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!

I am (was) reading One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich but have taken a break as it’s pretty bleak (based on his time in a Soviet gulag). I needed something light so have wizzed through The Night Circus and am now onto The Rose Code by Kate Quinn which i’m enjoying so far.

I have Prophet Song on my kindle and just looked at the format. Hmm, might give that a miss for a while. I recently read A Passage North which was another Booker nomination with paragraphs running on for pages / stream of consciousness. Just use punctuation and tell the story for god’s sake!

I really don't understand what writing in that style adds to a book. I think it's pretentious in the extreme

The Summer That Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniel

Ive nearly finished it now, and I don't want it to end. There are some really sad parts, but a great read.

Currently reading Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor which is good but only just started it and got as a book subscription from Mr B’s Book Emporium Bath (Christmas present) Cecily by Annie Garthwaite which is an epic retelling of the Wars of the Roses which also seems good and am reading beside the first.

I love Edith Wharton’s ghost stories so will try yours OP.

I’m reading the Priory of the Orange Tree- it’s very traditional epic fantasy which I enjoy but haven’t read any of in ages, so I’m still getting to grips with who all the characters are, the geography of all the countries, which religion is which etc. looking promising so far though!

Reading Still Life by Sarah Winman.
Just over 100 pages in and slowly starting to enjoy it more.
Love the characters, not completely sure about the story. Feeling undecided about it. I think it's one of those books that you really need to finish to decide if you enjoyed it or not.

I enjoyed Still Life - it wasn't perfect and a bit unlikely in places but I loved the bits set in Florence especially.

I'm reading Trustee from the Toolroom by Neil Shute. I loved Pied Piper by the same author but this is a less accessible read. The plot is fine but there's quite a lot of engineering detail which is going over my head. I'll be passing it on to my BIL who will enjoy it much more!

I'm reading Sula by Toni Morrison. I'm actually listening to her reading it. Really enjoying it but the audio book is annoying because I keep missing bits where she's almost whispering.

@MMorriganManor I saved reading the ending for when everyone was asleep and it was quiet, what a mistake! I couldn't sleep! The most dark and disturbing book I've read in a long time. He wrote about everything so brilliantly that I could feel and smell the places described plus a heart racing plot, just wow. I love how books can make you feel so repulsed and in awe at the same time. I want to read more of his but maybe after a break so I can get over this one first as it's still very much with me 😂. Sounds like you have read a few, any recommendations for a second one of his?

@Elzibells The Perfect Golden Circle is very elegiac and gentle. Two men making crop circles at the height of the crop circle mania. It’s still got that Myers edge but not to the extent of Beastings.
The Offing is similar in tone.

Pig Iron is absolutely brutal and some scenes still ping round my head, like Beastings.

Cuddy is sublime. Split into sections, travelling through time around the central theme of St Cuthbert’s journey to Durham (in his coffin) and the building of the Cathedral. Experimental poetry for the Saint bits, factual extracts from historians, an MR James pastiche, a playscript……..all with recurring themes to watch out for (women who ‘serve’, owl eyed boys). Only the last section is set in the present day.

If you like Ben Myers you might also like Ironopolis by Glen James Brown. It tracks the fading fortune of an estate in Middlesbrough and the intertwined lives of the people who live there. Stalking all of them is the folklore figure of Peg Powler.

Last night I decided to give up on "The Buried Giant" by Kazuo Ishiguro.

I have loved his other books but "The Buried Giant" was absolutely fucking shit - slow, boring, really unlikeable characters, way too much incredibly stunted dialogue. Plus, fucking dragons everywhere. Just why?!

I'm not sure what book to start tonight.

lol this reminded me of the YEARS I spent trying to read “The Unconsoled” 😂

I’ve just finished Maggie Farrell’s Hamnet. I can’t imagine why it has taken me so long to get around to this one. What I have taken away from this (first) reading is a deeper appreciation of how people grieve differently. I also loved how the novels has echoes throughout of the play (Hamlet) but so subtly handled that you are never quite sure whether it is an allusion or not. It made me think of the stage/way of grief where you see or think you see fragments of the person of you lost. Wonderful wonderful book

Ha, I was looking at which of his other books to try next and "The Unconsoled" seemed to have a lot of similar themes to "The Buried Giant" - a journey, amnesia etc. So, not that one 😅

I’m reading Still Life - I nearly put it to one side after the first part but picked it up again after a few days and am glad I did. I’m enjoying the writing and it’s quite funny in places. It’s not always clear who is speaking - why do some authors not use quote marks? I think it’s a book to read slowly and to savour.

@Thewolvesarerunningagain Hamnet is getting made into a film now, I hoping for great things!

@MMorriganManor

OK, well I've got Pig Iron here, so that's getting left for now, thanks for the heads up.

Cuddy sounds intriguing and very much my thing, I'll look forward to that, I'm getting As I Lay Dying vibes.

Thanks for the recommendations, but also not thanking you as now have 5 more books added to my ever growing TBR pile!

Billy Connolly Rambling Man. Wonderful stash of stories from his life and times. Much stifled giggles while husband sleeps.

I’m reading Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami. I marvel at the sheer craziness of his imagination. I’m a big fan of his work so I am enjoying it immensely.

City of Last Chances. I am not sure if it's my kind of book. Borrowed it from Libby app on audiobook and several chapters in. Will keep going!

@Elzibells I loved every word of The Gallow’s Pole by Benjamin Myers. I haven’t read anything else of his yet but I will be checking out all of MMorriganManor’s suggestions.

Lisey's Story by Stephen King. It's awful. I'm about halfway through and it's really long so I don't want to abandon it but I really don't like it a t all.

Losing hope. Just finished hopeless.

Need to try and get in to it but I just found hopeless ok. A bit of an easy read

Want something more gripping but do t have the concentration

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I started a thread about what I'm reading and nobody took me up on it!

So...I'm reading Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent. It's Judi Dench in conversation talking about her experiences of playing all the Shakespeare roles she's played, and the different productions.

It's called that because that's what she & Michael Williams, her late husband, called Shakespeare.

It's fabulous, I'm racing through it; highly recommended. If you like Judi Dench or Shakespeare or theatre you'll love it. If you like all 3 👌