What are you reading? How do you feel about it?

[whatausername]

I'm reading Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton. Surprised by how much I'm enjoying it. I wish Mattie and Ethan were more articulate and better fibbers!

Is that by Humphrey Carpenter? I'm fascinated by the Inklings. I love the idea of these men, who could all read Ancient Greek, Latin, Italian, French, etc, who knew Homer in Greek and Dante in Italian, could meet up in a pub, get a little drunk, and listen to The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe, or The Hobbit being read out loud. It's wonderful to think that such brilliant people (Tolkien knew 20 languages, and Lewis was reading Paradise Lost when he was 10) could still take pleasure in simple stories.

I'm reading The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese. It is a sprawling family saga set in India in the early twentieth century and I am loving it, I look forward to picking it up and disappearing into green and watery world of Kerala with its paddy fields and coconut trees. So far it has been a good mixture of tragic and uplifting with engaging characters I care about,

@JaneyGee Yes that's the one! Written in the 70s and the style is obviously of its time. Oddly there's been no mention (yet) of Lion Witch and wardrobe series. I'm about 50 pages from the end. But lots of mention of The Hobbit and LOTR. Charles Williams is the third, he's less well known. They were indeed remarkable literary men with astonishing output. But some of it is very heavy going.... I read in the eve and it can be a struggle to fully grasp the literary criticism and religious discussions. Am enjoying it immensely though.

I've just finished 'Tomorrow and tomorrow and Tomorrow' by Gabrielle Zevin; it was great read and one that I was surprised to have enjoyed so much.
Currently half way through 'Black Water Lilies' by Michel Bussi. It's not my usual read (murder mystery) but I'm finding myself quite intrigued by it.

All fabulous books to have on the go!

I started this and gave up about a third of the way in. The absence of quotation marks etc didn't help, but I just could not deal with the grimness. Was actually dreading picking it up.
I love a bleak read usually, but this was too much even for me.

I read Colm Toibín's The Blackwater Lightship instead. About a grandmother, mother and adult daughter who don't get on, staying in the grandmother's house with the daughter's brother, who is dying of AIDS, and two of his friends.

Believe me, compared to Prophet Song it's a laugh a minute

Shades of Grey, Jasper Fforde. I’m not often in the mood for surrealism but I know from his The Eyre Affair that he is brilliant at it; there’s few books I chuckle out loud at yet both of these have caught me off-guard. The satire is readably clever.

@showmethegin and @MarkWithaC, about Prophet Song, I am 'reading' it on Audible where it is read by Gerry O'Brien who does a great job. I didn't realise the printed version was hard to access visually -I'm glad I didn't try to read the actual book as the combination of the harrowing content and idiosyncratic typesetting would have finished me off before I'd had a chance to enjoy it. As it is, I can just about cope with a chapter every other day. I work with asylum seekers, so keep thinking "There but for the grace of God..."

I'm reading The Sisters by Claire Douglas.
I'm feeling kind of meh, because the main character is annoying and I can't decide whether I'm interested enough in the story to finish it.

I'm also listening to Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch which I'm enjoying because I really like the characters and the narrator is great. I'm feeling jealous because I want to have magic 🤣 and feeling sad for one of the characters.

I just read Anna O by Matthew Blake. Probably because I binged it and shelled out for a hardback, I feel a bit grubby 😂

It was average and disappointing.

I’m reading The Black Witch by Lauren Forest and am absolutely loving it. It’s fantasy and I haven’t read fantasy since I was a teen but I’ll definitely try more after this. Great writing and engrossing story.

I don't normally go in for audiobooks, but maybe that's the way to approach Prophet Song. Good tip!

Crime & Punishment, and honestly I'm pleasantly surprised, in fact delighted, at how readable it is!

I approached it with fear and trepidation because of my perception that all Russian literature is incredibly heavy and difficult to understand. But my NYR for 2024 was to read some classics so I bit the bullet.

And I love it! It's like reading Donna Tartt mixed with Ruth Rendell mixed with Patricia Highsmith mixed with Dickens, four of my favourite authors. I'm at the bit where Raskolnikov's mum and sister are up in Petersburg to visit him and he's about to go and see Porfiry with Razumikhin.

My lesson from this is not to fear the classics as they're probably not all tremendously 'difficult' after all!

Just finished project Hail Mary - not my usual choice but it was fab. The writer has a decent sense of humour which filters into the book. Quite a bit of mystery - told in 2 timelines using flash backs as the protagonist recovers his memories. I’d recommend it.

The Poppy War.

Finding the mention of martial arts on every page annoying. It's OK at the moment. Too many characters for me. They all merge apart from a few.

I'm about half way through the 30+ series of Miss Silver books by Patricia Wentworth. I'm a huge fan of golden age detective fiction, but had never come across these until I saw them recommended on MN. I love a series, so I'm elated to find such a massive new one! I don't know why they're not better known: they're certainly not the best you'll ever read, but they have a charming period flavour which is very beguiling.

Also re-reading Bleak House and blown away again by how brilliant chapter 2 is.

Politics on the Edge - Rory Stewart. I'm torn between giving him a hug and wanting to slap him for being prepared to sell his soul to David Cameron. He falls into the trap of being flattered so often and continues to do so even now when he really should be a bit wiser.
Paper Cup - Karen Campbell. Absolutely gripping, she really gets inside the skin of Kelly's character. I work with quite a few chronically alcohol dependent clients and have met quite a few people like this....so sad.

Currently reading Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson.

Really enjoying it! Very funny and easy to read.

I'm currently reading Hilary Mantel, An Experiment in Love. I'm not loving it.

Some great shouts on this thread though

• Ethan Frome, absolutely
• Sebastian Barry, love him, especially Days without End and Annie Dunne. But, he has some linked books (following characters and their families), which are great individually but really annoying when you read them in succession, as characters change name between books, and some who are important in one book don't exist in another
• Angels and Insects, excellent
• Crime and Punishment, again, excellent
• The Road to Wigan Pier - I read this years ago but I often think of the squalid, sordid lives that people in this country endured only a century ago

Currently Adam Nevill's The Reddening. I'm a big horror fan and I love all of his work.
He could write about paint drying and I'd enjoy it though, he writes beautifully.

Yesterday I finished Assassin's Creed: Renaissance - I've been playing the game & wanted to see if it fleshed out the storyline.
Today I've bought & started Atalanta by Jennifer Saint - really enjoying it so far.

It doesn’t get any less unsettling, as you’ve probably found out by now! I like the way he juxtaposes beautiful descriptive language with the worst behaviour men are capable of. He’s never a cosy read though.

The Dead of Winter, by SJ Parris. I don't usually like historical spy and detective fiction but I picked this up and it had a nice sardonic tone to it - but OMG the man goes from one dangerous situation to the next with no time for anyone (reader or hero) to catch their breath. That might be because they are novellas so there's a lot to pack in so I feel inclined to try a longer book.

Also Coming Up for Air by George Orwell, due to NY resolution to read more classics. Forty four pages in and he really captures the desperation of the trapped middle aged man.

I loved this book, will have to give it another read, it’s usually in our library.
Just started Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson, good so far. Just finished the Echoes of the Fall trilogy by Adrian Tchaikovsky which was excellent, I hoovered it up! Am also listening to Murder at Mallowan Hall by Colleen Cambridge, nice bit of cosy crime. I’m a massive bookworm and read loads but I tend to listen rather than read some of the more worthy classics. Really enjoyed Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights on audio but think they would have been quite the slog in print.