What are you currently reading?

[j winter]

Still sticking largely with the classics at the moment.  I'm approaching mid-point on War and Peace, and have pulled down two volumes of short stories -- Nathaniel Hawthorne and Rudyard Kipling -- and have been diving back and forth between the three.  I have to admit, the prospect of not being able to go out this weekend and staying in with a pile of books (and CD's of course) is not particularly upsetting...  

[Ratliff]

Still sticking largely with the classics at the moment.  I'm approaching mid-point on War and Peace, and have pulled down two volumes of short stories -- Nathaniel Hawthorne and Rudyard Kipling -- and have been diving back and forth between the three.  I have to admit, the prospect of not being able to go out this weekend and staying in with a pile of books (and CD's of course) is not particularly upsetting...

Hawthorne short stores and sketches are a favorite of mine. I seem to appreciate them more as the years go by. Rappaccini's Daughter has been a favorite.

[SimonNZ]

One of the few positive things about lockdown is I'm finally able to find time for this brick. Currently 250 pages in, 1000 to go. And every bit as good as I'd heard.

For slightly lighter reading have also finally started this:

[Ratliff]

I haven't been listening to music recently, but I've been reading more. Most recently book completed has been Bruno's Dream, by Iris Mordoch. Bruno is an elderly man dying of the old age, obsessed with spiders, his stamp collection and his past. His dream is more or less his view of life, or perhaps the hallucination he has at the end of the novel. Most of the action involves the characters that revolve around him, including his son, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, nurse, housekeeper, and some others. A general theme of Murdoch's fiction is that intense feelings of love can be felt by and for people who are not young, attractive, or appropriate mates. The intensity of desire and love overrules all else. A fine book.

[Christo]

One of the few positive things about lockdown is I'm finally able to find time for this brick. Currently 250 pages in, 1000 to go. And every bit as good as I'd heard.

Right up my alley, ordered for a copy. 

[Kaga2]

A stats refresher before I plunge into a (graduate level) book on causal inference in studies. Theoretically I know the stuff. That theory assumes my memory is better than it is! Roussas.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

''Quantum and the Lotus" Mattieu Ricard and Trinh Xuan Thuan.
French Ex-Biologist now-Buddhist and Asian physicist discuss nature of reality, and similarity and differences between Buddhist theories and quantum physics theories.

[Brian]

The Proud Tower, Barbara Tuchman's majestic and elegantly opinionated survey of pre-WWI Europe and the USA. The writing is exquisite: it sweeps across the landscape but everything that falls under her eye is cut down precisely to size. It should be possible for a reader inclined to disagree with Tuchman's political sympathies to read past her interpretation and glean important facts, but such a reader would be missing out on most of the fun.

[aligreto]

J.S. Le Fanu: Ghost Stories and Tales of Mystery





Le Fanu was quite a famous Irish writer of Victorian ghost stories. His fame has somewhat subsided over time; perhaps his stories and themes are not quite shocking enough in these modern times but they are still excellent examples of their particular genre. He was an excellent storyteller and this is why I like his writing. His stories are very well told and his characters are well rounded and quite believable and his stories make for very good reading. I have lived in a part of Dublin where there was a street/road named in his honour close to the setting of a story in this compilation.

[pjme]

yesterday: a short story by Doris Lessing. 'The grandmothers". Sharp, cruel satire....

Now, inspired by corona, two books are waiting: Mary Shelley's The last man (1826 - cholera) and Aldous Huxley's 1949 - post nuclear/chemical warfare "Ape and essence".
I see that I bought "The last man " in London / 1985 and haven't reread it since. Huxley I found (translated) in a second hand shop, recently.
It just may be too much ....

Ps: I must have some Le Fanu short stories somewhere.

[Alek Hidell]

One of the few positive things about lockdown is I'm finally able to find time for this brick. Currently 250 pages in, 1000 to go. And every bit as good as I'd heard.

Finished that a few months ago. Often difficult reading (due to the violent subject matter, not the writing), but immensely powerful. I came away from it feeling that I'd just finished one of the best books I've ever read.

Have started this (I think upon your recommendation, SimonNZ!):



The subsequent two volumes have just arrived, so they will be next, of course.

And I'm also a little way into this:



Just a little light reading ...

[SimonNZ]

Finished that a few months ago. Often difficult reading (due to the violent subject matter, not the writing), but immensely powerful. I came away from it feeling that I'd just finished one of the best books I've ever read.

