What books are you reading now? (2024)

[Lady Clementina]

Brian E wrote: "G wrote: "This is making me wonder if Greene ever wrote any fully developed female characters. And whether he wrote any women who were not crabbed and unpleasant. ."

Alwynne wrote: "Not in my expe..."

I enjoyed Travels with my Aunt too. I felt some shades of this book in Isherwood's Mr Norris Changes trains.
Of Greene I also liked Our Man in Havana and TQA; also to an extent the Confidential Agent which I discovered only as a result of the film (Lauren Bacall and Charles Boyer) and read immediately after.

[Alwynne]

I think I'm with Ben on this loved the films of The Fallen Idol and The Third Man, and early Bacall always worth it, although obvs prefer the Bogart collaborations. Interesting that you compare Travels with my aunt to Isherwood though, I love his The Berlin Novels: Mr Norris Changes Trains & Goodbye to Berlin

[Roman Clodia]

I've got the following books on the go: the litfic The Italy Letters full of stunning sentences; Liars which is utterly compulsive - and am trying my first Bridgerton novel for switch off reading - anyone read them?

[Nigeyb]

Isherwood is fab


I’d not considered the parallels with Aunt. I’ll have to ponder that one. Both firm favourites though

[Nigeyb]

I’ve not read Bridgerton, or even heard of it RC but that cover is sufficiently off putting that it would take a lot to persuade to overcome that instinctive reaction




😱

[Lady Clementina]

Alwynne wrote: "I think I'm with Ben on this loved the films of The Fallen Idol and The Third Man, and early Bacall always worth it, although obvs prefer the Bogart collaborations. Interesting that you compare Tra..."

Me too. Mr Norris I felt had shades of Aunt while Goodbye to Berlin was more melancholy.
Here was what I thought (2017): https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Lady Clementina]

Recent reads were a book of Montaigne's essays which I really enjoyed
What Do I Know?: Essential Essays
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and Comet in Moominland, the first of two reads for a mommin-themed reading event on the blog
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Roman Clodia]

Nigeyb wrote: "I’ve not read Bridgerton, or even heard of it RC but that cover is sufficiently off putting that it would take a lot to persuade to overcome that instinctive reaction
😱"

Wow, not heard of Bridgerton? It's not often I get to gasp at someone knowing less about films and TV than me! It's been all over Netflix for the past three seasons. Not my usual matter either but it's so adorable I'm giving the book a go.

[Nigeyb]

I've got access to Netflix but don't really watch anything on there


I'm not watching much TV at all these days and when I do it tends to be something on iPlayer or MUBI

[Alwynne]

I finished Sarah Moss's My Good Bright Wolf: A Memoir centred on her experiences of an eating disorder that disrupted her teens and then resurfaced during her forties in the middle of the Covid pandemic. I almost didn't continue with this, I disliked the folkloric style of the opening chapters, but I'm so glad I persevered as I found the later sections really interesting particularly her analysis of femininity in many of her favourite books from Plath to Woolf.

Link to my review:

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

[Neer]

Finished Vicki Baum's Men Never Know recently.

[Roman Clodia]

Alwynne wrote: "I finished Sarah Moss's My Good Bright Wolf: A Memoir centred on her experiences of an eating disorder that disrupted her teens and then resurfaced during her forties in the middle..."

Sounds good - I must have missed this on Netgalley.

[Alwynne]

Roman Clodia wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "I finished Sarah Moss's My Good Bright Wolf: A Memoir centred on her experiences of an eating disorder that disrupted her teens and then resurfaced during her forti..."

I didn't think the initial use of metaphor/symbolism really worked, she's far more convincing when her writing is more grounded/concrete but overall I thought it was very effective. I enjoyed her dissection of her childhood favourites - made me want to read some Arthur Ransome which was unexpected. I also found her account of her recent hospitalisation surprisingly powerful, I was shocked by the attitudes of the psychiatric staff she encountered though: one even told her she was 'choosing to be ill' which seemed incredibly inappropriate and a bizarrely outdated response to anorexia.

[Roman Clodia]

Alwynne wrote: "...and a bizarrely outdated response to anorexia."

Wow, yes! I think she sometimes tends to over-writing in her fiction as well but this is still one I want to read.

I'm currently reading Manguso's Liars and agree it's addictive. So many red flags that she let's go...

[Alwynne]

I finished a new edition from Virago of Caroline Blackwood's 1981 novel The Fate of Mary Rose with an introduction by author Camilla Grudova who's recently championed Blackwood's work. Her literary output's often unfairly overshadowed by her reputation as a muse - once married to painter Lucien Freud and later poet Robert Lowell - Blackwood is a fascinating, underread writer. Northern Irish but easier to get hold of in America where two of her novels have been reissued by NYRB Classics. This perverse pageturner is best described as Barbara Comyns meets Shirley Jackson meets Celia Fremlin. It revolves around a disturbed mother and a murdered child in a small Kent village. The first in a number of Blackwood reissues coming from Virago.

