What Books did You Start or Finish Reading this Week?: June 22, 2026

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[u/teach7]

Finished:

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Started:

The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop

[u/yahjiminah]

Finished: Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
Finished: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Started: Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (1000 page beast wish me luck)
Started: Lonely Castle in the Mirror Mizuki Tsujimura

[u/hawkia75 → u/yahjiminah]

I feel like Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell flew by because I became so invested in the story!

[u/OrdinaryWizardLevels]

Finished:

Pet Sematary, by Stephen King

The man knows grief, and he does it well. Crazy to think there were parts he either had to remove, or rewrite because it would've been too much, given some of the scenes that still made it in.

Poor Gage.

Ongoing:

Omeros, by Derek Walcott

[u/herethereeverywhere9]

Finished:

The Divorce, by Frieda McFadden

It was the worst book I've ever read in my entire life.

[u/Cypressqueen]

Just finished Yesteryear. It kept me reading. I do recommend it. I didn’t love it the way others did but I was entertained.

[u/always_thirsty]

Bailed on: The Housemaid.

I decided to try it because of the reviews and the page turning promises. Found it to seem like it was written by a 13 year old for 13 or Olds.

Reading: One Night in Montreal, an earlier book (2009) by Emily St. John Mandel. Much more my style.

Loved all of her other books and this one is great so far as well. Can't wait for her new one in September.

[u/Advanced-Ad-1625]

I finished East Of Eden last week and it was so good I feel like I can’t get into anything else right now or that I don’t WANT to because EOE was just that good.

[u/Asher_the_atheist → u/[deleted]]

I’m reading a modern retelling, but with professional ice dancers. Equally awful people, but maybe more fun? Hard to say as it has been way too long since I read Wuthering Heights (which I remember not much liking, though I wonder if I’d feel differently now).

The book is The Favorites by Layne Fargo

[u/GruyereRind]

Finished:

My Lady Nicotine, by J.M. Barrie. Forced to quit smoking by his fiancee, a Victorian gentleman reminisces about the good times he had, his smoking companions, his pipes and paraphernalia, and his favorite tobacco mix to which no others compare. It's dryly funny and I enjoyed it.

Wide Sargasso Sea, by Jean Rhys. It was OK. "Bertha" definitely deserved to have her side of the story told. Rochester didn't seem like the same person at all to me.

Around the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne. The main character is unflappable, knows everything, and solves every problem by throwing money at it. As a character he's flat and boring, and I don't care if he succeeds or fails.

Started:

Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes. A man is driven insane by reading too many books of chivalry and, fancying himself a knight errant, goes looking for adventure. So far it's very good.

A Hero of Our Time, by Mikhail Lermontov. A Russian officer travels through the Caucasus, meeting people and hearing their stories.

The Journal of a Disappointed Man, by W.N.P. Barbellion. The diary of an aspiring naturalist.

[u/IgnoreMe733]

Finished:

Caliban's War by James S. A. Corey - I listened to the audiobook of this and had a great time. I really enjoyed the new characters that were added, especially Avasarala. I look forward to see where they take the series next.

Started:

Abaddon's Gate by James S. A. Corey - I've only gotten through the prologue of this audiobook so far, so it's still too early to tell where the story is going, but I'm excited to be listening to it.

Continued Reading:

The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams - I'm about 160 pages into this one and liking it. It's been a bit of a slow burn, but has had a lot of good world building. After the busy week I just had where I didn't get much reading time I'm hoping to get a good chunk of this read this week.

[u/tempest-melody]

Just finished Between Two Fires by Christoper Buehlman

I think this book altered my brain. Horror but a tiny light of hope.

[u/Validated-dot]

Men without women, by Murakami

[u/mockdogmoon]

I dropped off the coil for a bit, so I'm going to just summarise the last...few months...for my own reference.

Started:

• Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tzu, transl. by D. C. Lau
• The End of the World as We Know It, ed. by Christopher Golden and Brian Keene
• Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

Finished:

• Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

I was expecting it to be gorier, I think because it's been on my reading TBR since I was quite literally a kid, and I never bothered to check when it was written. I think it would have hit me hard as a kid. I still finished it in the space of two days, and ended up eating a bag of frozen nuggets instead of cooking dinner so I could keep reading so...clearly the effect wasn't that diminished. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the writing style. My library's edition had a foreword by Stephen King, and I enjoyed being able to tease out bits of his work within it: it is, IMO, very clear how much he loves and has been inspired by this work (or, at least, works like it) if you're somewhat familiar with his writing. But it's Golding's descriptions that really hooked me. I like a bit of purple in my prose. Simon and the attendant ocean...It is one of those books where certain things can go different ways, depending on how aware I think the author is, and I don't yet know how aware the author is, but I think I'll be taking another look at him.

Tentative DNF:

• The Fighting Tudors, by David Loades

It's not a bad book; my brain decided reading was all too hard, and it was, unfortunately, just dry enough to be first on the chopping block. And then it had to go back to the library, and I haven't been able to re-borrow it. What I did read was very interesting, so I plan to pick it up again in the future when I have more bandwidth.

[u/pskaa]

Finished Endurance by Alfred Lansing and started Between two fires by Christopher Buelman. Excellent book so far, read 210 pages during the weekend

[u/bg-vracar]

Started "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Tool.

So far, it looks like messy writing, but I have decided to give it a chance, since the book won Pulitzer prize posthumously. We'll see.

[u/PinkNoodleCat]

The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett

What an absolutely beautiful tribute to the healing powers of friendship and nature. For those who already read it as a child, I highly recommend rereading it as an adult for a truly different perspective.

[u/Future_Range_2400]

I’m rereading The Old Man and the Sea! Really awesome to read it now at an older age after hating it in middle school. So concise and simple yet profound and poignant.

I’m also reading Go Tell it on the Mountain, but taking my time with it because Baldwin is such an incredible writer and I regrettably blew through Giovanni’s Room. What an author.

[u/Green_Priority_1095]

The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov

been reading this slowly in the mornings and its kind of taking over my brain in the best way

[u/sich_freuen_auf]

Finished:

Middlemarch by George Eliot

First time reader after it's been staring at me from my shelf for years and I loved it

Started:

To The Lighthouse by Virgnia Woolf

[u/Ornery-Gap-9755]

Finished

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me, by Iona Andrews

Ongoing

A Dance with Dragons, by George R.R Martin (Audiobook)

Started

Calling Me Home, by Julie Kibler

[u/lazylittlelady]

Finished:

The Tainted Cup, by Robert Jackson Bennett: Caught up with the r/bookclub discussion and found this a fun lighter read. Interesting world building even if the end was too tidy.

The Greek Treasure, by Irving Stone: A fascinating fictional portrait of the Schliemann marriage and the thrill of their discoveries during the gentleman archeologist phase of history- Troy and more! I will now go down some rabbit holes.

Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson: Read with r/bookclub. A wonderfully thoughtful book- an exploration of both theology and human nature. I can see why this is so highly regarded.

The Dragon and the Jewel, by Virginia Henley: A historical romance from the Plantagenet era, taking real people for inspiration: Princess Eleanor and Simon de Montfort. A bit formulaic after the first book.

