What Are You Reading Now? Showing 251-300 of 2,435

[PattyMacDotComma]

I'm sadly nearing the end of Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. Number 15 is A Better Man. Freezing spring floods threaten Three Pines and Montreal.
4.5★ Link to my review of A Better Man

[PattyMacDotComma]

Summer Brother by Dutch author Jaap Robben was a good read and has just been longlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize.
4★ LInk to my Summer Brother review

[Luke]

Since I last posted, I've started:

Pilgrimage, Volume 4: Oberland, Dawn's Left Hand, Clear Horizon, Dimple Hill, March Moonlight - Dorothy M. Richardson
Metamorphoses - Ovid
He Who Searches - Luisa Valenzuela

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished:


By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho
Rating: 2 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

which is part of this collection:


The Alchemist / The Pilgrimage / By The River Piedra I Sat Down And Wept by Paulo Coelho
Rating: 2 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading a book I've had my eye on for a long time:


Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey

[PattyMacDotComma]

The title story of These Precious Days: Essays, by Ann Patchett is a novella-length essay about her amazing and unexpected friendship with an artist who is a personal assistant to Tom Hanks.

The book itself is due out in November - here's a link to the story, free online.
https://harpers.org/archive/2021/01/t...

I thought it was wonderful! 5★ Link to my review of These Precious Days with a few of the paintings

[J_BlueFlower]

Fridtjof Nansen and Human isolation

Here in Denmark the forth season of the Danish Alone TV series is airing. We are still in lockdown.... It all puts Fridtjof Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen journey into perspective: Surviving that winter physically and mentally may have been one of the most impressive human efforts ever.

Fridtjof Nansen sailed with the ship Fram towards the North pole. The ship was frozen in the ice for three years. After the second winter it was clear that the ship would not get to the north pole, and Nansen and Johansen journeyed north with dogs-sledges. They did not make it back in time and had to winter on Franz Josef Land. Surviving that! Try compare to Alone: No trees (except two pieces of driftwood) and no daylight! For 52 days? 86 days? No, for a full polar winter: From September to May 1896.

I have previously read Fridtjof Nansen: Fram over polhavet (English: Farthest North). The English version is free at Project Gutenberg:
Vol I: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30197
Vol II: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34120

I knew that Hjalmar Johansen had also written a book, but managed to think I did not need to read it. .... Until a few days ago where I "accidentally" looked to see if it was online.... and then immediately started it. The book is freely available from several sources:

English translation here:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...

In Norwegian:
Selv-anden paa 86°14' (The first edition)
https://www.nb.no/items/f3a69337a9cc3...

Med Nansen på 86°14' (Called "the third edition" but it is approx 50% shorter )
https://www.nb.no/items/f6ff31b3b002e...

I can very highly recommend Fridtjof Nansen's book. He much later received the Nobel Prize so he is good for bingo.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

J_BlueFlower wrote: "...I can very highly recommend Fridtjof Nansen's book. He much later received the Nobel Prize so he is good for bingo."

Scrabble too.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished this roman noir classic (a new film version of which is coming to theaters this December):


Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham
Rating: 5 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Terry]

I am taking a break from Classics and reading the 2017 novel, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid for Book Club.

[Scott]

I just read Undine by Motte Fouque (actually a German author, although he sounds French) It's a short little fairy tale novella. When it was first published it was a bestseller, but now both the book and the author have been largely forgotten.

[J_BlueFlower]

I am making my way trough ice and snow together with Hjalmar Johansen and Fridtjof Nansen in With Nansen in the North; A Record of the Fram Expedition in 1893-96 /Selv-anden paa 86°14'. A few days ago I discovered that on the 125 year of Fram’s return to Norway the crew's diaries had been published: Mannskapets dagbøker fra første Fram ferd 1893-1896 together with Fridtjof Nansens dagbøker - første Fram-ferd (Fridtjof Nansens diaries). The crew's diaries are sorted by date side by side, so you get to see 8 different perspectives on the various happenings and conflicts.