Link to my review:

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

[Alwynne]

I finished Rachel Kushner's Creation Lake I'm not entirely convinced by her political conclusions but I really enjoyed tracing the histories/theoretical perspectives informing her narrative. And I liked her central character Sadie. Basically anyone who enjoyed The Flamethrowers will enjoy this one.

Link to my review:

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

[G]

Well I finished The Ministry of Time. To my great delight, it turned out not to derivative after all. The framework for the time travel is, perhaps, but the book turned into a substantive exploration of some pretty important questions, while remaining great fun.

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

[Roman Clodia]

G wrote: "Well I finished The Ministry of Time. To my great delight, it turned out not to derivative after all."

Great review - I also lost the plot a bit towards the end and was also listening to the audio. I liked the way, too, it's fun while still dealing with serious questions.

[Roman Clodia]

Alwynne wrote: "I finished Rachel Kushner's Creation Lake"

Yes. yes. yes! There's something about Kushner's women that just click with me: they're cool chicks but complex too, and in different ways.

[Hester]

Just finished Death and Nightingales / Eugene McCabe . Gulped down in one sitting it's a brilliantly constructed tense story set in the wet bogs of nineteenth century Ulster . The prose is stripped back , there's a rhythm in the dialogue and pauses worthy of music but the landscape is the star turn , where the sucking turf swallows the past and present into its terrible storehouse .

[Roman Clodia]

I've read Liars by Sarah Manguso, a book that Alwynne previously recommended here, and a blood-pressure-raising account of a toxic marriage.

One thing that struck me is the continuities between this and what we've said about Celia Fremlin's domestic commentary...

www.goodreads.com/review/show/6695408120

[Roman Clodia]

I finished The Time of Cherries, a classic of Catalan literature, by Montserrat Roig. I was impressed by the writing technique but a little underwhelmed by the story:

www.goodreads.com/review/show/6556982426

I'm currently also reading The Hard Crowd: Essays 2000-2020 by Rachel Kushner.

[Alwynne]

I wasn't entirely convinced by S. T. Gibson's An Education in Malice Dark Academia meets lesbian gothic horror, quite unbalanced and some very weird passages.

Link to my review:

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

[Roman Clodia]

I've just finished The Hard Crowd: Essays 2000–2020, essays from Rachel Kushner, one of my favourite contemporary writers:

www.goodreads.com/review/show/4996305954

[Jan C]

I, too, enjoyed both Mr. Norris and Travels with my Aunt. I believe I may still be reading Goodbye to Berlin. Lost on the Kindle somewhere.

[G]

I just finished Love in Case of Emergency, which I read for WIT month. It was a slow start, but picked up interest as it went, and ended with one of those moments that turns at least half of what you think you understand about a character on its head. Not the best read of my year, but surprisingly satisfying. It's not at all the kind of novel I usually read. I picked it because it's translated from German, and it's hard to find translated German fiction, at least in my library.

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

[Alwynne]

I finished Aharon Appelfeld's 1980s Holocaust novella Badenheim 1939 newly reissued as a Penguin Modern Classic. Unbalanced but inventive mix of satirical and surreal, it's a timely reissue given recent events in Europe.

Link to my review:

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

[Hester]

Ooh Alwynne. I have an old copy on my shelf . Time to dust it off . I read Blooms of Darkness a year or so ago , in which a Jewish boy is concealed in a brothel in Poland. It didn't quite hit the mark for me , but he's a writer who seems to like viewing that terrible history from unusual angles which is always interesting .

[Alwynne]

Hester wrote: "Ooh Alwynne. I have an old copy on my shelf . Time to dust it off . I read Blooms of Darkness a year or so ago , in which a Jewish boy is concealed in a brothel in Poland. It didn't quite hit the m..."

Great, although can't guarantee you'll like it, think it's one of those Marmite titles!

[Renee]

I’ve just started Wobble to Death by Peter Lovesey and so far I’m very impressed by the writing. I gather that Lovesey wrote quite a few mysteries and am wondering if anyone here has thoughts on his other books.

[Jill]

Renee wrote: "I’ve just started Wobble to Death by Peter Lovesey and so far I’m very impressed by the writing. I gather that Lovesey wrote quite a few mysteries and am wondering if ..."

I have read the first 4 of the Sergeant Cribb series and the first 4 of the Diamond books

[Renee]

So you found them worth your while?

[Roman Clodia]

I just finished the latest Donna Leon, A Refiner’s Fire: amazing she's kept this long-running Brunetti series still relevant and enjoyable:

www.goodreads.com/review/show/6827257004

[Alwynne]

I finished philosopher Gillian Rose's fragmented memoir Love's Work First published in the 1990s, not long before her death, it's a radical take on the cancer memoir which blends personal and philosophical reflections on illness, with memories of her childhood, her troubled relationship with Judaism and above all her thoughts on love and desire. She's also the sister of Jacqueline Rose whose work some of us are already familiar with. This didn't always work for me but found it well worth reading even so.

