Books, books, and more books!

cyanope · May 2017

This post has NOTHING to do with pregnancy, but since so many of us are self-proclaimed "bookworms," I thought I would start a "book recommendations" thread. I don't get to read as much as I used to (a 15 mo will do that to you), but I am still always in the middle of a book (it just takes me a lot longer to get through it).
Let's do this, bibliophiles!
1. What are you currently reading?
2. What is your favorite genre?
3. Favorite book you've ever read (I know this may include more than one book)?
4. Favorite book you've read in the last year?
5. What should we be reading (give us the goods!)?
Edited To Add:
6. What book/genre is your guilty pleasure?

missblaze · May 2017

Let's do this, bibliophiles!
1. What are you currently reading? It's. Nice. Outside. by Jim Kokoris
2. What is your favorite genre? I don't have a favorite. I love sci-fi, fantasy, mystery.
3. Favorite book you've ever read (I know this may include more than one book)? There are so many, it's hard to pick just one. Some of my favs: A Wrinkle in Time, Blood & Gold, Harry Potter, His Dark Materials
4. Favorite book you've read in the last year? I haven't been able to finish a book in the last year. Toddlers are hard, yo.
5. What should we be reading (give us the goods!)? I honestly haven't been able to get through anything lately! It's so disappointing because I used to read about 50 books per year. I want to hear your suggestions.
Edited To Add:
6. What book/genre is your guilty pleasure? YA fiction and dirty novels.

cyanope · May 2017

I'll start:

1. What are you currently reading?
I'm in between books, but I'm about to start "Carve the Mark" by Veronica Roth. It doesn't have the best reviews, but I figured I'd give it a try!
2. What is your favorite genre?
I like EVERYTHING (except non-fiction), but I've been on a YA kick lately!
3. Favorite book you've ever read (I know this may include more than one book)?
Ha. SO MANY! I won't even try to pick one.
4. Favorite book you've read in the last year?
"The Nightingale" by Kristin Hannah...
it's a WWII book about two sisters living in occupied France and how they deal with the resistance in their own way. SO GOOD.
5. What should we be reading (give us the goods!)?
I've read a lot of good books recently, but I'll just highlight a few:
"The Light Between Oceans" (so beautifully written, but it absolutely destroyed me)
"All the Light We Cannot See" (another WWII book)
The Lunar chronicles...the first book is called, "Cinder" (a YA series that's pretty clever)
6. What book/genre is your guilty pleasure?
Romance all.the.way. It's like a warm, comfortable pair of pajamas that I like to slip back into at different points in my life.

[Deleted User] · May 2017

Total book addict here, I think I read about one a week.

1. What are you currently reading? Somebody I Used to Know by David Bell (taking awhile to get into it)
2. What is your favorite genre? Thriller/suspense, historical fiction.
3. Favorite book you've ever read (I know this may include more than one book)? Moloka'i by Alan Brennert, HP series and LOTR.
4. Favorite book you've read in the last year? Before I Go by Colleen Oakley-also I Shall Be Near to You by Erin Lindsay McCabe if you love historical fiction!
5. What should we be reading (give us the goods!)? Mary Kubica is good, Alan Brennert,
6. What book/genre is your guilty pleasure? Anything by Sophie Kinsella-good "beach" reads!

EmilyLove25 · May 2017

1. What are you currently reading? Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. This guy is no joke, folks. I'd toss him, Eugenides, and Franzen out as possible future Nobel Prize winners.
2. What is your favorite genre? Lol this one is funny to me. I like straight up novels by talented writers... but Saunders has a splash of science fiction, which I love when it is melding in believable ways.
3. Favorite book you've ever read (I know this may include more than one book)? This question is almost mean. All of my graduate degrees are in literature lol...it's an obsession! Where do I start? The Tenth of December, Ulysses, The Corrections, anything by Oscar Wilde, Vonnegut is great, Middlesex, Middlemarch, and David Foster Wallace is a personal hero... so if there was a gun to my head I'd say A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again.
4. Favorite book you've read in the last year? Either Goldfinch or The Year of Magical Thinking, which I thought I would hate but OH MY did I not.
5. What should we be reading (give us the goods!)? You guys, Saunders is amazing... you should all read one of his short stories. The Simplica Girl Diaries is a good place to start. He's weird but oh man...
Edited To Add:
6. What book/genre is your guilty pleasure? True story: Pregnancy and child-raising books. I love Dr. Sears. And Brain Rules for Baby is pretty awesome... but there are not exactly literary masterpieces!

