Any good reads?

[katflo]

I have just finished The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I really enjoyed it! It transports you to another world which is nice at the moment:)

[Dorabel]

Good luck, Wee Burd.  Les Mis is a great read.

[Michelle21]

That is very ambitious Wee Burd! X

[Wee Burd]

I have started reading Les Miserables - a full translation of the original novel. It's over 1300 pages. Been reading it for 2 weeks now and have barely scratched the surface! Now thinking it was a bit ambitious to attempt this under the influence of the chemo brain 😂

[Dorabel]

I’ve no science background but Rovelli writes for ordinary people like me.  The books you’ve bought will be there, all ready and waiting for when you want to read them.  I think the tiredness that comes with chemo is as much mental as physical.

I was looking back at the beginning of this thread and I agree about the uplifting cancer stories that are not as helpful as they might seem at first.  I read Siân Williams account and it was very well written but I did not find it useful because, at that stage, just after diagnosis, nothing was useful.

[Michelle21]

Dorabel, Quantum gravity, sounds very intellectual! Not sure my brain could cope with that at the best of times let alone now!! Also I must confess I’ve never read Jane Austin. I love reading because it’s so absorbing but although I started this thread I am finding it difficult to ‘get into’ a book at the moment. I just keep buying them and looking at them. x

[Dorabel]

Hi Michelle

I very rarely read a book more than once.  Most of what I read is mystery/detective stuff, which is diverting but once you know whodunnit (or whydunnit) that’s it.  A book I am reading for the third time is Carlo Rovelli’s Reality Is Not What You Think.  I can’t claim to understand everyhing he says about quantum gravity but his ideas fascinate me.  It’s my chemo/A&E book.  Other than that, I go back to Jane Austen again and again.  She is wickedly sharp!

Ive gone on a bit but I love reading.

[Michelle21]

Hi Dorabel, I’m impressed I never get to read a book twice I’m such a slow reader! X

[Dorabel]

Sorry this was posted twice.  Webpage told me a porky about failure, try again in a few moments ...

[Dorabel]

I’ve just finished Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout  loved it so much I’ll be reading it again in a while.

[Dorabel]

I’ve just finished Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout.  Loved it so much I’ll be reading it again in a while.

[Michelle21]

Just checked I can get both of those second hand so seems mad not to buy them! X

[Michelle21]

Very interesting Spange, I haven’t heard of either of those! I’m not sure what my husband will say when another Amazon delivery arrives, the books are stacked high on my bedside table! Thanks for the recommendations x

[Spange]

Hello all 🙂 I also loved Eleanor and Secret Life of Bees. Not heard of Cactus....will go check out.

I've just finished Any Human Heart, which I loved (felt v sad when I'd finished it!) And reading The Housekeeper and the Professor at the mo, which is also recommend. Is only a small book but beautiful....

[Michelle21]

Yes Eleanor Oliphant is brilliant isn’t it?! I’ve also read the Handmaids Tale and enjoyed that, as you say totally absorbing. I haven’t read the Keeper or Lost things, I’ll check it out. I’m reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society at the moment and enjoying it. I’m hoping to see the film next week.

[Wee Burd]

My first recommendation would have been Eleanor Oliphant! - what a fantastic book.  I've recently read The Keeper of Lost Things and The Handmaid's Tale - both very different but very absorbing. If you like John Le Carre, his most recent book - A Legacy of Spies - is very good, and worth re-reading The Spy Who Came in Fromw the Cold beforehand, as the new book looks back at those events.

[Michelle21]

I loved the secret life of Bees too, never read the cactus, will get it ordered! X

[Ali49]

I am a member of a book club. We are just reading Eleanor Oliphant and i am.loving it. I also loved The Secret Life of Bees and The Cactus xx

[Michelle21]

I’m not sure where my nearest library is! And I’m bit of a Luddite so insist on reading ‘a book’ rather than kindle! I know I need to mood with the times!
Thanks lovewine, I’m not normally a crime/thriller reader but I’ll have a look! X

[Lovewine]

P.s OH treated me to a kindle atthe start of treatment and although i didnt think i would like it as much as books i am definitely converted😊.

[Lovewine]

Hi Michelle, i started reading Mo Hayders books when i was going through chemo and got very absorbed in them , the first one is “ Birdman”, they are crime dramas, maybe not uplifting, but takes your mind off BC for a while!

Also CJ Aldridge series, starting with Eeny Meeny. Very good too!

[Gygi]

I'm using the library if they haven't got it I order it 65 pence. Too many books in my house already! May even try Kindle

[Michelle21]

Thanks Gigi, I’ll look that up now. Yes I had thought about the Woman in White. Amazon and general internet shopping are my new best friend since chemo, I’m spending a fortune! X

[Gygi]

Michelle I read Eleanor Oliphant after surgery and my surgeon had read it too. Have you read Wilkie Collins The Woman in White great classic and then you can watch on BBC currently being dramatized. I have loads of ideas for you but just seen a great post from the south bank centre with recommended reads that looks really interesting. Go to southbankcentre.co.uk it is called recommended reads. Don't know how to put the link on here. X

[Michelle21]

Thanks Christine, I wasn’t keen on the tv show either so maybe I should give the books a go! X

[Christine Rim]

Hi Michelle. I have been lent the series of Game Of Thrones to read and as the chemo sessions can be long i have really got into it. i watched the first series on dvd and wasn't keen but the books have so much more depth and background behind the characters. Would recommend it. 

[Michelle21]

Thanks Whytefawn, I’ll check those out. X

[WhyteFawn]

Hi Michelle. I love James Herbert and Philippa Gregory books. They can take me into a different world for hours x

[Michelle21]

Hello all

I find there is nothing like a good book to take you to a different world for a while. When I got diagnosed I did my usual and went straight in buying a couple of books about breast cancer (optimistic autobiography types). However I can’t bear to even look at the front covers let alone read them, it’s still too raw and not taking me to the different world I would like to be in right now!
I was wondering if anyone has read any uplifting books that they can recommend which don’t involve cancer!
The last book I read was Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. I absolutely loved it and highly recommend it.
Look forward to hearing any recommendations x