Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann
I've read it before in an earlier translation but this one by John Woods has been well received so I thought I'd give it another spin since I love both Thomas Mann and the Faust mythology. So far, not very far, the prose has been brilliantly lucid and involving and I've been quite caught up in the rarefied heights of Mann's exegesis. At times it's a challenging read but I would say some of the most challenging passages are the most rewarding. If you've any interest in music, philosophy and theology, I'm sure you'll find this a stimulating read.
I finished Catching Fire yesterday, the last of The Hunger Games books. I did not expect it to end the way it did but I thought the entire series was a great read.
I am now starting The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Its come highly recommended to me so I should enjoy this one.
About halfway through Susan Hill's 'The woman in black'. Plenty of creepy atmosphere about it, which has been building gradually and expertly over the first 90ish pages.
Will be interested to see the recent Hammer film of this (though more interested to see the older adaptation) for comparison. Have seen it at the theatre and that will be hard to beat.
Well I finished 'Fifth Avenue' by Christopher Smith, which was an Amazon freebie, and did find it quite a good read, with a decent plot, perhaps a bit far fetched, but it is fiction, and a bit clichéd, but generally okay.
But halfway through there was a fairly graphic description of a sex scene, which I found totally unnecessary, and it did spoil it for me. I'm not a prude by any means, but it just seemed so out of place, as there had been other situations where people got it on, which didn't go into detail, so why the author felt the need to describe this one in detail (again, very clichéd too) I can't understand.
I had a look on Amazon for the sequel, and would gladly have read it, but it was £2.99, and it didn't make me want to spend that much, so I guess that about sums it up.
After thet I read 'rage', by Stephen King (writing as Richard Bachman), and consumed it in about a day and a half. Interesting, thought provoking read.
Now I've just started 'Hostile Witness' by Rebecca Forster, which is described as a legal thriller, and was a (yet another) free book from Amazon.
The second Tess Geristson Rizzolli & Isles book, The Apprentice.
I'm still on a Storm of Swords. Only get through a chapter or two a day, but I have to say, George R. R. Martin is not afraid to break convention with a number of the main characters at times. I've had a couple of moments across the second and third book where I've "not seen it coming" and been quite shocked in terms of the story!
How far are you into that book? IMHO thats the best one out of the lot!
I'm about 55% Spoiler: . Just finished the Arya chapter after that, while sitting in the bog at work data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7Where Edmure has just been married and Robb has been a little bit double-crossed
Just finished Dean Koontz The Vision, nothing impressive, you would have to be totally dumb not to realise who the killer was after just a few chapters. Next up is a bit of pulp horror - Richards Laymons All Hallow's Eve.
The problem i found from about this point in the book on, was putting the bloody thing down.