What are you reading now?

[DracoM]

Diane Athill ' Somewhere near the end' and hated it. Sorry, but it was a champion yawn for me.

[verismissimo]

I'm re-reading On the Road by Jack Kerouac.

It came out in 1957 and I first read it in 1959 aged 15. He was one of the beat group and had a profound influence at that time. It certainly changed my life. Don't think it has the same power today, so much of that stuff having become mainstream.

Anyone else know it?

[greenilex]

Just finished The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry. An outstanding read.

[Dave2002]

Books - what's worth reading?

I don't normally read much fiction - hardly any in fact, though I do read technical and science books.

During the last few months I've "invested" around 99p some days on books to go on my Kindle devices, including some crime fiction, and various other books of different genres. I still figure that much fiction is really not worth reading, but some is entertaining.

What do others think might be worth reading?

Currently I have a few on the go, including:

Leena LehroLainien - Before I go - quite good - detectives from Finland

William Boyd - An ice-cream war - interesting topic - first world war period in Africa

John Le Carre - The pigeon tunnel - which seems more factual than fiction

I am suspicious of blockbusters, and best sellers - and books by authors who are hyped up, and whose books
are numbered bestsellers at aircraft outlets, but which may be remaindered in a few years time.

I have read some of Ian Rankin's books - entertaining, but perhaps eventually rather limited - and I've met Ian a few times and like him, but that doesn't mean I have to like all his books or read all of them. Someone who really can reduce me to hysterics is Christopher Brookmyre - but his work may verge on the obscene - but very funny. Some of the Scottish writers take crudity to levels which very probably other English writers do too, but those are not popularised to the same extent.

[Nick Armstrong]

The novel from the last 20 years that I've found the most worthwhile read is The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen...

[eighthobstruction]

The novel from the last 20 years that I've found the most worthwhile read is The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen...

....i concur....

[Richard Tarleton]

The novel from the last 20 years that I've found the most worthwhile read is......

As a devourer of fiction I hardly know where to start.....but my book in this category would be Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins. Time I re-read it....genius.

No point in "The Pigeon Tunnel" until you've read everything else by JLeC, it's autobiographical scraps....He has a new and probably valedictory novel coming out shortly....

Talking of contemporary Scottish writers, I hugely enjoyed Andrew Greig's "The Return of John Macnab", and its sequel "Romanno Bridge"....it helps to have read John Buchan's John Macnab.....

Another contemporary novelist who is both a best-seller and a great writer of both topical and historical fiction is Robert Harris.

[Petrushka]

I don't normally read much fiction - hardly any in fact, though I do read technical and science books.

During the last few months I've "invested" around 99p some days on books to go on my Kindle devices, including some crime fiction, and various other books of different genres. I still figure that much fiction is really not worth reading, but some is entertaining.

What do others think might be worth reading?

Currently I have a few on the go, including:

Leena LehroLainien - Before I go - quite good - detectives from Finland

William Boyd - An ice-cream war - interesting topic - first world war period in Africa

John Le Carre - The pigeon tunnel - which seems more factual than fiction

I am suspicious of blockbusters, and best sellers - and books by authors who are hyped up, and whose books
are numbered bestsellers at aircraft outlets, but which may be remaindered in a few years time.

I have read some of Ian Rankin's books - entertaining, but perhaps eventually rather limited - and I've met Ian a few times and like him, but that doesn't mean I have to like all his books or read all of them. Someone who really can reduce me to hysterics is Christopher Brookmyre - but his work may verge on the obscene - but very funny. Some of the Scottish writers take crudity to levels which very probably other English writers do too, but those are not popularised to the same extent.

Recommending books for others is fraught with difficulty because you really have to know the person concerned very well indeed. However, a few comments from your list:

The Pigeon Tunnel by John le Carre -it helps a lot if you have read his books, preferably over many years, and this collection of sort of autobiography is only partly satisfactory. I'd suggest reading Le Carre's books first. In my view he is the finest novelist we have.

William Boyd - I rather liked An Ice Cream War when it first came out but some of his other work is best avoided, notably Waiting for Sunrise which is pure tosh.

