What are you reading now?

April_Rose · What are you reading now?

I've just started "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbera Kingsolver, really just a couple of chapters in so too early to comment on what I think of it as yet.

Most recently I've read "River Cross my Heart" by Breena Clarke, I really enjoyed it, a story about tragedy, coming of age, racism, family relationships, friendship and community spirit. Though the pace of the prose was often slow it was never boring or failed to hold my attention, it seemed to convey the slowness of changing attitudes, and movement in the heat during the summer months.

Em_J

At the moment I'm reading This Forsaken Earth by Paul Kearney, but I'm finding it hard to get into. I read his first book, 'Mark of Ran,' but this one is a bit . . . boring! Very Happy

redwinegoblin

I'm reading "Running with Scissors" by Augusten Burroughs,which is jaw-droppingly bizarre. I'm also reading Anthony Keidis' biography - "Scar Tissue" - that's really interesting, especially if you love the Red Hot Chili Peppers

April_Rose

I heard Anthony Kiedis had a bit of a mad life!

There's so many books I want to read, but recently my Mum cleared out her bookshelves in preparation for moving house, so I got loads of books from her, I was almost overwhelmed by the amount of them, though now I'm settling into delight at all of them, having difficulty choosing what to read next.

redwinegoblin

His life is absolutely insane and having read about the amount of drugs he's taken over the years I'm surprised he's not dead already. It's an interesting read though ...

I'm gonna start to read the His Dark Materials books too, cos everyone else seems to have read them and I feel left out!!!

April_Rose

yeah, I haven't read them either, I like fantasy and they're supposed to be really good, I got a bit annoyed though because Philip Pullman slagged off CS Lewis and I love the chronicles of Narnia, not so much the fact that Lion Witch Wardrobe is a christian allegory, but it's a marvellous and magical tale for children, and there are sixs more books in the series as well. They pretty much got me through the hard times in my childhood and my dog-eared copies are still among my favourite possessions - I'd find it hard to consider them objectively. Hated the film, they left out all the good bits and the actors were awful, though the critics fell over themselves trying to say how marvellous it was.

I heard that His Dark Materials is going to be filmed soon.

redwinegoblin

Yeah, and apparently Daniel Craig's gonna be in it ... my interest increases by the second!! Laughing

Em_J

You guys will love His Dark Materials! I'd recommend them to anyone!

April_Rose

Finished The Poisonwood Bible and loved it! Amazing book, the kind I'd love to write myself in that it made me consider what life means, what it is to be human, how silly the things we consider differences are, how so few people have so much power to influence how so many live and how the planet copes with us being here...

Truly marvellous book, it tells the story of a Baptist minister and his wife and five daughters who travel to the Congo in 1959 with the plan being to convert the natives. They arrive as revolution is in the air - various independance movements, plus the CIA determined to make sure communism doesn't take root. For four girls from America the difference of living in Africa is astounding, from tarantulas in the bananas to trying to pick up the local language and learning that locally there is no concept of childhood - once you can walk you can help with the work.

As politics intrude on their lives, the five women who narrate the story continue to strive against all odds, from snakebites to malaria. There are poignant moments and ones that made me laugh out loud. It follows the family across four decades as they lead very different lives.

I loved it and would recommend it to anyone. It made me very pensive, in a good way, it made me feel hope for the world, and peaceful.

redwinegoblin

Sounds good - i need a new book now , i'm recycling my bookshelf a lot recently. I usually get books for Christmas but only got one this year (The Ghosthunters guide - not really fiction or relaxing reading!!)

Although I'm going out this weekend book shopping, so once I've spent all my cash I'll post what I ended up buying - i'll keep my eyes peeled for The Poisonwood Bible.

April_Rose

Yeah, it's by Barbera Kingsolver and was published in '98, well worth the read. I love book shopping, you'll have to tell us all about your purchases! There are soem great finds sometimes in the shelves away from the "special offer" and "latest relaease" tables Cool

redwinegoblin

Yeah I'm dreadful as soon as I get into a bookshop, especially if it's a second hand one. I always find them a lot more intruiging than places that sell new books. I have a whole bookcase full of my wierd purchases - like the Vegetable Growers Handbook from the 50s which I bought just for the brilliant pictures of people in 50s clothes posing with trowels and stuff! Hopefully I'll actually buy some books to read rather than just puzzle over!!!

