What are you currently reading, how do you feel about it, and what's next on the list?

[IceIceBabyBump]

Currently:
I'm currently about half way through "Enter Ghost" by Isabella Hammad.

Feeling:
I've been working my way through the six books shortlisted for the Women's Prize and this is the last one. It's probably bottom of my list of those books. I haven't at all clicked with the characters and I'm finding it quite boring to be honest.

Next:
I've just had my next stack of four books delivered and I think I'll try George Orwell's "1984" next. I'm excited.

I'm in such a reading slump, I keep starting books and almost immediately putting them down! I will attempt A Christmas Carol tonight and if that doesn't get me out of it then I don't know what will.

What kind of books/genre do you like?

I'll give anything a try other than romance novels. I really love a weird book (Tender is the Flesh, Nightbitch, Diavola, etc.). I think it's more that I've got a lot going on at the moment, waiting to move house and everything that goes with that!

@ObtuseMoose

Weird book

Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

Reading Belinda by Maria Edgeworth.
Very much enjoying it. Next probably Crime and Punishment by Feodor Dostoevsky.
Always looking for recommendations and like trying a range of genres and time periods.

I've read and enjoyed both of those.

@ObtuseMoose

The Peculiar Life Of A Lonely Postman

Thank you, I've actually had this on my Kindle for years, I'll give it a try tonight.

Beth Moran -Let it Snow
-really enjoyed this book. I would describe it as a chick-lit but with a bit of a substance. It’s well written, easy to read, with a good storyline.

A Christmas Romance in the Scottish Highlands - Donna Ashcroft

• this is pure chick-lit, and obviously based on Cinderella. Main people are called Ella and Alex Forbes-Charming. We have a step mother, and two step brothers (not sisters). So far, it’s an easy, holiday read.

(Just caught up on the last few pages. Am I the only one reading Christmas chick lit?)

Just finished I Named My Dog Pushkin by Margarita Gokum Silver - funny memoir of moving to the US from the USSR in 1989. She’s very good about family dynamics and it’s touching in places - her parents sound awful to her tbh I felt very sympathetic - lots of cultural insights into being both Soviet and Jewish.

About to start Doctor Zhivago, never read it before, seems right for the time of year.

About to DNF my current book: Beauty and Sadness by Yasunari Kawabata. A load of misogynistic bollocks that has not aged well

going to read Never Let Me Go instead

I've got two on:

• Susan Hill, The Benefit of Hindsight, Book 10 of the Simon Serrailler series as an e-audio book
• Charlotte Vassell, The Other Half as an e-book

Love them both.

Just finished Orbital by Samantha Harvey

I was really looking forward to this, as I love a good space book and it won the Booker, so I was hoping it would be a good read. Honestly though, I was disappointed and having read Scott Kelly's 'Endurance' (about his year spent aboard the ISS), and heard Tim Peake give a talk I didn't feel I learned anything new. Also, it's only a short book, just 130 pages, but there are some really dull bits. There are whole chapters where she basically recounts which parts of Earth the ISS is passing over during that orbit and I found myself skipping forward to something actually happening. Because the book only covers 24 hours in the life of the astronauts you don't have time to get to know them and form any opinions about them. There is quite a sweet bit about the woman who is in charge of the mice, but apart from that I felt a bit like a stalker watching them via a video link, which wasn't that great tbh!

Next, I think I'm going to read 'Great Uncle Harry: A Tale of War and Empire' by Michael Palin. I fancy something non-fiction and I've always enjoyed his books.

Hi all, I hope you've all had a lovely xmas!

Just finished

Jane Eyre: Charlotte Bronte - It took me much longer than I would have liked.

I am trying to widen my reading preferences by attempting to read some of the classics. When I'm not able to read them as quickly and with the same enjoyment as the more modern and/or well-known titles, I need to remind myself that it wouldn't kill me to finish the book. I'm not averse to putting a book down if I truly hate it though.

I have recently come back to MN and reading these chats has spurred me on.

So I would now like some suggestions for my next reads, please.

To give me a headstart I would 4 recommendations

1. Crime/Thriller/Psychological Thriller

2. Classic

3. Lighthearted Chick-lit

4. A book in Spanish suitable for an intermediate learner from one of these genres. Preferably modern.

Hopefully, I will be able to reach the 50 books in 2025. Once the thread has started I will join that too.

@LuckyMauveReader

Come and Join 50 Book Challenge loads of active posters to help out with suggestions We are doing a read along of Count of Monte Cristo so that as a classic. None Of This Is True for a thriller by Lisa Jewell

Hi, Thank you for that. Is the new thread for 2025 up yet? I was going to wait for that and start my next book then.

I was reading through the chat and there are soo many books. I have just read Jane Eyre. My last books were The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides the first two of the Harry Clifton series by Jefferey Archer. I have the third which I may or may not read before the new year.

How far along are you with the Count of Monte Cristo?
I have a look for the Lisa Jewell recommendation.

How far along are you with the Count of Monte Cristo?

Not started yet, starts 7th Jan in the Reading section

2025 Challenge thread will probably start Wednesday

Ok I will keep an eye out for those. I'll get a copy of the book in preparation.

Hello all, maybe this thread can go on a bit longer..

Just finished Dr Zhivago. Beautifully written and a real window on Russia during the revolution and civil war, but I can’t help thinking Zhivago himself was a chump who made bad decisions… it’s supposed to be so romantic and tragic - trouble is I just think he was the architect of his own troubles. Maybe it’s age, I’m more cynical and less patient. I’d probably have thought he was a tragic hero when I was younger. Anyone else read it?

Having a better time with Edmond Dantès over on the Monte Cristo readalong.

Yeah I love this thread!

literally about to start Birnam Wood by ELeanor Catton which I’m excited by as it was recommended by a friends with whom I have very similar taste in books

after that is a book club pick, rather random Invisible Women - exposing data bias in a world designed by men

Currently reading There There by Tommy Orange and will probably read the sequel next.

@Citygirlrurallife - I loved Invisible women!

Currently Reading - The Outsider by Jane Casey, and Butter by Asako Yuzuki

Really enjoying both - really loving Jane Casey just now and desperate to get up to date so I can join in on the Maeve Kerrigan thread 😂 and enjoying Butter!

Next up will be The Close by Jane Casey then my book club books - The Death of Bees and Really Good, Actually.

Just finished The Day of the Jackal (after watching the tv show) and really enjoyed it - found it engaging but very much of its time. I really don't have much familiarity with French politics in the 70s but I got by!

Currently reading : The charity shop detective agency (book 3)
Feeling: Inoffensive easy reading. First book was by far the most superior, but I'll finish the series
Next: A History of Britain in 10 Enemies. Christmas pressie!

I say next...though tonight I'll probably be reading something by Julia Donaldson or the Poddington Peas 😂

@mrstea301

Ooo where's the Maeve Kerrigan thread?

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit
here’s the link!

www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4978768-i-need-to-talk-about-maeve-kerrigan-spoilers?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share