What Are You Reading Right Now? ( Hwæt béon ðu bocrædung?) Showing 3,251-3,300 of 10,105

[Lisa]

Yes absolutely in a good way, Derek. And absolutely new book smell!! You don't get that with second hand and it's allllll miiine, alllll miiine, lol.:))

[Jane]

Started last night- Tell the Wolves I'm Home -- a Bildungsroman about a young girl coping with the death of her favorite uncle. The author's capturing perfectly the character of an adolescent--that awkward stage...

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Ah, the old bildungsroman.

(Definitely the word of the year in A&M. You better start working on another good one for 2014, Jane :-) ...)

[Jane]

Will do! :)
Hope my current read has no werewolves; if so, I'm gonna drop it! :)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I thought it was a YA werewolf book...maybe I am thinking of a different book.

[Jane]

Probably. Good Lord, I wouldn't read that type--well, maybe if it were the very last book on earth...it's in the back-of-cereal-box class though!
It came highly recommended, plus my library website had good things to say. Seems a bit dated, but oh well...

[Linda]

[book:Sacred Treason|14296897| by James Forrester (pseudonym).

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Jane wrote: "Probably. Good Lord, I wouldn't read that type--well, maybe if it were the very last book on earth...it's in the back-of-cereal-box class though!
It came highly recommended, plus my library websit..."

Mayb it will come good and be the best YA werewolf book you will ever read (since it wil be your last). :-)
But it may not have werewolves. As mentioned I could have it mixed up with something else.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I checked. No werewolves, but it is most definitely a YA though. But you don't mind YA do you?

[Candace]

I had a difficult time with The Name of the Rose so I picked up a book I have been wanting to read since college, Middlemarch. But I remember why I didn't want to read it then, the history is based on reform bills and I'm finding it very boring.

My library didn't have either of November's books which is disappointing since I didn't like this month's, I plan to go back through some of the ones I've bought in the past for the group but didn't have time to read, and pick the one that sounds the best. I have about 5 to choose from.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I am having a difficult time too, Candace. I am seriously thinking about giving it 2 stars. :(

[Jane]

Name of the Rose is the only Eco I've liked. I read it years ago and haven't rated it on here; I didn't read it for the group read this time around. Those lengthy passages were over my head and boring. My son got me the movie on DVD one Christmas, which was a great present!
I've tried several other Eco's and gave up on them aftr a chapter or two. I did get about 1/2 through Baudolino but those [to me] ramblings did me in finally. Darn, I thought it would be a really neat one on the 4th Crusade.
Strange--I loved The Death of Virgil
which was dense in places [that stream-of-consciousness, plus philosophical musings] but oh, the marvelous descriptions! And the basic narrative!

[Jane]

Terri wrote: "I checked. No werewolves, but it is most definitely a YA though. But you don't mind YA do you?"

No, to me a good book is a good book. And to me YA is an artificial concept, a marketing ploy.
From what I can see, if the heroine is upset or just wants to be alone, she goes into the woods, and she'll hear the wolves. I've read Michael Strogoff written in 19th century and The Good Master which I loved, growing up, [and am trying to find for the grandkids]--YA's were not called that until sometime late in the '60's.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I remember really liking the movie. I wish I could watch it again. To see, as my memory is hazy, how they wrangled that book into a movie that I enjoyed at around 12 years old.
Or maybe it was just because it had Christian Slater in it that made me like it at 12. he was all the rage back then. All us 12 year olds were quite giggly over actors like Slater and River Phoenix. :)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Jane wrote: "

No, to me a good book is a good book. And to me YA is an artificial concept, a marke..."

Oh definitely not an artificial concept to me. I can tell a YA at a hundred paces. They read so differently to books written for adults. In my opinion.
I can't read them. Not my kind of style.

YA used to be called something else. I can't remember at the moment. Something like Teen Readers. Or maybe it was just an age. 12 to 18.

