fountain Posted May 29, 2023 Posted May 29, 2023 45 minutes ago, thatsmydemi said: I'm about to finish The House in the Cerulean Sea. It's been such a delightful reading. What a lovely book. I don't remember a book in which I've felt this happy. Next one is gonna be Red, White and Royal Blue. I don't have high expectations tbh. I bought it three weeks ago because they finally released the paperback edition in my country and it was really cheap. I've just ordered the whole Percy Jackson saga. I never read it when I was a child/teenager so maybe I should give it a chance now. I love mythological references/content, and I'm craving some fantasy right now. Got the whole pack for less than 20€ lmao - the covers are awful but I won't complain. Next books I'm buying in June-July are All That's Left in the World, Lie With Me, Swimming in the Dark and On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous. If you liked The House in the Cerulean Sea you’ll probably at least somewhat enjoy Red White and Royal Blue tbh. I read and enjoyed both and I’d say they have pretty similar tones, in that they’re both very idealistic and sweet romantic books. RW&RB does have a little more ~drama~ to it because the main characters are teenagers as opposed to fully grown men, so their perspectives and attitudes are different and not as mature, but the message and spirit behind both books is the same so you should hopefully take away the same positive feeling. As for the others, it seems you’re going for all the popular modern gay classics Lie With Me, Swimming in the Dark and On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous are all great, but very tonally different to the first two books you mentioned. They’re definitely more adult and on the opposite side of the spectrum in their emotional content. The only one I haven’t read is All That’s Left in the World so I can’t vouch for that, but that’s mostly because I don’t really read YA anymore.
kipperskipper Posted May 29, 2023 Posted May 29, 2023 Books I just finished: The Hike by Dre Magary Rating 8.5/10 Genre: Fantasy, Contemporary Fantasy, Thriller Review: Very entertaining and outlandish. It was giving a darker Alice in Wonderland, video game quest, and Everything Everywhere All At once typa vibe. The themes in the book were about life, existentialism, finding deeper meanings in things, hardships one endures in life, mental health, foraging your own path in life, etc. Very well paced and easy read. There was lots of twists and surprises. Found the dialogue and main character to be cringe/obnoxious/juvenile at times. The Vegetarin by Han Kang Rating 9/10 Genre: Psychological Thriller Review: Chilling and thrilling. A south korean book about a woman that one day decides to go vegetarian after having a nightmare. This leads to an unraveling of her family relationships and her mental health. It touches on mental health, eating disorder, cultural roles/pressures/expectations of women, trauma, etc. It was a very tragic and haunting story. Books I am reading now: Piranesi by Susanne Clarke The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta
fountain Posted May 29, 2023 Posted May 29, 2023 1 hour ago, kipperskipper said: Books I just finished: The Hike by Dre Magary Rating 8.5/10 Genre: Fantasy, Contemporary Fantasy, Thriller Review: Very entertaining and outlandish. It was giving a darker Alice in Wonderland, video game quest, and Everything Everywhere All At once typa vibe. The themes in the book were about life, existentialism, finding deeper meanings in things, hardships one endures in life, mental health, foraging your own path in life, etc. Very well paced and easy read. There was lots of twists and surprises. Found the dialogue and main character to be cringe/obnoxious/juvenile at times. The Vegetarin by Han Kang Rating 9/10 Genre: Psychological Thriller Review: Chilling and thrilling. A south korean book about a woman that one day decides to go vegetarian after having a nightmare. This leads to an unraveling of her family relationships and her mental health. It touches on mental health, eating disorder, cultural roles/pressures/expectations of women, trauma, etc. It was a very tragic and haunting story. Books I am reading now: Piranesi by Susanne Clarke The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta I read The Vegetarian back in March and it’s without a doubt one of my favourite reads of the year honestly. What a fantastic and ****** up book so thought provoking and evocative. I absolutely adored Piranesi too, so I hope you have a good experience with it! Also amongst my favourites of the year so far (with the top 3 probably being Piranesi, The Vegetarian, and Braised Pork) The Hike is one I came across a while ago and it sounds so good and very aligned with what I typically enjoy, have been looking forward to whenever I get around to reading that one so I’m glad to see a positive review for it in here 1
