Your Book Activity - January 2017

[MrCat]

Can't decide if I want to read The Bell Jar now or re-read Mrs Dalloway. 

[poppyshake]

I'm over halfway through Lockwood & Co: The Screaming Staircase now and absolutely loving it!  I've seen it in the bookshops so often and never actually picked it up, so very pleased I decided to ask for it for Christmas

What a brilliant title  Glad it's living up  

 

Just finished listening to Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain .. not a cheerful read/listen but a really interesting and absorbing story. Now listening to No Time Like the Past (The Chronicles of St Mary's #5) .. brill as usual and reading Olive Kitteridge which I'm also enjoying.  

[willoyd]

Started The Bone Clocks at the weekend, and about 150 pages in this evening.  Still a bit unsure of this.  Some of the story telling has been engrossing, but am not struck with the sci-fi/fantasy element - in fact, distinctly underwhelmed- and this has spoiled some sections.

[Inver]

Oops...what is this...3 weeks in to 2017 and I've bought a book...well have seen it so many times on facebook book pages that I had to finally get a copy of 'The Nightingale' by Kristin Hannah...and Hayley has always recommended. Nearly finished '6 Rainier Drive' Debbie Macomber.

[Nollaig]

Getting to the end of My Name is Leon, started The Trees by Ali Shaw (the little illustration of the tree creature thing at the start is soooooo cute) and am reading A Sincere Warning About The Entity In Your House (novelette) by Jason Arnopp at work while waiting for videos I'm working on to publish!

[chesilbeach]

Finished Lockwood & Co: The Screaming Staircase during my lunch break, and I've started listening to Lorna Doone on audiobook, although this will be a longer read, probably mostly on audio with the odd reading session in between.

 

I'll be picking up Time Travelling with a Hamster by Ross Welford to start later on.

[Anna Begins]

I've finished The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and now am 100 pages into Roots by Alex Haley. So good! I'm sure 600 pages will fly by!

[Athena]

Getting to the end of My Name is Leon, started The Trees by Ali Shaw (the little illustration of the tree creature thing at the start is soooooo cute) and am reading A Sincere Warning About The Entity In Your House (novelette) by Jason Arnopp at work while waiting for videos I'm working on to publish!

I looked it up in the sample of The Trees, that is cute indeed!

 

I'm currently reading two books, which I almost never do as I find it hard to separate them and I usually end up focusing on just one of them, then finishing that and then finish the other book. I started reading Brandon Sanderson - The Alloy of Law (part of the Mistborn universe but kind of separate? I don't quite understand yet). Then a day later I stupidly read the beginning of Cassandra Clare - The Mortal Instruments 1: City of Bones and then I wanted to read the rest of the book so now I'm reading two books, which is difficult for me. I can't choose between them yet though, so far I'm enjoying both. I should not've read an excerpt / sample while I was already reading a book. Note to self: only read samples when book-less!

[bobblybear]

Started The Bone Clocks at the weekend, and about 150 pages in this evening.  Still a bit unsure of this.  Some of the story telling has been engrossing, but am not struck with the sci-fi/fantasy element - in fact, distinctly underwhelmed- and this has spoiled some sections.

 

Hmmm, I have this one my TBR pile (along with numerous other David Mitchell's which I bought for £0.99) but have never been inspired to pick it up. I'm not that keen on fantasy so may have to push it a bit further down the TBR list.

 

Still reading Sapiens. I'm about a third through. It's very interesting reading and the author has clearly done a lot of research. I think there are some original concepts in there as well. My next fiction is going to be The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain. I haven't read her books in a while and always enjoy them. But I will finish Sapiens first, otherwise it will probably get left for a while.

[willoyd]

Hmmm, I have this one my TBR pile (along with numerous other David Mitchell's which I bought for £0.99) but have never been inspired to pick it up. I'm not that keen on fantasy so may have to push it a bit further down the TBR list.

 

Well, I'm up to around p 230 now, and whilst it's been OK, the occasional injections of the sci-fi/fantasy elements have jarred.  I have to admit this is a wee bit of a chore - the thought of another 400 pages does not excite me.  I wouldn't persist except for the fact this is a reading group choice, and I sort of feel obliged with those.  I'll try and push on a bit this weekend, and then decide what to do next week.