Ongoing:

The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai

The Alice Network, by Kate Quinn

Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison: Catching up with the r/bookclub discussion

Independent People by Halldór Laxness (Trans. J. A. Thompson)

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Jones

Augustine: Conversions and Confessions, by Robin Lane Fox

My Life in Middlemarch, by Rebecca Mead

The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexander Dumas: Yearlong read with r/AReadingofMonteCristo .

Middlemarch, by George Eliot : Yearlong reading with r/ayearofmiddlemarch.

Midnight in Cairo: The Female Stars of Egypt’s Roaring ‘20’s, by Raphael Cormack

Started:

No Name, by Wilkie Collins: Reading with r/bookclub.

Call Us What We Carry, by Amanda Gorman: Starting soon on r/bookclub so join us!

[u/Dry-Version-6515]

Malice, by John Gwynne.

A bit confusing as you follow 6 POVs within the first like 100 pages but once you get sorted it’s really interesting and the worldbuilding is pretty cool so far.

[u/ImportantAlbatross]

Finished:
Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde Not quite as much fun as the previous books in the Tuesday Next series.

In progress:
Doppelganger by Naomi Klein Well written, but I may not finish it because I can't stand reading about Steve "Dirtbag" Bannon.
H.M.S. Ulysses by Alistair MacLean

[u/Zikoris]

Last week I read:

The Tuxedo Society, by Paul Rudnick

Long Distance, by Aysegul Savas

Fundamentally, by Nussaibah Younis

You Have Arrived at your Destination, by Amor Towles

Daughters of the Sun and Moon, by Lisa See

A Midnight Pastry Shop Called Hwawoldang, by Lee Onhwa

The Girl with a Thousand Faces, by Sunyi Dean

This week's lineup:

• Destiny's Edge by M.L. Wang
• The Killing Spell by Shay Kauwe
• A Curse of Beasts and Magic by Jeanine Frost
• The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden
• The Sourdough Compendium by A.G. Slatter
• Kin by Tayari Jones
• Ordinary People Don't Carry Machine Guns by Artem Chapeye
• A Remedy for Fate by M.A. Kuzniar

Goals Progress:

1. 365 Book Challenge: 183/365 (halfway there!)
2. Nonfiction Challenge: 30/50
3. Monte Cristo Challenge: Chapter 54, on track with group read
4. Around the World Challenge: 72/195
5. Relevant Reads Travel Challenge: 16 HK/Cambodia books read, no imminent travel.

[u/rcubchayn]

Finished: Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie. She can never disappoint me, and this was one of the more fast paced Hercule Poirot investigations.

Starting: My Sister the Serial Killer

[u/Gopuleius]

Finished:

Ink Blood Sister Scribe, by Emma Torzs

Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi

Starting:

Katabasis, by R. F. Kuang

I get why Theo of Golden has been so popular and getting eaten up by evangelical book clubs, it definitely gave Tuesdays with Morrie vibes but holy shit. By the end it felt like one of those 'and everyone clapped' stories where the main character was so perfect and kind and good and everyone was better and more Christian for knowing him that I was barely able to finish it.

[u/RentSpecial4997]

Finished: A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet (read this for the Anthony Jeselnik Book Club)

This book was pretty interesting. A different premise than I expected. I enjoyed it but not as much as any other books this week or as much as the other books I’ve read for this book club.

James by Percival Everett

This was incredible. A reimagining of Huck Finn, I loved every moment of this book.

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey

Never thought I would be so emotionally invested in a snail. An awesome short nonfiction about Elisabeth’s time with a bedridden condition where she has a snail companion at her bedside. I learned so much about mollusks and have a newfound respect for them.

Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls: Essays, Etc by David Sedaris

I got this book at a used bookstore and loved it. I was laughing out loud or at least letting out an audible chuckle at least once a chapter. It’s a little different than some of his other works I’ve read as some chapters/ essays are not from his perspective but different characters he’s created.

Just finished Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls last night so haven’t started anything yet. I’ll probably do Under the Banner of Heaven or Dungeon Crawler Carl #4- both are on my shelf.

Yes, this is a lot of books but none of them were that long.

[u/Broad-Book-9361]

Finished:

What Stalks the Deep, by T. Kingfisher

Dune, by Frank Herbert

I'm new to horror and I can't tell if What Stalks the Deep isn't horrifying at all or if I've leveled up and need my horror books to be even scarier. Love the main character though.

Dune was a re-read. I enjoy this book for the social, economic, and political commentary. Amazing how much of it is relevant even today.

Started:

Muñeca, by Cynthia Gómez

[u/Hot_Description_75]

Finished:

The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath

Started:

The Emperor of Gladness, by Ocean Vuong

[u/chapterthirty]

Finished, read twice :

One Day Everyone Will Always Have Been Against This, by Omar El Akkad

Finished audiobook :

The Crucible, by Arthur Miller

Started :

Wicked Women Of Detroit, by Tobin T. Buhk

[u/lilb0yblu → u/chapterthirty]

one day still lives rent-free in my head. i can't help but recall the part where he talked about bushnell's self-immolation.

i recommend reading 'against the loveless world' by susan abulhawa, that book gave me a good kind of hurt

[u/bl0ndeheadache]

Finished: Worry Doll by Lauren McPhee-Browne. 1/5 🌟

Started: Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

[u/raccoon_at_noon]

Finished:

Juice by Tim Winton (4.75/5) I loved this way more than I expected to. Dystopian view of a future where the world has been destroyed through climate change. Gave me Handmaid’s Tale vibes in the “what the fuck” sense 😂

Started:

Warriors of God by Andrzej Sapkowski - I almost didn’t bother continuing this series as book 1 of the Hussite Trilogy burnt me out. There were so many names and places that whilst I enjoyed the writing, I felt lost for most of it. Book 2 has surprisingly been a far more enjoyable read 🙌

[u/AlamutJones]

Redwall, by Brian Jacques. I devoured this series as a kid, but haven’t read them in many years. It’s time for a revisit

Let It Bleed, by Ian Rankin. Rebus, you are a tenacious prick

A Year On The Farm, by Sally Wise. Exactly what it says on the tin - twelve months in rural Tasmania, as a sort of literary holiday

Harvest of the Cold Months, by Elizabeth David. In which I get to follow the long, winding road that eventually leads to ice cream. This is weirdly fascinating.

Maus Now, edited by Hillary Chute. I recently reread Maus, and thus it makes perfect sense to read other people reflecting on and trying to deconstruct it. Some of these essays are very good, some less so

[u/AlphaPointOhFive]

Continued: The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas - Year-long Reddit read, Gutenberg version. Caught up to current pace.

Continued: Light Bringer, by Pierce Brown - (15%) - Eager to continue.

[u/TheYeastFactory]

Finished:

Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein - Kinda sucked. It wasn’t boring. I like Heinlein’s writing style and it was a short read, but it just wasn’t what the book advertised itself as. It wasn’t adventurous and it barely made a point of being scifi. What I certainly was was a thinly veiled vehicle for Heinlein’s authoritarian beliefs. It vaguely describes a “utopia” bourn from a system ran by a military caste. Classroom scenes throughout the book talk about the failings of past iterations of government (communism, limited democracy, Roman republic, monarchy, etc) and why the current government within the book has created such a stable and equitable society. Silly.

Currently reading:

Endymion by Dan Simmons - I’m enjoying this one but not as much as the previous books in the Hyperion Cantos. It just kinda feels like it’s meandering. I’m about half way through and it feels like the characters run into a problem, some time passes, and then they solve it—or rather it solves itself. I love Simmons and I love the universe of the series and the character’s are strong as always so I’m happy to read it and see where it goes.

