Serena’s Comments (group member since Mar 06, 2014)

Serena’s comments from the That's What She Read Podcast Reading Group group.

If you had to pick three favorites off the top of your head, which would you pick? I realize it's a difficult question and depends on a variety of factors, but which non-fiction titles immediately came to mind?

The three I immediately thought of are Nine Hills to Nambonkaha by Sarah Erdman, The Natashas by Victor Malarek, and First in His Class by David Maraniss.

P.S. A new episode of TWSR is live, and I talk about one of my non-fiction reads!

I do read non-fiction, but it's definitely in fits and spurts. I tend to read one and then go on a mini binge. I'm also super picky about non-fiction. It's much harder for me to get into, so I need a good storyteller. As for categories, I'm all over the map. I've read a couple of business-y books lately but tend to lean more toward current affairs, sociology, and memoirs.

Stephanie -

1. I love all of the LOTR movies but admittedly haven't read the books.

2. OMG. I think I mentioned to Scarlet or Ravena the other day that she had to be almost a teenager. Other people's kids...making me feel older day after day ;-)

We're talking about fanfiction in our next podcast, and as I'm sure you can imagine, it brought out the opinions! In the name of research, I read a few hundred words of three different Gilmore Girls fanfic pieces and may be forever scarred (Hunger Games crossover?! Lorelai and Dean hooking up?!).

Have you ever read any fanfic? If so, what?

(Ravena, this question is so not directed at you ;-)

Stephanie, I love the "inner" dialogue going on in your response. Lol.

This is a tough one. I'm not sure there are any that I'm ready to declare that I'm tired of seeing because there is always the chance someone will surprise me. I'll have to think about it.

Amen, Stephanie!

Ravena and I are back to rambling about books this week. We talk dirigibles and vampire-fighting heroines, futuristic satire and phones known as memes, and honey badger shifters!

Listen here.

Featured books include:

We just finished recording a new podcast (live on Tuesday) and started plotting our next reads. I'm going to finish The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao and move onto Sleep Donation. What are you picking up next?

Ali wrote: "Well, I grew up reading romance novels (Scarlet can attest) and I solely chose books based on the covers. I wonder if the onslaught of e-readers has diminished the importance of a good book cover. ..."

Me, too (re "HAVE to see a book cover online"). My tendency to buy books based on the cover hasn't diminished since reading more e-books.

I can see both of your points on this. It's definitely about the term for me. Ali, you're definitely right about women having a problem with whatever term is used. Recently, I've seen "women's fiction" as a category. When offered as a selection on BookBub, I selected it but also felt a minor twinge of annoyance. We won't go into my own personality quirks that led to that annoyance.

Also, Ali, I laughed out loud after reading your first two sentences because it reminded me of a work-related email response I sent yesterday with an implied 'boo-ya' ;-)

We're talking book covers on the That's What She Read podcast today. What kind of cover attracts you to a book? Do you have any favorite covers?

I will definitely get riled up if the only criteria for a label and/or pink book is "female author"!

Stephanie wrote: "If 'chick lit' was used for the Sophie Kinsellas and Emily Giffins of the world so be it, but it seems to creep further and further into anything that that is written by a woman and has a woman in ..."

Personally, I find it a bit ridiculous that certain types of books chock full of female characters get labeled as "chick lit" when (recently) I've seen a few books by male authors featuring primarily male characters in similar scenarios labeled as "literature". I really enjoyed Shotgun Lovesongs, but let's be honest. If we're labeling books so haphazardly, this one clearly falls into the "dick lit" category?

Offensive? Maybe we should do away with these labels altogether?

I was definitely to the point of setting it aside, but I was caught without any other book in a waiting situation. A few additional pages hooked me. This last year was the first time I let myself not finish a book and move on.

How quickly do you judge a book? You'll hear me mention that I was disappointed in Cinder after only a few pages, but over the weekend, I read a bit further ahead and got caught up in the plot. It isn't one of my favorites, but my opinion definitely changed...to the point that I'll likely pick up the follow up.

Episode 13 of That's What She Read is live! A few of the books we're discussing have been added to the bookshelf. What are you currently reading?