Go Fug Yourself Book Club discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
Past Threads
>
What are You Currently Reading?
Naomi wrote: "I just finished Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and am now reading Oryx and Crake. I think my next book will need to be a light fun book! Perhaps [book:The Royal We|22875451..."The thing I love about Margaret Atwood is that she takes you to very dark places but always allows the possibility of hope. I read Oryx and Crake about a year ago and thinking that The Year of the Flood might be next.
Since I know how much this group loves Royalty Having Romantical Problems, I wanted to share that I'm currently reading "Sex With Kings" by Eleanor Herman, and it is FILLED with juicy tidbits about old timey royals' sex lives. It's not well-organized AT ALL, jumping from random French royal to British monarch to Spanish king all in the space of a few paragraphs, but it's fascinating!
Mod
Glad you are enjoying it, Bonnie! I suffer terribly from Recommenders Remorse.
Mod
No remorse on this one, its so fun!
Good Omens is so much fun. That is the first I read of Pratchett. But Disc world is so wonderful too. Deep meaning. Subtle satire. The series has it all. And I read them in order, not sorted by witches and wizards and the watch. That way you get the whole picture--life on the disc.
Susan wrote: "Good Omens is so much fun. That is the first I read of Pratchett. But Disc world is so wonderful too. Deep meaning. Subtle satire. The series has it all. And I read them in order, not sorted b..."I'm finishing up Maskerade now, and wishing that I had perhaps gone back and started with some earlier works instead of just pushing forward with the witches. I love them, but I don't love this story. And for the first time I'm regretting not meeting other characters first in their own book.
Katie- It is really a mistake. I know the witch books are now numbered, etc. but it is not enjoyable to clump them together. Plus, sometimes there is interaction, as with Death. So I have read quite a few of them and I read them in order.
Susan wrote: "Katie- It is really a mistake. I know the witch books are now numbered, etc. but it is not enjoyable to clump them together. Plus, sometimes there is interaction, as with Death. So I have read q..."I think I'm going to read Mort next, and take a break from the witches for awhile. (I'm reading one discworld book a month as a personal challenge).
I just finished Jenna Miscavige Hill's book about growing up in Scientology and finally escaping. Between this and the HBO documentary which I watched a few weeks ago I am sort of horrified that this is going on right here in the good old USA and no one is doing anything about it.
I've started Delicious Foods and so far it's really good and intense but in a subtle kind of way (subtlety seems hard to pull off when one of your main characters has had his hands cut off before the book even begins, but there you go). The story jumps around to different perspectives but the only first-person narration comes from the crack cocaine one character is addicted to. It narrates her actions and speaks of her in a loving, protective way which is both horrific and amazing.
I'm slowly working my way through two book which might be of interest to GFY raders. One is The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things which is nice since our next book is Persuasion. Its a bit long on detail (I could probably edit out about 2-3 pages per chapter) but its a really fantastic look at Austen in context both historically and familially. The other is the audiobook version of The Guns of August. This is not my first Tuchman, and the details of the events in the days and week of summer 1914 are great, but I keep thinking this one would've been better as a hardcopy read. Its tough to keep up with names, for me.
My friend Andrea and I decided to work our way through some books on this list of 100 of the best books since 2010; I'd already read 9 and she's read more than that. We settled on Stacy Schiff's Cleopatra biography for our first mutual effort. It is SO much fun and I can't think of a better GFY "romantical problems of royals" story than this one! And while I love a good non-fiction history, I usually don't like biographies, so that's high praise from me :-)
I am starting Ruth Rendell's Inspector Wexford series. I like to read a mystery series over the summer and heard Ruth Rendell mentioned on NPR. I've made my way through Ian Rankin, Denise Mina, Michael Connelly, and some of Elizabeth George's Inspector Lynley. (for some reason, I gave up halfway through that series a few years ago... maybe I'll get back to it eventually.)
I just finished Texts from Jane Eyre and it is delightful!
I keep Texts From Jane Eyre on my nightstand and read a little at a time--it makes me cry/laugh! So clever.
Mod
Nice way to memorialize an influential writer. So many people are reading Terry Pratchett these days, but you are the first I have seen paying homage to Rendell. She will be missed.
I have been revisiting Rendell, too, since the sad news of her death. There's a reference to her in my forthcoming novel--two characters are reading a book of hers, at a key point--and it seems even more meaningful now than it did when I wrote it. She was a wonderful writer and spinner of stories! We're lucky she left us so many books....
I am reading Alexander McQueen, Blood Beneath the Skin. Am enjoying it although I am on a McQueen binge so am feeling a bit fatigued!!
The Jane Austen Mystery series by Stephanie Barron. Listening to the audio version because I love the pronounciation of the vocabulary best of all.
I'm currently reading In the Woods, the first book of Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series. It's....okay. I feel like the characters are kind of cliched and the ideas are stale, but I'm still curious to know what happens. My sister-in-law loves French's books so I was excited to read this one but it's leaving me a little flat.
Just started Neal Stephenson's brand new one, Seveneves. It's tough to say someone's my favorite author, but it might be him. He definitely wrote my all-time favorite book, Cryptonomicon, and while not everything he's written since was a winner (looking at you, Anathem), I can't quit him. Thousand-page+ extremely nerdy tomes FAH LYFE.
Currently reading Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town, which is difficult to read because of the subject matter, so I'm taking it a little bit at a time. Most of the conclusions he draws are things I already know (rape culture is a thing, false rape accusations are rare, rapists don't always think of what they do as rape but will admit to "forcing someone to engage in sexual activity" or whatever), but maybe now that a best-selling author like Krakauer is writing about it, more people will pay attention.