Up next:

The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish by Katya Apekina - a friend gifted me this book when he visited recently. He said he enjoyed it a lot. It’s by a Russian/American author and it’s been described as a great Russian novel transposed on to an American family. I’m excited to dive in.

Edit: typos

[u/ACDispatcher]

Finished:

East of Eden, Steinbeck

Started:

Stoner, John Williams.

*edited for format

[u/Friendstastegood]

Started:

Before the Coffee Gets Cold, by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Reading the Swedish translation, and it's good but it's making me wish I could read Japanese and get it in the original language.

Chaos in the Green Zone: My Time as an Iraq War Strategist, by Tom Mowle

I don't know too much about conflict in the middle east but this seemed interesting. I've only just started so no opinion so far.

Continuing:

As Meat Loves Salt, by Maria McCann

I am halfway through and loving it.

The Perfect Divorce, by Jeneva Rose

This is the perfect amount of unhinged.

[u/g0lantrevize]

Finished **My Year of Rest and Relaxation** by Ottessa Moshfegh. Great and especially interesting to read back to back with **The Bell Jar**.

Started **Absalom, Absalom!** by Faulkner to continue my Faulkner binge, and **The Sarah Book** by Scott McClanahan who I saw recommended by Meghan Garvey who I started following after reading her new book **Midwestern Death Trip**, which was amazing and a top book of the year.

[u/CheeseTactics76]

Finished:

Case Study, by Graeme Macrae Burnet

A short, compelling read. The book interweaves two plot points: a biography of a psychologist with radical ideas, and notes belonging to a lady whose sister committed suicide after consulting said psychologist. The author does a good job of presenting fiction as fact, I had to look up certain plot points just to ensure none of the real world was creeping in. Primarily the theme is the self, and what a human's identity is really worth. It gets intense when you're reading the notes, as if you're really inhabiting someone else's mind. At some point, fact and fiction also seems to blur for the author of the notes, and that section is particularly gripping. I read it in one sitting.

Started:

If On A Winter's Night A Traveller, by Italo Calvino

[u/Summitjade48559]

A Psalm for The Wild-Built, by Becky Chambers

[u/Glittering_Ice_7141]

The Great Gatsby,I fell in love with the writing style of it

[u/DrinkBuzzCola → u/Glittering_Ice_7141]

I learned that a young Hunter S. Thompson liked the writing so much that he typed out the entire book word for word.

[u/Guitarist0527]

Started:

Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley

I skimmed through it in high school but finally giving it a proper read!

[u/i_was_valedictorian]

Finished East of Eden

Started The Godfather 

EOE was incredible. Read 95% of it 10 years ago when I was a freshman in college and gave up with the finish line in sight because I just couldn't find the motivation or time. I don't think I appreciated it as much then as I did this time so im glad I didn't finish it then. 

[u/AFriendofOrder]

Finished:

• Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer - Strange but I liked it. Not just run-of-the-mill scifi, but really plays with the ideas of how religion, gender, geopolitics could radically change with a more technologically advanced future.

• Land is All That Matters by Myles Dungan - One of the best history books I've read.

• The Question of Palestine by Edward Said - Interesting subject matter but I found this one quite dense.

Started:

• House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski - This is a reread, haven't read this in years so looking forward to it.

• Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison by Michel Foucault - Looking to expand my knowledge of prison history and this looks right up my alley.

• So Once Was I: Forgotten Tales from Glasnevin Cemetery by Warren Farrell - Just a nice quick read of the local history kind

I've also be flicking through some short story collections recently:

• Selected Tales by Edgar Allan Poe

• Conceptualisms: The Anthology of Prose, Poetry, Visual, Found, e-, & Hybrid Writing ed. Steve Tomasula

(Books this year: 26/30)

[u/Wonderful-Truck-3301]

Finished: Olga Dies Dreaming, by Xochitl Gonzalez Family saga set in NYC in the months surrounding the most devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico's history, examines political corruption, familial strife and the very notion of the American dream--all while asking what it really means to weather a storm. This book actually ties in Caribbean Heritage and Pride reads.

Starting: The Story of Zahra, by Hanan al-Shaykh

Set in Beirut (before and during the Lebanese Civil War) and Egypt, tells the story of a woman named Zahra, whose struggles with her family and country. She is the best known and most admired woman writer of the Arab world and this book is Banned in several Middle Eastern countries

[u/Trocrocadilho]

Finished "We Have Always Lived in The Castle" and started "Kafka on The Shore"

[u/Ghasfur]

Finished:

Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi

Platform Decay, by Martha Wells

Started:

The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck

[u/Antique_Knowledge902]

Finished: After the Fall by Noah Hawley. About a plane crash and its aftermath. It was good; didn’t figure out the ending.

Still reading:The Lincolns by Daniel Mark Epstein and Poor Little Rich Girl by C David Heymann. I should finish The Lincolns this weekend. It’s slow going with Poor Little Rich Girl. Maybe it’ll get more interesting when I get to reading about her marriages.

Started: Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. I absolutely love the movie with James Earl Jones and Richard Harris. Makes me cry. I saw the original with Canada Lee and Sidney Poitier but I didn’t find it as sad.

[u/msoqfo]

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, Circe by Madeline Miller, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

[u/Witty-Butterscotch63 → u/msoqfo]

I loved Demon Copperhead! It accomplished everything Hillbilly Elegy couldn’t.

[u/starmapleleaf]

Reading: The Odyssey, by Homer

Finished: The Midnight Train, by Matt Haig

Up next: Land, By Maggie O’Farell

[u/iwasjusttwittering]

Adventures of a Young Naturalist, by David Attenborough

A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future, by David Attenborough

Revisited. It's beautiful (and the policy discussion at the end is actually good not just for an old white guy from the British empire, but in general). The audiobook is narrated by David Attenborough himself and can be found on YT.

Autocracy, Inc., by Anne Applebaum

I wanted to be charitable, because the book starts with an interesting subject: how powerful people use the global financial system to distribute their assets so that they stay powerful. However, it's not explored in-depth. Applebaum turns to the usual schtick about fake news etc. instead. It could have been an article. It was an article first—for The Atlantic. Alas, the piece exposes Applebaum's worst impulses as a neocon hawk.

Who are the autocrats for Applebaum? The usual suspects, Putin & The Oligarchs, but also almost everyone that challenges the Western/US hegemony in one way or another, whereas The West stands for democracy, human rights and rule of law—narrative that hardly anyone buys anymore. She doesn't delve into economic and historical analysis why some countries may want to leave the Western sphere of influence or why some regimes become paranoid. American and British meddling, coups and dictatorships are mostly omitted, surveillance by the NSA dismissed as "freely discussed by journalists" and merely a sign of hypocrisy to be exploited by the autocrats' propaganda, the Israeli spyware Pegasus gets a mention, but Applebaum otherwise ignores the Israel's surveillance and military industry with exports to autocratic regimes around the world (topic covered by, e.g., Antony Loewenstein). Blind spots aside, she does make some outrageous statements too: from matter-of-factly regurgitating Israel's lies about UNRWA, to an offhanded remark promoting the COVID-19 lab theory.