[Jane]

Have also started reading Silence Among the Weapons by John Arden under the U.S. title Vox pop. End of Roman republic through the eyes of a theatrical agent/former actor. Arden has also written plays and edited Shakespeare's plays.

[Kim]

Right now I'm listening to the audio version of Noble Smith's Sons of Zeus: A Novel, and am loving it! It centers around a Theban invasion of the ancient Greek city of Plataea in 431 B.C. The man doing the audio version is fantastic. He manages to pull every character and accent successfully out of the hat. I haven't finished with the book yet, but am more then 3/4 of the way through. This is the first book in a planned trilogy.

[C.P.]

Had to abandon The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas just when it was picking up to prepare for my interview with the author of The Ghost Bride. Which I love—just be aware that it is very much historical fantasy, as defined by this group.

Hope to get back to the first book soon.

[Lariela]

Time and Chance by Sharon Kay Penman

[Nate]

I'm dumb and reading two big novels at once:

The Sunne in Splendour

and Pride of Carthage

I'm thoroughly enjoying both ATM.

[Bryn]

George Eliot's novel on the Florence of Savonarola, Romola. She's certainly serious about her historical detail. Too much historical weight, they told her at the time, the introduction says.
And, because it's talked about in the novel -- he was around in Florence, I hope we meet him -- Morgante: The Epic Adventures of Orlando and His Giant Friend Morgante. A comic epic.

[Jane]

This isn't the Florence of Savanarola, but I started The Master of Verona last night. This one has
Dante Alighieri [but I wish they'd get the spelling right. :)]

Romola's going right on my tbr. I suffered through Silas Marner in high school, but this is years later and a different George Eliot novel...

[Bryn]

I never read Silas Marner, Jane, but they 'made' me read Middlemarch and I can say I was glad they did.
I thought so highly of George Eliot I tried Romola of course when I was young and got bogged down early. I'm past that point now and it's wonderfully written.

[Jane]

I read Middlemarch a couple of years ago and liked it. Library has Romola.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I am reading and about to finish

About to get back to
I had paused The Lion Rampant for a couple months since my reading schedule is being squeezed due to some slow reading I have been doing in the last few months. But i am back into some quicker reading form now. Which is a relief. (I think all the fish oil tablets i have started taking this month is helping..:)..)

[John]

i reading Leonidas of Sparta: A Peerless Peer and enjoying it,its short book should finish it tomorrow

[happy]

Currently reading another non fiction book that might be of interest to some here

Ian Mortimer's



Not your standard history, more a look at how people lived. It's a good companion to his

[C.P.]

Oh, I love the Time Traveler's Guides. I devoured his 14th-century one. The Elizabethan one is going more slowly, as it's less transferable to Russia, but I'll get through it someday.

Finished The Ghost Bride, which I loved, and am restarting The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas. I don't know how a book can have so much going on, yet be such a slug to read, despite the fluid translation. It's like one of those arty Russian films. You know it's probably good for you, but watching it is like being forced to eat your vegetables.

So I picked up Shan Sa's Empress, hoping that would make for a good complement. Empress Wu! Alas, the book starts, literally, in the womb (I thought of you, Terri, and your dislike of prolonged childhood stories). Sigh.

Then I remembered I promised to re-read The Curse of the Pharaohs for another group. Thank the stars for Elizabeth Peters!

[Bryn]

Bad news on the Pet Hawk, C.P. !

[C.P.]

It could just be me, Bryn. For various reasons, I have been very choppy in my reading of this one. But it seems a strange combination of event-packed yet oddly ungripping. Too much plot and not enough character development, maybe?

[Bryn]

@C.P. Doesn't matter, I'll have to read it whatever it's like. It's only today it's available to me from Amazon in paperback, and the ebook still unavailable (to me in Aus). And not at the Book Depository in UK yet where a few of us like to shop. Seems to be a staggered availablity, then.

[C.P.]

'K. Let me know what you think. I am going to finish it, no matter what. I want to know what happens.

