What Are You Reading Now? Showing 2,001-2,050 of 2,435

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished the foremost Swedish vampire novel


Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


Night Shift by Stephen King

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished


The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


The Getaway by Jim Thompson

[Sam]

I don't usually post on this topic but I am almost finished with my first book by Eileen Chang, Love in a Fallen City, and I loved it. It is a collection of novellas and short stories and I found them unique because of Chang's background and vision. I know a couple of you would like them.

[Teri-K]

I just started Hotel Silence by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir, an Icelandic author. This book tells the story of an Icelandic man who is so depressed he goes to an unnamed Baltic country where there's a war on, hoping to die. However he ends up finding that his repair skills are much needed at the hotel where he's staying. I don't read a lot of lit fic, but I couldn't reisist trying this one.

[Cynda]

Continuing my Jules Verne micro-study by listening to audiobook 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. I am amazed by all the detailed technology.

I wish long ago that I had thought to read my to my technologically-minded son when he was a boy.

[Chris]

I recently finished Neverwhere and was totally engaged in this classic urban fantasy.

[Austin]

I am currently reading In Xanadu: A Quest by William Dalrymple. It's a travelogue. Very interesting book so far, especially the history lessons.

[Malin]

I just started reading The Secret Garden' by the author Frances Hodgson Burnett!!

[Teri-K]

Starting The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic by Mike Duncan. I didn't expect it to start with a chapter about Polybius and his Rise of the Roman Empire - which I just read! It was a pleasant surprise.

I'm also starting Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World by Tim Marshall. I'm hoping it will give me more background on some parts of the world I'm not well-versed about.

Definitely on a nonfiction kick. I just finished Entangled Life, which I mentioned before, and quite enjoyed it.

[Lynn, New School Classics]

Cynda is healing 2024 wrote: "Continuing my Jules Verne micro-study by listening to audiobook 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. I am amazed by all the detailed technology.

I wish long ago that I ha..."

I really enjoyed it when I read it in December 2023. I spent a good bit of time looking up locations on Google Maps or reading online about them.

[Cynda]

We read similarly Lynn :)

[Georgia]

I'm late coming to Stefan Zweig. Just read Impatience of the Heart and recommend it if you like love stories that are serious. Here's my reviewhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Franky]

I've been so busy with work and stuff so have had little time to reading but currently reading the sci-fi classic from the 70s, Logan's Run, and hope to watch the film afterwards. After that, hoping to start the Victorian classic, Mary Barton.

[Cynda]

Franky watched the movie and read the book long ago. A well-read copy passed along friends. . . .I wonder what difference a few decades might make.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Franky wrote: "I've been so busy with work and stuff so have had little time to reading but currently reading the sci-fi classic from the 70s, Logan's Run, and hope to watch the film afterwards...."

Oh, nice! I want to read that one too.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished the Booker Award-winning historical novel set in 1960s rural India


The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter

[Janice]

I am rereading one of my favourite books that I like to read in April: The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim as well as rereading 1 Corinthians in the Bible.

[Teri-K]

Enchanted April is delightful, isn't it? I haven't read it in ages, I should pick it up soon!

[Grace]

If We Were Villains

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

#29 in 2024:

I finished the first book in the "Space Trilogy" but I won't be finishing the series


Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
Rating: 2 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Teri-K]

I didn't go on after Out of the Silent Planet, either.

I'm rereading all the Lord Peter Wimsey short stories, collected in the book Lord Peter.

[Rora]

Sorry you guys didn't like the space trilogy, its one of my favorites.

Currently re-reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I'm also slowly making my way through the Green Gable series by Lucy M. Montgomery. On book #5 now.

[Franky]

Rora wrote: "Sorry you guys didn't like the space trilogy, its one of my favorites.

Currently re-reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I'm also slowly making my way through the Green Gable series by Lu..."

I want to try the Space Trilogy also. I really like The Chronicles of Narnia.

I liked Anne of Green Gables when the group did the monthly read awhile back, so I'm interested in moving on to the second in the series.

[Teri-K]

Rora wrote: "Sorry you guys didn't like the space trilogy, its one of my favorites."