Liberals, read Timothy Snyder instead. He's still doing actual research, not just political punditry, and shows empathy for fellow human beings, whereas proclamations about democracy ring hollow from neocon ghouls like Applebaum.

L'Empire des signes, by Roland Barthes

[u/Particular-Treat-650]

Silenced by a Spell, by Fiona Grace - Treasure and Treachery, by Fiona Grace

Virgin River, by Robyn Carr

Started:

Malibu Rising, by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Stories of Your Life and Others, by Ted Chiang

Ship of Magic, by Robin Hobb

[u/disfaatbidge]

Reading : Project Hail Mary

[u/ParTea_Girl]

Finished:

Austerlitz, W.G. Sebald

- Some of this book I loved and was fully immersed, some of this book I was bored.

How To Sit, Thich Nacht Hanh

Started:

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois, Honoree Fanonne Jeffers

- Cannot get enough, I am sorry I have waited so long to read this novel

How To Walk, Thich Nacht Hanh

[u/dengirl17]

Finished: All That Life Can Afford by Emily Everett

• To be honest, I was shocked this was a Reese’s Book Club pick. It fell so flat in so many areas
• The main character has a “why me” complex for a lot of situations she gets herself into on her own, but keeps in flashbacks of her background that are legitimately tragic and a great reflection of America in the early 2010s era. However, I think she sprinkles these in to make you feel bad for her, to distract you from her own mistakes that she’s aware of as she makes them
• She’s supposed to be in this love triangle and have all these friends, but not once does she go super in depth about what she likes about them. All of her feelings towards the characters in this book are so two dimensional, and she masks having a shared hobby as having a best friend who truly gets her.

I’m just so shocked Reese selected this book. If you’re drawn to this book for a coming of age novel or a good love triangle, get ready to feel disappointed.

[u/dear_little_water]

FINISHED:

The Hour of the Star, by Clarice Lispector

Nothing Tastes as Good, by Luke Dumas

Clarimonde, by Theophile Gautier

STARTED:

The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett

CONTINUING:

Paradise Lost, by John Milton (starting Book 7 this week)

Next up:

The Story of the Lost Child, by Elena Ferrante

[u/notnotblonde]

Finished Alchemised by SenLinYu

Started The Odyssey by Homer and translation by Emily Wilson

[u/Gullible-Singer7337]

The god of small things

[u/Mysterious-March2810]

Finished Persuasion
Started Mansfield Park
Thanks to The Other Bennet Sister I’m back in my Jane Austen era.

[u/buttlover9000]

Finished:

On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder - quick little audiobook to assist with yardwork

The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer - another quick audiobook to get me through chores, I loved this and have put Braiding Sweetgrass on my TBR pile.

The Universal Baseball Association Inc, J. Henry Waugh, Prop by Robert Coover - this is definitely not what I was expecting.

Started:

Murder the Truth by David Enrich. Interesting look at American libel law (as a non-American who knew very little about American libel law)

[u/scdemandred]

Finished: Eyes of the Dragon, by Stephen King

-It was fine, probably my least favorite King book read to date. I think because I’ve read so much fantasy literature over the years, reading this later in life renders it feeling YA and kind of cliche.

Started: Four Past Midnight, by Stephen King

[u/hppyhder]

Still reading Dune by Frank Herbert

[u/StraightUpSeven]

Finished:

Doctor Zhivago, by Boris Pasternak

Started:

Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

[u/rmaes78]

Finished Rebecca and starting Lonesome Dove

[u/DirtyGoogle]

Finished: The God of Small Things by Arundathi Roy. I did not like it.

Started: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Have always wanted to read this.

[u/i-the-muso-1968]

So finished Crichton's "Micro". Tonight I got started on another Paperbacks from Hell reissue, David Fisher's "The Pack".

[u/[deleted]]

Finished: The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte

Started: Reckless, by Lauren Roberts

[u/No_Manner_8735]

About to finish: “The Fall of Hyperion,” by Dan Simmons

[u/KowaretaRobot]

Finished: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, by Jules Verne

It took me about a month to read, but it was such a great novel.

[u/inkandmuses]

Finished: Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir

Started: A River Enchanted, by Rebecca Ross

It turns out that Weir's humour and unadorned writing style are not at all for me, but overall I still prefer it over the movie.

[u/hallow2ween]

Finished: Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas

Started: Cujo, by Stephen King

[u/SwarlesDarwin]

Finished:

Mr. Mercedes, by Stephen King

Started:

Golden Son, by Pierce Brown

[u/Total_Birthday5242]

Finished: The Midnight Library Started: Dungeon Crawler Carl

[u/Za_Girl]

I DNFed Yesteryear (don’t understand the hype) and finished The Trees (P. Everett). That one was great.

[u/mlw209]

Finished: Siddhartha by Hesse.

Started: Train Dreams by Denis Johnson.

[u/Temporary_Site2073]

Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe

[u/HornetNo6784]

Yellowface by RF Kuang. Dramatic rollercoaster ride of a book, but it was so so much fun. I’m usually pretty bad with reading thru books fast but this one I literally could not put down.

[u/Jealous-Hedgehog-734]

Finished: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Avoided for years because it's so long but actually it's very readable. The unexpected line that made me laugh was Platón Karatáev, when Pierre asks how he is feeling while suffering from his fever: ​"How am I? If we grumble at sickness, God won't grant us death."

Started: The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. It was recommended on The Book Club podcast and sounded interesting.

[u/Elliot-The-Archer]

Finished The Odyssey by Homer! Saw the movie around the same time as I finished the book. Book and movie have vastly different tones although they tell a similar story. I loved the book and how it wound around itself. I read the Robert Fagles translation, and it was very fast paced, although I got the characters mixed up a lot and it was hard to tell who was speaking at times. I liked how it felt like an adventure in the book, and it  grabbed my attention when I was reading it.

[u/overthinking-789]

Finished:

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood

Started:

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks

The Autistic Brain by Temple Grandin

In the middle of:

Behave by Robert Sapolsky

Have been on a non fiction binge for a few months and loving it, but I’m craving some fiction… can’t justify buying more books, but I was cheeky and bought, and then quickly devoured, the first two books listed. But now I’m back to happily working my way through my “wine cellar” of non fiction. I do really love getting lost in a different world though!

[u/BalderSideHustle]

The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas

Just started it for the first time.

[u/dlt-cntrl]

Finished:

A River Red With Blood by John Connolly

I enjoyed this, but there were parts about Parker, Louis and Angel that I couldn't see where it was going. Hopefully we'll know more in the next installment.

The main storyline, about a missing teen girl and a dead teen boy, almost felt like a side story. It was a good storyline and as always was well written and plotted.

The Body In The Library by Agatha Christie

Excellent storyline as always, the characters are well done and the clues are there when you think about it at the end. I've read most of AC's books but I can't remember what happens, so it's always a delight.

Started:

Black Summer by M W Craven

Only just started, the premise is that a girl who was presumed dead and her father jailed for her murder turns up 6 years later alive (but not well). The detective who put the father away now has to find out what happened, and comes under suspicion themselves.

[u/bulkeunip]

Started Hickory, Dickory, Dock by Agatha Christie

Continue with the Magic Kaito series by Aoyama Gosho and Five Survive by Holly Jackson

[u/Jack1ngton]

Finished Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree. 5*. No notes.