I chewed on it for some days (actually still chewing). Combined they are total almost 5000 pages. I ended up ordering Legen på "Fram" by Blessing the doctor on Fram. His diary that was published separately some years ago, and most of all I would to read his viewpoint.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished a stunning Pulitzer-Prize winning non-fiction book about the birth and rise of Islamic fundamentalism:


The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright
Rating: 5 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and I started reading:


D-Day: June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II by Stephen E. Ambrose

because I'm a male over the age of 50 so genetically this is the time in my life where I become fascinated with WWII.

[Jacqui]

The next book for me, which will be over the weekend, is a re-read of Brighton Rock by Graham Greene.

The last time I read this I was still at school so I think it deserves another visit.

[Janice]

I just finished Gooseberries by Anton Chekhov and not sure what I will start reading tomorrow either Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren or Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

[Tara]

RJ - Slayer of Trolls wrote: "I finished a stunning Pulitzer-Prize winning non-fiction book about the birth and rise of Islamic fundamentalism:


The Looming Tower by [autho..."

I find Ambrose's WWII books to be quite excellent, although I haven't read them in several years. I really got into the Band of Brothers ones after watching the HBO series.

[J_BlueFlower]

Janice wrote: "...either Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren or Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte... "

That is a funny choice. Somehow they have a lot in common. Strong female with no parents.... and something about following rules.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Tara wrote: "I find Ambrose's WWII books to be quite excellent, although I haven't read them in several years. I really got into the Band of Brothers ones after watching the HBO series."

I read Band of Brothers last year, and I very much enjoyed reading the descriptions of the war from the firsthand accounts of the soldiers who lived through it and fought in it. Ambrose did the world a service by tracking down those veterans while they were still alive and interviewing them and publishing their words to preserve them for future generations. Hopefully D-Day is more of the same.

[PattyMacDotComma]

I just enjoyed the thought-provoking second book of the Monkeewrench mystery series, Live Bait by mother-daughter duo P.J. Tracy. As if the concentration camp hadn't been bad enough, a Holocaust survivor is murdered. I'm glad there are more of these to look forward to!
4.5★ Link to my Live Bait review

[PattyMacDotComma]

Butterfly Blink: A Book Without Words is another colourful conversation-starter for children by Karl Beckstrand. As the title suggests, no words are necessary - except for the person answering the inevitable questions!
4★ Link to my Butterfly Blink review with several pictures

[J_BlueFlower]

Read my way through Nansen and Johansen's extreme third polar winter survival. I am reading that as a book and listening to Candide as audiobook when working in the garden. Some very difference types of suffering. Candide just seems so horrible in comparison.

One interesting detail in Johansen's book is how the polar bears react. Nansen and Johansen very often see polar bear as they are attracted to them by the smell. Nansen and Johansen hunt them for meat, but the bears are easily frightened and start running. Only once are they attacked by a bear. One day Johansen shoots at bear and runs after it:

“.... I discovered the bear some distance off, over by the glen, with heavy traces of blood behind it. I had only one more cartridge left in the gun after I had fired the shot, and with this I set off after the bear, which increased its speed when it noticed it was pursued.”

It seems to me that those bears back then are not nearly as aggressive as the modern polar bears. Starvation?

[Patty]

Below is my review of The Letters of Shirley Jackson, edited by her eldest son Laurence Jackson Hyman. 5/5




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

[Randy]

The snows of kilimanjaro and other stories (Hemingway),

How We Believe (Michael Shermer)

and just finished On Writing and Politics by Günter Grass.

[PattyMacDotComma]

I just enjoyed The Old Men Who Row Boats and Other Stories, a collection of stories that take place in Spain and Portugal. Author David Joseph has a good feeling for his people and the places where we meet them.
3.5★ Link to my Old Men Who Row Boats review

[PattyMacDotComma]

I know he's not little now but he will always be Little Stevie Wonder to me. Another inspiring Little People BIG DREAMS book for all families and schools.
5★ Link to my Stevie Wonder review with lots of pictures

[Janice]

I just finished Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren and am just starting Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte These are first-time reads for me.