[Deleted User] · May 2017

@EmilyLove25 do you like Pregnancy/Parenting humor books? I read a bunch over the summer and loved them!

EmilyLove25 · May 2017

@schaze You know, the only one I read was Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy (I suggest it to ALL FTMs), and I loved it. Maybe I'll hunt some down this journey. Any recommendations?

[Deleted User] · May 2017

EmilyLove25 said:

@schaze You know, the only one I read was Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy (I suggest it to ALL FTMs), and I loved it. Maybe I'll hunt some down this journey. Any recommendations?

Yes! That one was great. I read The Mommy Short's Guide and it was also hilarious. Mama Tried by Emily Flake was ok, but now I can't remember what I didn't like about it.

JuliaGoolia719 · May 2017

1. What are you currently reading? I'm re-litening to the Bone Season trilogy by Samantha Shannon since the 3rd one just came out (I heart Audible, for work I drive 24 hours away from home on a regular basis so audible is my saving grace on the road)
2. What is your favorite genre? YA fiction, I also usually won't admit that bc it feels like my inner 14 yr old is in control
3. Favorite book you've ever read (I know this may include more than one book)? oh man. Wrinkle in Time is one of my favs from being a kid, I love anything by Jane Green, Jemima J was one of my favs in college, and I can re-read Harry Potter anytime anywhere happily
4. Favorite book you've read in the last year? I'd have to think about that
5. What should we be reading (give us the goods!)? Ready Player One (Ernest Cline) is awesome its half dystopian half 80s/90's trivia, the Red Rising trilogy is great, Bone Season trilogy (Samantha Shannon), the Age of X series (Richelle Mead) (although there are only 2 books so far and I have no idea when the next one is coming out bc its not one shes contracted for right now so its pushed to the back burner), 1 second whoever mentioned The Lunar Chronicles
Edited To Add:
6. What book/genre is your guilty pleasure? YA fiction

cyanope · May 2017

@JuliaGoolia719, you like the "Age of X" series? I've been debating whether or not I want to try it. I loved her "Vampire Academy" and "Succubus" series, but I've been kind of "eh" about the other ones I've read.

PS...I really feel like a teenager when I see some of these titles typed out. I do read "big girl" books too. But like I said in my original post, I've been into YA lately (although not all of these series are YA). It seems to be all my brain can handle these days. Between teaching six periods a day (high school), and then going home to a toddler, I've been craving the mindless stuff lately!

JuliaGoolia719 · May 2017

cyanope I have liked the Age of X, I listened to the 2 that are out on Audible and the hours went by really fast!

Baby_is_coming · May 2017

1. What are you currently reading? - I listen to podcasts a lot at work and from that I jumped to Audible (I know cheating kinda) and recently I've been listening to Stephen King's IT. I already read it a few years ago and I'm refreshing before the movie comes out.
2. What is your favorite genre? - Horror, True Crime
3. Favorite book you've ever read (I know this may include more than one book)? - "IT", Harry Potter, Summer of Night
4. Favorite book you've read in the last year? - The Psychopath Whisperer, Big Little Lies
5. What should we be reading (give us the goods!)? - The 48 Laws of Power
Edited To Add:
6. What book/genre is your guilty pleasure? - Twilight, The Night Circus - I guess teen supernatural love stories ha!

I realize these make me seem weird but I work in investigations and my background is in Criminology so I comes with the territory. I also love to be scared!

SO glad there are some book worms here!!

missblaze · May 2017

Baby_is_coming said:

1. What are you currently reading? - I listen to podcasts a lot at work and from that I jumped to Audible (I know cheating kinda) and recently I've been listening to Stephen King's IT. I already read it a few years ago and I'm refreshing before the movie comes out.
2. What is your favorite genre? - Horror, True Crime
3. Favorite book you've ever read (I know this may include more than one book)? - "IT", Harry Potter, Summer of Night
4. Favorite book you've read in the last year? - The Psychopath Whisperer, Big Little Lies
5. What should we be reading (give us the goods!)? - The 48 Laws of Power
Edited To Add:
6. What book/genre is your guilty pleasure? - Twilight, The Night Circus - I guess teen supernatural love stories ha!

