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Tell us what you're reading right now & how you're liking it so far. If you like, post your book reviews too as you finish them.

Don't forget the GR book links..

I finished reading Perdido Street Station yesterday and am totally obsessed with China Miéville right now. Here's my review: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10...

I've only read the first couple of pages of The Scar, but I loved them. They describe life in the ocean exactly as I have often imagined it. I love this quote from page 3 - "In the deepest places, where physical norms collapse under the crushing water, bodies still fall softly through the dark, days after their vessels have capsized. They decay on their long journey down. Nothing will hit the black sand at the bottom of the world but algae-covered bones." Brrrr :)

Matthew wrote: "I'm reading War and Peace with the Discovering Russia group, and The Red and the Black. It's my first encounter with Stendhal, and I can see what the hubbub's about. The character Julien Sorel is a..."

I LOVE that in the space of a couple of hours this group has LITERALLY covered books from War and Peace to Ass Goblins of Auschwitz! That's brilliant!

I would never otherwise have looked twice at The End of Desire, but I believe you. I really do. I'm TBRing it and adding a "must-buy".

I'm sure you'll love Mieville. I can't think of more perfect summer reading.

Empire State by Christopher, Adam

THE EMPIRE STATE IS THE OTHER NEW YORK. A parallel-universe, Prohibition-era world of mooks and shamuses that is the twisted magic mirror to our bustling Big Apple, a place where sinister characters lurk around every corner while the great superheroes that once kept the streets safe have fallen into dysfunctional rivalries and feuds. Not that its colourful residents know anything about the real New York� until detective Rad Bradley makes a discovery that will change the lives of all its inhabitants. Playing on the classic Gotham conventions of the Batman comics and HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, debut author Adam Christopher has spun this smart and fast-paced superhero-noir adventure, the sort of souped-up thrill ride that will excite genre fans and general readers alike.

I really enjoyed it..different and fresh.

I've had Empire State on my list since before it was released and haven't even bought it yet. Good to hear it will be worth the wait.

That does look very cool: Empire State. It's one of a growing group of superhero and ex-superhero books I've been itching to get to, along with this one: Ex-Heroes by Peter Cline. I don't read many comics, but the Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile series intrigues me too.

I'm reading another Christopher Moore, A Dirty Job - will probably finish it today or tomorrow. I'm also slowly working my way through Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell with another group, but I'm only a few chapters in so far.

Hi All,

I am currently reading Wastes Away

This is a cracking author and her series starting with Morningstarwas terrific too..

Ooo! I highly recommend Empire State - not only is it good, I helped with the beta reading for it and there's a lovely paragraph in the acknowledgements about how great I am and stuff. ;)

I'm currently reading the third book in the Hunger Games series Mockingjay - not normally my sort of thing but I was intrigued by the idea and comparisons to The Long Walk. It's actually rather fun.

Right now (well for the past year) I've been on a seventies kick.

I'm currently reading The Choirboys and The New Vigilantes and The Green Ripper as well as a Hammon Innes adventure novel from 1960 The Doomed Oasis.

Riona wrote: "I'm reading another Christopher Moore, A Dirty Job - will probably finish it today or tomorrow. I'm also slowly working my way through Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell with another group, but I'm only..."

Definitely going to have to try and get to Christopher Moore. Wow, that's odd. When you search for the author link, it suggests Anne Frank first. Ahhh....GR search function.

Ruby wrote: "Definitely going to have to try and get to Christopher Moore. Wow, that's odd. When you search for the author link, it suggests Anne Frank first. Ahhh....GR search function. "


I've read a number of Moore's works and my favorite is
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal if you're looking for a good place to start.

Awesome. I've bumped it up the to-buy list :)

I read Seven Years in Tibet currently :D
This is not really a book written by a real author. It's more a diary by Harrer written down with many cool pictures :D I learned a lot about Tibet. I bought it because I was interested in this culture and country and I love the movie after this book with Brad Pitt :D
So I recommend it to every fan of buddhism and tibet :)

Lisa wrote: "I read Seven Years in Tibet currently :D
This is not really a book written by a real author. It's more a diary by Harrer written down with many cool pictures :D I learned a lot about Tibet. I boug..."

Nice. I found a vintage copy of that a few years ago, and bought it for the beautiful dust jacket. I haven't read it yet though.

Ruby wrote: "Riona wrote: "I'm reading another Christopher Moore, A Dirty Job - will probably finish it today or tomorrow. I'm also slowly working my way through Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell with another group..."

I love read Christopher Moore! His books always make me laugh and are a great light read. My favorite is Island of the Sequined Love Nun. Hands down one of the funniest books I have ever read.

I'm so glad I'm with a bunch of people who enjoy Christopher Moore as much as I do! Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal is one of my favorites so far, but I have a bunch of his books that I haven't read yet, so we'll see.

I'm currently reading Love in the Time of Cholera, which I'm not really enjoying, and Sir James G. Frazer's The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion: A New Abridgement from the Second and Third Editions. I've read bits and pieces of TGB before for research and found the material so interesting that I decided to read it cover to cover.