April_Rose

There was a nice second hand bookshop in my town but it closed down, the guy retired and moved away I think, there's another one that's not that big but pretty cool, I know the guy who runs it. Get some great finds in the charity shops too, and I've still got about 100 to get through, the ones my mum cleared out, so i can't complain too much really!

redwinegoblin

There's an amazing bookshop near me, its in a wierd old building like something out of a horror film and the bookshelves go all the way to the ceiling with all the books piled up on top of each other. I think it's an amazing place , although with my total clumsyness I find it very easy to bring piles of books tumbling down to the floor....

April_Rose

wow, that sounds like heaven to me, except I'd be doing the same, knocking stuff down! Still, maybe it's fate and the book that hits you on the head wants to be read by you....

April_Rose

I just read "Sister Water" by Nancy Willard. Good book, a few magical, mystical elements to it as well the the story of three generations of the same extended family centering on an old woman coming to terms with the fact her mind isn't what it used to be, plus a murder and a false accusation. Delightful characters was the strongest point of it overall I think.

Moebius Tripper

I am reading: "THE HOLOGRAPHIC UNIVERSE," by Michael Talbot published in 1991 by HarperPerennial.....This book is one of the most important books of the last decade...It is a groundbreaking book about the universe being in fact a giant hologram containg both matter and consciousness as a single field created by the human mind...".This remarkable new way of looking at the universe explains not only the unsolved puzzles of physics, but also such mysterious occurrences as telepathy, out-of-the-body and near death experiences, "lucid" dreams, and even religious and mystical experiences such as feelings of cosmic unity and miraculous healings." ....so says Larry Dossey, M.D., author of "Space, Time and Medicine....

The book is filled with people who have unexplainable powers of the mind that can perform miracles.....which can all be explained by this theory the author has written about based on the work of two top scientists in this field.

http://www.amazon.com/Holographic...oks&qid=1173426999&sr=8-1

April_Rose

Interesting! Physics and mysticism rolled into one investigation, sounds like a good read, hope you're enjoying it!

Moebius Tripper

You willl not believe what is in this book....There is a chapter in it called: "A Pocketful of Miracles," where the author lists the many people who have possessed powers no one can explain, except by the theory his book explains...

There is this man by the name of "Sathya Sai Baba," a sixty-four-year-old East Indian holy man (in 1991) who can produce out of thin air, lockets, rings, and jewelry and then pass them out as gifts. He can also materialize an endless supply of Indian delicacies and sweets, and out of his hands pour an endless suppy of sacred ash. He can materialize specific objects on request, such as fruit out of season, and even more amazing, hot food, so hot that people sometimes cannot even hold the food. He can make sweet syrups and fragrant oils pour from his hands (and even his feet), and when he is finished there is no trace of the sticky substance on his skin. He can produce exotic objects such grains of rice with tiny, perfectly carved pictures of Krishna on them.

What this all means is that the world is nothing but an objectivized dream, says Yogananda, and whatever your powerful mind believes very intensely instantly comes to pass.

This is someting like "The Science of Mind," book says as well as the many books on Christian Science, or the Unity Church founded by Myrtle Fillmore back in the 1890's in the U.S......Those people who wrote the book, "THE SECRET," are telling us nothing new....I knew about this subject 35 years ago..But all of those books I read are long out of print, that's why these people are getting so much attention and getting rich....They have a movie that you can see on Google Video, called "THE SECRET," that preceeded their book......

By the way, I am also posting on the "Chronicles web site..That's where I found yours posted by "Mouse." I am having a debate with 2 men my age about the moon...They seem to think it is a dead world....I referred them to three books with enough information in them to refute their closed minded beliefs....You can find my post about this under the "Universe" heading and then the "solar system.' I am also known there as "Moebius Tripper.

Also, I noticed that that web site just took down their "Press Release' board where I posted my book and info....Do you know why they did that?

April_Rose

I'm not a member so I'm afraid I haven't a clue, your best bet is probably to get in touch with the board administrators and ask them personally.

