What are you reading right now ?

[MatthewNorman]

I tend to read one book for pleasure and one for education. I'm reading Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, which I found almost impenetrable for the first 15 pages or so, but I'm glad I stuck with it because it's slowly becoming one of my favourites. And Fiction Writing for Dummies is the other - nuts and bolts of novel crafting, very useful!

[D3R3ZZ3D]

I am currently reading Devil Among Us by Jack Winnick.

[Redlegs]

Next on the kindle is The Bright Forever by Lee Martin.

[Bertha Jackson]

Solstice Series by John J. Blenkush

[Mhanlon2]

I am currently reading the Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare

[Bridgette42]

I am reading The Record Keeper by Agnes Gomillion. Sci-fi/dystopian novel. I am loving it so far!

[SweetEchoJenn]

I am reading Worldlines by Adam Guest

[Redlegs]

Now starting Jack Maggs by Peter Carey, winner of the 1998 Miles Franklin Award.

[Bertha Jackson]

Currently reading After December by Kasie Whitener

[DavidB52]

"The Gulag Archipelago"
by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

This book won a Nobel prize.

It is about the author's time spent in a Soviet gulag and how pointless it all was, how a country of basically good people were slowly transformed into a dictatorship, how the law became corrupt and arbitrary, and people were treated as less than animals. So far, it is a very good read. Smartly written.

One section, in particular, really struck a note with me:

"There is a simple truth which one can learn only through suffering: in war not victories are blessed but defeats. Governments need victories and the people need defeats. Victory gives rise to the desire for more victories. But after a defeat it is freedom that men desire--and usually attain. A people needs defeat just as an individual needs suffering and misfortune: they compel the deepening of the inner life and generate a spiritual upsurge."

Being in a gulag for many years, with nothing to do but think and reflect, I think he made a deep realization and came upon some truths about basic humanity.

I am going through a low time in my life and this passage really hit a nerve. Lately, I have been doing a lot of reflecting on my own life and worrying about the future. I think he is right that when a person experiences a loss, or goes though some other suffering, it is painful, but causes an upwelling in spirituality--and growth.

I look forward to reading Volume 2 of this book.

He also wrote a book titled "Warning to the West" which I plan to read. As someone who has personally lived through the hell of communism, he warns the west of complacency.

[fancyjg]

Currently reading We Are The Voulhires a new arrival under the great skies by Matthew Tysz.
Very interesting book.

[Stavpiss]

The waif of the Cynthia by Jules Verne

[Dida Stergiou]

I am currently reading "The fault in our stars" by John Green.

[Swirliegirlie]

Hi there! Right now I’m reading “Diet for a New America” by John Robbins. John Robbins is the son of Irv Robbins, Co-Founder of the hot ice cream chain Baskin Robbins.

John gave up following his fathers foot steps and the typical American dream because he had a bigger dream he believed in more. John strives to share with America the troubling facts about our diets and the factory farming industry.

I’m over halfway and it has been a page turner! I’m learning so much and also fortifying my beliefs about what we put in our bodies for fuel. Highly recommend to everyone that eats lol!

[Rwill0988]

Just started reading A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder by James De Mille. It's been on my to read list for a looong time. So far it's pretty good.