What book are you currently reading?

[kitkatz]

The Third Gate  by Lincoln Child

An archeological dig in Egypt calls in an enigmalogist to see if a curse is real. (Fiction)

[galvo]

The Accursed - Joyce Carol Oates. 'A tale of psychological horror' set in Princeton in the early 1900s. It is the most amazing read, and far too complex to  summarise here. I spent all Sunday reading it and am thoroughly involved.

[CebuShan]

Fatal Cure by Robin Cook.

The Third Gate  by Lincoln Child

An archeological dig in Egypt calls in an enigmalogist to see if a curse is real. (Fiction)

I love Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child! I've read just about everything they have written together and separately!

[kitkatz]

Me too. They are great authors together and separately.  The Third Gate is a new book.

[galvo]

'Light of The World' by James Lee Burke. The Daily Express says it all about Burke' A fantastic novelist... so far above the prevailing standards of crime fiction that it is pointless to make the comparison'.The book, well, consider 'a web of evil and corruption, one of the most depraved serial killers who ever lived, set in a fragile American Eden, this mesmerising tale of good and evil is also a story about the earth itself. S0 good!!!!!!

[Simon Dog]

"Inside of a Dog" by Alexandra Horowitz.  And no, it is not an anatomy book.

[cassandra]

The weird sisters by Eleanor Brown, nice

[Sugarlump]

The man in the dialysis chair opposite me is reading Mandella's biography... I am impressed
Me? I am reading The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich (One for the money, two for the dough, three etc)
There is so much background noise from nurses slamming bin lids, machine alarms and gossiping nurses plus I often drift
off to sleep whilst i read ... I prefer light-hearted stuff! At least it makes me smile 
Escapism is a necessary tool to keep me in that chair for four hours!!!!

[MooseMom]

Me? I am reading The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich (One for the money, two for the dough, three etc)

I've really enjoyed those books, Sugarlump!

I've just finished reading The Silent Wife (If you liked Gone Girl, you probably will like this one, too), and I've started Burial Rites.  I read once I go to bed and end up staying up until 2:30 AM because I just can't put my book down.

[Sugarlump]

Thanks moosey 
Have ordered The Silent Wife on Amazon
Due in hospital next week for 6 days for angiogram so need decent reading material 

[cariad]

I am reading Evelyn Waugh. I finished A Handful of Dust (which I read as an adolescent but didn't remember a word of it) and have now started Vile Bodies. I find Waugh to be like Mark Twain or Kurt Vonnegut - excellent writing, often quite funny, but not all that challenging. It's what I need at the moment.

Sugar, you're going into hospital for 6 days?! Not fun. Hope it's painless and you manage to keep yourself entertained.

[cariad]

Has anyone read the book Wonder?

A friend of mine read it about six months ago and said it was amazing so I looked into it back then. He is not someone I would turn to for advice on the next literary masterpiece so I wasn't terribly surprised to find that it sounded like a pedestrian tear-jerker about a disfigured child.

Then today I asked Aidan what he was looking up on the Internet, and it seems his homework is to look up the syndrome that the protagonist  in Wonder has because they are reading it for English class. I told him I don't handle those sorts of things well so if he needed help he'd have to ask his father. I also got really annoyed. He's year 7 and mature enough to be reading classics. I think that in English class you should read books more for the quality of the writing than the story. I've read reviews of the book that said it was too simplistic. Oh, great! Aidan is rather a prolific reader, and he is also one kid that simply does not need to be taught that you need to be nice to everyone regardless of their appearance. Duh! This is a child who, at 4 years old, would shout 'Not funny!' at cartoon characters that were insulting one another, in other words hyper-vigilant when it comes to considering the feelings of others. I was reading The Pearl, A Christmas Carol, and The Hobbit at his age (because they were assigned!). I have a copy of Animal Farm - one of those perfect little novellas you'll remember for a lifetime - and have asked Aidan to please give it a go as soon as he's finished with Percy Jackson turns 40 or whatever the latest book in that series is called.

I asked Gwyn if he thought we should suggest Aidan read Slaughterhouse Five and he said no. He said there were images in it that Aidan was too young to handle, something about Jews on a train. I have no memory of this and obviously need to reread it.

[MooseMom]

Cariad, it might be really fun for you and Gwyn to put together a custom made reading list for Aidan.  Since his reading abilities are so advanced, how about an anthology of classic American short stories? The short story is a uniquely American genre (which is neither here nor there, I guess.  Are there any classic British short stories?), and it might give Aiden exposure to good literature that's not too lengthy.  Have you ever considered maybe introducing him to poetry?  Has he read any Edgar Allen Poe?  Boys usually like the creepy factor in his stories, and his poetry might interest Aidan.

