What books are you reading and why?

Shadow Girls by Carol Birch - it's brilliant. Set in a girls' grammar school in 1960s Manchester, so reminds me of my own teenage years! A creepy, spooky story, can't put it down.

Just finished reading Madeleine Wickham - The Tennis Party, she also writes under the name of Sophie Kinsella.

I recently read “The Sisters of Auschwitz”: The true story of two Jewish sisters’ resistance in the heart of Nazi territory.

I’ve always been interested in the Holocaust and this book was recommended reading on an international news website.

I found it to be informative, and very well researched.

The personalities, inner strength and resourcefulness of these two women were brought to life on each page.

Added surprise bonus for me; a very interesting part of this book took place very near to where my DH grew up, so of course he too read it and declared it very interesting as well!

I just started to read book called - Berry by Langston Hughes. I just want to understand the problem of racism, and black people in the US. Why it's happen i don't understand.

In the short story, “Berry,” the protagonist, Berry, is a black man who finds himself in many conflicts with the whites. He was uneducated because of the segregation there wasn’t many schools for Negroes. He needed a job so he headed to the north..
Try to read this book, it's worth to spent time on it. Before it you can just read the short summary of this book here - freebooksummary.com/short-story-berry-by-langston-hughes-essay
I can recommend it. Hope that racism will end.

I love this thread. I read all the time and when I am looking for a book on Libby ( free online library) I come and look for books to search for, especially British ones. At one stage of my life I used to teach Eng.Lit.so I have read many of the classics , I just enjoy a good murder mystery these days.

The Mandibles by Lionel Shriver set in the US 2029 - 2047. Its a bit chilling as its all about a large rich family who lose everything, the dollar is in meltdown and all normal life has gone for everyone. It's very funny at times and also tragic, how people cope with the breakdown of their world and the worst is people have a chip implanted in them, but not if you're over 68!

Regeneration - Pat Barker, an anti war book seemed apt for the times we are living in and has been lying on my shelves un read all too long. The experiences of so far, British Officers and war poets, Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen being treated for shell shock and post traumatic stress disorders during the first World War.

I'm into psychological thrillers at the moment and am just reading Shari Lapena's latest, "Not A Happy Family".

I have recently read a book called 'Coconut' 382 pages that I read in one session apart from time out for lunch. it's an autobiography;....... I got it from my library.
Coconut: A Black girl fostered by a white family in the 1960s and her search for belonging and identity
By
Florence Olajide (Author) Look up the author and see where her hard life took her. an amazing read.

I am reading Step by Step by Simon Reeve his autobiography. I highly recommend it. It's the real deal. He has seen over 130 countries has done over hundred travel documentaries.

He had a bad start left school with no qualifications went on the dole. Very down. A lady at the dole said to him it's ok just take it Step by Step and that helped him he began to pick himself up and started work at the Times newspaper as a runner and volunteered to help in many ways often staying late. Then went on assignments and started writing too.

The book is unputdownable.

I glad I picked this up in a library published in 2018 I was reading fiction found boring wasn't interested or enjoyed reading many of them.

I like this true story a good writer. I think I'll try more of the same, autobiographies

Amazon Kindle have just sent me details of a JREllis series set in Yorkshire. Can anyone recommend this author or series?

Ive just finished, Operation Kingfisher by Hilary Green. A wartime story about two young refugees who join the resistance in france. I loved this book, anything by Hilary Green is unputdownable

Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan. Brilliant - House of Commons and the Old Bailey Trial (written from the point of view of the Prosecuting Barrister).

I used to read alot at one time but they were romance books. I read very little now and was thinking of getting back into reading with some of Agatha Christie books. Are they interesting?

About 100 pages in the book called “the wife between us”
Oh my phew talk about it’s warming up and my mind is ready
To spin …

I am reading through Polly Babbington's Pretty Beach series of books. They are easy read feel-good escapism (I'm definitely not an intellectual reader) but just what I like before I fall asleep at night. Unfortunately the next 2 books in the series are only available for Kindle. I don't have one and don't want one, so I may never know what happens next.

Travels with my Aunt by Graham Greene. It was the last Bookgroup choice but as they are still meeting on zoom which I don’t fancy, I gave it a miss then, I used to think it was by John Mortimer, no wonder I didn’t find it.
It is ok, but not gripping. Greene is quite a sophisticated writer and obviously well travelled himself.
In between I’m reading John Cheever’s Journals, quite marvellous and D.H.Lawrence’s poems. What a genius who died so young (TB, tell that to the anti vaxers).

To kill a mocking bird- just started it today

Nigel Slater's Toast ... warm comforting book about the foods we all used to eat in the 70's ...

Just starting House of Mirth by Edith Wharton because I enjoyed The Age of Innocence so much. Wonderful fluent prose and characters summed up very perceptively, in just a few words. Can't believe I have only just discovered her.

I'm ploughing through 'State of Terror' by Louise Penny and Hillary Clinton which I expected to be really interesting. But it's heavy going and the plot is so convoluted that it's hard to follow who is good and who is a traitor. Presumably, because it's using Hillary's experience as Secretary of State and Penny's expertise as a writer (one of my favourites) of crime fiction, it's sure to be a best-seller.

I’ve just finished reading Devorgilla Days by Kathleen Hart. It was utterly charming and so uplifting, just what I needed right now. It’s also set in one of my favourite places. It was recommended to me by a fellow GNer.

I’m now reading The Tudor Conspiracy by C W Gortner, an audible recommendation. I presume it’s recommended because I read a lot of factual historical stuff, with a good sprinkling of historical fiction. Not impressed so far, but I’ll persevere.

Just read The Sky Larks Secret by Fiona Valpy. Enjoyed the writing, the interesting research that went into it and the story. Now reading The Storyteller of Casablanca y the same author. Just bought two more of her books so feel I have found a new author to enjoy.

I’m reading ‘Away with the penguins’ by Hazel Prior. It is a delightful book, and no doubt may have already been mentioned previously.

I'm reading my favourite author Lionel Shriver's new book - Should We Stay or Should We Go. And I'm loving it. She tackles real-life issues and whether you thoroughly oppose her characters or find yourself guiltily agreeing with them, there are some real laugh-out loud moments despite the grim subject. Without spoilers, a married couple pledge to commit suicide on the youngest's 80th birthday. The story then goes into different scenarios leading to the 'big day' and beyond. Both Brexit and Covid-19 are covered. As usual, Shriver's writing is genius.