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What Book Are You Reading Now? Mk II

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The Inheritors - William Golding

Sort of the opposite of Lord of the Flies, beautifully written yet somewhat cryptic
The Bloody Chamber and other short stories - Angela Carter

Some say it's a feminist twist on old fairy tales but they truly are hilarious and very interesting stories! A teeny tiny bit adult, had to study it for English Literature but definitely worth reading in general for pleasure.
The Spy who came in from the cold - So f******* good.
I've read Robinson Cruose this week, kind of a mixed bag in terms of good bits and bad bits. I also read The South as a treat, which was good but not as good as Nora Webster (by the same author). I've been dipping in and out of SPQR as well, now it's in paperback, but finding the current chapters a bit of a slog as I'm not into pure political issues. I'm not sure I'm going to finish it though.
Original post by Fragile_Illusions
Oliver Twist
I actually really do like it! It's the first Dicken's book I have read and it came as a pleasant suprise that the writing isn't archaic at all, like most people had told me.


I read that book once. But didn't really enjoy it that much and couldn't quite get into it then again classics like
Dickens isn't everyone's cup of tea as most enjoy things like Dickens or Jane Austen and some don't
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 7105
reading the hunger games for the fifth time :tongue:
The Lord of the Rings...for the fourth time.

Gets better with every read.
Original post by MonkeyMajic
The Lord of the Rings...for the fourth time.

Gets better with every read.


Totally agree! Sir Christopher Lee read The Lord of the Rings every year.

I'm struggling to settle with a new book because I've been too tired to really read. I'm reading Sartre's What is Literature but I'm dithering between Howard's End and Bukowski's Post Office (not to be confused with Zweig's excellent The Post Office Girl).

SPQR has picked up as well but I still feel like it would be easier to follow and a better read if I new more about ancient Rome. I guess that's why I'm reading it.
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux
Original post by Georg Hegel
Totally agree! Sir Christopher Lee read The Lord of the Rings every year.

I'm struggling to settle with a new book because I've been too tired to really read. I'm reading Sartre's What is Literature but I'm dithering between Howard's End and Bukowski's Post Office (not to be confused with Zweig's excellent The Post Office Girl).

SPQR has picked up as well but I still feel like it would be easier to follow and a better read if I new more about ancient Rome. I guess that's why I'm reading it.


I'm somewhat of a Tolkien fanatic. I made the pilgrimage to Oxford last October to visit the Eagle and Child pub. Also searched out the house on Google Maps and his gravestone in Wolvercote Cemetery. I know...geek!

I read Howard's End for A level English Literature, which is something that I would probably not have read had I not been required to read it. Needless to say it's a good read, but a little stuffy now perhaps in this modern, liberal age.

As for SPQR...I studied A Level Ancient History and my Bachelor's Degree is in Classical Civilsation, so I'm a big fan of ancient history. Funnily enough I've yet to read any historical fiction set in the classical world (save for The Song of Achilles, although I'd be inclined to omit it as its more an adaptation of Greek myth rather than historical fiction), although if historical fiction is your thing then I'd recommend The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell. I read it about a year and half before they brought out the TV series. It's very fast-paced and an enthralling read, especially if you're interested in the Anglo-Saxons and Viking Age.
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Queen of Shadows: A Throne of Glass novella by Sarah J. Maas
Self-Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition - By the Ciceros

That and some Manga on and off.
A play by the name of Andorra, written by Max Frisch. A very instructive one about Anti-Semitism.
Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson which I currently absolutely adore.
Original post by MonkeyMajic
I'm somewhat of a Tolkien fanatic. I made the pilgrimage to Oxford last October to visit the Eagle and Child pub. Also searched out the house on Google Maps and his gravestone in Wolvercote Cemetery. I know...geek!

I read Howard's End for A level English Literature, which is something that I would probably not have read had I not been required to read it. Needless to say it's a good read, but a little stuffy now perhaps in this modern, liberal age.

As for SPQR...I studied A Level Ancient History and my Bachelor's Degree is in Classical Civilsation, so I'm a big fan of ancient history. Funnily enough I've yet to read any historical fiction set in the classical world (save for The Song of Achilles, although I'd be inclined to omit it as its more an adaptation of Greek myth rather than historical fiction), although if historical fiction is your thing then I'd recommend The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell. I read it about a year and half before they brought out the TV series. It's very fast-paced and an enthralling read, especially if you're interested in the Anglo-Saxons and Viking Age.


Wow that's quite the pilgrimage! I hope to make a pilgrimage to Dublin for James Joyce when I get around to reading him :-)

Yeah I never bothered with Howard's End again. Do you like plays? Shakespeare's Coriolanus is a great historical play based on Plutarch's Selected Lives. I can't say I read much historical fiction other than say stuff connected to WWII although saying that(!) I did read HHhH by Laurent Binet and WOW it was so original and gripping. It's historical in slant but it's also verging on meta-fiction.



I had a great week of reading last week. As well as reading HHhH I also read Bukowski's Post Office and Plath's The Bell Jar each one I highly recommend. They just make me want to write! They're so good they're inspirational to me anyway. This week is a bit of a come down with A Little History of Literature (more pre-uni at a technical level due to lack of footnotes etc.) but I'm waiting for A Whole Life (Man Booker nominated) to come as a pick me up. The cover looks beautiful so I can't wait to inspect it in person.
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A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas
I just finished The Female Eunuch and found it very interesting and it definitely made me think. I'm currently reading The Story of an African Farm. I think it has influenced writers around the 1900s mark but has been pushed into the wild grass. It's a great read so far in itself but I think it has played a role in the development of fiction.
Original post by Georg Hegel
Wow that's quite the pilgrimage! I hope to make a pilgrimage to Dublin for James Joyce when I get around to reading him :-)

Yeah I never bothered with Howard's End again. Do you like plays? Shakespeare's Coriolanus is a great historical play based on Plutarch's Selected Lives. I can't say I read much historical fiction other than say stuff connected to WWII although saying that(!) I did read HHhH by Laurent Binet and WOW it was so original and gripping. It's historical in slant but it's also verging on meta-fiction.



I had a great week of reading last week. As well as reading HHhH I also read Bukowski's Post Office and Plath's The Bell Jar each one I highly recommend. They just make me want to write! They're so good they're inspirational to me anyway. This week is a bit of a come down with A Little History of Literature (more pre-uni at a technical level due to lack of footnotes etc.) but I'm waiting for A Whole Life (Man Booker nominated) to come as a pick me up. The cover looks beautiful so I can't wait to inspect it in person.


I like the odd play but admittedly I haven't read many. I received the Complete Works of Shakespeare for Christmas but I've got so many books on my reading list at the moment that I haven't read one single play! At university I read Julius Caesar (for fun! And partly in search of a pithy dissertation quote) which is also based on Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Grecians and their Roman Counterparts (I read quite a bit of Plutarch at A Level and as an undergraduate. He isn't always reliable but he makes for good reading).

Other than that, one play I really did enjoy (only read it, never seen it performed) was Translations by Brian Friel. It's set in Ireland (a couple of years prior to the potato blight) and is mainly concerned with the British occupation and its effect on the native Irish language. A really good read, even for those who aren't necessarily partial to plays in general.
I'm re-reading "A Clockwork Orange". It's one of my favourites, but I still have to look up some of the words in Nadsat. It's still a very good novel, and an excellent movie. Shame that I watched it when I was 12 and I have been scarred ever since...
Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy

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