What Are You Reading?

Are you reading a book/novel currently? If so, what is it, and what is it about? Would you read it again, or even recommend it to someone else?

If you're not reading a book now, tell us about the last book you read.

What is your favorite genre? Romance novel? Thriller? Self help/personal development? Sci-Fi? Fiction? Non Fiction? All the other genres my brain isn't telling me right now? ;)

I am currently reading

The Kings Curse by Philappa Gregory

It is set in Henry VIII's court,

It is a good read although it takes a few chapters to get into it

This is by the same author who wrote 'The other Boleyn Girl.

details here

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Kings-Curse-Philippa-Gregory/dp/0857207563

I then plan to move onto the Game of Thrones books.

I have them all ready to go.

Before that I read Dan Browns Dantes inferno (second time around)

Before that

Mick Foleys Autobiography, (WWE Wrestler)

Dean Koontz - By The Light Of The Moon.
Not the first I've read of his by any means - he sums up the words "page turning writer".
Before this I finished Robert Jordan's epic Wheel of Time fantasy series.

Currently almost finished with A Feast For Crows, book 3 in George R R Martin's Song of Ice & Fire. (Game of Thrones)

I read everything I get hold of, but my favorite genres are Science Fiction (Larry Niven, Frank Herbert, Isaac Azimov) & historical fiction (C S Forester, James Michener, Edward Rutherford, Thomas Costain).

I have guilty pleasure for Roman murder mysteries: Lindsey Davis & Stephen Saylor).

Goddesses never age by dr. Christiane Northrup. Just finished it and am so happy I bought it. I accidently stumbled upon this lady when I was searching for other Youtube clips by her daughter Kate and she was telling about all the lies told about ageing and how she wrote a book on the subject.
It is a book I would recommend to anyone, also men, as there is so much we can do to stay healthy and vibrant, even after age 50! :)

Ill read anything by Tess Gerritsen.. She is my favourite author without a doubt!!
Her books are crime/ thrillers. Just please don't watch the TV series based on her books.. it just doesn't do the books any justice! Lol.
I honestly cannot handle blood/ guts, which her books are full of, but for some reason i can hack it for her lol.

Im weird with books, I always read the first paragraph of a book, and if it doesn't capture my attention I put it back down (oops).

I recently read The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak. That was one book that really moved me, by the end of the book I was really crying, like sobbing. Then I had a little chuckle to myself about how dramatic I was being lol.. The book was narrated by Death itself.. so was very interesting to read.. The book was based in Nazi Germany in 1939.. So as you can imagine, Death (the narrator) was very busy at that time.. It definitely moved me..
I had a very big "book hangover" !!! I feel that I really got attached to all the characters lol.

Currently have just started reading Room..

Awesome Thread :)

I have sooo many books that it's not even funny lol

I'm currently reading the works of Christina Rossetti - Damn she's got chops lol

As for Non-poetry books I like a bit of fantasy :) I just finished The Redemption fo Althalus by David and Leigh Eddings- I think that was the fith or sixth time around - I find most of their books are freaking awesome apart from the the last set of hard backs....couldn't get into them :/

Anne McCaffrey is another wonderful author too if you like that kinda thing :0)

I also Love biographies, mostly on rock bands lol Nikki Sixx's The Herione diaries is awesome as well as The Real Frank Zappa :)

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky is another fav :)

I love that we have such a huge variety going on right now!

My entire life I always read teen books and romance novels, including time travel. Reading was my escape from reality and mindless reads were always my first choice.

Now I'm reading a lot of personal development books, centered around Christian teaching. I'm currently reading Crash the Chatterbox by Steven Furtick, a pastor of a church in North Carolina. It's about hearing God's voice above all others.

Waiting in my "queue" is Greater by Steven Furtick.. and the following I can't remember the authors: Not a Fan, Follower, Eve, Captivating, Counter Culture, Kingdom Woman, and Enemies of the Heart again. I keep buying books and have no time to read lol

I've started The Shadow of the Wind by Carolos Ruiz Zafon and I'm enjoying it so far. I saw it on the 'Books of the Century' shelf on my local bookshelf so I thought 'How come I haven't heard of this before?' It's a sort of mystery-thriller set in Barcelona in the 1940s, focusing around a cemetery of forgotten books and one rare book in particular that everyone seems to be obsessed with.

