Go Fug Yourself Book Club discussion
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Please help me get out of my pre-21st century rut!
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thanks so much Katie - will look into those.
I just finished Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and absolutely loved it. Reminiscent of The Rosie Project but, I thought, much better. Quirky, funny, heartbreaking, just a lovely read.
I've been reading a lot of good things about that one actually! I was demurring because I fear the 'oh I'm so quirky and socially awkward' hero/ine is becoming ubiquitous but it definitely is starting to seem like that book is so much more than that...
I second Barbara Pym! She has a subtle humor and a classic feel. You'll find yourself wondering if you should be warming wine for a better taste because she uses it in so many books :)
Ok I will definitely check her out, she sounds like my kind of lady! (I have yet to come across a wine I would turn my nose up at, including ferry wine)
Can't think of any current recommendations, but I like your taste in favourites!
Act Like It by Lucy Parker is a delight. And if you haven't read A Man Called Ove yet, you should add that to your list.I will second the recommend of Eleanor Oliphant - one of my favorites I've read this year. I would also throw out Julia Quinn as a possibility. Her Bridgerton series is lovely and contains some great banter, which it seems like you might like.
Another author you might like is Kristan Higgins. She writes romances and now has delved into contemporary women's fiction and her romances tend towards the screwball comedy end of things.
I am also going to give you atotally random suggestion because many of your favorites line up with mine and this was one I really liked: Rules of Civility.
I second The Hating Game! It was so charming; I would describe it as a screwball romantic comedy. Now have to look into Barbara Pym--thanks!!
I liked The Hating Game but wasn't enamored (and why is it fiction and not romance?). LOVE Quinn's Bridgerton books.I'd also throw Diana Gabaldon's Outlander into the mix (sorry - on my phone and can't link). That's my stuck-on-a-desert-island book.
My new favorite author for romantic comedy is Mariana Zapata. She writes slow burn romances with a lot of comedy mixed in. I like that these contemporary stories feature young women who aren't in school, aren't floundering around incomplete w/o a man, and for the most part make practical decisions. Kulti and The Wall of Winnipeg and Me are my favorites followed by Under Locke and Rhythm, Chord and Malykhin. The latter two feature main characters who act a lot more immature than those in the first two. Another pro imo is that there are slight connections between characters among the books, but none of them are given much attention outside of their own book. I find series tedious when the characters carry through too much.
These are such great recommendations - thanks guys! I am now seriously considering booking a holiday so I can lie on a beach and read them all in one go.Halle - The Rules Of Civility sounds so up my street it's scary...
I also forgot to mention one modern(ish) writer I do like - Joe Keenan (he wrote for Frasier so you just know he's good!), he has been referred to as the 'gay P.G Wodehouse'.
Katie, I've never read any Rainbow Rowell but I've heard of her for sure. Will have a look into her work.
H.J. wrote: "These are such great recommendations - thanks guys! I am now seriously considering booking a holiday so I can lie on a beach and read them all in one go.Halle - The Rules Of Civility sounds so up ..."
Unlurking just to agree 100% on Joe Keenan (no relation). I reread Blue Heaven every couple of years. So hilarious and perfectly captures the New York I remember from the late 1980s.
H.J. wrote: "These are such great recommendations - thanks guys! I am now seriously considering booking a holiday so I can lie on a beach and read them all in one go.Halle - The Rules Of Civility sounds so up ..."
Just popping on to say The Rules of Civility is a great rec given your tastes. Here are some other titles, not all comic per se, you might try: Emma Donahue's The Wonder, Helen Simonson's The Summer Before the War, Jo Baker's Longbourne, Alison Atlee's The Typewriter Girl, Susannah Keating's The Picture Book, and Dara Horn's The World to Come. All of these have some version of an old-fashioned sweetness, if I had to describe what unites them. And female leads :-)
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Middlesex
The entire Neapolitan Trilogy starting with My Brilliant Friend
Most anything by Elizabeth Strout starting with Olive Kitteridge
Commonwealth
Tales of the City and the many books that follow
The Golem and the Jinni
Bonnie wrote: "So many good suggestions. We love a lot of the same authors (I confess I don't understand Wodhouse though most of my friends adore his books). I think I lean toward things a little darker than you...."Loved Middlesex!
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One of my favorite novels ever. I like all his books, but none is as beautiful as that one.
Bonnie wrote: "Gigi wrote: "Bonnie wrote: "So many good suggestions. We love a lot of the same authors (I confess I don't understand Wodhouse though most of my friends adore his books). I think I lean toward thin..."Picadilly Jim is a good gateway to Wodehouse as it's easier to understand than all the Jeeves and Wooster and Blandings and is a really funny stand-alone novel.
Usually I avoid (modern) prize-winning literary fiction as I find them a bit worthy, like 'take your medicine' and I inevitably fall back into my pre-21st century comfort zone so it's really good to know when one does resonate with people who have similar taste to me. thanks!
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I never read what I am told to read. I used to do that, but yes, it did feel like medicine. When I read books like that I am not afraid to speak my truth. I just excoriated Fobbit, which was shortlisted for the National Book Award and blurbed by every significant author alive and also UnAmericans which was similarly heaped with praise. I read reviews of both books and they seemed right up my alley, but I hated them for real reasons. That said, a lot of what I like has won prizes. I have a feeling you would really like Middlesex particularly. Also Elizabeth Strout, who I think does dramedy very well. Let us know how your reading goes!
Adding the reviews I referenced https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone for your suggestions - they've been SO helpful! I've got a list of them all and am ready to go with either The Hating Game or Rules Of Civility (can't decide which to read first yet!) as soon as I finish Women In Love - or as soon as D.H Laurence's pretentiousness sends me round the bend and I fling it out of the bus window in a rage. Whichever comes first.
