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 about halfway through Hamnet. Amazing read. Started it yesterday and I cannot put it down!

I loved Hamnet!

I loved Hamnet too!

Currently reading Clear by Carys Davies. I'm really enjoying it and want to pick it up every spare minute I have to find out how it ends!

Next will be My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite.

I only found Hamlet to be ok but I do know most people love it. I’m now on The Great Alone as recommended previously when discussing Kristen Hannah books. Half term with an ill child so reading more than I normally do.

I didn't really like "Hamnet"

I've just finished "The Offing" by Benjamin Myers. He is such a beautiful writer. I'm going to order all his novels from WOB. I've already read "Gallows Pole" which was an absolutely fabulous.

I'm now onto "Klara and the Sun" by Kazuo Ishiguro. I find his books a bit hit and miss, and sometimes poorly paced. But I'm really enjoying this one so far.

I'm not sure what's up next. Might order my Myers books today and start with one of those.

I'm so happy this thread is still chugging along!

I've just finished 'Benbecula' by Graeme Macrae Burnet. Reminiscent of 'His Bloody Project' by the same author, and that's praise indeed. Atmospheric and unnerving at times, beautifully witten. My book of the year (unless something I read in the next two months is exceptionally good).

Next up is 'Augustine the African' by Catherine Conybeare.

I’ve almost finished The Land in Winter (Andrew Miller). It’s intriguing and well-written if a bit dreary and depressing. One of those books where you do wonder from what recesses of the writer’s brain the inspiration came!

I'm mid-way through The Flowers Of The Field by Sarah Harrison. It's the first part of a trilogy and I could have sworn that I'd read it before, years ago, but it's not ringing any bells at all. It's very odd. I'm enjoying it very much though.
Parts two and three to follow.

'Dreary" is a good word for 'The Land in Winter'. It's very competently written but I was left with a 'what was the point of that?' feeling.

I have to say I haven't been knocked out by any of the Booker shortlisted books I've read this year. 'Audition' and 'Flesh' have included interesting stylistic devices - the symmetry of 'Audition' and the nameless, taciturn main character of 'Flesh' - but I didn't love either of them. Of those I've read, I most liked 'The Rest of our Lives' but it didn't make me evangelical the way last year's winner ('Orbital') did.

Just finished Hamnet. Really enjoyed it and found it very moving.

I’ve now read 22 books this year and target was 24 so I’m on track.

Next up is Travelling in a Strange Land.

I read Flesh for my book club. Odd one isn’t it, I didn’t NOT like it. But can’t say I’d recommend either! No emotional depth to the protagonist bothered me by the end.

Currently reading The Killer Question by Janice Hallett and enjoying it - can’t wait to see how it all comes together in the end, I always think her books are so well put together and love the structure of them!

Next I’ll be reading See Them Run by Marion Todd, my choice for book group, and also You Are Here by David Nichols for my other book group.

after that, I’m not sure yet- I have O Caledonia that’s been on my shelf for a while so might give that a go, or A Case of Matricide by Graeme Macrae Burnet!

I just finished The Midnight Library by Matt Haig for book club. I didn't expect to like it but I loved it. I'm now reading The Cracked Mirror by Chris Brookmyre and really enjoying it.

Just finished Orbital and loved it. Took a while to get into the slow pace but once I started leaving a break between chapters and stopped trying to inhale it, it was beautiful.

About to start The Annual Banquet of the Gravedigger’s Guild by Mathias Énard. Read a much shorter one of his a few years ago and it was fantastic. This is much longer. Reading it in English, don’t think my French is up to the original. Seems like a good winter book.

Just finished The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller. Not sure what to think. It’s maybe a little too “show don’t tell” when sometimes I’d have liked a bit more exposition. The language is what kept me interested. The descriptions of the bleak weather and its effect on the characters mirrored the bleak plot and all the people living pretty depressed and depressing lives. I sort of liked it. Was quite glad to be done with it too.

Currently reading Wifedom by Anna Funder about George Orwell’s wife and the role she played in his life and career, mostly at the detriment of her own wellbeing. It’s a fascinating read.

Currently reading Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, the third part in Ferrante’s Neopolitan quartet. It’s been years since I read the first one and I found the second one which I read more recently a bit disappointing (way to long and repetitive) but this one is better. The narrator Elena irritates me a bit tbh but overall it’s fairly enjoyable and the backdrop of 1970s Italy is interesting.

I’m currently reading I Capture the Castle and I’m really enjoying it, quite funny in places too. I’m going to read Before the coffee gets cold next.

I very much enjoyed The Land in Winter but have struggled to explain what it's actually about when I've mentioned it to others.

Just finished We Were Liars for Book Club. Easy reading and better written than I thought it would be. Oh, and The Haunting of Hill House which I read in time for Halloween!

Currently reading Take Nothing With You by Patrick Gale. Loved it to begin with, but now I just want it to speed up a tad.

Next, could be Haweswater by Sarah Hall

'The Four Spent the Day Together' by Chris Kraus. Enjoying it. It's a quirky take on true crime, although she doesn't get to that until two thirds of the way through. I understand that the back story of the main character is, largely, the author's, and it reads like a memoir. Interesting.

Also, 'In the Days of Rain' by Rebecca Stott about growing up in the Exlusive Plymouth Brethren. This was published back in 2017, and now that I'm reading it, I have a vague feeling that I may have read it back then, but mostly forgot. I don't think that's the book's fault though, for it's insightful and well written.

These days I keep a list of what I read so that I can try to eradicate double reading. I also have a list of what I'd like to read - ever-expanding, although frequently edited. 'The Annual Banquet of the Gravedigger’s Guild' by Mathias Énard and Anna Funder's 'Wifedom' both recently added, thanks to this thread.

Next up, 'Bear' by Marian Engel.

Train Dreams. anyone read this short book please? Or anything else by Denis Johnson...opinions please 🙏

I’m reading The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout. I’ve read every book of hers except this one. Love her way with words and the characters she writes about. Olive Kitteridge was my first and I was hooked.

At last I've got to the top of the library reserve list and have a copy of "James" by Percival Everett to read. That will be my next book after I've finished "Seven Deadly Sins" which is by David Walsh who is one of the journalists who spent several years collecting evidence to prove that seven times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong was a prolific doper. I'm a big fan of cycle racing so this is quite an uncomfortable read for me.

Train Dreams. anyone read this short book please? Or anything else by Denis Johnson

Sorry, haven't heard of book or author. This looks like a failing on my part, given the praise heaped on the book.

I sometimes feel a tiny bit depressed at how few of the vast number of books available I can consume.

I loved Stone Yard Devotional but saw a very funny review on it (either Amazon or Goodreads) that summarised it as "nuns and mice and that's about it". Really made me laugh! Your description of "small and huge" is perfect.
I think i may have a thing about nuns as my next book is The Corner that Held Them by Sylvia Townsend Warner which is also set in a convent.