Anyone fancy a chat about books?

[Pumperthepumper]

November is always my best reading month, I love cosying up with a blanket and a good read. I’m currently reading What Are You Looking At? 150 Years of Modern Art in the Blink of an Eye, which is amazing but needs a bit of attention so it’s taking me ages to get through it, and The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, which is just ok. What are you reading just now?

Bifswif, The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, are two of my most favourite books. Ever.

I've just finished 'the tattooist of auschwitz' but didn't enjoy it much because I thought it was so poorly written.

I'm currently reading, ' A little life' by Hanya Yanagihara.

And also: John Boyne,
'Heart's invisible furies'

Which both came recommended to me.

Rubbish- loathed Common People and the other one by the same author. Characters were completely unlikeable (and not even in a fun, intriguing way, just plain 'ffs get over yourself').

Also really disliked the Sealwomen's Gift. Good storyline, crap writing.

I'm reading The Underground Railroad atm. It's quite hard going in places but very good.

Dropping in to recommend Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. Excellent book! I’m a big Khaled Hosseini fan and this fits a similar genre.

I'm reading The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters. Also re reading The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

Just finished Burial Rites by Hannah Stewart. Enjoyed it but it didn't wow me, the writing was not amazing. Enjoyed it more for the historical details than anything else.

Anyone else read it?

I liked the Paying Guests but it wasn't as good as The Little Stranger.

The Sealwoman's Gift by Sally Magnusson. So good. Saw her at a Book Festival this weekend. Such an interesting story. Icelandic islands raided by pirates and the (true, but fictionalised) story of the captives.

Just finished The Toymakers, which I enjoyed. About to start Killing Commandatore, Murakami.

Recent reads for me have been Eleanor Oliphany which I enjoyed but it didn’t blow me away.

Also I had a day off on Monday and read the whole of Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips. I quite enjoyed it but felt it was a bit of a tailed off ending.

Thousand Splendid Suns is my absolute favourite book.

I am about to start The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto. I really like Mitch Albion but I have never met anyone else who has read his books.

*Mitch Albon

I read Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites a while back, and skimmed her subsequent novel which rehashed much the same thematic territory in 19thc Ireland. She’s a decent enough storyteller, but I don’t care for her habit of helping herself to other cultures, in languages she doesn’t speak — and the Irish book suffers from the begorras and gets things wrong.l

Pumper
I read it as a teen and just revisited it it's a very interesting read

I am loving Michelle Obama's Becoming. I don't usually enjoy biographies, but am glad that I made an exception in this case. Before that I was reading A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth - highly recommend it if you like long books where you can get invested in the characters and their families.

I'm not going to bother with Hannah Kent's Irish book. I'm Irish and I know it will annoy the life out of me. I was intrigued with the Icelandic one - does she actually speak Icelandic?

seaview I loved ‘the first five people you meet in heaven’ and ‘the first ‘ phone call’. I have ‘the next person you meet in heaven’ by my bed.

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker, for my Book Club. Really enjoying it so far. I think it paints a good picture of history, a period which I know nothing about, although it is pretty gory in places.

Just starting A Column of Fire, the third in the Pillars of the Earth Trilogy. Love a Ken Follett, Pillars of the Earth is my favourite book ever.

Having just watched A Discovery of Witches, I'm reading the All Souls Trilogy. Very good so far!

I have just bought the 5 set Cazalet Chronicles, half way through Volume 1. I aim to read a volume, have a break to read another fiction, then Vol 2 etc.

I am also reading Poverty Safari on my Kindle during my commute.

A bit disappointed by Seven Deaths reviews above. I have that cued up to read!

And the Rest is History by Jodi Taylor. Brilliant series. Death, betrayal, skulduggery, romance, time travel contemporary historical research, dinosaurs, Romans, Vikings, Normans, croquet, sausages inna bath - it's got it all.

I'm reading I capture the castle - I can't believe I've never read it!

Love A thousand splendid sunsans The Handmaid's tale. Also would recommend Chronicles if the traveling cat.

A thousand splendid suns and The Handmaid's tale...

Sigh... chronicles of the traveling cat. Sorry about fat finger spellings.

Gilead you must read The Timekeeper. It’s amazing!

If you love a fun read, you just must try Sweetpea by CJ Skuse - the best book I've read in forever.

In Bloom the sequel has just been published and builds on it beautifully (I read it in 2 days last week) but you must read the first one first

I'm onto Never Coming Back, the 4th David Raker book by Tim Weaver. It's started out well...