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.

Currently reading The story of a heart by Rachel Clarke. It’s about a heart transplant and tells you about the donor and recipient. There is also the history of how transplants came about and medical advances. It’s a heartbreaking read, yet interesting. I’m probably going to read Butter next.

Yeah same as @ObtuseMoose @Iamblossom 😊

I'm reading Travelling in A Strange Land by David Park. It's so beautifully written, a total contrast to the last two lots of drivel I read. A father is driving from Belfast to Sunderland in a snowstorm to pick up his sick son and take him home for Christmas. Along the journey he thinks about his life and the events that have shaped it.

Just finished Tilt by Emma Pattee. It had a really interesting premise but ultimately was very disappointing.

I'm reading Sky Daddy by Kate Folk. Linda is sexually attracted to aeroplanes and longs to die in a fiery crash so she can be with her 'sky daddy' forever. Weird and funny I'm enjoying it so far.

I’m about 2/3 of the way through Circle of Days by Ken Follett. I’m a big fan of his Pillars of the Earth series and although I’m enjoying this one there seems to be something missing and I can’t put my finger on what…… it seems to be lacking depth in some way. I’ll carry on anyway but I’m a bit disappointed so far.

Toast by Nigel Slater. A memoir.

A bit disappointing. I want to know more about what happened with his family.

I've recently finished Glasgow Boys by Margaret McDonald. Tough subject matter but really uplifting. One of my best reads of the year.

Oh, I loved Toast...
The Simon Tolkien turned out to be a bit disappointing so I've gone back a a sure thing for my next read. Buried Prey by John Sandford. The man can write.

I’m currently reading The IT Girl by Ruth Ware - enjoying it, but now waiting to see if my guess is correct for whodunnit!

recently finished Lonesome Dove and really liked it! Will finish Butter next for my book group and considering Shogun for my next long read!

Finished the Crooked Branch, which I thought was mediocre.

Just started A River in Darkness, written by someone who escaped from North Korea. It’s great so far. He was half Japanese and was “repatriated” in the 1950s. I’ve read a few books about North Korea, but this is an interesting angle.

Currently reading Bury our Bones in the Midnight Soil. Not normally a reader of vampire novels. Whatever is next it won't be about vampires

Currently enjoying the Kristin Lavransdatter readalong very much.

Devoured The Ministry of Time this week. Absolutely loved the characters esp the “expats,” people brought forward from previous eras. You are supposed to fall in love with Commander Gore, the polar explorer from 1847, and I did, because he’s super hot. Not sure about the lesser established “ministry” characters though, or the ending. I did like the background musings on Empire and the de-centred sense of the narrator being mixed race and sceptical of the Establishment whilst becoming ever more part of it.
Anyone else read it?

@MotherOfCatBoy
Me!
I loved it too. Yes, Gore certainly was hot!

I'm currently on holiday and have just finshed reading the following: Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North. Sequel to Harold Fry books and another great read from Rachel Joyce, The Memory Library by Kate Storey- enjoyed it and an easy read, and Slags by Emna Jane Unsworth which I give a solid 12 out of 10. I didn't want this book to finish.

I've just finished "See What I Have Done" by Sarah Schmidt. It was brilliant and I've added a couple of nights in Lizzie Borden House to my bucket list.

Now I'm reading "Led Feather" by Stephen Graham Jones for book club. It was my recommendation after seeing it on a list of "Must Read Historical Fiction"

😬😬It's bad. Like, really bad. It's wanky, incomprehensible nonsense. I'm about half way through and looking forward to it ending. Has anyone else read it?

I've read the Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones. Such hard work especially when Good Stab is talking, I got that big ears was a donkey but struggled to understand the other descriptions, did a lot of Googling and there are lists I did learn about the Marias Massacre of which I was unaware. It was history but with a horror twist. I don't think I will read anything else of his, horror is not my genre

Edited for clarity

I'm just about to start The Beekeeper Of Aleppo, which was, I think, a Kindle Daily Deal. There seems to be an enormous rash of these 'The Something of Somewhere ' books.

I have just finished a book chosen by my book club, The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas - a famous Norwegian writer I'll admit I'd never heard of. I was told it was a masterpiece and a life changing read but I was bored senseless by it tbh and think it was just all too profound for me. Not sure if it was the translation but the writing seemed very clunky in places. Apparently it could be read on several levels and there are various deep interpretations of the story (it's set in a Norwegian village and is about the friendship between two young girls, one of whom goes missing in a frozen waterfall) but it went completely over my head!

I've moved on to Days at the Torunka Cafe by Satoshi Yagisawa. I'm planning to visit Japan next year and love Japanese authors so happy with my latest choice.

Currently reading The Radiant Way, by. Margaret Drabble, written in the 80s, really enjoying it.

Next is possibly The Ink Black Heart, by Robert Galbraith or as a PP mentioned an Ann Cleeves. I have read all her Shetland and Vera books and am trying to find books from her back catalogue

Just finished The Secret Life of Bees by sue Monk Kidd. I loved it, read it in a weekend.

I’m going to start A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum now.

@Eastie77Returns I often find that with books I’m told are life changing. The Alchemist for example.

I wonder if it’s an Emperor’s New Clothes phenomenon where some people feel compelled to say a book is incredible, life changing etc because (apparently) millions of other readers feel like this. And so the myth continues.

Well continuing to read such a book,
A Fine Balance
was a huge mistake for me. I absolutely hated it.

i agree with you.

Currently reading: It ends with us by Colleen Hoover. Nearly finished but not loved it. I read it because I felt like the only person on earth that hadn’t.

Next: I need to finish the paper palace by Miranda Cowley Heller. I left my copy on holiday and have just got another copy so I’m looking forward to finishing it (I hate not finishing a book).

Just finished Prophet Song by Paul Lynch.

It was absolutely devastating. I read 3 nights worth in one to finish it yesterday because the final events meant I couldn’t put it down - if you’ve read it you’ll know - turned the light off and went to sleep but just lay awake. I didn’t enjoy the writing style as such, but found it really added to the story. It made me feel increasingly stressed and anxious.

Next, I’ve got either There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak or Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.