What are you reading.

Oh I like a bit of sex in a book. That one sounds good. Might give it a go.

I have several books on the go. Light reading is a re-read of an old 80's favourite by Rona Jaffe 'Class Reunion' about a group of four women at Radcliffe in the fifties and the subsequent lives they led.

I am starting 'Bastard Out of Carolina' by Dorothy Alison and I also have a re-read of 'Doubling Back' by Linda Cracknell and Alison Uttley's 'The Country Child' which I like to indulge myself with every Autumn- goodness knows why as it is not an 'Autumnal' book.

Other books in the pile are one by Jamaica Kincaid, the new cookbook by Gabrielle Hamilton 'Prune' that I was sent a review copy of and several other food memoirs.

Re-reading The Greatest Show Off Earth, by Robert Rankin, also re-Reading Roy Hudd's A Fart In A Collander, and I'm on the home stretch in Ulysses (James Joyce) which has been far more of a pleasure than I expected.

I have just read the harbour girl by Val Wood. I have enjoyed several of her books. She is a bit like Catherine Cookson but her books are set in Hull and surrounding areas. As I was born and brought up in that part of the country I can vividly imagine the settings.

I am also just coming to the end of Miss Carter's War which I had from GN. Thank you GN. A great read.

I have just downloaded Sea of Poppies which is my book group book for October.

I have just finished Frances-A Tragic Bride by Jackie Hyams. It's a written documentary (that's the only way I can describe it) about the first wife of Reggie Kray. It left me cold. I even had a dream with myself in a destructive scenario that I couldn't escape from. Couldn't put my kindle down.

I could not read the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. The first one was a struggle, then I tried two more but oh dear, so long-winded, ludicrous and quite frankly boring especially the one set in America. I gave in and threw them all out to the charity shop. Someone's gain I suppose!

I have just finished another book by Liane Moriarty - Little Lies. It was very enjoyable and I had to stop myself from carrying on reading all night!

I'm reading A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. I heard it discussed on Simon Mayo's radio 2 book club and it piqued my interest.
Ove is a grumpy old man, but we find out his back story which is touching and funny.
He is adopted by a cat he calls Cat Annoyance. I'm about 3/4 through so don't know the whole story yet.

I'm just getting into C.J.Sansom's new book Lamentation. I'm trying to read it really slowly in case we have to wait another two years for the next one!

After t5he last one, he was reported to have said that there was only room for one more in that time period, so sadly, Deedaa, Lamentation could be the last Matthew Shadlake story.
I`ve just finished Blind Alley, by Danielle Ramsay, a thriller devoted to the search for a serial rapist in Whitley Bay ad North Shields. Very good. I`ve just started Don`t Let Me Go, by Susan Lewis, looks like it will be good, I only came across Susan Lewis a few months ago, this is the third book of hers that I`ll have read.

Book 3 in the Shades of Grey trilogy.
Looking forward to moving on, hopefully, to something by Susan Lewis,
one of my favourite writers, numberplease.

Henetha, I only discovered Susan Lewis recently, but I do like her books. Don`t leave me is turning out to be very good.

Sorry, I should have typed Don`t let me Go, old age again!

I've had a look at the end of Lamentation numberplease and it definitely leaves the way open for Shardlake to carry on for at least one more book. I suspect he may intend to carry on until Elizabeth becomes Queen. With Edward burning catholics and Mary burning protestants it would give plenty of scope for conspiracies.

I`ve still to read Lamentation, but I`m waiting for the paperback, is it still only in hardback? Last time I had to wait over 2 years for the paperback.
I still haven`t finished Don`t Let Me Go, but it`s a very good read. Bought 3 books from OXFAM yesterday to add to my collection.

I'm starting A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin.
My nephew got me hooked on the show, so I figured I'd try the books which I hear are even better. Has anyone here read it or any of the books in the series?

I have just finished an ARC of 'The Never Open Desert Diner' by new author James Anderson (out in Feb) and it was wonderful. Set in Utah with a strong sense of places, it is about a fairly rootless truck delivery driver called Ben and his curiosity when he meets a women living alone in an abandoned housing development.

I have reviewed it on my website if anybody is interested?

I am now reading 'Thunder in the Mountains: a portrait of American gun culture' by Craig C Collins which, yes, it does contain some grim tales of carelessness, criminality and the appalling slaughter of the Native American people BUT it also has stunning depictions of the American landscape, of the importance of the gun to hunters (people who truly did and do live off the land) and ecology. He talks of the Bristlestone Cone trees which are extremely sensitive to weather- each tree is its own weather station-and thanks to this, the US weather service has been able to build a detailed annual weather report for each year dating back to the Ice Age. Collins talks of his hikes along the Pacific Crest trail and around the Sierras and about his childhood.

It will be out soon.

Lastly, 'The Sweetheart' by Angelina Mirabella is set in the 50's world of USA female pro wrestling and tells the story of 'Gorgeous Gwen Davies' who has to juggle her own issues with body image, her ambition and strength in the fifties where womanhood was domesticated and defined by cute and the artifice of wrestling itself.

Another Anne Tyler "If morning ever comes" This is an early one first published in 1964.

You can never go wrong with an Anne Tyler.

I`ve now finished Don`t Let Me Go, and it was really good, I`d recommend it to anyone wanting a good read with human interest included. I`m just about to make a start on Last Refuge, by Craig Robertson. I`ve read a couple of his books and liked them, so hoping for the same from this one.

I am now an armchair expert on American pro female wrestling in the fifties [grins]. Isn't it lovely when a book takes you to a world so far removed from your own?

numberplease I think I read somewhere that the paperback of Lamentation would be out early in 2015.

That`s good news Deedaa, thank you.

I'm just about to start 'Moriarty' by Anthony Horowitz. It is his latest Sherlock Holmes book except Sherlock and Dr. Watson don't appear in this story. Can't wait to open the book tonight.

His previous book 'House of Silk' was great.

Consolations of the Forest by Sylvain Tesson. Beautifully written account of the 6 months the author spent in the wilderness on the shores of Lake Baikal in Siberia. Highly recommend.

Just reading The Luminaries on my Kindle. It's so well written you would think the author had lived in that time [1800's.]I know that not everyone likes this book, but so far [half way through] I am enjoying it.

I am half way through The signature of all things by Elizabeth Gilbert and enjoying it enormously. It's a big sweeping, historical epic. So very different from Eat,Pray,Love.