Detective fiction: I've met Ian Rankin too but don't like his books! Far and away my favourite modern police/detective novels are the very well written Inspector Banks books from Peter Robinson. Forget the TV series, it did PR no favours at all.

May I also recommend my current read The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson? His writing is very funny and perceptive and I can't imagine anyone disliking this account of his travels round the UK. Already got a few retirement projects lined up for the future after reading this.

My main reading is the history of the Second World War and I have a particular liking for the classic POW escape stories (all true). Try The Tunnel and The Wooden Horse by Eric Williams, Boldness be My Friend by Richard Pape, A Crowd is Not Company by Robert Kee or The Great Escape by Paul Brickhill. One of my all time favourites is You'll Die in Singapore by Charles McCormac, one from the Japanese war. Some of these might be tricky to get hold of but try Amazon.

Another big favourite of mine are the German novels of Hans Hellmut Kirst as translated by J Maxwell Brownjohn. Mostly set in the Second World War I've find them hugely entertaining for very many years. You'll find plenty of 1p copies on Amazon. Try Officer Factory or The Wolves for starters, the latter deserves to be a classic in my view.

[Pianorak]

Karoo by Steve Tesich. Howard Jacobson summarises it perfectly. It was recommended by John Niven on R4's “A Good Read” not long ago.

http://giveabook.org.uk/book/howard-jacobson-karoo-by-steve-tesich/

[johncorrigan]

Talking of contemporary Scottish writers, I hugely enjoyed Andrew Greig's "The Return of John Macnab", and its sequel "Romanno Bridge"....it helps to have read John Buchan's John Macnab.....

Richard, I've read a number of books by Andrew Greig over the last few years...about golf and Norman MacCaig - his recent book with Mike Heron about the Incredible String Band was a terrific read. While reading it, in a book sale I came across a book called 'That Summer', a novel by Greig set during the summer of 1940 in the Battle of Britain. I thought it was beautifully written and most enjoyable book. I'll look out your recommendations.

[Dave2002]

The Pigeon Tunnel by John le Carre -it helps a lot if you have read his books, preferably over many years, and this collection of sort of autobiography is only partly satisfactory. I'd suggest reading Le Carre's books first. In my view he is the finest novelist we have.

William Boyd - I rather liked An Ice Cream War when it first came out but some of his other work is best avoided, notably Waiting for Sunrise which is pure tosh.

Far and away my favourite modern police/detective novels are the very well written Inspector Banks books from Peter Robinson. Forget the TV series, it did PR no favours at all.

May I also recommend my current read The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson? His writing is very funny and perceptive and I can't imagine anyone disliking this account of his travels round the UK. Already got a few retirement projects lined up for the future after reading this.

What I've read of the Pigeon Tunnel makes sense from what I've seen and read of and by le Carre. I see no particular reason to read all of his fiction works to make sense of that one.

Really like Bill Bryson.

I have one of Peter Robinson's in my Kindle collection - to read.

I also have a book The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell, which is hilarious - but perhaps only for people who have lived in parts of Scandinavia.

[Richard Tarleton]

What I've read of the Pigeon Tunnel makes sense from what I've seen and read of and by le Carre. I see no particular reason to read all of his fiction works to make sense of that one.

One to read if you haven't already is A Perfect Spy, most autobiographical of his novels. The father taken from life

[Jonathan]

Crime fiction isn't usually my thing but I did enjoy Andrew Taylor's Lydmouth series (there are 7 in all).

[Dave2002]

You don't have to stick with crime fiction - nor even fiction. Other books I've had recently included ones by Andrew Marr and Robert Peston.
You may take it I've read most of the obvious classics - but not all, and not all in their original languages (e.g. Anna Karenina). I have not read War and Peace - though I have got some way into it.

[Richard Barrett]

I'm always searching around for something inspiring and thought-provoking. Having recently visited the Chauvet Cave (well, an almost perfect reproduction of it) with its Palaeolithic cave paintings, I'm rereading a book that fulfils both of those criteria, The Mind in the Cave by David Lewis Williams, an exploration of how and especially why these paintings were made 30,000 years ago. As I mentioned on another book thread here, I also recently found Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Tetralogy very powerful.