It was always going to be a hard sell for me, despite having read and enjoyed a lot of Lewis, fiction and non. I'm not a big reader of sci-fi, especially the older books, but I felt I owed it a try. :)

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Franky wrote: "I want to try the Space Trilogy also. I really like The Chronicles of Narnia...."

I like the Narnia books too, especially the first one. I'm currently in the midst of re-reading the series and I'm about halfway through. I didn't like Out of the Silent Planet though. For a short book, it felt awfully long and it got preachy in a way Narnia didn't.

Teri-K wrote: "It was always going to be a hard sell for me, despite having read and enjoyed a lot of Lewis, fiction and non. I'm not a big reader of sci-fi, especially the older books, but I felt I owed it a try. :)"

It's worth pointing out that the Space Trilogy is not indicative of most Science Fiction. The first book was written prior to WWII when Science Fiction was mostly pulpy space fantasy and is part of a subgenre called "Planetary Romance," typified by the Edgar Rice Burroughs Barsoom books. For me the Sci-Fi genre became a lot more interesting after WWII when the Cold War started.

[Cynda]

I have Space Trilogy as possibility. I am interested in learning about science fiction, to exploring the more literary aspects of the genre. My science background is competent for understanding what my medical people say and following arguments of popular science books. Maybe as I continue to read things will become different. I want to read Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. When I can read that book, I will be happy with my improved scientific understanding.

[Cynda]

Right now I am reading The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers. Long ago I watched the 1997 movie version. I will revisit the movie after I read.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished another excellent noir crime novel by one of my favorite authors


The Getaway by Jim Thompson
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Luffy Sempai]

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "Franky wrote: "I want to try the Space Trilogy also. I really like The Chronicles of Narnia...."

I like the Narnia books too, especially the first one. I'm currently in the midst of re-reading the..."

Hi guys. Hi RJ. In what way Narnia is not preachy?

[J_BlueFlower]

Luffy (Oda's Version) wrote: "In what way Narnia is not preachy?..."

I wonder too. Some of the later books are Really Bad.

[J_BlueFlower]

I have finished Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver.

I meant to start Blood Meridian for group read, but Copperhead was one of those books I moved too much into to just it let go, and start something new. I need a few days... Highly recommended.

Presumable a good deal of the plot is a rewrite of Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield.

I think I can short of guess some of the parts. (no real spoiler)
(view spoiler)[The McCobb family have Dickens written all over them.
The U-haul plot part I guess too.
Betsy Woodall and brother Dick sounds like two Dickens’ character too.
Also the Emmy-Angus dilemma. (hide spoiler)]

I wonder about the last third of the book. I would guess that David Copperfield is somewhat different than Demon Copperhead (actual spoiler here:)
(view spoiler)[I would guess Copperfield does not get addicted to anything. Dickens heroes tend to me 100% clean Heroes. (hide spoiler)]

I never read David Copperfield (and I am not going to). Maybe there is a movie somewhere?

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Luffy (Oda's Version) wrote: "I wonder too. Some of the later books are Really Bad."

J_BlueFlower wrote: "Luffy (Oda's Version) wrote: "In what way Narnia is not preachy?..."

I wonder too. Some of the later books are Really Bad."

Well, in my re-reading I've only read the first three. I read most, but not all of the series when I was very young, so I don't remember it well although I do remember getting bored with it and not finishing it. As far as the first three, I thought the first book (the best of the series, I think) was fairly subtle in its Christian references. The second and third books were slightly more overt but nothing too off-putting for me. It wasn't pages and pages of theological straw man arguments thinly disguised as alien philosophy. I hope that answers your question. It is kind of hard to prove a negative after all.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished the short story collection


The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading another collection


Dubliners by James Joyce

[Ayush]

I just started reading Don Quixote - Edith Grossman Translation.

[BookishDramas]

Book of Evil (Comixology Originals) #1

3 stars
Graphic novel
dystopian future
short story

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

[Teri-K]

Just started Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. I'm enjoying it and I think I'd be loving it if I were in a different mood. But it's a library book I can only have for two weeks, so it's now or who-knows-when?