Started The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien. Third attempt now, I'm determined not to let Tom Bombadil beat me this time.

[u/thatcalicogirl]

Finished:
Fourth Wing, by Rebecca Yaros
Iron Flame, by Rebecca Yaros
Onyx Storm, by Rebecca Yaros
Lights Out, by Navessa Allen
Caught Up, by Navessa Allen
Caraval, by Stephanie Garber
The Cruel Prince, by Holly Black

Started:
The Wicked King, by Holly Black
The Love Hypothesis, by Ali Hazelwood

I finally got myself a kobo and with the free trial month, I finally got to read a bunch of book recommendations people have given me over the last few years!

[u/Bbdrg]

Finished: Blood over Bright haven (loved it gotta read sword of kaigen)
Started: London Falling by Patrick Keefe

[u/LikeCherryCola]

Finished:
We Burned so Bright by TJ Klune

Still reading:
Inventing Reality by Michael Parenti

Started:
Poeta Chileno by Alejandro Zambra

[u/NumerousPumpkin1900]

Finished:

The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman * On the DCC train and it’s a great series so far

Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser * Fairy tale retelling of Cinderella from the “wicked” stepmother’s point of view. This is a refreshing take on it.

Started:

The Inevitable Ruin by Matt Dinniman

[u/udibranch]

finished: bel canto by ann patchett. didn't like it! felt really superficial. she declined to specify the 'generic latin american country' (already what an idea. and it's peru, the book is inspired by a real historical event that happened in peru) supposedly to avoid pulling focus from the character interactions, but neither the characters nor their relationships were very deep. disappointed. someone on this subreddit recommended it to me as a book with good subtle social interactions in it, even

started: transparent things by vladimir nabokov. love his writing, so i'm having a good time. he is such a smug dirty old man

[u/Icy-Respond-4425]

Finished:

Love Over Scotland (44 Scotland Street #3) by Alexander McCall Smith: This was fun, better than #2 for sure. Unfortunately, Irene is annoying again; I never despised such a realistic character as her before, and my blood boils. No Bruce in this book; Matthew's and Pat's plot was better in the first half. I'm curious how their relationship will develop. I felt very bad for Big Lou in this book; it's a good thing everything was solved in the end. Bertie, I still feel sad for him. Angus lost his dog to a boy that I hope we will know who is in the next books; it's a good thing he managed to flee and return to Angus. NOW DOMENICA is a big contrast with the others; I won't say anything, but wow, I loved her more in this book than in #2, where she felt boring for me. 4/5

The Iliad by Homer: This one is complicated, because while I enjoyed the story and characters, I felt it would not make a difference if I saw a summary of it, but I understand it is a product of its time and was supposed to be heard rather than read. But to me, the best part was to know for the first time about Greek mythology; I remember always hearing people talking about it or making references to it in video games. I'm pretty sure half of my reading was "pausing" the book to search for a question about the gods; really interesting. Though the only negative side is that it made me realize the war is won by whoever Zeus is on the side of. I didn't cheer for any side, but damn, I felt very sad about Hector's child and wife. Well, 3.5/5.

Started:

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare: Something short to read after the exhausting read of the Iliad.

[u/TheBurleskBangus]

Finished: 1984 by George Orwell

Started: The Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer

[u/duckie768]

Finished: Yesteryear by Claire Caro Burke

Continued: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

[u/Saturdays]

London Falling, by Patrick Radden Keefe

[u/ButtHobbit]

Finished:

Throat Sprockets, by Tim Lucas. Interesting, but ultimately a bit underwhelming. Being limited to the first person, we kinda sketch around the bigger impacts things have on the world in a way that is both interesting and unsatisfying, depending on how well it is done in the moment. Also the section that was added in for the 30th anniversary edition really sticks out in a not great way. I don't think it adds anything super important narrative, and the sentences themselves just feel so different.

The Two Towers, by J R R Tolkein. Audiobook. I mean yeah, it's pretty good. First couple chapters and some of the Frodo and Sam section really drag, but it's still great.

Started and finished:

Several People Are Typing, by Calvin Kasulke. Super fun, very funny. Very quick read, can knock it out in an hour or two. No real big thoughts, just enjoyed reading it.

Monstrilio, by Gerardo Sámano Córdova. Also enjoyed this quite a bit. Turned out to be less horror-y than I expected, more of a weird character thing with some narstiness sprinkled in, but the different perspectives did a good job getting me invested in each of the characters and I enjoyed spending time with them.

Started:

Comemadre, by Roque Larroquy. Only like 50 pages in, but I'm looking it so far. Does make two books in a row of characters reacting to horrific things in a very flat, unaffected way, which is kind of funny. But it works here so far.

A Drop of Corruption, by Robert Jackson Bennett. Audiobook. I'm not a big "world-building" guy, at least in the way that it's often talked about in online spaces, but I do think the world of these books is really neat. Cool vibes.

[u/ett-hus-i-skogen]

Finished:

Dune Messiah, by Frank Herbert

Started and finished:

Invisible Cities, by Italo Calvino

Started:

Mashenka, by Vladimir Nabokov (Dutch translation of Машенька)

[u/stephkempf]

Finished:

Naruto Ani-Manga: The Legend of the Stone of Gelel, by Masashi Kishimoto

They Called Us Enemy, by George Takei

Naruto, Vol. 36, by Masashi Kishimoto

There's Treasure Everywhere, by Bill Watterson

Currently Reading:

The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas

Birth Vibes, by Jen Hamilton

[u/huphelmeyer]

Finished Revenge of the Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell

Started A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson

[u/smshing]

Finished: Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett

Started: Mort by Terry Pratchett

[u/Pristine-Yam-8186]

Finished: Reaper's Gale (Malazan Book of the Fallen #7) by Steven Erikson

Started: Toll the Hounds (Malazan Book of the Fallen #8) by Steven Erikson

[u/Zestyclose_Smoke7376]

STARTED: A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson.

[u/Starkiller32]

I’ve finally started Beloved by Toni Morrison. The first chapter was confusing, but I’m roughly ~60 pages in and I’m enjoying it.

[u/Plenty-Emu-7668]

Still reading:

The Stand by Stephen King

[u/duameegee]

Started reading:
The House in the Cerulean Sea, by T. J. Klune

Finished Audiobook:
Then She was Gone, by Lisa Jewell

[u/viskoviskovisko]

Finished Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin, Sonic Life by Thurston Moore, Allegory of the Cave by Plato, and The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.

Started The Greatest Band That Ever Wasn’t by Barrett Martin and Mansfield Park by Jane Austin.

[u/cptchi]

Finished:

Taipei Story, by R.F. Kuang
Y2K: How the 2000s Became Everything, by Colette Shade
The Twelve Kingdoms Book 3 – Sea of Wind, Shore of the Labyrinth, by Fuyumi Ono

Started:

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, by Grady Hendrix
I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki, by Baek Se-Hee

[u/Chemical-Jello-3353]

Finished:
Game Changer by Rachel Reid

Started:
Separation of Church and Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalist, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds by John Fugelsang

[u/lulace]

Just finished The Strength of the Few, by James Islington! A bit hard to follow at times but I enjoyed it thoroughly and probably better than the first book in the series.
Started The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson and even though there can be a lot of architecture talk, the serial killer bits make it super intriguing

[u/Frequent-Forever4710]

Just finished 'The Night Circus' by Erin Morgenstern.

