What's the last book you read?

[Sansa Spark]

I'm reading Sex with Shakespeare by Jillian Keenan and DAMN. It's a memoir about her sexual identity (masochist, spanking fetish) linked with her travels and her childhood, and of course her relationship with Shakespeare's plays. It's so weird and fascinating and uncomfortable at times, and I'm finding it riveting.

ETA: correct spelling of author's last name and also that this book was AMAZING

[Adam]

I love "weird" literary fiction ( here's looking at you, Geek Love...I can't believe that Dunn passed away, btw. I was so hoping for another novel from her at some point)

Anyway, I just started The first book of calamity leek by Paula Lichtarowisz. So far it's INCREDIBLE. I LIVE for these kinds of novels. Someone described it as a mash-up of Atwood and Roal Dahl. That was enough to gain my interest. Anyway, it's about 16 sisters who live with their aunt in a garden surrounded by a wall and what happens when one of the sisters attempts to see what's beyond the wall. So far it's reminding me of the excellent Greek movie "Dogtooth" by Yorgos Lanthimos. I can't recommend it enough to those of you that like completely original novels that make you so happy to live in someone's amazing imagination for awhile.

[.chris]

Mommie Dearest....While I don't doubt that Joan Crawford was an alcoholic and had a mood disorder, I found Christina Crawford's story to be pretty unbelievable. Her writing is terrible and she comes off as insufferable.

[take_offs]

I've just finished The Magicians trilogy by Lev Grossman. It's incredbile -- sharp-witted fantasy without all the tedious world building that plagues the genre, hilariously biting characters, and a dark twist on the popular kids-go-to-wizarding-school plot.

[Adam]

^ I so wish that it was as popular as Harry Potter. I would TOTALLY geek out on theme park installments/everything that comes with being a hugely popular series. However, I know it's too "adult" for that. But yeah. I'm obsessed. Have you seen the Scyfy show? I think it's amazing and am so sad that it hasn't gotten the audience it deserves. Hopefully it will be one of those shows that just builds its fan base slowly. I would love for it to go on and on. Did I mention I'm in love with the all of the guys? Quentin is sooo dreamy.

Sorry for sort of hijacking the thread to talk about tv but I had to. I just got a call from Nielsen and said yes just to throw in my support for The Magicians. Haha.

Has anyone read Franzen's latest, Purity? I'm trying to figure out what to read next and it's in my huge stack. I just have heard so many mixed-reviews that I'm having a hard time devoting myself to it. It's between that or Delillo's new one, Zero K.

[waitressboy]

I'm on the incredible journey of reading that trainwreck called 50 Shades of Grey. Jesus f*cking Christ, it's a total disaster. I've just read the first two books. It's amazing how BAD it can be. I've decided that I'm going to write a novel. If this woman could write this huge amount of smelly shit and didn't kill herself of shame, then I can do something without feeling too embarrased.
But, seriously, it's hilarious.

[Adam]

^ the writing is appalling enough, not to mention that it was originally Twilight fanfic! Ugh.

[Regina Phalange]

The Martian. I saw and loved the movie but I was worried maybe the book would be boring and not have the same tone or be bogged down too much in Crichton/Clancy-esque tech specs. I was mostly wrong (there are tech specs but they don't go on too long and they don't appear that often). It was really good, the rare book/movie combo where both are excellent in their own right.

[take_offs]

^ I so wish that it was as popular as Harry Potter. I would TOTALLY geek out on theme park installments/everything that comes with being a hugely popular series. However, I know it's too "adult" for that. But yeah. I'm obsessed. Have you seen the Scyfy show? I think it's amazing and am so sad that it hasn't gotten the audience it deserves. Hopefully it will be one of those shows that just builds its fan base slowly. I would love for it to go on and on. Did I mention I'm in love with the all of the guys? Quentin is sooo dreamy.

Sorry for sort of hijacking the thread to talk about tv but I had to. I just got a call from Nielsen and said yes just to throw in my support for The Magicians. Haha.

Yes, I agree it totally deserves the same popularity. And I did check the show out and I like it a lot. Quentin is so sulky and dreamy! I like that Julia is included from the beginning, because her story in the second book is perhaps my favorite part of the books. I work at a public library so I have been peddling this series to anyone with ears.

[wout]

I've just finished The Magicians trilogy by Lev Grossman. It's incredbile -- sharp-witted fantasy without all the tedious world building that plagues the genre, hilariously biting characters, and a dark twist on the popular kids-go-to-wizarding-school plot.

Sounds good, added to my list

In the same genre-ish, I just read Red Rising, part one of a trilogy.
It's VERY derivative; a mix of Hunger Games (scifi-society with opressed classes), Harry Potter (different houses, a contest), Battle Royal (fight fight fight) and dashes of Roman and Greek culture thrown in. But it was also a lot of fun!!!
The writing is okay, the main character interesting enough and there's plenty of spectacle to be had.
If you like the Distopian YA genre, it's well worth a read but almost every chapter will make you think of the other big series it's copying, so you'll have to forgive it for that if you want to enjoy it

[soignee]

I gave up on that series after the first book, IIRC. As Wout says, it has elements of everything I love but somehow didn't work for me

[The Markness]

I gave up on The Magicians. The worldbuilding was interesting but I didn't like the plotting or the characters.

[sleeptheclock]

I've been meaning to post that I finished A Little Life--and my tear ducts got more of a workout than they'd had in a while. What an incredible, emotional, and painful read.

Also--I don't think I've ever read a book where love between men (romantic love, friendship, "paternal" love) has been depicted so tenderly and movingly.

[plastic•husband]

I'm reading A Little Life right now. About 250 pages in. Incredibly emotional. I can't remember ever feeling such compassion for a character. So far one part in particular just destroyed me, and I have a feeling it's going to get much worse. *deep breath... keep reading...*

[Sansa Spark]

I'm reading Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, and I'm calling it right now: this will be one of my favorite books of the year. It spans seven generations, starting in 18th-century Africa, and covers slavery, family, love, race...all the Big Themes. Plus I heard the author got a seven-figure deal for it, so I can't help but be curious.

Next up is the other seven-figure book of the summer, The Girls by Emma Cline.