[Niharika]

I'm currently reading "One Hundred Years of Solitude". I've been into a reading slump since a long time and my pace right now is extremely slow. Can someone suggest me some books to get out of the slump? I might pick them up after finishing this one that I'm reading.

[Terry]

I always find crime novels to fill the bill whenever I have been slowing down, but any book that others characterize as a page turner will do. How about Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier? It is a classic page turner! Or you might pick up something by Shirley Jackson.

[Luke]

Niharika wrote: "I'm currently reading "One Hundred Years of Solitude". I've been into a reading slump since a long time and my pace right now is extremely slow. Can someone suggest me some books to get out of the ..."

Perhaps something short and sweet? 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff might do the trick.

[Lori]

Yes, I was thinking a book of short stories or just a single short story from a favorite author?

[Darren]

something with a lot of snappy dialogue is good to break a slump
so anything by Elmore Leonard ;o)
(e.g. Get Shorty)

[Heather L]

Or try a classic children’s book. They’re usually short, easy reads.

[Lynn, New School Classics]

Randy wrote: "The snows of kilimanjaro and other stories (Hemingway),

How We Believe (Michael Shermer)

and just finished On Writing and Politics by Günter Grass."

I loved The Snows Of Kilimanjaro collection. As in all short story collections a few were better in my opinion, but overall it is a set of very high quality stories.

[Lynn, New School Classics]

Niharika wrote: "I'm currently reading "One Hundred Years of Solitude". I've been into a reading slump since a long time and my pace right now is extremely slow. Can someone suggest me some books to get out of the ..."

That happens to me when I read a book or two that I really dislike. I usually return to a series I really enjoy - like the next book in the series - or I reread a childhood favorite.

[J_BlueFlower]

In the Land of White Death: An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic by Valerian Albanov

I saw it on one of the polar/antarctic/extreme adventure lists.

In 1912 Albanov's ship was frozen fast in the pack ice due to an incompetent commander. For more than a year they drift with the ice, and then Albanov decides to leave the ship. His only map is the one found in Fridtjof Nansen's Fram book! The map is inaccurate map and full of dotted lines where the archipelago was still unexplored.

I have read the first 20% and it is excellent! Albanov relation to Brusilov - the incompetent captain - alone is worth the book. The captain is unconnected to reality in a degree you rarely see .... well, at least outside politics.

[Edona]

I'm currently reading Big two hearted river by Ernest Hemingway.This is the first Hemingway book I'm reading.Not finding it really interesting though.Do you think I should start The old man and The sea?

[PattyMacDotComma]

Edona wrote: "I'm currently reading Big two hearted river by Ernest Hemingway.This is the first Hemingway book I'm reading.Not finding it really interesting though.Do you think I should start The old man and The..."

The Old Man and the Sea is a favourite of mine, Edona. It may depend on your mood, of course. I reviewed it here, with no spoilers, but a few quotes that might help you decide.

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

[Lynn, New School Classics]

I am reading the Paratime Stories of H. Beam Piper. These were published in the 1940s ,1950s, and 1960s primarily in Science Fiction Magazines. His basic premise is alternate timelines based upon infinite possibilities. This sounds a bit cliche now, but he was the author who others imitated. I am hesitant to say he was the first, but definitely one of the first. The Complete Paratime.

[Luke]

Since I last posted, I've started and/or finished:

Flowers in the Mirror - Li Ruzhen
The Gilda Stories - Jewelle L. Gómez
62: A Model Kit - Julio Cortázar

[Milena]

Janice wrote: "I just finished Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren and am just starting Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte These are first-time reads for me."

I also read Jane Eyre for the first time earlier this year. I was sure I was the only one who hadn't read it yet.

[Darren]

Aubrey - what did you think of the Cortazar? I really liked Hopscotch, but don't really know what would be a good idea to try next...

[Luke]

Darren wrote: "Aubrey - what did you think of the Cortazar? I really liked Hopscotch, but don't really know what would be a good idea to try next..."