As for the book you're reading, it sounds interesting, I must admit I tend to be cynical about a lot of things like miracles, the supernatural and all forms of religion, but at the same time I certainly don't think we've reached the end of a period of discovery and just because science can't explain it now doesn't mean that it won't be able to in the future - one of humanity's biggest problems in my opinion is that we keep thinking we know it all, and then someone goes and discovers something that throws up whole new questions. All the same, I remain sceptical about a guy who can make things appear out of the power of his mind! ;)Although I'd say it ties in to things like people being able to walk on hot coals by focussing their minds on not letting it burn them, but again, I'd want to see before I believed.

Em_J

Mouse - That's me! Wink

I didn't realise they'd taken down the press release bit?!

Edit: It's still there, I seen the thread for your book too. Smile

Moebius Tripper

Thanks Em_J for the information

About that book I am reading: If you read it, it will change your mind about what you think is reality...The author is proving that reality is plastic and can be made to conform to our beliefs....That everything is a an energy field, etc....This is the book to read if you want to open up your mind to what is really going on beneath what we believe to be real.....

I have read many books like this one, but this one "tops the cake" because of the many examples he gives to prove his point.

I have read all of the books of Z. Sitchin who wrote that classic book: "the 12th Planet," as well as all the books by Robert Charroux who wrote the classic: "One Hundred Thousand Years of Man's Unknown History," as well as 4 others on the mysterious things of our past history....

It is because I have read these kind of books that I was able to write a book of my own based on some of the facts authors like these have written about.

My first novel, unpublished as yet, that I wrote about 25 years ago, is a novel about Lord Francis Bacon being the author of the so-called Shakespearean plays. The story even has the Ark of the Covenent and the Stafff of Moses in it, as well as the Stone of Scone, which was also known as, "Jacob's Pillow Stone," and "The Stone of Destiny," etc...

I notice that you are from Ireland....The Stone of Scone, as you know, was in Ireland for over one thousand years and was used in the coronation of the Irish Kings.....My novel is also about the British Israelite Theory which is no theroy when you look into the facts...Your country has a flag with the "Harp of David" in it for the reason that the last king of Israel's daughter married the Prince of the Tribe of Dan, which was a tribe of Israel that had settled in Ireland...You might know this woman as "Tea Tephi."

You can download a free copy of a book about the British Israelites....The name of the book is: "Judah's Scepter and Jacob's Birthright....I will have to look up the web address on Google for you....Look for it on my next post here....

April_Rose

Will do! Irish history before Christianity certainly interests me.

Moebius Tripper

http://www.giveshare.org/israel/judah/

Great!!.....Just click on the link above and it will take you to the entire book....You will love this I know....Tell me what you think of it when you

look it over.

This book is about "TEA TEPHI" which really goes into the past history of Ireland which hardly anyone knows

http://asis.com/~stag/jerrytea.html

Here 's another web site about Irish History....That Tea Tephi web site I thought had a whole book on her...You will have to do a Google search to find a book about her...Although I did buy one years ago from a company that reprints old books...The company is: Health Research Company located in the state of Washington or Oregon, USA.....I will have to look them up in Google..... http://www.healthresearchbooks.com/

http://www.motherbedford.com/ogths8.htm

jenny*

i'm reading to kill a mockingbird at the moment Smile

Em_J

I'm reading Buried Fire by Jonathan Stroud. (still) T'is ok, not as good as his others.

April_Rose

I love that book, I must read it again soon actually as it's been years now, the way they're scared of Boo Radley is excellent, as much as it's about racism and other serious issues like incest and rape, I love the bits where Scout is just being a tomboyish child, inquisitive and funny without meaning to be!

Em_J

I've never read it! Ever. Not even at school. Just had to read Of Mice and Men and that was it!

April_Rose

I've never read of Mice and Men...I switched schools halfway through third year and missed out on it, that's the one with the two farm hands isn't it?

Em_J

Yeah. George and Lenny (I think!) I didn't like it much.

jenny*

yeah i love reading about scout's stories when she was young - infact, i don't think they mention anything about the court case until half way through the book!