kipperskipper Posted June 8, 2023 Posted June 8, 2023 On 5/29/2023 at 3:27 PM, fountain said: I read The Vegetarian back in March and it’s without a doubt one of my favourite reads of the year honestly. What a fantastic and ****** up book so thought provoking and evocative. I absolutely adored Piranesi too, so I hope you have a good experience with it! Also amongst my favourites of the year so far (with the top 3 probably being Piranesi, The Vegetarian, and Braised Pork) The Hike is one I came across a while ago and it sounds so good and very aligned with what I typically enjoy, have been looking forward to whenever I get around to reading that one so I’m glad to see a positive review for it in here I just finished Piranesi and I loved it Def in my tops of the year as well. It sounds like we have similar taste in books! I havent read Braised Pork so I will have to check it out. Got any other recommendations? The next book im gonna start is Lapvona. 1
fountain Posted June 8, 2023 Posted June 8, 2023 (edited) 5 hours ago, kipperskipper said: I just finished Piranesi and I loved it Def in my tops of the year as well. It sounds like we have similar taste in books! I havent read Braised Pork so I will have to check it out. Got any other recommendations? The next book im gonna start is Lapvona. Taste! Ooo I hope Lapvona is good. I haven’t got around to that yet but I’m intrigued. I’ve read a couple of Ottessa Moshfegh’s books and liked them but I’m waiting for the one that really blows me away. She’s always interesting to read and a promising author either way though. I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve read from Samanta Schweblin lately and based on my perception of your taste I’d maybe recommend her book Fever Dream. It pretty much lives up to the title exactly, reading it is like living through a fever dream, but it’s very atmospheric and nightmarish. I loved reading that. I also recently read and enjoyed I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman. It’s quite bleak, but I thought it was an interesting and engaging take on dystopian and feminism. Definite vibes of The Handmaid’s Tale but more otherworldly and speculative, if that sounds interesting. And not much of a specific recommendation but I’ve loved everything I’ve read from Emily St John Mandel, the way she builds interconnected stories between characters is really something. Adore her writing. Edited June 8, 2023 by fountain
ChatshireCat Posted June 18, 2023 Posted June 18, 2023 Empyrean is like if SJM's books and The Red Queen had a deformed baby SJM has done irreparable damage to the Fantasy-Romance genre. 2
MonsterJohn Posted June 18, 2023 Posted June 18, 2023 On 5/18/2023 at 12:35 AM, fridayteenage said: I've read 14 murakami books. Probably still like 1q84 the best Ugh for an OGH you certainly have abnormal high IQ OT: Red white and royal blue is very mid, typical white women's gay fantasy, contriving and generic
fridayteenage Posted June 18, 2023 Posted June 18, 2023 8 hours ago, ChatshireCat said: Empyrean is like if SJM's books and The Red Queen had a deformed baby SJM has done irreparable damage to the Fantasy-Romance genre. i actually like it...until the romance has a forced start thanks to the cutesy dragon nonsense, then it's all downhill from there. 2 minutes ago, MonsterJohn said: Ugh for an OGH you certainly have abnormal high IQ OT: Red white and royal blue is very mid, typical white women's gay fantasy, contriving and generic you're not wrong. her 2nd book is at least better cuz it's from the pov of a white woman while rw&rb just sounds like the pov of a white woman.
iconoclasm Posted June 27, 2023 Posted June 27, 2023 (edited) Finishing up Once Upon A Broken Heart and I don't really feel anything towards it. It's not bad, but it's not good and Evangeline is kind of annoying Btw, does anyone have any recs for books like The Secret History? I've read If We Were Villains and I loved it. Edited June 27, 2023 by iconoclasm
Miles. Posted June 27, 2023 Posted June 27, 2023 Just finished The Whispers by Ashley Audrain. It was amazingly well-written, just like The Push, and she had so much to say about gender roles and motherhood and sexism and hypocrisy, but the end was a big, boring anti-climax. I love both her books and think she's one of the most exciting new authors around, but I really hope her next book explores some new themes.
fridayteenage Posted July 4, 2023 Posted July 4, 2023 i'm a little suspicious if this is secretly a paid sponsorship, but the #1 book on amazon is some book released in November called Leigh Howard and the Ghosts of Simmons-Pierce Manor by Shawn M. Warner. "A TikTok user thought the new author looked “defeated” at his quiet book signing table in Walmart decided to go back and film Mr Warner speaking about his book." https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/good-news/heartwarming-way-debut-authors-life-was-changed-at-quiet-book-signing/news-story/af4fbea9b9a2b00280b89443e616dc5f
GentleEarthquake Posted July 5, 2023 Posted July 5, 2023 Just finished "The Call Of The Wild". I cried several times. What a beautiful story
poki Posted July 5, 2023 Posted July 5, 2023 Hey. I have heaps of books I intended to read and they just sat there for the last 3 years in a box I'll re-read Treasure Island, haven't read that in almost 10 years.