I realize these make me seem weird but I work in investigations and my background is in Criminology so I comes with the territory. I also love to be scared!

SO glad there are some book worms here!!

@baby_is_coming Not weird at all! I am sooo excited for It. Love horror. But I'm a clinical psychologist, sooo....

Cauleyflower · May 2017

1. What are you currently reading? An Inheritance of Ashes by Leah Bobet
2. What is your favorite genre? Fantasy, YA, Dystopian, Paranormal, SciFi
3. Favorite book you've ever read (I know this may include more than one book)? The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by JRR Tolkien and the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb
4. Favorite book you've read in the last year? Can't think of one, too many to name!
5. What should we be reading (give us the goods!)? If you like Fantasy, the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb - Its so good!
Edited To Add:
6. What book/genre is your guilty pleasure? Young adult fantasy etc...I'm addicted!

EmilyLove25 · May 2017

@Baby_is_coming Have you read A Wilderness of Error? Fascinating. I don't have a career excuse but also obsessed with true crime... I've been listening to Sword and Scale QUITE a bit lately (long drive to work).

[Deleted User] · May 2017

@Baby_is_coming I have It on my nightstand waiting for me, but it's so intimidating! How long did it take for you to finish?

Baby_is_coming · May 2017

@missblaze I am jealous! I wish I wouldve taken more psychology because I find it so interesting. I like to know why people do what the do.

@EmilyLove25 I have not heard of that one, will have to look it up. And don't get me started on Sword and Scale! That podcast is insane. I sometimes have to take breaks from it because it gets really disturbing.

@schaze took me a few weeks to finish.. definitely a long journey but I cried at the end and the character development is fantastic. I say go for it!

libbberty · May 2017

Hi ladies! Loving this discussion and hoping I can tap into your recos soon!

1. What are you currently reading? Just finished Honolulu. Well written. @EmilyLove25 I'm on the waiting list for Lincoln! My friend is trying to get me to read The Disappearing Spoon. It's a book about the history of the periodic table of the elements, but I generally can't stand non-fiction and never finish it.
2. What is your favorite genre? I call it chick lit squared. Basically women's lit with one step up stronger writing or plot.
3. Favorite book you've ever read (I know this may include more than one book)? Pillars of the Earth (love books where different characters have lives intertwined but don't necessarily realize it - the ships passing in the night type of thing), Prep, and the Golden Compass.
4. Favorite book you've read in the last year? Hmm. I liked All the Light We Cannot See a lot. And also the Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling) mysteries.
5. What should we be reading (give us the goods!)? I loved Prep and the American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld. Has anyone read Snowflower and the Secret Fan? A lot of people I know liked it.
6. What book/genre is your guilty pleasure? Chick lit. Think Liane Moriarty or JoJo Moyes. Nice when I'm trying to keep the habit of reading but not super into a book.

@cyanope sounds like I would love The Nightingale - thanks for mentioning it! But I have to be honest, I really couldn't stand The Light Between Oceans. So depressing for me. I could see why people found it valuable, but it killed me in not a good way.

SouthernMs · May 2017

1. What are you currently reading? The Boy is Back by Meg Cabot. It's told via chats, emails, journal entries, newspaper articles, etc. so it's kinda fun.
2. What is your favorite genre? All of them!
3. Favorite book you've ever read (I know this may include more than one book)? I really love House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. I had to read it way back in the day for school, but it keeps getting better as I get older.
4. Favorite book you've read in the last year? How to Start a Fire by Lisa Lutz!
5. What should we be reading (give us the goods!)? Say Goodbye to Hollywood is somehow both a snarky take-down of 50 Shades and erotica??? Idk. But more people should read it so we can talk about it.
6. What book/genre is your guilty pleasure? I'm embarrassed by how much I love a cheap paperback romance. I wish I weren't.

SouthernMs · May 2017

cyanope said:

@JuliaGoolia719, you like the "Age of X" series? I've been debating whether or not I want to try it. I loved her "Vampire Academy" and "Succubus" series, but I've been kind of "eh" about the other ones I've read.

