What are you reading at the moment

Have just finished a book on conscientious objectors in WW1. It's based on a family in which one young man was a CO whilst his brothers fought but still supported him. It's an interesting insight into why a person became a CO and what it actually meant for the family, friends and aquaintances, the forces, and of course the CO himself. I'm now starting Gyles Brandreth's Something Sensational To Read In the Train - completely different!

Just watched the catchup of 'Talking Books' on Dec 25th
-a 30min interview with Susan Hill.ashamed to admit I haven't read any of her books.I'll certainly remedy that soon.
She is nearly 70 and has written over 40 books.
Her book 'Howards End is on the Landing' mentioned earlier on this thread is about her year of re-reading old favourites and reading those she had never read.
You can still catch this programme .I'm off to the library!!

I remember the TV adaptation of The Pallisers - wasn't Susan Hampshire in it? It was compulsive viewing and I am looking forward to working my way through the entire oeuvre which may take some time, to put it mildly! It will have to be interspersed with different genres or my friends may find me speaking in Victorian English.

Have just finished "Death Comes to Pemberley" which I really enjoyed.
Now about to start on "Conversations with David Hockney" by Martin Gaylord. There are some amazing drawings / paintings that he has done on his i-pad in it. I admire Hockney tremendously, still an innovator with an enormous curiosity about the world, though in his seventies now.

I liked Can you Forgive Her? and He knew he was right. I felt so sorry for the heroines - how lucky we are to enjoy our freedoms today.
In my teens and 20s I would read the entire works of a novelist and of course there were some poor books amongst them. Thomas Hardy wrote a few 'turkeys', such as A pair of blue eyes and Two on a Tower but Tess and The Mayor of Casterbridge more than made up for them.

I read my way through most of Trollope a few years ago. I think The Way we Live Now is the best of the lot. The plot resonates in modern times as the French say, plus ca change.
There was a wonderful BBC adaptation a few years ago with David Suchet in the lead and the exceptional Shirley Henderson as his daughter. (How she had made such a great career as an actress with that squeaky funny voice is a wonder to behold. Not just Moaning Myrtle by any means)

Annobel, if you enjoy The Chronicles of Barsetshire, you might like Trollope's political novels, about the Pallisers. Much darker, of course, but just as enjoyable.
I have just finished The Kite Runner and I am now reading The Wasp Factory.
The problem is that every time I look at my daughter's book shelves I see another dozen 'must reads'.

I recently finished The Strain, by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. From the synopsis it sounded as if it would be good, a plane full of passengers lands in New York, but all the crew, and all but 4 passengers, are dead, with no visible signs of what they died of. After the first couple of chapters it entered the realms of fantasy, but although it isn`t what I usually read, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I`ve just finished Kiss of Evil, by Richard Montenari, kept thinking in places that I`d read it before, but then there was quite a lot that was new to me, so maybe not. I`m now reading The Book of Lies, by Brad Meltzer, an author I`ve not come across before, but have only just started it, so too early to give an opinion yet.

I decided that I'd been reading too many thrillers recently; so I downloaded the complete works of Anthony Trollope, finished The Warden and am now reading Barchester Towers. Very funny if you skip some of the non-narrative bits.

I haven`t read A Christmas Carol since I was 11 and got it for Christmas. I can remember being a bit scared of the picture of Marley`s ghost on the door knocker! Spooky!!

Got Christmas Carol for free on Kindle. Read book (ancient school volume) at home and used kindle for bag!

Always mean to read A Christmas Carol roundabout now, and this year I'm actually going to do it. Unable to find my book but Waterstones weresa selling it for £2 today. Haven't been to Waterstones for a while. So love that shop. New ownership, I believe. Think they should sell coffee there as well and have poetry nights and suchlike.

Richmond library is great - so civilised! There is a second hand bookshop as well, where my daughter spends many happy hours.
My other daughter hardly reads at all, other than period romances. This is a source of sadness to me, as I have had so much joy and comfort from reading.

Greatnan, books are a necessity; cosmetics a luxury. I always read masses of books when I visit NZ. There's a good library near where my sister lives and I used to visit second-hand bookshops in Christchurch, on a street which was flattened by the earthquake. Such a sad sight.

I know what you mean, Annobel - books are amongst the very few things I buy for myself, along with music CD's - I have had some great bargains from Amazon, who will deliver to me in France. I square it with myself my thinking that I save a fortune by not using cosmetics or expensive face creams!

Kindle is a great boon for travellers, but can become dangerously seductive - it's just too easy to buy books with 'one click'. Be warned!

Help! I am staying with my daughter in New Zealand and she is, like me, an avid reader. I feel like a child told to choose anything she likes in a toy shop! We are out most days, walking and sight-seeing, and I have at least ten books lined up to read before I leave next month, out of many hundreds she has gathered over the years. She would give them to me but they are too heavy to go in my luggage. She doesn't know it yet, but her husband has bought her a kindle for Christmas, and I am beginning to think I need one too. I usually wait a few years for any new technology to drop in price, but the thought of being able to carry hundreds of books on my travels is really inviting!
I have started on God's Terrorists and for lighter reading The Ghost Road.

have just put it on my Amazon wish list which consists largely of books recommended on this thread.

I must make a note of that one Lucid, sounds like a good read.

I agree it is a very gripping book, I loved it.

Have just finished reading 'Before I Go To Sleep' by S J Watson....I couldn't put it down it was so good. Memories define us. So what if you lost yours every time you went to sleep? . This debut thriller is gripping and the twist is totally unexpected.

Lisa Gardner`s Live to Tell was really quite a good read. I`m now reading a book by an author I haven`t come across before, it`s The Coffin Trail, by Martin Edwards, and set in the lake district. Seems promising, only just started it.

* MaggieP*. I gave This Thimg of Darkness to my DH'S, who loved it. it's now waiting for me to read it. Harry Thompson also wrote a hilarious book called Penguins Stopped Play, which I gave to my cricket playing SiL. It went all round his cricket club, and I had to buy another copy to read it myself. It is very sad at the end because it tells you about his death.

Annobel and Ariadne I enjoyed The Children's Book, but yes, she is quite a slog isn't she? I find I have to skip some of the stories within the stories. I certainly didn't plough through all the Victorian pastiches in Possession. Have you read her Frederica series? There are four of them, starting with The Virgin in the Garden. I really enjoyed those. Although they are set slightly before my time her world felt very familiar. I don't think I shall be asking Santa for her new one, Ragnarok, somehow. How about you?

I LOVE the Sheldrake books, and am waiting avidly for the next one!