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Women in Love! I read that in college. I think I liked it, but honestly I was pretty pretentious in college. I sat through multiple screenings of Koyaanisqatsi and read Finnegan's Wake by choice.
Bonnie wrote: "H.J. wrote: "Just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone for your suggestions - they've been SO helpful! I've got a list of them all and am ready to go with either The Hating Game or Rules Of Ci..."Bonnie, if I had read this book as a teenager or in my early Twenties I think I would have found it really deep and intellectual but I think I'm about 10 years too late to appreciate the affected twaddle the characters keep coming out with. For real, my eyes hurt from rolling them!
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LOL! Well I hope you will give your eyes a rest and read something fun soon.
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Chemistry https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... (Very stream of consciousness, not for everybody, but it knocked my socks off.)
Manhattan Beach (I am not often drawn to historical fiction, but I loved this unique approach to telling the story of a very particular time in Brooklyn https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Devil in Spring (Sometimes I just want a little romance) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Vacationers (I know some people don't like Straub, but I think she is terrific.) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Ooh, fun! So, I originally recommended Rules of Civility in this thread (which I still stand by), but read A Gentleman in Moscow in December and I think I maybe loved it even more! Was extremely pleasantly surprised by The Arrangement.
Thought Dating You / Hating You was super fun.
Completely adored Little Fires Everywhere
And The Woman in the Window was a twisty turny ride.
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Rules of Civility and A Gentleman in Moscow are sooooo good. I loved them both, but I think I agree that I liked GinM just a little more (but so close, I really adored both.) Thanks for the other suggestions. I am all over them.
Bonnie wrote: "Halle wrote: "Ooh, fun! So, I originally recommended Rules of Civility in this thread (which I still stand by), but read A Gentleman in Moscow in December and I thin..."I'm the opposite - I LOVED Rules Of Civility, couldn't put it down whereas I merely enjoyed A Gentleman in Moscow. I admired GinM more maybe, as a piece of writing. But it didn't speak to me in the way the Rules did. I think I just found the characters in the latter more complicated and consequently easier to get attached to. I reread all of Joe Keenan's work over the holidays and Blue Heaven really is a classic...
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Blue Heaven has been on my TBR for years. Perhaps it is time it got moved off the dusty shelf....
Bonnie wrote: "H.J. wrote: "Bonnie wrote: "Halle wrote: "Ooh, fun! So, I originally recommended Rules of Civility in this thread (which I still stand by), but read [book:A Gentleman in Moscow|2943..."Oh my god do it, you won't regret it! It's especially fun knowing it was in the 80s and imagining all the vulgar clothes etc. plus you can totally tell he wrote Frasier, the dialogue is so sharp.
Bonnie wrote: "H.J. wrote: "Bonnie wrote: "Halle wrote: "Ooh, fun! So, I originally recommended Rules of Civility in this thread (which I still stand by), but read [book:A Gentleman in Moscow|2943..."I don't think I've ever heard of Joe Keenan outside of this thread. Adding him to my TBR now!
Halle wrote: "Bonnie wrote: "H.J. wrote: "Bonnie wrote: "Halle wrote: "Ooh, fun! So, I originally recommended Rules of Civility in this thread (which I still stand by), but read [book:A Gentleman..."I'm obsessed with him because he was writer on my favourite Frasier episode. It's the one where they go to the ski lodge and it plays out like a farce Oscar Wilde would have been proud of. Keenan always gets described as the 'gay Wodehouse' but he's really much closer to Wilde in terms of style and voice.
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Well I love Wilde and (I know this makes me unpopular here) really do not like Wodehouse, so it will be interesting to see what comes out of this reading. Also, I have not seen Frasier in many many many years; thanks for inspiring a revisit. I am knee deep in ER right now for my blast from the past viewing - it was on for a very long time - but I need to get to that soon.
I highly recommend Fug National Jasmine Guillory's new book The Wedding Date. It was a delight to read!The absolute best new book I've read is Far From the Tree by Robin Benway. I could not put it down but never wanted it to end.
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H.J. wrote: "I've been reading a lot of good things about that one actually! I was demurring because I fear the 'oh I'm so quirky and socially awkward' hero/ine is becoming ubiquitous but it definitely is start..."Hi HJ
Finished Eleanor this week and it is definitely worth the read. The subtlety of the author in revealing the characters and the plot is fantastic. One of the best books I have read in a long time.
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Thanks Bonnie! Always looking for recs - am currently trying to balance out Bleak House with Hollywood Wives so a good modern read next would be perfect! I just read Normal People and found it distinctly underwhelming, I know you had your own misgivings about it too...
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Another recommendation for something light and fun -- City of Girls. Reading it now and its really delightful. It reminds me a bit of Rules of Engagement, but frothier.
Go Fug Yourself Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Evvie Drake Starts Over (other topics)Rules of Civility (other topics)
Rules of Civility (other topics)
Rules of Civility (other topics)
Rules of Civility (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Rainbow Rowell (other topics)Barbara Pym (other topics)
Barbara Pym (other topics)
It's recently come to my attention that I really only read classics (with the occasional exception) and non-fiction (fashion and biographies mainly) and I'd really like to get some modern stuff in my rota!
I was hoping someone on here might have a suggestion or two?!
I like romantic comedies, satires, farces and dramedies (and I LOVE a screwball comedy) but I haven't ever really been able to enjoy any chick-lit I've tried.
Recent modern books I've liked are The Improbablility of Love, Eligible, Beautiful Ruins and The Rosie Project, and my absolute favourites are Shakespeare, Pinter, Nancy Mitford, Jane Austen and P.G Wodehouse.
Anyway I just wanted to put it out there in case someone did want to throw out any recommends...thanks!