What are you currently reading?

[DavidW]

PD James Adam Dalgliesh mysteries, in order. Up to book 8, I believe. The recent series is very well done, and close, but not literal, to the books.

Oh, I didn't know they remade the series. I've read a couple way back in the day. Outside of that series, I also like An Unsuitable Job for a Woman and Children of Men.

[SimonNZ]

Started: another from the Baillie Gifford longlist:



also picking away at the essays in this anthology:

[Brian]

I had never read any PD James before last week when I read the first Dalgliesh novel and the sidequel "No suitable job for a woman". Admittedly I found this book much better than "Cover her face".
The latter is very well written but a bit too slow "classic country mystery" for me and worse I found at least 3 central plot elements to strain suspension of disbelief beyond breaking point.
(The identity of the murderer, the central twist about the victim, & the extreme convolution of events during the night of the murder.)
So I am bit wary to try others. What were your favorites of the series?

I think she was at the peak of her powers mid career, like the 1990s. She definitely learned from the first few books. However, it is worth saying that the deliberate pace and "artsy" writing, compared to someone like Agatha Christie, is a James hallmark and she never writes a faster pace.

[AnotherSpin]

Finished reading. For its genre, the book is very good. The Russian characters and the atmosphere in the country are portrayed as realistically as possible, not caricatured, as often happens in 'Russian' books and films by Western authors. There's a lot of healthy and completely understandable disgust toward all this Russian madness, which has engulfed today's world like a cancerous tumor. I gave it 5 stars on Goodreads without hesitation.

[ritter]

It's been quite a while since I read any Marguerite Duras, an author I was almor obsessed with in my twenties and still rank among my favourites...

Starting her early (1955) novella Le Square, written as a long dialogue between two anonymous characters (a nanny-maid and a travelling salesman) who meet by chance in a square in Paris.

[Florestan]

[vandermolen]

Simon Scarrow 'Dead of Night'
I enjoy detective thrillers set in Nazi Germany. Bought at my local supermarket:

[Florestan]

The idea is interesting: a novel built around the last 17 years of Granados' life. The author says that he originally wanted to write a proper biography but the documentary material suggested him rather the novel form. All fine and well, but how can one trust the factual accuracy of someone who states, in a presentation of the main characters, that Paderewski was President of Poland? 

[Florestan]

Simon Scarrow 'Dead of Night'
I enjoy detective thrillers set in Nazi Germany. Bought at my local supermarket:

The theme reminds me of The Night of the Generals. Without reading the book, I guess Yul Brynner would have been the best film incarnation of Inspector Schenke. What say you, Jeffrey?

Also, slightly related: do you know the Babylon Berlin German TV series? Set in the late years of the Weimar Republic, Nazis in full ascension, Soviet spies all around, a police inspector just trying to do his honest job. Recommended.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Why We Die: The New Science of Ageing and Longevity. Venki Ramakrishnan

[DavidW]

Simon Scarrow 'Dead of Night'
I enjoy detective thrillers set in Nazi Germany. Bought at my local supermarket:

His previous novel Blackout is at my local library. I'll have to give it a read when I have the chance!

[Mandryka]

It's been quite a while since I read any Marguerite Duras, an author I was almor obsessed with in my twenties and still rank among my favourites...

Starting her early (1955) novella Le Square, written as a long dialogue between two anonymous characters (a nanny-maid and a travelling salesman) who meet by chance in a square in Paris.

I would quite like to read the Le Ravissement de Lol V. Stein again but to be honest I'm so much enjoying rereading Voyage au Bout de la Nuit that I'm quite tempted to start at the beginning again just as soon as I get to the end. 

[AnotherSpin]

Why We Die: The New Science of Ageing and Longevity. Venki Ramakrishnan

We do not die. It is not an experience that can be lived through. Or, to put it differently, what dies is not us.

[vandermolen]

His previous novel Blackout is at my local library. I'll have to give it a read when I have the chance!

I'm reading that one now David, having read 'Dead of Night' which I enjoyed.
Sorry - posted wrong image below.

[vandermolen]

The theme reminds me of The Night of the Generals. Without reading the book, I guess Yul Brynner would have been the best film incarnation of Inspector Schenke. What say you, Jeffrey?

Also, slightly related: do you know the Babylon Berlin German TV series? Set in the late years of the Weimar Republic, Nazis in full ascension, Soviet spies all around, a police inspector just trying to do his honest job. Recommended.

'Babylon Berlin' was one of the best series I've watched on TV for ages Andrei. Incredible sets, great music (I have several of the soundtrack CDs  ). Also terrific performances by the two central characters (Liv Lisa Fries and the young male drug-addicted detective). It also conveys a great sense of looming catastrophe against the backdrop of the crumbling Weimar Republic. I can't wait for the next series.

[vandermolen]

Now reading this: