What we like to read

     At the end of April I asked everyone who would to list their current reading, the book they'd most enjoyed so far this year and a book they were particularly keen to read. The aim was to try to identify our common reading ground - to see if we could establish something of a taste profile for the Cornflower Books readership - and we got a tremendous response.

    Of course, we all have genres, writers, periods and subject-matter of particular and individual interest and they may vary widely from the next person's, but there are considerable overlaps, too, areas where our 'reading circles' merge and are linked, much like petals coming together in the centre of a flower ( ... a cornflower, say!).

    On to hard fact, and I've had a look at all the comments again and given them a very unscientific and rough analysis, and here's what I discovered:

Concentrating on the most frequently mentioned books or writers, there was a very strong showing for Persephone Books with Dorothy Whipple getting two 'best so far'; E.F. Benson kept on cropping up, as did Dorothy L. Sayers, John Le Carré, Kate Atkinson, Maggie O'Farrell, Tracy Chevalier, Alan Bradley, Susan Hill, Joyce Dennys' (Henrietta vol. 1 and the much-anticipated vol. 2), The Guernsey ... (three 'bests') and Major Pettigrew's Last Stand.

Crossing to Safety, a recent Cornflower Book Group book, also got three 'best so far', while The Children's Book got four. The Booker-winning Wolf Hall dominated with nine appearances in total, tying for 'most looked forward to' (if you see what I mean) with David Mitchell's Thousand Autumns... and various Alexander McCall Smith books.

    As 'the centre of the flower', so to speak, this is pretty much what I'd have expected, but what's also great is just how many separate, diverging petals there are, and of what intense and beautiful hues, so that the readership which happens to find a meeting point of sorts on this site is not only well-read but striking. For my part, of what's listed here, I have yet to read Sayers, Le Carré, Atkinson and O'Farrell, but I hope to put that right before long. Meanwhile, I'm reading some Rose Tremain, the fascinating Music and Silence. What are you reading just now - anything of the above, or have you branched out?

Comments

[Dark Puss]

I suspect DP is rarely towards the "centre of the flower" and probably inhabits some of the darker undergrowth in the Cornflower Garden. Of the authors you explicitly list above only three have I actually read (Le Carre, McCall Smith and Sayers) and I've not read any of their books recently.

Reading just now? Data mining : concepts and techniques which is not a work of fiction, but the most recent book of fiction I have read, and very strongly recommended indeed, is the extraordinary and wonderful If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino. I gave an extract on Morgana's Cat speaks recently.

[LizF]

I have just read Beside The Sea which I think I will find hard to forget although it was not the most enjoyable read of the year. Currently I am almost at the end of Beautiful For Ever by Helen Rappaport which is a fascinating read about a Victorian beautician and con-woman and proves that there have always been the gullible and those who prey on them.
I was planning on reading the latest Donna Leon while on holiday in Venice, but since a combination of work committments and a very poorly cat have put a stop to that,I think that that and Tessa Kiros's gorgeous recipe book Venezia are the next in line.
I have also just got two Dorothy Whipple's from the library - not Persephone's but hardbacks that are older than I am - so they will get fitted in soon as I rarely take longer than a day to read a Leon.

[Claire]

Bring up the tail end and working on the principle "better late than never", My Cousin Rachel. Enjoying it, it's coming up to the the boil nicely. Will refer back to, and no doubt enjoy, your post and all the Cornflower Book Club comments.

[julie swidenbank]

What am I reading at the moment - well it can only be the latest choice from the Cornflower Book Group!

[adele geras]

Hurry, hurry, Cornflower, to read both Atkinson and O'Farrell...
And I'm in the midst of judging a prize alongside other judges in the USA and have just read a fabulous teenage novel in verse which is MUCH better than that description makes it sound! It's called TRUE BELIEVER by Virginia Euwer Wolff and it's the sequel to a book called MAKE LEMONADE. Terrific stuff. I've also just read LESSONS by Naomi Alderman and next in line on the TBR shelf, is David Mitchell. Can't wait.

[Nan]

My reading has been mostly about the criminal world lately, especially in Sweden and Iceland. I can't seem to get enough of Nordic crime these days. I'm reading a sweet cozy now called Design For Murder which involves an amateur sleuth who owns a mystery bookstore on an island off South Carolina. There is a lot of name-dropping of old mysteries and their detectives. Really delightful, but I'm champing at the bit to get back to Scandinavia!

[Dark Puss]

Dear Nan

I know what a tea cozy is, but can you tell me what you meant by sweet cozy please?

[Barbara MacLeod]

Being a one-book-at-a-time person, I am half way through the Book Group Choice for this month.

[Simon (Savidge Reads)]

Have to agree with Adele on the 'hurry hurry read Atkinson and O'Farrell now' advice as they are both wonderful wonderful writers.

Currently just finishing Peyton Place and starting The Clay Dreaming. Oh and still, yes still, have The Passage on the go!

[Fran]

Enjoyed last weekend of hot weather lounging in the garden re reading Katherine Mansfield short stories- something I have to do every year when the sun comes out and summer is really here. Now on a job in London so have Mrs Dalloway with me as a "topical" read. Enjoyed Isla Dewar[new to me] Secrets of a Family Album recently and The Northern Lights by Lucy Jago.I like to have this mix of old/new, non fiction and fiction...in other words whatever takes my fancy!

[Julie Fredericksen]

I just finished "The Weight of Silence" by Heather Gudenkauf, about two 7-year-old Souther (U.S.) girls who go missing for the length of a very long day.

I can't believe you haven't read Kate Atkinson yet, you being fellow Edinburghers (I'm sure I used the wrong title there!) Anyway, you remember me asking you about her after I discovered one of her mysteries in a thrift shop. A few days ago I found her "Behind the Scenes at the Museum" and am looking forward to it.

[Sarah]

I'm reading Villette by Charlotte Bronte at the moment, it's very dark but I'm enjoying it.

I'd second the reccomendation of Calvino's If on a winter's night a traveller, a delightful book!

[Lisa W]

I'm reading Provincial Daughter by R.M. Dashwood. It is very reminiscent of the domestic humour of her mother's Diary of a Provincial Lady. I was interested to learn that Dashwood lived in British Columbia. Next up is Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. I'm also looking forward to the publication of Henrietta Sees it Through.

[catharina]

Four of the authors mentioned I've read(Le Carre, Dennys, Hill and McCall Smith). At the moment reading Judith Allnatt A Mile of River (as The Poet's Wife was not available at my library) and Adam Foulds The Quickening Maze.

[Nan]

Dark Puss, I guess all I mean is that it is a coz(s)y mystery that doesn't have any graphic violence; has a nice sleuth with a nice boyfriend; has a great mystery bookstore; and a lovely locale where there are almost 300 growing days a year. I meant the adjective in opposition to the Scandinavian crime I've been reading which focuses more on the seedy, dark sides of life.

[Dark Puss]

Thank you!

[Sandy]

Sorry for late reply - I have been away on holiday with the caravan, so of course have some books to mention now! Thanks Cornflower & the rest of you here for the suggestions & comments which illuminated the choice. Here are the highlights ...

* David Mitchell - 'The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet'. This book turned out to be just a perfect read for me - of course the cover illustration was so reminiscent of Arthur Ransome that I was hooked before I opened it. Went straight into my shortlist for the (mythical) 'Sandy Prize' ;)

* So I promptly bought 'number9dream' by the same author. This was different! And a lot of fun.

* 'The Strange case of the Composer & his judge' by Patricia Dunker was another hit. The last half of the book did not have the force of the 1st half for me but it was a book I wont forget.