It really is a must read for us. The hero's father is a Turk from the Great Steppe.

[John]

John wrote: "i reading Leonidas of Sparta: A Peerless Peer and enjoying it,its short book should finish it tomorrow"

finished the first one going to start onLeonidas of Sparta: A Peerless Peer

[Phair]

Terri wrote: This is why I have to clean library books down with anti bacterial. I am not OCD about anything like I am with library books.

Terri, did you know that they are now making anti-bacterial plastic jackets and book tapes for library books? My library does not use them for cost reasons but we do try to keep the regular jackets wiped down at the least sign of "icky" or if the returnee is obviously hacking up a lung.

[Jane]

The Master of Verona Once the story started concentrating on Cangrande and Pietro Aligheri [the poet's son] it's a swashbuckler. I'm enjoying it.

[Andy]

Back around to h/f read again, this time with the 2nd in Tim Severin's Viking series - really enjoyed the first in the series with it's rich detail of viking life & "travelling" lets hope the 2nd is as good.

[Jane]

Andy, I hope you do!! Library only had #1, so I bought the other two, read them, liked, then gave them to the director of our branch to add to their collection so others could read the whole trilogy.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Phair wrote: ".

Terri, did you know that they are now making anti-bacte..."

No I did not know this. I wonder how long the anti bacterial properties are supposed to work?

I think all libraries should wipe down books with antibacterial before they go back on shelves. That would help stop the spread of flu and colds via library books.

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Okay, you guys are now starting to make me OCD about library books... :p

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

All those sneezes and phlegm and not washing their hands after going to the toilet.....*shudder*
I am not usually OCD about bacteria, but I am with library books because I don't trust other people to be hygienic with something I am going to hold in my hands for days.

[Lia]

I made it a ritual of cleaning and sanitizing the library books as soon as I arrived home. Once they were proper, they can join the rest of the 'Currenty Reading' piles. I do the same ritual before returning them.

[Liza]

C.P. wrote: "Oh, I love the Time Traveler's Guides. I devoured his 14th-century one. The Elizabethan one is going more slowly, as it's less transferable to Russia, but I'll get through it someday.

Finished The..."
Didn't even know about the Time Traveller's Guides, C.P., have just bought the 14th century one!

[happy]

Liza,

I hope you enjoy it. Lots of interesting factiods and I think a very good introduction to the society of Mediveal England

[Liza]

happy wrote: "Liza,

I hope you enjoy it. Lots of interesting factiods and I think a very good introduction to the society of Mediveal England"
Thanks, happy, I'm sure I will! My current WIP is set in 14th century France, but I'm sure the info on England will still be useful.

[Liza]

Terri wrote: "All those sneezes and phlegm and not washing their hands after going to the toilet.....*shudder*
I am not usually OCD about bacteria, but I am with library books because I don't trust other people..."
Eewww, that's true... never thought about it before though. Now I will look upon library books with new,scrutinising eyes!

[Andy]

& there's me whose jus joined the library for the first time (well since i was like 5!) thinkign what have i let myself in for......

[Jane]

I think the types we folks would get are not the most 'popular', e.g., bestsellers, so hopefully, there's much less danger. One can pick up germs anywhere, unfortunately.
Any of us who subscribe to Netflix are in the same boat.

[Andy]

Yes good thinking....... mind ours will likely be covered in mould..... :0 that'll have the ocd'ers running to snap on the latex lol

[Jane]

If your library's anything like the one I worked in, 'covered in mould' would have us discarding it. Coffee stains are ok with the public library as long as the book isn't falling apart--case in point The Long Ships I borrowed.
I learnt something new--didn't know the Vikings were hooked on coffee! :-) Terri, new fact for you...

[Simona]

Andy wrote: "& there's me whose jus joined the library for the first time (well since i was like 5!) thinkign what have i let myself in for......"

Are you feeling well, Andy? A cough? Running nose? Fever? A rush...?