What are you reading at the moment, part2

So pleased you have enjoyed them Loopylou. I told Elly via Facebook that I had recommended them to you and she seemed very pleased that her books had reignited your reading habit.

I have just read 'The ZigZag Girl' also by Elly all set in Brighton in the 1950s. It was another excellent read.

If you like slightly quirky books Barbara Erskine writes some fabulous stories. She is the only author who has reduced me to tears, as I feel her characters are known to me.

Keep reading.

Thanks to NanKate recommending Elly Griffiths' books I'm ploughing through the whole series, and loving them!
Thank you NanKate!

I loved The Kashmir Shawl and Ordinary Thunderstorms - both reminded me of earlier times. I've just begun The Sunrise by Victoria Hislop. So far (not far) it doesn't seem as good as her others, but no doubt it will grab me in the end.
Try Catherine Bowness's Christmas at Great Madden, which is on special offer this week as a kindle book. It's set in 1965, has romance at its heart and is easy to read, amusing and full of nostalgia.

I know we share a liking for mysteries, number. Are you familiar with Stuart Macbride's thrillers set in Aberdeen? He doesn't pull any punches! You need to read them in sequence.

Anno, I loved My Dear, I Wanted to Tell You. I read and enjoyed A Mersey Mile the other week, by Ruth Hamilton, I`m now reading another of hers, Mersey View. They`re not my usual preferred genre, thrillers, but I enjoy a change now and again.

Just starting 'Kensuke's Kingdom' by Michael Morpurgo. DGS aged 8 raved about it-the first time he has been so enthusiastic about his class reader.
Will then pass it on to DGS aged 11.

I've just found 'Hardball', a Sara Paretsky VI Warshawski mystery which for some reason was lurking in the boot of my car. I've always been a fan of this series. Then, waiting in the wings is our book group's choice for this month, Louisa Young's WWI novel, 'My Dear, I Wanted to Tell You'.

I'm trying to get through 'The Casual Vacancy' by J.K. Rowling ( recently bought in a charity shop) before the TV version next week.
Finding it hard going. I've had to draw up a chart to keep track of the families involved.
After 260 pages I'm still not gripped by it.

Having seen the film the Theory of Everything, I downloaded Travelling to Infinity - My Life with Stephen by Jane Hawking on which the film was based. Well worth reading - I couldn't put it down. What an amazing woman she is.

I`ve just finished Winter Garden, by Kristin Hannah. A strange story at first, but it all gradually falls into place. A lot of graphic description of life(?) during the siege of Leningrad during WW2, quite sad.

Elizabeth is missing - a debut novel, this book is narrated by an elderly woman, Maud, who is suffering from dementia her memory becoming increasingly unreliable as she tries to find out what has happened to her friend Elizabeth. As the story progresses she frequently recalls with greater clarity, another disappearance, that of her sister 70 years ago. The story switches between present time and the early post war years of austerity and rationing.

My Dear Bessie - edited by Simon Garfield. It is a series of letters from a man to his sweetheart during WW 2. I am really enjoying it. The couple had only met briefly before the war and their romance developed through the letters which could be quite romantic and explicit at times.

I am also reading Louise Penny's - The Cruellest Month. I have enjoyed the series so far. Cannot remember who recommended them but thank you.

'Not on the Label' by Felicity Lawrence. Do not read this book. You'll never eat anything again!

I was given it for Christmas, Ariadne but haven't yet read it. It's sitting looking at me reproachfully, but I've been to-ing and fro-ing a bit recently and have limited myself to what I have on the Kindle - currently a Merrily Watkins mystery. Very convoluted!

Not read that one Ariadne I'm currently re-reading The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. It was serialised on Womans Hour for the last couple of weeks.

DS1 wants me to read "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" by Richard Flanagan. (He and I share a particular taste in fiction - Ishiguro, for example, whereas DD and I read almost anything!)

He has obviously been quite shaken by it; I downloaded a sample and while I think I have to read on, was just wondering if anyone has already read it? If so, what are your thoughts?

Finished even!

I`ve just finishe Abattoir Blues, by Peter Robinson, another enjoyable DCI Banks novel, and have just started The Wolf in Winter, by John Connelly, promises to be a good `un.

We've just had our book group planning meeting and the miniaturist is on our list. I'm looking forward to reading it. Next month's book is Testament of Youth and I am seeing the film on Thursday.

Sorry I meant to say I was responding to Loopylou.

So pleased you are liking Elly's books. I think each one gets better and better. I often pick them up in charity shops, but I would suggest you read them in order.

The Miniaturist

An incredible book, full of intrigue set in Amsterdam in the 17th century. You can almost smell the nutmeg. Beware of the shock in the middle.

Thank you NanKate for suggesting The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths, I'm really enjoying it and will definitely look out for the others in the series

I`ve finished A Mersey Mile, it was very good, can highly recommend it. Am just about to begin Abbattoir Blues, by Peter Robinson, an Insp. Banks book. It was on the half price shelf at W.H.Smith.

I'm in the middle of two - The 100 year Old Man Who Jumped Out of the Window and Disappeared Jonas Jonasson - about a 100 year old man who jumps out of the nursing home he lives in to avoid his 100th birthday party and goes on many adventures, criminal ones and camaraderie all in one. Very very good, funny and educational, recommended.

And The Bad Mother's Handbook, Kate Long - good but nothing much has happened yet apart from the teenager getting pregnant and mum has left home. But I will plough on as it was made into a tv drama with Catherine Tate. The good side about this book is that it is set in my area with northern dialect from the gran so that is lovely to read, reminds me of my grandma.

Just got another book I've ordered come today. Life with No Breaks by Nick Spalding. He tried to write a book in 24 hours but failed - it took him 30 hours. So this is lined up to read next, maybe on my weekend break away.