What book (s) are you reading now ?

Factual but fairly light hearted history of the mental cold war politics of South and Central America and America's meddling

Just starting... who knows.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

My Rating: TBA

Post your last book then current, after you have read current add a rating (or review) and post next current read. If you want.

Great to now what you are all reading and especially if any gems turn up 🙂

Just started Les Misérables, Tome 1 : Fantine

[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51375812726_5d4e6fba53.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51375812726_5d4e6fba53.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2mgUtdA ]Les Misérables, Tome 1 : Fantine[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/ ]Ben Freeman[/url], on Flickr

Pretty much exclusively reading French this year. Gave away the A1 books, almost finished all the A2s and will start B1 next.

[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51376547734_d8847e4f90.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51376547734_d8847e4f90.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/2mgYeH9 ]Hachette Lire francais facile[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/ ]Ben Freeman[/url], on Flickr

Having no access to Waterstones for anything to catch my eye, i've been hitting up music magpie and working my way through all the Pratchett books right from Colour of Magic - can't believe I first read that as a 16 yr old on a camping holiday in France with my parents. Now 52.

Every book still an enjoyable read.

Edit - now feeling particularly low-brow following footflaps post!

http://werodeallday.cc/

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

There's a film adaptation of that too. Was an OK way to spend a lockdown evening for nowt, but I'd expect the books offer a richer experience.

Our library has started doing a service where you tell them what sort of stuff you like and they select some books for you, so I've asked them to break my hard sci-fi habit. Just finishing "Behind the Scenes at the Museum" by Kate Atkinson which I think they chose for its interesting narrative style - it's well reviewed but for me the entertainment has been the way it's structured, I've not really felt "involved". 3/5 from me.

Next up is Nutshell by Ian McEwan, another library selection and I've not even read the back cover to find out what it's about.

Fake Law by The Secret Barrister - full of seething rage at how the press has convinced us that the government needs to reduce our right to access fair justice.

Three cheers for me, the Bandy Papers vol.1 by Donald Jack. Rereading to be honest, read them (seven in series) as a teenager and found them equally funny, cringe making and informative on WW1 aviation.
Recently reread Winged Victory by VM Yeates, a semi-autobiographical account of the same period, and realised that some of the details in the former are very similar to the latter.
Edit: rating, 4.5/5 for both

Just finished a couple of procedural crime thrillers, Loose Tongues and Marked Men by Chris Simms.

Now rereading Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

Not sure why I wasn’t expecting much, but really enjoyable read so far (much better than the TV show, as you’d hope)

Fake Law by The Secret Barrister – full of seething rage at how the press has convinced us that the government needs to reduce our right to access fair justice.

Yes, that's on my to read list....

Mayflies by Andrew O'Hagan.

Fantastic read, will stay with me for a long time.

Just finished. Not sure enjoyed is the right word.

Finding some light relief now with James Herbert.

Just finished. Not sure enjoyed is the right word.

The only IB book I've ever read. Can't recall much so must have been a bit dull.

Broken Angels by Richard Morgan. Altered Carbon was much better than the TV version series 1, I thought. This is shaping up to be better than series 2.

The only IB book I’ve ever read. Can’t recall much so must have been a bit dull

Not dull, well written but disturbing. An imagination is a great thing but it's scary how someone could dream this stuff up. Not sure I'll forget it in a hurry.

It's not going well for the Americans, or the British, or the Dutch...

Although I somehow started with the middle book of the trilogy and have gone back to the start with this one so I've a fair idea things start looking up for the allies. Even though they didn't industrialise their murder on the scale of the Germans the Japanese military in general really were an absolute shower of evil shits.

Just finished Wanderers by Chuck Wendig. Not a million miles from The Stand (which is actually mentioned a couple of times in the novel) but I thought it was a lot better, less cartoonish than King gets in that. Very long, maybe a little bit baggy in the middle (like me! Ha!) but very well written and thought provoking. There is a twist which I found a little underwhelming, but that was probably due to the sheer weight of the rest of the story. Really captures an essence of America, both geographically and politically. Would recommend.

I like the look of the one BoardinBob posted

Last book I finished cover-to-cover was Danubia by Simon Winder, recounting the history of the rulers of most of Europe prior to the first world war.

The pace, enthusiasm and irreverent tone kept me going through what could have been fairly heavy material.

Anyway, am now following it up with Lotharingia, his history of (basically) Belgium and the Netherlands. More of the same basically which is no bad thing.

