What are you reading?

I'm currently reading "Pretty Little Dirty" and I love it -- can't put it down! It's a (very) gritty coming-of-age story.

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Originally Posted by phat32

Pompeii by Robert Harris - I love good historical fiction, and Harris writes some of the best (Fatherland--an "alternate history" that takes place in Hitler's Germany in a world where Hitler won WWII--springs instantly to mind). In fact, I think he's better at it now than Ken Follett, who, IMHO, has become a bit of a hack in recent years but wrote some of the best historical fiction, once upon a time (heh).

When it comes to historical fiction, I feel the stronger the grasp the author has on the time period about which he or she is writing, the better the results. Harris' research is exhaustive and, at the risk of sounding like a cliche, he makes the Roman Empire come alive for the reader. This is a first-class book!

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:yeahthat I loved Pompeii too, Phat! I'd heard a lot about Robert Harris, but hadn't read any of his books. Someone gave me a copy of Pompeii and I couldn't put it down. It's one that I can actually see myself reading a second time and there aren't too many books I could say that about. Not that I don't enjoy very many books, but there are so many out there, I hate to spend time reading books I've already read. On that note....

I just started re-reading The Chronicles of Narnia. :) I haven't read them since I was a kid - maybe as much as 30 years ago (*gulp*), so I hardly remember any of the plot. I've always gotten the plot of these books mixed up with Madeleine L'Engle's wonderful Wrinkle in Time series, which I think I read later than the C.S. Lewis series. Anyway, I'm speeding through The Magician's Nephew (book 1) and am remembering how much I loved it all those years ago. Since I'm so busy with school, these are fun, undemanding and quick reads. :)

I'm into Patricia Cornwell's Postmortem (thank you to all who helped me out with recommendations of her work :) ). I'm quite enjoying it and I think I'll spend my spring working my way through her Scarpetta series. Though after seeing Capote this weekend, I'm hankering to read In Cold Blood (which I cannot believe I've somehow avoided reading!).

I also read Southern Cross - very different kind of book than the Scarpetta one, less engrossing but much funnier.

I highly recommend In Cold Blood, AJane. :up I read it in a lit class when I was a junior in high school and loved it. After that, I made my way through everything Capote wrote. He's still one of my favorite writers. :) He had a way of writing things in such a simple way, but also in a way that no one else could have. He was a master.

I liked the early Cornwells the best. She lost me when she switched from first person narrative. :mmm

I'm reading two books at once: The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult (I'm a big JP fan.) and Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld.

Hey everybody, thanks for all the great suggestions. I am actually pretty new to the mystery genre, but Connelly definitely has me hooked. I appreciate your recommendations, and will comb through the threads someday to see what else you people are reading in the same vein. I'd really like to read some Patricia Cornwell based on what I've seen so far.

I just started Shadow of the Wind, and though I have read only the first few chapters, I am already in love with it. It's absolutely enchanting, and such a valentine for bibliophiles--it actually gives me the sort of feeling I had hoped The Historian would, if that makes any sense. Anyway, I'm keen to read more, and will probably post again after I've finished.

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Originally Posted by giz

I"m also reading Self Made Man by Norah Vincent. It's about a woman who goes undercover as a man for 18 months, she joins a bowling team, stays at a monastery etc. It's fascinating and (for a woman) bizarre. They really think so differently than we do, it's another world. Their interaction with each other is so restrained. I remember my husband would come home from the pub and say "Oh, I saw Bob". I'd say "How is he? Did they adopt? How's it going with his wife, and the new baby?" He'd say, well I don't know, do I? We didn't talk about that. What did you talk about? The football game. ARGH!! I want details!! I'd really recommend Vincent's book.

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I saw the author of that book being interviewed on television, and she seemed like a very smart, wryly funny person. I have to say, though, that I wonder if a lot of those gendered notions of behavior aren't just stereotypical social constructs? Haven't read the book myself yet though, I'd be interested in seeing what her thesis is exactly.

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Originally Posted by britty05

I'm reading two books at once: The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult (I'm a big JP fan.) and Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld.

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Ooh, I LOVED Prep! :yay One of the most entertaining, poignant, and well-written novels I've read in a long time. To me, it read like an unlikely but lovely mix of a slightly more upbeat The Bell Jar, a modern-day Catcher in the Rye with a female protagonist and the movie Mean Girls. Let us know how you like it.

I recently became a big Jodi Picault fan after having read My Sister's Keeper, so I'll definitely pick up The Tenth Circle as soon as possible.

As for me, I'm so swamped with essay writing that when I do find the time to read, I'm usually in the mood for something super-sweet and fluffy - the literary equivalent of marshmallows. :lol Consequently, the last two books I've read are Where Have All the Boys Gone? by Jenny Colgan (it came with the British edition of Cosmo; I probably wouldn't have gone out and bought it myself) and Fourplay by Jane Moore. Nice, solid efforts in the British chick lit genre, featuring all the trademark ingredients. Lots of funny, snappy dialogue, rooting for the heroine, and - of course! - a Mister Right you can spot from page one, although it takes the entire book for the heroine to realise that they belong together. I know I'm supposed to be all literary and high-brow, but sometimes, there's nothing that beats a nice comfy reading chair, a glass of Chardonnay, some pick'n'mix candy and a brand new chick lit novel.

I finished How To Loose Friends and Alienate People by Toby Young yesterday.

Now I am half way through: Without You: A Memoire of love, loss and the musical RENT by Anthony Rapp. So far it is beautiful, although some parts have had me sobbing.

Hi :hiya !

I've been lurking for a while, mostly in the book thread actually :). I'm currently reading The Historian, like some people at the forum are (or were). I liked it all right in the beginning, but now in the middle, I'm not as happy with the book as I was. I can't quite put my finger on why this is, but I agree about the writing feeling sometimes a bit stilted and unnatural, so that could be part of the problem :mmm . What I've liked best of all so far is the travelogue feel of some parts and the descriptions of the different settings, more than the vampire story bits .

I was thinking, when I finish this book, to read "The Constant Gardner" by John Le Carré. I haven't yet seen the movie, which I've heard is really good, but I was thinking maybe I should try to read the book first before seeing the movie. Has anyone read this book, and would you recommend reading it first?

I'm currently reading The Godfather by Mario Puzo (yes im very left behind..lol!!) and after this I'm gonna read East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I heard it was on the Oprah Book Club quite a while back so it must be worth reading. Has anyone read it yet?