My reading corner

I read in the bath but I could happily read there, Mel.To be fair, I could probably read anywhere - it's what I do when I'm not gardening!

I can identify with most of that, Tuesdaybear, but I have never managed to read comfortably in the bath.

Lovely area Mel.....

Thanks, Moti :-)

what a lovely spot for a good book and a nice long cold drink, lovely :O)

Yes - it gets the sun in the afternoon and evening - just right!

Perfect :o)

Thanks, Hywel - you're quite right :-))

Just out of interest, what are you reading at the moment?

"Writing Home" by Alan Bennett, but not for the first time.
I read a lot of biography and autobiography. I've just finished Alec Guinness's "My Name Escapes Me", but agian, not for the first time.

What are you reading now? ;-)

Me, or Mel, depending whose comment came up first? I'm reaching the climax of a strange but compelling novel by Andre Dubus - The House of Sand and Fog. It's one of those reads where you're not sure whether you like it or not, but it is thought-provoking. And you, Kat?

Looks like a great place to sit and do puzzles. That's what I do rather than read books!:)

Tuesdaybear@Hi, I was thinking of Melchi, what is she reading in that nice corner ;-)
Well, I had a brief look at what you read and I must say - you has chosen a difficult one. I cannot read so complicated stories, full of deprivation, frustration and economic stress od heroes, especially during my holiday, lol. I have a beautiful pile of books since last X-mas to read, lol. But I never had time. Now I have in front of me "Who built the Moon" from Christopher Knight and Alan Butler. And I wish to start reading a book/manual "How to get rid of neck pains" from prof. Ingo Frobose. That´s it.....:-)

Well, Kat - I'm still reading Alan Bennett!

Oooh, I love a book chat! Mel . . . I like autobiographies and memoirs too, and particularly enjoy anything about the "literati" in Paris in the 1930s around the time when Sylvia Beach ran "Shakespeare & Company" in Paris, befriending James Joyce, Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald among others. Last year I loved "The Paris Wife" by Paula Maclean, written as though by Hadley, Hemingway's first wife: wonderful!

I like the sound of that, Sheila; love Paris and am a massive francophile. I might see if it's on Amazon, as I'm going to order The House of Sand and Fog on DVD as I finished it this afternoon and while I was reading it, I kept thinking that it might make a better film than book, not realising that it had been made into a film! Went on Amazon to see what others thought of it and discovered the DVD.
Who built the Moon? is an intriguing title - am going to see what that's about now. Hoping 'How to get rid of neck pains' doesn't mean that you're a sufferer, Kat, but suspect that it might.

I have read all Scott Fitzgerald's novels and short stories, Sheila, and all his published letters, too. Fascinating!

Oooh, Susanne, letters certainly are fascinating - and diaries! I was briefly a member of the London Library a couple of years ago, and looked for Mark Twain on the shelves. There were at least 5 large volumes of his personal stuff!

Have you read the letters of Arthur Conan Doyle, Sheila? They are very interesting - when he first became a doctor, he was in the south of England, sending money home to his mother in Scotland. Then he had his younger brother to live with him. All totally absorbing, and such an insight. I also enjoyed Cecil B. de Mille's biog. and Lilian Gish's autobiog. And I love Dirk Bogarde's books, especially when cross-referenced with the biography - quite a different take!! There is also a book of his letters.

I love Dirk Bogarde - so handsome and charming. Would have loved to live in that era. Cary Grant's another favourite and I read his biography many moons ago. Then there's Roger Moore and Dustin Hoffmann and Gerard Depardieu... getting carried away now!! I haven't read a bio- or autobiography in a while but used to read loads.

I enjoy Bogarde's books - not sure I would have liked him personally. It's certainly fascinating stuff, though, and the way he describes his life in France is very absorbing. I first came across it in one of those little 60p paperbacks Penguin published in their 60th year. I was instantly hooked. I enjoy a well-researched and (relatively) unsensational biography. I love reading Alan Bennett - some of it is so wry.

Yes, I love Alan Bennett too. Some of his TV monologues with Thora Hird were just superb.

No Mel, I haven't read the letters of Arthur Conan Doyle, but have thought of reading Julian Barnes' "Arthur and George" book about him. Yes, ages ago I read the book of Dirk Bogarde's letters-to-a-friend, but seem to remember it was without the replies?! I enjoyed his autobiogs much more than his novels, especially about his farmhouse in Provence (I'm a hopeless Francophile).

Did you enjoy Alan Bennett's brilliant book about the Queen discovering libraries ("The Uncommon Reader") sorry, not sure if that's the correct title? And recently I read an excellent biography of Robert Louis Stevenson: fascinating.

Oh yes, Sheila - I thought that Bennett book was priceless! I hope HM enjoyed it!

I loved the Talking Heads, Tuesdaybear. My daughter had to study them for GCSE, and I am sorry to say that still seems to be the kiss of death far too often. I could never read Trollope after being force-fed "The Warden", and I only realised how ironic Jane Austen is when I was more mature.

That was it, Talking Heads!! I know just what you mean about the GCSE kiss of death. How I hated The Mayor of Casterbridge at 15, only to rediscover and thoroughly enjoy it many years later. Same with JA. I was given Pride and Prejudice for Christmas, aged about 13, and couldn't get along with it at all. I have since read the book about 5 times and am a complete Austenophile, tho' that remains my favourite.

Yes, so right, Tuesdaybear. So many good books presented at the wrong time!

Can I get a library card, Melchisdec? ;-)
I was reading 'The Invisible Man' by H.G. Wells, but it seems to have disappeared.
Oh stop groaning, you lot! Lol

Mouldy ..... ! Reminds me of when OH tried to buy some nylon thread, calling it "invisible thread". "I know we've got some", said the shopkeeper, "but I can't see it anywhere..."

I read what I feel like, and I love re-reading books. Some I love just for the actual reading of them (if you see what I mean) I love the Strangers and Brothers books of CP Snow, but I have heard them described as "turgid" by someone whose opinion I really respect. I still enjoy them! At the opposite end of the scale, I love Nevil Shute, but he's very unfashionable now. Wonderful stories, though.

Mouldy, you have same sense of humour as my OH!!
Mel, I have never read any Nevil Shute tho' I remember my Grandpa had his books; fashionable is irrelevant to me. As you say, I read what I like and have pretty eclectic taste.

Shute is good, Tuesdaybear - many of his have a touch of the mystic about them. They really are fantastic stories though - "Beyond the Black Stump" I highly recommend, and of course "A Town Like Alice" - especially the second part, which I loved , and which was completely left out of the film (though there was quite a good TV adaptation in the early 80s). I also like Hammond Innes - again rather dated now, but good stories. "Golden Soak" is good. I was very keen on the idea of emigrating to Australia when I was young, and loved books about the outback. But then, of course, I met OH...

Quite, Mel. I was going to marry Prince Charming or, at the very least, live in a castle/ Rebecca style mansion; something with, at the very least, a West Wing. Still dreaming...suppose that's why I love reading.

Lol! Isn't it wonderful - young and the whole world waiting! I wouldn't change a thing, though - and we can still read books...

Three bookcases absolutely crammed with my faves, which have all been re-read countless times.
If it ain't no good it goes straight to the charity shop.
They have to be something I want to read again & again.
I guess we're all in agreement.

Indeed!