PS...I really feel like a teenager when I see some of these titles typed out. I do read "big girl" books too. But like I said in my original post, I've been into YA lately (although not all of these series are YA). It seems to be all my brain can handle these days. Between teaching six periods a day (high school), and then going home to a toddler, I've been craving the mindless stuff lately!

TBH, I think YA these days is the opposite of mindless! It seems like YA is way more thematically complex than a lot of "adult" genre fiction.

scatteringashes · May 2017

1. What are you currently reading?
I just finished "Warm Bodies" -- the movie, while not good, is a guilty pleasure of mine. The book, unfortunately, was a bit flat but an easy enough read.

I'm debating starting either "Wishful Drinking" or an anthology of Hugo nominees from 2010 I picked up recently. Like, I just need to get off of the couch and grab one, lol

2. What is your favorite genre?
Sci-fi, for sure. I'm very very interested in cyberpunk and biopunk. I also love stories where women get to be in charge of and in control of the narrative. I'm also really into nonfiction these days, mostly social stuff and women's memoirs.

3. Favorite book you've ever read (I know this may include more than one book)?
Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, for sure -- I've even got the tattoo for that one. Lois McMaster Bujold is probably my very favorite writer, and the one I want to grow up to be. Our son is named of the main character in her Vorkosigan series. I could rave about the series for daaaaays, I love it so much.

4. Favorite book you've read in the last year?
"Ghosttalkers" by Mary Robinette Kowal is great, and I highly recommend it. I read a non-fiction book called "The Way We Never Were" by Stephanie Coontz and that's a fantastic view of the idealization of families in the modern world. Abigail Barnett's "The Boss" series is good if you're into erotica; the last book came out not too long ago and it was heavy and sad but lovely.

5. What should we be reading (give us the goods!)?
You wanna get hit with some serious feelings about motherhood, Bujold has an omnibus called "Cordelia's Honor," which has two books about when Miles Vorkosigan's parents met and fell in love. It's not the strongest book(s) in the series (they were the author's first) but I love them so much. Cordelia Vorkosigan is one of the best mothers in fiction.

If you can throw yourself into a brick of a book, "Cryptonomicon" by Neil Stephenson is a really good read.

Also basically everything in previous questions, lol.

6. What book/genre is your guilty pleasure?
I'm a sucker for a well-written romance or erotica book, but I'm so picky with these that I'm impossible to please, lol. Also, once in a while I hop back into reading fanfic.

scatteringashes · May 2017

@SouthernMs Have you read "The Boss"? It's like if 50SoG had been good erotica, and it is soooo good if you're into that kind of thing. I haven't read much of "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" yet (it's on my Kindle right now, and I read a little the other day), but I tend to put a lot of faith in Jenny Trout/Abigail Barnett as a writer.

She also got a lot of hype around her recaps of 50SoG, so there's a lot of history with that franchise and author, lol.

cyanope · May 2017

Thanks for making me feel better about my reading choices, @SouthernMs!

[Deleted User] · May 2017

Re: the YA books, I have definitely read some great YA fiction lately! The Ember in the Ashes series is downright amazing. I can't remember if this one is classified as YA, but A Green and Ancient Light by Frederic S. Durbin was fantastic-It reminded me a bit of the Narnia series, but a little more grown up.

Anybody use Goodreads? DH always laughs at me when I get the new release email for the month because for every book I finish, I add at least two more!

cyanope · May 2017

I love Goodreads, @schaze! I don't utilize it as much as I should (as in I never update my bookshelf or indicate what I'm ready), but I ALWAYS go there for recommendations!

SouthernMs · May 2017

Yes, @scatteringashes I enjoyed The Boss! Still haven't gotten around to reading the rest of that series. Jenny Trout is a fun Twitter follow, too, if you're on there.

scatteringashes · May 2017

@southernms Yep, also on Twitter.

I'd definitely recommend the rest of the series, if you find yourself with the time. It holds up.

EmilyLove25 · May 2017

@libbberty I loved All the Light We Cannot See! Could not put it down! I also read it while pregnant with DD and think I had an intense emotional response to it. Beautiful writing.

aimsforyou2014 · May 2017

Don't know how I missed this thread.

