Welcome to this week's blog. Here's a roundup of your comments and photos from last week.

TreesAreGood shared:

Reading American Pastoral, the Philip Roth that won the Pulitzer. Realised I had never read him and thought I probably should (especially after his Man Booker International win a few years ago). It is incredibly well written, but I can't quite engage myself in it. There is a certain type of novel delving into the life of American male from the north-eastern corner that is a little grating, I think – such great writing and so little innovation. Some of the Pulitzer winners and finalists fit into this category too (The Corrections, even The Goldfinch).

Sara Richards followed the popular clamour for her next book to read in her "To Be Read" list, and here's her verdict on one of Gabriel García Márquez's most prominent novels:

I played the game here recently, naming five books on my TBR list and getting advice about where to start. The consensus was Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez. I have to admit to having read this novel a long long time ago and not really understanding most of it. This time through I loved it, and for anyone who has struggled with it, perhaps the time is not right yet. This book is a meditation on love, ageing, death and time. Márquez certainly takes the reader on a roller coaster ride through the protagonist Florentino Ariza's sexual adventures, and a moving account of how a marriage not founded on love might survive, which is the marriage of Florentino's true love Fermina Daza.

Love in old age is described with humour and tenderness and when the guy gets his girl late in both their lives Márquez writes with great insight and humour. In case I haven't made it clear, this book made me laugh out loud so many times. I am sure that a feminist reading of this novel would find a lot to object to, especially one part which would now be seen as sexual grooming. I read that, acknowledged my unease and read on, because the outcome of that particular adventure is shocking and moving. Yes the book is slow, yes, it repeats itself, but the setting, the characters and the denouement make this one of my best reads so far this year.

AggieH is completely hooked on Edward St. Aubin's Melrose series, which had been recommended by fellow TLS regulars:

Idly picked Never Mind out of my TBR pile where it’s been languishing for years. Been idling ever since - no work, housework, socialising, sleeping or showering until I’ve finished them all. Still waiting on At Last from the library, but so far am blown away by each one.

Remarkable series. Each one equally brilliant and surprisingly different. Caustic, sceptical, observant, moving yet clinically unsentimental. St. Aubyn does my favourite thing – tricks me into laughing loudly and inappropriately at terrible thoughts, words, deeds & characters.

Glozboy is "soldiering (or knight-erranting)" through Don Quixote, and his comment saying he has got further than his last two attempts and that he is enjoying it prompted a discussion about the best translations of Cervantes's classic.

lucslade lost a bet – but ended up winning all around:

jmschrei said:

Very cautious about needing just the right read while I am recovering from a breakdown, I thought I would give The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vasquez a chance and so far I have found that the writing has such a gripping intimacy and intensity that I can barely put it down. Although the narrator is intentionally capturing this memoir of a particular event in his past for his the reader, he could just as easily be sitting across the table in a dusty cafe or smoking bar and unfolding the tale to you face to face. Just wonderful.

As always, we really enjoyed a parallel conversation about books that act as "palate cleansers" – books perfect for moments in which, in the words of TimHannigan, "after being bogged down in work texts and finding your recent pleasure-reading material has been somehow stodgy, you need a little bowl of something clean and crisp and icy, and small enough to slurp down in one mouthful without ruining your appetite."

If you would like to share a photo of the book you are reading, or film your own book review, please do. Click the blue button on this page to share your video or image. I'll include some of your posts in next week's blog.

And, as always, if you have any suggestions for topics you'd like to see us covering beyond TLS, do let us know.