Oddly for me I don’t have masses to say this week because all in all I haven’t really read anything be it books or blogs in the right frame of mind what with everything that’s been going on. Which actually nicely leads me on to saying thank you all so much for your lovely comments again on Wednesday and emails etc since, it’s been really nice and very kind of you all.
I am doing a little better day by day and the latest Book Group was a huge help. I am still having some trouble reading, however I must admit (and this honestly isn’t a plug) that the next NTTVBG choice ‘Vanessa and Virginia’ by Susan Sellers has helped greatly and has been great as a reading deadline meaning I have to pick up and read and I have been happily getting lost in the book. More on that tomorrow though when we head over to Kirsty’s at Other Stories to discuss it in much more depth.
Now I am wondering what to read next? I know its going to need to be some for of escapism… I am struggling between choosing a guilty pleasure (actually I should say a guilt free pleasure really), something short so I can just see how I get on with or go for a book I have been meaning to read for ages and need to devour before I see the film in the next week or so. So which one do I pick to immerse myself in?
I shall leave you to help decide for me. What do you all go for book wise when you don’t quite have the urge to read for whatever reason? In fact I think I will hand the blog over to you all for the rest of the day and leave you with those questions and a few more. What Bookish Bits have you to report or point out to me and any other readers? Which book have you devoured that I simply need to? What books have tickled you bookish taste buds this week?
Savidge Reads 
I think Agatha Raisin might be just what you need now – a lovely, light piece of escapism. TGWTDT is a bit dark and hard to get into – you’ll need a bit of concentration for that one, so might be best left for a while.
I know nothing about the middle one. I lok forward to hearing all about it.
Agatha Raisin was very nearly the choice Jackie and then I ended up reading about a youn boy with cancer instead which I didnt even think I could read right now but I did.
I am giving TGWTBT a whirl now and so far its… well its ok I guess. I think I am going to get gripped but its not as instant as I thought it would be.
I haven’t read these books, so I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts on any of them:)
Hmmm well I think the first thoughts will be on TGWTDT though I have a feeling thoughts on the other two will follow fairly quickly after.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is supposed to be excellent, I also want to read it before I see the film.
If I’m trying to read as an escape from life but also struggling with the reading side of things, i go bck to an old fav, usually The Time Traveller’s Wife or Jane Eyre for me.
I have started TGWTDT and its ok, I thought I would be gripped instantly but am trying to be open minded and also have heard that it takes about 50+ pages for it to really get going. I have some long tube rides ahead so hopefully will get it underway properly later today.
I’ll vote for Magnus Mills. His novel The Scheme for Full Employment is funny on so many levels.
Mills and Agatha did battle it out, then another random book won over all of the three and now am reading TGWTDT so it all went a bit random and haywire.
Glad you’re feeling a little bit better, Simon.
If I need a pick-me-up when I can’t concentrate then I go for beloved Children’s literature or Terry Pratchett. I think you need something consuming that will be complete escapism and also a guilty pleasure … you need to put aside the above and go for either Eclipse or The Hunger Games. Trust me.
Eclispse and The Hunger Games have been getting slightly withering looks from me in the last week oddly with me telling myself I should ‘grow up’ and not read them. I am blaming rogue emotions on this new attitude!!!
Haven’t read any of these, but I vote The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, as I really want to try and read it before seeing the film as well.
Its the one I went for in the end.
I’ve been struggling a bit with what to read too, actually.. I’ve gotten several new books in the mail recently, plus books that have been given me as a gift.. But I was happy to see that one of the potential books to be read for you, was also one that recently arrived for me… The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.. a friend highly recommended it to me, and I got it for cheap from Alibris.com , so I’m wondering if we should both start that next?!
Well Danica I have started it, am not too long into it either should you be planning a read. I do think that once I get more into it and et past page 70 maybe there will be a sudden rush to the end though. You know when you can just get a sense?
I vote for the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; I’m 150 pages into it and it’s every bit as absorbing as everyone says.
Did you find the start a bit long winded am worrying it is just me?
When I’m feeling a bit listless reading-wise, I find Wodehouse to be a great reviver of spirits. I’m also a big non-fiction fan, so a new biography of someone particularly eccentric always helps.
I am yet to try Wodehouse mainly because I dont have the first in the Jeeves series and I do always feel with a series starting at the beginning is the only way forward. Thats just a me thing though.
I also vote for the Dragon Tattoo. I have not read it either and I think it would be good to do so before the film.
Maybe a few of us should all get involved in reading the book as it might be nice to email each other along the way?
