Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion
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Zaara's Buddy Read Tracker

All of the above! hehe
I'm not good with alerts. I only have a couple set, or my email will drive me crazy(er).

Haha...😂 what to say? I like your style....
Chris wrote: "All of the above!
I'm not good with alerts. I only have a couple set, or my email will drive me crazy(er)."
Oh goood.....you're here, was wondering wtf happened....
And I had a pathetically wistful storytelling post written for the Scarlet Tides thread...which I shall now put here instead, so everybody can have a good laugh at how totally UNSUAVE I am!!
😂😂😂
*huge self-kick*
(view spoiler)

I'm at 69% on ST, having read a couple of chapters over the weekend. Finished that godawfulboring Unfettered anthology and listened to some First Law.

I made some progress on Moontide, still loving it...caught up to you, I guess...but the Elena track has me kinda worried/spazzed...
Glad you had a "cheery" time of it then.... ;) drive safe, man....
Me I use my ancient ipad....its a museum piece....but I'm happy with my clunky.....the app's horrid....
And hey, I saw. THE SPLAT 😜😂🙈 is gone from the group bookpage....wooop!

I guess they listened when enough people complained (The Splat)? Fat chance of that, it probably had a bug lol
Yes, I've slowed on Moontide, but not because of Moontide. I asked for (and got) several ARCs all due in the next couple of months. I always want more books than i have time to read.

*small kick*
I know we did at least three or four BRs come Xmas and three of those were biggies. And there's your review books...and that 29er you're doing while on The Mile...hehe...the best part is, I cannot see the sheet so I'll believe whatever you say...😂
Btw what do you do for work, Chris? But if you told me, will you have to kill me?? 😜
FL Standalones with you soon...........but otherwise I'm mainly reading romances this month. The only NEW series I'm starting are Outlander with Shaitarn and Black Jewels with Narilka...but there's Manifest Delusions and Parasol continuing from last month.
Hope you're enjoying your other BRs....

I'm chugging along in my 29er (The Border), but the reading with eyeballs is creeping. I did finish a book for Grimdark Mag, but haven't written the review yet. Stalled on Scarlet Tides & Sword of Destiny.
I've decided that I signed up for too many buddy reads and I'm already overwhelmed. Work is crazy still and such, and my irritability levels are up for some reason. I've bailed out of the Witcher series and haven't started Sword of Kaigen yet - might not get to it in time.
I'll finish the books I'm on, but will likely be left in the dust in the buddy reads. Except First Law, as long as my audio craze continues :)
Stats? Umm, I can get those in when I get a free moment

Still, you've some days still before Kath and I are ready to get to Best Served Cold...(UPDATE: I saw a little while ago she's nearly done...😂)
And hey. absolutely no pressure over posting your Jan books, it's just...everyone was sharing and i didn't want that you feel left out + i really was curious + 😂 i posted a chicken score.....i think some people might have more than 150 points already......
If you haven't started Kaigen...its easily dropped...and re the Witcher....I plan to read those too anyway, so we can always follow everyone on the same thread whenever you feel like resuming. I'll just have to read Book 1 alone.
Tho don't stall too long on Scarlet Tides...LOTS HAPPENS...and I liked it much more than Bk 1 bcuz of those (view spoiler)

I'm loving The Border but it's a big one. I have exactly 15.5 hours remaining.
I have read a few chapters in Scarlet Tides, so making some progress.
Sounds like a plan on The Witcher....

First of all, Omigosh, he remembered!! I was never expecting that!
Please don't be angry, Andy... this is couple weeks late, I know... I really was off doing the Claire Randall thing (giving myself some borrowed glamour here) and also overcommitted on the threads... I'm not insincere, I just stuffed up...
As an apology, I wrote you(r beard) a very nice ode!
WHAT?
We all started a beard cult some time ago when we were kidding bk and forth about Sanderson's smooth chin and mighty razor among other things...
You are our Cult Figurehead since you are the on;y one here with an ughly beard.
Go figure!!
Here is the reply:
(view spoiler)

You stalled, me paralysed... same difference... buuuuuut (view spoiler)
I left you alone for a space of days and got on with things... so are you better situated now, bookwise?
Because I don't think you're in slump territory yet.
Me, I'm still ravelled beyond hope but quite cheerfully so bcuz it is a hole I know I will dig myself out of...
I just started too many BRs bcuz of the twin pulls of greed (shiny, new) and sentimentality (at least one BR with everyone) + gross overestimation of my 💪
And I am still reading Best Served Cold. So are Tenfingers and Beena.

