What are you reading now 2

Am presently re-reading an old book, The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat.
I had forgotten how very well written it is, set during WW2
About a corvette The Compass Rose, and her crew as they
Go about their convoy guarding duties and the ever present
Menace of the UBoat wolfpacks.
The characters are so well rounded that you feel you know
them.

Next on the list to read is Ink In The Blood by Hilary Mantel,
The Man In The High Castle by Philip K Dick and
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver.

I’ve just started reading pompeii by Robert Harris I’ve never read anything by him before. Looks promising. All the talk of Nevil Shute inspires me to re read his books. He’s an author I can’t recomme enough. Do read him if you get the chance.

I'm reading "A Rising Man" by Abir Mukherjee . Set in India in 1919, Captain Sam Wyndham, First World War veteran and recent widower arrives in Calcutta to take up a post in the city's police force. I am halfway through he is in the midst of investigating a murder of a senior British official against a backdrop of the run up to the final years of the empire, the mounting discontent of the indigenous population against the British ruling elite. A debut novel, enjoying it so far.

lemon one of my sons goes on and on about the "The Man in High Castle" by Philip K Dick a genius novel I'm told.

Yes Terri can’t think why I haven’t already read it!
I have the above books on my Kindle waiting for me after I finish The Cruel Sea( a hardback from 1953).
I have been reading various books by David Mitchell this last year, a very good author.

I've just read The Dry by Jane Harper. It's a crime novel set in Australia and it kept appearing on those 'Recommended summer reading' lists in the media. I spotted a pristine copy in a charity cafe, mine for a small donation!

I've also enjoyed My Name is Leon by Kit de Waal, the story of a small boy taken into care around the time of the wedding of Prince Charles and Di.

Ghost Moths by Michele Forbes is a quiet and moving read, set in N Ireland and flipping between 1949 and 1969, observing the results of a woman's decision, made in the earlier year.

In addition to those mentioned above I can recommend Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household - just finished for the second time. A fast moving adventure following the main character as he tries to evade the secret service of a foreign power after an attempted assassination of their leader.
Again I would also recommend The Belle Fields and its sequel Ashes of Roses by Lora Adams. Very good reads for those interested in Victorian and Edwardian romance -fast moving, descriptive and moving - enjoyed very much a couple of times. Good reading!

I’m reading coming home by fern britton at the minute I’m really enjoying it !!!

I’m reading The Empty Nesters by Nina Bell, I’m persevering

I’ve not long finished Ken Follett’s world without end it’s the second kingsbridge novel and I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to the last column of fire but they are epic novels that take an age to read. They start off slow then move at an ever faster speed drawing me in. Towards the end I am reluctant to do any necessary housework in my eagerness to find out what happens next. The first in the series is essentials about building a cathedral, the one I’ve just finished is about the Black Death. Sounds dire but they are fascinating and un put downable.

I am working my way through Conn Iggulden’s “Wars of the Roses” series. My neighbour lent me the first two and I didn’t expect to like them but I am now on book four - the last one. They fairly rattle along and you get very involved with the characters. If I have a grumble, the genealogy can get a bit confusing.

morethan I thought Pompeii was a cracking book!

I enjoyed it Greyduster but not as much at ken Follett’s I’m going to have a look at your recommendations of war of the roses

Have belatedly got round to Kate Atkinson's semi-detective fiction, starting at the end I now realise with One Good Turn. Love the writing and characters, but plot is a series of mini plots all contributing to the main one, so hard to keep up with when only reading in bed at night. Are the others in the series the same does anyone know?
Thought Conclave fantastic except for the very end. On to Munich, new in pb this summer.
Also off to try Any Human Heart wh I hadn't come across and wh had rave reviews when this thread first started.
Some excellent recommendations on here;

Just finished ‘The Dry’ mentioned by SueDonim. First book for ages I haven’t been able to put down. Immersing myself in Australia at the moment as have just finished watching ‘Secret City’ on Netflix and now onto ‘The Code’ on same channel. Wish I could afford to go there!

Last time I read books on psychology. Now I'm reading Toxic parents to build relationships with my mother.

I am reading the fourth of a series by Marsali Taylor set in Shetland. If you liked Ellie Griffiths' Ruth Galloway stories, or Peter May's Hebridean books, or Ann Cleeves' Shetland series, or if you like to sail, you will like this.

Revisiting Muriel Spark, having been inspired to do so after several very interesting events at this year's Edinburgh Book Festival and the publication of all 22 of her novels to mark the 100th anniversary of her birth.
Have just finished 'Memento Mori', described by David Lodge as 'her first masterpiece'.
It opens with a telephone call and the words, 'Remember you must die'.

Am loving The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. Quite long (860 pages,) but a great read. Will look out for more by this author.

granfromafar...I loved that too. It was given to me by a friend after we'd seen the painting here in Edinburgh at the National Gallery. As you say, a great read.

I usually read history, none fiction.
For a change I am re-reading Bill Brysons "A short history of everything"

Ouch.I meant of course non-history.

"The Descent of Man" by Grayson Perry, about how men need to revise their assumptions about masculinity. A very able writer who shouldn't be just dismissed as a cissy because of his liking for female clothing. (and his gender is definitely masculine, BTW, despite being put off the traditional male image in childhood by a violent stepfather.)

I am on the verge of giving up on The Graveyard of the Hespirades by Lindsey Davis. A Roman whodunnit. I like the two main characters but three quarters of the way through and it is still dragging along in a gossipy parochial way, and I am losing the will.... I now want something to come and sock me in the eye with a “wow, I didn’t see that coming”, but it isn’t happening.