What Are You Reading?

[bluemoon]

Yesterday I read 'Revelation', by C.J, Sansom, not my sort of thing, but I was given it by a friend who'd nicked 3 of my books before I'd even read them myself then didn't give them back for months. It was OK though. I'd read 'Winter In Madrid', by the same author (not Tudor stuff) and enjoyed it, which is, I think, why she passed 'Revelation' on. Today I'm going to read 'The Gargoyle' (can't remember the author but it's about a burns victim who is cared for by a mad woman!!!) and is one of the books my mate had hogged.

Pumpkin Becki; I'm one of those people who can read a book in next to no time. IT IS A CURSE. I do the voices, I understand everything and take in the subtleties of the plot, but I do it fast and it's impossible to slow down. I get through 5 or 6 books every week. When I was a kid the dragon of a librarian at the local library claimed it was 'Impossible for a child to read 5 books in under a fortnight' so when I took my allotted 5 back after a couple of days she'd refuse to change them, I used to nick my brothers' library tickets, then I got my Dad - who is definitely not a keen reader - to join the library and give me his tickets too... good thing I did because when I was 11 and wanting to read something more adult she'd only allow me to take books from the children's section using my own ticket. In the end I chose something truly babyish, a book called 'Betty the Bear's Bus' and took it home. When Mum and Dad laughed I explained that I'd read all the books aimed at my age group in the kids' section and I wasn't allowed anything else. At this point my mum - who can be a bit of a dragon herself - 'had words' with the librarian and they came to an agreement that I could take out books that were deemed 'suitable', with the librarian as the arbiter of suitability. This basically meant that I was allowed to read Daphne Du Maurier and has had two long lasting effects: 1, I wouldn't read a Daphne Du Maurier book now if it was the last piece of reading material on earth and; 2, My daughter is called Rebecca.

[OverWyreGrower]

Oh goodness, I am a fast reader too! It IS a curse! I can't read out loud as fast as I read in my head.... I currently get through between 7 and 10 books a week from the library.

My mum said I was reading children's books designed for 5 and 6 year olds on my own by the time I was 4, and I read my first Terry Pratchett when I was 10, from the adults section of the Library, as I'd read all the kids books.

People often don't believe me when I say how fast I read

Pumpkin Becki; I'm one of those people who can read a book in next to no time. IT IS A CURSE. I do the voices, I understand everything and take in the subtleties of the plot, but I do it fast and it's impossible to slow down. I get through 5 or 6 books every week. When I was a kid the dragon of a librarian at the local library claimed it was 'Impossible for a child to read 5 books in under a fortnight' so when I took my allotted 5 back after a couple of days she'd refuse to change them, I used to nick my brothers' library tickets, then I got my Dad - who is definitely not a keen reader - to join the library and give me his tickets too...

[Pumpkin Becki]

My word!! I'm seriously in awe of you both Bluemoon and OWG.

[bluemoon]

OWG, I'm so glad I'm not alone! Wonder if there's a connection between reading early and reading quickly? Thankfully I'm not ploughing through as many as you... though I probably would if I had more free time. It's a bit of a standing joke at work that I never take the same book in two days running.
Which reminds me of my favourite carp joke:-

3 chickens went to the library and said Bok, Bok Bok, so the librarian gave them each a book
The next day they they were back and said Bok, Bok, Bok, so the librarian again gave them each a book.
On the third day the whole thing was repeated so, as it was the librarian's lunch break, she decided to follow them. Off they went each with a book under their wing; across the road, over the bridge, along the dual carriage way, through the park, until they reached the duck pond. There they stopped and one by one threw their books into the water where a frog, sitting on a lilly-pad sighed and said Reddt, reddit reddit'
That frog is me!!

[Incy]

Love your joke Bluemoon
I also fall into the cursed too quick reader category. My OH calls me 'the book mangler' just because I can read more than one a day
The problem is I'm always running out and if I get into 'book mode' I need a whole stack to keep me going

[OverWyreGrower]

Do either of you have more than one book (or should that be bok?) on the go at once?

Oooh, a book mangler... I like that!

[Incy]

Do either of you have more than one book (or should that be bok?) on the go at once?

Oooh, a book mangler... I like that!