[lu]

Grace wrote: "If We Were Villains"
Are you liking it? Its on my wishlist

[lu]

I'm trying to finish Murder on the Orient Express but I'm getting bored and blaming myself for that, cause I loved And Then There Were None.

[Luffy Sempai]

lu wrote: "I'm trying to finish Murder on the Orient Express but I'm getting bored and blaming myself for that, cause I loved And Then There Were None."

Lol, why blame yourself? I gave the book 5 stars, but that was when I had no experience. You realised it was repetitive without any outside help. Congratulate yourself and move on.

[Luffy Sempai]

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "Well, in my re-reading I've only read the first three. I read most, but not all of the series when I was very young, so I don't remember it well although I do remember getting bored with it and not finishing it. As far as the first three, I thought the first book (the best of the series, I think) was fairly subtle in its Christian references. The second and third books were slightly more overt but nothing too off-putting for me. It wasn't pages and pages of theological straw man arguments thinly disguised as alien philosophy. I hope that answers your question. It is kind of hard to prove a negative after all."

What? Proving a negative? Well philosophy is not my strongest suit. The first Narnia book was very good. But the resurrection, the forbidden fruit, the introduction of evil through outside human agency and not through any fault of the Narnia making Aslan, they become more apparent after a few rereads, and therefore I stopped reading Lewis.

[Greg]

Luffy (Oda's Version) wrote: "The first Narnia book was very good. But the resurrection, the forbidden fruit, the introduction of evil through outside human agency and not through any fault of the Narnia making Aslan, they become more apparent after a few rereads, and therefore I stopped reading Lewis."

Yeah, I enjoyed the first Narnia book as a kid, but as an adult, the allegory seemed a little too pat. Everything is very allegorical in the sense of A = B, sort of a retelling of the Jesus story with people wearing different costumes. Even down to Aslan's stone cracking like the veil of the temple cracking. And the children don't have much character depth. To me, it felt more like the outline of a good book without the detail or depth filled in, though I'm in the minority for sure; that's just my personal reaction. I haven't met many others who feel that way.

Some of the other books in the Narnia series were more fun for me as an adult because they veered off into more fantastical territory and weren't as predictable.

Oddly, I still enjoyed all three of the Silent Planet books as an adult. Although there were definitely obvious religious references, the Silent Planet books also veered off from orthodoxy a bit. I found them fun.

[Teri-K]

lu wrote: "I'm trying to finish Murder on the Orient Express but I'm getting bored and blaming myself for that, cause I loved And Then There Were None."

Don't blame yourself. I've read all of Christie, most of it several times, and MotOE is one of my least favorites. I find it tedious. The good news is there's plenty of Christie out there, and she wrote a lot of different kinds of books, so there's something for just about everyone.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished Don Carpenter's oft-overlooked debut novel


Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I also finished the historical non-fiction book


Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors by Stephen E. Ambrose
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading


My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell

[Ron]

RJ- Slayer of Trolls wrote:

I also finished the historical non-fiction book

Crazy Horse and Custer The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors by Stephen E. Ambrose
Crazy Horse and Custer: The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors by Stephen E. Ambrose
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

That's awesome! I read that book in 2008 so it's been ages, but I still have my copy of it.

[Cynda]

I am deep into Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen by Queen Lili'uokalani.

I am starting The Injustice Never Leaves You: Anti-Mexican Violence in Texas by Monica Muñoz Martinez

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Ron wrote: "RJ- Slayer of Trolls wrote:

I also finished the historical non-fiction book

Crazy Horse and Custer The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors by Stephen E. Ambrose..."

Yes, it was a good one. Very interesting. It gave me a much better perspective on American expansion in the Midwest and West. It's like a coda to the Civil War.

[Brenda]

I’m enjoying John D Burns’ The Last Hillwalker. Published just 7 years ago, it is already a ‘classic’ amongst nature books. Fabulous read!

[Janice]

I am rereading Anne of Green Gables

[Branden]

I am reading Dune. I have been hooked since the second film came out and it is turning out to be one of my favourites!