It wasn't thanks to my memory - I had the BR date written down)
So you will be discussing The magus on which thread? I remember it was some collective one.

Finished Part 1.
Ch 1-2:
Ah the (view spoiler)
Alison: (view spoiler)
How're you going Jessica? What did you (view spoiler)

Some other assorted thoughts, it's complete sh!t and fluff but mainly I am writing all this down for Andy:
1. What do you think of the epigraphs in French? Its a "gatekeeping" attempt, isn't it? If you can't get it, you don't belong in the pages of this novel... there are some lit fic books which suddenly veer off and deliver large portions in Latin.
The mentality of exclusivity sometimes makes me laugh. The whole point of a book is to convey ideas but even here language is used to keep (certain) ppl out.
2. So Part 1 is a bit of sex n baggage to carry with him to Greece. NOW this unlikeable MC will meet real life, and the proper psychosexual thrillerish stuff will begin. And his contemptuous commentating worldview will fail him spectacularly, I hope!
3. :O I dunno that I can survive 750+ pages of pure snark n flowers... and sometimes I get irritated by overly pretty turns of phrase. Same problem with Ten Thousand Doors. I mean sh!t like this: (view spoiler)

Finished Part 1.
Ch 1-2:
Ah the so..."
Finished Part 1 last night. Have you read Catcher in the Rye? Cause our MC kept reminding me of Holden Caulfield, a sullen, narcissistic woe is me teenager type.
(view spoiler)
In response to your second comment:
1. It totally felt like a gatekeeping attempt. I didn't even try to figure out the one for Part 2, just skipped it because I was annoyed by it. The part that annoyed me the most is that our MC spends a decent amount of time talking about how he can't talk to anyone in Greece because only one guy speaks English. Like really? You're going to complain about not being able to understand English and then make all the epigraphs French quotes without any translation?!
Like you said the whole point of writing and/or reading a book is to convey or experience ideas and it's hard to that when a big chunk of the audience is being shut out.
2. I really don't have any sympathy for the emotional baggage that he had to bring with him to Greece. He brought it all on himself. (view spoiler) Ok, end rant about our very unlikable MC lol
3. OMG! Your spoiler made me die laughing! I completely agree, will be interesting to read what annoyingly pretty angst he comes up with next, though 750+ pages might be more than I can handle too. I guess we'll see

:)) I'll still be here when you're in the mood to BR something agn...hope you've settled into the new workspace.
Jessica wrote: "So did either of you get annoyed by this bit in CH 14 or was it just me?"
@ Jessica, hi...haven't opened your spoilers yet. Get to them moro. I got going with Outlander 2.

Ch 10: This whole chapter seemed like it was exposition and intellectual snobbery but there was one simple sentence I liked: (view spoiler)
Ch 13-20: Prolly bcuz of the man in the manor thing but it felt kinda Gatsby-esque in the beginning portions...tho what an abrupt (and kinda creepy) end to the curiosity/voyeurism...do you think he shoulda taken that "deal" ;)
😂😂😂 at the (view spoiler) ...jeez!! Oh I dunno Jessica (re your spoiler in Post 871), this Conchis is supposed to be "impressively bizarre" and mindbendy with the general creepiness and his ways of talking and being...but I'm just finding it all hysterically funny
+ Urfe is such a pretentious git that I don't even want to save him from his own dorky OCD about hidden women and (eventual) downward spiral...his first evening here and he's already acting like he knows everything about everything!
+ meanwhile he has dozens of theories.......he's so contradictory and mixed up. I think he is deluding himself that he's on top of all this.......
“Why should I struggle through hundreds of pages of fabrication to reach half a dozen very little truths?” 😜
GUESSWORK: Do you think he will (view spoiler)
Ch 19
(view spoiler)
See, I CAN absolutely also write huge essays but have the decency to be thoroughly ashamed of myself after....haha!!
+ additionally I totally had this weird Wachowskis *snortlaugh* (view spoiler) ["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

Stopping at 23...(view spoiler) be glad to know what you think, so happy you're here reading with, btw I dunno that I coulda done this by myself...
Btw, was/is GR superslow/broken for you today??

