Starting/joining in with buddy reads Showing 501-550 of 1,326

[Susan in NC]

Sue wrote: "I haven't read Heyer or the Flavia books but have often heard good things about both so they are on the edges of my radar! I'd love to see what you all make of them and perhaps join in here and the..."

You are not the only one! I did that the last couple years, I was largely home bound recovering from surgery, wanted to keep my mind busy with books, got in a little too much - started to feel like homework! And yes, as Jackie says, harder to concentrate, and like you, couldn’t settle on what I wanted to read - or get 50 pages in, think “meh” - but feel you had to finish once you were that far in!

[Sue]

Susan in NC wrote: "started to feel like homework! ..."

Yes exactly... I feel terrible if I don't follow through and do the reading. Kind of like English Literature homework all over again.
:-)

[Jackie]

Sue wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "started to feel like homework! ..."

Yes exactly... I feel terrible if I don't follow through and do the reading. Kind of like English Literature homework all over again.
:-)"

I often feel like if they went to the trouble of finishing writing the book, I should finish reading it.

but, the older I get the more I am willing to give up on something that just isn't clicking with me. Life is so short and there are so many books!

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Jackie wrote: "I often feel like if they went to the trouble of finishing writing the book, I should finish reading it."

An author could have gone to the trouble of writing a better one. I don't have any trouble setting aside a book I'm not enjoying.

[Susan in NC]

Jackie wrote: "Sue wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "started to feel like homework! ..."

Yes exactly... I feel terrible if I don't follow through and do the reading. Kind of like English Literature homework all over a..."

Yes, you are right - and I’m feeling more like that, as well! I guess it’s just like with people or hobbies- sometimes we click, and sometimes we don’t, so just move on (to the next book, in this case!)

[Judy]

I think we keen readers probably all have a tendency to bite off more than we can chew, Sue!

[Abigail]

Ugh, tell me about it! I have over 1,500 pages of group reading this month, and that's without joining the Wolf Hall group read over in Historical Fictionistas! And the problem is, I'm enjoying them all.

[Jan C]

More Heyer.

[Susan in NC]

Abigail wrote: "Ugh, tell me about it! I have over 1,500 pages of group reading this month, and that's without joining the Wolf Hall group read over in Historical Fictionistas! And the problem is, I'm enjoying the..."

That’s the best kind of stress...;)

[Judy]

I know the feeling, Abigail! I have been taking ages over the last book in the Wolf Hall trilogy, even though I love it, because I keep reading too many other books at the same time.

[Bicky]

Having finished the first book, like Roman I would like to continue with Flavia but at a pace slower than once a month.

[Susan]

Perfect, as we usually have buddy reads quite spaced out, Bicky.

[Judy]

A couple more buddy reads have just been added to our forthcoming list, by popular request - the next Cadfael book, The Leper of St. Giles in December, and the next Amelia Peabody one, The Curse of the Pharaohs, in January.

[Jackie]

I'm glad to see a Cadfael book coming up as I've never read one with a group. I've read a lot of the series so many times I got tired of them, but now it's been awhile so this is good timing.

[Judy]

I was just wondering about doing a Michael Innes book, as he has been nominated several times in the polls but not got anywhere.

I know Abigail is a big admirer - shame I can't tag you in this post on Goodreads, Abigail, but hopefully you will see this! would you like to do an Innes possibly in December, and which one would you suggest?

We have read the first 4 as a group but I'm not sure if it is a series where reading in order matters a lot? The next one is The Secret Vanguard, which is a wartime spy thriller, but next after that is a Christmas one, There Came Both Mist And Snow, so, for those who can bear to read out of order, that might work quite well if we do it in December?

[Abigail]

I agree that it is not important to read his books in order. The hero ages a bit and gets promoted, but most of his personal life takes place off the page. There Came Both Mist and Snow sounds like a good choice for December, thanks for the suggestion! It has been a long time since I read them so my memory of specific ones is vague.

[Judy]

Thanks Abigail - There Came Both Mist and Snow is a country house murder mystery. Apparently Appleby doesn't turn up until the middle of the book though, so does that put you off? If there is another one you would prefer, feel free to suggest.

[Judy]

Actually I think they may all be on Kindle Unlimited...

[Abigail]

It's actually pretty common for Appleby not to show up till well into the book, if memory serves. No worries.

[Judy]

Thanks, that sounds fine then.

