What books are you reading now? (2024)

[Roman Clodia]

Alwynne wrote: "I finished Molly Aitken's Bright I Burn which draws on Celtic myth and Irish history to recreate the life of Alice Kyteler the first woman in Ireland to be condemned for witchcraft..."

Interesting review, Alwynne - there seems to be a bit of a knee-jerk reaction in historical fiction where ambitious, clever or powerful woman in the past are also associated with witchcraft. I tend to shy away from them, the trope feeling a bit tainted by Philippa Gregory and similar. Sounds like this book might have avoided some of the cliches about witchcraft as *the* resistance to a patriarchy? Certainly in the sixteenth century in Europe, witches were frequently men.

[G]

I'm reading Concrete. I've not encountered Bernhard before. It's taken me three tries to get started on it, but I am finally over that hump. A deadline always helps me: it's due back to the library on Tuesday, and cannot be renewed!

Now that I'm a fifth of the way through, I cannot say it's a book that I am enjoying, but I am appreciating it.

[Roman Clodia]

I haven't read Bernhard and suspect he might not be for me, but am interested to hear your final verdict, G.

[Roman Clodia]

I finished Giovanni’s Room, one of this month's buddies, and absolute loved it!

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

[Vesna]

A huge Bernhard admirer over here and I'm currently reading Old Masters: A Comedy.

G., I always recommend Wittgenstein’s Nephew for the first Bernhard (it was mine too). If that doesn't work for you then I doubt the rest would. Hope you give him a chance. He is the ultimate curmudgeon with obsessive repetitions that somehow have a hypnotic effect on me. I love his brutal honesty, often with a dash of humor.

[Anubha]

I just finished The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford. It was recommended by this group because I had liked I Capture the Castle. And I loved this book too.

It had so many things I love in a book, countryside
setting, huge English houses, quirky adults, nice clothes, dances, beautiful apartments, descriptions of food, and a lot of love and humour.

I loved how everyone just did their thing. And there was no note of self pity, whatever the circumstances. There’s a sparkling quality in Mitford’s wit.

There were a few things I didn’t like. Especially the way Linda abandons her baby. I tried so hard not to judge her. But it just seemed extremely irresponsible. Of course, she had her reasons and I’m not sure if she even had a choice to not have a baby. Was birth control for women a thing back then??

But on the whole I adored the book. Can’t wait to read Love in a Cold Climate.

[Barbara]

I'm reading Table for Two by Amor Towles. it's six short stories and a novella. I LOVE his writing. I've already read and loved A Gentleman in Moscow, Rules of Civility, and Lincoln Highway. He's become one of my favorite authors.

[Woman Reading]

Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs by Camilla Townsend

The author is a history prof at Rutgers. She based her research on indigenous accounts, and I liked this fresh perspective Mesoamerican history, particularly how this area came to be New Spain.

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

[Woman Reading]

Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice


Elle Cosimano has written her novels as standalones because she alludes to events in previous novels, but she has refrained from making the latest novel completely spoiler-y. So it would be okay to delve into the series here. The series is set in the present by the high jinks feel like 20th century Lucy & Ethel.


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

[Alwynne]

Hester wrote: "Sorry Phrodrick , can't help you with that novel . It can feel daunting joining a new group of mostly strangers but, as RC says your opinion about the novel is as valid as anyone else's . It should..."

Saw your review of the Benjamin book, you might like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JDFR...

Was singing it for weeks, that and the Lambrini Girls latest protest song.

[Roman Clodia]

I just finished Patrick Hamilton's The Slaves of Solitude and adored every page. Definite Pym/Elizabeth Taylor vibes for me:

www.goodreads.com/review/show/6573374749

[Tania]

loved Slaves of Solitude, tempted to re-read, but I should get to more of his books first.

I have just finished Because of the Lockwoods, which is my last Dorothy Whipple novel; I do still have some of he short story collections left to read, but feel rather sad to have run out of her novels, no one I have found writes quite so engagingly, she always really sucks me into her stories.

[Roman Clodia]

Given how blown away I was by Giovanni’s Room, I've just read a collection of Baldwin's short stories, Going to Meet the Man - just brilliant but emotionally hard-hitting:

www.goodreads.com/review/show/6571923520

[Woman Reading]

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann

It was more interesting than I had expected given that so much was revealed in the title. Murder, mutiny, disease, and starvation revealed just how thin is the veneer of civilisation that covers man.

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

[G]

I finally finished Concrete. It was challenging to get through, but is one of the best things I've read this year. Here's my review:

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

[Anubha]

I have just finished Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L Sayers. Unfortunately it did not work for me. Maybe it's meant for people who actually like to sit with pen and paper and do their own detecting while reading the book.
The dialogues in broad Scot accent also threw me off. My short review of the book.