Noam Chomsky - ‘How The World Works’

(Just started. It’s a dipper)

Ziya Tong - ‘The Reality Bubble’

(Ongoing. Can’t stop reading back and forth, fascinating)

Ian McEwan - ‘Solar’

(My ‘holiday novel’ for this year’s camping. Am just getting to the end but saving it for a last weekend bivi. Cringingly funny. Sharp, topical)

All top notch.

Divine Lola: A True Story of Scandal and Celebrity

James Lee Burke , The New Iberia Blues. Love a bit of Detective Robicheaux

Just finished re-reading after re-watching Tracks by Robin Davidson

Just finished reading The Young Team by Graeme Armstrong. I may have read this description somewhere else but it's a bit like Trainspotting for the Ecstasy generation. Took a little effort to get into the Ned talk and the story starts slowly but draws you in and is a real page turner by the end.

I'm now reading Why We Kneel by Michael Holding.

Ooo, great thread - just back off my jollies, so excuse the self-indulgence! 🙂

Fake Law by The Secret Barrister – full of seething rage at how the press has convinced us that the government needs to reduce our right to access fair justice.

Eye-opening and essential.

Acid For The Children - Flea. Wasn't expecting much but a really enjoyable and accessible read

The Water Dancer - Ta-Nehisi Coates. Don't read much fiction but I love how this guy writes.

Help - Simon Amstell. Funny, startlingly Frank, a quick read.

Longitude - Dava Sobel. A quick but fascinating read about the race to measure longitude.

Kings Of The Yukon - Adam Weymouth. A canoe trip down the Yukon and much about the salmon that live in it. Outstanding.

Currently reading Man On The Moon, by Andrew Chaikin - a great history of the Apollo project. Thought I knew a bit already - apparently not! 🙂

As recommended on here some time ago,

Carrying the Fire by Michael Collins.

No pretty pictures but…

‘The Backyard Adventurer’ by Beau Miles.

https://beaumiles.com/the-backyard-adventurer/

Really enjoy his YouTube stuff but can’t make my mind up on the book largely talking about the YouTube ‘films’. There were some good , in fact mostly it was good, but he also goes off on one at times which for me lost the flow/point.
I will reread at some point though.

Currently reading ‘Endure’ by Alex Hutchinson

https://www.waterstones.com/book/endure/alex-hutchinson/9780008308186

Enjoying so far.

Waiting for this to drop next month…

‘Blueprint’ by Ross Edgely

https://www.waterstones.com/book/blueprint/ross-edgley/2928377064518

Richard Holmes' "Wellington", which has been great but is inevitably going to get dull post-Napoleonic wars.

And "Wrath of Empire" by Brian McClellan. Which tbh is really disappointing so far, I tore through the first in the series but this one's just not clicked

Dipping in and out of
Frank Bethwaite's High Performance Sailing - I fear it won't make me faster but if dinghies / fast keelboats are your thing it's a really challenging and interesting read on the science of beyond hull speed sailing.

Edit pic removed as someone oddly seemed to favourite it who I've never heard of - sorry if it was one of you 🙂

I need something lighter to supplement it.

I've not long finished Vulcan 607. The story of the raid on the airfield at Port Stanley at the beginning of the Falklands conflict. Excellent read if you are a plane nerd.

Going Solo - Roald Dahl

The Human Body - Bill Bryson

Heads you win - Jeffry Archer

Just finishing Watership Down by Richard Adams (first read 36 years ago) amazing read!

Next up The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

Breath by James Nestor - properly eye opening about the impact of mouth breathing and an increased respiratory rate. Had me looking at references in the book as some of the stuff was actually hard to believe.
How to win a bike race is current.

Rebel ideas by Matthew Syed is really good too.
Got a nice big pile to catch up on now thanks to bookshop.org

Just finished Billy Summers by Stephen King. Solid 4 out of 5 for me. Some nice nods to previous novels and the usual excellent characters. On to Last Car to Elysian Fields by James Lee Burke next.

Hold My Hand I'm Dying by John Gordon Davis.
Read it when I was 19 and my heart was breaking. Tale of two loves, Africa and Suzi, reading it again 46yrs later and still resonates.

