I think the first half dozen Reacher books were great; I haven't been impressed with the last few, though.

Ben Elton "Two Brothers". Maybe not the very best written or most poignant book I've read about this subject - two boys, born in 1920, growing up in Berlin - but a very compelling story, and perhaps more effective for not pulling out all the tear jerking stops. I did cry once, at the end of Freida's story, which is apparently based on what happened to Elton's great aunt.

"Mad River" latest in the Virgil Flowers series by John Sandford. I'm enjoying this series a lot - Lucas Davenport was getting a little old - and this is another solid entry. I think my favourite thing about Sandford's novels is the dialogue between characters - absolutely spot on. This is the way people I know actually talk.

LOVE Sanford. He got a little stale for a bit but his last few, in both Davenport and Flowers series, have been awesome. Glad to know there's another one to look for.

I have just started 'The Painted Girls' by Marie Buchanan. Haven't gotten very far into it but so far it's good. It's at least partially about Degas painting and sketching ballerinas.

I like to read educational books. I recently finished with Homeopathic Remedies for Cats and Dogs. I will take that info with a grain of salt.

I've decided to start re-reading my Agatha Christie collection. I have begun with "The Mysterious Affair at Styles".

"Goldberg Variations" Susan Isaacs.

This is something a little different from her - very much a "relationship" book, with not even a hint of mystery or thriller. The relationship is that between a truly poisonous old woman and her estranged grandchildren, with a certain amount of redemption of sorts at the end. Not 100% successful - I could see what she was trying to do, but I don't think she entirely pulled it off. Nonetheless, I like Isaacs a lot and there was enough good stuff here to make it worth reading. This book wouldn't be my recommendation to someone who had never read any of her stuff, though - for that I'd go with "Shining Through" which is Susan Isaacs at her best.

I've just read the reviews for the movie version of "Shining Through" and it looks like they left out everything that was good about the book, and kept in all the plot implausibilities, which in the book are forgivable because of the 1940's movie serial thing it kinda has going. So if you've seen the movie, the book's not like that.

Though an avid aviation fan, my sister asked me to have a read which she thought more than intriguing.The book in question is titled "A Travel Guide to Heaven". The author Anthony De Stefano, is in fact a member of the aviation community both as a certified commercial pilot and a member of the Civil Air Patrol.

That said, he offers in his book an "inspired" look into the eternity which most diligent Christians will easily accept. His basic premise is that ..we are destined for heaven. He invites us to "file a flight plan" and be prepared to make the journey of our lifetime.

Among the facets he describes are the very nature of heaven and who gets to arrive there. There is no gloom or dire judgement going on in his pages. In essence he convinces us that heaven will incorporate all the intellectual and sensual pleasures which our human appetites had sought in this earthly span. In fact..he surprises us with all manner of people and pets upon whom we invested our time and emotions. Because heaven is a destination of supreme joy, surprises abound.

For the scripture oriented, each chapter is linked to Bible passages through abundant footnotes.

The book is an easy and exhilarating adventure. It is written in simple language which reminds me of the best travel guides I have utilized in my earthly travels. If you have a curiosity about .."what comes next", have a look into this little book.

I have just finished reading Bloodstream by Tess Gerritsen. I found it a bit slow to start but in no time I was hooked, will be reading more of her books in future.

I'm about two thirds done with Salman Rushdie's "Joseph Anton: A Memoir". I'm not a fan of the work...it's much, much too long. It's also quite difficult to follow at some times, as he intermixes stories of people that only come up once in his life, with people that he meets often, and stories of some Muslim history as well. He also writes in a fashion I'm not very familiar with...3rd person? 2nd person? I'm not sure if it's truly 3rd. Instead of saying, "I found the way..." he writes "He found the way..." talking about himself. That can get confusing and hard to follow if he's talking about himself or another man that he's talking about.

Anyway...I had planned on reading "The Satanic Verses" after this, but if the writing style is the same, I don't think I will. Has anyone read it? Or anything else by Rushdie?

Sorry, not me. I've been meaning to, as I like the way he expresses himself in interviews, and often find that an author's "voice" is much the same as his voice, if that makes sense. I'm not a big fan of dense difficult prose though, so I'll be reading any response you get with interest.

I just finished reading Twin Harvest by Lynn McMahon Anstead . This is much darker than her first two books. A good murder mystery/psychological thriller. If you have a Kindle, I recommend this highly.

Just read a short story by Clare Wigfall entitled "Before Their Very Eyes." I was pulled in by the story of a man who vanished from a magic show, but there wasn't a clear-cut ending. So, the reader's left to wonder "what happened to Henry?" That and, "what happened to Frances?"

"Thieves' Dozen" Donald E Westlake.

A collection of short stories about his series character Dortmunder. If you've never read a Dortmunder book, do yourself a favour and pick one up - they're wonderful. Hollywood keeps trying to make crime caper movies out of these books, but they don't work well, because although the plots are funny enough, it's the writing that really makes them sparkle. My favourite from this collection is the Dortmunder Workout - not really a story at all, just a little slice of life vignette with the regulars at the OJ Bar and Grill.

