What are you currently reading?

[Natasha]

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz.

[[deleted user]]

I just got Vox and read 100 pages in one sitting. It is really good. Would make a good book to add to our every-growing reading list.

[El]

Coral wrote: "I just got Vox and read 100 pages in one sitting. It is really good. Would make a good book to add to our every-growing reading list."

That looks interesting. I signed up for the Goodreads giveaway. Thanks for mentioning it.

[El]

I'm currently reading South and West: From a Notebook by Joan Didion. I like Joan Didion, I like reading travel memoirs, but this one isn't working that well for me. It's not so much a travel memoir as it is, as the subtitle indicates, notes from the notebook she kept during her trip of the American Southwest. What I find most fun is seeing what Didion found interesting during her trips. Everyone has a unique perspective, so it's neat to me to see what catches someone else's attention in new environments.

[Natasha]

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. 22% through. Arranged marriage in Afghanistan, written from the perspective of the 15-year-old wife of an angry middle-aged man. Rousing stuff. ...

[Lilli]

I am reading the following: Me Being Me is Exactly as Insane as You Being You by Todd Hasak-Lowy, The Night Circus by Emma Morgenstern, and Missoula by Jon Krakauer.

[Natasha]

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami.

[Zachary]

Currently working on some school work, reading Eavan Boland's poetry. Included in this weeks assignment we are reading an interview done with Boland, and came across a very interesting quote that I would put it to the group for consideration.

Boland: "I’m a feminist. I’m not a feminist poet. I’ve said somewhere else that I think feminism has real power and authority as an ethic, but none at all as an aesthetic."

Also can't recommend Boland's poetry enough.

[Shomeret]

I recently read The Suffragette Scandal by Courtney Milan which is a historical romance about a feminist newspaper editor and investigative reporter in Victorian England. I really recommend it.

[[deleted user]]

Another ARC from Penguin House, Social Creature, another awesome read. This is the 2nd one and it's really good. I'm hoping to get a third one (The Intermission) in a couple of weeks.

[Natasha]

I'm on a 1000+ page mission. I signed up to read BOOK 1 of 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. However, book 1 left me hanging completely. Looks like I'm going to have to read all three books. Bladdy good story though. Utterly bonkers.

[Shomeret]

I loved The Little Book of Feminist Saints by Julia Pierpont. It's based on the Catholic Saints Calendar except that Pierpont's matron saints are all feminists. She gives them all feast days and provides stories from their lives.

[Natasha]

American Gods by Neil Gaiman. 11% in and it is bonkers.

[CD]

Love and Ruin is the current new book on my shelf. Once again a book by an author that knows how to write.

[Lynn]

Unscrewed: Women, Sex, Power, and How to Stop Letting the System Screw Us All by Jaclyn Friedman.

[Barbara]

Love in Ruins by Paula McLain. Just finished An American Marriage by Kyla Jones

[Natasha]

Chariots of The Gods? by Erich von Däniken. A pleasingly crazy read re. about how the gods of the distant past were interplanetary travellers. Written in 1968, though, so the casual sexism is pretty jarring.

[El]

Natasha (Diarist) wrote: "Chariots of The Gods? by Erich von Däniken. A pleasingly crazy read re. about how the gods of the distant past were interplanetary travellers. Written in 1968, though, so the casual se..."

I actually have wanted to read that for a while. Bummer about the sexism though.

[Natasha]

El wrote: "I actually have wanted to read that for a while. Bummer about the sexism though."

It amazes me that those writing about advanced peoples and distant futures can't even see beyond current gender roles and hierarchies.

[[deleted user]]

Loved Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman. I listened to it but ended up getting the ebook so I could read again and highlight passages.

Reading Grind and it is excellent. Excellent writing, excellent story. Multiple characters and story lines all woven together. Plus well-rounded male and female characters exploring love, lust, sex, marriage, dating, relationships.

Reading Purity and not sure what to make of it yet since I just started...

[Angie]

I just started reading Kristin J. Sollee's Witches, Sluts, Feminists: Conjuring the Sex Positive. I know I'm late to the party, as it's been gathering dust on my bookshelf for what feels like forever, but I'm excited. I love the whole concept of the book!

[Natasha]

The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple by Jeff Guinn, a non-fiction story of the cult leader. Quite gripping.

[Angie]

I'm going to be starting Starless by Jacqueline Carey and I am. so. excited! She builds such wonderfully complex characters and worlds. I'm super stoked.

[Natasha]

Infinite Love is the Only Truth: Everything Else is Illusion by David Icke.

[El]

Natasha (Diarist) wrote: "Infinite Love is the Only Truth: Everything Else is Illusion by David Icke."

Nice, is that the Lizard People guy?

