This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

karaokeman

An Abundance of Katherines. John Green is my favourite author right now. Recently finished The Fault In Our Stars (which I read in a matter of hours) and couldn't wait to start another novel of his.

eire4

Finished a re read of Bret Easton Ellis' Glamorama.

IvyTheTerrible

penguin88 wrote: »

Finished the Lord of the Rings last week, having had it on my to read list for about 10 years! Incredible books, seriously regret not reading them sooner.

I've now started the Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng, about a third of the way in and enjoying it so far, some of the prose is really beautiful.

I'm in the middle of a re-read of Lord of the Rings, I had forgotten how much I loved it (it's about 13 years since I last read it). I'm really enjoying it.

AnnyHallsal

A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing, find it beautiful and compelling so far.

Griever931

Starting to read Neil Gaiman's American Gods.

Jijsaw

The Lord of the Flies- really enjoying it so far

Pang

Just finished Tampa and I am still not sure how to fully describe my feelings towards it. At first, I was repulsed by the narrator and the extreme crudeness of some of the passages. However, I continued reading it as I wanted to know where the author would go with the story. Plus, it was a fast paced book which quickly had me fully absorbed. You get used to the crudeness as it is consistent.

Swiper the fox

Finished "To rise again at a decent hour" last night. It's very interesting but loses it's way towards the end and there wasn't a satisfactory conclusion for me. It's booker nominated but I can't see it winning.

Belle E. Flops

Jijsaw wrote: »

The Lord of the Flies- really enjoying it so far

I did not enjoy that book at all. I couldn't wait to finish it.

SarahBM

Jijsaw wrote: »

The Lord of the Flies- really enjoying it so far

God I hated that book so much. took me ages to read because I avoided it

Reading Stoner at the moment. I dont particularly like it. but its for a book club. My friend loves it, so should make for an interesting chat!

Im going to read something by Jeffery Archer next. I need something light and enjoyable.

karaokeman

Currently reading Mrs. Dalloway for college and am feeling indifferent to it. For fun reads I may get around to Looking For Alaska later in the week as I can't get enough Green.

Callan57

Finished The Thrill of it All by Joseph O'Connor ... didn't really do it for me, I guess you have to be into rock/pop culture.

Anyway, now it's on to Garden of Beasts by Jeffery Deaver

Tom Joad

Just finished Norman Mailer "The Executioner's Song" after a long slog. This was tortuous after a good start. Everything is described in painstaking detail and the plot moves at 1 mile a fortnight. It should have been a great read but I just wanted it to end - longest it taken me to get through a book in a long while.

karaokeman

Callan57 wrote: »

Finished The Thrill of it All by Joseph O'Connor ... didn't really do it for me, I guess you have to be into rock/pop culture.

Anyway, now it's on to Garden of Beasts by Jeffery Deaver

I'm really into my music, so might consider that one myself.

Cheers mate.

HeyyMeow

Half way through Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. It's starting to interest me now

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I just finished The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick, who also wrote Silver Linings Playbook. And just like Bradley Cooper's character in the film of said book I wanted to throw The Good Luck of Right Now through my window when I finished it.

The overall story itself is fine, it's nothing special but it's fine. However, for some strange reason, he's chosen to tell the story in the form of letters written by the main character to Richard Gere.

Then there's all these characters who clearly have mental health issues but they're not developed beyond their name and their specific weird tic. There's no depth to any of them or anything they're doing.

I don't know if this is just the style of writing that's popular at the moment but, to me, it was like reading a slightly fleshed out screenplay. I've said the same thing about Jonathan Tropper's books, they read like the author wrote them with the sole intention of selling the film rights. There's no setting the scene, or building the world for the characters, it's all very sparse and cold? if that's the right word for it.

Aenaes

I finished The Constant Gardener by John le Carrè, it was fantastic. Great characters, good development and flashbacks/conversations that leave you a little puzzled and second guessing for a while. Basically, typical le Carrè.

