What are you reading now and next?

[LaSoiDisantDame]

P;ease indulge my nosiness

haven't seen one of these threads for a while, & love scanning them for future reads.

I am reading The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Dickens) & One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest(Ken Kesey) Find msyelf swapping these two around according to my concentration levels but enjoying them both in different ways

On my To Read Next Pile is Revelation (C.J Samson -loved the first three), A Prayer for Owen Meany and This Thing of Darkness (Harry Thompson)

But I know when I;ve read two of those I will panic & need new ideas. Help!

Missed that message - I do want to try another austen, but won't get a chance to read it until at least feb

Wil stick them both in a parcel for you then and smile sweetly at dp!

WilL. I need a new keyboard -

and a new brain.

purpleduck have to admit, American wife is getting better, love the uber mil

I've just read the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and really enjoyed it. I've asked for Wolf Hall and the A S Byatt (The Children's Book) for Christmas so am looking forward to getting stuck in to those. At the moment, I'm reading The Jane Austen Book Club - picked it up at the station when I realised I'd left my book group book behind (Random Acts of Heroic Love, which I've already read), and so far it's alright, although a bit light.

Just started Half Of A yellow Sun - v good indeed so far.

I am currently reading Twilight to see what all the fuss is about. Is (obv) an easy read but not particularly gripping me yet.

Next.. hmmm might be my book swap book if it arrives in time. Or the latest Patrick Gale I think.

Jane - half a yellow sun is fab. I won my RL bookclub with it (we score and highest score wins) as everyone raved about it.

Just finished two of Anita Shreve's titles - Body Surfing and A Wedding in December, and the Guernsey Potato one. Now reading The Whaleboat House by Mark Mills.

Didn't realise this thread was still going!

Well, I pushed my To Read Pile to one side and started reading His Dark Materials as Janeite ordered me to suggested

It's sooooooooooooooooooo good. I've just finished The Subtle Knife and about to start The Amber Spyglass.

I don't. Want it. To end.

but there are so many similarities to Harry Potter, think its safe to say it gave JK Rowling a few ideas no?

There are loads of similarities. I mean c'mon The Spectres must be the forerunners to The Dementors

And Lyra being a special child, the chosen one etc...but its far, far better than HP, a bit darker and more adult too

Finished DRood too which was good but obviuosly not finished, more of a mystery than the author ever intended

That 'Blindness' book looks good btw

Oh I'm so glad you're enjoying it. I think that the Dementors are copied from Steven King's the Library Police, personally: they suck the happiness out of children's eye sockets iirc.

hmm sounds lovely!

brief hijack...

i loved insommnia, so which s king are as good? i liked the way that, in inommnia, you got slowly drawn through "the is this man psychotic/are there strange things going on" ....i prefer that to outright blood and guts

Well, tbh, not many of King's books are outright blood and guts, as it were.

You could try Bag Of Bones, which is really interesting: there is one particular scene in it which still makes me shiver, even though I haven't re-read it since it came out and can remember v little else about the book as a whole.

The Dark Half and Misery both play with the idea of writers being manipulated, by a character in one and by a fan in the other - both are dark and creepy but not full on 'horror'.

Personally I like The Stand best, which is a vast post-apocolypse novel.

thanks janeite, time to flex my library card...

Love this thread, love reading, never get the time...

I am currently reading 'The School For Husbands' by Wendy Holden, not very high-brow, but I don't always want to read heavy stuff. I can also read one in two evenings and not have to think too hard.

Next on the list at the mo but subject to change at a moment's notice is 'A Great And Terrible King' by Marc Morris, a biography of Edward I. I have a long list of Sharon Penman novels to read.

Kaloki just seen your question. I've only read two of Poppy Z Brites books, Lost Souls which I enjoyed and Exquisite Corpse which I kind of read in morbid facination (it is very near the knuckle). I do like her writing style though, reminds me a bit of Clive Barker who I love.

I'm reading 2 books atm
The Portrait by Iain Pears which is a bit unnerving so far
and
Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier which pulled me in instantly but which i think may be ultimately unsatisfying

I'm obsessed with Agatha Christie at the moment (read a lot of her novels when I was 18) so am working my way through all of her books in my local library. Currently reading The Secret of Chimneys and then The Seven Dials Mystery.

troutpout - I really enjoyed Night Train to Lisbon, although the translation is a bit clunky.

I forgot to add that I have also just finished The Angel's Game, and I did enjoy it, but think that Shadow of the Wind was better.

I gave up on Night Train To Lisbon - nice cover though!

I've just started 'The Human Stain' by Philip Roth. I'm always somewhat wary of Important American Writers, so it's the first of his I've read, but so far, I'm enjoying it.

I do not have a pile.

ATM reading one of dd's books. I am having trouble concentrating on anything so went for easy option - still not sure I remember what it's about, what's happening or who everyone is! It's The Lionboy by Zizou Corder. I'm embarrassed

I have lots on my To Read pile, but will probably find another easy option; Lindsey Davis, Christie, or even another of dd's. Was hoping to have read The God Delusion by now, having found it in a charity shop (at last) in late July, but our lives have been over-eventful since then.

lindsay davis is one of my comfort reads, too

LAR what's on your list to read by Sharon Penman? I LOVED the Sunne in Splendour, but for some reason never got round to reading any others of hers

Am now completely immersed in The Amber Spyglass