Have started this (I think upon your recommendation, SimonNZ!):



The subsequent two volumes have just arrived, so they will be next, of course.

And I'm also a little way into this:



Just a little light reading ...

Yes, I was very impressed by the Evans set. I'll be very interested to hear any thoughts once you finish. I also read Dispatches just 2 or 3 months ago.

TD: still slowly working through the superb Fisk, but its had to focus on it while there's uncertainty about possible/probable redundancies at my work.

In the meantime am half way through this:

[Pohjolas Daughter]

J.S. Le Fanu: Ghost Stories and Tales of Mystery





Le Fanu was quite a famous Irish writer of Victorian ghost stories. His fame has somewhat subsided over time; perhaps his stories and themes are not quite shocking enough in these modern times but they are still excellent examples of their particular genre. He was an excellent storyteller and this is why I like his writing. His stories are very well told and his characters are well rounded and quite believable and his stories make for very good reading. I have lived in a part of Dublin where there was a street/road named in his honour close to the setting of a story in this compilation.

Oh, that sounds like a fun distraction for these days and times (particularly after listening to too much news).  I hadn't heard of him before now and must admit that it's been a while since I've read ghost stories; I did love them growing up and was a big fan of Poe (had to keep a dictionary next to me whilst reading his stories as some of the Victorian words and/or meanings were unknown to me).  Also, loved watching the Poe movies with Vincent Price.   

I did have fun (a few months ago...ish) reading some early short stories of George R.R. Martin's ...trying to recall the title now.  Hold on please, I'll try and find it.  I think that it was Dreamsongs, Volume I.  It was a combo of Sci Fi and Horror.  A number of really well-written (and scary!) stories.

At the moment, reading too much news(!), some articles and fun things too about what is going on in the tennis world, a couple of books that I have about birds...how to identify, their habits, how to attract them, etc.

Best,

PD

[JBS]

I have had LeFanu on my radar for decades,  but never actually read him. I know about him from mentions in two of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels (Nine Tailors and Gaudy Night) by Dorothy Sayers.

I started Evans's first volume, but got distracted...

[Karl Henning]

Still sticking largely with the classics at the moment.  I'm approaching mid-point on War and Peace, and have pulled down two volumes of short stories -- Nathaniel Hawthorne and Rudyard Kipling -- and have been diving back and forth between the three.  I have to admit, the prospect of not being able to go out this weekend and staying in with a pile of books (and CD's of course) is not particularly upsetting...  

Nice . . . at some point, I may re-read War and Peace.

[Karl Henning]

The Proud Tower, Barbara Tuchman's majestic and elegantly opinionated survey of pre-WWI Europe and the USA. The writing is exquisite: it sweeps across the landscape but everything that falls under her eye is cut down precisely to size. It should be possible for a reader inclined to disagree with Tuchman's political sympathies to read past her interpretation and glean important facts, but such a reader would be missing out on most of the fun.

Great book!

[steve ridgway]

I've found the Open University have a load of free online courses and have started with In the night sky: Orion.

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/the-night-sky-orion/content-section-overview?active-tab=description-tab

[aligreto]

Oh, that sounds like a fun distraction for these days and times (particularly after listening to too much news).  I hadn't heard of him before now and must admit that it's been a while since I've read ghost stories; I did love them growing up and was a big fan of Poe (had to keep a dictionary next to me whilst reading his stories as some of the Victorian words and/or meanings were unknown to me).  Also, loved watching the Poe movies with Vincent Price.   

I did have fun (a few months ago...ish) reading some early short stories of George R.R. Martin's ...trying to recall the title now.  Hold on please, I'll try and find it.  I think that it was Dreamsongs, Volume I.  It was a combo of Sci Fi and Horror.  A number of really well-written (and scary!) stories.

At the moment, reading too much news(!), some articles and fun things too about what is going on in the tennis world, a couple of books that I have about birds...how to identify, their habits, how to attract them, etc.

Best,

PD

The important thing is to keep reading and to encourage it wherever possible, especially among the young.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

The important thing is to keep reading and to encourage it wherever possible, especially among the young.

Agreed.  By the way, I was the kid with the flashlight reading under the covers past bedtime, belonged to book clubs, and walked out of the library arms filled with books.   

[aligreto]

Agreed.  By the way, I was the kid with the flashlight reading under the covers past bedtime, belonged to book clubs, and walked out of the library arms filled with books.   

You were not alone.
Thankfully my daughter also grew up with a love of books.