:)) I'll still be here when you're in the mood to BR something agn...hope you've settled into the new workspace."
Settled in, though phones and internet aren't up yet. Still pretty busy with the COVID monster out there and working in Public Health, though we haven't had any cases (so far) with our migrant farmworkers. More are coming to the area soon to harvest tomatoes and sweet corn, so we're about to get busier....
I've been reading a little here and there, which is kinda pathetic given my norm. But it's progress. It's taking me weeks to get through a Fletcher book I should have knocked out in a couple of days...

No Internet and no phones...😂😂 back to the dark ages there, Lannister.......
But I hope the 🍅🌽 get in safe.

Things are for sure getting weird...(view spoiler)
re: Comment 873 - I've had a really hard time taking a lot of this seriously (view spoiler)
This is definitely one that is a way easier buddy read for me than a single read, probably would've put it aside for later otherwise. There is something weirdly intriguing about it though... like it's so slow that I can't help but think it's gotta lead to a big pay off right? Or if not big, at least weird enough that it'll have been worth the wait. Only one way to find out lol, going to go out and read in the sun before I lose it for the day.

Ch 26 (view spoiler)
Ch 29-36 (view spoiler)
I dunno, should I be feeling sorry for him?
Do I even like any of these chars? What are you thinking, Jess? About Lily, she doesn't seem to mind anything about anything, except drawing him on and then leaving mid-bounce, which is irritating.
Few chapters ahead...and all this...the game, the pontifications...the fact that ehe can't leave it alone and (view spoiler) IMO products of a middling kind of boredom, a childish/immature one... he's had an easy life so far and considered himself so intellectually above and beyond everything and everyone that no wonder he got sucked into the shenanigans which seem (to me) more tired and sordid than fetishistic or mindbendy at this point. But the puzzle is "hard to get" see, compared to everything that went before. And our ego always makes what is distant and unreachable seem glamourous and desirable compared to all the "peaceful"/restful things you already have, viz. the school and Alison which seem "fuddy-duddy". I hope this game doesn't break him too irretrievably but that kind of thing can never be done without internal consent. If Nicky goes on lickerty-split at this rate, Im worried he'll descend into a madness spiral.
Contrast the kind of "boredom" in Conchis that can conceive of all this and then try it out on other people...what are you making of him, so far? The char confuses me, baffles me frankly bcuz when you play with evil mindgames it could be damn fun at first but then soon you won'f know whether they're actually feeling for you (emotive) or just reacting to your stimulus (mechanical/chemical)...so if Urfe is having problems sorting out what's real and what's not...imagine how jaded, drained and fukkedup CONSCHIS must be.... :/ I'll be far sorrier for him when the game ends... but I wonder if (view spoiler)
The third contrast is more for us as readers and I probably noticed this on;y due to the constraints right now on going out: it's the brilliant harsh blues and yellows of the Aegean palette (sorry, I used a "fwoncy" word...haha the evil litfic has got me!) VS. the swirling white "fog" of Urfe's mental state. Ok now that feels like I wrote an essay for Uni...😂 but da,n does this book make me crave the beach!!!
Where have you reached?
What scenes hit you the most? Jess, truth told at this point I can't wait to finish this and walk away, UNLIKE Nick...bcuz its creepily distasteful but also compelling...like it "must be done" or it will sit in the back of your head...kinda like cleaning out a dead bug that's stuck in your screen door or something...
Aaaaand I'll sign off with that image... 😜 buuuut hopefully it replaces the book and the clock!!

Here's some closing thoughts:
(view spoiler)
Perhaps its just that we didn't pick an easy time to read twistedly clever things...I feel like I should say this once more........ Jessica...

I'll read everything you posted (which is a fuckton) and see if I can comment (as i've missed the beginning of these comments, I didn't start my own reread of the book, so i'll have to do everything by memory).