I actually haven't finished a book in a long time, I've read slices and fragments and bits of books in the last year. Got about half-way through The Book Thief which I did enjoy (don't know why I didn't read the rest, maybe the Death Narrator spooked me!). Also the first Game of Thrones book, about halfway through and it was interesting, but I didn't have the energy to invest that much time into a series.

I also read most of the biography of Captain Phillips, which was very interesting and something different (its about a navy merchant who's ship was captured by Somali pirates, Tom Hanks plays him in the movie. I'd also recommend 'Survival In The Killing Fileds' which is an autobiographical account of Haing Ngor's experience in the Cambodian genocide/revolution (fun fact, he survived and won an acting oscar for 'The Killing Fields.')

The last book I actually completed was probably The Godfather by Mario Puzo (the films are based on this book.) I was surprised by how good it was, really enjoyable read.

Edit: somebody mentioned Tess Geritson, hadn't heard her name in years! I remember reading a few of her books, 'The Surgeon' was particularly good iirc :)

I'm reading Nicholas and Alexandria right now but, to be honest, finding it a heavy read so I've also got Becoming Madame Mao open. Thank god for my kindle!

That was going to be my next question - kindle, paperback, hardback (etc) ? How do you prefer to read?

I have a kindle and loved it, but I find myself going back to paperback often.

Give me a good book any day. Old fashioned, maybe, but I've never picked up a kindle. "I can't finish the next chapter, my book's run out of batteries" - sorry, the idea just doesn't appeal.

My teachers laugh at me because they say kindles and other e-readers are allowed in class but I always have a physical copy.

Currently I am reading two books one for summer homework and one for myself. The one for school is "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Attwood, it is supposed to be about self discovery, but I have yet to see how lol.

The one for me is called "Leviathan" by Scott Westfield. It is set during World War I but instead of countries against each other it's MAchines vs. genetically modified creatures. Never something I would have thought to like, but it's actually really good.

This month I'm reading "The Jasmine Necklace" by Waciny Laredj. It's that complicated kind of narrative poetry where you get lost between the author's wide and romantic imagination and the bare, freaking reality of human nature. Very interesting but needs too much focus.

Id rather read the actual book rather than a kindle or so on..
Its the novelty of reading a book I think..
Also I have a big book collection and love putting new books on the shelf :D
My mum has a kindle, she loves it. She has bad eye sight so she can enlarge the letters.. So for her its good.

I love my kindle....There's over 100 books stored on it, can you imagine trying to lug them around at the same time :)

Ben...I've had my kindle for two years now and that's never happened to me yet. They hold charge for a really long time.

Finally visited the library, the closest one in the next town and got about 8 books! Read half of them already and onto the 2nd book in the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. Love her writing.

I'm reading a book called Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki by Haruki Murakami. It's unfolding nicely, as Murakami's books tend to do.

As for book preference, I fully endorse the tangible reality of books. I like books that get sand stuck in their pages and food stains from being too engulfed in the story to put the book down to eat properly. Kindle etc. is probably cheaper in the long run, but it's not as cozy as a physical copy.

I'm so hard on my books...they definitely have food stains and worn covers, bind and pages from ear marking if I had to put it down. Kindle was convenient before I got amazon prime for shipping.. lol

What's Amazon Prime?

I was just being bitter really, Hellon, lol. They just seem charmless to me when the hobby of reading itself is such a charming thing to do. In all honesty though, I can see they are the way forward - not least environmentally.

You get free 2 day shipping on the Amazon website, access to some free books and stream tv and movies.

I've used Kindle & Nook & Google Free Books. They're all ok. I still prefer the paper page turners.

Where were all of you guys when I told you to read A Song of Ice and Fire 10 years ago!?!?! AHHHHH!!!!! Of course a teenager reading a fantasy series is a joke. Well phooey on all of you! Enjoy your reading.

:)

Anyway, books.
Finished reading The Princess series by Jean Sasson the other day. Upsetting. Then read Bossypants by Tina Fey. HILARIOUS. Tried to read the Bel Jar finally. So boring. Next up might be W.C. Fields: A Biography.

Darren, send me that book when you're done with it. I loved reading The Other Boleyn Girl. Historical fiction and period dramas are a favorite.

