What are you all reading atm? And is it any good?

[MrsDanversBites]

Just finished The White Queen which was piss poor frankly...unlikeable characters, overplayed motif

now a third into Alias Grace which is much better, Atwood is just brilliant isn't she

Not sure what to read next though, hence thread...

halhway through Eva Luna atm which is fab, not read any Allende before but I would recommend her definitely

agree about Atwood -love her books, esp Cat's Eye - though haven't read Alias Grace

avoiding P gregory as heard she is dire

Thinking about American Wife next, keep hearing about it on MN!

I love Alias Grace

Half way through Wolf Hall which I am enjoying but also slightly struggling with

An Equal Music by Vikram Seth for the umpteenth time!

I loved Alias Grace, anything Allende and Vikram Seth !

I have just read The Help on hols - was v. good, really recommend it if you haven't read it.

I am always recommending Moloka'i by someone Brennert (I think) - tis the best book I've read in a long time.

Ah, I loved Wolf Hall but agree it takes your full attention

and ideally a nice quite room with absolutely no dcs in it...

Was eyeing up A Suitable Boy in the library Bramshott/Wheelybug but slightly put off by its sheer size...worth lugging it home then you think?

the best book I read recently was called OUT by Natsuo Kirino
not for the squeamish though

I also finished The Help recently. It took a while for me to get into it but then I really enjoyed it. I'm a couple of chapters into The Long Song and it looks promising.

I just finished The Children's Book by A S Byatt. I was absolutely captivated by it.

Have to agree about The White Queen though, I was very disapointed.

I am reading Wolf Hall too. Am hoping to get more of it read when the DC are back in school!

Egg Dancing by Liz Jensen. It's a page turner; she has a good turn of phrase and it is funny too. I also enjoyed My Dirty Little Book of Stolen Time, by the same author.

Loved Alias Grace.

I'm ploughing my way through a lot of South African fiction, as went there for the first time this year and found it such an interesting place.

Have just finished:

The Pick-Up by Nadine Gordimer, which follows the story of a white south african rich girl who falls in love with an illegal immigrant from an poor, unnamed middle eastern country. Very readable, some really interesting themes explored.

Ways of Dying by Zakes Mda. Dark, magical, story about a 'professional mourner' who is paid to grieve at the funerals of poor black South Africans in Soweto and the 'illegal' squatter's camps. Couldn't put it down.

Also read 'Kill Your Friends' by John Niven over the summer. Grim, but wickedly funny if you have ever worked in the music industry or know someone who has.

Just starting JM Coetzee's 'Boyhood' ( a memoir of his youth, I think).

Really want to get round to reading that Mandy memoir, Third Man.

Hi

I have just picked up, from the library, The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davies. It is not new out but new to me

Just to lower the literary tone, I am reading a lot of Nora Roberts at the moment - I have just finished The Search. Her books are not heavy works of intellectual fiction, but they are good stories and well written, so reading her is fun without feeling like you've gorged on junk food.

Oh and wheelybug i read The Help on holiday - it was very good

forgot to mention before, if you were disappointed by The White Queen but still interested in Elizabeth Woddville and the wArs of The Roses, Sharon Penman's 'The Sunne in Splendour' is superb

impeccable research (took her years)..characters you care about

But i warn you, you'll probbaly end up falling in love with Richard III...I'm serious(!)

Intrigued by those South African ones...

Am on an Ian Rankin spree atm. Staying at my parents' house and Dad has all of them. Really enjoying them. Have just started Doors Open right now but not sure that Rebus is in it yet.

Woodville

The Slap. Nominated for the booker this year. I didn't like any of the characters in it, but still found it completely captivating.

I hated The Slap. I wanted to slap every single one of the characters, especially the nasty mysoginistic men.

Another vote here for The Help. Finished it on Sunday and loved it.

I'm reading Kate Summerscale "The Suspicions of Mr Whicher or The Murder at Road Hill House" and I'm realy enjoying it.

Just finished a newish Rankin 'The Complaints'- excellent. And whipped through a Richard&judy (I think) list one whch was actually really enjoyable called The Silver Linings Play Book about a guy who's had a breakdown and can't get over his ex-wife.

I'm reading Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. Set in Ethiopia, I'm really loving it so far.

Previous to that read The White Tiger, which was okay but not sure why it won the Booker.

Have got The Slap, and New York by Edward Rutherford lined up (I love a good saga in the winter months!)

Don't know why I've never read any Rankin...

seems a bit blokey or something, which is ridiculous as I like lots of male authors

liking these concise names 'The Slap', 'The Help', is it a new trend?