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.

She’s such a great writer.

Needed a more easy read after the never ending demon copperhead so I've just finished my first Jeffrey archer. Not a penny more, not a penny less. Enjoyed it, a book to relax into which wasn't taxing.
Might try some more of his, I'm always late to a party!!

Currently Reading: Atonement by Ian McEwan

Feeling: I'm only 20-ish pages in but not gripped - very dense writing.

Next: The Other Side of The Bridge by Mary Lawson

You and me both Hoho.
I'm a convert to Lord Archer probably in the last 20 years but still late considering not a penny and Kane and Abel are from the 70s.
I call him the master story teller. Thoroughly recommend Twelve Red Herrings which is a collection of short stories and Heads You Win.

Currently reading Roar by Cecelia Ahern, which is 30 short stories about nameless women, all very allegorical about how it is to be a woman. Some of the stories are so good but then some have gender nonsense in which is off-putting

Next up is a pair of plays by Minna Canth - The Worker's Wife and Anna Liisa. Trying to read more Finnish literature.

Currently reading Butter by Asoka Yuzuki which I'm enjoying as it's quite out of the ordinary for me and although not a tense read, it's making me want to read on as I've no idea what will happen next. The details of everyday Japanese life are fascinating.

Next up is probably Skippy Dies by Paul Murray. I read The Bee Sting by him last year and enjoyed it, so I'm interested to see how different this is.

Marble Hall Murders - Anthony Horowitz. Superb!

I've just finished Marking Time by Elizabeth Jane Howard. I love the Cazalet novels, I've read them a couple of times and haven't tired of them yet. The temptation is to go straight to Confusion, the 3rd book in the series. However as they are my equivalent to a fine wine to be savoured, I don't want to gulp down the whole bottle at once and next I'm going to read Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

I've just finished reading Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche. It is so good, I can't recommend it highly enough.

Next on my list is something completely different: "The Political Diaries Of A Chief Whip" by Simon Hart.

Just finished reading : All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker. Slow start but I was gripped by middle.

Currently reading: Nightwatch by Sarah Waters. I’m getting through but I’m not very invested yet. It’s not a one weekend read like Fingersmith.

I too love the Cazalets and have been holding off reading the final instalment for over a year!
Ive heard that it’s not nearly as good as the others unfortunately.

@MonkeyTennis34 I thought it was as good, but it is undoubtedly somewhat dark. In the previous novels there are some chickens that come home to roost, so to speak, in the final novel, as characters play out very plausible destinies.

Stick with it 👍 really enjoyed it

I'm reading Dusty Answer by Rosamund Lehmann and enjoying it very much. It's quite intense, elegiac prose bcarries you along quite nicely.

Its an old copy that I first read ages ago, it I'm getting more out of it on this re read I think but it makes me nostalgic for being young!

Just finished: Slags by Emma Jane Unsworth. Impulse buy from a FB ad (a lot of my books seem to be). Wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but really enjoyed it.

Currently- I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella. Hoping it gets a bit more exciting.
On audiobook, I’m listening to The Gran Tour: Travels with my Elders by Ben Aitken & Smart Money: The Fall and Rise of Brentford FC. Both enjoyable in their own way.

Next- probably Shi**y Breaks by Ben Aitken. Went to a book reading/ signing of his a few weeks ago.

I saw 'Slags' in a bookshop the other day and it looked intriguing.

Currently reading A Very English Scandal by John Preston. (Nearly put Prescott there 🤣) . About Jeremy Thorpe, very funny and bizarre.

Next: The Ghost Road by Pat Barker , am rereading her Regeneration trilogy.

The TV adaptation with Hugh Grant as Jeremy Thorpe was magnificent.
After a recent trip to Canterbury I've just finished Time and Chance by Sharon Penman which is largely about Henry II and Thomas Becker.
I tried The Essex Serpent next but couldn't get on with it at all so I've dived into a new John Sandford, who I love. Dependably great.

I've just started "My Brilliant Friend" by Eleanor Ferrante.

I'm a bit unconvinced. The writing is very beautiful but at the moment it feels a bit like a list of characters doing things with as yet unclear consequences. Does it get better? I really want to like it and read the whole trilogy.

Up next is "Lady Tan's Circle of Women" by Lisa See for book club. I'm not looking forward to it very much. It looks a bit 'chic lit' but I'm happy to be proven wrong.

I DNFd My Brilliant Friend but think I will try again

@IceIceBabyBump The writing is very beautiful but at the moment it feels a bit like a list of characters doing things with as yet unclear consequences. Does it get better?

Not imo. We had it for book club a few years ago, and I didn't like it at all. DNF.

I just finished Big Brother by Lionel Shriver. I enjoyed it and became quite invested in the characters. I like that she chooses very different themes in all her novels.

Aside from print (still struggling through Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World 😁), I also subscribe to Audible. Just finished Hugh Grant reading A Christmas Carol, on the hottest day of the year so far.
Gobsmacked! He’s such a good reader and I’m feeling all Christmassy 🤣

I'm reading Getting Better by Michael Rosen, which I'm enjoying very much although it's had me in tears a couple of times.

@IceIceBabyBumpI really love My Brilliant Friend and read all the books plus most others she's written. I think it either grabs you or it doesn't, to be honest. I loved it and was totally obsessed with it a few years ago and even went to Naples on holiday partly on the strength of it! But I know it leaves some people cold so I rarely recommend it as it's hard work at times.

I'm currently reading Skippy Dies by Paul Murray, which is entertaining but I'm not sure if it's going to just meander on in the same way to the end? I found his recent novel The Bee Sting unsatisfying in the end, so hoping this won't be the same...