What are you reading now 2

I finished Truly Madly Guilty, but was quite bored with it. Am just about to start on Dreamer, by Peter James, one of his earlier books.

I've nearly finished The One in a Million Boy, by Monica Wood, my latest local library reading group choice. I didn't really fancy it from the blurb, but it's turned out to be the best book I've read for ages. Very poignant, though!

Have just come across a poetry book which might be unique? Say Kangaroo by Five Sisters was a good read - a collection of poems written by - you've guessed it - five sisters. The poems are funny, nostalgic, sad, childhood memories etc etc. The sisters apparently were brought up in a close-knit family when times were hard - a dad who worked all hours to keep mum and the 5 kids as best he could although he liked a drink and wasn't a good dad at times. Took me back to my childhood with Christmas, holidays, pets, schooling etc etc. A good read - got mine from Amazon on to my Kindle for a couple of pounds. Another good read (for the second time) was The Belle Fields by Lora Adams - again via Amazon on to my Kindle for a couple of pounds. Anyone who is drawn to Downton Abbey will enjoy this read although sad in places with many twists and turns - and an unexpected end - will enjoy this easy read. The descriptions of life above abd below stairs in the early 1900's is a real eye-opener. If you fancy looking eithr book up - hope you enjoy.

Dreamer was OK, but so unlike other Peter James books that I`ve read. I`m now reading Wives of War, by Soraya M Lane, about nurses at the front in WW2. very good so far.

Wives of War was very good, a bit of a tear jerker in places. I`m now reading The Missing, by C.L.Taylor, about a family`s search for a missing 15 year old boy. Liking it so far.

Sparklygrandma thank you for that tip!

I'm reading The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh. It's set in Burma and India, over about a century. It's ok but superficial.

I enjoyed The Missing a lot. It felt quite real in places. I`ve just started Sea of Lost Love, by Santa Montefiore. I`ve read a few of her books and liked them, so hopefully I`ll like this as well.

Different Class by Joanne Harris.....it's brilliant, do try and read it.?

"A strangeness in my mind" by Orhan Pamuk

Halfway through. It gives you a picture of recent history in Turkey with a street vendor.
Love it. Gentleness and humour. Melodrama and warmth.

I liked Sea of Lost Love. Santa Montefiore is great at descriptive writing. I`m now reading Daughters of Penny Lane, by Ruth Hamilton, was sad to read that she died last year.

Just read 3 good books on the trot, "The Hare with Amber Eyes" a well reviewed book from a couple of years ago. "Then She was Gone" by Lisa Jewell who always produces consistently good reads, this latest one is a slight departure for her, insomuch as it's a foray into crime. The best of the three "Hearts and Minds" by Amanda Craig, passed to me by a friend and definitely one of my favourite reads this year. Published about 7 years ago, set in London it tells the tale of several professionals such as a human rights lawyer, an idealistic South African teacher working at a failing school, an unhappy American girl employed by a political publication. Their lives juxtapose with a couple of the other main characters living on the margins. A trafficked Ukranian teenager sold into the sex trade and a Zimbabwean asylum seeker. There are several diferent threads that cantilever together around a disappearance and murder at the heart of the story.

Had a get together with friends this afternoon and have also been lent Ann Patchett's "Commonwealth" highly recommended, may read that next or another I bought yesterday "Hag Seed" by one of my favourite writers Margaret Atwood. Spoilt for choice! I just love a good book

Where have all the readers gone?

I've just finished "The Birdcage Walk" by Helen Dunmore which I loved, I can't believe I hadn't read any of her books before, this one was excellent, and now I've discovered sadly she died in the summer this year. I've also recently read "The Dry" which I quite enjoyed but thought it was somewhat over hyped, although could see it would be quite filmic, particuarly in a slow unfolding series form like the first "Broadchurch", but if you've read the book you know what's coming. Today I bought Ali Smith's "Autumn" which has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize and has received very good reviews although it looks quite a short read.

