I’m reading The Stand by Stephen King. I like Stephen King because his books are big enough to last a day or two and his characters and scenes are surprisingly realistic despite the extremes.
I am actively writing two books at the moment, but I can’t share the names, one is way out of my usual genres but it appeared in my head as I tried to navigate power sockets in my new apartment.
So, books, books, books, please send me your libraries.
Just started The Outsider by Stephen King. I’ve probably read most of his books so difficult to name a favourite…The Dead Zone perhaps.
Wishing you good luck with the writing.
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I’m reading a ‘slim volume’ of Seamus Heaney’s poems: ‘The Haw Lantern’. Demanding verse, I hope to meet its challenge. It was a gift from my daughter Mwila.
And I’ve recently finished ‘Exhalation’ by Ted Chiang. He is a remarkably original and captivating author of modern fiction.
His short novel is, for me, almost incomprehensible in its futuristic hyper-tech vision of a cyber-world where artificial intelligence and human sensibilities are no longer distinguishable. Mesmerising and very real.
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“Bernard Hinault, l’épopée du Blaireau”. A little different to the last one by Marc Roche : “Le Brexit va réussir”
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Is The Outsider a Dark Tower book?
I’m interested, I will look these up. I still have a worldful of new books to read.
No, it’s a thriller, good versus evil, I wonder who will win!
Place bets.
I don’t think I have read it, I will look out for it.
I usually have a few books on the go at once as I like different styles for different moods.
The Inflamed Mind, by Dr Edward Bullmore - really interesting take on the effects of inflammation in the body and evidence for his theory that it equally affects the brain. Jonathon Coe’s Middle England - a brexit inspired novel which is more entertaining. The 16 trees of the Somme by Lars Mytthing as I’m in WWI phase at the moment and it is turning out to be a delightful intertwined story. And a recent Lee Child for some blood and guts.
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Oh Peter how nice, I loved North. Particularly the eponymous poem and whatever you say say nothing. Oh and the seedcutters - actually haven’t read that anthology for ages so thank you for making me think of Heaney again.
I am currently reading a book by Caroline Criado-Perez and another by Pierre Lemaître.
And when I get home I shall reread Heaney 
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No it is a thriller really with a supernatural twist.
Nice to know that I’m not the only one who tends to have more than one book on the go at once. If I have a stressful day, I read some Garfield books before bed time no matter what else I am reading, but I love being able to swap books according to mood.
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I’m very slowly working my way through Une Jeunesse Française by Pierre Péan. It’s a biography of the young François Mitterand. For light relief I have resorted to Alexander McCall Smith The Careful Use of Compliments. I much prefer his Edinburgh stories to the more popular Ladies Detective Agency tales.
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I’ve just finished “The fat of the land” by John Seymour, and now I’m reading “All the light we cannot see” by Anthony Doerr, “Talebones” by Tony Cooper, about the construct and use of storytelling - building on the bare bones of stories to suit the group of listeners and using story telling as a therapeutic tool, and also “Brainstorm” by Suzanne O’Sullivan with case studies of different presentations of epileptic seizures.
Have finished unpacking all our books now and now have an amazing amount I want to read (and re-read)!
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I’ve read FOTL more times than I can remember, but I pick it up every now & then, & just read the odd chapter.
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I have just finished reading this, it has been a long while since I have read a book!
It is about the WW2 airport just outside the village I grew up in - I found the book absolutely fascinating as a local. I remember aged 12 exploring the buildings around the airport - probably shouldn’t have been doing this. The book has confirmed the bit we explored were the WAAF buildings.
(obviously a little different from the other books mentioned here!)
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I think I want to read this one, is it good?
I am vaguely researching the occupation in Brittany, Normandy and the Channel Islands in WW2, when I have time and although many books have been written by experts and survivors, it is an interesting subject.
Not reading but I listened to this a couple of days ago.
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I enjoyed learning more about the airport - but probably more as it was so local.
I did enjoy this book on a similar thread:
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I did a wonderful research tour of the museums of Guernsey last year. The Signals Museum was the best point. I used to live in the Channel Islands and I have been lucky enough to hear a number of first-hand accounts of the occupation from friends and family on both islands. The reality of what went on in living memory is terrifying, the public executions to ‘teach everyone a lesson’ etc and the slave labour. The indomitable courage and spirit of islanders never ceases to amaze. And the same with the resistance over here.
Jersey is proud that the Germans couldn’t understand Jersey French because it was so different from France French, so the Germans couldn’t listen in to their conversations.
The Germans had to shoot their horses and get seaweed off the beach because they were starving in the end.
Now my mind is on all that instead of my current book.
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