I just started reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland with my five year old and he LOVES it. It’s fun for me too because it’s been years since I last read it. The language is so beautiful and fun that you immediately get lost in it. And it’s fun for me to try and read it like a Brit would (cadence-wise, not with an accent!) because the italicized words are definitely not the ones that are emphasized in an American cadence. I definitely love light, pleasure reads and I hope you pick the right one!
I read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland towards the end of last year and really enjoyed it, it makes absolutely no sense but then sometimes the best books dont.
I really *enjoyed Dragon Tattoo, but if you want guilt-free, I’d go with something else. When I’m in the non-reading read mode, I usually pick up a book of short stories or essays, maybe David Sedaris or Sarah Vowell.
*’Enjoy’ is not the right word for this book. It is heavy, deep, absorbing, and intense. I was petrified during parts of this book. The plot is thick and the characters intriguing. I haven’t picked up the next book because I don’t know if I can take another night of being scared in my cozy, secure home.
Its funny isnt it you can read a book and be reallyn hooked find it hard to put down and sometimes hard to read and yet you really liked or enjoyed it and yet those two words dont seem right for these sort of books. Maybe enthralled works?
I’ve been offline for a few days. I was sorry to read your news. If you are now looking for a bit of light comfort reading then, of the three titles you suggested, I have a very strong suspicion that the Agatha Raisin may have all the right ingredients. I’ve not read any of the series yet, but I know you and a number of other book bloggers hold them in great affection. As a fan of Sunday evening heart-warming television, I think I might try Hamish Macbeth first.
I didnt go for Agatha oddly, and I actually thought it was the most likely but then I didnt actually go for any of them and went off on a tangent. Am now reading the Larsson though.
I think Hamish would be great for you if you like Sunday night heartwarming television. I tried one once and wasnt quite as sold as I was on Agatha.
Girl with a Dragon Tattoo is every bit as good as you will have heard and a damn sight better than it’s rather shabby cover lets on.
I’d also highly recommend Thomas Trofimuk’s Waiting For Columbus. It’s a beautifully poignant novel about escapism and love.
I don’t mind the cover actually I have to say. I think it sort of sums up the book in a weird way. I don’t like the movie cover… but then I never like movie covers full stop.
For dry humor, go for Mills.
I can’t even buy this book on-line in the US.
Check out my blog for some bookish news!
I do like some dry humour. I popped over to your blog which news did you mean?
I totally agree with you about V&V – a fantastic book – looking forward to what others think of it. I think TGWTDT is a great book – and certainly one that gripped me in terms of my reading but the subject matter was not exactly uplifting so I would tend to steer clear of it for a while maybe??
V&V is wonderful isnt it Karen! I think have gone against the grain and read a book that shouldnt have been a great read for now and have started another, but then being gripped is key as is some escapism.
I vote for girl with the dragon tattoo for totally selfesh reasons, I have only just brought this one myself so would be interested in reading your review.
Hahahaha well I have started it Jessica so I will be posting about it in the not too distant future if I can just get past all this banking nonsense… oh sorry I mean scene setting.
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo!
I was also going to say:
I have just finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest. And am now sad as there are no more books in the series….
I think it will be interesting to see the change in my thoughts as currently if am honest cannot see me needing to read either of the other two… it could all change.
I’ve not read Agatha Raisin, but I’m guessing she’s a good, light read.
Magnus Mills is very funny… but he writes in an anorexic style and you either love it or hate it.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is heavy going… I read it zonks ago, but didn’t review it. I read it by a pool in Madeira, so I had plenty of time at my disposal but it took a long time to get going. Strangely, I do not remember anything of the storyline. I’ve not been in a mad rush to read the others in the trilogy.
What do you mean by an anorexic style? I havent heard that one before.
Have started TGWTDT and can see what you mean about the time to get going… I think its going to get there soon, well it better had frankly hahaha. I am open to being hooked though, I just dont care about banking and theres a lot of that guff going on at the moment!
Anorexic = slimmed down. The prose is very bare, with not one single word wasted.
Oh dear, I think I should logically have worked that one out hahaha.
Woo-hoo. Finally got my gravatar to work on your site! 😉
I definitley think a woo-hoo is called for there hee hee.
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Well, you really should read Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Once you pick it up you won’t put it down and then you’ll run right out to get book #2.
Hmmm we will see, I have to say I am not convinced as yet but lots of you lovely commmentors are saying its great so am sticking with it.
Well, I see by now that you’ve gone ahead and made your own choice (quite an admirable idea, and one I would make myself 🙂 but I did want to throw in my two cents about The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. In one word: disappointing! Certainly there were parts I like, but overall? Sigh…I’m looking forward to your thoughts as you’re reading it now. According to your sidebar.
Sometimes a random read just gets you and you cannot help but pick it up… or is that just me. I am holding off further comment until have finished the Larsson, I will say am wondering how this can be three books!!