I recommend The Magicians by Lev Grossman. It's a a short-ish fantasy novel that takes a more realistic look at it's own thinly disguised versions of (first) Harry Potter and (second) the Chronicles of Narnia, a bit like a more cynical flip-side to HPMoR. It's a great read if you don't mind something leaning a bit more pessimistic, but it's not without hope. It's also quite funny if you like dark, sometimes subtle humour.
Seconded. On the other hand, this book cost me a night of sleep — I picked it up expecting to read a few pages and go to bed; before too long it was 4am ...
There was a recent discussion considering the idea of a monthly Book (later expanded to movies, links, etc) thread. The poll was pretty unanimous that this was A Good Idea (tm), so let's give it a try!
Post what you're reading or watching, and your opinion of it. Post recommendations to blogs. Post whatever media you feel like discussing!
I encourage minimal down-voting in the comments here, because this is a thread for sharing subjective experiences, and I would like people to feel comfortable posting their personal opinion without fearing a karma backlash. If you disagree with a person's recommendation, respond with a comment instead.
I think this is a post that lends itself to comment trees, so I will start one with the categories: Books, Movies, Other, and Meta.
I am interested in hearing if you all think it's a good idea to separate out fiction and non-fiction. (So that the Book thread doesn't have Discworld next to Influence, for example. Or so the movie thread doesn't have documentaries interspersed with rom-coms or what-not)
Poster's Note: Wheee! I made my first working link on the discussion post writing interface! I can learn stuffs!