read any good books lately?

[Candy]

Hi everyone!
I was wondering what you are currently reading or have read recently and enjoyed? Having just read several by Joanne Harris (Chocolat and Blackberry Wine) and two history books by Giles Milton (Nathaniel's Nutmeg and Big Chief Elizabeth) I'm stuck for what to read next. Any suggestions much appreciated!

I thought the Owl Service was a very scary book - well worth re-reading! Can anybody remember the book where the girl had a magic pencil and created a house with a little crippled boy and stones with eyes? I think they made it into a TV series as well.

You can read some of these books online here at the Gutenberg Book project - just search by author. I especially enjoyed re-reading E Nesbit again, as some of these are out of print (although I see they have just re-issued the House of Arden in a fancy new series of children's books).

Holiday reading - Fallen Angels by Tracey Chevalier (her first book was better though), Back When We Were Young (?can't remember exact title offhand) by Anne Tyler, and the sequel to Driving Over Lemons, A Parrot in a Pepper Tree. All very easy to read and well-written - although the Anne Tyler was a bit too similar to her other books I thought.

I can remember reading The Owl Service - and being quite terrified by it (yes, I'm a wimp) - although I did enjoy it.

I LOVED Ballet SHoes and White Boots - re-read them loads of times. Lorna Hill's books about ballet were favourites too - I used to devour them.

A wee bit older and I enjoyed "I Capture the Castle" by Dodie Smith.

I used to be a real bookworm but now only read when I'm on holiday. I have an inability to put a book down, which means that it's not sensible to start a book on a work night!

I read all 4 Harry Potter books in 4 days on our skiing holiday earlier this year - I wasn't particularly good company in the chalet until I'd finished them (although in my defence, the weather was really bad, so I was reading during the day too). Dh was a book behind me - which was frustrating (for both of us!) as I knew too much!

I fancy getting the Philip Pullman trilogy if and when we ever book a summer break.

One unusual book I really enjoyed was "An Instance of the Fingerpost" (can't remember who it was by) - it's a who-dunnit set in the 18th century told from 4 different perspectives.

Sorry, who was The Owl Service by? I'm after a good read and as a few of you have recommended it, I shall get it from the library. Is it a horror then?

The Owl Service is by Alan Garner. I got this quote from a Google search:

"This is a magical book, and the finest of Garner's young adult novels. Now, a lot of people associate magic with ethereal forces, great quests and spells and all that, and indeed spells can be found in several of Garner's other books. The Owl Service reveals a different kind of magic, the kind that arises from the interaction of people with patterns, of desires that unwittingly mesh with the larger forces around us, harsh magic that people employ without knowing it. The book is multi-layered, with themes that sneak up on the reader, requiring a second or third read, and many fans who read the book as children report returning to it as adults. This book won the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Award, and has remained in print since its original publication".

It's not actually horror - more fantasy but with high tension - and I probably wouldn't be scared now (although I am a sad person who still gets scared by Dr Who and Star Trek!). Actually, all this discussion makes me feel like re-reading it!

I was v scared by The Owl Service and I think I was about 20 when I read it! (The claws........)

Have just reread I Capture the Castle - it was out of print for years but was reissued as a Virago quite recently. Dodie Smith also wrote the Dalmatian books but they don't appeal in quite the same way, somehow.

The Painted Garden was about a film of the Secret Garden - Pauline and Posy were both in it - and what about A Little Princess! And Little Lord Fauntleroy!

The Kizzy book was called the Diddakoi (sp?) - I think it was Rumer Godden. She was very prolific - is she still alive?

The latest Anne Tyler is Back When we were grownups (or grownup), I haven't read that yet, am waiting for a book club offer! I have read many of hers and love them. I like Alsion Lurie too but she is not as witty or touching.

For all these writers who wrote so many books the library is a good bet, some of them are out of print but will still be available in libraries and they usually have a pretty good facility for finding things at other branches.

Another lovely writer is Philippa Pearce (Pierce?) - I esp liked A Dog So Small, though that made me cry too. And one of my daughters, between the ages of 9-ish to 11ish, devoured Charlotte's Web (more floods), The Trumpet of the Swan and Stuart Little, all by E B White (she named successive hamsters after the heroes)

"Falling Angels" by Tracy Chevalier is excellent. I read this having loved her first novel "The Girl With the Pearl Earring"

I liked that Tracey Chevalier one too, and the Girl with the Pearl Earing. Five Quarters of an Orange is good, by Joanne Harris - I liked it better than Chocolat. Have also just re read the fantastic Bilgewater, by Jane Gardam, which I first read when I was about 15. "Beware of self-pity" is a motto I've always remembered from that book. I just don't always apply it!