Charles Dickens- A Life, by Claire Tomalin.
She has written some really good biographies and this one looks promising. I recently tried to read John Forster's, I thought it would be good and no doubt it was, as he was a close friend of Dickens, but oh dear it was dry, and not really relaxing bedtime reading. So I abandoned it and am going to try this. Anyone read it yet?

Have just finished Terry Pratchett's "Snuff", not a favourite, I have to say, and have finally come to the last delicious word on the last delicious page of Zola's "au Bonheur des Dames", and thoroughly enjoyed every page of it.

Next up book 5 in the Game of Thrones series, RR Martin. Pretty rough stuff, but a rip-roaring good political drama/fantasy adventure. I can't wait to get stuck in!

"Bad Boy" An Inspector Banks novel by Peter Robinson.

Very interesting read, in light of the situation in the US right now about gun control. Things are quite different indeed in the UK on that issue - the discovery of a handgun in a young woman's closet sets a whole series of events going.

I've been reading Inspector Banks off and on since the first book - these books are always enjoyable, but not really anything world shaking. A good modern British detective series - no bodies in the library here.

George RR Martin's 'Game of Thrones', book 5. It's all coming together nicely, a vast panorama of political machinations, individual struggles, wars on all fronts, set against a fantasy background complete with dragons, shapchangers, evil baddies and bad spells, and the good guys who struggle right to the bitter end, but are probably going to knock the socks of the nasties by the final page

A great bit of escapism, in any case, and detailed enough to satisfy my desire to get my teeth into something juicy (if somewhat rife with bloodlust, gore and depravity).

Your enthusiasm for Zola's "Au Bonheur des Dames" shines through , Toni. I am going to get that next.Did you read it in French?

I went through a couple more memoirs.

"Fish: A Memoir of a Boy in a Man's Prison" by T. J. Parsell and "Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead" by Frank Meeink. Both had very horrific content, as you might expect, but both had redeeming stories as well. I always find it interesting to get a perspective from 'fringe' (for lack of a better word) groups in society and neither of these books disappointed. If you find sociology, true crime, or memoirs interesting, I'd recommend both books, keeping in mind the content is what you'd expect it to be and can be stomach churning (and anger inducing) at times.

"Red Mist" by Patricia Cornwell. She has had some really good books but I lose interest when she starts presenting her lead character as a superwoman. This book is shaping up to be one of those.

That's pretty much why I stopped reading her books, skunkee. I found, too, after reading quite a few of her books, that I was thinking "Y'know, I don't actually LIKE any of these people".

Agony, I completely agree. The more I read of the series, the more I started disliking Scarpetta. Benton seems like the only character to have any warmth in his personality.

Just started “Luca and the Fire of Life” by Salman Rushdie the other day. It was one of those I almost didn’t read, afraid I wouldn’t like it, but once I started… The novel tells the story of a twelve-year-old boy who tries to save his father from “the big sleep.” One of the funniest parts is how he has two friends—they startecd out as pets but grew to be so much more—named Dog the Bear and Bear the Dog. Very well-written, and quite enjoyable for those who like magic and related themes.

I seem to barely read a proper book these days but for Christmas I got
"Danny Baker Going to Sea in a Seive". (He's a English radio personality).
It's good fun and I'm getting through it slowly but surely.

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.
This book is a real eye-opener about the meat-packing industry and the plight of immigrants. I avoided reading it for a long time because I thought it would be either too dry or too depressing for my tastes, but that's not the case at all. I really feel like I know the characters and care about them. Even when reading of horrific conditions, the story pulls me along because I care what happens to them.

I also found it an absolutely delightful book! So un-Zola like. It's recommended for anyone who usually passes on Zola's books because they find them too dark.

Per usual, Zola did plenty of research prior to writing Au Bonheur des dames. It's a good primer for the history of the first gigantic department stores. I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall to see Zola shopping for hours with his wife.

I'm currently wading through Ricky Martin's autobiography, entitled "Me." Initially, I'm ashamed to say I judged the book based on the one song of his I know--which I don't like at all. But once I started reading, I couldn't put it down. It's not boring, or even egocentric: it's a reflective look at the experiences that have shaped his music and acting careers.

Yes, I borrowed it from a friend and read it in French. I have to admit that the 'dated' language threw me a bit at first, but it definitely contributes to the charm of the read. I didn't look up every single word that I didn't know, and am even pleased that there were so (relatively speaking) few of them.

I kept getting reminded of the classic descriptive prose encountered in books like 'The Coral Island' and 'The Water Babies' while reading Au Bonheur. I guess the long, charming passages are approached in a similar way.

Edit: I've just checked the dates for all three books, and coincidentally they were all written in the same era, between 1858-62. And guess what? I'm now rereading the Coral Island, which I haven't read since I was a kid! I suppose I'll move on to the Water Babies afterwards, just to please my fancy as reading Au Bonheur has rekindled all the enjoyement the other two brought to me at the time.