JulesB Posted December 15, 2007 Report Share Posted December 15, 2007 Anyone here an Anita Shreve fan - beatifully written, unusual stories. I also love Margararet Attwood and have read "The Handmaid's tale" and "The Blind Assassin" over and over again..... However, I'm not reading anything at the moment. It's a great sadness for me that one of my symptoms of depression is loss of interest in readingand lack of concentration so that I find it difficult to follow plots and storylines. I like Anita Shreve, I find her style very thoughtful. I'm sorry you can't read much at the minute. Can you concentrate on short stories rather than long plots? I got an Annie Proulx (she wrote Brokeback Mountain and The Shipping News) book of short stories from ebay, I'd be happy to send it on to you if you PM me your address Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spins4me Posted December 16, 2007 Report Share Posted December 16, 2007 I like Anita Shreve, I find her style very thoughtful. I'm sorry you can't read much at the minute. Can you concentrate on short stories rather than long plots? I got an Annie Proulx (she wrote Brokeback Mountain and The Shipping News) book of short stories from ebay, I'd be happy to send it on to you if you PM me your address JulesB - that is so kind. Thank you I've PM'd you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alison Posted December 16, 2007 Report Share Posted December 16, 2007 Anyone here an Anita Shreve fan - beatifully written, unusual stories. I also love Margararet Attwood and have read "The Handmaid's tale" and "The Blind Assassin" over and over again..... However, I'm not reading anything at the moment. It's a great sadness for me that one of my symptoms of depression is loss of interest in readingand lack of concentration so that I find it difficult to follow plots and storylines. So sorry to hear that you're depressed and hope you feel better soon Until that time comes, I can recommend Lady Oracle if you like Margaret Atwood. It's a light easy read and the main protagonist might be someone you could identify with at the moment. Click on the linky and scroll down for a synopsis and you'll see what I mean (not suggesting for a moment that you have a multiple personality disorder btw, it's just that I very much got a sense of her being depressed yet overcoming it when I read the book). I like Anita Shreve, I find her style very thoughtful. I'm sorry you can't read much at the minute. Can you concentrate on short stories rather than long plots? I got an Annie Proulx (she wrote Brokeback Mountain and The Shipping News) I can thoroughly recommend The Shipping News too. As for short stories, James Herriott's Dog Stories - ISBN 0-330-32632-5 - is a fantastic book for dipping in and out of if your concentration isn't good. Excerpt from one of the stories: "Pandemonium broke out in the graceful room. The hostess’s plaintive appeals rang out above the cries of alarm as the big dog charged around, but very soon I realised that a more insidious element had crept into the situation. The atmosphere in the room became rapidly charged with an unmistakable effluvium and it was clear that Cedric’s unfortunate malady had reasserted itself. I did my best to shepherd the animal out of the room but he didn’t seem to know the meaning of obidience and I chased him in vain. And as the embarrassing moments ticked away I began to realise for the first time the enormity of the problem which confronted Mrs Rumney. Most dogs break wind occasionally but Cedric was different: he did it all the time. And while his silent emanations were perhaps more treacherous, there was no doubt that the audible ones were painfully distressing in company like this†Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laura g Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 I love James Herriot. Another good 'dippy in' writer is Bill Bryson. More short story recommendations: HE Bates. AS Byatt. Talking of Bates - horrible, cold, rotten time of the year. So I'm re reading all the Larkin books. Darling Bigs of May etc. My christmas present from the kids this year is the two Kelley Armstrong books I've yet to read. Haunted and No Humans Involved. Gave in and read Haunted. OH has locked other away from me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spins4me Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Thank you for the short story suggestions. Thnk I'll try something well loved and familiar to start with and hope it gets me reading again and I have some new short stories on their way to try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alison Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Thank you for the short story suggestions. Thnk I'll try something well loved and familiar to start with and hope it gets me reading again and I have some new short stories on their way to try. Daphne du Maurier "Don't Look Now" - I return to this time and again when I'm looking for a light easy read. A tome of short, gripping and intriguing tales. Click here and scroll down to the "Customer Reviews" section for more info on the stories to see whether you might like it. Happy to send you my copy if you PM me your address, Spins, ditto the James Herriot I've got a couple of short story books by Gerald Durrell which are a scream (plus a couple that are as dull as ditchwater ); I can't recall the titles now but will post them here when I find them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elricc Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 Mark Valentine; Masques and Citadels. Tales of the Connoseuir, a private detective set in 1890. Francis Brett Young; Cold Harbour, supernatural novel set in warwickshire from 1920's The second volume of strange tales from Tartarus Press,just released The Thames, Peter Ackroyd, companion volume to London the biography. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alison Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 The Thames, Peter Ackroyd, companion volume to London the biography. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spins4me Posted December 17, 2007 Report Share Posted December 17, 2007 (edited) Daphne du Maurier "Don't Look Now" - I return to this time and again when I'm looking for a light easy read. A tome of short, gripping and intriguing tales. Click here and scroll down to the "Customer Reviews" section for more info on the stories to see whether you might like it. Happy to send you my copy if you PM me your address, Spins, ditto the James Herriot I've got a couple of short story books by Gerald Durrell which are a scream (plus a couple that are as dull as ditchwater ); I can't recall the titles now but will post them here when I find them. Thanks, Alison. I'l PM you. I've been touched by Fugees' kindness in offering me books to get me reading again - thank you so much. Edited December 17, 2007 by Spins4me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonniebird Posted December 18, 2007 Report Share Posted December 18, 2007 WICKED by Jilly Cooper. Loving it. Very "jolly hockey sticks" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzycharm Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 Just finished 'Book of the Dead' by Patricia Cornwell - thought it was rather good. Am going back to the book I started before the Patricia one (was from the library so had to read it straight away), the book is the first one in the Alex Delaware stories by Jonathan Kellerman. I'd read the odd one before and really liked them, so decided to start at the beginning as it were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zico's mum Posted December 20, 2007 Report Share Posted December 20, 2007 Just booked out Cranford,Elizabeth Gaskell,after enjoying the BBC series enormously,can't remember if I've read it before so hopefully a treat is in store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alison Posted January 18, 2008 Report Share Posted January 18, 2008 (edited) Spins4me - I've got books to send to you but have lost your address. Can you PM me again? Sorry. Finished reading Red Dog by Louis De Bernieres (author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin but don't let that put you off!) a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was brilliant, a book with universal appeal that would be enjoyed by children and adults alike. I lent it to several friends who loved it too. Currently reading Babycham Night, autobiography of Philip Norman which I'm finding compelling and very evocative of life in the '50s - not that I remember the '50s of course Edited for spelling - as usual Edited January 18, 2008 by Alison Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spins4me Posted January 18, 2008 Report Share Posted January 18, 2008 (edited) Spins4me - I've got books to send to you but have lost your address. Can you PM me again? Sorry. Edited for spelling - as usual Have PM'd you. This is very kind of you. Thank you very much. Edited January 18, 2008 by Spins4me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spins4me Posted January 18, 2008 Report Share Posted January 18, 2008 Alison - your inbox is full so you won't receive my PM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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