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 looking backward at the moment, exploring novels by British & Irish women known for their stylistic "toughness."

Thanks to recommendations from MN I've just finished Down Among the Women by Fay Weldon, and am a couple of chapters into The Unicorn by Iris Murdoch.

Having a little read-along of The Unicorn right now, if anyone fancies joining in a discussion.

Currently reading Mr Loverman - Bernardine Evaristo. Enjoying it but the main character is a dreadful selfish old wretch, although completely unaware of it.

Better than Girl Woman Other which won the Booker but I felt sagged badly in the middle.

Next The Great Escape - Maggie Shipley

Currently reading The Other Bennett Girl, which is from the point of view of Mary Bennett - absolutely loving it! It's set at the same time as Pride and Prejudice so you're seeing events from another angle, but finding the writing spot on so far!!

Next up - probably The Memory Police for my book group!

I am reading The Story of the Forest by Linda Grant.
Boy, that woman can write! She is very good at spinning the yarn, but it is all still tight and concise. I just love her prose.

Next up probably Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. DS asked for The Road and I couldn't find my copy. It was cheaper to buy three books together than just The Road. That is my excuse anyway.
I warned DS, but someone in his English set recommended it.

I agree about The Story of the Forest. I saw Linda Grant at a book festival interviewed about her childhood and writing career, it added another depth to the book. She came across thoughtful, articulate and just a tiny bit waspy which I heartily approve of.

My book club read is 'The Heart Goes Last' by Margaret Attwood. Disliking it intensely and can't wait to get to the end (I like my protagonists to have a bit more agency and would never have chosen this book, but BC has Spoken).

Otherwise, am reading my way through the Elly Griffith 'Ruth Galloway' books in order and have reached 'The Lady in Blue', which I've already read twice but am racing my way through because I can't leave it out!

I’ve now moved on to Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen. Wow. This guy can really write! It’s several hundreds of pages long and I haven’t been able it down since I started a couple of days ago.

Oooh I love Cormac McCarthy

jonathan franzen not so much (sorry @Eastie77Returns !)

I’m reading Demon Copperhead FINALLY! And loving it, worried I’m reading it too fast to be honest and might have to read it again….

next up is both The Silent Patient and My Friend Mat and Hena the Whore because they are book club books and I have about a week to read them both 😧

@Eastie77Returns This is definitely his best book. I'd say better than Corrections. DH and I cannot wait for the next book in the trilogy. What do you think?

Finished Linda Grant. There is a reason I read every single book of hers. She is magical!

I’m reading Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith. I’ve read them all back to back over the last few months, but this one seems too long! I am really enjoying it though.
Next is either Jewel by Tim Winton, I saw him give a talk on Monday, The Bee Sting, or the next RG!

Just finished confessions of a forty something fuck up by Alexandra Potter which I really enjoyed.

Now reading the dream home by T M Logan.

Currently - Rubber Necker by Belinda Bauer who's an author I don't think I've read before.

Feeling - I didn't know what it was about as it was recommended by a friend. Really enjoyed it and found the characters interesting, the main character has Asperger's so that definitely put a twist on things.

Next - The Sober Diaries by Claire Pooley. I'm off work this week so hoping I get some time to read.

Prophet Song by Paul Lynch.
Not sure how I feel about it yet. The way it's printed up is irritating as all the conversation is in the normal flow of writing and not in any speech marks. It's quite daunting to look at each page with its huge blocks of text.
That said, the few pages I've read so far are quite poetic. Just finding it a bit hard-going.

I'm reading Annie Bot by Sierra Greer, I'm enjoying it but finding myself increasingly disgusted by Doug the MMC. I'm hoping that Annie gets some glorious revenge on him.

Currently reading Babel by FR Kuang.

Reminds me of the later Harry Potter books, but not as good. Think it lacks really good characters.
Next will read Money by Martin Amis

Currently - Terry Pratchett A stroke of the pen The lost stories

Feeling - Obviously aimed at children but if you love his style and don't mind short stories, simply written then this is an enjoyable read with his snipes at town councils et al. I loved the one about King Wenceslas.

Next - Either The Night House by Jo Nesbo or the one my fellow receptionist gave me - about Vampires called the Gathering by C J Tudor.

Currently reading Weirdo by Sarah Pascoe, I absolutely love it so far. I love the style and although I am only a hundred pages in, I am already in love with Sophie (although not sure if I’m making a big mistake by falling in love with her!).

Next: I want another by T M Logan as I just finished the Dream home which I really enjoyed. It was quite predictable but an easy read. I have reserved a couple at the library.

