What are you reading now 2

I must look up Lindsay Davis annodomini, I haven’t come across her and I do like historical novels. However I just couldn’t get on with Hilary Mantel, I much preferred C J Sansom for that period.

I`ve just finished You Can Run, by Steve Mosby. A thriller, but whodunit is revealed at the start, the story is about finding him.
Am now reading Together for Christmas, by Carol Rivers, set during WW1.

I am reading "Pied Piper" by Neville Schute, which is set in France at the beginning of WWII. Very good so far. Next will read "On the Beach" by the same author.
From reading other's posts, I see that I need to catch up on the writings of Ken Follett Downloaded one of his books from the library, but was over 1000 pages and I can't read fast enough to finish it in 14 days.
Thanks for all the recommendations. Looking forward to reading many of them

A book I requested for Christmas: “Dashing for the Post”. It’s a collection of the letters of Patrick (Paddy) Leigh-Fermor. Quite interesting so far - a window into another era.

The Last Tudor, by Philippa Gregory has been entertaining. It follows the three Grey sisters during the reign of their cousin Elizabeth I.

Eating the elephant. Alice Wells .Lies bereavement and abuse. Very thought provoking.

After years of reading a variety of books , top of my list of all time ( which I have just finished) is The Wrong Boy, by Willy Rushton,so very clever, & each twist & turn was a surprise .

I just finished La Belle Sauvage which is Philip Pullman's new book first of his new trilogy. I was sorry to come to the end and not have the next in the trilogy, because I feel impatient to understand more about Dust.

MontanaGal your in for a treat on the beach was the very first Neville Shute novel I read. I used to have vivid dreams about it. You’ve renewed my interest in his writings. If I didn’t own so many other books I’d be very tempted to re-read them. My favourite was requiem for a wren I read them in the early 1970’s so I wonder if my tastes have changed. I recently finished Ken Folletts pillars of the earth and really enjoyed it. I’m reading Clare Mackintosh ‘I see you’ I’m only on the 3rd chapter but so far I’m enjoying it. Happy new reading year every one.

My first Neville Shute was Trustee from the Toolroom, a very gentle but satisfying book. I reread it about a year ago after I had heard an adaptation of one of his books as a play on Radio 4. I liked it just as much.

I'm reading Golden Hill by Francis Spufford. It's most enjoyable, set in 18th century New York.

I'm reading 'Lifting the Latch' by Sheila Stewart, based on the life of Mont Abbott of Enstone in Oxfordshire. It's probably a book which would appeal to a niche group of readers but as my family history is based on that area I am finding it fascinating.

annsixty I remember the title but can’t quite remember the storyline. Like you what I do remember is his gentle way of writing. I’m even more tempted to re read him now.

I love my Kindle. I've downloaded entire works of various authors. I love the 19th century authors and am almost finished reading Mark Twain's. So much more than Tom Sawyer. He was very observant, witty, compassionate, scathing, poignant. There is always something in te books and lives of 19thC authors that resonates in our lives, ion the world as it is today. Twain talks of how the telegraph was bringing world events to cities all over the world so quickly and whether that was always a good thing. Imagine his thoughts on the internet!

I've just finished reading "Fragile Lives" by Stephen Westaby, the memoir of a heart surgeon. I found the author as protagonist to be a fascinating and engaging character who brought the highs and lows of working as a pioneering heart surgeon, vividly to life. I became so involved that - after having read the book - I Googled the author and watched several video clips so that I could get to know him better, so to speak. A particularly interesting clip was one of a reunion between him and a young woman whose life he had saved as a baby - with her clinically dead on the operating table, he went back in having walked away, to have one more go at her broken heart. Rivetting. I also found the technical descriptions of the mechanics of the heart and the devices to fix it when it goes wrong, interesting.

I’m reading Game of Thrones in conjunction with watching the boxed set. I never thought I would enjoy this genre as it’s not really my thing. However I’m totally engrossed in this fantasy world. I don’t think I could read the book without watching the series as there are so many different plots and characters are all interwoven. I took the book on holiday so had a good run at it, it’s a big book!

I took a book a friend passed on when I went on a hotel break. The Obsession by Nora Roberts was a great read. I so enjoyed it and have now passed it on to another friend.

I am reading "Too Brief A Candle: A True Crime in a Home Day Care". But tbh I wouldn't recommend it because it seems to be written in random order with no notice of when the timeline is changing. I think she's written it in the order of the evidence as it came up in court, then tagged her own knowledge of the family background onto the bit where the relevant bit of evidence came up - so it's a mishmash of the childhoods of parents and grandparents and what they are doing and feeling now etc etc

I'm reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.

The first 50 pages annoyed me but the story has improved since then and I was laughing out loud in bed last night.

Just enjoyed (again) The Belle Fields and the recently published sequel Ashes of Roses by Lora Adams. Anyone into romantic fiction with very descriptive writing will soon get into these and be transported to another time when our grandparents were young! You might try a unique poetry book as well if that's your thing. Say Kangaroo by Five Sisters had me remembering my childhood - some poems very nostalgic, some very funny and others quite 'deep'. All available for Amazon Kindle for a few pounds each or if you prefer are available in paperback - good reading - enjoy

The Hearts Invisable Furies, by John Boyle. Marvellous book, and well recommended spanning 60 years of a gay man born in Ireland, and his life. But much much more.

I love Nevil Shute books - my all time favourite book ever is "A Town Like Alice". I found "Requiem for a Wren" so sad as I was longing for the ending to be much happier. I think I will get "The Pied Piper" for my Kindle because it's about an era that I enjoy reading about.

As mentioned by Flossie above, I too have just finished "The Hearts Invisible Furies". I can't wax lyrical enough about this book, I think I was about half way through when I thought to myself this is not just a good book, it's a great book and for me will join the dozen or so best evers I have read over the course of my life. Set between 1945 and 2015, mainly in Ireland, but it does shift to Amsterdam and New York in the second half, ultimately returning to home territory. It begins with Catherine a 16 year old girl who is cast out of her home town by the parish priest for becoming pregnant. The narrative unfolds through her child, Cyril, who is adopted by a wealthy, worldly couple. The book takes us through his life where during his growing up years. he struggles with his sexuality against a backdrop of a society ruled by a fiercely judgemental and unforgiving religion in cahoots with a political establishment that sweep their double standards under the carpet right through to a more tolerant and accepting Ireland, almost too late for those of Cyril's generation. Essentially it's about love and loss and the human condition, it made me laugh and it made me cry. It's a book that will stay with me. The best I've read in several years, probably since The Goldfinch, again it's quite long some 700 pages, but zipped through it in 4 days or so when the snow had us house bound. The length of a book is immaterial when it's so engaging in contrast to one that isn't, where even a couple of hundred pages can be too long. The author John Boyne, also wrote "The Boy In Striped Pyjamas". I will consider myself lucky if I read anything as good as this anytime soon.

Some interesting recommendations here. I’ve put some on my “wish list”.
I’m loving “Eleanor Oliphant is completely Fine” by Gail Honeyman. Compelling story.

I am now on my tenth Ellie Griffiths book this year, only two more to go and I will have caught up with her writing. Those of you who love Nevil Shute, could I join your gang please. Like DannyRae my favourite book ever is A Town Like Alice though they are all wonderful. TerriBull’s recommendation of “The Hearts Invisible Furies” sounds very good, definitely putting that on my list.