I confess, I have been known too have more than one on the go. Not often though they don't last long enough
Usually it's because I've forgotten my book at home when I go on a business trip which means either the airport or station bookshop gets a visit

[Hilary B]

OWG, I'm so glad I'm not alone! Wonder if there's a connection between reading early and reading quickly? Thankfully I'm not ploughing through as many as you... though I probably would if I had more free time. It's a bit of a standing joke at work that I never take the same book in two days running.
Which reminds me of my favourite carp joke:-

3 chickens went to the library and said Bok, Bok Bok, so the librarian gave them each a book
The next day they they were back and said Bok, Bok, Bok, so the librarian again gave them each a book.
On the third day the whole thing was repeated so, as it was the librarian's lunch break, she decided to follow them. Off they went each with a book under their wing; across the road, over the bridge, along the dual carriage way, through the park, until they reached the duck pond. There they stopped and one by one threw their books into the water where a frog, sitting on a lilly-pad sighed and said Reddt, reddit reddit'
That frog is me!!

There may well be a cnnection! By the time I started school I had already finished all the 'learn to read' books for the first 2 years. I read fast (most paperbacks I finish within a day, occasionally the very thick ones take 2 days, if I haven't read them before, but more often I stay up reading until the book is done, possibly 2am). Fortunately any book I enjoyed can be re-read many times!

[Hilary B]

Do either of you have more than one book (or should that be bok?) on the go at once?

Oooh, a book mangler... I like that!

The record is 5... All old favourites, but not all similar types (2 Pratchett, a western, 1 Anne McCaffery and a detective story).

[vikkib]

Vikkib, Papillon by Henri Charriere is one of my 3 top books of all time, and I've read plenty.
The film truly doesnt do the book justice.
I know its an amalgamation of several escape stories, but that book revolutionised the entire French penal system. Within a year of the book going on sale, the French government of the day was shamed into stopping sending criminals to places such as Devils Island. Great book.

I loved the book; I'd love to be able to speak French fluently enough to read the original as the translator's notes about the slang terms and nuances really intrigued me!

Have never watched the film; I tend to avoid watching films of books I really love as they can rarely be as good so I end up getting miffed and grumbling too loudly in the cinema!

Oh goodness, I am a fast reader too! It IS a curse! I can't read out loud as fast as I read in my head.... I currently get through between 7 and 10 books a week from the library.

I'm a fairly quick reader but now only tend to read during my train journey so that's only about 2 - 2 1/2 hours a day.

I remember getting a HUGE pile of books out on my library ticket when I was a kid (I seem to remember we could get 16 out in my local library) and I used to race through them; I was lucky that my Mum loves reading too so I read all her old Enid Blytons and loved the Mallory Towers et al!

I think that's why I enjoyed the Harry Potter books as they really reminded me of all of those books I got so absorbed in when I was a kid!

[muslimgrower]

Vikkib, Papillon by Henri Charriere is one of my 3 top books of all time, and I've read plenty.
The film truly doesnt do the book justice.
I know its an amalgamation of several escape stories, but that book revolutionised the entire French penal system. Within a year of the book going on sale, the French government of the day was shamed into stopping sending criminals to places such as Devils Island. Great book.

i read that book too.. awesome

did you know he wrote a sequel to it called "banco"

[Incy]

The record is 5... All old favourites, but not all similar types (2 Pratchett, a western, 1 Anne McCaffery and a detective story).

I love Anne Mccaffrey waiting for the latest in paperback due about now.

I think that's why I enjoyed the Harry Potter books as they really reminded me of all of those books I got so absorbed in when I was a kid!

Same here Harry Potter is definitely influenced by the old fashioned childhood classics I grew up on.

[bobleponge]

MG,
I read Banco, but I felt a lot of the anger that made the first book so fantastic had dissipated. By then he was a free man, living a quiet life in Venezuela, and was writing more for profit than for revolution.
An interesting read, but nothing like the first one.

[SarzWix]

Well, I've finished all the HP's again, I've read all Susan Cooper's again, all the Diana Wynne Jones... I'm at a loose end now because the next on the list is usually 'Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell' - Susannah Clarke and I've foolishly loaned it out again (this is the second one I've loaned out and not got back )
I'm not really in the mood for grown-up books at the mo, so that puts 3 massive book shelves out of bounds...

Has anybody read 'The Glass Books of The Dream Eaters'?
The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters: G.W. Dahlquist: Amazon.co.uk: Books

[Flummery]

Finished the book I told you about previously - I'm now reading The Glass Painter's Daughter by Rachel Hore. Never read any of her stuff before either, but it was passed on by the same friend. It's shaping up to be a good read.