I am currently reading The Picture of Dorian Gray.

The first hundred pages I kept telling myself not to bother finishing. Then on about page 101, it started to get a bit more interesting. It's OK, not wonderful, not terrible. Self-indulgent. And I think it kind of reminds me of Crime and Punishment in a way. (I love Crime and Punishment)

Next, I will read one of the following as I have them out of the library:

Go As A River, Shelley Read
The Wishing Game, Meg Shaffer
Bloody Valentine, James Patterson
Sophie's Choice, William Styron
The Berry Pickers, Amanda Peters

Currently reading Hannah Ellis’ Christmas book Not Just For Christmas- she writes gorgeous romance but this one is set in the Cotswolds(I think) which makes it even prettier- afterwards I’ll be moving onto The Grown Up To Do list by Jennifer Joyce

Currently finishing up The Silent Patient for bookclub. It’s trashy, and not amazing but after Demon Copperhead I probably couldn’t have done with nearly-as-good proper literature. Just getting it done reallly

next I have to read the next in the Emily Wilde series for work (not published yet) which I am very excited about because I love Heather Fawcett’s books, but my first pass needs to be a skim read then I’ll do proper prep over December. The book after that is my other book clubs book “My Friend Matt and Hena the Whore” which I started but then DC hooked me so I have to return to it - but it actually feels very similar to DC so I’m interested to get back to it

@Citygirlrurallife DC sounds intriguing.

Map of Bones by Kate Mosse has arrived in our library, so Blood Meridian will have to wait.

I had to give up on Annie Bot. It's so repetitive, and if I never read the word "autodidactic" again, it'll be too soon.

I've just finished Piranisi by Susanna Clarke.

It took me about 50 pages to work out what was going on, but then I loved it. I keep thinking about it.

Just started Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson and loving it already.

Butler is simply magnificent. Lauren Olamina is one of my favourite heroines.

I've just finished reading Thomas Tyron's Harvest Home. This was a book I stumbled across almost by accident, having an interest in acounts of pagan ritual in US literature and noting its influence on King's Children of the Corn.

I can find points of interest and positive aspects of most books. Nor am I a prude by any description. It's a very slow-burner: this I do not mind, I like my characters, plots and situations drawn in detail, albeit in this novel there's not much of a sense that anything is building. When the action did ramp up, however, this novel wound up being so disturbing, offensive and straight-up sick that I wanted brain bleach by the time I got to the end. I couldn't get it out of my head for days.

Ordinarily I'd read a description like the one I've written above and reach straight for the novel out of pure curiosity and intrigue. On this occasion I can fairly safely say that this book won't deliver that. Particularly if you're a pagan. Or a feminist. Women, basically, are the most evil creatures in existence on the planet . Was Tyron an incel?

Other books I've just finished reading for the first time include Shirley Jackson's wonderful Haunting of Hill House, a book supposed to be in the same vein as Tyrons (but better. Albeit anything would be better). I've re-read some of Poe's short stories, and have just put down a beautiful little epistolary book - 84 Charing Cross Road - the story of a transatlantic relationship between an American writer and a London bookseller. She writes to him and he helps her track down the titles she wants, and eventually a warm, deep and loving relationship develops between them even though they've never met. It's by Helene Hanff and I liked it so much that I ordered her follow-up, The Duchess of Bloomsbury. Looking forward to getting stuck into that one when it arrives.

I'm in a mood now for books about books (and films about books) so have rewatched Dead Poet's Society and am reading May Sinclair's The Divine Fire, a 1906 book about a cockney bookseller who ends up buying a library and also falls for a woman through their love of reading.

Any similar recommendations welcome!

I love The Road. It depicts one of the most hopeless landscapes US literature has ever encountered - with the possible exception of Eliot's The Waste Land - all that grey ash and dust calls to mind the line from that poem 'I will show you fear in a handful of dust'. It's a harrowing book, showing the worst of what human beings are capable of doing to one another when our social laws, systems and regulations are removed, but there's also a strong theme of redemptive love. And his prose is beautiful.

No Country for Old Men is currently sitting on my shelves waiting to be read. I'm interested to see why its title is taken from Yeats: not unlike the Beat poets McCarthy seems to have quite an affinity with the modernists.

I've also just begun Jack Kerouac's On the Road but have had to put this to one side while I focus on finishing a work project. I'm developing more and more of an interest in contemporary American literature (and film) of late! Interested in hearing other people's recommendations, too.