I have now started Clouds of Witness and I'm liking it a lot better than Five Red Herrings.

[G]

Anubha wrote: "I have just finished Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L Sayers. Unfortunately it did not work for me. Maybe it's meant for people who actually like to sit with pen and paper and do their own detecting ..."

It doesn't quite work for me either, though I will say that it has grown on me with re-reading. Apparently it grew on Jacques Barzun as well, based on some things I have seen quoted from A Catalogue of Crime: Being a Reader's Guide to the Literature of Mystery, Detection, and Related Genres.

I first read it when I was about 14, before I knew what "red herring" meant. There was no internet, and my mother's late 1930's "collegiate" dictionary didn't list idioms. I remember being so confused that there were no fish at all in the plot. I also didn't understand all the business with the train tickets, because the neither the commuter nor the passenger trains I'd ridden in the US seemed to use a comparable system. I am not sure I fully understand the train ticket parts even now. I do very much enjoy the quirky characters and the setting.

I also know that she wrote it shortly after she and others founded The Detection Club. Sayers was adamant that a mystery should contain within it all the clues necessary to solve it. The art of the detective novel thus lies in the writer's ability to present the clues in a way that the reader doesn't notice which are the relevant bits of information. I've always had the sense both from reading it and from things I have read about Sayers' life that this novel was written partly to illustrate her idea. It certainly feels that way to me whenever I read it.

Clouds of Witness, The Nine Tailors, Gaudy Night, and Busman's Honeymoon are my favorites among her Lord Peter Wimsey tales. I also like quite a lot of her non-mystery work also. I still occasionally read passages of her translation of Dante, and I return to her essays from time to time. Are Women Human? Astute and Witty Essays on the Role of Women in Society is somewhat dated, but I still appreciate it.

[Anubha]

G wrote: "It doesn't quite work for me either, though I will say that it has grown on me with re-reading. Apparently it grew on Jacques Barzun as well, based on some things I have seen quoted from...."
Thank you G for sharing such an insightful take on it. I did not know about Sayers's philosophy and in retrospect, the setting of the novel makes more sense. I also got a feeling that it was the kind of whodunnit where you need to be actively involved in detection.

I remember being so confused that there were no fish at all in the plot.
Haha. This reminds me of a similar mistake I had made as a kid when one of my English lessons was an excerpt of Three Men in a Boat. For half the lesson I thought Montmorency was a man.

I'm intrigued by the idea of The Detection Club. I definitely would read up more about it. Thanks again G.

[Nigeyb]

I've just finished Time Shelter (2020) by Georgi Gospodinov which I read for my book group


This novel is clearly inspired by the Brexit vote and its associated nostalgic and overly romanticised visions for a past that never really existed.....

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

[G]

I just read In the Act. I cannot remember whose comment in which GR group drew my attention to it, but chalk up to GR groups yet another previously unknown-to-me author that I have to read more of.

Here's the review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Sonia]

Nigeyb wrote: "I've just finished Time Shelter (2020) by Georgi Gospodinov which I read for my book group


This novel is clearly inspired by the Brexit vote and its associated no..."

When I read the description of this book it felt very Brexity to me. I think reading it would have added to my views on the [insert swear word of your choice] Brexit referendum.

[Nigeyb]

Thanks Sonia


Whilst the novel is partly inspired by the Brexit vote it actually has little to do with it beyond that, so I wasn’t really thinking about it as I read it

[Nigeyb]

Thanks Sonia


Whilst the novel is partly inspired by the Brexit vote it actually has little to do with it beyond that, so I wasn’t really thinking about it as I read it

[Judy]

I'm currently reading Letters to a Friend by Winifred Holtby, a collection of letters she wrote to her friend Jean McWilliam, who was working in South Africa. They are wonderful to read - full of vivid descriptions and thoughts about her everyday life and the books she was reading. I recently read Holtby's novel The Crowded Street, so I was in the mood for more of her writing.

[Roman Clodia]

I finished Devil in a Blue Dress, the first of Walter Moseley's Easy Rawlings series: I'll definitely be back for more of this smart modern take on noir.

Here's my review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/4743124026

[Roman Clodia]

My commute audiobook for the last week or so has been The House on Rye Lane which I think others here may enjoy: it's very slickly done with some nice research into Peckham's local history, especially the river Peck which has now gone underground. A bit crime-y, a bit spooky, a bit gothic: gripping!

My review: www.goodreads.com/review/show/6613969510

[Alwynne]

Roman Clodia wrote: "My commute audiobook for the last week or so has been The House on Rye Lane which I think others here may enjoy: it's very slickly done with some nice research into Peckham's local..."

