Am interested to discuss books with peeps here.
What books are you reading at the moment?
Are you enjoying it? Why did you decide to read it?
Have you just finished one? Was it good? Would you recommend it?

I've just finished for the umpteenth time "African Wisdom" by Owen Burnham and Aliyou Diatta. Beautifully written and very interesting.

I also just finished The Portrait of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde. I've read other stuff but never this one and I never knew the end before now, it really stirred some passionate feelings (of hate!) for Dorian!!

I have now gone back to Animals In Transition by Temple Grandin, I started it months ago but although it's interesting its also hard work and needs concentration, so I've started from the beginning again.

Unfortunately I`ll be reading nothing but dry legal texts for the foreseeable future!

However, the last novel I started was Midnight`s Children by Salman Rushdie, but I found his style curiously annoying and didn`t get beyond a couple of chapters.

The last book I finished was Point Counter Point by Aldous Huxley, one of my favourite writers. Social satire, science fiction, druggy autobiography...you name it, he`s written about it beautifully.

I read Antic Hay years ago but can't for life of me remember a single thing about it! But yeah i agree I love brave new world. Got my son to read it when he was about 10 and he thought it was great too!!

I find it quite sad that these days youngsters arent interested in the 'classics'. and they are trying to remove them from schools, i mean my son did his o'levels about 4 yrs ago and the twaddle he brought home for his English Lit was just awful, (although he *did* do MacBeth) I'm not a fan of modern stuff i'm afraid.

I'm just starting '1984', by George Orwell. I had it for my birthday in September, and haven't been able to find the time to sit down with it since.

For me, classics means 'have stood the test of time'.
Do you think there will ever be another shakespeare, or dickens? I think not, simply because Hollywood Blockbusters are taking over the written word.
I've seen countless profiles on here that state "I don't read books" but not a single one have I seen that said "I don't watch films" - even the ones who say they don't watch tv (like I dont have a tv) have listed their favorite films.
If I were sat in a crowded doctor's surgery and said "What do you all think of MacBeth?" - I bet the older generation would say Great/rubbish/boring/and would be able quote a line or two.....and I bet the younger generation would say Loved the film/boring film.....

[ And is Jane Austen really anything more than chick-lit with petticoats?[/quote]

Nope, in my opinion that's exactly what it is! (living in her hometown, am I allowed to be so rude?!). Never liked Jane Austin, too girlie for me, give me Moby Dick instead any day.

[/quote]give me Moby Dick instead any day.[/quote]

The Simpsons - Homer is preparing to shoot a grizzly bear that scared him earlier:

Lisa (pleading) "Dad, it`s impossible to take revenge on an animal. That`s the whole point of Moby Dick!"

Homer (patronising) "Lisa honey, the point of Moby Dick is `Be Yourself`"

Well it made me laugh...

Good one!

I just started reading The Outsider by Albert Camus (the English translation though - my French is a bit rusty ) and I'm enjoying it so far. I haven't read enough of it to comment on the novel but I like his writing style.

Has anyone else read it?

Well, I must have a masculine taste in literature then because I've never been inclined to read Pride and Prejudice! I'm not sure why, I probably should since it's such a classic novel.

I suppose it might be hard for some women to identify with Mersault's apathy and seeming lack of sensitivity. I quite like his character though, is that wrong?! haha

I'm reading Somerset Maugham's short stories at the moment - I had one volume of them but found the other two in a book sale in the student union the other day, yay! I love the way he writes - I'm not normally that much of a fan of short stories, but his are great. His view of humankind is really interesting - he seems detached for the most part, yet there's a real tolerance for our faults and failings.

I have a stack of books by my bed waiting to be read, a whole pile of treats, just havn't had time to read them cos of all the reading for university. Ken Follett's latest is there, plus Khaled Hosseini's two.

I think Austen has been a little done to death lately - I've always loved Elizabeth Gaskell - now there's a 'classic' hehehe - good to see she's becoming a bit more widely known with the television versions of Wives and Daughters and Cranford.

Wouldn't it be great if you could clone yourself and set one of you to doing all the reading you want to do, whilst the other gets on with everything else?

"The Man Without Qualities" by Robert Musil. I never finished it the first time around, so I`ll try again. I think it`s one of those books with a big reputation but which nobody actually reads.

I also took Tim`s advice and read Ray Bradbury. A good book, and the ideas were really interesting but I wasn`t too keen on his writing style.

Oh, and I also `read` "The Gilded Bat" by Edward Gorey, if that counts. Gorey is brilliant!

All the best to everyone in 2008.