What are you currently reading?

[QualityBookReviews]

An open discussion on what everyone is currently reading. Make recommendations to others, discuss what is new, hot, bestsellers, anything and everything related to books and the authors.

[Karen from AustCrime]

Adrian writes a very realistic / informed viewpoint of outback Aboriginal culture as well in Diamond Dove / Moonlight Downs. (Adrian isn't Aboriginal himself incidentally).

He spent a considerable number of years in the real life town that is set up as a fictional location for that book, working within community and he's really really nailed a lot of the joys of Aboriginal culture as well as the difficulties. As with all indigenous cultures, Aboriginal Australia is as diverse as non-Aboriginal Australia.

[Loretta Wheeler]

That's very true...we lived in a town (Armidale) that had a lot of Aborigines in it...transferred there during the time of the Olympics. We saw all sides of the culture, from the elders (who did an excellent job of trying to cope with the culture clashes) to the one's who didn't want to try and achieve. It is the same everywhere...very similar to the situation with the Native American Indian etc. I'll have to be sure and read one of these books, I'm sure I would find it interesting:)

[Cynde L. Hammond]

You probably aren't going to believe this, but I'm reading Gone With The Wind, by Margaret Mitchell. I realize that this book is totally out of the genre that I love the most, but if you want a lesson in how to write a novel that's full of action, colorfully descriptive, interesting and hard to put down, this is the book for you. As I'm reading it, I find myself both loving the book and grieving upon each page that I turn, knowing full well that Margaret Mitchell never writes another word for me to enjoy after I have completed this utterly delightful and captivating story. I almost didn't chime in, but I just had to tell you what I thought of this book. Don't miss out; it's the story of a lifetime!

[Loretta Wheeler]

:) I read it many years ago Cynde....and still keep it on my book shelves. But, hearing you describe it, has made me decide that maybe I should take it down and read it again:) Enjoy it:) The writer and the lifestyle truly have Gone with the Wind...

L.

[Snood1]

I'm belting through John Connolly's "The Reapers" again. Bought it a month ago, read it, got stuck into a couple of other books, and have picked it up for a second read. Connolly does that to me. The man is very, very good. I'm also reading David L. Robbin's book about the Red Ball Express (title nowhere near the tip of my tongue) which is superb, and Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion". Oh - and I'm having another bash at getting back into Jonathon Kellerman. he was great, but i went off him for a bit. Now, however....
Life is too short to be only reading one book at a time.
My beloved wife has been discovering a slew of authors from Sweden, Denmark, and Norway who seem to be featuring in our bookshops: more blood than the local abbatoir, but - she tells me - very good translating.

[Jacqui Horwood]

I've started reading Patricia Cornwell's "The Book of the Dead". It was given to me as a present for my birthday. I can see I'm going to struggle through it. It's written in the present tense which always a big ask in a book. You can bare with the present tense with a book that is well written and, so far, this isn't. I enjoyed Cornwell's first few books but then she went downhill and, judging by this book, hasn't really recovered.

[Karen from AustCrime]

It's probably time to play this one again - so I'm just finishing The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan and about to pick up The Roar of Butterflies by Reginald Hill.

Then it's back to trying to read the entire of the Ned Kelly longlist before the short list is announced and the awards are given out (hopefully....)

[Karen E. Olson]

I'm reading the ARC of Alison Gaylin's new book HEARTLESS. It's not due out until September. A soap opera magazine writer goes to a small town in Mexico, where ritual sacrifices are taking place. It's fantastic.

[I. J. Parker]

Richard Price, THE LUSH LIFE. A strangely slow book that nevertheless holds your interest. This is due, I think, not only to a clever plot twist, but also to the fine characterization that draws us into the characters' lives. Much praised for its handling of dialog.

[Debbi Mack]

I'm with you on this one, IJ. "Strangely slow" is an apt way to put it. Yet, when the hook happens, it draws you in fast.

I wrote a short review of this book on my blog, The Book Grrl, at http://tinyurl.com/6m4knh , if anyone's interested.

[Joy Calderwood]

I'm on a mystery kick lately.

I'm rereading the Dick Francis series, except that I just finished the last one I have read. Next up, the last 3 of that series, I haven't yet read.

I just finished the "Cat Who" series. I'll be very surprised if there is another one published after THE CAT WHO HAD 60 WHISKERS. It looked like the last third of the book was lost on the way to the printer.

I sampled two thriller authors, received from a publicist. Greg Rucka's PATRIOT ACTS. Better than average characterization for a thriller. I think it would have been better if I had read books 1-5 in the series, instead of starting with 6. Steve Hamilton's NIGHT WORK, a standalone, plus A STOLEN SEASON a few months ago, to sample his McKnight series. I'm rarely unreservedly positive about thrillers, but I was about Hamilton's.

Aaron Elkins' OLD BONES, Edgar winner. Very atmospheric. Kept pulling me back after I had finished it. I had to make a written list to get the names of the family straight.

And lastly, J.D. Robb's "In Death" series. I don't take to Robb's dominatrix-type Lieutenant Eve, but Robb/Roberts' writing and plotting are expert.

[Sue Dawson]

An oldie by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Mother Night, a short but very readable book. I caught the movie the other night on satellite dish and then checked out the paper format as well as the VHS from my local library.