From the Bookshelf of EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club…

Circe

Madeline Miller

Start date: May 1, 2022

Finish date: May 31, 2022

Discussion: MODERN / POPULAR READS

Why we're reading this: May 2022 - Bookshelf Catch-up Selection
Group pick for May '20 - Catchup
Group pick for June ‘19 - Modern C…more
[close] May 2022 - Bookshelf Catch-up Selection
Group pick for May '20 - Catchup
Group pick for June ‘19 - Modern Classics/Popular

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 226 topics — 6,095 comments total

MODERN / POPULAR READS

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - *SPOILERS*
By spoko · 8 posts · 51 views

last updated Aug 26, 2025 11:57AM

The Alchemist — *SPOILERS*
By Joanna Loves … · 105 posts · 512 views

last updated Aug 25, 2025 02:19PM

showing 10 of 42 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Mar 13, 2020 Montse rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, audiobook, favorites

WOW...

Me encantó! Me encanta que aparezcan tantos personajes conocidos de la mitología! Me hace sentir la historia muy cerquita de mi. Personalmente no conocía la historia de Circe, por lo que no sabía que iba a pasar pero en definitiva no decepciona. Amo la evolución y madurez que va obteniendo a través de su vida, los cambios en su historia, la cercanía con los dioses y su curiosidad por los humanos. Se me hizo muy fácil identificarme con ella, es bastante “humana” con sus cualidades y errores ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jul 07, 2018 Joe Sims4 rated it really liked it

Madeline Miller is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. While Circe can drag at times and I found myself wanting to shake the protagonist to end her incessant apathy in the first part of the novel, I breezed through the novel and was entertained throughout. You will not fall in love with Circe the way you do with Patroclus and Achilles in Song of Achilles, but she’s worthy of spending time with. Lots of other Greek characters end up on her island and that is part of the fun- because whil ...more

Like · see review

Mar 28, 2019 Jayesh Naithani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Men are pigs

The story of Circe, the Greek goddess of magic, told from the perspective of Circe. One of the things the Circe can do very well is to transform her enemies into animals. In Homer's Odyssey, Circe transforms Odysseus' crew into pigs. Why? Oh, because they deserved it.

Most of Circe's (pronounced: KIR-kee or SUR-see, the former is the Greek way but also sometimes pronounced as the later) fame is from a short encounter in Homer's Odyssey, but this book is a more detailed, perhaps a more ...more

Like · see review

Aug 04, 2019 Summer rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club, kindle, 2019, fake-book-club-selections

For me, this book was stuck in that void of not enough of anything: not enough of a serious memoir, not enough of an over the top drama, not enough of a fantastical tale. My book club agreed that it dragged in the middle and that we'd liked to have heard more about Circe herself and less about the people around her. We appreciated the feminist slant, but for all of us it fell a little short. I'm glad I read it; book clubs are great for expanding my horizons, but I don't think I'll revisit this a ...more

Like · see review

Feb 11, 2022 Caitlin added it · review of another edition

Shelves: considering-rereading

Before I started this, I tried to look up whether you should read The Odyssey first, and the answer was no.

I disagree.

The cast of characters is just too complex without knowing the underlying story (in my opinion).

I think I will need to re-read this before I give it a rating. Right now, I'm not really understanding the hype, but perhaps it will be better on the second go-around. ...more

Like · see review