What are you reading now?

I loved Life after Life, I know it divided opinion. I thought A God in Ruins was a very worthy sequel but I didn't enjoy quite as much. Fans of Kate Atkinson, if you haven't already read it, try Behind the Scenes at a Museum, it's great.

Loved Strawberry Fields, now reading The Last Telegram, a first novel by Liz Trenow. Not a rip roaring success of a read so far, but will see it through to the end, it might improve.

Ditto Alima!

I was the opposite Greyduster, raced through A God in Ruins and loved it but found Life After Life more difficult to get through.

I am coming towards the end of "A God in Ruins" Elrel (about three quarters of an inch to go!). I've struggled with it a bit, whereas "Life after Life" I couldn't put down.

Robert Louis Stevenson (collected works).
So far - Treasure Island (ripping yarn for boys, bit like a graphic novel with lots of action)
Dr J and Mr Hyde - interesting fantasy novella. (Glosses over the nature of the depravities that the good Dr craves and Hyde indulges in..)
Kidnapped - great story, well written and without the wordiness of some 19th C writers. On the whole, I'm pleasantly surprised.

Finished 'A God in Ruins' by Kate Atkinson with very mixed feelings. She is a very good writer, I was totally involved in the plot, loved the protagonist, Teddy, brother of the girl in 'Life after Life'.
Descriptions of life in bomber command extraordinarily vivid. My father was ground crew during WW2, I have far more understanding of what he meant by 'mending aeroplanes' and why there were no anecdotes.
Disconcerted by the end of the book, not entirely unexpected yet felt let down. Without spoilers, did any other reader feel like this?

Having watched 'The Lady in the Van' on DVD I now want to re-read both Alan Bennett's journal and the little paperback which inspired the film. It was wonderfully evocative of the 1970s!

Just read " I shot the Buddha" by Colin Cotterill set in Laos and Vietnam. I've just come back from there and it's his last in a series. Enjoyed it

I have just come back from holiday and read several run of the mill novels whilst there and one stand out one "All the light we cannot see" very good, not sure what to start next now.

Someone recommended His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet. Long listed for the Man Booker prize 2016.

Whoever it was, thank you. I really enjoyed it.

Just discovered Tana French and am reading the first in the series about the Dublin Muder Squad call In the Woods . I'm always pleased to discover a new series of books by an author who writes well.

A Tap On The Window by Linwood Barclay. Half way through it and enjoying it very much.

Go Set a Watchman, by Harper Lee, and loving it. I am trying hard with my e-book version of Cartes Postales by Victoria Hislop, but can't get into it.

When the Lights Go On Again was a lovely read. Now reading Strawberry Fields, by Katie Flynn, set in Liverpool and Dublin in the 1920s and 30s. Liking it so far.

I have just read " Just what kind of mother are you ? " Not a self help book but a gripping novel . This is a first publication from Paula Daly and well worth reading . I have ordered her second book " The Trophy Child " from our local library. What a great service we get from them and all for free. Sadly too many libraries are closing in Scotland . Andrew Carnegie will be turning in his grave as he gave so many .

Random was a bit different, it was about a serial killer who picked his victims at random, but the book was a narrative by the killer. Quite good though.
I`m now reading When the Lights Go On Again, by Annie Groves, set in 1943/44, it`s promising.

A few pages into The Swedish Girl I realised I`d read it before, but carried on because I couldn`t remember whodunnit, I was half right in what I thought.
I`m just about to start on Random, by Craig Robertson.

Someone on Gransnet suggested that I read 'Daddy Longlegs'. I'd read it when I was at school but have really enjoyed rereading it. Its so refreshing. A little bit old fashioned and a little bit different but all the more enjoyable for it. Great suggestion!

My daughter bought Stasi Child by David Young from a charity shop and I am enjoying it.

I've just finished Stranger in my House by Adele Parks. Enjoyed it although it became a bit slow in the middle but the twist I didn't see coming made up for it. What would you do if a knock at the door presented you with the dilemma that 15 yrs ago you took the wrong baby home from hospital and she had to be tested because she may have inherited the gene for cancer ?

Elothan you might like Goodnight Mr Tom, Michelle Magorian. Similar theme but quite touching about a boy who is evacuated to the country and how he begins to flourish under the care of old Tom Oakley. His happiness is shattered by a summons from his mother back in the slums of London. Tear jerker! Made in to a tv play a while ago.

I'm reading "The Girls" by Canadian author Lori Lansens, which I picked up at a jumble sale.
It is a curious book, the "autobiographies" of conjoined twins, each with her own personality and style. They turn 30 and thus are the oldest craniopagus [joined at the head] conjoined twins on record...
One feels slightly voyeuristic to find out what goes on, at the same time being fascinated [in a rather sick way] by the difference in the two women.

I am reading Enigma by Robert Harris. Very, very good thriller, set a Bletchley Park of course, lots of detail which makes you wonder if he had inside information on what goes on there. Looking for other books by this author. Really edge of the seat stuff.

Sicily by John Julius Norwich.

Finished The Closed Circle by Jonathan Coe, it was like reading it for the first time, I'd forgotten a lot in ten years!
Last night I went back to Kate Atkinson's A God in Ruins, read for 'a bit' in bed and lost a few hours sleep. She really is an excellent writer!

Reading The Secretary of the Tides. GREAT BOOK WITH A TWIST IN EACH CHAPTER.