What book are you currently reading ?

Sheddie · administrator

What book are you currently reading ?

Drew · Jan 8, 2006

Got Andrew Flintoffs book for Christmas.....Ok so far.....

Sally · Grand Slam Champion

I`ve been reading a book for about the last week called Sheer Abandon by Penny Vicenzi. My mum got it me for Christmas. It`s about three women who met at the airport at the start of their gap year travelling. One of them abandoned a baby at the same airport a year later. About sixteen years after they first met, their paths cross again in a series of coincidences, and they find out at that the abandoned fifteen-year-old is looking for her real mother.

I`m about three-quarters of the way through, and I`ve only just discovered which of the three women is the real mother, and she`s about to meet Kate (the girl) for the first time. It`s really good but very long!

eira_arian · Lower Club Player

At this very moment I'm reading James - Britain in the First Millennium ;) But fiction wise, not a lot! I'm thinking of rereading Charlotte Grey by Sebastian Faulks - wonderful book.

The last book I read was Brideshead Revisted. Excellent read; beautifully observed, full of tension and atmosphere and beauty.

Sally · Grand Slam Champion

At the moment I`m reading Tim Henman`s biography. Not read very much of it as I only started it today but it`s quite interesting so far.

Sheddie · administrator

I didn't realise his biography had been written. When did it come out Sally ?

I'm currently reading "Letters from the great composers" which is extremely interesting and also dipping into the "Grapes of Wrath" inspired by stagger's marvellous explanation.

Several of the books Bethan and Laura have suggested have sounded really great - it's made me want to read them. I've got "Birdsong" by Sebastian Faulkes but have never read it yet. Which of the history fiction books you've suggested would you personally recommend ?

For GCSE English I had to study the "God of Small Things" as part of my texts from other cultures. I really enjoyed the excerpt I'd been given and I heard that the book had won the booker prize and had been acclaimed worldwide. However, I got the book and couldn't make head nor tail of it !!!

Has anyone else read this book ?

Another fantastic read is "The Baboon King." I studied this as part of a GCSE English mock exam [it was either 2001 or 2002, I can't remember]. Thoroughly enjoyed both book and excerpt, the detail the author goes into and the imagery he uses to convey the lives of the baboons and the desperate struggle for survival between man and baboon king is incredible. I can't remember the author right now, but if anyone would like me to look it up I will do.

eira_arian · Lower Club Player

Birdsong is by all accounts wonderful - I've only got through the first part so far (left it at home!!) Charlotte Grey is perhaps a more accessible Faulks - I'm rereading it at the moment - truly wonderful. I would really recommend the first of the Regeneration trilogy by Pat Barker (its great as a stand alone book, rest of the trilogy doesnt always live up to it)

Shadow of the wind is also a very good thriller (as I may have mentioned....)

Sally · Grand Slam Champion

David wrote:

I didn't realise his biography had been written. When did it come out Sally ?
I think the book sleeve said it was published in 2005. I`m only a few chapters in at the moment as I`ve got coursework etc at the moment.

Sheddie · administrator

I'm currently reading Daphne Du Maurier's "The Flight of the Falcon" and Alistair McLean's "When 8 bells toll."

I've heard that "The King's General" by Daphne Du Maurier is also really good though I've never read it.

Have you finished the Henman autobiography yet Sally ? If so, what was it like ? Any juicy gossip revealing secrets about the LTA or slamming the British press ?

Sally · Grand Slam Champion

UltimateSlabbaFan wrote:

Have you finished the Henman autobiography yet Sally ? If so, what was it like ? Any juicy gossip revealing secrets about the LTA or slamming the British press ?

I`ve on the penultimate chapter. Not that I found, but there was a quite good one slagging off Greg!

eira_arian · Lower Club Player

Oooo du Maurier is fantastic! Jamaica Inn and My Cousin Rachel are great reads - very dark. Rebecca obv is the classic (also makes a surprisingly good play!) Haven't read either of the two you mentioned though, I'll have to look them out!

bellamy11 · Lower Club Player

Just threw myself through "A Matter of Death and Life" by Andrey Kurkov. A book translated from Russian. Whilst it was a decent kill of an hour or two, I found myself disappointed by some of the hype on the cover. I didn't laugh half as much as I expected to having read the concept of hiring a hitman to take out yourself.

Also got "Carter Beats The Devil" and a book of Dave Eggers short stories but I don't think I'll be starting them until my workload goes down.

Sheddie · administrator

Sally wrote:

UltimateSlabbaFan wrote:
Have you finished the Henman autobiography yet Sally ? If so, what was it like ? Any juicy gossip revealing secrets about the LTA or slamming the British press ?
I`ve on the penultimate chapter. Not that I found, but there was a quite good one slagging off Greg!

Sounds interesting, what sort of things did he say ? I could never quite make out why the two of them disliked each other so much.

I've finished the "Flight of the Falcon," a really great read. I think eira and Bethan would probably enjoy it with their historical knowledge even though the historical facts in the book aren't actually true. I'm now going to read one of P.D James' murder mystery books "Cover her face."

Madeline, you like murder mystery books, have you read any of P.D James or Ruth Rendell's books ?

Has anyone read Ruth Rendell's new thriller "13 steps down" ? I keep seeing it advertised at all the train stations.

stagger · Club Coach

UltimateSlabbaFan wrote:

UltimateSlabbaFan wrote:

Sounds interesting, what sort of things did he say ? I could never quite make out why the two of them disliked each other so much.

Yes, I'm quite interested to hear as well. I've heard several times that Rusedski is not everyone's 'cup of tea' and, indeed, has only one real friend on the tour (a German who I forgot his name...mark something I think) whereas pretty much everyone likes Henman. There was a bit of tension, if I remember rightly, when Rusedski was drafted from Canada or Ukraine or wherever he is from, to play for UK tennis, but I too would like to know what Henman said about him. Somehow I just cant imagine the hen man saying anything even mildly insulting or shocking.

imoen · Admin: Moderator+Tennis Legend

UltimateSlabbaFan wrote:

I've finished the "Flight of the Falcon," a really great read. I think eira and Bethan would probably enjoy it with their historical knowledge even though the historical facts in the book aren't actually true.

Who wrote it? I'm currently reading "Guards! Guards!" by Terry Pratchett, I've just finished "In her Shoes" by Jennifer Weiner which has just been made into a film, it wasn't bad but wasn't great either, I probably wouldn't recommend it.