[cariad]

Cariad, it might be really fun for you and Gwyn to put together a custom made reading list for Aidan.  Since his reading abilities are so advanced, how about an anthology of classic American short stories? The short story is a uniquely American genre (which is neither here nor there, I guess.  Are there any classic British short stories?), and it might give Aiden exposure to good literature that's not too lengthy.  Have you ever considered maybe introducing him to poetry?  Has he read any Edgar Allen Poe?  Boys usually like the creepy factor in his stories, and his poetry might interest Aidan.

Oh, first to clarify, I don't think his reading abilities are advanced. He is much like me at that age in that his vocabulary is not that impressive so he would struggle with works above his grade level. Socially, he's a genius. It's sort of the reverse situation with Dyl. Anyhow, to your suggestion, I think it is fun to suggest works for him to read. Gwyn, however, is not a reader and would be useless in this arena. Most of what Gwyn has read he's read because I've told him that these are important, beautiful (and yes, short) works.

I've never thought of the short story as uniquely American. I admit that I don't pay much attention to where a writer is from unless I really enjoy their work. The first short story I thought of was The Rocking-Horse Winner by D.H. Lawrence, which I was assigned at prep school, and I checked and he's British. Definitely a classic. Oh, and in reading the publisher's notes of Eveleyn Waugh's A Handful of Dust, he wrote two very different endings. The ending he wanted was a chapter entitled "The Man Who Loved Dickens" but because he had already published it as a short story, he couldn't reuse it for other purposes. Oscar Wilde and James Joyce are both Irish and both wrote short stories. Perhaps, like the short play, there is very little call for them so writers tend to avoid them. We did have the boys watch The Simpson's version of The Raven on Halloween, and of course they enjoyed that. I don't know a lot about poetry, let alone ones that kids could appreciate. Definitely an idea to look into, though.

On an unrelated note, I am delighted to be able to say that we have a costume for Dyl to wear for World Book Day! Yes, Britain has pulled another annual event out of their collective.... hat.... and all the parents have to come up with a fancy dress outfit that can be justifiable called literary. Dyl has agreed that he should go as Dwight from The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. If you don't know the story (and I don't but I was briefed this afternoon) Dwight is the weird kid at school who makes an origami Yoda finger puppet and will only speak through it. Dyl read me the list of the weirdest things this character has done at school, and one was wear a cape and insist on being called 'Captain Dwight' and the other was wear a t-shirt he acquired for free for a month. The t-shirt read "Biggie size your combo for only 39c" (cannot find the cents symbol). Between the cape, the shirt and the origami Yoda, he's going to have a silly costume that will be so fun to pull together, and also truly suits his extremely quirky sense of humour. Aidan and I have called it the role he was born to play. Dyl originally wanted to go as Dennis the Menace but I don't think that's really in the spirit of the day, and I imagine every other boy will beg their parents to let them have that outfit.

[Sugarlump]

Me? I am reading The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich (One for the money, two for the dough, three etc)

I've really enjoyed those books, Sugarlump!

I've just finished reading The Silent Wife (If you liked Gone Girl, you probably will like this one, too), and I've started Burial Rites.  I read once I go to bed and end up staying up until 2:30 AM because I just can't put my book down.

Moosey I just finished The Silent Wife really enjoyed it, thankd for the recommendation. I loved it's twists 

[Simon Dog]

I've just finished reading The Silent Wife

Oxymoron alert 

[MooseMom]

I'm reading a series of Swedish crime stories written by Liza Marklund.  Her main character is a journalist for a Swedish tabloid who always seems to find herself investigating murders.  Anyway, the weird thing is the English translations.  The first of the series that I read just felt odd, and then I realized it was because I just didn't think a woman would be using certain words.  Sure enough, the translator was Neil Smith, male and British.  It was rather offputting.

The story I'm reading now is called The Last Will.  Spoiler Alert!!!!!!!!!!   The assassin is an American woman, and here is where the translator really gets it wrong.  He has her using words like "lad" and has her using phrases that you'd never hear in America.  So you have this American woman sounding like a British bloke.  It's really bizarre.  But the stories are good.

Cariad, of course non-Americans write short stories, but the genre developed earlier in the young USA than in other parts of the English speaking world.  Some of our most well known novelists also wrote hauntingly beautiful and mystical short stories that didn't get much attention because of the popularity of their longer works.  I always look to see where an author is from so that I can make a special effort to try to learn about his/her culture and how it is infused in their stories.  And that is where sometimes a poor translation really sucks!