Anyone else tempted by a Christmassy Michael Innes book? I will go ahead and add it anyway since a few people have expressed an interest in reading more by him.

[Jill]

As Abigail says there is no need to read in order I will no doubt join in

[Bicky]

Me too.

[Jackie]

tagging someone doesn't work? then I am an idiot because I've been doing it. :-(

[Susan in NC]

Judy wrote: "I was just wondering about doing a Michael Innes book, as he has been nominated several times in the polls but not got anywhere.

I know Abigail is a big admirer - shame I can't tag..."

My library has his first book, and I’ve requested it - I’ve never read this author! If I like him, I’d join in.

[Abigail]

If it's Death at the President's Lodging, that one can be a bit heavy sledding. Innes got more streamlined as he went along, though he's always toward the intellectual end of the spectrum. (He was an Oxford don and serious novelist, and wrote his mysteries just for fun.) if you like Edmund Crispin or Dorothy Sayers's Gaudy Night, you'd probably like Innes.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Oh, thanks, Abigail. I thought I would skip him as I already have too much on my plate. I don't especially like Sayers, but I do like Crispin. I'll have to give this some thought.

[Susan in NC]

Abigail wrote: "If it's Death at the President's Lodging, that one can be a bit heavy sledding. Innes got more streamlined as he went along, though he's always toward the intellectual end of the spectrum. (He was ..."

Yes, that’s the only Appleby my library has, so I figured I’d give it a go - but thanks for the warning, Abigail!

[Abigail]

The buddy read isn’t till December, Elizabeth, so maybe you’ll be freer then?

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

The odds are against that I'll have less to read in 3 months, but that doesn't mean I just won't choose something different. We'll see. (I've put it on the spreadsheet, the Kindle isn't a terrible price.)

[Ruth]

I'd lkke to read that one in December, Judy. I already have it on my Kindle app from last year but didn't get round to reading it.

[Judy]

Jackie wrote: "tagging someone doesn't work? then I am an idiot because I've been doing it. :-("

You're not an idiot at all, shame Goodreads hasn't enabled tagging! I think it would be really useful :) This Help article said they might add the function in future, but it is from last year:

https://help.goodreads.com/s/article/....

[Judy]

Thanks everyone, looking forward to our Innes buddy read.:)

[Judy]

This is the latest list of forthcoming buddy reads, including the last two PD James/Dalgliesh titles in the New Year so we complete the series.

October/Nov
The Sad Variety - Nicholas Blake
The Tiger in the Smoke - Margery Allingham
The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag - Alan Bradley
Mystery Villa - E.R. Punshon

Nov/Dec
The Morning After Death - Nicholas Blake
A Ghost in the Machine - Caroline Graham
Footsteps in the Dark - Georgette Heyer

Dec/Jan
The Leper of St Giles - Ellis Peters
There Came Both Mist and Snow - Michael Innes

Jan/Feb
The Lighthouse- PD James
The Curse of the Pharaohs - Elizabeth Peters
Fog of Doubt - Christianna Brand

Feb/March
The Private Patient - PD James
The Beckoning Lady - Margery Allingham
A Red Herring Without Mustard - Alan Bradley

[Susan]

I am looking forward to reading some new, to me, Christianna Brand and to reading another Heyer. Some good reading ahead, thanks for updating, Judy.

[Judy]

Thank you Susan! I have the most beautiful trade paperback of the next Brand, so it will be a real pleasure to read.

[Abigail]

Thanks so much for your time and effort in putting all this together, Judy! I see several I am dying to read.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I had hoped we would read the next Bobby Owens in January, reading one every 3 months.

Death of a Beauty Queen - E.R. Punshon

[Susan in NC]

Thanks, Judy - looking forward to several of these!

[Judy]

Elizabeth, we can slot the Bobby Owen books in whenever you want - I'll add that one to January. I wasn't sure if you might even want to do one a month or every couple of months, as there are so many of them?

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Thank you, Judy. I think one a month might be more frequent than I'd like. I know there are a lot in this series and only 4 a year stretches them out a lot. If those of us who want to read them would like to try an every other month rather than every 3rd month, I'd be happy to go with that instead.

We're on for October - that would put us December, February, April, etc.

[Judy]

Thanks Elizabeth, I've put it in January but can move to December if you prefer? We may possibly add another Christmas buddy read then and there are also two Poirot books that month, but I don't think many people are reading every single book the group does!