Bonnie wrote: "Nice way to memorialize an influential writer. So many people are reading Terry Pratchett these days, but you are the first I have seen paying homage to Rendell. She will be missed. ..."I'm thinking about reading some of Tanith Lee's work in memoriam. I've only read one of her novels so there is a lot of new ground I could visit.
I am reading Funny Girl by Nick Hornby. I am doing a reading challenge and needed a book with bad reviews. The general public response to it seemed to be disappointment so I thought it would work. It seems okay to me so far though.
Mod
I find that the majority of books I really like are below a 3.5 on Goodreads (though they often have good editorial reviews.) Hope this one proves the reviewers wrong.
Is this a new Nick Hornby? I tend to like him more than not.
I'm almost done reading 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. The book is pretty long (almost 1000 pages) but it's worth the read. Involves a parallel reality, the "Little People" (alluding to Big Brother from 1984 maybe) and two moons; a trippy ride.
I'm reading Station Eleven right now and LOVING it.
Katie wrote: "I'm reading Station Eleven right now and LOVING it."I LOVED this book, happy reading!
I'm now trying to get through reading Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein. It's her second Code Name Verity book. Working nights zaps my desire to read during the day, though, if it's my first day off.
Jen wrote: "Oooh...I adored "The Night Circus"! I've read it several times now and am always dazzled.I agree! I love The Night Circus! I've also read it multiple times and it's always magical.
Elizabeth wrote: "I'm now trying to get through reading Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein. It's her second Code Name Verity book. Working nights zaps my desire to read during the day, though, if it's my first day off."I *just* finished this book this morning. I'll be interested to see how you feel about it!
Katie wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "I'm now trying to get through reading Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein. It's her second Code Name Verity book. Working nights zaps my desire to read during the day, though, if it..."I loved Code Name Verity, so we'll see.
I'm reading Kate Atkinson's Behind the scenes at the museum. I loved Life After Life, and a friend I trust absolutely raved about this one but... I'm not entirely feeling it yet.
Alicia wrote: "I'm reading Kate Atkinson's Behind the scenes at the museum. I loved Life After Life, and a friend I trust absolutely raved about this one but... I'm not entirely feeling it yet."Have you read her 'sequel' to Life After Life - A God in Ruins (Teddy's story? I'm reading it now and loving it. Her style is just delicious to read.
Mod
H..."
I am also reading A God In Ruins right now and loving it. I am about 1/2 way through. Viola is just horrid, but the book is wonderful.
Mod
Look forward to your thoughts. I have this on my list, and adored Code Name Verity.
Bonnie wrote: "Tracey wrote: "Alicia wrote: "I'm reading Kate Atkinson's Behind the scenes at the museum. I loved Life After Life, and a friend I trust absolutely raved about this one but... I'm not entirely feel..."Oh yes, Teddy absolutely did not deserve Viola!!
Bonnie wrote: "Katie wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "I'm now trying to get through reading Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein. It's her second Code Name Verity book. Working nights zaps my desire to read during the day,..."I also adored CNV, but RUF did not quite live up to its predecessor. A good, important story, but not as well crafted.
Katie wrote: "I also adored CNV, but RUF did not quite live up to its predecessor. A good, important story, but not as well crafted."Agreed - I still enjoyed RUF but CNV was something special. It's hard to live up to that strength.
I just finished Naomi Novik's new book, Uprooted, and loved it.
Tracey wrote: "Have you read her 'sequel' to Life After Life - A God in Ruins (Teddy's story? I'm reading it now and loving it. Her style is just delicious to read. ..."
Not yet - I am waiting for the price to come down a bit!
Leigh wrote: "I'm almost done reading 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. The book is pretty long (almost 1000 pages) but it's worth the read. Involves a parallel reality, the "Little People" (alluding to Big Brother from ..."I just finished that last week and I really enjoyed it. It was a stay up till 3 am and finish reading book for sure. It kind of haunted me for a few days after I finished too.
Mod
I thought 1Q84 was really captivating. It is staggeringly long (it was published as 3 separate books in Japan, but condensed into 1 for American audiences because according to the publisher Americans don't like serializations) but absolutely worthwhile. I enjoy Murakami in general, but this was among my favorites.
Mod
..."
Not yet - I am waiting fo..."
I am listening to the audio now and it is wonderful! I got it from the library, so the price was right :) I just started a new job today after working from home for 3 years, and it made my first morning in Atlanta traffic much happier.
Mod
Bummer, I was afraid of that. I loved the story in CNV so much I did not mind the sometimes clunky writing.
I'm finally reading Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. I've had it on my Kindle since December! I love Moriarty's writing style. I'm about 1/3 of the way through in just an afternoon and don't want to put it down. I have a feeling it is going to be a late night tonight. :)
I am finally reading Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. I've had it since December! I enjoy Moriarty's writing style and love this one so far. I am 1/3 of the way through and can't put it down.
annabel wrote: "Is this a new Nick Hornby? I tend to like him more than not."It is. I think it was released this February. I kind of like it so far.
Like Bonnie, I don't always agree with general goodreads consensus. I've read several books I thought were terrible but had very high goodreads ratings.
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
Go Fug Yourself Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
I Shall Wear Midnight (other topics)The Shepherd's Crown (other topics)
Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny (other topics)
You're Never Weird on the Internet (other topics)
Red Rising (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Jandy Nelson (other topics)Rainbow Rowell (other topics)
Pamela Aidan (other topics)
Carrie Bebris (other topics)
Thank you so much for posting that. I was just deciding whether I wanted to read Dead Wake and that tipped the balance.