I was harshly critical when I read A Most Wanted Man and accused him of being unable to create a brilliant story without the backdrop of the Cold War. I was very wrong and I'd like to apologise.

ivytwine

Reading the Blind Assassin now, loving it, Attwood writes so well.

I've given up on 100 Years of Solitude at the moment, my brain just doesn't have the power for it at the moment. It's on my currently reading status on Goodreads, taunting me

Dial Hard

Aenaes wrote: »

I was harshly critical when I read A Most Wanted Man and accused him of being unable to create a brilliant story without the backdrop of the Cold War. I was very wrong and I'd like to apologise.

I doubt he was sobbing into his millions!

His son, Nick Harkaway, is also an excellent writer and well worth checking out.

eire4

Finished a re read of John Feehan's The Shooting of Michael Collins. Excellent and interesting read. No one to this day knows what really happened and who shot Michael Collins as the author states but he does make the case that for whatever reason there was a cover up afterward.

karaokeman

Just finished Looking For Alaska, now I read The Fault in Our Stars and An Abundance of Katherines previously and loved both, but this one for the most part didn't live up to their standards..... until the end.

I won't spoil the ending for people, but it was only in the last few pages that I recognized the more philosophical and insightful Green I knew from The Fault and An Abundance. It may be because this was Green's debut, and he only discovered himself and his writing style towards the end, but sure I'll know for sure when I finish the other three.

SarahBM

Finished reading Stoner last night. It was ok I guess. Not really my kind of book. I like books where I can care about the characters and I care about what is happening to them etc. But this definitely wasn't the case with this book. But my friend loved it, so maybe I just didn't get it.

Starting the Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Recommended by a girl at work.

Dial Hard

I'm about two-thirds of the way through Justin Cronin's The Twelve now, and it's all getting a bit too deus ex machina for my liking. Getting worried about how farcical the third volume is likely to be now.

Kurtosis

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

I'm in the middle of a re-read of Lord of the Rings, I had forgotten how much I loved it (it's about 13 years since I last read it). I'm really enjoying it.

I actually regret not reading LoTR sooner, as I'd love to be re-reading them again already!

I finished The Garden of Evening Mists yesterday and have mixed feelings about it. While I enjoyed reading it and thought the language and imagery used was fantastic, the plot didn't grabbed me. I never really got interested in the characters themselves or what happened to them. This was the book for a book club I am part of, so will be interested to hear what others thought of it.

I started into Bill Bryson's One Summer - America, 1927 last night. Already 100 pages in, there's something very special about Bryson's writing.

8mv

I started into Bill Bryson's One Summer - America, 1927 last night. Already 100 pages in, there's something very special about Bryson's writing.

Bryson is great - he can make the most seemingly mundane topic feel essential.

I'm not having much luck with books since reading Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies. I reckon Hilary Mantel has ruined reading for me until she brings out the third part of her masterpiece.
I tried Men At Arms by Evelyn Waugh but gave up after 20 odd pages. Struggling with Empire Of The Sun by JG Ballard at the moment. Lucky to get through five or six pages a night before turning in. Not like me - I'd usually read anything.

a0ifee

Finished breakfast of champions. I really really do love kurt Vonnegut, must get more of his books! Have started Orlando by Virginia Woolf now, don't know why I've left it this long.

Swiper the fox

I'm really enjoying Ian McEwan's new book "The Children's act" about half way through. McEwan can be a bit hit and miss for me but this seems to be him on form. Not as heavy as Saturday or even Solar. I also enjoyed his last effort "Sweet Tooth" and have often listed "On Chesil Beach" in my all time favourite books (obviously Atonement is superb)

Aenaes

The Island by Peter Benchley. Only just started but it looks promising. First time reading any of his work, I just hope it doesn't turn out as some sort of sci-fi/unbelievable ending.

Tom Joad

The Bottle Factory Outing by Beryl Bainbridge- not sure what to make of this. Some very funny moments in it and very easy to read but a little unsure what the fuss is about but it's quite possible it all went over my head.

