Seconded. I just finished reading both of these books, loved them, and I feel like Mark would appreciate them as well.

Emerging from my cave of lurkerdom to request...

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Apologies if someone else has already requested this, but I looked through the comments and didn't see anything. (Also sorry that this got so long; happens every time I try to write a comment.)

I only discovered this book like a week ago, but I loved the first few chapters so much that I couldn't put it down and I spent literally the entire day reading it. Then I spent all of the next day thinking about it. Then I read it again on the next day. Then I bought the audiobook (which I've never done before) and I'm listening to that now.

Bit of background: Carry On started off from another of Rainbow Rowell's novels, Fangirl, where the main character is a huge fan of the "Simon Snow" book series and writes a lot of fanfiction about the characters. The Simon Snow series is pretty much Fangirl's in-universe version of Harry Potter. Anyway, Rainbow Rowell got so attached to the Simon Snow characters that she ended up writing her own full-length novel about them, which became Carry On.

As such, Carry On starts out as a loving parody/deconstruction of the Harry Potter series. It's got a lot of the same general elements, but it quickly diverges and starts to do its own thing. I don't really want to say much for fear of spoilers, but it's far from just a knockoff Harry Potter. There's some great worldbuilding (the magic system is one thing I found quite interesting) and I love pretty much every character.

Honestly I think that the characters are one of Carry On's strongest points. The book is in first-person point-of-view which alternates between chapters. Each character has a very distinct voice and their own style of narrating; some characters are more focused on their own thoughts, some spend a lot of time reminiscing, some tend to obsess over certain things even when the topic is on something else, etc. There are at least as many female characters as males (there might actually be more women than men) and although the protagonist is male and much of the plot involves him and his actions, the women get plenty of excellent scenes and some badass moments. Two of the main characters are mixed-race and there are also some LGBT characters and queer relationships going on.

Overall, it's a really fun fantasy book with great characters and some interesting plot twists. There's a sequel coming out later this year, Wayward Son, which I'm super excited for even though I had no idea it existed until last week. Fangirl (the book that spawned Carry On) is also good; I'm reading it for the first time right now, but I'd suggest reading Carry On first, because Fangirl has a few potential spoilers in it (anzryl gur Zntr orvat Fvzba'f sngure, gur Uhzqehz'f pbaarpgvba gb Fvzba, naq bs pbhefr rkcrpgngvba fcbvyref sbe Fvzba & Onm'f eryngvbafuvc. Vs Znex raqf hc ernqvat guvf obbx, V ernyyl jnag uvz gb or fhecevfrq ol Fabjonm).

Thank you!

Thanks! :)

Thanks!

I just watched it and it was wonderful.

Still a little sad that we never got an explicit kiss, but that credits scene more than made up for it.

Really hope they make a season 2.

I like rainy days in late spring/early fall.

Winter is my least favorite. I'm from Florida, so I have a low tolerance for cold. Colloquially, anything below 50F is "freezing".

I like that the Cool Kids are genuinely cool people. A lot of the time in American media, the "cool kids" are either stuck-up, jerks, or obsessed with status. But Buck, Sour Cream, and Jenny are actually pretty friendly, and I'd love to hang out with them if they were real.

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Oh god that rot13. SAME. *excitedly waits for the new episode*