What is East Dulwich reading today?

[TillieTrotter]

Quick overview please ratty

[capt_birdseye]

Kite Runner was indeed very good, a real page-turner. I'm now reading The Book Of Love by Nicole Krauss, very well written and enjoyable.

[citizenED]

Someone lent me The Kite Runner ages ago saying that once i got into it i wouldn't be able to put it down. Bless her - i'm only about three quarters of the way through and its OK ish. Not completely hooked.

Let me know about the Nicole Krauss, Capt. I got a copy of that waiting to be read somewhere in a box!

citizen

[Jah Lush]

Just finished Exile On Main Street. A Season In Hell With The Rolling Stones by Robert Frank. About the making of the album and the general debauchery at Keith Richards house in the south of France. Wonderfully decadant. A pretty damned good rock & roll memoir.

[TillieTrotter]

Persevere if you can Citizen, the last portion is the strongest bit.

[Bellenden Belle]

We need to talk about Kevin, Secret History, and The Kite Runner are all faves of mine.

Has anyone read Augusten Burroughs? Dry was both hilarious and an absolute tear-jerker. And there is an absolutely terrific piece in Magical Thinking about his troubles with his cleaner!

Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is also worth checking out.

[TillieTrotter]

Good to see you back BB. Lots of bookies on here love Kevin. A must buy for me.

[Ant]

I'm reading Raw Spirit by Iain Banks. It's a non-fiction book supposedly about single malt whisky that is actually mostly about driving around Scotland, with the odd anecdote thrown in for good measure. It has its moments. And then it has it's other moments, the less good ones. But all in all it's entertaining, and probably more enjoyable than an all-whisky-all-the-time book would be, even though I do sometimes find myself wishing he would hurry up and get to the next Dram.

[James]

Did anyone else find Saturday by Ian McEwan a massive disappointment? I totally loved Atonement but I'm wondering whether to bother with On Chesil Beach as I found Saturday so tediously smug. The fact that David Cameron was recently pictured reading it is also putting me off (yes I know, how shallow).

Am currently reading Truecrime by Jake Arnott, which is a good gangster romp.

[TillieTrotter]

James, I quite liked Saturday (although wouldnt read it again) but really didnt like Atonement

[James]

btw forgot to say I loved the Kite Runner too. Also good is the Drink & Dream Teahouse by Justin Hill. Bloke has an incredible understanding of Chinese sensibilities (my partner says so - he's Chinese!)

[James]

How bizarre. Horses for courses I suppose?

[citizenED]

Another recommendation for "Secret History". def in my top ten - so keep going Sean. "The Corrections" by Jonathan Franzen is superb too.

citizen

[shambles]

mmm...finding Istanbul by Orhan Pamuk a tincy bit painful. It's a shame because I'm going there this Thursday for a few days and hoped this book would open my eyes to more than the tourist view of the city. Never mind, I shall persevere but am already looking forward to a new book. What are the latest recommendations people?

[mightyroar]

I agree about McEwan- I loved atonement but felt Saturday didnt really have the same impact.

and am having exactly the same shallow feelings about the pict David Cameron.

I also agree about Orhan Panuk. still havent finished Snow and started it months ago.

I just read Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier and it's great. not as good as Rebecca but really quite scary. lots of late nights and wild weather in Cornwall. and another classic if you've never read it is 'to kill a mockingbird' which I read for the first time the other day. That book truly rocks. i'm sure everyone on the thread has read it but if not read it today!

[TillieTrotter]

Mockingbird is both one of my daughters and my top books. Love it

[shambles]

Jamaica Inn sounds good. I've never read Du Maurier altho have read quite a bit about her recently. Good recommendation mighty roar - thanks! Think I'll put the half read Pamuk back on the shelf for the time being!

[Huguenot]

I didn't really feel that the film of 'The Secret Gardener' did the book much justice. I found it incredibly moving. Ladies never seem to go for John Le Carre books much but this one's a bit of a love story at heart. Recommmended!

[TillieTrotter]

Taking the classics back a good few centuries, has anyone ever read Boccaccio's The Decameron? It is so funny.

[Jah Lush]

Having not read John Le Carre before I rather enjoyed the Secret Gardener which I read recently. Not normally the sort of thing that I go for but it was worth it. I have to say that I envy anyone who's reading Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird for the first time. A wonderful book. If you enjoyed that then try anything by Carson McCullers, another great writer from the Deep South, a good start would be The Ballad Of The Sad Cafe or The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, which is a personal favourite.

[Keef]

Is the secret Gardener different from The Constant Gardener? I thought the film of Constant Gardener was visually absolutely stunning! Bought the book, but haven't gotten round to it yet...

[mockney piers]

Yep, the latter was Graham Greene wasn't it?

I loved Carre's books circa the Smiley era, but like many good spy writers I think he's struggled a bit in the post cold war world.

[Jah Lush]

Sorry, yeah, I meant The Constant Gardener. Never seen the film though.

[Huguenot]

Yep, me too, Constant Gardener, just being absent minded :)

[capt_birdseye]

McEwan! :X He makes my blood boil. I read Enduring Love and hated it. Thought I'd give him a second chance and read Saturday and hated it. The man has wasted enough of my precious reading time and is now on my banned authors list.

Still enjoying the Book of Love, it's actually getting quite exciting, which I hadn't expected.