Started on Lanark by Alistair Grey.

minnow

The Twin, by Gerbrand Banker

karaokeman

Reading a book of essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Very intriguing writer with lots to say about life, ambition and spirituality. Definitely worth a read if prose with religious metaphors are your thing.

Callan57

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

Dibble

Such a Long Journey by Rohinton Mistry

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Been reading Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain. S'okay.

Esterhase

Began The Strain by Guillermo del Toro / Chuck Hogan. Cracking start so far, I was almost hoping my bus would get stuck in traffic so I could keep reading uninterrupted.

Callan57

Starting Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

eire4

Finished a re read of Brian Feeney's Sinn Fein A Hundred Turbulent Years. Well worth a read.

Dial Hard

Esterhase wrote: »

Began The Strain by Guillermo del Toro / Chuck Hogan. Cracking start so far, I was almost hoping my bus would get stuck in traffic so I could keep reading uninterrupted.

I'll be very interested to hear if you still feel like that by about a third of the way in.

catallus

Read Coetzee's The Childhood of Jesus last week, nice page-turner because of the excellent characters.

pavb2

Just finished A Princess of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs

Now reading The House of the Four Winds, John Buchan

Esterhase

Dial Hard wrote: »

I'll be very interested to hear if you still feel like that by about a third of the way in.

If you're thinking what I think you're thinking... Then you're right.

I'm around the halfway point now and it has gone a bit downhill.

I did love the start when the plane was still out on the tarmac, but it completely ran out of steam once the surviving vamp-patients got out and about.

I'm still interested enough to keep reading but can't really root for any of the characters so far, so I'm not super invested in it.

SarahBM

Finished the Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, very nice book. Started the lost world by Arthur Conan Doyle

First_October

I'm about two-thirds of the way through the Luminaries. It really is an outstanding piece of work; it's been a long time since a novel enraptured me like this.

crustybla

Finished The Maze Runner last week. Was ok. Deffo geared for the teen market. It's the first of a series but I won't rush to read the next one iykwim.
After this I read The Kiss by Katherine Harrison. Crikey. Words almost fail me on this one. Fascinating in one way. It's a memoir. Not a long book. The author had a four year long affair with HER FATHER. Yes THAT kind of affair.
Now, thankfully I'm on to more intelligent fodder. One of my all time favourites, Bill Bryson's Mother Tongue: The Story of the English Language. Excellent so far.

Censorsh!t

Reading Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. I like it a lot, but I wish I hadn't seen the film, seen as it follows the book sooo closely and I know everything that's gonna happen! But there's some great inner monologue in the book which just can't be gotten across in the film.

lockman

Just finished Evelyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust. Waugh has a wonderful style of writing and the book was most enjoyable.

Just started David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas. This is shaping up to be a fantastic read.

Callan57

lockman wrote: »

Just finished Evelyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust. Waugh has a wonderful style of writing and the book was most enjoyable.

Just started David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas. This is shaping up to be a fantastic read.

Brilliant book, can't wait to get my hands on his new one. Enjoy!

Callan57

Just starting Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver

Ice Storm

I'm reading Nicholas Nickleby. It didn't come recommended in this thread but I thought I'd give it a go anyway.

I don't have much time to read these days so I'm getting through it slowly. It took me a while to get into but I'm enjoying it now and look forward to my reading time. I will admit however, that it's probably my least favourite Dickens (so far!)

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Ice Storm wrote: »

I'm reading Nicholas Nickleby. It didn't come recommended in this thread but I thought I'd give it a go anyway.

I don't have much time to read these days so I'm getting through it slowly. It took me a while to get into but I'm enjoying it now and look forward to my reading time. I will admit however, that it's probably my least favourite Dickens (so far!)

I read this last year and I hated it! It took me about a month to get through it and it was the last book that I forced myself to finish even though I didn't like it.