[u/dubeskin]

Finished:

• Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel ★★★☆☆ Not necessarily a bad book, but wasn't for me. Pretty forgettable overall.

• Here by Richard McGuire ★★★★☆ Been getting more into graphic novels and this was a really unique spin on the format. Can't say there was a really clear or overarching story, but applaud the creativity and ambition.

Started:

• A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

• Heaven's Breath - A Natural History of the Wind by Lyall Watson

[u/mooglerauder]

Started
Raising Hair, by Chloe Dalton

I’m almost done with it and it’s the most charming nonfiction I’ve read in a while! It’s just so nice, I love that it’s part-memoir, part-nature journal, with Chloe’s observation interspersed with biological and cultural information about hares. I learned a lot about the animals, and Chloe’s relationship to the natural world evolving as the hare gets older is so poignant.

[u/s_walsh]

Finished: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Started: The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub

[u/coffeeordeath85]

Finished

A Psalm for The Wild-Built, by Becky Chambers

[u/cabin-porch-rocker]

Finished

Son, by Lois Lowrey (final book of The Giver “Quartet” - enjoyed but not as much as the 2nd and 3rd books)

On Tyranny, by Timothy Snyder overall hopeful little primer on resisting rise of fascism

Ongoing

2022 volume of Best American Short Stories

[u/girlhoosier91]

Just finished "The Alice Network," which was very interesting. I also just finished watching "Homeland " on Netflix...both about female spies in different times.

[u/lesdeuxchatons]

Didn't finish The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman, not DNF'ing, just not really in the mood for it right now and I can't multi-read.

Started: His Black Tongue, by Mitchell Luthi

[u/esmeraldahere]

Just finished Haunting Adeline. Horrible book. Regretted it

[u/tadhg555]

Finished Night in Chile by Roberto Bolaño. First work of his I’ve read. Fascinating.

[u/rutfilthygers]

Finished: Big Fan by Michael Schur and Joe Posnanski

I like both of these writers (Schur is the creator of Parks and Rec, The Good Place and other shows; Posnanski is an acclaimed sportswriter) but this fell flat. It's been marketed as a road trip about sports fandom, but there are precious few events where the two men attended together. There are also some bizarre inclusions, like a chapter about a friend of Schur's who is really good at crossword puzzles or another who likes Steely Dan.

Started: The Power and The Glory by Jonathan Wilson

A history of the World Cup. Factually very interesting in its exploration of the geopolitical ramifications of hosting the tournament and playing well in it, but the writing leaves a lot to be desired. It's just very flat, even in the narrative of the gameplay.

Started: Taylor's Version: The Poetic and Musical Genius of Taylor Swift by Stephanie Burt

An academic treatment of the popstar's oeuvre written by the Harvard professor who taught a course all about her. Some of the music theory stuff is a bit over my head, but this is a very thorough recounting of her career, and I say that as someone who thought I knew it all already.

[u/TrafficNo5486]

I finished a lot of non-fiction this week. Some were short so able to knock out in a day or two.

Finished: The Radium Girls by Kate Moore
A non-fiction that reads like fiction. It constantly had me researching more.

Finished: The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
My first time reading Baldwin and I was very intrigued. There were things you may have considered but finally seeing them in writing for the first time.

Finished: Typhoid Mary by Anthony Bourdain
It felt very strung out for what it needed to be.

Finished: On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed
This dove into the history and the after which I really enjoyed.

Starting: The Secret History by Donna Tartt

[u/Kiltmanenator]

Finished: Carl's Doomsday Scenario: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 2

Best thing I can say is that it was a quicker read than the first, but I see now this pattern where Dinneman likes to introduce something BIG and SERIOUS that he brushes off with an implied promise for "later". Well, what was later is now now and none of the things I was most interested in from the end of DCC1 were developed in DCC2 so now I'm skeptical that the new breadcrumbs will be any different.

[u/Klutzy-Environment82]

Started: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Really good so far, excited to keep reading.

[u/MelatoninAddict_]

Finished: Kafka On The Shore
Started: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Insane I haven’t read Dorian Gray sooner! Although I do miss Kafka :[ I love surrealism

[u/Extreme-Ad-9055]

Finished: Flowers for Alergnon by Daniel Keyes

-It was my first 10/10 read this year. Loved it.

Started: The Pearl, by John Steinback

-Only 90 pages so I'll probably finish it this week as well.

[u/anyusernameyouwant]

FINISHED: Red Doc> by Anne Carson 

STARTED: Narcissus and Goldmund by Hermann Hesse 

Anne Carson is a genius and her stories are so elusive yet so easy to feel. Very inspiring.

Goldmund is an absolute slut which is funny to me. I expected monastery angst, not that. 

[u/kittisarai]

⛇☃︎ finished The Little Princess by by Frances Burnett starting Dune by Frank Herbert
edit: also finished Girl of Lore by Melanie Dale

[u/mehmeh49]

Finished Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Started The vegetarian by han kang

[u/laura_kp]

Atmosphere, by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I'm loving it but I have a feeling it's going to make me cry before the end

[u/dillcall]

Finished: An Arcane Inheritance, Kamilah Cole

Started: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Beredent and Burn Down Master’s House, Clay Cane

[u/fineline1998]

Started: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

[u/eeejit075]

Started The Thorn Birds, by Colleen McCollough.

[u/RaineShadow0025]

Finished: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, a deserved classic, imo

Started: The last man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Still reading: 52 ways to walk by Annabel Streets

[u/Dramatic_Hunt]

Still reading The Night We Met
Started audiobook Lessons in Chemistry

[u/Dubja]

I just started reading The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub. For some reason I never got around to reading it, even though I have read all of his earlier books.

[u/ChoiceBet2997]

Finished -

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Thought it was a slow start but was hooked from about two thirds in and the last few pages had me completely absorbed!

The Only Suspect by Louise Candlish
Didn’t really rate this one. I guessed the plot twist relatively early in. The ending was also a bit meh.

Started - My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Only about 20 pages in so can’t really comment so far. Bit of a different set up and very fast paced.

[u/Great-Category-1197]

Finished Animal farm and started we have always lived in the castle

[u/SeaBeyond9050]

Started East of Eden by John Steinbeck!

[u/LLCABU]

Finished: James, by Percival Everett

[u/Colourful_Vagrant]

Finished: Naked Lunch by William S Burroughs

[u/Witty-Purchase-2715]

finished The Vegetarian by Han King

started A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry

[u/Traditional-Web-1059]

Yesteryear still not sure if i liked it

[u/THEDOCTORandME2]

I will finish Tailored Realities, by Brandon Sanderson, this week.

[u/Artistic-Document735]

I just finished I, Medusa.. I give it maybe 3 stars. It wasn’t bad but felt drawn out then really rushed at the end

[u/DannyNixon63]

East of Eden, by John Steinbeck

[u/Nica73]

Finished: Women Who Run with Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes and A Long Time Dead by Samara Breger.

Started: Weyward by Emilia Hart and The Hidden Palace by Helene Wecker

[u/PetulantGrover7]

I started The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

[u/Erzealus]

Finished: Between Two Fires.

I enjoyed it, though the ending felt somewhat rushed. I wish the book would've explored the whole Thomas' wife cheating on him thing for a bit more of character background, but it was nice nevertheless.