[Athena]

My next fiction is going to be The Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain. I haven't read her books in a while and always enjoy them. But I will finish Sapiens first, otherwise it will probably get left for a while.

I hope you enjoy this one .

[chesilbeach]

Well, I'm up to around p 230 now, and whilst it's been OK, the occasional injections of the sci-fi/fantasy elements have jarred.  I have to admit this is a wee bit of a chore - the thought of another 400 pages does not excite me.  I wouldn't persist except for the fact this is a reading group choice, and I sort of feel obliged with those.  I'll try and push on a bit this weekend, and then decide what to do next week.

Sounds like you're having pretty much the same experience I had with it - I read it for my book group too, and after halfway through, I only kept going because I wanted to read it all for the group meeting. I'll wait to say any more until after you've finished and will compare notes with your review.

[frankie]

I've started reading How to Find Love in a Book Shop by Veronica Henry. 

[Onion Budgie]

I finished Enigma by Peter Milligan.  Picked up and read The Arrival by Shaun Tan in a couple of sittings.  5/5 for both.  Fantastic stuff.

 

Still reading The Great Forgetting!  Chug-chug-chug.  I'm enjoying it, although it's dragging a little at present.  The plot is beginning to stretch all credulity in a way that Renner's previous book didn't -- which is funny, considering the subject matter of The Man From Primrose Lane.

Edited January 29, 2017 by Onion Budgie

[chaliepud]

My latest read is Our Song by Dani Atkins, not sure what to make of it so far!

[willoyd]

Sounds like you're having pretty much the same experience I had with it - I read it for my book group too, and after halfway through, I only kept going because I wanted to read it all for the group meeting. I'll wait to say any more until after you've finished and will compare notes with your review.

Am up to p. 460 now, and have to say that it's distinctly improved, or at least I've got more into it. Still not unputdownable, but trending that way!

[Janet]

I'm nearing the end of A Child in the Forest by Winifred Foley (my English Counties challenge alternative to Laurie Lee's Cider with Rosie for Gloucestershire) and I'm loving it! 

[Nollaig]

I'm about halfway through The Trees by Ali Shaw - I'm enjoying it, but I'm not really sure where it's going. Also started Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough, which I got as soon as it was released because people have been raving about it for a while. So far though, I think it's really second rate :/

[shirley]

I've started reading How to Find Love in a Book Shop by Veronica Henry. 

 

This is on my pile to read, hopefully get round to it in the next couple of months.

 

I am reading Cartes Postales from Greece by Victoria Hislop do so love her books.

[chesilbeach]

I've been reading reference books today, and not had time for any enjoyable reading

[MrCat]

Currently reading The Bell Jar. I don't know how I feel about this... It feels fresh and dated all at once. 

[Anna Begins]

I read Kurt Vonnegut's Mother Night today and and re read Solzhenitsyn's The Life of Ivan Denisovich yesterday. I can't wait to write my review of Mother Night

 

*logs on to Amazon's bookstore for more Vonnegut*

[Janet]

I started The Secret of Nightingale Wood by Lucy Strange last night, which Chesilbeach bought me for Christmas.  I'm only a couple of chapters in, but so far, so good. 

[More reading time required]

I finished Hurrah For Gin yesterday which I absolutely loved. It all rang so true.

 

Wow I have read 2 books in a month, go me.

 

Then I took a deep breath and decided it was time to finally do it - I started The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett. 

[willoyd]

Finished The Bone Clocks last night, having fairly galloped through the last half or so.  It lagged a bit in the middle, and became rather too fantastic for me at one key point, but otherwise proved an enjoyable read. I particularly enjoyed the early pages and the last section.  Ultimately, a 4 star (out of 6) read.

 

Have moved on to my Christmas present from OH: Madeleine Bunting's Love of Country, about the Hebrides (Inner and Outer).  First few pages very promising (and did enjoy the episodes I listened to when it was Radio 4 Book of the Week around Christmas time).