Please or to access all these features

What we're reading

Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

What are you currently reading, how do you feel about it, and what's next on the list?

996 replies

IceIceBabyBump · 02/09/2024 13:30

Currently:
I'm currently about half way through "Enter Ghost" by Isabella Hammad.

Feeling:
I've been working my way through the six books shortlisted for the Women's Prize and this is the last one. It's probably bottom of my list of those books. I haven't at all clicked with the characters and I'm finding it quite boring to be honest.

Next:
I've just had my next stack of four books delivered and I think I'll try George Orwell's "1984" next. I'm excited.

OP posts:
FoxRedPuppy · 12/10/2025 20:23

Just finished The Secret Life of Bees by sue Monk Kidd. I loved it, read it in a weekend.

I’m going to start A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum now.

@Eastie77Returns I often find that with books I’m told are life changing. The Alchemist for example.

efeslight · 12/10/2025 18:52

Currently reading The Radiant Way, by. Margaret Drabble, written in the 80s, really enjoying it.

Next is possibly The Ink Black Heart, by Robert Galbraith or as a PP mentioned an Ann Cleeves. I have read all her Shetland and Vera books and am trying to find books from her back catalogue

Eastie77Returns · 12/10/2025 18:04

I have just finished a book chosen by my book club, The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas - a famous Norwegian writer I'll admit I'd never heard of. I was told it was a masterpiece and a life changing read but I was bored senseless by it tbh and think it was just all too profound for me. Not sure if it was the translation but the writing seemed very clunky in places. Apparently it could be read on several levels and there are various deep interpretations of the story (it's set in a Norwegian village and is about the friendship between two young girls, one of whom goes missing in a frozen waterfall) but it went completely over my head!

I've moved on to Days at the Torunka Cafe by Satoshi Yagisawa. I'm planning to visit Japan next year and love Japanese authors so happy with my latest choice.

beguilingeyes · 08/10/2025 20:10

I'm just about to start The Beekeeper Of Aleppo, which was, I think, a Kindle Daily Deal. There seems to be an enormous rash of these 'The Something of Somewhere ' books.

Purplebunnie · 08/10/2025 16:56

IceIceBabyBump · 08/10/2025 14:16

I've just finished "See What I Have Done" by Sarah Schmidt. It was brilliant and I've added a couple of nights in Lizzie Borden House to my bucket list.

Now I'm reading "Led Feather" by Stephen Graham Jones for book club. It was my recommendation after seeing it on a list of "Must Read Historical Fiction"

😬😬It's bad. Like, really bad. It's wanky, incomprehensible nonsense. I'm about half way through and looking forward to it ending. Has anyone else read it?

I've read the Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones. Such hard work especially when Good Stab is talking, I got that big ears was a donkey but struggled to understand the other descriptions, did a lot of Googling and there are lists I did learn about the Marias Massacre of which I was unaware. It was history but with a horror twist. I don't think I will read anything else of his, horror is not my genre

Edited for clarity

IceIceBabyBump · 08/10/2025 14:16

I've just finished "See What I Have Done" by Sarah Schmidt. It was brilliant and I've added a couple of nights in Lizzie Borden House to my bucket list.

Now I'm reading "Led Feather" by Stephen Graham Jones for book club. It was my recommendation after seeing it on a list of "Must Read Historical Fiction"

😬😬It's bad. Like, really bad. It's wanky, incomprehensible nonsense. I'm about half way through and looking forward to it ending. Has anyone else read it?

OP posts:
redfairy · 07/10/2025 19:40

I'm currently on holiday and have just finshed reading the following: Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North. Sequel to Harold Fry books and another great read from Rachel Joyce, The Memory Library by Kate Storey- enjoyed it and an easy read, and Slags by Emna Jane Unsworth which I give a solid 12 out of 10. I didn't want this book to finish.

MonkeyTennis34 · 07/10/2025 19:40

@MotherOfCatBoy
Me!
I loved it too. Yes, Gore certainly was hot!

MotherOfCatBoy · 07/10/2025 18:23

Currently enjoying the Kristin Lavransdatter readalong very much.