April_Rose

It's so long since I read it I don't even remember the details, a sign I shoudl read it again I think, I just love that part of the book, Attticus and Scout are such great characters!

jenny*

you should definatly read it again! even second time round you pick up other stories and sections you missed the first time . . . well i did anyway!

April_Rose

I will read it again then, must get a copy, I think I gave away the old one I had at school, but I've seen it in the local Easons, and my birthday is coming up Smile

At the moment I'm reading the rest of the short stories from the anthology my story was published in, the Momaya Annual Review.

jenny*

are you a full-time writer then? or is it a hobby?

April_Rose

I write full time, or most of the time, I also teach creative writing workshops for a bit of money, among other things when cash gets short, that's the first proper thing I've had published though, but I'm working on a book, close to getting it finished, and when it is I'll be trying to get it published, one way or another I'm determined to see it out there, I'll self publish if I have to!

jenny*

sounds good! i've always wanted to write a book. When i was little i always used to make up a list of characters but never got round to actually writing the story! mind you, i had the same storyline planned out all the time - it involved a family of 12 children living in the country . . . i don't know why!

April_Rose

Interesting! Maybe it's just a book that wants to be written! If you have the characters and the storyline worked out, you could get around to writing it yet! That can be the hardest thing, I tend to just write, then have to go back and write the whole thing all over again as I didn't plan it out properly and it always turns out differently to how I thought!

jenny*

then at least your surprising yourself aswell! makes it more interesting . . . or frustrating to start again . . . anyhow it means your producing the best story at the end!

April_Rose

I suppose so, I'd have to edit it and rewrite it anyway, still, this final (I hope) rewrite is taking a long time! Still, better to get it right I suppose...can be frustrating, but ultimately I hope it'll be worth it, I really want to be published, I dont' want to be famous myself, but I'd like the books to do well.

jenny*

what is it called? what's it about?

April_Rose

It's called Here Lies Lottie, and there's a couple of excerpts in my writing section. It's about a woman who is trapped, and has to review her life, plus the diary of her mother from years ago which helps explain her character, and the similarities between them, even though Lottie hates her mum.

It's pretty heavy stuff! I don't go for cheery much! Smile

Em_J

But tis good. Wink

April_Rose

Thank you!

jenny*

sounds good i will take a look at the little sections you have posted

April_Rose

I've recently finished reading Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coehlo, good read, especially since it's so much about sex from a woman's point of view, and it's written by a man....It's the story of the life of a brazilian woman who becomes a prostitute in Switzerland.

redwinegoblin

I've finally finished the lame 7th Harry Potter book - and it took being stuck at home for a week with the lurgy to do it! Laughing

Now I'm reading "In the company of the Courtesan" which is about this 17th Century courtesan in Venice , pretty good so far....

April_Rose

I read White Oleander by Janet Fitch recently, was very good, disturbing, about how people screw each other up, a good read!

jenny*

Just bought a book the other day ... 'PS I love you' ... wouldn't of heard of it only my friend told me to read it.

Have any of you read it? I tried reading it last night but got bored after the first page! I really should read it though after spending that money on it ...

April_Rose

Hmm....rant coming on.....read it and let me know what you think, I haven't actually read it but I have a whole lot to say on the subject! Laughing

It's written by the daughter of our prime minister....

Em_J

I get those kind of rants! ^

At the mo I'm reading The Monster Hunter's Handbook: The ultimate guide to saving mankind from vampires, zombies, hellhounds and other mythical beasts.

It's not a story, it's kinda like an encyclopedia, but tis ace!! I love books like that anyway, and how ace is the title?!

April_Rose

it is a really cool title!

I think you were subjected to a rant o the subject of that same book Em, in the buffy thread over at the lost world as Spike from that is going to be in the movie version of it...

I'm just reading a book i got hubby for xmas, The Sopranos series companion, it's just somethign to dip in and out of as I haven't had the energy for anything else really!

Em_J

Ah yeah I remember! I was probably ranting about the fella who wrote Eragon... Laughing

I got Stardust by Neil Gaiman and American Gods also by Neil Gaiman for Christmas so will try and read them soon. I still haven't finished The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, it's good but I just can't seem to get into it!