[cariad]

I read Origami Yoda (in about an hour). I actually laughed. Twice. I tried to describe it to my Aussie friend and she said "Sounds like Wonder" I rather abruptly answered with "I assure you it is nothing like Wonder." She was referring to the different narrators, but that's an old literary device. Faulkner used it to great effect in As I Lay Dying, but I certainly wouldn't think to compare that work with Origami Yoda!

Cariad, of course non-Americans write short stories, but the genre developed earlier in the young USA than in other parts of the English speaking world.

This doesn't address the question you asked, and which I tried in good faith to answer. You asked "Are there any classic British short stories" and my answer was 'yes'. I am not an expert on the short story and would not have been inclined to comment one way or the other were it not for the fact that you seemed to genuinely be wondering if these authors existed.

[MooseMom]

Yes, I did ask, cariad, and thanks so much for your reply!  Like you, I'd read The Rocking Horse Winner long ago and had completely forgotten it!  I'm glad you reminded me.  And I didn't know that James Joyce had written short stories.  I'll have to check them out.

I'll also have to check out Origami Yoda.  It sounds really funny and weird. 

[noahvale]

^

[MooseMom]

Ooooh noahvale, thanks for those recommendations!!  I think I'll search for some anthologies of Brit/Scot short stories.  Ah, the things you learn from fellow IHDers!  Thanks again!

[noahvale]

^

[MooseMom]

Noahvale, I knew I recognized the names of Elizabeth Gaskell and Mary Braddon!  My husband loves horror/ghost stories, and through the years I've bought him quite a few anthologies of these kinds of stories.  I'm pretty sure that these two authors had stories included, so thanks for telling me just that little bit more about them; your post rang some bells!

[cariad]

I always look to see where an author is from so that I can make a special effort to try to learn about his/her culture and how it is infused in their stories.

I think if their culture is important to the story, then it will be obvious. I don't think anyone has ever uttered the words "Wait, James Joyce was Irish??!!" I don't know - I can think of arguments for and against concentrating on where an author is from. At times it's meaningless. In my quest to read a work by every Nobel Laureate in literature, I am always very aware of where they are from, or at least where they are credited with being from. Quite a few of them lived in more than one country. I'm not sure how one would separate culture from style most of the time.

And I didn't know that James Joyce had written short stories.  I'll have to check them out.

Dubliners is his collection of short stories, we were assigned it as seniors at prep school, followed by Portrait of the Artist. You no doubt have heard of the final work in Dubliners, "The Dead". My father was famous within our family for hating that story so much, he wrote a satirical essay comparing the boredom of reading "The Dead" to the boredom of being in the class taught by the professor who assigned the essay. He was so proud of that essay he read it to all of us when I was about 10. (Weird, I think, that someone would keep a college paper that long?) The professor handed it back to him and said "I can't grade this".

Anyhow, when I was assigned "The Dead" at about 16 I remember bracing myself for the boredom, but I found I actually (with a bit of guilt) liked it, especially that last line with the snow "falling faintly and faintly falling" and it going "through the universe" to rest on "all the living and the dead". Then when my horrid English teacher helped us analyze it, I found I liked it even more. Two primary characters were named after archangels, Gabriel the messenger and Michael the warrior? (having no Biblical education this came as a huge surprise to me!) I wanted to scream "Shut-up, that is brilliant!" There was such a refreshing quiet to his short stories. I've read probably hundreds of short stories, most of them assigned, most of them forgettable in my opinion. I dislike they way that they come across as so gimmicky - that they have to be eerie, violent, sci-fi, depressing - that I feel dragged to an inevitable horrifying conclusion with characters that I haven't had time to build a relationship with, as it were. I was drawn to the less dramatic ones. There was one about a man falling in love with a girl in a lime-green dress at the A&P that I really liked. It spoke to me as a teenager because there was something shameful in his being fascinated with her, and that was easily relate-able to me, that it doesn't often make sense whom you fancy. I don't think anything in that tale dealt with torturing a child, experimenting on a developmentally disabled person, ritually stoning a neighbor to death, nor burying someone you obsessively hate under the floorboards. I found those exhausting.

I'll also have to check out Origami Yoda.  It sounds really funny and weird. 

It was a pleasant way to pass an hour. If you do acquire it, hope you enjoy!

[lainiepop]

Currently reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Ive seen the films but have never read the books, I am reading a chapter each night to my 6yr old boy before his bedtime. He is loving it and so am i, although he is asking to watch the films and i am unsure tbh maybe the first one but even that is dark in places. Hubby has read the books and said they get significantly more detailed and darker too so i will have to be careful!