Why did you choose it?
Are the pages flying or is it hard going?
Would you recommend it?

I'm currently reading The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde because I want to see the film which is being released on 9th September, but have to read the book first so I can compare! Only up to chapter 3 (of 20) so far but really enjoying it. Early days I know, but would recommend. Oscar Wilde has such style! I have bought the beautiful Collectors Library edition from Amazon £5.99 - hardback, gold edges and ribbon bookmark... and small enough to fit in any handbag! Superb!

Am reading Night Watch by Sarah Waters, chose it because love fiction set in WW2 and havent read any of hers before and love trying new authors as well. Have only read a couple of chapters but so far so good.

I'm reading Halo Effect By MJ Rose. It was recommended to me and so far so good. I will definately read more of her books and would recommend it to mystery fans. I've read Dorian Gray..loved it and for some reason it really terrified me. Good stuff!

I'm reading two actually. I have started Summerset by Karen Mason, because she got talking to me about it on here. It's really good but requires a lot of my attention. That's not a bad thing, but I prefer to read it during the day when I'm at my freshest. I'm also reading The Gap Year for Grown Ups by Annie Sanders. She is my favourite chick lit author and I have loved all her previous books. I tend to read that before I go to bed, as it's a lighter read

Charlene x

I've just finished No 1 Chesterfield Square by Nick Jones. I chose it becuase I saw a feature about it in the local press and liked the sound of it so I googled it and that persuaded me to buy it. Wow am I pleased I did. Genuinely the pages just flew by. It was a "burning the midnight oil" job becuase you just have to know what happens next! Its a saga by genre but I think it appeals to non saga devotees too if you know what I mean. The plot is clever and not predictable at all and very credible. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

I'm still trying to plough through Past Imperfect by Julian Fellowes. I paid £6.99 for it in Waterstones so I'm determined to finish it. I'm also reading and editing my own book Winner Takes it All which is the sequel to the aforementioned Summerset and as soon as I'm done with that I'll be moving onto The Triple Echo by H.E Bates which I read at school and I hope I will enjoy as much now.

I have just finished "To do list" by Mike Gayle. Very well written and very good author. Finished it in a few days.

I'm reading The Girl in the Blus Dress, well written, but rather bleak in places (it's based upon the life of Charles Dickens and his wife)

Karen

I know how you feel about paying 6.99 for something, but I too really disliked Past Imperfect. I'm surprised you shop in Waterstones as they wouldn't stock your book! Lol. I'd feel incredibly bitter! They don't know what they're missing...

Charlene x

I just finished Small World by David Lodge, one of his 'campus novels' where he satirizes academia particularly in relation to the study of literature - his world in fact before he became a full time writer. If he has any message it is don't take yourself too seriously. Recommended if you want something intelligent and laugh out loud funny.

Just started The Innocent by David Szalay. Chose it because the blurb looked intriguing. It takes us on a journey into the everyday life of Communist Russia It also involves the effect of amnesia and afasia on the identity of a central character. 20 pages in and I am hooked. Not a lightweight read but the compelling and I do want to know what happens to the characters.

Charlene

You're very sweet. Unfortunately I just love books. I'm weird and just love walking round bookshops and being surrounded by the smell and picking books up and reading the synopsis and stuff. Although I have to say I walked out of Kings Road Waterstones today and under my breath said 'one day, you watch, one day'!

Kx

John Steinbeck's Collected Letters. I don't think his non-fiction gets the credit it deserves: In their way, works like Travels With Charley, The Log from the Sea of Cortez, and Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters are all as enriching as his fiction.

Daniel Waters, "Generation Dead".

Why did you choose it? Because it seemed (and I'm glad to say I wasn't wrong) a YA paranormal romance with a brain and a heart, IMHO something very rare - I loathed "Twilight".

Are the pages flying or is it hard going? It's taking me ages to finish but that's more of a reflection on my hectic lifestyle than on the book.

Would you recommend it? So far (I'm just over half-way), absolutely.

I, too, like nothing better than walking around bookstores, being surrounded by books. However, recently I have really gone off Borders. The staff in there are beyond rude. I much prefer Waterstones or independents.