Pam wrote: "and Sir James G. Frazer's The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion: A New Abridgement from the Second and Third Editions. I've read bits and pieces of TGB before for research and found the material so interesting that I decided to read it cover to cover. "

Hi Pam. Welcome :)
That really does sound fascinating from the mythology side. Given the time it was written in though, I'm a little wary. I know some of the old anthropological stuff had some fairly questionable assumptions and approaches. I looked at the entry for one of the editions and saw words like "backwards" and "more civilised cultures". I'm not sure I could get past that aspect!

Some of Frazer's work has been found to be flawed, but other aspects are fairly well explained. I do occasionally come across some pretty pejorative terms, but that's a lesson, too, on how they thought at the time. I'm reading it as though it's a historical fiction of sorts and not as a strictly true anthropological perspective, as it was seen in its day. I'm more interested in the progression of the myth surrounding the Green Man from the earliest forms of Nature Cults up through the Middle Ages (and maybe a little beyond that).

The New Centurions. Classic novel by Joseph Wambaugh. A novel that ringes truer now than it did when I first tried to read it some seventeen years ago. Also a surprising novel. This is not a slob comedy which is an idea that people have becasue of the terrible movie they made of the book in 1977. It more of a tragedy and a black comedy.

The New Vigilantes (1976). A group of former Vietnam War P.O.W.'s return to a changed United States. The country seems to be falling apart and nobody seems to care. They set out to do something about it. A first glance you expect just another hairy chested blood soaked shoot-em-up. But no this is actually a very well researched and intelligent novel that looks at just how complex a modern society is and how there are no easy quick fixes.Even though it's almost forty years old nothing has really changed. Just technology, but not people.

The Doomed Oasis by Hammond Innes.I just need to read an adventure story now and again. Innes always did excellent research and his novels were exciting. They're like watching an old adventure movie from the forties and fifties.

Pam wrote: "I'm more interested in the progression of the myth surrounding the Green Man from the earliest forms of Nature Cults up through the Middle Ages (and maybe a little beyond that). "

Yeah, those aspects sound fascinating. I read an article once about a group of children at an orphanage somewhere who were raised without any kind of mythology (difficult to see how that could be done, but still). They said that the children invented their own mythological figures, but the archetypes still mirrored those found in repeatedly across cultures - like the Green Man.

I'm on to The Heroes now - it's one of those books where I wince all the way through it because the writing is so good, and I'm horribly jealous.

I just got done reading Mistwood this morning. i got up like 7 this morning because i was that engrossed with the book.

Currently listening to Dune (The original) and reading Havoc by Jack Du Brul. This is my first post, but I look forward to discussions.

I finished 1984 recently and am now reading Amazonia.

I loved 1984!
Amazonia is pretty good so far. I am not that far into it yet though.

I finished Valley of the Dolls today... review here.

I think I might start We Need to Talk About Kevin next.

Riona wrote: "I finished Valley of the Dolls today... review here.

I think I might start We Need to Talk About Kevin next."

I'd be keen to know what you think about ...Kevin when you're done. Have you seen the movie? I saw it as part of a film festival last year and was blown away. Ended up buying a copy on DVD. I haven't read the book yet, as the film was so perfect. It really conveyed the sense of raw anxiety from the mother's perspective. My boyfriend even sat through it with me - very rare for something like this!

Lionel Shriver wrote an interesting article about how he feels a lot of readers like less than perfect characters for Everlost by Neal Shusterman. It's about the limbo state in the afterlife. I read his book Unwind last week. It's now the standard to which I hold all other dystopian books to. It's about an aftermath of a war between pro-choice and pro-life factions in the United States. They come to the solution that if you harvest unwanted kids at the age of thirteen as organ donors it's not the same as abortion. It has terrific world building. It's a series but the next two haven't been released yet.

I also read Glenn Greenwald's With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful which is about the two tiered justice system in America.

Lauren wrote: "I'm about to start Everlost by Neal Shusterman. It's about the limbo state in the afterlife. I read his book Unwind last week. It's now the standard to which I hold all other dystopian books to. "

I've had Unwind on the shelf for ages - really got to get to it. Thanks for flagging Everlost - it sounds a little like The Brief History of the Dead which is one of my favourite books.

Ruby wrote: "Lauren wrote: "I'm about to start Everlost by Neal Shusterman. It's about the limbo state in the afterlife. I read his book Unwind last week. It's now the standard to which I hold all other dystopi..."

I'll have to read 'Brief History of the Dead'. It sounds creepy given the killer coke Coca-Cola is doing in South America.

Ruby wrote: "Riona wrote: "I finished Valley of the Dolls today... review here.

I think I might start We Need to Talk About Kevin next."

I'd be keen to know what you think about ...Kevin when you're done. Hav..."

I haven't seen the movie. I actually went into the book knowing barely anything about it, but I'm a couple chapters in now and very intrigued. The language is very complex in a way that I'm not sure suits an epistolary novel, but the author creates some great imagery.

