I would also put all of the Noel Streatfeild "Shoe" books on the list. I just reread Skating Shoes, and I read both Ballet Shoes and Circus Shoes at least once a year.

Any of Noel Streatfeild's are worth reading..I think the first one I read of hers was "Curtain Up', about 50 years ago..and I have a small collection of her work in my "Issy" stockpile.

Well, after a discussion with Miss Issy (aged almost 10), I am told that Norman Lindsay's Magic Pudding should be included in any Australian list, as should Ruth Park's Muddleheaded Wombat !

Anyone in the UK beware. Although Kindle is the most popular e.book reader by far, and is always recommended as a best buy, it is NOT compatible with the e.book system installed in most of our libraries, so you cannot download library books onto a Kindle.

Hi all. Please could we get back on to the subject of what you are reading?
If you want to discuss things like Kindles there is a thread. Thanks

Reading a Hap and Leonard book by Joe Lansdale, "Rumble Tumble". These books are a guaranteed good time if your tastes run to the silly and profane. I especially recommend listening to this series in audiobook - Phil Gigante reads them and does a fantastic job. Kinda like listening to a "My Name is Earl" mystery/thriller.

Currently reading "Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN" by James Miller and Tom Shales.

I grew up watching ESPN (well starting in the late 80's) so it's quite interesting to me. I'm a little over half way through it and it discusses the network from the very beginning. Lots of great stories, funny, sad, interesting, etc. Miller and Shales interviewed 100s of people, from reporters, studio talent, and production all the way up to executives and CEO's.

It's a little different in how it's written, it's more a collection of actual quotes from people that were there, organized in a way to tell the story. There is very little of Miller's writing in it, just to tie things together or explain where we are in the "story" of ESPN. If you have an interest in ESPN history I'd recommend it. Great book thus far.

I was advised to read Sarah Waters, so I bought two. The first one, "Fingersmith", I was not very impressed with, I think it was rather a lame plot. I am so much more enjoying "The Night Watch", set in wartime London. Fastmoving and intriguing-everything "Fingersmith" wasn't. It just goes to prove my theory , one I always tell my students,that we write so much better about things we know and have experienced.

Santana202

If you enjoyed "Pillars of the Earth" you might also like "Lie Down With Lions" by Ken Follet.

I had it on audio-books and it was very good. It was good enough that I wasn't scared of "Pillars" length.

I read it before America was at war in Afganistan, it was mostly set there during that time. Doesn't sound like something we'd want to read, but the characters were very good.

Strong female lead, with lots of plot turns.

I'm currentlty plowing my way through Tom Clancy's "Bear and Dragon" a little more concentration needed to follow the plot---or maybe I need to just sit and read?

I enjoyed the emotional resonance of "Fingersmith", though I agree with Ren about the storyline. Maybe I'll give "The Night Watch" a try, then, if it's better.

I forgot to say, there is about the same basic level of sex & violence in "Lie Down With Lions"

I just glossed over that part!

Currently reading (For the Term of) His Natural Life by Marcus Clarke, an Australian classic which has never been out of print. It's about an innocent man in England who was pronounced guilty of murder and transported to Australia. About 2/5 through and the many adventures and coincidences remind me of The Count of Monte Cristo. (Available free in numerous formats from Project Gutenberg.)

A recent forced turn out of the bookshelves due to the decorators coming has unearthed some forgotten treasures. Tucked away on a top shelf I found "Up The Garden Path" by Beverley Nicholls and I am happily immersed in it. Long out of print I would think it is the story of how he bought a house just because it had a long neglected garden and how he brought the garden back. A delightful piece of writing that is quite old fashioned in a lot of ways but a complete joy to gardners.

Oh Gosh, Beverley Nichols! I had quite forgotten him. A really prolific writer with an interesting life. He was PR to Nellie Melba for a start! I really must find a biography. Thanks for reminding me. My gran adored him, he wrote a weekly piece in Women's Own.
"He's lovely dear, one of those 'hermafrites' but I love his books!"

I just finished reading David Baldacci's, "The Sixth Man". His books usually deal with politics, spies, espionage, and figures of power. "The Sixth Man" has it all and is written so well that you'll swear that all of it is true or could be.

Thanks for the recommendation, postal! I'll try to get my hands on that when I'm back home in a couple of weeks.

It seems like ages since I read a book. I've been so busy with full-time work and other things, that I haven't found the time to read, except for magazines and newspapers, which are usually read whilst eating my lunch at work.

I remember the days (pre-children) when I would start a book, couldn't put it down, and would spend the entire weekend reading it, to the exclusion of everything else including housework.

Well, obviously such an appalling situation needs to be rectified, so last night I started reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" which was recommended to me by the lady who runs our local second-hand book shop. I'm only on Chapter 2 but so far it is absorbing.

Carole, do not buy the other two in the series! I have them here waiting for your visit! (if you like that one, that is!)

"Motherless Brooklyn" by Jonathan Lethem. Lionel - the protagonist with Tourette's Syndrome - is an enormously sympathetic character, and I'm loving the seedy, shady Brooklyn he's ticcing his way through.

I borrowed my Mother's old Kindle (she got the 'Fire') and proceeded to download a few free books from Amazon.

The first book I read was "The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865" by Leander Stillwell. I found it very interesting as it was written more as a memoir to his son, than a book for publishing. It was written in 1917 (according to the Library of Congress) so is a true look back from an honest, intelligent and detailed author.

The second book was "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself" by Harriet Ann Jacobs. Look like it was written in 1861, so she was careful to leave out information about how she escaped the slavery of the south and the methods (and characters) that helped her along the way. It's very well written account and, again, I really relish in first person accounts such as this. It wasn't easy to read at some points but she doesn't delve into the detail of the horrors she experienced, but does touch on many. I would expect that a mother would have a deeper understanding of her story and struggle.

Currently reading "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriet Beecher Stowe. I'd never read it, so figured it was about time and fit in with the theme of the other two books mentioned. Only about a quarter of the way into it, but it's been good so far. I do not like authors that write in the "slang" (for lack of a better term, maybe broken southern English is a better way to put it) of the time. It makes it much more difficult to read and understand what is being said than if it was whole, plain words. Perhaps that's needed to engross the reader in the subject and put them "in the time" being talked about, but I find it distracting more often than not.

Especially since Ms Stowe was no Mark Twain, and didn't really have a finely-tuned ear.

"Shantaram" Gregory David Roberts.
Oh wow!
I am so enjoying this. What a terrific style. He writes about Bombay and you KNOW he has been there and he takes you back there too. It is autobiographical, he is an escaped criminal and he arrives in Bombay and begins to have the feeling I had, but he stays. You must love him , and especially the people he meets. A terrific find.

Following on from my last comment, this is a very long book and I am flagging a bit after my initial enthusiasm. I cannot help feeling it is all a bit exagerrated. That one man has done so much is a bit of a tall order for me. However, I still say the descriptions of Bombay life are second to none, and it is worth reading for that, especially if you have been there.

Anyone else a fan of Scandinavian crime novels? I've just finished the latest - and last - of the Wallander series by Henning Mankell who has a way of capturing the clear Swedish light as well as the thought processes of a middle-aged provincial policeman. The books take a bit of getting into as they have a rhythm of their own but they are very well-written and with good characterisation. I've been reading them since the first was published in English in the late 1990s, and now that Mankell has said there will be no more I shall have to find some other dour Swede to depress me.

I used to read Per Whaloo and Maj Sjöwall's "Martin Beck" series. They are a bit dated now (Whaloo died in 1975) but still have that Scandinavian flavour.