Author Topic: What are you reading?  (Read 2053 times)

Offline GloryAndCrumpets

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #30 on: May 25, 2018, 03:15:44 pm »
"The Demon's Brood:A History of the Plantagenet Dynasty," by Desmond Seward.  Was browsing through the history section at the library and it looked good.  Mainly because I know a lot about Tudor and Stewart history, but not before then.

There was also a good book I just read comparing Shakespeare's history plays to the actual history.   Was fascinating.

Oooooh, name? That sounds right up my alley!

Offline Surly

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #31 on: May 25, 2018, 04:14:10 pm »
I'm in the middle of Margaret Atwood's Stone Mattress, having just finished (and really liked, which seems to be a fairly unpopular opinion) her The Heart Goes Last.

I also really enjoyed The Heart Goes Last!  It was absurd and fun. 

I have weird opinions on Atwood though -- my favourite of hers is Surfacing, which it seems most people haven't even *heard* of, and while I admire Handmaid's Tale, I didn't connect to it while reading it, and found it a bit of a slog (I may have been too young, and perhaps should read it again sometime).

Offline Alyonka

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #32 on: May 25, 2018, 04:56:34 pm »
I'm in the middle of Margaret Atwood's Stone Mattress, having just finished (and really liked, which seems to be a fairly unpopular opinion) her The Heart Goes Last.

I also really enjoyed The Heart Goes Last!  It was absurd and fun. 

I have weird opinions on Atwood though -- my favourite of hers is Surfacing, which it seems most people haven't even *heard* of, and while I admire Handmaid's Tale, I didn't connect to it while reading it, and found it a bit of a slog (I may have been too young, and perhaps should read it again sometime).

I completely agree! Surfacing is my favorite, also (though I do kind of cringe when I recall the pretentious college paper I wrote about it...).

Offline katiescarlett

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #33 on: May 25, 2018, 05:05:47 pm »
I am rereading the Outlander series, because hurry up with the next book already, Diana Gabaldon...

I don't know what I'm going to read next. I might read the James Comey book.

I was rereading Outlander on the plane to Scotland two weeks ago. Lol. My friend was having a great time making fun of me, lol. I was reading it mostly because I'd ran out of reading material during the long flights, though I do truly love the series. And I definitely agree with you on Diana needing to finish the next book already!

I'm currently Killers of the Flower Moon, The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann. It's fascinating! Especially since I live in Oklahoma, am a member of a tribe and work for another tribe.

Offline Kiara

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #34 on: May 25, 2018, 06:39:23 pm »
"The Demon's Brood:A History of the Plantagenet Dynasty," by Desmond Seward.  Was browsing through the history section at the library and it looked good.  Mainly because I know a lot about Tudor and Stewart history, but not before then.

There was also a good book I just read comparing Shakespeare's history plays to the actual history.   Was fascinating.

Oooooh, name? That sounds right up my alley!

Took me a bit but I found it!  "Shakespeare's kings : the great plays and the history of England in the Middle Ages, 1337-1485" by John Julius Norwich.  Was a great read, and the author is a little snarky.  Made it even better.

Offline Winterlight

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #35 on: May 25, 2018, 07:08:39 pm »
Right now I'm alternating between a Miss Fisher mystery, The Cardinal of the Kremlin, and The Vienna I Knew: Memories of a European Childhood by Joseph Wechberg. The latter is a memoir about growing up in pre-WWI Vienna, and it's good.
If wisdom’s ways you wisely seek,
Five things observe with care,
To whom you speak,
Of whom you speak,
And how, and when, and where.
Caroline Lake Ingalls

Offline VorFemme

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #36 on: May 25, 2018, 09:01:44 pm »
The Lucky Galah (only just started but the narrator is the galah of the title, a bird with attitude). Debut novel for an Australian author and she's done good.

Rereading Kinsey Milhone mysteries, starting with A is for Alibi.

But if there's a new book in the Vorkosigan saga (as I read on one of the forums), will probably buy that and read it in one gulp.

Have a whole shelf of other unread books looking at me. Just not in the mood - one day.

It's a novella - easily read in one gulp - unless you're out shopping - I did get a large part read while eating lunch. 

It wasn't quite as engrossing as Cryoburn or even my first exposure to the Vorkosigan's world (The Warrior's Apprentice) - but it was new Vorkosigan and there were a couple of references that really rang in my memory...you'll probably guess them when you see them...references to how someone was referred to in their youth...if you've read the rest, you'll know it when you see it.  If not - well, go read the rest - it's well worth it!

One of the books is a homage to Georgette Heyer's "Regency Romances" and etiquette plays an important part in the plot - which made it all the more delicious - A Civil Campaign.  Sigh - it ends in more than one engagement and one marriage - it was fun.

Just bought Flowers of Vashnoi as a kindle book. Have all the others (reread multiple times). Still have all my Georgette Heyer books too. Hadn’t made the connection but can see what you mean.