[Natasha]

El wrote: "Nice, is that the Lizard People guy?"

I believe that's what he's most remembered for, El. Although he does do a good line in explaining how the moon is a hollowed out spy centre.

[elle jay]

Just picked up 'The Radium Girls' after seeing it in this thread! But finishing 'Ain't I a Woman' by bell hooks before starting anything else.

Finished 'The Beauty Myth' this week after it being on my tbr pile for ages. Hard to read because it hits close to the bone - also because I'm not sure much has changed since it was written, which is infuriating/depressing. Really glad I read it though, the last chapter especially was helpful in thinking through what needs to change/I need to change.

[El]

I'm currently reading a couple oldies-but-goodies: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson and Against Interpretation and Other Essays by Susan Sontag. I have loved things I've read by both of them previously, but this is the first time I'm reading these particular titles. (Though I have long thought I read this particular Jackson - apparently that was a false memory!)

[Swedx]

I'm currently reading Hunger by Roxane Gay and The Good Immigrant edited by Nikesh Shukla. Both books are absolutely fantastic.

[Shomeret]

I'm currently reading The Lost Pilots: The Spectacular Rise and Scandalous Fall of Aviation's Golden Couple for the female pilot, Jessie Miller and for the women's aviation history. For example, when Jessie flew in the Women's Air Derby, they had speed limitations. Women weren't allowed to fly in planes that were considered too fast for a woman. I thought this was the aviation equivalent of footbinding. This non-fiction book deals with the 1920's and '30s.

[Pavani]

HEY GUYS!
I am Pavani and I just joined this group. The F-word what an unique and interesting name for a group. I’m a recently turned published author and am looking forward to make my book one of the most reads in the world. It’s a new concept. A different one. I hope I can get it here on goodreads for ratings soon. Cheers!

[Aspasia]

I just finished The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and I'm currently reading Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade.

[Lynn]

Welcome, Pavani!

[Natasha]

The Extra Ordinary Life of Frank Derrick, Age 81 by J.B. Morrison. This is laugh-out-loud stuff.

Dietland by Sarai Walker. Just started this one.

[Lynn]

Dietland is now a miniseries on the AMC channel.

[Natasha]

Lynn wrote: "Dietland is now a miniseries on the AMC channel."

Ooh, had only just heard of it. I'm a short way in, but it's feeling promising.

[Myrthe]

I just finished Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and started The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova.

[El]

I just finished reading The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion by Meghan Daum and just started Mary Gaitskill's Somebody with a Little Hammer: Essays.

Daum's book read pretty quickly (started it last night, finished it now), but it seems that Gaitskill's collection of essays will take a little longer. I've only read the first essay which was relatively short, but she packed a lot of thought into those few pages. I'm looking forward to this.

[Natasha]

Banished: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church by Lauren Drain. My second cult non-fiction book. Suddenly got a taste for them out of nowhere.

[El]

Natasha (Diarist) wrote: "Banished: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church by Lauren Drain. My second cult non-fiction book. Suddenly got a taste for them out of nowhere."

I kind of love those cult non-fiction books too. I'll check out Banished.

[El]

I'm slowly making my way through Circe for this group and am mostly enjoying it.

For school I'm reading Vivian Gornick's The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative. As soon as I finish this one (tonight? tomorrow night?) I will jump right into Gornick's Fierce Attachments: A Memoir, also for school.

[Natasha]

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce.

[Shomeret]

I am currently reading Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo

[Jessica]

I just finished Graceling and it was marvelous! For anyone that like YA novels, this one is written especially well and features a strong female lead. The book is also feminist in that the protagonist is strong, independent, and even her romantic interest has no issues with her personal choices (to never marry, never have children, and seeks to maintain her independence even though she is deeply in love). I was hesitant to read it at first because so many YA have all of the same themes these days, but this one was truly a joy to read. I couldn't put it down!

[Cassandra]

I read Dawn by Octavia Butler, but decided that she is too negative for me. Fascinating but too negative and violent. Couldn't continue the series. The I read NK Jemisin's The Fifth Season, and am currently reading Obelisk Gate, but am worried it's going to get too depressing.

[Sasha]

Currently in between Simone de Beuvoir's Prime of Life and Cheryl Strayed's Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. Loving them both in very different ways. Reading the second installation of de Beuvoir's autobiographical series is so interesting because she talks about Sartre more than she did in the first one. Wild is an entirely different experience that is due a review soon.

[Natasha]

H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald.

[El]

The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro. Interconnected short stories about the author's family. Interesting so far, but not able to connect too much to any of the characters yet. I like the concept behind the book, though.

[Natasha]

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce--companion book to the wonderful The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce.

[Natasha]

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.