Charlene x

just finished 'The Road' great book.while my girlfriend was in hospital for 2 days for the birth of our first child on the second day i forgot to bring in the book i was readindg so i bought this because i could not read any more newspapers.its not a happy read but it is worth a read ,
i hope the film does it justice i could not put it down

I've just finished Devil's Brood by Sharon Penman and felt like a complete change of genre, so I'm now on Enigma by Robert Harris. As I've read and thoroughly enjoyed Pompeii and Fatherland by him, I'm hoping this one will will keep me turning the pages too. I've only just started it so I can't comment on it yet, but I would recommend him as a writer.

I have just finnished listening to The Hanged Mans Song by John Sandford. I bought this because it was completely different from what I have listened to before in the crime thriller genre.

The story involves the murder of a super computer Hacker. Great book couldnt put it down.

Just started a hoollywood eding romantic twaddle for a change

Have just finished Julian Fellowes "Past Imperfect" which I really enjoyed. It was a well constructed and well written view of a life-style that (quite rightly) doesn't exist any more! I am now reading "The Bolter" - about the life of Idina Sackville. Not my fave read ever as I don't really get enough feel for her character. It seems to be more like a catalogue of events. Perhaps it will improve as it continues.....or is that just wishful thinking?

I'be just finished a biography of Lee Miller, the photographer, having seen a recent television programme about her on BBC4. It was hard going at first but I ended up being drawn into her world: surviving rape at the age of seven; a strange but loving relationship with a father who regularly photographed her and her friends nude; Man Ray and Picasso in France; the transition to Egypt with Aziz, life on the front line and the horror discovering the death camp at Dachau; her later life in England with Penrose when she became obsessed by cookery and opera. I ended up being saddened by the description of her later years as she struggled to adjust after her wartime experiences, didn't end up find real happiness despite so many loves, and her distant relationship with her son. But what a woman! What a life! The television programme only scratched at the surface. Towards the end the book became a little too much of a collection of dates and facts, but this made you all the more aware that you were spiralling towards the end and Lee's death from cancer.

I have read "Night Watch" because I loved Sarah Waters prose in her previous
books. Night Watch is different because of the setting but still an example of her
excellent standard. I am currently reading one of Henning Mankells' "Wallender"
stories. I am watching the Swedish production on BBC4 and enjoying it
enormously.

I have read "Night Watch" because I loved Sarah Waters prose in her previous
books. Night Watch is different because of the setting but still an example of her
excellent standard. I am currently reading one of Henning Mankells' "Wallender"
stories. I am watching the Swedish production on BBC4 and enjoying it
enormously. The book is also a pleasure to read.

Just finished "The Widows of Eastwick" by John Updyke.
Those three witches get together and decide to revisit Eastwick, so read on and see what happens.

Just finished "The Sunbird" by Wilbur Smith for the umpteenth time.
Set in Africa, it has two different time frames entwined with each other.
Adventure,romance and mystery.I love this book.

I am reading The Time Traveler's Wife. Had this book for 2 years but never got around reading it. Now, just watched movie (which was alright) so I thought why not give the book a try. It looks promising though it does seem a bit slow. The concept is well formed but it takes a while to get into it. After a first few chapters the book is becoming quite interesting.
I would only recommend it once i have finished it.

I'm theoretically reading 'Close Encounters' by B.H.Dark. I chose it because it's co-authored by Julie Cohen, whose Little Black Dress books I like, and she blogged about it, and it was available as an ebook, so I bought it on impulse. The pages, so far, not flying - it's got more sex in it that I'm generally interested in reading, and while I do want to know if the aliens suceed in their plans to become rich (by selling X-rated videos of the humans they've abducted) I'm not sure I can be bothered to read through any more sex scenes to find out. Wouldn't recommend it so far.
In the meantime I've actually read 'The Age of the Unthinkable' by Joshua Cooper Ramo, because my husband had been reading it, and it was sitting out. It was certainly a thought-provoking book, and a page turner. I'd recommend it in a qualified way - I thought some of his points were a bit obvious, and while he makes a good argument that we need to think differently, and gives interesting examples of people who have suceeded in thinking in new ways, he doesn't really explain how the reader can learn to think the unthinkable. But a good read.