What Are You Reading? March 2012

Ludmilla · Post by **Ludmilla** » Fri March 23rd, 2012, 4:20 pm

I finished South Riding by Winifred Holtby last week. Thought it was very good, but sad. The author died shortly after she finished it and before it was published in the 1930s. Some of the characters' thoughts on illness and death make it even more poignant in light of the author's own life. Perhaps I'm not quite over it, because nothing I've picked up since has really engaged me. I know the BBC did an adaptation of it recently, but I haven't seen it.

Currently reading French novel, By a Slow River, by Philippe Claudel. It's just under 200 pages, but I'm so annoyed with the narrative and the way the story is doled out in dribs and drabs going from past to present that I'm slogging through it. Fifty more excruciating pages to go!

fljustice · Post by **fljustice** » Fri March 23rd, 2012, 4:52 pm

Slogging through Cry to Heaven by Anne Rice for my "bed book." Interesting time period (early 19C Italy--castrati), beautifully written with powerful emotions, but little or no action. Rice has a deft hand with complicated characters, but I do like a bit of story! Just started Jocasta: The Mother-Wife of Oedipus an ebook for my commute, by Victoria Grossack and Alice Underwood. Interesting take on the Oedipus story from Jocasta's POV.

Susan · Post by **Susan** » Fri March 23rd, 2012, 11:10 pm

Every Secret Thing by Susanna Kearsley..only 4% done and already hooked!

Nefret · Post by **Nefret** » Sat March 24th, 2012, 6:46 pm

A River in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters

annis · Post by **annis** » Sat March 24th, 2012, 8:39 pm

Tros of Samothrace 2: Dragons of the North, by Talbot Mundy. Romans, Britons and - whoa- Vikings? In the 1st century BC, really? Who cares- I'm addicted to Mundy's fabulous pulp fiction adventures!

Madeleine · Post by **Madeleine** » Sun March 25th, 2012, 11:21 am

[quote=""fljustice""]Slogging through Cry to Heaven by Anne Rice for my "bed book." Interesting time period (early 19C Italy--castrati), beautifully written with powerful emotions, but little or no action. Rice has a deft hand with complicated characters, but I do like a bit of story! Just started Jocasta: The Mother-Wife of Oedipus an ebook for my commute, by Victoria Grossack and Alice Underwood. Interesting take on the Oedipus story from Jocasta's POV.[/quote]

That's exactly the problem I've found with her - some of the middle books in the Vampire Chronicles suffered from this tendency, as do some of the stand-alone novels. Kind of all style and no substance

Brenna · Post by **Brenna** » Sun March 25th, 2012, 3:17 pm

Taking a little break from HF and reading Nevada Barr's Trace of the Cat. The book that started it all. I've only read her later ones, so I'm interested to see where the Anne started from , especially since I read the prequel a few weeks ago. Lucky for me, my mom has been an avid fan from the beginning, so I'm borrowing them all from her.

Also listening to another Steve Berry book on my ipod.

TiciaRoma · Post by **TiciaRoma** » Sun March 25th, 2012, 10:27 pm

[quote=""Brenna""]

Also listening to another Steve Berry book on my ipod.[/quote]

Me too, but I'm just finishing up The Emperor's Tomb on my car CD. I like the way he incorporates history into his stories.

Also still working along on The Young Lions (Robert Morgan), NF about various people who impacted the westward expansion of the US. So far I've read chapters on Jefferson, Jackson, Chapman (Johnny Appleseed), and Crockett. Interesting, but it's seeming like Morgan crammed every single research fact he learned about each person. This is my first e-book that I've checked out on Overdrive--not quite sure when the book is going to disappear from my Kindle.

Just started Cornwell's Agincourt on my iPod. I've made a major escalation in my exercise program, so this will go fairly fast.

lauragill · Post by **lauragill** » Mon March 26th, 2012, 6:31 am

[quote=""LoobyG""]Put 'Daughter of Troy' on one side for the minute, reading 'In the Wet' by Nevil Shute, set in 1950s Australia.[/quote]

I had to do the same with Daughter of Troy. It started out interestingly enough, in the Greek camp, but then there's this extended flashback in which Briseis spreads her legs for what seems like every prince in Anatolia who isn't named Hector or Paris. The author could have truncated this, and given us more about what happens to Briseis in the years after the war.

Nefret · Post by **Nefret** » Mon March 26th, 2012, 7:59 am

That was what I remembered about Daughter of Troy when I first tried to read it.