Devoured The Ministry of Time this week. Absolutely loved the characters esp the “expats,” people brought forward from previous eras. You are supposed to fall in love with Commander Gore, the polar explorer from 1847, and I did, because he’s super hot. Not sure about the lesser established “ministry” characters though, or the ending. I did like the background musings on Empire and the de-centred sense of the narrator being mixed race and sceptical of the Establishment whilst becoming ever more part of it.
Anyone else read it?

Purplebunnie · 05/10/2025 21:38

Currently reading Bury our Bones in the Midnight Soil. Not normally a reader of vampire novels. Whatever is next it won't be about vampires

FoxRedPuppy · 05/10/2025 19:59

Finished the Crooked Branch, which I thought was mediocre.

Just started A River in Darkness, written by someone who escaped from North Korea. It’s great so far. He was half Japanese and was “repatriated” in the 1950s. I’ve read a few books about North Korea, but this is an interesting angle.

Lynz301 · 04/10/2025 11:44

I’m currently reading The IT Girl by Ruth Ware - enjoying it, but now waiting to see if my guess is correct for whodunnit!

recently finished Lonesome Dove and really liked it! Will finish Butter next for my book group and considering Shogun for my next long read!

beguilingeyes · 03/10/2025 06:28

Oh, I loved Toast...
The Simon Tolkien turned out to be a bit disappointing so I've gone back a a sure thing for my next read. Buried Prey by John Sandford. The man can write.

Hurdlin · 02/10/2025 21:38

I've recently finished Glasgow Boys by Margaret McDonald. Tough subject matter but really uplifting. One of my best reads of the year.

Beetrooty · 02/10/2025 20:41

Toast by Nigel Slater. A memoir.

A bit disappointing. I want to know more about what happened with his family.

Dr13Hadley · 02/10/2025 20:17

I’m about 2/3 of the way through Circle of Days by Ken Follett. I’m a big fan of his Pillars of the Earth series and although I’m enjoying this one there seems to be something missing and I can’t put my finger on what…… it seems to be lacking depth in some way. I’ll carry on anyway but I’m a bit disappointed so far.

ObtuseMoose · 02/10/2025 12:49

I'm reading Sky Daddy by Kate Folk. Linda is sexually attracted to aeroplanes and longs to die in a fiery crash so she can be with her 'sky daddy' forever. Weird and funny I'm enjoying it so far.

MonkeyTennis34 · 02/10/2025 11:22

Just finished Tilt by Emma Pattee. It had a really interesting premise but ultimately was very disappointing.

MissMarplesNiece · 02/10/2025 11:09

I'm reading Travelling in A Strange Land by David Park. It's so beautifully written, a total contrast to the last two lots of drivel I read. A father is driving from Belfast to Sunderland in a snowstorm to pick up his sick son and take him home for Christmas. Along the journey he thinks about his life and the events that have shaped it.

tobee · 01/10/2025 19:28

Iamblossom · 30/09/2025 20:21

Noone has read O Caledonia? 😢. Please do it's amazing and I need to discuss it 😂

Yeah same as @ObtuseMoose @Iamblossom 😊

Yourinmyspot · 01/10/2025 11:41

Currently reading The story of a heart by Rachel Clarke. It’s about a heart transplant and tells you about the donor and recipient. There is also the history of how transplants came about and medical advances. It’s a heartbreaking read, yet interesting. I’m probably going to read Butter next.

ObtuseMoose · 01/10/2025 08:31

Iamblossom · 30/09/2025 20:21

Noone has read O Caledonia? 😢. Please do it's amazing and I need to discuss it 😂

It's on my tbr but not sure when I'll get to it.

Iamblossom · 30/09/2025 20:21

Noone has read O Caledonia? 😢. Please do it's amazing and I need to discuss it 😂

beguilingeyes · 30/09/2025 11:01

I'm reading something called The Palace At The End Of The Sea by Simon Tolkien (grandson of). It's better than I expected and I'm really enjoying it. It's the story of a young Jewish boy growing up in New York from the 20s through to the war years.

FoxRedPuppy · 30/09/2025 07:13

IceIceBabyBump · 25/09/2025 16:11

I'm reading "Burial Rites" by Hannah Kent at the moment as recommended on another MN thread.

I love it. It's atmospheric, dark and foreboding.

Up next might be "The Bone People" by Kerrie Hulme.

I loved Burial Rites.