[Judy]

Just saw you said December in the previous email so I will change to that, but can easily change again if needed.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I think that's good, Judy. Yes, there are a bunch of active readers in this group!

[Icewineanne]

Looking forward to joining in for the Flavia series

[Tara]

So many books, so little time! I wish I could read them all.

[Susan]

Updated list of buddy reads:

Nov/Dec
The Morning After Death - Nicholas Blake
A Ghost in the Machine - Caroline Graham
Footsteps in the Dark - Georgette Heyer

Dec/Jan
The Leper of St Giles - Ellis Peters
There Came Both Mist and Snow - Michael Innes
Death of a Beauty Queen - E.R. Punshon

Jan/Feb
The Lighthouse- PD James
The Curse of the Pharaohs - Elizabeth Peters
Fog of Doubt - Christianna Brand

Feb/March
The Private Patient - PD James
The Beckoning Lady - Margery Allingham
A Red Herring Without Mustard - Alan Bradley
Death Comes to Cambers - E.R. Punshon

Apr/May
Why Shoot a Butler? - Georgette Heyer
A Tangled Web aka Death and Daisy Bland - Nicholas Blake
The Bath Mysteries - E.R. Punshon

Jun/Jul
The Dusky Hour - E.R. Punshon

Aug/Sep
Mystery of Mr. Jessop - E.R. Punshon

Oct/Nov
Dictator's Way - E.R. Punshon

Dec/Jan
Comes a Stranger - E.R. Punshon

[Abigail]

Lots to look forward to! Thank you, Susan.

[Louise Tothill]

Hello, this is all new to me but here goes my last read was Anthony Horowitz, Magpie Murders. It was enjoyable. The narrator was somebody easy for me to identify with and the plot was effective. He had written other murder mysteries and did me they are definitely worth a read x

[Susan]

Oh, I loved Magpie Murders, Louise!

You are welcome, Abigail. I just realised that I made mistakes with the dates, so please find an updated version:

Updated list of buddy reads:

Nov/Dec
The Morning After Death - Nicholas Blake
A Ghost in the Machine - Caroline Graham
Footsteps in the Dark - Georgette Heyer

Dec/Jan
The Leper of St Giles - Ellis Peters
There Came Both Mist and Snow - Michael Innes
Death of a Beauty Queen - E.R. Punshon

Jan/Feb
The Lighthouse- PD James
The Curse of the Pharaohs - Elizabeth Peters
Fog of Doubt - Christianna Brand

Feb/March
The Private Patient - PD James
The Beckoning Lady - Margery Allingham
A Red Herring Without Mustard - Alan Bradley
Death Comes to Cambers - E.R. Punshon

March/April
Why Shoot a Butler? - Georgette Heyer
A Tangled Web aka Death and Daisy Bland - Nicholas Blake

Apr/May
The Bath Mysteries - E.R. Punshon

Jun/Jul
The Dusky Hour - E.R. Punshon

Aug/Sep
Mystery of Mr. Jessop - E.R. Punshon

Oct/Nov
Dictator's Way - E.R. Punshon

Dec/Jan
Comes a Stranger - E.R. Punshon

[Susan]

Oops! Got the dates wrong. Sorry, updated list:

Updated list of buddy reads:

Nov/Dec
The Morning After Death - Nicholas Blake
A Ghost in the Machine - Caroline Graham
Footsteps in the Dark - Georgette Heyer

Dec/Jan
The Leper of St Giles - Ellis Peters
There Came Both Mist and Snow - Michael Innes
Death of a Beauty Queen - E.R. Punshon

Jan/Feb
The Lighthouse- PD James
The Curse of the Pharaohs - Elizabeth Peters
Fog of Doubt - Christianna Brand

Feb/March
The Private Patient - PD James
The Beckoning Lady - Margery Allingham
A Red Herring Without Mustard - Alan Bradley
Death Comes to Cambers - E.R. Punshon

March/April
Why Shoot a Butler? - Georgette Heyer
A Tangled Web aka Death and Daisy Bland - Nicholas Blake

Apr/May
The Bath Mysteries - E.R. Punshon

Jun/Jul
The Dusky Hour - E.R. Punshon

Aug/Sep
Mystery of Mr. Jessop - E.R. Punshon

Oct/Nov
Dictator's Way - E.R. Punshon

Dec/Jan
Comes a Stranger - E.R. Punshon