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What Are You Reading? November 2011

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Madeleine
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 5860
Joined: August 2008
Currently reading: "Mania" by L J Ross
Preferred HF: Plantagenets, Victorian, crime, dual time-frame
Location: Essex/London

Post by Madeleine » Thu November 24th, 2011, 10:11 am

I'm halfway through Black Swan Rising - generally enjoying it, not quite as OTT as Incubus - and guess who's put in an appearance? Yup an old friend of this forum, none other than Melusine!
Currently reading "Mania" by L J Ross

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sweetpotatoboy
Bibliophile
Posts: 1641
Joined: August 2008
Location: London, UK

Post by sweetpotatoboy » Fri November 25th, 2011, 11:00 am

I've given up on Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar. I started reading it in the original French and found it hard-going. I switched to the English translation and it was no better! So it's the book, not the language. I know it's supposed to be a classic historical novel but it's not that accessible, at least not to me. I vaguely remember trying to read it about 20 years ago.
I was reading it for my book group, but as I can't make the meeting in question, I've allowed myself to give it up - something I rarely do.

I may return to Rage by Wilbur Smith next week - a doorstopper I'd put to one side whilst I focused on some book group commitments.

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Susan
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 3746
Joined: August 2008
Location: New Jersey, USA

Post by Susan » Fri November 25th, 2011, 3:36 pm

December's book of the month Lady of the English by Elizabeth Chadwick
~Susan~
~Unofficial Royalty~
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Ash
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 2475
Joined: August 2008
Location: Arizona, USA

Post by Ash » Fri November 25th, 2011, 3:41 pm

I tried to read something else by Yourcenear and found it unreadable. Im not surprised that you found the same. It might be a classic, but her writing just does nothing for me.

Now reading Paris Wife, about Hemingway's wife, and Paris in the 20s.

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fljustice
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Posts: 1995
Joined: March 2010
Location: Brooklyn, NY
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Post by fljustice » Fri November 25th, 2011, 4:01 pm

[quote=""sweetpotatoboy""]I've given up on Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar...I know it's supposed to be a classic historical novel but it's not that accessible, at least not to me.[/quote]

I didn't get past the first chapter a couple of years ago and put it back on the shelf to try later. It sits there taunting me!
Faith L. Justice, Author Website
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emr
Compulsive Reader
Posts: 840
Joined: January 2009
Location: Castilla

Post by emr » Fri November 25th, 2011, 7:01 pm

[quote=""fljustice""]I didn't get past the first chapter a couple of years ago and put it back on the shelf to try later. It sits there taunting me![/quote]

I read it and loved it some 30 years ago. But the Spanish translation was by Julio Cortázar, quite good as I recall. (Nowadays my patience is shorter. It'd prolly put me to sleep.)

Currently reading contemporary mystery: Looking Good Dead by Peter James.
Last edited by emr on Sat November 26th, 2011, 9:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
"So many books, so little time."
— Frank Zappa

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Telynor
Bibliophile
Posts: 1465
Joined: August 2008
Location: On the Banks of the Hudson

Post by Telynor » Sat November 26th, 2011, 4:16 am

Trudging (and it is trudging) my way through Anne Perry's Defend and Betray, one of her William Monk novels. But I am trying to review this particular series, so I am trying to perservere.

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Madeleine
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 5860
Joined: August 2008
Currently reading: "Mania" by L J Ross
Preferred HF: Plantagenets, Victorian, crime, dual time-frame
Location: Essex/London

Post by Madeleine » Sun November 27th, 2011, 3:34 pm

I have now finished Black Swan Rising - with Melusine still trapped in a plastic bottle - and am about to start an English countryside murder mystery "Mud, Muck and Dead Things" by Ann Granger.
Currently reading "Mania" by L J Ross

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javagirl
Reader
Posts: 118
Joined: May 2009
Location: Florida

Post by javagirl » Mon November 28th, 2011, 4:19 am

Just finished Alan Bradley's The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag, which is an enjoyable, light diversion, the second in a series with an 11 year old girl sleuth in 1950's England.

Have now started A Fine Balance, by Rohinton Mistry.

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Vanessa
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4378
Joined: August 2008
Currently reading: The Farm at the Edge of the World by Sarah Vaughan
Interest in HF: The first historical novel I read was Katherine by Anya Seton and this sparked off my interest in this genre.
Favourite HF book: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell!
Preferred HF: Any
Location: North Yorkshire, UK

Post by Vanessa » Mon November 28th, 2011, 10:01 am

I have the first two of Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce mysteries on my TBR pile. They sound like nice, easy reads.

I'm now reading The Silver Linings Play Book by Matthew Quick.
currently reading: My Books on Goodreads

Books are mirrors, you only see in them what you already have inside you ~ The Shadow of the Wind

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