The mentality of exclusivity sometimes makes me laugh. The whole point of a book is to convey ideas but even here language is used to keep (certain) ppl out. (c) Z
- I don't like the exclusivity, but I get where it comes from. It just feels cool to throw smth in another language, it's aesthetically more pleasing maybe. But I don't really care as a reader - it's almost always something not important, so I don't bother looking it up. I've only looked up the last words in the novel only cuz the ending had alot to unpack, and I was grasping at straws.
and sometimes I get irritated by overly pretty turns of phrase. (c) Z
- dunno, I have a pretty high tolerance for pretty OR ugly phrases. considering I was fine with almost everything in Nevernight.
You're going to complain about not being able to understand English and then make all the epigraphs French quotes without any translation?! (c) jessica
- AFAIK, the epigraphs are not from the MC but from the author.
quote of a SPOILER from jessica:
(view spoiler)
- uhhh, didn't even pay attention to it. didn't notice it at all when reading.
.imagine how jaded, drained and fukkedup CONSCHIS must be.... :/ I'll be far sorrier for him when the game ends.. (c) Z
fucked-up - yeah. drained - why? this is entertainment for him.
the "trick mirror" ending that was not (c) Z
- what was the trick mirror ending?

Did you read the spoiler part of my review of the book by any chance? cuz imo that's the most interesting part - the ending of the book. Also the fact that there are two versions of the book with some minor plot changes.

@comment 878 I really don't know what to think of Cochise... there is some weird stuff going on and I can't figure out if Cochise is in control of all of/parts of/or none of what's going on. (I mean obviously he has some control, but maybe it's all on Lily/Julie's terms or something). Nicholas on the other hand just seems like a naive no-it-all that's probably going to end up being ruined by all of this.
I agree with you about looking forward to the end, I'm right there too. It's hard to read (kind of creepy, unlikable characters, lots of extra flowery, fancy descriptions) but it's also intriguing enough that I'd like to see how it all plays out.
@comment 879 oh man... how dark does this sucker get? It's definitely starting to head down some dark pathways.
@comment 882 I'll definitely check out your review once I'm finished. Will be interesting to see what happens

No Internet and no phones...😂😂 back to the dark ages there, Lannister.......
But I hope the 🍅🌽 get in safe."
It's getting there, slowly and surely....Still no phones, but we have internet. I told the IT guy he could leave the phones dead. I was kidding, mostly....

Hi Andy ;) yeah i wrote aLOT...
Haha, sorry, by now you should be used to this, da...I don't do things halfheartedly or in halfportions, I either play hard or abstain. I lost count of the number of times I posted the link to get you and Jessica to the Naughty Book Club but nobody evarr arrived, so arrivng here finally was just me giving up and retreating to my personal.
Re Conchis and "draining"...yup he sure seems to have indulged his glee to the most morbid extent but who works harder during a performance, Andy? The puppet or the master? If the planning, executing and manipulating all those moving variables wouldn't leave that creepy ole man as wrung as a dish rag, then I dunno what would...😂😜
Re the trick ending that was not, do you know now I have no clue why I used that phrase? i'm blanking out on it but seems clunky and ill-fitting and keeping it vague here, JESSICA DONT OPEN (view spoiler) right? Lemme go see if I made any more notes on this. I should've and seems terribly lax of me, given how much I wrote about the first half and how much you explored the puzzle ending...but I seem to have been a completely idiot, and have just highlighted large portions of text and just written "uggg"...or drawn wonky faces.
I have no excuse...haha here's a thought: do you think the literary pretentiousness cotched on like flowers 😂and I were just posturing??? But by then I honestly felt no curiosity anymore. It was like the seller who hoarded and withheld too much and ppl lost interest. This was what I was trying to say, uuuuuh I think.


I just swam thru not remembering much of anything except that (view spoiler) Anyway I only came to life when I read the last line of that book and I still dunno how I got there...my log/BR there was just like this... huge essays for the first half, then a eerie blankout for the last 1/3.
I just couldn't swallow that he will make us swim that far away from the shore and into the midbook before unleashing the tsunami on everyone like that.
I remember that we've talked about these chars before.......I used to beg you to read The Archives with me and you always rejected me.....with a Russian accent...nonchalantly....
Sorry...watched a lot of Statham movies and generic accent Eastern European bad guys are the best!! The shihadi terrorist bad guys are always so "earnest"...😂😂😜😜
I am babbling....