On the Kindle note: I have one. Can't get into it. Nothing compares to the feel of book in hand. Anyone else like smelling books? That just me?

Amazon Prime is my best friend.

Jane it's a SERIES?! I read the first book ages ago and was so addicted to it that I reread it twice. I think I'll be visiting the library.

The Princess? Yes! 3 books in total. Jean Sasson has some type of autobiography out there too, but I haven't read it.

Or do you mean A Song of Ice & Fire? -_-

Re ASOIAF: Almost done with Dance With Dragons & waiting for Wind of Winter

I am currently reading two books (because one at a time is impossible for me):

Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
Chango's Fire by Ernesto Quinonez

I tend to mostly read either mystery/police fiction series, in particular Michael Connelly's "Jack McEvoy" series and J.T. Ellison's "Taylor Jackson" series, or I aim to read books considered amongst the greatest American novels.

On my list to read next is "The Pale King" by David Foster Wallace. Beyond that, I have a list of at least 20 more books already lined up.

Just finished "Perdido Street Station" by China Mieville, moved on to another of his books called "Embassy town". I'd describe his stuff as really adult sci fi/fantasy with a nice side serving of social commentary.

Thomas, Gravity's Rainbow is excellent.
Have you read Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49?
The title gives a totally false expectation of the book. LOL

I have not, but a friend of mine recommended it to me, so that is in the list of books to come. As far into Gravity's Rainbow as I am, I quite enjoy Pynchon's writing style.

A group of my friends exchange ebooks so I got into the iPad reading due to their enormous digital library of books that I wanted to read and just could not afford myself haha. In saying that I go back to hardcopy and paperbacks often. I'm always reading Art and Art History books and there's nothing like holding one of these books in my hands.

I'm currently reading the Urban Trend series (hard copy). I finished the first book 'Doing it differently' a few days ago. Kylie Legge is a Sydney based director of 'Place Partners', a place making consultancy that creates and revitalises places by using their creative approach to formal architecture, planning and informative approach to urban design education. Her book are all about finding creative and innovative solutions to the way we live in urban environments by exploring the trends that people care about, what they value and where communities are moving.

Mel, your reading selection proves that you are not only an artist but a proactive creature!

I absolutely love that there is such a broad selection here!

Finished Book Five of Ice & Fire: A Dance with Dragons.

So different from the HBO show!

Now I have to wait til October for Winds of Winter

Hahaha. I remember waiting for one of his books to come out, and it took something like 7 years. The release date kept getting pushed back and his small fan base worried he'd eat himself to death before we'd ever read another page. I wonder if his books will lose their sparkle and read more like script from the show now.

As I understand it he's okay with the show taking a different direction from his novels. Maybe he won't break with the past. The excerpts available are pretty much in the same style as before.

Michael Crichton used to write script-novels. It was almost like reading his movies. Guess he came to expect them to be filmed.

BTW, have you seen the GOT/Taylor Swift mash-up?
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qhp3wnKyKA>

I'm currently reading "Happiness Now" by Andrew Matthews, very enjoyable book actually. I think the way he portrayed his thoughts by comics and short tips what really made it different and not boring.

I recommend it to lift your spirits :)

If you have never read "A child called it- Dave Pelzer" I highly recommend this book, but be warned it will make you cry and make you so angry. I wanted to jump through the book and hurt this so called mother of this child. The book is an account of a little boy who was severely beaten and abused. On a different note Favorite books: Flowers for Algernon-Daniel Keyes is another must read, I had to read this in high school and it has remained a favorite. It's about a mouse named Algernon who receives scientific studies with medicine to make him smarter. Charlie Gordon whom was mentally disabled became the first human test subject in which the book is narrated by in progress reports of "Charlies". Another year jerker. Another favorite book of mine is Blackwood Farm by Anne Rice... continued my love for vampires from days of watching Dark Shadows with Barnabus... yes I am that old. Another favorite is Rose Madder from Stephen King... I am a huge King and Rice fan. I love hardback books and have enough books to open a small library. Everything from romance to self help and even history. {Sorry post is so long}

Just finished "Out of Control", a teen/crime/drama novel which was surprisingly good. Currently reading "Right Behind You" about a teenager who has to create a new identity and deal with the guilty of a crime in his past.

Really into crime novels now!