The FastDay Forum

I love Anne Tyler. Read her first book way back 30 years ago when I lived over the pond in upstate N.Y. Been a fan ever since. Anyway, just picked up Clive James, (I wish) Angels over Elsinore, collected verse. Love that man, he's on my wavelength.

Just finished my latest Iain Banks - "Stonemouth". I find every book I read by him totally captivating. Am curious to try out his Iain M. Banks bulk, are they a good read?

Also got 'Stonemouth' on my bedside table - it looks good. Never read any of his SF stuff though.

I'm finally reading Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. It took me a while to get into it and I have no idea where it's going but it is a brilliant book.

Julieathome not sure whether its science fiction but have you read The Passage, Justin Cronin?

I love David Mitchell. I've read everything except the latest one.

I've just started Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan which I think is going to be an easy reader. I'm also an Anne Tyler fan and have read everything she has ever written.

I'm fond of crime fiction, disappointed to have read all Peter Robinson's Inspector Banks series but have recently discovered M R Hall's Jenny Cooper books, first is called "The Coroner".

Love libraries too - my father made me a member when I was five years old which is back in the mists of time, and joining the library was always a priority when we've moved around the country in the last umpteen years.

That said, I'm also a convert to Kindle - yes books are good, yes we must support libraries but Kindles are awfully useful and an absolute boon when going on holiday. I check Amazon's Daily Deal each morning, not that there's often anything I like the look of but you never know. Also like ereaderiq.co.uk.

Recent books I've enjoyed - Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and A Streetcat named Bob.

I am reading Pride and Prejudice at the moment. It's definitely one of my favourites.

[quote="Silverdarling"]Julieathome - this was a great idea for a thread!

Chook - thanks for mentioning the 'L' word (LIBRARY) - they need people to use them at the moment (I should know, as a librarian in a public library in UK) and the best thing is they provide an easy no-cost way of trying a new author out.

I agree Silverdarling1 I would be lost without my lovely local library.
I have a wide range of taste in books- pretty much everything EXCEPT science fiction- sorry Julieathome.
I'm reading Les Miserables today/this week/this year! enjoying it although there are a few chapters I've found a bit boring. Inspired to read it by the gorgeous Hugh Jackman- I have lovely images in my head as I read.

I have in fact just come home from my book club- we've decided to read something light this time- one of the Bill Bryson books, good for a laugh.We just read Fly away Peter by David Malouf, an excellent Australian author.

I've read Pride and Prejudice four times Imcountingufoz, every time it's just as romantic and I get more out of the story.

I am reading book two of Game of Thrones also in an attempt to keep one step ahead of the box set. I always have loved libraries but have kindle on my iPad. I loved the Cloud Atlas and really want to see the film. Is it any good?

We have got halfway through the film and got disturbed, so I will have to watch the rest. Up to where we are at, its very intriguing. I must hunt up the book.

Lately I have only been reading books on the train home, so I get through them rather slowly. It took me a couple of months to get through Daniel Kahneman's "Thinking Fast and Slow", which was one of those books I felt I should read because everyone kept saying it was so wonderful, but found the literary equivalent of celery.

One that I just finished, which was a really pleasant surprise, was "The Greater Journey" by David McCullough. I'm not sure why I put it on my Kindle - maybe it was because I had just watched the DVD of "John Adams", which was based on his book and both of which (book and DVD) I had loved. I guess I was sort of on a David McCullough kick (his biography of Truman is still waiting for me). It wasn't even about what I thought it was - for some reason I thought it was going to be about American GIs in Paris during WWII. It was indeed about a large influx of Americans to Paris, but in the 1800s, not 1940s. It was fascinating to read about the influence a Parisian stay had on some of America's most influential artists, doctors, writers and thinkers.

As you can see I'm a bit of a history buff. I have quite a few accounts of WWII spying on my Kindle and get through them in no time. Fiction, however, I struggle with lately - I can't find a whole lot I enjoy (or finish). Very little I find comes up to the standard of "Pride and Prejudice", that's for sure!

But now all my time on the train is being devoured (pardon the pun) with "Jerusalem" by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. Just yum...

Just reading the latest National Geographic magazine.
It has a long, fascinating, well-researched article on SUGAR, it's history, uses, mind-boggling amounts in food and drinks and how it's toxicity is killing us painfully.
To read it is to never knowingly use sugar again.
No more low calorie instant hot chocolate drink for me (just read the label :0@) at the end of a fast day.
I'll have a decaff coffee with a little full-fat milk, thanks.

Hi Mummybunny, I, too, love history and historical fiction. I listened to the audiobook of "The Greater Journey" recently and was fascinated by the insights into so many famous people.

One of my all-time favorite writers is Patrick O'Brian; his Jack Aubrey 20-volume series about the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars was described by one reviewer thus: "if Jane Austen had written sea-going yarns, it would be prose like this". The movie "Master and Commander is only the merest taste of what the 20 volumes is like.

If anyone asked me who my ideal lover from literature would be, it would be a combination of the best characteristics of Jack Aubrey and his great friend, naval surgeon, intellectual and spy, Stephen Maturin. I envy anyone who will read these books for the first time.

I've just discovered the new series by Susan MacNeal, the Maggie Hope mysteries: England, WWII, Bletchley Park, MI5, etc. I do read some American writers, too, but seem to get fixated on the British.

What a great thread!

Thanks for the thread. Reading is what has gotten me through fast day evenings--if I go upstairs to bed with a book I will ignore my hunger and not go to the kitchen for a snack. I'm reading "Alias Grace", which is OK but not great. I skimmed through the last 1/3 of it last night to get the gist of the ending and move on. Before that, though, I read "I Shall Wear Midnight" by Terry Pratchett (my current most favorite author) and loved it, though it is the 4th book in a very good series. I also have "Game of Thrones" on Kindle, unread thus far. Marybeth, I also recently read Patrick O'Brian's 1st Jack Aubrey "Master and Commander" and will have to try book 2 (his humor is great, but the nautical stuff takes some wading through). Next will probably be J.K. Rowling's new one, "The Cookoo's Calling", but I will take all of your suggestions under consideration, too.