I read it. I didn't adore it, but it was fun.

I inhaled it. I think she writes beautifully, when she's not trying too hard, but she included some too-pointed metaphors and imagery ("Maybe someone will teach this book one day!"), too. Overall, it was frothier than I expected it to be, I guess? But it was a lot of fun!

I'm reading a book by Tanya Huff, "The Silvered" - kind of a fantasy with werewolves and magic ... and a slight flavor of steampunk. It's an interesting take - she's constructed a society in which werewolves are the elite.

That does sound interesting. We have seen vampires as the elite in a lot of variations, sometimes the hidden rulers of our society, sometimes rules in various alternative worlds (with many many variations on what a vampire is). But I don't think I've see werewolves as elites before, at least not at the very top of pyramid.

I just read David Eggers’ The Circle and am thoroughly creeped out. I didn’t like it at first and have some issues with it even now that I’m done, but I have to admit I read the damn thing in one (long) sitting.

What's it about?

Here’s the NYT review: [link]

I agree with the reviewer, for the most part; in particular:

[The protagonist Mae’s] motivations are teenage-Internet petty: getting the highest ratings, moving into the center of the Circle, being popular. She presents a plan that will enclose the world within the Circle’s reach, but she exhibits no complex desire for power, only a longing for the approval of the Wise Men. She is more a high school mean girl than an evil opponent. Perhaps this is what Eggers wants to say: that evil in the future will look more like the trivial Mae than it will the hovering dark eye of Big Brother. If so, he should have worked much harder to express this profound thought. The characters need substance; Mae must be more than a cartoon.

If you don’t want any real sense of the story beyond the basics, it’s about the kind of dystopia that could arise from the seeming utopia of perfect open access to all knowledge for all people--like FB on steroids. I’m glad I read it because it was interesting in concept, but Eggers sucks at creating likable female characters.

I never finished A Heartbreaking Work -- I think he's a great writer but he's way too self-indulgent for me.

Sounds like an interesting premise, though.

Here’s my Goodreads review if you’re interested: [link]

I do think it’s worth reading; just be prepared to dislike the protagonist.

I like Eggers in theory but in practice, I kinda want to smack him.