Link to my review:

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

[Roman Clodia]

Ah, I didn't realize she was Jacqueline Rose's sister - makes this even more interesting.

[Alwynne]

Roman Clodia wrote: "Ah, I didn't realize she was Jacqueline Rose's sister - makes this even more interesting."

I kept wondering what Jacqueline Rose thought about it as, presumably, the commentary on family/ancestry relates to her background/childhood too. It's quite an odd piece and some of the attitudes made me a bit uncomfortable - not all by any means - but I imagine some observations/elements wouldn't get past a contemporary editor.

[Roman Clodia]

Ha, well if Gillian's anything like Jacqueline, there'll have probably been some robust conversations, I expect! Sounds like that family has nurtured two formidable women. Have put this on my TBR as a result of your comments.

[Alwynne]

I finished Garth Greenwell's Small Rain which I loved. A persuasive, beautifully-realised account of a body in crisis, America during the Covid pandemic and of the centrality of love - something Greenwell manages to convey without descending into mawkish sentimentality.

Link to my review:

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

[Alwynne]

I finished Ali Smith's Gliff the first of two interlinking novels. A sort of updated, reworking of Huxley's Brave New World the plot/structure's a lot less complicated than many of her previous books, there's enough for Smith fans to puzzle over but may appeal to those who found other pieces a bit bewildering.

Link to my review:

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

[Roman Clodia]

I've started an ARC of My Good Bright Wolf: A Memoir by Sarah Moss - it's very easy to get drawn into.

[Alwynne]

Roman Clodia wrote: "I've started an ARC of My Good Bright Wolf: A Memoir by Sarah Moss - it's very easy to get drawn into."

Great, I struggled a bit with the opening chapters, I'm not comfortable with that kind of use of symbolism, but found that that fell away as her story unfolded - I found some of the later chapters really powerful. In some ways it ended up feeling more like a thematically-linked collection of essays than a conventional memoir - which was okay with me.

[Tina]

Memoirs of a British Agent:

[Alwynne]

I'm really looking forward to Eliza Clark's upcoming collection She's Always Hungry: Stories I finished the sample story issued by Faber 'The Shadow Over Little Chitaly' and thought it was great - wonderfully weird and witty take on a particular corner of the online world which manages to comment on consumerism and voyeurism in particularly inventive ways.

Link to my review:

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

[Nigeyb]

Glad you found so much to enjoy in that context free snippet


I'm holding back on any judgements until I can understand how it fits with the rest of the book. Given I love EC I'm sure it will be another great read

[Jan C]

On a road trip and started listening to Last Call at the Hotel Imperial: The Reporters Who Took On a World at War by Deborah Cohen, About four young journalists - John Gunther, Vincent Sheean, Dorothy Thompson and one I'm not sure I remember, unless it was Rebecca West. It is interesting.

[Alwynne]

Nigeyb wrote: "Glad you found so much to enjoy in that context free snippet


I'm holding back on any judgements until I can understand how it fits with the rest of the book. Given I love EC I'm sure it will be a..."

I really enjoyed it, completely hilarious. I frequently get sucked into mindless scrolling through reviews, online Reddit posts, MN threads, find the voices/perspectives fascinating. She captured those aspects of online culture brilliantly.

[Roman Clodia]

Alwynne wrote: "I struggled a bit with the opening chapters, I'm not comfortable with that kind of use of symbolism"

On My Good Bright Wolf: A Memoir: do you mean the cutesy names, 'Owl', 'The Jumbly Girl'? I'm finding that irritating but really like the critical inner voice and the idea of the wolf. I'm not far in and in lots of ways it's a conventional childhood of gendered pressures and repressed female rage - all of which I completely buy but not startlingly original so far. I like the style in which it's written though.

[Alwynne]

Roman Clodia wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "I struggled a bit with the opening chapters, I'm not comfortable with that kind of use of symbolism"

On My Good Bright Wolf: A Memoir: do you mean the cutesy names..."

Yep those and the interjections/critical inner voices spread throughout. I found the post-childhood sections the most interesting by far.

[Roman Clodia]

Alwynne wrote: "Yep those and the interjections/critical inner voices spread throughout. I found the post-childhood sections the most interesting by far."

Good to know there lots to look forward to - my reading has been very bitty the last couple of weeks.

[Alwynne]

Roman Clodia wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "Yep those and the interjections/critical inner voices spread throughout. I found the post-childhood sections the most interesting by far."

Good to know there lots to look forward t..."

I think mine's been rescued by reading a selection of fairly short books, so it looks as if I've read a lot more than I actually have! Clark and Rose are very short, the Smith much less complicated than most of her others, and I raced through Greenwell.