What are you reading? July 2011

sweetpotatoboy · Post by **sweetpotatoboy** » Tue July 12th, 2011, 1:08 pm

Reading Mr Chartwell by Rebecca Hunt. A quirky novel about Winston Churchill and a big black talking dog that appears to be a sort of embodiment of his depression. Weird.

CrimsonPetal · Post by **CrimsonPetal** » Tue July 12th, 2011, 8:24 pm

Reading The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley. Loving it.

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Tue July 12th, 2011, 9:09 pm

Near to finishing My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliviera

Brenna · Post by **Brenna** » Tue July 12th, 2011, 9:54 pm

[quote=""CrimsonPetal""]Reading The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley. Loving it.[/quote]

So jealous!!

Divia · Post by **Divia** » Tue July 12th, 2011, 10:13 pm

[quote=""EC2""]Near to finishing My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliviera[/quote]

What did you think? I'm interested to hear.

OK, right now I am reading nothing. I am having a helluva time trying to get into anything. I dunno whats wrong with me. Most of the books I've come across have been duds.

The good news is that I am throwing books out that I dislike, and have been sitting on my self for years.

SonjaMarie · Post by **SonjaMarie** » Wed July 13th, 2011, 2:02 am

[quote=""SonjaMarie""]"Elisabeth, Empress of Austria" by Alfred Buschek.

SM[/quote]

I decided not to read it, I glanced through it and wasn't impressed with the writing.

SM

annis · Post by **annis** » Wed July 13th, 2011, 2:45 am

Going Kiwi literary at the moment. Reading Wulf, by Hamish Clayton, an imaginative and beautifully written novel which equates the story of significant 19th century Maori chieftain and warleader Te Rauparaha to a 10th century Anglo-Saxon poemWulf and Eadwacer.
ODT review here for anyone interested, though it's probably a book of particular interest to those familiar with New Zealand's pre-colonial history.

Also leafing through Kate Camp's book of poems Mirror of Simple Annihilated Souls. This intriguing title is borrowed from a controversial book by a 13th century French mystic, Marguerite Porete, also known as Marguerite of Hainault, whose story is quite fascinating. She is thought to have been a Beguine nun, who was tried for heresy and burnt at the stake in 1310. Her book was also burnt, but a few copies survived, though it's only recently that historians realised that Marguerite was the author. It's written in the language of the troubadours, where sacred and profane love are often expressed in similar ways.

Madeleine · Post by **Madeleine** » Wed July 13th, 2011, 8:50 am

I've just wall-banged At Home with The Templetons - boring and repetitive. Made it to 330 something and then saw there were another 200 pages to go - enough!

Trying to decide what to read next.

cw gortner · Post by **cw gortner** » Wed July 13th, 2011, 6:54 pm

Research books. Lots of them. All about the Borgias.

In-between, I just finished a Spanish-language historical titled La Escriba, about a female scribe in Charlemagne's era and started Lionheart by Sharon Penman.

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Wed July 13th, 2011, 9:35 pm

[quote=""Divia""]What did you think? I'm interested to hear.

OK, right now I am reading nothing. I am having a helluva time trying to get into anything. I dunno whats wrong with me. Most of the books I've come across have been duds.

The good news is that I am throwing books out that I dislike, and have been sitting on my self for years.[/quote]

Hmmm - a mixed bag. I think some of the writing is very accomplished, powerful, and perceptive, but it's a bit mixed in terms of the plot drive and there are parts (often chunks) where I've skim read and not been as absorbed as I should. Disjointed is perhaps the word I'm looking for. However, I would certainly read another by this author and hope to see development in terms of handling the material.