I haven't gotten into 62 at all yet, so. Hopscotch didn't impress me when I read it last year, but 62 is apparently an expansion on Hopscotch's 62nd part. It might help to read it while the originating material is still fresh in one's mind.

[PattyMacDotComma]

Graham Brack is a favourite author of mine. The Vanishing Children is the latest Master Mercurius mystery set in the Netherlands in the 17th century. I'm very fond of this gentle, witty cleric whom William of Orange keeps dragging away from his comfortable university post to work for him. History, mystery, and humour - love it!
4★ Link to my review of The Vanishing Children

[PattyMacDotComma]

Based on a real event in Poland in 1941, Winter Journey by Aussie author Diane Armstrong is a reminder of what we are capable of, both good and bad.
3.5★ Link to my review of Winter Journey

[Wreade1872]

Finished The Last Man by Mary Shelley [4/5] review which was exhausting.. although not entirely in a bad way :) .
Still reading Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline.

Edit: Also just started Mary Poppins Opens the Door by P.L.Travers for something a bit cheerier :).

[Janice]

Milena wrote: "Janice wrote: "I just finished Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren and am just starting Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte These are first-time reads for me."

I also re..."

Nope, you can count me in that group too. :) Did you enjoy it? Would you recommend it? Have you read any other Bronte books? So far, I am loving it and it definitely will be on my reread shelf. :)

[Janice]

Wreade1872 wrote: "Finished The Last Man by Mary Shelley [4/5] review which was exhausting.. although not entirely in a bad way :) .
Still reading [bookcover:Player Two|26082..."

I just recently finished reading Mary Poppins and now have added Mary Poppins Opens the Door on my TBR list. :)

[J_BlueFlower]

Finished In the Land of White Death: An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic by Valerian Albanov.

Highly recommended, specially if you have read Fridtjof Nansen: Farthest North.

In 1912 Albanov's ship was frozen fast in the pack ice due to an incompetent commander. For more than a year they drift with the ice, and then Albanov decides to leave the ship. His only map is the one found in Fridtjof Nansen's Fram book! The map is inaccurate map and full of dotted lines where the archipelago was still unexplored.

This book is great in several ways:

It was a joy to read Nansen trough Albanov’s eyes. I enjoy book club readings. But here my book club fellow happens to be a person in another book - and his life depends on reading Nansen’s book and map correctly. Sometimes even down to details as the colour of the walls in a cabin.

Albanov relation to Brusilov - the incompetent captain - alone is worth the book. The captain is unconnected to reality in a degree you rarely see....

The journey and Albanov’s relation to “his men”. He does not command them - these are men who choose to follow him. However, they are clearly not thinking the same way.

On top of that, is an almost murder mystery: (view spoiler)[Two men flee the group on the ice and travel by themself stealing several things including the only pocket watch. Albanov refuse to tell who they are. But a few clues here and there leaves two people clearly suspect. (hide spoiler)] I definitely do not think that was intensional.

Yet a further layer is revealed then you realise that Albanov may not be a reliable narrator: These are seriously ill people in some cases just days away from dying. And yet he calls them “lazy”.

[Milena]

Janice wrote: "Milena wrote: "Janice wrote: "I just finished Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren and am just starting Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte These are first-time reads for ..."

I loved Jane Eyre. First book I have read by any Bronte, I think. I can't wait to reread it too, maybe on audio this time.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Niharika wrote: "I'm currently reading "One Hundred Years of Solitude". I've been into a reading slump since a long time and my pace right now is extremely slow. Can someone suggest me some books to get out of the ..."

Reading more than one book at a time helps me. Then when you get tired of one book you can settle in with another. This especially works well with books of different genres. Marquez is a writer who's best read slowly, in my opinion. Having another book handy might help you read just a few pages of One Hundred Years then move on to something that reads a bit faster.

[Darren]

after finishing 37 books so far this year, I had my first DNF yesterday - Valley of the Dolls - it had a "so-bad-it's-funny" thing going on that kept me reading til half way, but that was enough!