Someone interviewed her and she admitted that it was a bit of an etiquette & romance novel - but with Miles Vorkosigan in the mix, it is anything but boring...more like a roller coaster ride with kissing...

guest48

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #37 on: May 25, 2018, 11:44:00 pm »
I am reading a bunch of free novels on my Kindle.  It's been my project for about a year now.  For a few years, I used to regularly "purchase" free promotional books from Amazon. Then one day I realized I had over 1000 books that I wasn't actually reading.  So I have been going through, re-evaluating synopses, deleting a whole bunch that no longer sound good , and trying to read the ones that still appeal. 

Right now, I'm mildly enjoying a YA series called The PSS Chronicles by Ripley Patton.  Got the first one for free back in 2013, read it today, then suckered myself into buying more.  Apparently ebooks are essentially sold like drugs.  First hit is free to get you hooked.
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Offline avoidingthedrama

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #38 on: May 26, 2018, 03:47:51 am »
Primo Levi The Drowned and The Saved.  Not light reading and very unsettling but I’m ashamed I’ve not read it earlier. A pile of books to get through on for work.

Offline Surly

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #39 on: May 26, 2018, 10:43:44 am »
I'm in the middle of Margaret Atwood's Stone Mattress, having just finished (and really liked, which seems to be a fairly unpopular opinion) her The Heart Goes Last.

I also really enjoyed The Heart Goes Last!  It was absurd and fun. 

I have weird opinions on Atwood though -- my favourite of hers is Surfacing, which it seems most people haven't even *heard* of, and while I admire Handmaid's Tale, I didn't connect to it while reading it, and found it a bit of a slog (I may have been too young, and perhaps should read it again sometime).

I completely agree! Surfacing is my favorite, also (though I do kind of cringe when I recall the pretentious college paper I wrote about it...).

Oh that's too funny, I think I wrote a paper on it (or at least an essay on an exam) in university too.  Read it for a class called Philosophy and Canadian Literature.  I discovered so many favourite (and not-so-favourite) books in that class.

Offline VorFemme

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #40 on: May 26, 2018, 11:28:33 pm »
I realized today, while setting up a new-to-me Kindle & sending the books that I wanted on it out with a *push* from the Content & Devices section - that I had "complete collections" for some of the older classics (Oz, Sherlock Holmes, Kipling, Anne of Green Gables, Alice in Wonderland, Tarzan, Conan, , the Scarlet Pimpernel, Barsoom, and fifty or sixty other books) that I had an omnibus edition (or more than one - Sherlock Holmes, Oz, Wonderland, & Conan) as well as individual titles from the various collections (She AND H. Rider Haggard's collected works and the She series in omnibus, Kipling, the Scarlet Pimpernel, and a few others)...so I sat there and identified which book(s) I wanted to keep (omnibus) and then deleted the incomplete collections of the individual books (no more worrying about whether I'm reading the series in the correct order - that's how the omnibus is arranged).

Then I deleted some twenty or thirty (or was it forty?) books that I was sure were duplicates...some of the others, I want/need to check the index of contents to see if the lists of books are identical or not...then I can clean up some space just by getting rid of the duplicates! 


Offline thebushiestbeaver

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #41 on: May 27, 2018, 06:15:06 pm »
I'm reading Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder. She was my favourite author as a kid, and I'm really enjoying this deeper and less sanitized account of her life. Rose Wilder Lane is the absolute worst though.

Also reading The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair. Good and funny!
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Offline Winterlight

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #42 on: May 27, 2018, 08:28:54 pm »
I'm sure Laura wasn't a peach to have as a mother, but Rose was no saint either. I went right off her when I learned she was anti-Semitic.
If wisdom’s ways you wisely seek,
Five things observe with care,
To whom you speak,
Of whom you speak,
And how, and when, and where.
Caroline Lake Ingalls

Offline Lynn2000

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #43 on: May 27, 2018, 11:29:27 pm »
I am reading Jane Austen's England by Roy and Lesley Adkins. Coincidentally similar in subject to a previous poster's reading. It's a non-fiction account of what life was like in Regency England, full of contemporary quotes from various parsons and letter-writers and so forth. It's kind of dry and academic but I like that sort of thing.

Spoiler: Life in the past was horrible.

Finished this. Now I'm reading How to Be a Victorian by Ruth Goodman. It's more casual and accessible than the previous book. Apparently the author has done several TV shows in England where she lives on a Victorian farm or Edwardian household or whatever for a year to try out how they did things, so she can speak from personal experience about some of the practices. So far it's much more upbeat--I don't know if that's just the author, or if things really made that huge a leap from Jane Austen (died 1817) to Queen Victoria (started ruling 1837).
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Offline Morrigan

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Re: What are you reading?
« Reply #44 on: May 28, 2018, 01:02:31 pm »
I'm currently reading Bad Girls by M. William Phelps. I find that I'm reading a lot of true crime these days.