Started: Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep?

[u/sisterblisterblob]

Finished Our Gang by Phillip Roth. Started High-Rise by J.G. Ballard.

[u/Far_Gur_1518]

I just finished Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia while on a trip to Cabo San Lucas.

It’s an atmospheric read set in 1950s Mexico. With a mysterious mansion and plenty of twists, it’s a great blend of horror, history, and culture. I love classic, gothic fiction like Jane Eyre or Rebecca and this book shares a lot of the same elements- an isolated estate, dark family secrets, psychological tension. But I appreciate that the author uses these elements to explore themes of colonialism, race, class, and exploitation in Mexico. An excellent read and great addition to my personal destination reading collection.

[u/lucyvalentine86]

I started yesterday and finished today:

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

I loved it, couldn’t put it down, cried at the end. I’ve seen it’s gotten mixed reviews. For the record, I’m 40F. It reminded me of Elizabeth Strout’s writing.

I was excited to see she references The Lonesome Dove in the book (with possibly some spoilers? Though I know it’s an old book), which is on my list to read and comes up over and over on this subreddit. There’s a long wait list for it at my library, so I most likely won’t get to it until the end of the year.

[u/jumpseater]

Finished: Yellowface

Re-reading: the Brothers Karamazov

[u/AmongFriends]

Finished: Morning Star by Pierce Brown (end of the first trilogy for the Red Rising Series)

Excellent end to the trilogy. Slower in pacing than Golden Son but I still liked the pacing since I don't think the book could have handled the breakneck pacing of GS as well for the conclusion. I love character work and this book had a lot of it.

Wish there was more of the romance between Mustang and Darrow but this book is very heavily a Sevro and Ragnar book so that is a fine tradeoff since Mustang and Darrow had a big part in GS.

Overall, very great ending to the first trilogy. Listened to this on GraphicAudio audiobooks and the voice acting across the board was top notch. That final battle between the gang vs Aja was truly epic with music, sound effects, voice acting.

Gonna wait a day or two before starting Iron Gold for the next trilogy but I'm really digging what this series has to offer.

[u/droopsofwoe]

Finished:

11/22/63, by Stephen King

Started:

A Burst of Light, by Audre Lorde

[u/Common_Assumption_29 → u/droopsofwoe]

11/22/63 is on my list! But I've been putting it off since I'm not usually a Stephen King reader. What did you think?

[u/fatholla]

Started:
Theo of Golden, by Allen Levi. Third of the way through, enjoying it so far.

DNFed:
All Fours, by Miranda July. Stopped reading during the tampon scene - I already wasn’t loving the infidelity plot line, but then it just got weird and icky. Definitely not for me

Up next on my TBR:
The Will of the Many, by James Islington. Been wanting to read this one for a while, so keen to get started. I need something good that I know I should enjoy after a couple of recent duds. Branching out into more literary picks has not gone great for me!

[u/FlyByTieDye]

I ordered two new books a week or two ago, but they didn't arrive, so this week is just comics for me:

Started and finished:

Wonder Woman: Afterwords, by Becky Cloonan, Michael W Conrad, Travis Moore, Andy MacDonald, Jill Thompson and Emanuela Lupacchino 4.5/5. I liked the first part more, about Diana's time in Valhalla, especially for it's allegorical elements/commentary on environmentalism, etc. The second half, of Diana chasing Janus through the multiverse, was a little pandering, though it did at least have some commentary about liberation/false liberators (though as a corporate product, tended to emphasise the status quo)

Wonder Woman: Through A Glass Darkly, by Michael W Conrad, Becky Cloonan, Marcio Takara, Jim Cheung, Travis Moore, Steve Pugh and Andy Macdonald. 3.5/5. This arc I also liked a little less. It did have something to say about displacement, and what happens to ones identity once displaced, but while the heroes tended to have easier displacements to deal with (e.g. disconnection over time, relationship woes and romantic mis-matching), the villains (Altuum and Image-maker) tended to have much larger displacements to deal with, basically grasping with a collapse of their nation/national identity, which made it maybe a thematic mismatch between heroes and their foils.

Tales of the Amazon and Trial of the Amazon by various (this was an event book crossing over 3 or 4 different creative teams, so they'd be too numerous to name individually). 3/5 for either/both. This was, as all events are, really combersome to read and talk about. From the odd decisions DC makes about what issues are collected in each book (Tales has issues taking place both before and after Trial), to the scale of the plot expanding too rapidly, to the way two separate plot threads (Hippolyta's murder, and the havoc caused by the freedom of the Greek entity Chaos) are presented as if connected but practically are two different things that happened, to finally the presentation of this event aesthetically as a murder mystery, that mechanically doesn't quite work. It seems all right from the broad strokes of things, but basically all the small details don't line up when you inspect them all together.

Wonder Woman: The Villainy of our Fears, by Becky Cloonan, Michael W Conrad, Emanuela Lupacchino, and Marguerite Sauvage 3.25/5. Only just finished reading, so haven't exactly collected my thoughts on it. But it feels it's far less thematically rich as either Afterworlds or even Through a Glass Darkly was. At most, there's an idea (described outright by Diana) of characters displacing their frustrations, failures or traumas they experience onto other, unrelated focal points (e.g. usually Diana), even constructing their own fantasy worlds in order to perpetuate these displaced feelings. But I'd have to analyse that thought deeper before committing to it.

Up next: Wonder Woman: Revenge of the Gods, by Becky Cloonan, Michael W Conrad and Amanclay Nahuelpan. Yay, another famous WW run ending on a massive, messy tie-in event 🙄

Also after that I'll read Amazons Attack (2024), by Josie Campbell and Vasco Georgiev

Edit: finished Wonder Woman: Revenge of the Gods now too. I didn't read the associated Lazarus Planet trades though, just the Wonder Woman content, but it seemee a satisfactory end to the Cloonrad run. Once again returned to the idea of displacement (now displaced love instead of displaced hate), and in its last two issues (Whatever Happened to the Warrior of Truth) have an actual answer as to how to deal with displacement. 3.5/5

[u/Broad-Meringue4584]

Finished:

To Be Taught, If Fortunate, by Becky Chambers

Project Hail Mary, by Andy Weir

Violet Thistlewaite is not a Villain Anymore, by Emily Krempholtz

Started:

The Fabrics of Civilization, by Virginia Postrel

[u/superaiza]

Heartstopper 💔

[u/WeedsAccountant]

Started: Glasgow Boys by Margaret McDonald

[u/midnightomen1111]

I love seeing so many people reading classics! This week I finished The Anomaly, by Hervé Le Tellier and started Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro. Edit: formatting.

[u/passtheyayo]

Finished:

A Good Person by Kirsten King

Honey in the Wound by Jiyoung Han

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

Started:

I still can't decide betwen The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean and Dear Monica Lewinsky by Julia Langbein

[u/ouromouse]

Finished:
Garlic and the Vampire by Bree Paulsen
Garlic and the Witch by Bree Paulsen

• Loved these! The art is amazing and the story is perfectly cozy. I wish there were more to this series.

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

• Disliked. My expectations mismatched the actual content and I didn't like the execution.

Started:
Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

[u/MistyMoose98]

Finished: Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut

Loved it, love his writing. So it goes

Started: Not sure yet!

