What are you reading at the moment

TwiceAsNice I loved Bring Up The Bodies! I thought it was even better than Wolf Hall. It just seemed to flow from one page to the next and I was really sorry when I got to the end. Have you read C.J.Sansom? He was the one who really got me back into the Tudors.

goose1964 I'm sure The Cleaner of Chartres will be good. I picked up
Miss Garnet's Angel in a charity shop ages ago and absolutely loved it. In a way very little happens in it - and yet so much happens, lovely!

Oh I read this a long time ago it must have been good, as I can remember quite a bit of it but it was a memory buried until I read the title again

Hello there, am new to Gransnet , so a bit unsure where to begin with everything on offer.

Anyhow I've just finished reading "A Sense of an Ending" by Julian Barnes. A thought-provoking novella about love, lust, friendship and the past, and how our memories should not always to be relied upon. How we might inadvertently choose to lie to ourselves.. A book which seeks to pose more questions than it answers. Beautifully and skilfully written. I would recommend this book to all. I'm currently reading "The Fall" by Albert Camus which has been sitting on my shelf for years. I've made the decision to read at least a dozen of my own books before buying any more.

Good to be on here!

Welcome 1AthenaA1 Hope you enjoy being on Gransnet. Like you I have a lot of my own books still to read but they never seem as interesting as those I pick up from the Library or those I "win" on Gransnet.

I have a heap of books that I want to read but because I own them the library books take priority. If I buy a book on impulse ,usually a Times offer in Smiths I like several people to read it then donate to the library. Keeps the bookshelf problem down. The last one was Marion Keyes about a kidnapping. I find she writes too much about depression. I'm into Ann Cleeves and the Shetlands at the moment. Some good reading. I'm thinking of planning a holiday there.

Me too, Stansgran. I've always wanted to visit the Northern Isles. The landscape and local characters are wonderfully evoked. I haven't read the newest one - waiting for its Kindle price to go below £5!

I have received The Quarry, the latest - and, sadly, last, Iain Banks novel from Amazon but haven't started reading it because I'm in the middle of something else. I pre-ordered it and then had an email to tell me that as I had done this they were only charging me £3.99 so refunding the rest of the price I had paid. Lucky or what!

Just coming towards the end of Dead and Buried, by Stephen Booth, have really enjoyed it. Very descriptive of the moors above the Peak District.

Just finished Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day. Absolutely brilliant and very funny. Started A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett as I never read it as a child. I'm going to read Roald Dahl books as well, I'm a great believer in reading all types of books for whatever age. You're never too old to enjoy children's books. (Or maybe I've never really grown up!!).

The Invisible Woman by Claire Tomalin - the account of the long affair of Charles Dickens and Nellie Ternan. Fascinating stuff...

There is also a novel about Dickens wife called the blue Dress. A while since I read it so I can't remember the author off the top of my head.

I really loved 'The hundred year old man who climbed out of a window'. It's very funny, with an eccentric character taking all the major event of 20th Century in his stride. Brilliant!

I've just finished 'The Paris Wife' by Paula McLean, a fictionalised account of Ernest Hemmingways first marriage. Started slow but it was worth sticking with.

I discovered William Boyd recently when a friend lent me 'Any Human Heart' after we had both watched it on TV last year. Long but I raced through it. On the strength of that I loaded another of his books, 'Restless' onto my Kindle for holiday reading and I couldn't put it down! The story moves between a woman in the WW2 years and her daughter in the 60's and is gripping. I'll definitely be looking for more by this author in the future.

isn't he a great story teller, Funnygran? He creates characters and plots equally successfully. It's such a shame that the Booker Prize judges don't appreciate such talents!

Absolutely annodomini. Am about to start on Bring Up the Bodies having enjoyed Wolf Hall. Usually like Hilary Mantel although have found odd ones a bit hard going.

Funnygran - I'm wondering about getting Bring up the Bodies to take on holiday (kindle!). I did enjoy Wolf Hall but read a couple of Mantel books I really disliked.

I have just finished reading Judy Finnegan's 'Eloise'. I read it in 3 days, couldn't put it down, even when I was cooking I was reading. A great story with twists and surprises, a bit scary and spooky, excellent insight into relationships and mental health issues. I loved it! Hope Judy writes another novel soon!

I read it recently too, Grindos, and was really surprised at how much I enjoyed it! I heard she's writing a second story now so I'm looking forward to that coming out sometime next year.

Broomsticks - think I'm going to read Bring up the Bodies in paperback. I had to keep going back on Wolf Hall to remind myself about characters. Much as I like the Kindle especially for holidays, it's not very easy to look back is it? Mine is one of the early ones so they are probably much more sophisticated now!

True Funnygran. My copy of Wolf Hall has gone walkabout somewhere, maybe I should reread it (if I can get it back) before starting the next installment.

Am now reading Dead Simple, by Peter James. I love the Roy Grace stories.

Just finished Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor. It was our book group book, none of us had read her before, all loved it. I found it easy to read, so interesting, and beautifully written. Will read more of Elizabeth Taylor. The book is set in the 60's, time and place brilliantly observed. Some discussion at our book group yesterday about whether Elizabeth Taylor can be seen as the jane Austen of the period she wrote in. Would really recommend it.

Mrs Palfryman at the Claremont is a lovely story. Well observed, a tale of times gone by! Also quite light reading, good for hols. There is a film, I accessed on u tube. Not terribly accurate, but amusing. X

I was given Elizabeth Taylor's complete short stories for an event at the end of last December.almost social history of the fifties and sixties. I loved all her books. Just read major Pettigrew's last stand. Difficult to know when it was set- bankers mentioned so 80 s? But Paki corner shop 70 s?snobbish golf clubs 50 s? I had the same problem with The cleaner of Chartres thinking it was set in the Middle Ages then realizing it was more modern.

I'm reading Emily Barrs new book,The Sleeper.I love all her books and never guess the ending.