April_Rose

I've been like that a lot lately! not able to really sink my teeth into a book...I go through phases like that sometimes though, then I might read three or four books on one really intense week!

jenny*

I've seem the movie stardust & liked it! Razz

.. so is this book worth reading then?!

Em_J

I've not read it yet, but I've read other Neil Gaiman stuff and he's really good. Usually quite funny so I might start reading it soon!

jenny*

oh no I didn't mean that ... I meant the one I bought ... "PS I hate you"

April_Rose

I haven't read it so i can't say for sure that it isn't...I've no intention of ever reading it myself though! Laughing

but then i can be stubborn like that! It might be good, it is a bestseller, but that's mostly because of the marketing drive it got in my opinion...see, just can't help myself, rant starting!

jenny*

no worries ... the first page is just soo boring I dont know whether I can last the whole book!

April_Rose

hehe, that just proves my suspicions.... Twisted Evil

Don't let me put you off though!

jenny*

... anyway I'm off now! latersss! Very Happy

April_Rose

Laters Jen! Very Happy

Em_J

I've just finished reading Stardust by Neil Gaiman. It was good, but absolutely nothing like the film, I can't believe how much was changed! People moaned about things that were left out or altered for The Lord of the Rings, but Stardust the book is soooo different from the film. Different storyline altogether really!

redwinegoblin

I still haven't seen the film..might try to find it online.

I've just finished reading Here on Earth, totally not my kind of book but I thought I'd plough through it as it was short. Kind of a rip-off of Wuthering Heights. In fact, the inside jacket says it has 'echoes' of Wuthering Heights...that's a bit of creative underwriting if ever I heard it!!

jenny*

I know they're childrens books but I've decided to read all the redwall series ... I was scanning my sis's bookshelves and thought they would be cool to read since I like that sort of stuff...

and actually I'm really enjoying them! It's amazing how interesting mice can be! Laughing

Em_J

I used to love Brian Jacques. I've got pretty much all the Redwall books. But he tends to use the same story lines over and over again, and the same characters just with different names. He's even said himself that he'll never have a 'grey' character, they're either all good, or all bad. No in between. Though he had one 'grey' character once, but he killed him off!! Was a character name Veil, but I forget what type of animal it was! Laughing

The Taggerung is one of the better ones by him, as is the first one, Redwall.

jenny*

I'm reading them in chronological order ... finished Lord Brocktree & Martin the Warrior, currently reading Mossflower - the story lines are repeating, always having the evil character as either a wildcat or weasel of some kind, but I still love them!

Em_J

Yeah they are good, just repetitive. I've stopped bothering with them now!

I'm reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman at the mo. Only read the first chapter but tis good so far. Very good writer, really funny too.

April_Rose

Currently reading "Three Women" by Marge Piercy. I loved Woman on the Edge of Time and Braided Lives by her, they're set quite a while ago though and they really evoke the time periods they're set in, but this one is set in the 90's and she really captures it too, people starting to use the internet and imagining the possibilities of it. It's about a mother, daughter and grandmother and slowly reveals the complications in their relationship as they're forced to live together. Good so far!

Em_J

I'm still reading American Gods. It's sooo good! Very odd, but really good and so funny! Was laughing out loud to myself yesterday reading it. Neil Gaiman's ace.

April_Rose

I love books that can make you laugh out loud!

Em_J

Yeah there's not many that get me. But Neil Gaiman's books seem to work! Neverwhere had me giggling too. Actually Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathan Stroud made me laugh out loud too.

April_Rose

Some of Ben Elton's books make me laugh, he's a funnier novel-writer than a TV writer I think....and Carl Hiaissen, he's an American writer, creates some brilliant oddball characters!

