Wednesday 23 November 2011

Four books

I don't have the time for a full-length post so I thought I would repeat the meme below, with 'book you were last given' excluded because I haven't received any new books since!

The book I am currently reading

Gillespie and I by Jane Harris. I'm really enjoying this, although I think she has committed the same mistake she made in The Observations and overdone the melodrama - obviously, both novels are meant to have a melodramatic tone, but overegging the pudding slightly has made the character of the narrator, Harriet Baxter, a bit less interesting to me. However, I think this is a significant improvement on her first novel, although that was also good, and I'm looking forward to see what she writes next. I'm also reading The Prose Edda, the original source for much of what we know of Norse mythology, which is just insane and wonderful. No-one makes up myths better then the ancient Norsemen...

Last book I finished

Lirael by Garth Nix, which is the second in a YA fantasy trilogy about necromancers that I have been re-reading for fun. It's a brilliant series with a very well-developed world, and I would recommend getting hold of the first in the series, Sabriel, if you haven't read it already.

Next book I want to read

Hood by Emma Donoghue. I liked Stir-Fry so much I've decided to read my way through her back catalogue; this is her second novel.

Last book I bought

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. I thought Freedom was excellent and have similarly high expectations for this one, though I'm not sure when I'm going to get round to reading it!

Thursday 3 November 2011

Five books

A meme borrowed from Elaine at Random Jottings, who borrowed it from Simon at Stuck in A Book...

The book I am currently reading

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides. I'm only about 75 pages in and it feels almost too familiar, although I was not at an American university in the 1980s. I should not read books about university students...

Last book I finished

Run by Ann Patchett. This was very good, although not quite as plot-driven and hence not quite as gripping as State of Wonder, which I think is going to come in as one of my top ten books of 2011.

Next book I want to read

Nightwoods by Charles Frazier. Thanks to Amazon for the free copy via the Vine programme. I enjoyed Cold Mountain, but have not read his second novel, so this third should be an intriguing read.

Last book I was given

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Normally, no-one ever dares to give me books because I have always read them or have an opinion on them. This offering was from my brave friend Peter for my birthday. I'm looking forward to trying a Steinbeck other than Of Mice and Men or The Pearl.

Last book I bought

The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obrecht. Or more accurately book-swapped for. I don't think I will enjoy this, sadly, but it's for a reading group and I wanted to see what the hype was about. It just doesn't sound like my sort of thing.

Do pass this on if you fancy trying it!