Ruby wrote: "I finished reading Perdido Street Station yesterday and am totally obsessed with China Miéville right now. Here's my review: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10...

I've..."

AGREED! This book was awesome! Meiville has all the markings of a true master...I'll be watching, uh, reading him very closely!

I'm reading A Prayer for Owen Meany, and I'm really liking it so far. I really enjoyed Irving's The Cider House Rules, and thought I'd give this book a try. I've been seeing a newer book out by him as well, In One Person, and plan to read it in the near future. I hope to find some good recommendations from this group. I hope everybody has a good weekend. Read on!

Ah Christopher Moore, I'm yet to find anyone who doesn't enjoy his books. I've read Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal and You Suck. I found Lamb A bit difficult to get through, it took me a while but it was an interesting read and infinitely funny. I love Biff <3.
I'm currently reading Light My Fire from the Aisling Grey Series, I also just bought Eon: Dragoneye Reborn. I'm leaning towards light not very intelligent reads as I don't have time to get into anything mind engaging lately :P

Just went looking for Christopher Moore books on Kindle, thinking I could make one my next ebook read, but they're pretty pricey. The hardcopies are way cheaper. The only reasonably priced ones are the ones in German. Good news for a few people in this group, but not for Ruby :(

hey! I'm currently reading Hunger , I'm almost done with it, and I have to say it's one of the best books I've read. It's full of suspension, mystery, and the kind of science fiction that keeps my eyes glued to the story. you should totally give it a try :)

I am working on The House of the Spirits right now...about halfway finished. I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would because I haven't been a big magic realism fan in the past.

I also generally have an audiobook going, which right now is The Wide Window. I thoroughly enjoy the dark humor in this series. I hope it creates witty, sarcastic 9 year-olds.

Riona wrote: "I finished Valley of the Dolls today... review here.

I think I might start We Need to Talk About Kevin next."

Hi Riona,

I loved both the book and the film and it is one of the very few where the book and film are different and good - its a relief after watching what they did to "My Sisters Keeper"

Ruby wrote: "Riona wrote: "I finished Valley of the Dolls today... review here.

I think I might start We Need to Talk About Kevin next."

I'd be keen to know what you think about ...Kevin when you're done. Hav..."


I loved the movie and esp Miller and Swinton.

Lauren wrote: "Lionel Shriver wrote an interesting article about how he feels a lot of readers like less than perfect characters for slate.com.


Lionel Shriver is female

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12...

Currently reading "Lessons from the Monk I Married" by Katherine Jenkins, who has a blog by the same title. It's a true story about...well, exactly what it says, how she met and married a Buddhist monk in Korea. Fascinating topic to me and so far an interesting read.

Fiona wrote: "I loved both the book and the film and it is one of the very few where the book and film are different and good - its a relief after watching what they did to "My Sisters Keeper" "

That's good to know. I just thought the film was so perfect. I was really struck by the way they used noise, particularly in the first half, to convey the level of stress and tension in the mother. The (view spoiler)[jackhammer/stroller (hide spoiler)] scene just blew me away.

Ruby wrote: "Just went looking for Christopher Moore books on Kindle, thinking I could make one my next ebook read, but they're pretty pricey. The hardcopies are way cheaper. The only reasonably priced ones are..."

You can never go wrong with Christopher Moore. I never laughed so hard while reading a book!

FINALLY finished Love in the Time of Cholera, then decided to go for a quick, light, and funny, so I read Life, the Universe, and Everything yesterday. Now I'm working my way through The Man in the High Castle. I'm a big PKD fan, so I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy this book. Muchly.

I'm listening to The Mongoliad: Book One, and I'm not yet thrilled. It generally takes me a while to click with his books. I'm reading a manuscript for a friend (which is rocking), The Curse of Chalion, and Elephant Memories: Thirteen Years in the Life of an Elephant Family. I got halfway through Curse and then just lost the thread, which I'm trying to pick up again. Ele memories is one of those mood books-- I really need to want to read it.

I'm currently half through The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry, which is really interesting.
I'm also listening to Last Night in Montreal and enjoying it as well.

Just starting Murakami's 'Underground', aboutvthe Tokyo gas attack.

I am currently reading Mockinjay book 3 in the Hunger Games series. Found myself pleasantly surprised at how interesting this series is. I am completely enjoying it and almost sad that I am almost done with it.

Jen wrote: "Ooo! I highly recommend Empire State - not only is it good, I helped with the beta reading for it and there's a lovely paragraph in the acknowledgements about how great I am and stuff. ;)

I'm cur..."

I am reading Mockingjay also and love it!

donna wrote: "I am currently reading Mockinjay book 3 in the Hunger Games series. Found myself pleasantly surprised at how interesting this series is. I am completely enjoying it and almost sad that I am almos..."

I have to say that I really appreciated Suzanne Collins not taking the easy way out with Mockingjay. (view spoiler)[The characters are extremely scarred by all the events in the series and she respects that by not creating a picture perfect happy ending. I know a lot of people were disappointed with this book because of that, but I really felt it rang much truer than other YA novels that wipe away all the problems at the end. (hide spoiler)]