Em_J

Not heard of him! There's someone a mate told me to read and I can't remember what it was now! She said the humour in it reminded her of me. Laughing

April_Rose

Hehe! Yeah, that's the knd of thing you want to read to see if it's good or bad! Laughing

I may have spelled his name wrong actually, that Carl Hiassen guy....it's something lke that. He has this great character that pops up in a few of his books, an ex-mayor who now lives in the wild in Florida and lives off roadkill! The fil Strip tease with Demi Moore was based on one of his books but it was awful, they took all the sarcastic humour out of it, completely ruined it! Sad

jenny*

I have actually started to read "The Lord of the Rings"... because apparently you can't write a good fantasy story until you've read it (according to my sister... who is obsessed with it.. mainly the reason I haven't read it before - she can probably recite it to me)

Anyway its clear hes a very good author and everything, but I have to admit I am now about 120 pages in the first book & they haven't even left the shire yet! I want the adventure to start!!! Razz

Em_J

I don't think Tolkien is all that good a writer.... And I love the Lord of the Rings. But really his writing's not that good. Yes he's good at creating worlds and languages and landscapes and what have you, and a good story... but... I found it hard going.

jenny*

yeah I'm actually finding it rather boring to be honest Sad

.. I just want them to get out the Shire

Em_J

It's all kinda slow going I'm afraid!! And with all the poems and songs and whatnot... I skipped all of them! And I hated Tom Bombadil. Have you got to him yet? Awful character. And the ending drags more than the ending in the film! Keep reading though!! Laughing

jenny*

can't wait now!! haha..

no not got to Tom Bambadil yet..

looking through the contents now... the chapter with his name in starts on page 162.. im on page 125 .. *yawn* Razz

Em_J

I'm sure you'll love it! Have you read the Hobbit? I really didn't like that.

jenny*

yeah read the Hobbit but it was a while back. I don't remember details, but I always remember the bit where Bilbo & the Dwarves escape the Elves by hiding in the barrels ... struck me as an ingenious plan! Very Happy

is LOTR a lot better then?

Em_J

I think so. I really didn't like The Hobbit. The Lord of the Rings is more grown up.

jenny*

yeah, I seem to remember liking the Hobbit, but then again I was a lot younger so maybe thats why... Smile

Em_J

Yeah probably. I can't remember it all too well now, but I remember that I don't want to read it again!

jenny*

fair enough!

I don't think I'll read it again, well not in the near future anyway. I decided to read "The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe the other day since people kept telling me I had missed out...

it just made me giggle though how simple it all is, but then again it is meant for the primary school kids..

Em_J

I've never read that either! Was put off by all the God squader stuff in it.

jenny*

huh? explain more..

Em_J

There's lots of Christian stuff in it apparently and I hate that.

jenny*

I haven't noticed any yet & I'm about half way through ... maybe the other Narnia books?

Em_J

I think it's kinda hidden... all the 'sons of Adam' crap. Rolling Eyes

I just hate anything that's trying to preach to me! Especially when it's been disguised. Laughing

jenny*

sneaky sneaky!

yeah ok there is a lot of the daughter of Eve & son of Adam stuff... I'm sooooo stupid can't believe I didn't realise!! Razz

Em_J

I don't realise stuff sometimes when I'm reading. I read A Song of Ice and Fire a while ago now... it's a big fantasy series by George RR Martin, everybody's still waiting for the last book to come out... and I only found out the other day that two of the character's were gay and in a relationship!! I was like what?! Laughing

I missed that.

jenny*

bet that was a shock!! Razz

Em_J

Shocked me anyway! Laughing

Gonna have to read them again.

April_Rose

At the moment I'm reading a book called "The far side of a kiss" by Anne Haverty. It sounds kind of chick-lit but it really isn't - apparently in the 1820's a guy called William Hazlitt fell in love with a girl who worked at his lodging house and wrote a book about their affair, Liber Amoris, which ruined both his reputation and presumably hers as well. This book imagines her side of the story, which was never told. There are some great lines in it about the inequality of men and women in those days and the London of the time is really well described. It's not heavy going but there's more to it than the cover suggests!

Em_J

I'm still reading Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman, nearly finished it now though. I've just bought Fragile Things by him, which is another short stories one so I'll probably read that next.

jenny*

Reading "Eclipse" by Stephenie Meyer. It's the 3rd book out of four - the twilight series. I thought I would read them because they're very popular & I really like them, though I wouldn't have expected myself to

Em_J

I've just finished Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman (the last two stories in it totally creeped me out!) And am now deciding between Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman and The Book With No Name by Anonymous. Confused

redwinegoblin