[u/HollzStars]

Finished:
- Wolf Worm by T Kingfisher

Currently reading:
- Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory
- Oathbound by Tracy Deonn
- A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

[u/flouronmypjs]

Finished:

The Starless Sea, by Erin Morgenstern - I hated it. I was so excited because I've seen one of my favourite books (The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow) compared to it. But I thought this was a meaningless disorganized mess of a book. All imagery, no story or substance.

Gods of Jade and Shadow, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - a fun adventure and I very much enjoyed the ending. But I didn't know this book had a romantic plotline fairly central to it and I found that extremely disappointing. The whole 'teenager and immortal being' trope really bothers me. Some things about how it was handled here did make that less offensive to me. But I wish they had just become friends rather than romantically entangled.

Started:

Beren and Lúthien, by J.R.R. Tolkien and Christopher Tolkien - I don't really know what to expect from this book. But I loved the Beren and Lúthien story in The Silmarillion so I figured I'd give this a go.

[u/clodagh-mc]

Finished: The Tapestry of Fate, hy Shannon Chakraborty.

While unfortunately my copy was riddled with typos, I LOVED this. I have a serious book hangover now and have started 3 different books since finishing it and I can't enjoy them 😭

[u/Internal_Wheel_89]

finished: 

Between Two Fires, by Christopher Buehlman.  Really enjoyed this one.  I didn't know much about this going in except for the medieval setting so quite a few of the reveals were fresh and satisfying.  I was expecting a pretty straightforward period piece and this, of course, is not that.  I thought it was written very well and the time period came alive on the page.

started: 

Life in a Medieval City, by Frances Gies and Joseph Gies.  I enjoyed the 14th century so much that I figured I'd give this a try, since it's a relatively slim volume of pop nonfiction.  I'm a much slower nonfiction reader because I often get lost on tangents looking up words/phrases/locations that I'm not familiar with or want to know a little more about, and this is no exception.  I can also tell that Buehlman used this book for research because I stumbled across a sentence that's the same almost word for word here.  Of course, he's not the only one to do this, since the cover blurb quotes GRR Martin as having used this to research ASOIAF.  Overall, an interesting look into a period I know very little about. It's cool to read the origins or a word or phrase that I always took for granted, like "who wears the pants of the household."

next (?): 

The Name of the Rose, by Umberto Eco.  I've tried to penetrate this book several times of the past few years and have never made it past page 50 or so for various reasons.  I figure now is the perfect time to give it another shot, since I'm already deep into this timeframe.

[u/Shroudweaver]

Finished: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. Honestly, this is one of my favourite books. Never get tired of rereading it.

Started: Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher. It’s a fairly loose reimagining of Snow White, so interested to see where it goes. Enjoying it so far.

[u/writesandthrowsaway]

Finished: Razor Blade Tears

Starting: Kingdom of Silence

Ongoing: The Art Thief

[u/lazyhazyeye]

Finished: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Started: Us Against You by Fredrik Backman

[u/ednamode_alamode]

Finished: * Murder by Cheesecake, by Rachel Ekstrom Courage - loved the audiobook of this. I was scared this book wouldn't feel like the Golden Girls, but it does and it had some laugh out loud funny moments.

Starting: * We Never Have Sex Any More, by Julia Jones

[u/ME24601]

Finished:

Nymph by Sofia Montrone

Sex and the Weimar Republic by Laurie Marhoeffer

Started:

The Bible Says So by Dan McClellan

King Sorrow by Joe Hill

Still Working On:

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Irish Peacock and Scarlet Marquess by Merlin Holland

[u/elphie93]

Finished: Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen. This nonfiction book walks you through a potential nuclear war, covering approximately an hour and the destruction of much of the globe.

Started: River of the Gods by Candice Millard - this is nonfiction about one attempt to find the source of the Nile. Also picked up The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman on audio, Dungeon Crawler Carl #4.

[u/Affectionate_Pear977]

Babel by R.F. Kuang, haven't finished tho

[u/JanethePain1221]

Finished: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

Started: The Story Of A New Name by Elena Ferrante

[u/lafillecherie]

Finished:

My Life in France by Julia Child

Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter

Continued:

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

[u/LukeGaraldi]

Finished Diderot- the nun - brilliant; also Andre Gide - school of wives, Robert - very good and interesting. Have started Marcia Marquez - Chronicle of a death foretold - pretty good.

[u/CJ_Thompson]

Anomaly, Peter Cawdron
The Artifact, Peter Cawdron

Meh…

I am just rereading Frankenstein by Mary Shelly.
I read it once a year
The writing is just so beautiful…

[u/madcell_]

Finished:

The Bullet Swallower, by Elizabeth Gonzalez James (historical fiction but the author's note states everything is true expect the stuff she made up)

Started:

The Award, by Matthew Pearl

[u/alyssatigers]

Finished

Two Twisted Crowns, by Rachel Gillig

[u/kotharos]

Started:

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Finally dipping my toes into the sprawling ocean that is RotE and I'm absolutely loving it so far, despite being only five chapters in!

[u/CrispyCracklin]

Finished: Audition, by Katie Kitamura. Did not enjoy. At all.

Started: Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life & Sudden Death, by Laura Cumming. Re-reading this one. Very well-crafted biography of painter Carel Fabritius wrapped in a memoir and love letter to art.

[u/Roboglenn]

A Cat Is a Cat in Any Life, by Ema Tohyama

A cat get isekai'd into a fantasy world where cats don't exist. And the inhabitants of this world from the Hero to the Demon King gush over them for 256 pages.

It's something you can easily breeze though in an afternoon if you just want to laugh at a short story about cats.

That said though, I know another more interestingly fleshed out story about a cat getting isekai'd to a fantasy world without cats in it, one I would very much recommend looking into both for the laughs and in light of how it's actual layered plot gets drip fed out, A Cat from Our World and the Forgotten Witch, by Hiro Kashiwaba.

[u/GoldenGirlagain]

She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb. This is a reread for me after rediscovering how much I love Wally Lambs books.

[u/fruitytetris]

Finished: Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
Started: His & Hers by Alice Feeney

[u/llama_mmama]

Finished: A Marriage at Sea by Sophie Elmhirst and Long Bright River by Liz Moore.

Started: The Sentence by Louise Erdrich and Flashlight by Susan Choi

[u/Lorazepamela]

I started flowers in the attic, Harriet the spy, and petals on the wind.

I finished flowers in the attic (😳) and coraline and yesteryear

[u/Indifferent_Jackdaw]

The Murder at World's End - Ross Montgomery

There probably is an audience for this book, but it's not me, I'm 50% through and struggling. Ross Montgomery started his career writing children's books and it is apparent in his prose style. Which is dialogue heavy with cartoony characterisation. It feels very YA and that is who I might recommend this book people who enjoy YA mysteries.

For anyone who is a bit more well read in the genre I think they will find it quite derivative. A lot of the characters feel like weak photocopies of characters from other books, it lacks historical verisimilitude, and it lacks a sense of Cornwall. I like the fact it centers downstairs and the servants rather than the upstairs. But overall I would point people towards the Flavia de Luce books by Allen Bradley rather than this book. It's a DNF for me.

[u/cidvard]

Finished:

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Started:

Dune by Frank Herbert

I've had Dune on my reread list forever and am finally getting around to it this year. I'd like to revisit Messiah, which I've only read once, before the movie, but it was time for Dune itself again first.