review: "I also understand historical context, but this is not the use of a term for historical and social commentary and accuracy as with Huck Finn." I don't like sanitizing litera..."

Makes sense Brian!

It could be I'm mixing up different Jeeves/Wooster books, and it's certainly good for people to know. Which is your favorite?

I remember laughing a lot at one where Wooster went to a costume party in a devil outfit. I've only read 3 or 4 of the books in the series so far.

[Dave]

Cozy_Pug wrote: "Dave wrote: "Cozy_Pug wrote: "Dave wrote: "I started The House at Pooh Corner, Dracula, and Thank You Jeeves."

Thank You Jeeves is so funny, one of my favorites! Are you listening to an audiobook ..."

Yes, the reader is Jonathan. Cecil, but reading the subsequent posts perhaps I should choose another Jeeves book to start with.

I am only a few chapters in ant it is more like slapstick comedy than what I was expecting. I have read books that made me laugh out loud, but I was already finding myself wondering why Wodehouse was known for being more humorous than authors I had laughed out loud at, yet I was not laughing out loud.

Thanks for a helpful series of posts.

[Brian E]

Greg wrote: "It could be I'm mixing up different Jeeves/Wooster books, and it's certainly good for people to know. Which is your favorite?."

Favorite Jeeves novels:
Right Ho, Jeeves 1934 - Jeeves #6
The Code of the Woosters 1938 - Jeeves #7
While "Code" is a slight favorite, to fully appreciate it, one should read "Right Ho" first. Joy in the Morning - Jeeves #8 is pretty good too

Favorite Jeeves short-story collection - Very Good, Jeeves! 1930 - Jeeves #4

To be fair, Thank You, Jeeves is one of the 6 Wodehouse novels included on The Guardian's list of The 1000 novels everyone must read; so better authorities than me do recommend it.

[Dave]

Brian wrote: "Greg wrote: "It could be I'm mixing up different Jeeves/Wooster books, and it's certainly good for people to know. Which is your favorite?."

Favorite Jeeves novels:
[book:Right Ho, Jeeves|9850375..."

I’ll go with your recommendations Brian. I got Thank You Jeeves from the Guardian list. There are a lot of books on that list that I would not give the time of day, so I need to chose with care.

[Dave]

I returned Thank You, Jeeves and got The Code of the Woosters for a second start at PG Wodehouse.

[Greg]

Thanks Brian! :)