What Fiction are you reading this week, March 15, 2026?

[hermetic]

This discussion thread is pinned.

Fox Theatre Atlanta Little Free Library


Reading River Thieves by Michael Crummey, about a crisis between natives and colonists in Newfoundland, based on historical events in the 1800s.

Listening to The Fallen Man, an oldie (1996) by Tony Hillerman. Love these old tales.

Today I celebrate 22 years here at the best social media site ever produced. I am forever grateful to the creators.

[mike_c]

1. Life of Pi by Yann Martel

I'm enjoying it. It's the first fiction I've read in months. My brain has been stuck in history mode.

[hermetic]

4. That is a good one

Read it many years ago but still remember it.

[The Blue Flower]

2. Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

The latest Hunger Games installment. She has said she wanted to depict what fascism looks like for a young audience. She's done a good job here. Instead of heroism and excitement, the protagonist experiences cruelty, sadism, tragic loss of friends and family, and a wish for his life to end because the all-powerful state has sucked all joy and love out of it. He's left with only a sliver of hope that he may one day help to destroy it.

[hermetic]

6. Interesting

Hope it has the desired effect.

[stopdiggin]

3. currently on a 'Hap and Leonard' mystery (rather slowly, at least for this kid .. and this time of year)

And 'Hap and Leonard' is consistently fairly low brow stuff (lot of country bumpkins, a heavy shading of 'farce' and bit of a 'romp') - but, in the end, as light reading - somehow satisfying and (mostly) enjoyable.

[hermetic]

8. Fun

Author Joe R. Lansdale. Became a SundanceTV miniseries.

"Chockful of action and laughs, Savage Season is the masterpiece of dark suspense that introduced Hap and Leonard to the thriller scene. The world of crime and suspense haven't been the same since."

A bit of light reading these days is a must, IMO.

[txwhitedove]

5. Hello, gentle readers. It is a quiet cloudy cool day in south Texas, but my dog and I are on alert

squirrel duty at the bird feeder.

This week read Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon. Wow again, this is 3rd book of hers I've read. A historical novel based on an amazing woman, a midwife who left a legacy. "Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community." Tense, thrilling, with mysteries, mayhem, and a loving family. I wanted her story to continue, and in many ways it did.

[hermetic]

9. That sounds terrific

"..a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day."

Thanks!

[cbabe]

7. West with Giraffes/Lynda Rutledge

Based on a true story. Recommended here.

I was captivated with the prose, plot, characters.

Two raggedy animal lovers drive two giraffes from New York to San Diego. Tail end of depression and the dust bowl and into WWII.

Bad moments, bad roads. Unlikely roadside helpers. Lots of history: sundown towns, hobo cards, Okies, WPA…

A second chapter to road trip America after Huckleberry Finn.

[hermetic]

10. Wanting to read that one.

Local library doesn't have it.

[cbabe]

11. Sometimes I break down and buy a book. Used book store? Or

Ordering from this site and they kick back some to bookstore of your choice:

https://bookshop.org/info/about-us

[hermetic]

12. That's cool

Thanks!

[Diamond_Dog]

13. Congratulations on 22 years here, hermetic!

I am forever grateful for stumbling upon this site, too.

I just finished Paper Girl by Beth Macy. It’s along the lines of Hillbilly Elegy except it’s more accurate, insightful, and intelligent than anything JD Vance could come up with. I highly recommend this book to anyone wondering how MAGA has brainwashed small town life. Macy writes about growing up poor in Urbana, Ohio, just down the road from Vance’s Springfield, and how her once community-oriented hometown became thoroughly MAGAfied.

[hermetic]

15. Thanks!

That sounds interesting, maybe kinda depressing.

[MiHale]

14. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin...

The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia is a Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award-winning 1974 science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin that contrasts a resource-poor, anarchist moon (Anarres) with its wealthy, capitalist mother planet (Urras). The story follows physicist Shevek as he travels from Anarres to Urras to share his scientific breakthroughs, challenging the deep-seated distrust between the two worlds and exploring themes of anarchism, capitalism, individualism, and collectivism.

[hermetic]

16. A true classic