1. What are you currently reading? Clash of Kings - Book 2 in Song of Fire and Ice Saga. Trying to refresh my memory before GoT season 7 starts.

2. What is your favorite genre? Sci-fi, Fantasy, Mysteries, Suspense, Horror, YA, and good literature

3. Favorite book you've ever read (I know this may include more than one book)? Too many to name - I love LOTR, Harry Potter (seriously could read at any time), My Life by Lyn Hejinjian (a strange and beautiful book of prose poetry), Walden, Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie, I also love Margaret Atwood (pretty much everything she has ever written)

4. Favorite book you've read in the last year? The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (the author I have the hugest crush on)

5. What should we be reading (give us the goods!)? I feel like there are plenty of good suggestions on here but if you haven't read American Gods by Neil Gaiman you are missing out.

Edited To Add:
6. What book/genre is your guilty pleasure? I don't feel like I really have one. No books are guilty pleasures to me - they are all just pleasures.

bainidhedub · May 2017

Yes hello I am so here for this thread.

1. What are you currently reading?
Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade by Diana Gabaldon
2. What is your favorite genre?
Fantasy, some sci-fi & historical fiction
3. Favorite book you've ever read (I know this may include more than one book)?
Pride and Prejudice, Dealing with Dragons, The Night Circus
4. Favorite book you've read in the last year?
The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. I'm now reading the Lord John side stories while impatiently waiting for the next book to come out.
5. What should we be reading (give us the goods!)?
The Outlander series, the Shadowhunter books (Cassandra Clare), the Lunar Chronicles, anything Neil Gaiman or Terry Pratchett but especially their collab Good Omens
6. What book/genre is your guilty pleasure?
YA fantasy, especially the ones I've read a hundred times - Sabriel, Alanna, Cimorene

[Deleted User] · May 2017

@aimsforyou2014 are there any Margaret Atwood books that stand out to you? I've read the Handmaid's Tale and enjoyed it. I keep meaning to check the TV show out on Hulu.

@bainidhedub OMG how did I forget about Pride and Prejudice?? That is my all-time favorite stand-alone book. Nei Gaiman is a favorite of mine as well.

SouthernMs · May 2017

aimsforyou2014 said:
5. What should we be reading (give us the goods!)? I feel like there are plenty of good suggestions on here but if you haven't read American Gods by Neil Gaiman you are missing out.

Are you watching the American Gods series on Starz? Because omg it's amazing. I was skeptical that it could be filmed properly or that it would have aged so well...but I was wrong.

saraterp3 · May 2017

@missblaze, @JuliaGoolia719. @cyanope and whoever else said they're into YA.. YES! I love YA fantasy/sci-fi/dystopian society stuff. So pumped that y'all suggested some I haven't read!!!

1. What are you currently reading? The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin (Chinese author) - science fiction novel
2. What is your favorite genre? YA, science fiction / fantasy
3. Favorite book you've ever read (I know this may include more than one book)? This is not easy to answer. Harry Potter series, Ready Player One, Slaughterhouse Five
4. Favorite book you've read in the last year? Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson - amazing story about the broken justice system in the United States, SO well written, couldn't put it down.
5. What should we be reading (give us the goods!)? Red Mars series (Kim Stanley Robinson), any of the books mentioned above.

bainidhedub · May 2017

SouthernMs said:

aimsforyou2014 said:
5. What should we be reading (give us the goods!)? I feel like there are plenty of good suggestions on here but if you haven't read American Gods by Neil Gaiman you are missing out.
Are you watching the American Gods series on Starz? Because omg it's amazing. I was skeptical that it could be filmed properly or that it would have aged so well...but I was wrong.

I am loving it! It's so well done. I think it's a lot thanks to Neil's direct involvement - I read that they actually wanted to do a Shadow/Audrey bj scene but he put his foot down which is like.. thank goodness.

aimsforyou2014 · May 2017

@bainidhedub I haven't gotten to watch it yet, but I read a great article of the filming of Bilquis's first scene, praising how well done it was, so I definitely got to find a way to watch it. I think as long as Neil is involved it is going to continue to be good. I may have to add a Starz subscription to my Prime account just to watch it.

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