Ooh that sounds good, used to live down the road from Peckham before it was quite so posh!

I devoured a YA fantasy/horror with a queer element Kyrie McCauley's Bad Graces I don't get why so many people are so sniffy about YA. This was miles better than a lot of novels aimed at adults I've come across lately.

Link to my review:

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

[Alwynne]

I've been meaning to sample popular crime writer Lucy Foley's work for some time, finished an ARC of her latest The Midnight Feast and frankly don't get why she's so successful. The writing's competent but stereotypes and daft plot twists abound!

Link to my review:

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

[Roman Clodia]

I've been finding it hard to concentrate on fiction at the moment so have finished The House of Beckham: Money, Sex and Power. I found it jaw-dropping in the wealth, sleaze and sheer determination to uphold Brand Beckham as the British Kardashians.

If any of you football fans are a Beckham fan, best not read it!

My review is here: www.goodreads.com/review/show/6623881691

[Roman Clodia]

Alwynne wrote: "I've been meaning to sample popular crime writer Lucy Foley's work for some time, finished an ARC of her latest The Midnight Feast"

Blast! I thought that might be a bit of fun entertainment but sounds too silly. The House on Rye Lane might hit that spot better.

[Roman Clodia]

I finished a handful of books I've been reading or listening to for some time: The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, The Last Days of Sylvia Plath, and Gods of Want: Stories by K-Ming Chang.

Swans is eye-opening if you're interested in ballet or dance; the Plath book is disappointing as I didn't get the feel the author really 'got' or empathised with her; and Gods of Want features gorgeous writing: I can't enough of K-Ming Chang at the moment.

Reviews are here:
www.goodreads.com/review/show/6624017827
www.goodreads.com/review/show/6533782391
www.goodreads.com/review/show/4842215899

I'm reading Keir Starmer: The Biography - he's genuinely so much more interesting than he comes over on TV!

[Blaine]

Of course he is; he's a lawyer!

[Lady Clementina]

Alwynne wrote: "Roman Clodia wrote: "My commute audiobook for the last week or so has been The House on Rye Lane which I think others here may enjoy: it's very slickly done with some nice research..."

I find lots of well done YA too--horror of course isn't always my cup of tea since I don't handle more than mild versions well.

[Lady Clementina]

After quite some putting off, I finally read The Master and Margarita this month

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

[Roman Clodia]

Ben wrote: "Of course he is; he's a lawyer!"

Ha! And after doing his training in Middle Temple he then leaves to join a human rights chambers in Doughty Street who want law to be accessible to everyone. Takes on a long pro bono libel case against McDonalds who try to shut up protesters exposing their dodgy practices. KS worked for free on this for seven years.

Very interesting work too on defending prisoners from the death penalty in co-operation with Amnesty and other UN NGOs.

Just got to him joining the Crown Prosecution Service, quite a change from having been a defence lawyer.

[Roman Clodia]

I've finished Keir Starmer: The Biography - my review is here:

www.goodreads.com/review/show/6631645655

[Nigeyb]

An interesting review. Thanks so much for sharing.

[Roman Clodia]

You're welcome. I know not everyone is a politics junkie like me (yep, I'll be up all night on Thursday - and have to still go in to work on Friday) so hopefully my review will pass on the message.

[Sonia]

Roman Clodia wrote: "You're welcome. I know not everyone is a politics junkie like me (yep, I'll be up all night on Thursday - and have to still go in to work on Friday) so hopefully my review will pass on the message."

I will be up for as long as I can on Thursday night/Friday morning. I want to see the Michael Portillo moment of this election.

[Alwynne]

Roman Clodia wrote: "You're welcome. I know not everyone is a politics junkie like me (yep, I'll be up all night on Thursday - and have to still go in to work on Friday) so hopefully my review will pass on the message."

Nice review R. C., will also stay up for the election, and will definitely be voting Labour - but I always do, except once when I lived in an area where the Lib Dems were the only ways of unseating the Tory! I wish that Starmer was more radical in his stance, particularly when it comes to the environment but I think your assessment of him was more than fair.

I finished a novella by Alba Arikha Two Hours which was much better than I'd anticipated, the story of one woman's life and emotional states told through a series of vignettes.

link to my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Alwynne]

Lady Clementina wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "Roman Clodia wrote: "My commute audiobook for the last week or so has been The House on Rye Lane which I think others here may enjoy: it's very slickly done with so..."

The horror is definitely very mild if that helps at all.

