Now reading Jessica by Bryce Courtenay. I've sort of postponed The baker's Boy because I've read it before and it's not as good as Jessica.

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, a book that was given to me because the central character is named Snowman

I'm re-reading The Fire Rose by Mercedes Lackey.
It's one of my "comfy" favorites.
I'll probably switch to re-reading some of my collection of Dick Francis after this.

Mister Pip

Written by Lloyd Jones
I am simply loving this and am dreading finishing it as it is only short.
"Set against the stunning beauty of Bougainville in the South Pacific during the civil war in the early 1990s, Lloyd Jones’s breathtaking novel shows what magic a child’s imagination makes possible even in the face of terrible violence and what power stories have to fuel the imagination."
Highly recommended!

I have just completed Doris Lessing's Golden Notebook which was heavy going but excellent read!
Also re-visited JG Ballard's Drowned World which is a very prophetic classic.

"Fearless Fourteen" by Janet Evanovitch. I never miss a Stephanie Plum or Kinsey Milhone adventure, they make perfect summer reading.

I've just started reading The Hobbit and intend to read through all of Tolkien's works.

All Quiet on the Western Front is one of my all-time favourite novels, Ashmancometh. I've read it in English and the original German...saw the films of it, too.

Reading The One Kingdom by Sean Russel, also reading Genetic Engineering and You by Moyra Bremner.

I'm reading Watchmen, great graphic novel by Alan Moore.

Currently reading 'The Stand' by Stephen King. Tons of people have said that they enjoyed it, so I decided to give it a go. Great so far...but it's not so good that there is a bad cold running around at the moment...

"Hour Game" by David Baldacci.
I've just found this author of thrillers. My usual reading is science fiction and fantasy, but every now and then I try another style.

His writing is so easy, it's no wonder he has been the New York Times best selling author for at least 10 times.
Very enjoyable read

"Twilight" by Stephanie Myers...its really good so far.

I'm reading "Rose Madder" by Stephen King. I haven't gotten to the scary parts yet.

I am reading The Sculptress, one of the Minette Walters booked I had missed - there was an excellent tv production with Pauline Quirk a year or so ago.

Very gruesome.

"My Heart's in the Lowlands" By Liz Curtis Higgs.

I made the mistake of starting one of my holiday books a week before the holiday starts. A mistake, because it's simply so wonderful I don't want to put it down and spare time is in very short supply at the moment. It's called 'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak and it deals with the story of a young girl living with a foster family in a town in Germany in the World War II. As the blurb says, "When Death tells a story, you really have to listen." I'm about a quarter of the way through its 584 pages and it is brilliant.

"Master of the Cauldron" by David Drake.
It's book 6 of the Lord of the Isles series.
I should mention that I read mostly Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Warlock - by Wilbur Smith. It's the sequel to River God, and is pretty good so far.

lungangry, I read mostly SF and F as well, but I also love historical fiction.

I enjoy historical fiction too. Have you read "The Persian Boy" by Mary Renault?
I read it a long time ago, so long that I've lost my copy.

I also enjoy alternate history, especially by Eric Flint.

Nope, haven't read it. I did read the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, and also many of Bryce COurtenay's books. They really are excellent.

I finished "Rose Madder." Now I'm reading the "Six Sisters" series by Marion Chesney. If you like Jane Austen, you will love these.

I am reading "The Alarming History of Medicine" by Richard Gordon.

Richard Gordon is a physician and probably most well known for being the author of the "Doctor in the House" books upon which the movie (with Dirk Bogarde) and the television series was based.

"The Alarming History of Medicine" is a very amusing book and full of interesting trivia about the hsitory of medicine. In particular, he demonstrates how many of our medical milestones were purely accidental or just dumb luck, and how many people have received the credit for inventions and discoveries that should have gone to someone else.

My biggest criticism of the book would be that it does assume a bit of background knowledge which, if you don't have it, means that you need to keep interrupting your reading to research the people and events he refers to (which I have a tendency to do). This can be annoying at times. A few footnotes wouldn't have gone astray here.

Bill Bryson's 'Shakespeare'.Very well researched, and very interesting I think. He seems to have found some information that is new, Well new to me anyway. A good read.

I haven't heard about this Bill Bryson book, ren. Is it a new release? I shall have to get my hands on a copy.

I've finally got around to reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Yes quite new Mother Goose. ISBN is 978-0-00-719790-3
It is just titled 'Shakespeare.'

At present I'm stuck into Terry Goodkind's Phantom. I started reading this series many years ago, but moved to Belgium then France, so halted my progress through the series. I just spotted this book recently in the train station in Glasgow. As I want to finish the series I bought it without realising that reading it meant I would skip the 9th book of the set. Oh well, I suspect that I'll place an order on Amazon for Chainfire and Confessor when I'm done with this one.

I loved the fast-paced action of the first four books of this series. It's your basic fantasy genre : sword battles, a little magic, introspection and realisation of the inner self by the heretofore 'ordinary Joe-Soap' of a hero ... sheer escapism. However, I felt that Goodkind, like many of his compatriots, got bogged down and became quite repetitive during the middle few books - same basic storyline, Hero and Heroine get separated and they and their entourage spend the book trying to save each other and get back together amidst lots of gore, bloodshed, violence, magic and repeatedly defeating the baddies against all odds.

There's a lot of ground being re-visited in this book too, but the emphasis now is more on the reflective, theological element than on the sheer brawn and battle accents of the earlier books.

I'm hoping for a more exciting finish, as it's disappointingly tedious to wade through the repeated violence and ruthlessness of Emperor Jagang, whilst waiting for Richard and Kahlan to work through their hang-ups and sort everybody out, save the Old and New World and get on with having that baby they both so desperately want

Despite my criticisms I do fully intend to finish reading the series. I still believe that Goodkind had some inspirational writing and certainly tought outside the box for this genre of writing. I like his style and his characterisations, regardless of the disappointingly similar storylines in the later books. Definitely a series worth reading if you enjoy fantasy fiction.

I like the sound of your 'Alarming History of Medicine', MG. I may look that up on Amazon as well when I place my order

I do enjoy this thread, as it often brings to light books which I might otherwise miss out on reading

"Night Watch" by: Stephen Kendrick

An interesting novel involving Sherlock Holmes and Father Brown.