The "I am currently reading" thread

[Cazwaz69]

Am reading Hilary Mantel the Mirror and the Light. It is brilliant. Have been waiting 7 years for it. Got it from the supermarket half price before the lock down. Well worth the wait. 

[Rockers rule]

On 07/04/2020 at 09:08, feargal said:

I've just finished Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce, which was in a 3 for a fiver bundle (so I didn't have high hopes!). 

 

Hello Feargal

 

Three for a £5 I'd expect something very good for that (I am Scottish)

I can never understand why people spend say £18 on a book read it once then sell it on't car boot for 10p.

For as long as I can remember I've always read something and was probably reading three a week at one point.

Yes we do have a TV but I choose not to watch it just for the sake of it.

I've slowed down to probably one a week (ish) but always happy if i'm starting on my second one.

I do not stick to one subject or Author usually and this has played out well so far having found some real Jem's almost by 

accident. I'm reading one now. i did mention it in one of my earlier post, it had the most mind numbing introduction but 

has turned into one of the funniest, strangest things i have read for a while.

I shall tell you all what it is when i've finished.

Till then in between writing, building bikes, cars trying to sort the house, and surviving I'll be reading.

Enjoy

[Ann_Steel]

I'm not reading anything lately, I'm just looking for suggestions. Thank you! 

[Gormenghast]

"The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks"  by Rebecca Skloot

 

Henrietta died in 1951 from cervical cancer. Cells from the cancer were collected and found to remain viable and reproduce freely, allowing lots of research to be carried out on human cells. This resulted in lots of medical discoveries, including proof that the Polio vaccine was safe to use on humans, chemotherapy, cloning and many more

 

Perhaps all of us  have benefited from  these.

 

The book covers her early life, illness, family background and their reactions. Also the research that has been enabled by using her cells.

 

The cell line, known as Hela cells, is still used today in medical research.

[mikeG]

'The Night Book' by Richard Madeley. He's a good author.

[fatrajah]

The Uses of Literacy by Richard Hoggart. First published in the late 1950s, it's a very wordy & rather disparaging account of the effects of popular culture (at least it seems that way ) from what I've read so far.

Edited April 16, 2020 by fatrajah

[metalman]

Recently read:

Going, going, gone by Phoebe Atwood Taylor. Antique dealer found dead in old trunk sold at auction. Genial Cape Cod detective Asey Mayo solves the case. Enjoyable enough though it seemed to rely excessively on Mayo being in the right place at the right time to observe various characters' actions.

Jeeves and the wedding bells by Sebastian Faulks. It takes courage to write a Wodehouse novel because you know you're going to cop a load of flak however good a job you make of it, and I must admit I opened it with some trepidation, but actually it's not a bad effort.

The lake house by John Rhode. Didn't find this one of his most gripping ones, but it was OK.

Maske: Thaery by Jack Vance. A typical piece of Vance world-building in the Gaean Reach  from the mid-70s. If you've read any Jack Vance, you'll know what to expect.

 

Now I'm reading Finish me off by Hillary Waugh. One of the masters of the police procedural in my view, especially with books like Jigsaw and Last seen wearing.

 

[Brooker11]

Whiteout by Ken Follett - coincidentally this ones about a biological lab in Scotland that produces vaccines for lethal viruses, a technician steals one of the lab animals and is killed, the book features heavily on the ins and outs of the lab owners family, halfway through and very good so far.

[feargal]

I've just finished the latest Jack Reacher "Blue Moon"  by Lee Child.   It was, like every Reacher book, entertaining twaddle, good for some escapism in these lock down times. 

 

Much better was The Binding by Bridget Collins.  Similar in tone to The Essex Serpent, etc it tells the story of a young man who becomes a binder - someone who takes bad memories from people and binds them into books so they are forgotten. 

[nikki-red]

Cujo, by Stephen King.

 

I presumed I’d already read it but it turned out I hadn’t.

I know it’s supposed to be horror but I found the film quite sad, and the books even worse as parts of it are written from poor old Cujos point of view.