worldwide angel Posted July 27, 2023 Posted July 27, 2023 finally finished you made a fool of death with your beauty and i’m now reading my dark vanessa when you go from one good author that’s a master of vivid imagery to another with no breaks (nigel) 1
poki Posted July 27, 2023 Posted July 27, 2023 On 7/5/2023 at 3:10 AM, PoKiTaurus said: Hey. I have heaps of books I intended to read and they just sat there for the last 3 years in a box I'll re-read Treasure Island, haven't read that in almost 10 years. I still didn't read any books since I posted this 1
fountain Posted July 27, 2023 Posted July 27, 2023 I’ve been reading The Broken Earth trilogy for a month and thankful that it’s finally over I really like the first book and this was my second read of it, and I still enjoyed it. It’s well rounded and a great start to the series. However this was my first read of the second and third books, and they did absolutely nothing for me. It felt quite directionless overall and there was nothing tangible for me to really enjoy. It’s a shame because the world is interesting but I felt none of the intrigue or excitement of the first book. Really by the end I was just hoping for it to be over as soon as possible, and it still felt too long. I actually enjoyed Jemisin’s Dreamblood duology a lot more than this, which is massively under appreciated in comparison to this trilogy. I still think she’s a good writer but this series didn’t resonate with me. I don’t really read that much fantasy in general but I like to mix up my genres to keep things fresh, this being one of the most praised fantasy series on my tbr and then not enjoying it was definitely disappointing. If anybody has some great adult fantasy recommendations then feel free to share. 1
bluceleste Posted August 6, 2023 Posted August 6, 2023 I'm going to have to read Piranesi - it sounds really interesting. Has anyone here read Still Life by Sarah Winman? Did you understand why their first meeting in Italy had such profound impact on them?
ameerah Posted August 7, 2023 Posted August 7, 2023 oh wow had no idea atrl has a book thread currently reading pachinko and I’m STRUGGLING does anyone who has read it have any encouraging words to get me to finish it? it’s been a month & just yesterday I finished book one :/
midnightdawn Posted August 7, 2023 Posted August 7, 2023 Yellowface was a breezy read. I didn't love the ending but the themes to do with the publishing world and cancel culture kept it interesting.
fountain Posted August 7, 2023 Posted August 7, 2023 I’m enjoying Penance by Eliza Clark. She seems to be an interesting new author, I really liked her debut Boy Parts. Totally different books stylistically but both work checking out.
fridayteenage Posted August 12, 2023 Posted August 12, 2023 On 8/7/2023 at 4:51 AM, midnightdawn said: Yellowface was a breezy read. I didn't love the ending but the themes to do with the publishing world and cancel culture kept it interesting. Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou is the better version of this. Having read 27 manga now, I've gotten used to these series lasting eons. Or at least, like, 20, 30, even 100+ for titles like one piece, volumes. I'm now jumping back to Western graphic novel series that are big on goodreads, and it's mainly just walking dead + fables that are lengthy. A lot of these end in the single digits. (I know there are more typical 'comic book' series that are not so big on goodreads, mostly superhero stuff that are part of megafranchises that hire a new writer every year or few years so it never ends. But I'm not as interested in that.)
Komet Posted August 13, 2023 Posted August 13, 2023 Decided to finally read Zero At The Bone by Jane Seville that's been sitting on my Kindle for some time for some reason, and omg devoured it in two days. Quote Thriller / Crime / Romance After witnessing a mob hit, surgeon Jack Francisco is put into protective custody to keep him safe until he can testify. A hitman known only as D is blackmailed into killing Jack, but when he tracks him down, his weary conscience won't allow him to murder an innocent man. Finding in each other an unlikely ally, Jack and D are soon on the run from shadowy enemies. Forced to work together to survive, the two men forge a bond that ripens into unexpected passion. It's a page-turner for sure, it helps that the book jumps into action almost immediately. The two MCs are complex and fleshed out, their journey and the plot in general move quite naturally and realistically. And some of the scenes whew; I can't remember when I read something so explicit lmao, it was giving Nifty.org, not that I'm complaining. Loved this juxtaposition of 'manly' thriller genre/story and MM romance, I need more.
ATRL Moderator Ampersand13 Posted August 17, 2023 ATRL Moderator Posted August 17, 2023 Has anyone read The Shards? I'm about halfway through after seeing that Luca Guadagnino was adapting it into an HBO miniseries and I just... I don't even know how to articulate my thoughts. Was hoping maybe someone here had already ready it, though I can't really recommend it in good faith
BOOMBAYAH Posted August 28, 2023 Posted August 28, 2023 Just finished captive prince and I’m kinda gagged. I couldn’t put it down - expected a lot more “gore” because of the online discourse around it but I found it rather…tame? Especially when considering the context of the setting, which seems to be around mediaeval times. Already ordered the second book!
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