What book are you reading just now, why are you reading it and are you enjoying it?

[imaynotbeperfectbutimokmummy]

I am reading the life of pi by Yann Martel.

I am reading it because i bought it from the charity shop a while back, it sat around for a bit and i had just finished a huge tome about India. I also am trying to "read better".

I am enjoying it, its very entertaining, although it hasn't really challenged my beliefs in any way.

Am loving Pi's exclamation of "Jesus, Mary, Mohhamed and Vishnu" - I think it pays to cover all bases

I am reading The Believers by Zoe Heller. I have to say that I am not enjoying it as the characters are all deeply unpleasant and self serving, and it is a bit too clever for me. However I don't think I enjoyed Notes on a Scandal too much first ime round, so I am keeping going.

I just realized I've put WHO RUNS Britain in adult fiction and technically it should be Non Fiction - is there a Non fiction category?

I have just started reading again. Its a long and depressing story but life events seemed to rob me of the ability to concentrate on a book. I loved to read so it was a real loss. But now I seem to be getting back my facalities (not spelling obviously) . I am just loving the joy of finding a book that keeps my attention. Yippee!

Just read Running with Scissors and enjoyed it. Now reading Almost Moon by Alice Sebold. I loved Lovely Bones (though since losing DD I wont revisit it), though Lucky was very well written if depressing. Almost Moon seems as good as the others so far and I will probably finish it in a day or so.

Any recommendations would be great. I like characters IYSWIM. My favourite author is Barbara Comyns but I need to branch out a bit.

Nothing about sick children or survivours of abuse please.

Happy reading I am so happy to be back in the club

I have just read I'm not scared by Niccolo Ammaniti (for book group) and really, really loved it. I thought it was so beautifully written, but it's not very long, so read it almost in one sitting.

I have also just read The Book Thief (next book group book) and hated it.

Last night I started The Girl who Played with Fire - the next one in the Millennium trilogy as I really enjoyed The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Non fiction I have read recently includes Squandered and The Rotten State of Britain - both of which are fascinating and terrifying at the same time, and makes me wonder how on earth this country is ever going to be on a stable financial footing again.

I am reading Engleby by Seb Faulks...big mistake...I thought I should have learned my lesson after Human Traces which I thought was awful. I keep thinking it must get better, but it hasn't...after all this is the author of the awesome Birdsong which I loved. I fear he is a one novel wonder.

Dear Chegirl,
Welcome back to the club ! Lucky is probably the most depressing/enlightening book I have ever read, and the / is not a mistake. JuST stretch out and try something different. Go to the library and take the maximum number of books you can. Make sure you write on the calender when they are due back.. I am an eclectic reader. I understand why people love Mills and Boon. I had several disagreeable conversations with the great Barbara Cartland - and she's only great because she is superbly confident, and the realists on the ground need those people. But, hey getting back to reality .... read widely .. try everything, stand to the side of the returns desk at your library and listen to people enthuse about the book they are returning..
Regards
SeekingInspiration..... and frequently finding it. MN helps

I loved Engleby!

me too ggirl.

The Colour Purple - again - as I'm teaching it in September.

The Politics of Breastfeeding - not fiction obviously (I wish it was), but a fantastic book which I would recommend to anyone, not just breastfeeding mums.

Thanks seeking. Its nice of you to take the time to advise me I am a terrible conservative when it comes to reading. I have read and re-read Maya Angelou and Barbara Comyns over and over! Because I love them and want all the books I read to be as brilliant.

I like biogs if they are interesting. Not into cleb stuff but love books about Joan Crawford etc.

I love the classics but am still finding them difficult to concentrate on so I listen to them on cd instead. Hardy is a fav. I can get lost in those stories.

I am going to hang around the library and keep and eye on the lit threads on MN. It seems that the only books my friends read are those truelifeemotionaltragicstories. I just cant bear them.

I don't know what people like about those books either Chegirl. I think on MN they've been called 'mislit'!

I just started The Captain and The Enemy: Graham Greene. I love it so far!

Most recently finished Getting Rid of Matthew (fluff), The Runt by Niall Griffiths (very very good), and The Road by Cormac McCarthy (...interesting).

I've really enjoyed reading this thread - it has given me loads of ideas of stuff to read - I get a bit stuck at the library sometimes. Thanks everyone.

I'm reading Field of Stars by Susie Tarver. I'm reading it because I know the author - it is about her walking a pilgrimage route from her house in France to northern Spain (in a completely non religious way). It is amusing in a 3 men in a boat kind of way...

currently reading Wuthering Heights. We're getting ready to move and only a handful of books haven't been packed, this was one of them. I am engrossed and enjoying it far more than i thought i would.....being forced to read Jane Eyre for A-level put me off the Bronte's for life but i have done Emily Bronte a dis-service i think.

Have just finished Kate Atkinsons latest,When will ther be Good News,very good read but her endings are a bit too contrived for my liking.

Now reading Runaway by Alice Munroe which so far is very good.

I enjoyed The Believers,December and The 19th Wife in previous weeks as well.

Well, i have just now finished the life of Pi, i enjoyed it although i was a litle disappointed by the element of doubt at the end. I choose to believe in tigers!

Now im not sure what to read next

I started shadow of the wind a while back, i might give that another go - anyone else read this?

I avoid anything with illness in it, and anything bad happening to children, i don't find that entertaining to read.

Not that i need a book to be nice and frilly either,but not too close to home iyswim.

My favourite book i have read recently is probably Johnathan Strange and Mr Morrell, can't remember who wrote it thought.

I am currently reading Stephan Kings "On Writing."

It's an autobiography/guide to writing fiction.

Excellent stuff.

MrsDanvers they have their own shelf/section in WH Smith now .

I did read Damaged by kathy Glass [?] but that was because I have been a foster carer and I was interested in the subject. I have skimmed through a few others but dont get the attraction.

I feel uncomfortable reading them. They feel exploitative although I presume the authors are paid well for them. People have the right to share their stories and I hope they are cathartic but really, once you have read one you have read 10.

i read Life of Pi and really liked it, apart from the - stop now if you're only half way through - Island bit, which i found odd and and out of place.

Have just finished The White Tiger, bought in on a 2 for 1 or whatever with the non-fiction book Fear by Dan someoneorother. it was brilliant - it won the Man Booker last year, i totally recommend it. Also the Fear book is a great and very worthwhile, if rather dry, read... puts modern life and our fears about it (and our children) into context.

I'm reading "The Corner" by David Simon.

Thanks Pan. I think I will add it my list.

Mrs Danvers - I read The House At Riverton on holiday last year and hated it. It didn't help that I thought it was a re-hashing of 'Attonement' which I also hated!

I enjoyed 'World Without End' - thought it was better written than 'Pillars' which, whilst an interesting story, was quite clumsily written I thought, with quite one-dimensional characters. I thought he'd fleshed them out better in the 2nd.

Meg - 'On Writing' is really interesting isn't it? I have just re-read 'Danse Macabre' and it persuaded me to have a go at reading HP Lovecraft (who King really rates). Unfortunately I found it so turturous that I gave up after just two stories!

I am now bookless again. Library tomorrow if I'm feeling better - have just got up after leaving work early and sleeping all afternoon.

Perusing a few having just finished Amercian Wife, but may stick with A Death In Tuscany.

I'm reading The Morville ours by Katherine Swift and it's bloody dull and it's going back to the library tomorrow!

Hours! Not ours! feckity feck

Going to start Coe's The Rain Before it Falls tomorrow.