Terribull, I ordered some books from Amazon the other day, The Dry is one of them.
I`ve just finished Takedown, by Stephen Leather, it`s a bit bloody and violent, neither of which bothers me, but I didn`t enjoy it as much as I could have, because I just couldn`t find a liking for any of the characters.
I`m now reading At Long Last Love, by Molly Adams, set during WW2, but am only a few pages in, so too early for an opinion.

Oh, I wondered why I could no longer find this thread! It's been asleep.

I'm currently reading The Trouble With Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon. It's nothing like I imagined, being set in the hot summer of 76 with flashbacks to the 60's. It's intriguing!

Before that I read The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan. It's a history of the world from the POV of the Middle East, specificially Persia. The first half was excellent, with some fascinating facts, such as that Atilla the Hun wore a coat made of field mice skins. The second half was a bit of a polemic, although it did give me a better understanding of politics in the ME.

Just started the latest Ken Follett book Columns of Fire.
that I got for my birthday. It’s a big book like the others in the series,but if it’s as good, then I’ll be delighted!
Pillars of the Earth is my favourite book of all time.

I've just finished The New Mrs Clifton by Elizabeth Buchan, well worth reading. Will shortly start on Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir. I recently read Katherine of Aragon and it was superb. If you like Tudor History you will love this series.

I was disappointed with the ending of The Trouble With Sheep and Goats! A bit of an anticlimax.

I'm now about to read Good Cop Bad War by Neil Woods for my book group. I believe it's not a great book but the issues it throws up around illegal drugs are interesting.

I'm also reading The North Water by Ian McGuire. It's a mystery set onboard a 19thC whaling ship. It's a bit sweary but a gripping read.

I just wanted to recommend The One, by John Marrs. I can hardly bear to put it down! The premise is that a DNA test has been devised to let people find their one true soul mate. Then the book follows five people who’ve just been “matched”. After the first scene-setting few chapters I was hooked!

My last read was Jodi Picoult’s Small Great Things, mentioned earlier, about racism in the USA and one particular case where a black nurse is accused of harming the baby son of a white racist. That was very good too.

Eagerly awaiting Phillip Pullman's new book. The Dark Materials trilogy made me think again about organised religion/afterlife/atheism.
I think I'm a believer in Dust!

The Golden House by Salmond Rushdie.

Just started it will get back when I’ve finished it. So far so good.

Gillyknits...was going to recommend exactly the same book...Pillars of Fire by Ken Follett. About halfway through and I must say it is "unputdownable"" as was his previous Pillars of the Earth. Highly recommended for anyone wanting an historical theme.

I've been in a non fiction frame of mind lately, and without intending to my reads have been linked. I started with That Woman: The Life of Wallace Simpson by Anne Sebba which revealed a woman who was certainly not straight forward, she was ambitious, and who I found rather unpleasant. Good read though.
Went on to The Riviera Set by Mary Lovell about the pleasure seekers and pleasure leaders of the riviera from Edwardian times to the fifties. The Windsors feature in that too, and I didn't like them any better.
Then I read a novel that had been recommended to me - Any Human Heart by William Boyd which I think was fantastic and I've been recommending that all over the place. The Windsors appear in that too, still awful, but this is about the life of fictional Logan Mountstuart, a writer. Great stuff. The BBC dramatised it.
Now I'm reading Wait for Me by Deborah Devonshire - her autobiography. It's like reading about people from another planet, but hugely funny. The eccentric English upper classes are observed mostly with affection. She includes the sadnessess of her life and in her sisters' lives movingly and without self pity. She doesn't wallow, and Nancy Mitford was not the only sister who could write. Some of the later people from the Riviera Set - like the Aga Khan - are cropping up now in this book.
Thank you for all the recommendations. I like lots of these authors and I feel myself going into fiction mode again.

I am just going to start Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood

I`m reading I Am Missing, by Tim Weaver. A man completely loses his memory, and hires a privae investigator to find out who he is. Then things sart to get dangerous.........

I really liked I Am Missing callgirl I read it a few weeks ago