SueDonim - Lorna Hill's ballet books were Laura's Summer Ballet (which was the second) and the first was something like Laura's Ballet Shoes (it's next door in ds's room and he has just gone over so I don't want to sneak in just yet!). I was given them as hand-me-downs from my much older cousin and loved them. Just fueled the notion that I could be 12 and still discovered as the next Royal Ballet star (not that I even went to ballet lessons - my parents thought that Scottish country dancing lessons were much more sensible/useful).

My dd (5 1/2) enjoys hearing the "My Naughty Little Sister" stories which I used to have read to me when I was a child. They have some kind of timeless appeal. Even 20-odd years ago when I first read them they were old-fashioned. Dd particulary likes the story of the eponymous Naughty Little Sister and her pal Bad Harry eating all the trifle at a party. Ds (3 1/2) enjoys the Railway Series (now known as Thomas the Tank) stories which his daddy enjoyed as a boy. Another favourite is Milly Molly Mandy and my MIL used to read those when SHE was little. (And she's over 70.) You can't beat the classics.

Thaks, Harrysmum - brings back memories for me of getting loads of library books to read during the summer holidays. And the summer were longer and hotter then, I'm sure!

What about 'boys'books - anyone read them? I loved the William books, by Richmal Crompton while my two DB's liked Biggles and the Jennings books.

sigh! reading all about everyone's childhood books, makes me think of my most favourite book during my teen angst years!!!

The Outsiders by SE Hinton, was there ever such a sensitive soul as ponyboy curtis! I read it so many times i lost count and i could recite the first paragraph off by heart, i knew it inside out and upside down, i pledged to myself that i would try and write a book before i was 18 (hinton was 17/18 when she wrote it!)... alas i didn't get that far! but i was inspired to write a diary! still do (on and off!!)

Catweazel - I remember a teacher at school reading us this, but I've searched for it on Amazon, etc., and no-one I've ever spoken to has ever heard of it. Did I dream it all? I'm not sure of the spelling - might be Katweazle, or anything similar!

KMG, it's Catweazle - have another go on Amazon, you should get some results! I always watched the TV programme - what was the name of that toad??

FrancesJ - Yes I read the "Chalet School" books. This thread is really unearthing all the bookworms. I remember reading in bed with a cardigan over the wall light (so Mum wouldn't notice) and being disturbed by a burning smell to find a huge patch of singed wool! I hid the cardigan and I don't think I ever got found out.

I have just read 2 excellent books: The Church Of Dead Girls by Stephen Dobyns (thriller), a bit unsettling at times but a gripping read, and Tell No One by Harlen Coben (crime), which according to the cover is "currently being made into a Hollywood feature film".

Jodee - THANK YOU! I thought I'd tried all possible permutations of Cs v Ks, Ss v Zs, and 'el's and 'le's! Unfortunately it's limited available - i.e. out of print with Amazon. Maybe I'll find a copy one day ... and probably discover it's rubbish and I had no taste in literature when I was 10.

I'm reading "A Mad World, My Masters" by John Simpson (the BBC bloke who took over from Kate Adie at getting sent to all the dodgy places). It is very interesting and insightful (unless I'm just ignorant about the world at large) but an easy read because he'll devote a couple of pages to a story about sailing down the Amazon to attend a cocain market before moving onto a description of a trip to a Russian city which does not officially exist. ie it is written in bite size chunks.

KMG, I've bought a couple of out-of-print books from second hand book dealers on the net, and received excellent servive, so if you're desperate to get Catweazle that might be worth trying. HTH

I've got the John Simpson book coming out in our shipment; glad to hear it's worth reading!

Bozza - lol at the singed cardigan story! I remember reading with a torch under the bedclothes - only problem being I'd end up with loads of books at the bottom of my bed, so usually got found out.
ks - I've read 'Quincunx', but haven't a clue about the mystery either, sorry. I made the mistake of reading it at the same time as 'Foucault's Pendulum' and got horribly confused with the two books, too (I was, err, dating a post-grad english student during this particular phase of reading material, and, ahem, am a bit dubious as to exactly what was governing my motives - ashamed though I am to admit this I think I was trying to impress him with my knowledge of large and heavy books). I'll give Quincunx another try though. And that particular reading phase did introduce me to Italo Calvino, so some good came out of it!
Suedonim - Biggles! I loved Biggles. Never had any though, they were all from the library, alas, so can't re-read them. Wasn't there a female version too, called 'Worrals'? Not half so good as Biggles, as I remember - but then she flew mainly transport planes, I think. A don't think I took to Worrles/Worrals that much.
Anyone read David Almond? His modern children's fiction ('Skellig' in particular) I think is wonderful. Black, and quite weird, but wonderful.