I'm in the middle of reading all six Harry Potter books, in no particular order. Thoroughly enjoying them, great summer holiday reading.
Before that A Thousand Moons by Sebastian Barry, the follow up to Days Without End - both brilliang reads.
Before that Mayflies by Andrew o'Hagen, loved that too.
Haven't read a bad book for over a year - that was a Will Self number that lasted about twenty five pages.....

The Reim East German spy series by Max Hertzber.

Based on the other thread on books recently I’m reading Cider with Rosie, however I’m also re-reading MP the Michael Peterson biography which is a great read about an iconic surfer from the 70s and his struggle with schizophrenia. The latter is getting more of my attention.

Think I am going to order longitude and Danubia, both sound good!

Just finished Anger is An Energy, John Lydon.
Just getting into
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This quite fun

Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan.

Fantastic read, will stay with me for a long time

@Nobeerinthefridge Aye,a belter of a story.
Really hit home.

For now I am re-reading

Please let the film be good,please let the film be good,please let the film be good

Half way through the The North Water by Ian Macguire , there is a tv series coming soon which is meant to be good so thought I’d try and get the book in first as I really struggle to read the book if I’ve seen a tv or film version first . The book has been great so far .

Ooo, forgot to add Pillars Of Hercules, by Paul Theroux - awesome, long, involving travel book, much more entertaining than I feared! I'd be a rubbish travel writer, I wouldn't talk to anyone- he talks to EVERYone, and that's where the good stuff comes from. 🙂

Going through a bit of a Iain M Banks rereading phases so currently deep in ‘Matter’ which is ace.
Just finished battling through ’Feersum Enjin’ again which I just don’t get.

Still sad I’ll never read another new Banks book again.

Ernst Junger - Storm of Steel. Factual (if it can be wholly trustworthy) account of fighting on the trenches in WW1 from a German perspective. Astoundingly written - beautiful in its honesty.

‘Neptune’s Brood’ by Chris Stross, the follow-up to ‘Saturn’s Chilren’. After that I’m going to read the complete ‘Laundry’ series; I’ve got the first three as dead trees, but I’m getting the whole set as ebooks, it’s far easier to read a book on my phone during breaks at work, having a coffee in town, or whatever.
After that, there’s a whole bunch of other books that Stross has written that I’ve only read a couple of, so lots to keep me occupied.

Just finished battling through ’Feersum Enjin’ again which I just don’t get.

Helps to read it aloud to yourself. See also Mason & Dixon.

Just Finished: The Watchmaker of Filigree Street – Natasha Pulley
From the inside cover: 'In 1883, Thaniel Steepleton returns to his tiny flat to find a gold pocke****ch on his pillow. When the watch saves Thaniel's life from a blast that destroys Scotland Yard, he goes in search of its maker ...'
Unusual story, interesting characters, well-written – although I did feel it lost its way a little part way through, but rallied for the ending.

Just started: The Red Notebook – Antoine Laurain
From the back cover: 'Bookseller Laurent Letellier comes across an abandoned handbag on a Parisian Street, and feels impelled to return it to its owner.'
Not sure what to expect really, but I enjoyed the first chapter.

Next up: The Hidden Life of Trees – Peter Wohlleben
From the back cover: '... makes the case that the forest is a social network. He draws on groundbreaking scientific discoveries to describe how trees are like human families ...'

It’s the actual thread of the story I don’t get. I’ve read reviews and explanations but there are bits I just can’t work out and link together in my own head.
I’m the same with Tinker Tailor…there’s a bit about 2/3s of the way through where Smiley suddenly seems to work it all out and I’m never sure how or why…🤷‍♀️

@jimw Recently reread Winged Victory by VM Yeates, a semi-autobiographical account of the same period,

I've just finished that this week. I found it among the books of of a family friend after he died and it's a great book. If you haven't read it I also found a copy of Warriors for the Working Day by Peter Elstob. A fictional but again semi autobiographical account of a tank crews journey from Normandy to Germany. Like Winged Victory a lot of it is about the intolerable strain on the men and it's an equally good book.

Currently reading Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens and really enjoying it.

I'm reading Philip - A final portrait by Gyles Brandreth.

There are contributions by the Prince himself.
A war hero.
Humorous.
An environmentalist with many ideas which have been put in place now, (tree planting, rewilding).
Not necessarily a good father to Prince Charles.

If you have small children - could I recommend 'Interview with a tiger' and Interview with a shark' both by Andy Seed.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08MWTGSVJ/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08ZJMZC6Q/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Also available from your friendly local bookshop