Read any good books lately?

Hi - I'm glad to see a 'book club' thread back

Mouse I've 'read' The Time Travellers Wife' on audio books, a fascinating story and yes, moving at the end.

I've recently finished 'An Utterly Impartial History of Britain' a very funny book- I listen to audio books when I'm out for a long walk and when commuting in the car.

I've just finished reading Nineteen Minutes (a really read), an ok book, but not a patch on My Sisters Keeper IMO.

At the moment I'm listening to 'The Wolf Totem', now there's a thought provoking book, one I shall get in hard copy I think.

My next really read is going to be 'The Shakespeare Secret' JL Carrell, any one read this one?

Sue, I loved My Sisters Keeper too.  Ever since I've been wanting to find another Jody Piccoult to hit the spot but can't put my finger on the right one to read.  Any advice?

The Alchemist - a must for everyone.  So simple, yet said so so much.

Sezz

for your holiday try 'how to kill your husband and other handy household hints' parts of it had me in stitches but it does get a bit heavy towards the end.  even had strangers asking me what i was reading i laughed so much. great for round the pool

Just started The Blackest Streets, appeals to the history geek in me. It's about an area of London which in  Booth's social survey were coloured black (the colour he used to indiacte the greatest poverty).

Fascinating, but keep a hanky handy

Jodi Picoult: Plain Truth, The Pact. Loved Time Travellers Wife. Also Memory Keepers Daughter. Anything by Rohinton Mistry who writes about Family/Community life in india. 'A Fine Balance' is one of my favourite books. Recipe for a Perfect Marriage - makes you think about your own!

Hi MOuse BTW!

The Island by Victoria Hislop. She has just written a new one which I am curious to read. Has anyone else already read it? 

Right, I've bought the Brothers Karamazov - 800 pages!!!

I'll be starting it next week - wish me luck people

I've got lots of patience, I do most of my reading on my 40-50 min. bus journey. Thankfully it's the school holidays soon so there'll be fewer distractions from noisy schoolkids playing music out loud, and bitching about thier classmates etc.

The sign of a really good book is when you miss your stop

Did anyone see Newsnight Review last night?

One of the things they they discussed was the new book from the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami 'What I talk about when I talk about running'. Apparently it stands up as a fine piece of writing whether you are a runner or not, as it covers writing and  philosophy, as well as running A 'fever pitch' for the intelligent runner by the sound of it

From Amazon:

In 1982, having sold his jazz bar to devote himself to writing, Murakami began running to keep fit. A year later, he'd completed a solo course from Athens to Marathon, and now, after dozens of such races, not to mention triathlons and a slew of critically acclaimed books, he reflects upon the influence the sport has had on his life and on his writing.

Equal parts travelogue, training log, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and settings ranging from Tokyo's Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston among young women who outpace him.Through this marvellous lens of sport emerges a cornucopia of memories and insights: the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer, his greatest triumphs and disappointments, his passion for vintage LPs, and the experience, after fifty, of seeing his race times improve and then fall back.

By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" is rich and revealing, both for fans of this masterful yet private writer and for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in distance running.

I've read a book by Murakami (Kafka's Shore?) but found it a bit too odd for me.

It seemed overly-obsessed with incest...

Still it might be interesting to read about his running. I'll look out for it in the library.

Have made it to P26 of TBK. He likes long paragraphs with, as it were, in a way, so it would seem, lots of commas,,,

just back from holiday so here are y holiday read reviews:

The echo maker by richard powers - i have read a couple of his books and liked them bth although the plots were a bit tangled, this one i really liked.  its about a bloke who has an accident and then thinks his sister is an imposter - written from his and her pov's

the world according to bertie by alexander mccall smith  - fluffy and funny and i enjoyed this

what was lost by catherine o'flynn - too short!!! but i liked this too although i guessed the ending so down points for that

notes from an exhibition by patrick gayle - i love his writing - i could have read this on and on but it finished all to quickly, really well written - it's about a family after the death of thier mother, who was a difficult woman to live with

the rain before it falls by jonathon coe - i love jonathon coe - only discovered him recently, this one is alos written after the death of the main character, excellent book and had descriptions of my running club when it used to be a posh pavilion so that made it even more interesting

rebecca - daphne du maurier, i was amazed to find that i had never read this.  i liked it,

devil feather by minette walters (found in the holiday house and i needed something to read on the plane) it was ok

and

slummy mummy - can't remember who wrote it - i have lent it to my friend's daughter to read.  i found the main character really annoying and her husband a tosser and the school stuff did not relate tot he school my kids go to where talk is of tattoo's rather than violin lessons

Cheers Lurks, will look out for them.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Someone on this forum somewhere had read this and said they enjoyed it - I was sure it was Beebs but she denied it when I mentioned it to her! So, anyway, got it out of the library and it is an excellent book.  It has a superb dry humour.  Written from the perspective of each of the key players in the form of e-mails, diary notes and interviews it's really very, very funny.  Highly recommended.

The Pirate's Daughter
I've seen this advertised on a poster and is on The Times reading list but I couldn't engage with it and didn't make it through the second chapter.

"the rain before it falls by jonathon coe - i love jonathon coe - only discovered him recently, this one is alos written after the death of the main character, excellent book and had descriptions of my running club when it used to be a posh pavilion so that made it even more interesting"

i quite enjoyed this one as well

i have that salmon fishing book somewhere but i just can't find it!!

Wahey! The thread is alive!

I read 'To Kill A Mockingbird' when I was in Scotland - very well written, if a little patronising on the racial front through modern eyes.

Just finished 'Crusade' by Robyn Young. It was the second of a trilogy set in Palestine at the end of the Crusades, focussing on a Templar Knight and his attempts, with like-minded comrades and potential enemies, to try and work for peace. It was a good read, with plenty of accurate historical details (and an explanation of which bits weren't at the end), but I wished I'd read the first book. There were lots of references to previous events, sketchy enough to not give the full flavour of the previous story, yet detailed enough to give the whole plot away. Other than that it was a good read and I'd look out for the third part of the trilogy.

Off to the library tomorrow for the first time in a year or so. I may well look out for The Brothers Karamazov, as I feel in need of educating myself with more classics (I've been having a break since War and Peace, which ultimately left me feeling a bit disappointed).