[Roman Clodia]

Sonia wrote: "I want to see the Michael Portillo moment of this election"

I'm hoping for more than one 😉

[Jan C]

I've gone back to Now It Can Be Told by Philip Gibbs. Apparently about the 5 allowed British reporters/journalists in WWI. Maybe I have this wrong, but it is hard to believe there were only allowed 5 reporters for the whole war. And it sounds like the Commander in Chief thought even that was too many.

Kindle decided it was time for an update so I had to quit reading The Ellerby Case.

[G]

I finally finished Saint Sebastian's Abyss. It took an extraordinarily long time for me to read so short a work, because things have been personally stressful and chaotic, but also because I am American, and the last week or so of watching our supreme court dismantle our democracy has been horrifying. The book is excellent, but required more concentration than that last week has afforded me.
Here's my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Blaine]

Yes, there is some other important reading for Americans this week. First, the dismantling of the power of regulatory agencies. And now the dismantling of legal responsibility for persons holding the office of the President.

The Supreme Court decision establishing absolute immunity for official acts lays the institutional groundwork for the end of US democracy. Not only can any act or speech within the core constitutional power of the presidency no longer be punished criminally, but it cannot even be introduced as evidence for the small remaining subset of acts that remain subject to prosecution.

So, the President may order the army to assassinate opposition Congressmen for the purpose of combatting terrorism, and that cannot be prosecuted or even questioned in the courts. His motives for his actions cannot be questioned in a criminal prosecution, either during or after his presidency.

The only remaining remedy is impeachment. Unless the Commander in Chief eliminates the members of Congress first.

Contrast the British system, where the Prime Minister can be prosecuted for breaching health regulations prohibiting parties during a pandemic.

I don't know whether the King is above the law, but until now I would not have considered the US President to be akin to a King. Wasn't there a Declaration of Independence touching on that subject, and a related, minor anti-colonial war in the 18th century?

For those who cannot stomach reading the decision. I recommend https://open.substack.com/pub/joyceva...

[Roman Clodia]

G wrote: "I finally finished Saint Sebastian's Abyss. It took an extraordinarily long time for me to read so short a work, because things have been personally stressful and chaotic, but also ..."

I've had that book on my tbr too. But yes, many distractions from reading at the moment.

[Roman Clodia]

Ben wrote: "Yes, there is some other important reading for Americans this week. First, the dismantling of the power of regulatory agencies. And now the dismantling of legal responsibility for persons holding the office of the President"

Yes, horrifying and frightening. Yes, the King is above the law in the UK as well as some other members of the royal family: I've said it before but will suggest again: … And What Do You Do?: What The Royal Family Don't Want You To Know.

I don't think Boris etc. got prosecuted for breaking covid regulations, and no-one mentions now that our current PM got a fine for the same offence. But it is interesting that with growing authoritarianism in the US and Europe, this election might buck that trend... touch wood!

[Blaine]

Roman Clodia wrote: "I don't think Boris etc. got prosecuted for breaking covid regulations..."

Didn't he avoid trial by admitting guilt and paying a fine? I consider this equivalent to a prosecution, although it is true that by paying the fixed penalty notice he avoids prosecution for a crime and does not have a criminal record. But the US President would now be immune from this type of problem altogether.

"A Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) is an alternative to prosecution before the magistrate’s court." See https://www.noblesolicitors.co.uk/abo...

[G]

Ben wrote: "Yes, there is some other important reading for Americans this week. First, the dismantling of the power of regulatory agencies. And now the dismantling of legal responsibility for persons holding t..."

Yes, Joyce Vance has been excellent throughout this crisis. (To be honest, I haven't had the stomach to even read my way through last night's newsletter yet.) So has Heather Cox Richardson, who is a really good historian of American politics.

Until fairly recently I had not imagined that it would be the supreme court that would stage a successful coup. It will take us generations to recover, if we recover at all.

[Kit]

Roman Clodia wrote: "I've finished Keir Starmer: The Biography - my review is here:

www.goodreads.com/review/show/6631645655"

Read your review. I haven’t read it myself. Starmer strikes me as veerry pragmatic though. Wishy washy. I have sometimes wondered if it’s power over values ie say whatever it takes with him recently. I mean I don’t think it’s thickness, he’s too bright for what he says to just be because he doesn’t understand stuff.
Agree England is conservative. But I suspect the traditional left and right are inadequate to categorise the electorate anymore. Some might outsource their thinking to these traditional sides (not saying anyone here does) and just vote along their past party lines. But I think there are some issues that at the very least might give some people pause to consider changing parties over. Even if it’s just a protest vote. I know it’s always a case of choosing the best of the lot but I’m feel politically homeless right now.
It’s predicted to be a landslide though isn’t it?