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!

The best thing I've read in a long time is: "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain (it's just out in paperback). He is a New York City chef and the book is all about his wild career in restaurants and many revealing things about the industry. If you're interested in food you'll probably love it! I read it in 2 or 3 sittings which never happens. I've recommended it to loads of people and they all seem to agree.

Eric if you liked regeneration you'd love Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks - brilliant, give me nightmares it was so vividly written. The Susan Hill novel about the war is Strange Meeting - good too.

No I haven't read any more EB White but I will, very charming. Kate Atkinson rings a bell, what else has she written?

I'm reading The Heart of the Matter as well at the moment but it's a little bleak so I have to be in the right mood...

Glad to hear someone else liked Disgrace, I thought maybe I'd got it all wrong!!

Roglyn, Hi. Kate Atkinson is one of my favourite contemporary authors. She wrote "Behind the scenes at the musuem" and "Human croquet", both which I thoroughly enjoyed. Her style is unusual, taking the reader into a rather bizarre world of relationships and dysfunctional families. Her narrative is both engaging and funny. I am saving her most recent book, "Emotionally weird" for my Hols!! Happy reading.

My friend was at Dundee Uni with Kate Atkinson. She says the books reflect her character very accurately. She even had a cat called Piewacker(sp) as appears in one of the books. I'm not sure if my friend has been depicted in any of the books, though!

Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving has got to be one of my favourite all time reads,Garp is also good but I haven't been able to get into any of his others in the same way.
Are there any Amy Tan fans out there?

I loved The Kitchen God's Wife and The Joy Luck Club - thanks for reminding me about her - she will be on my list for the next library trip. It was she who led me to read David Guterson "Snow Falling on Cedars" - I found the whole fusion of asian cultures with the west really interesting. Staying with the asian theme - Memoirs of a Geisha (author?) and Wild Swans (Jung Chang) which I found amazing (I think it helped that I had studied that period in Chinese history in depth and so was familiar with the names and the politics of the earlier years but worth persevering). I do like autobiographies; maybe I'm just v nosy. The series written by Maya Angelou are on a compulsory list. Also all books by Annie E Proulx.

Harrysmum,Amy Tan has a new book called something like "the bone setters daughter" it is still in hardback so the finances don't stretch that far!have you heard of it ?I loved Memiors too but found wild swans too confusing with all the unfamiliar names ,I couldn't remember who was male or female.
Another great book was "fall on your knees" by anne-marie mcdonald slightly sinister but unput donwable ,nearly caused marital breakdown!!

Harrysmum I loved Wild Swans too although it's not an easy read, I felt so outraged about the way women were treated. Do you like Kazuo Ishiguro who's an interesting example of the fusion of Japanese and western culture?

Just remembered,another rattling good read is A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth. (I saw him once in Oxford Street but was so overcome with shyness I couldn't make myself go up to him and tell him how much I liked it..)

I'm reading Wild Swans at the minute - it's amazing, fascinating, distressing and totally spellbinding! This lady I know who founded a children's charity in China recommended it to me.

If the plight of the children in China interests anyone, there is a website www.goodrock.org.uk. The lady I mentioned founded it after watching The Dying Rooms on Ch4. She rescues abandoned and orphaned children, works to get better facilities in the orphanages, sets up foster homes and adoption programmes, and is currently trying to set up some crisis centres for women to go and receive counselling, contraception, information and advice.
China hasn't changed much since that book was written.

I have read all of Ishiguro- most recently "When we were orphans" and really enjoyed them all. One surprising absetee from this thread seems to be "The Goddess of small things" by Arundhati Roy which I absolutely loved. Am struggling through Cat's Eyes by Margaret Drabble at the mo but am finding the subject matter of relentless bullying of a small girl depressing and tough going.

I read Cat's Eyes - I thought it was by Margaret Atwood? Good book though - well worth finishing! And it does get better!

Of course you are right Lisa!. As an aside, last night had the first instalment of a new series on parenting - "Life as an Infant" last night at 9.00pm on Radio 4. It is well worth listening to.

Falling Leaves by Adeline something is another autoboigraphical story about a hong kong chinese child,there is also a childrens version called Chinese Cinderella which my 10 yr old enjoyed and put a different perspective on the"you don't love me"line!!
Once in a house on fire by Andrea Ashworth is an amazing and gripping autobiography.

Bells1 what did you reckon to 'The Unconsoled' I thought it was such an extraordinary book, like a (very long!) dream and not at all like the rest of Ishiguro. Haven't got round to 'when we were orphans'yet but it's on my list.

Muriel Spark's one of my favourites too - partic 'the Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' 'Memento Mori' and 'A far cry from Kensington' Funny and sharp.

Definitely my least favourite Roglyn - complex and confusing!

Yes, I finished it, but was none the wiser at the end - what the hell was it about??

Vseager - I'm now reading "Kitchen Confidential" on your recommendation, and I can confirm that it's great. You feel that there's loads more he could write too. I think the line on the back "Elizabeth David written by Quentin Tarantino" sums it up very well. Any other books to recommend?

I'm reading 'Fast Food Nation' by Eric Schlosser (I think I spelled that right)- about the fast food industry - scary !

I've just finished and really enjoyed "Welcome to the world, baby girl", by Fannie Flagg (who also apparently wrote "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe"). It was an engrossing read and I'd recommend it to anyone who is right up to date with their Anne Tylers and yearning for more. I have just been ploughing my way through the excellent Ian Rankine Inspector Rebus series, set in Edinburgh, so it was nice to read a book where the sun shone sometimes and there was a happy ending.

Hi - got an interesting one for you which has been recommended for the Book Club I'm in. Its' a collection of poems by Carol Ann Duffy called 'The World's Wife'.
The poems reference stories of famous men e.g. Midas, Darwin, Quasimodo & King Kong - but are written from the perspective of the lesser-known wife.
They seem to be a mixture of funny and intriguing, although I think you'd need to know your Greek myths to 'get' some of the longer poems.
I'd love to insert a short excert here as a taster, but I guess it's breach of copyright.

Marina I loved both those Fanny Flagg books esp. the Fried Green Tomatoes.I'm drifting at the moment and need a really good book to get my teeth into ,any suggestions?I'm trying Brian Unsworth Sacred Hunger has anyone read it?

Yes, Boo321, I have - not that long ago actually. I enjoyed it very much. It's - ahem - a bit raunchy in places! Very atmospheric though, I like Barry Unsworth a lot.
I've also just bought Maggie O'Farrell's After You'd Gone for the holidays, as it's had brilliant word of mouth. Several of the booksellers are doing either 3 for £10 or 3 for the price of 2 on several "beach reads" - I got Lorna Sage's Bad Blood and a Barbara Kingsolver with the above for £10. Not bad I feel.

Great Marina I'll carry on with it if I can keep my eyes open,its such a huge book it is a little daunting when you're only on page 23.Anyway with the school holidays upon us maybe I'll have loads of spare time...

I am reading Smiling In Slow Motion by Derek Jarman. I can't put it down it is wonderful; poignant, funny, heartbreaking and beautifully written.

I've just finished 'On Green Dolphin Sreet' by Sebastian Faulks. Slow paced, but so brilliantly written, you are there.