What 📔book are you reading right now?

[Erestor Arcamen]

Death in her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh

 

[frodolives7601]

This thread seems to have gone dormant. What happened -- did everyone quit reading? 😀

I was working my way through a book on the Egyptian art of mummification, but as I'm not feeling so well, switched to something lighter: The Daughter of Fu Manchu. 😂

Hope you feel better soon, S-e S!

I recently finished Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, but I wasn't as thrilled with it as most reviewers seem to be. It got off to a promising beginning, but about 1/2-2/3 of the way through, the author hinted at a possible plot development that would have been very intriguing--then backed off and went in another direction that I found implausible. Sigh.

Now I'm reading Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell, about Shakespeare's son. I'm really enjoying it. I love historical novels.

 

[Sir Eowyn]

Tropic of Capricorn --- Henry Miller. He was born within a month of Tolkien, as it happens.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Hope you feel better soon, S-e S!

Thanks! 😊

 

[Olorgando]

This thread seems to have gone dormant. What happened -- did everyone quit reading? 😀

No, but Hostetter's book, as per e-mail confirmation by my favorite bookstore of my order by phone, is still set for September delivery.
My reading has been entirely non-fiction for a while (even my books about JRRT aren't properly fiction, but about it), and all are German books dealing with subjects probably unknown outside of Germany (probably all without any translations into any other language).

 

[Rivendell_librarian]

Just finished The Celts by Nora Chadwick and now started British Myths and Legends - also Hornblower and the Hotspur

 

[Starbrow]

I'm reading Cast in Oblivion by Michelle Sagara.

 

[Culaeron]

We had a second hand bookstore in our town that closed its doors years ago. Left all the books on the shelves. My wife manages a business across the street and when the building was recently purchased, the new owner told her to send me over to take what I wished. There had to be at least 10,000 books. Room after room of them, some rooms stacked or piled knee deep. Row upon row of bookshelves wedged into every room. I loaded my van! I’m working my way through some Larry Niven novels now. Next is Ben Bova. Or Zelazney...too many choices...

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

You're living my dream!

And I bet I'm not alone. 😁

 

[Shadow]

1984.

 

[Deleted member 31872]

I am reading Echoes of Betrayal, which is the third book in a series of 5 of Paladin's Legacy by Elizabeth Moon

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Then I guess you must like her. 😊

I picked up a couple of hers, years ago, but haven't read them yet. I confess I grabbed them at a "Box o' Books Day" at a local junque store, on the off chance she was an old girlfriend of mine.

She's not. 😂

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

Carrie by Stephen King

 

[ArnorianRanger]

The second volume of The Cypresses Believe in God by José Mariá Gironella. Loving this book, Gironella is Spain's Victor Hugo.
Probably going to start Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences by Edward Tenner here soon enough.

A motley list of books I've been reading on-again, off-again: After the Last Border by Jessica Goudeau, Last Stand at Khe Sanh by Gregg Jones (the beginning of the book is really boring though in my opinion, unenjoyable to get through), parts of Inferno by Max Hastings, started Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, The Thomas Sowell Reader by Thomas Sowell, Babylon's Ark by Lawrence Anthony, Mushrooms, Molds, and Miracles by Lucy Kavaler, various others.

Recently read through Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, and a number of other classic short stories (The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas, The Yellow Wallpaper, Young Goodman Brown, etc.).

Thanks,

ArnorianRanger

Recently finished Les Miserables. I think it's better than War and Peace

Spoiler alert!

Why?

1. The exciting action sequences that often come at the end of each book. My favourite is the escape to the convent with Javert and his men closing in but there are many others e.g the confrontation in the Gorbeau house when Valjean sticks the hot iron (meant for his torture) into his forearm.

2. The time taken to describe the life of the bishop of Digne - skipped over by the dramatic versions but so important to what Hugo is saying.

3. The religious themes combined with scepticism of the Catholic church e.g. Valjean carrying Marius on his back and the description of life in the convent

4. The darkness of the relationship between Valjean and Marius: so important to Hugo's message about prejudice against convicted criminals

5. Fewer characters than W&P yet each one is an essential building block to the story.

6. Gavroche and what Hugo is saying through him e.g. the moment when Gavroche asks
"This word, Hercle, struck Gavroche. He sought all occasions for learning, and that tearer down of posters possessed his esteem. He inquired of him:—

“What does Hercle mean?"

7. Javert is not a monster but a believable character who has taken a wrong path

8. Hugo even evokes pity for the Thenardier parents though he paints them much darker than the musical! They also are Les Miserables.

9. Eponine's teenage love for Marius and its consequence - tissues required

10. The digressions

There is one moment in the film of the musical that scores for me: when Javert puts his medal of honour on the dead Gavroche. That's not in the book as we next see Javert chasing Thenardier who escapes into the sewers which plays an important part in Hugo's story.

Old post I know, but it's nice to see another person who made the slog through Les Miserablés! It's such a powerful book, I admittedly cried at the end. Hugo does such a great job of building the emotional connections between the characters themselves and then between the characters and the reader.

Thanks,

ArnorianRanger

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

I started the Foundation series a while ago but am finally getting back to it. Currently almost done with Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov, which is the third in the published order of books. The Apple TV+ Foundation series, while pretty good, is very different from the original books. If you start watching it, don't expect much loyalty to the books, though us LOTR fans know ALL about that, don't we? 😋

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

I just finished Shostakovich, a Life Remembered, by Elizabeth Wilson; hence my post in the Music thread.

 

[Olorgando]

A really fat (and heavy!) coffee-table slab about "Old India". I forget when I (we?) bought them,1990's probably, it's a five-book set of c-t slabs (or even more; we have these five). They're all titled "Old ...", the other four dealing with Egypt, Greece, The Orient, and Mexico.

 

[Elthir]

Picked up the Elric series the other day and read a few chapters. There's a new set coming out.

Revealing Omnibus Editions of Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné - Reactor

To celebrate its 60th anniversary, Saga Press will publish a three-book omnibus of the complete novels within the legendary Elric of Melniboné epic fantasy saga by World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award winner Michael Moorcock. All eleven novels will be published in chronological order, in...

www.tor.com

That said, a re-read of Dune will probably win out, in expectation of the film.

 

[Olorgando]

There's an Elric story in one of the fantasy compilations (probably a German translation) "dedicated" to JRRT, like that 1992 "After the King".
Gave me the impression of being more in "Conan" territory ...

 

[Ealdwyn]

It's that time of year, so I'm doing a leisurely re-read of LotR. I've just left Bree.