I can go thru such low tech phases that I sometimes leave my phone in my bag and forget it for three days. If SkyNet crashed and the end were nigh its us old school analogue John McClane types who will thrive.
Hope the grandkids are (thriving) too... Small kids are lucky bimz right now, they have no idea wot's going on..........

Ha ask me after Dewey's, planning to smash thru it moro...
Re 1Dark..how's about the 1st May since we are gonna go in a bit late on Mistborn?? (replied to that on your personal thread)
FYI here's my CR:
1. Red Sister with Beena
2. Dragonfly in Amber (will just read slowly at my own pace)
3. I completely forgot that I still have last 1/3 of Black Jewels 2 which fell thru the memory seive during my crazed February overbookings.
4. Gonna read Three Dark Crowns for Deweys and pull an allnighter. Aaaah, NOW WHERE IS THE PIRATE HAT EMOJI??
Here's my upcoming commitments:
1. April 25: Uprooted with Siobhan and Kari
2. May 01: One Dark Throne with you??
3. May 01 (defer till 15 May?): Mistborn Era 1...** with you, Elizabeth and others
4. May 10: Ascendant's Rite (Moontide 4)
5. May 15: Priory of the Orange Tree with you and Elizabeth again
NB: May 15: the latest we can start Mistborn 1 and still have it count for points.
There's also
6. Kimg of Attolia and
7. Blameless which are small books that I hope I can squeeze in somewhere, if the BRs are still happening.
And here is:
(view spoiler) ["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

I can go thru such low tech phases that I sometimes leave my phone in my bag and forget it for three days. If SkyNet crashed and the end were nigh its us old school analogu..."
Good point. I hate the ringing phones. But truth is, having a job half finished gets my OCD pinging.
And yes, the little kids are doing fine, pretty much unaware of the big picture. Though Kale (the six year old) did ask us the other day whey the Piranha Virus was out there....
But don't overestimate the big kids for being aware. Sometimes I think the little ones are more perceptive.

@Zaara regarding CH 36 (view spoiler)
My overall closing thoughts:
(view spoiler)
I'm still in kind of a weird head space about the whole thing. I'll try to add more to this once I organize my thoughts a bit more.
Also, overall I did end up enjoying the writing style. Parts were extra crazy flowery and went overboard, but other parts (like the hypnotism scene) were incredibly vivid.
@idiffer going to try and find your review, Curious to read it, will report back once I do

Essays. Well, yeah, to tell you the truth, it takes some mental preparation to dive into your many pages of text. But hey, it's okay, you do you))
Ending of Magus
(view spoiler)
Remember when I made a lame corona joke not to long ago in random chatter thread? Thing is, I never went back to check the replies. I'm a chicken since recently. Were ppl mad about the joke?

I'm currently waiting for a book I just found out about to arrive in the post that I'm really excited about (The Dinosaur Lords) so I'll probably be reading that at the same as One Dark Throne.

Essays. Well, yeah, to tell you the truth, it takes some mental preparation to dive into your many pages of text. But hey, it's okay, you do you))
Ending of Magus
[spoilers removed]
Remember w..."
Noone was mad!! <3

Dewey's readathon just ended and I managed the whole of 3 Dark Crowns and exactly 50% of Uprooted :) that's 500+ pages give or take and I'm very happy :)) this was my personal reading best EVAARR for any 24 hour period....💪 and to think I was so thrilled last week when I was reading Moontide at the rate of 250 pages/day.
I managed 17 full hours, slept 4, did other stuff for two hours, and one hour was for small five minute breaks. I also think I got very lucky with my book choices.



@Andy what she said, and we both replied on RC too :) don't worry!! ☺️
PS Andy/Jess, I will read the spoilers later. I'm just gonna log out and take a good long break ok?

Dewey's readathon just ended and I managed the whole of 3 Dark Crowns and exactly 50% of Uprooted :) that's 500+ pages give or take and I'..."
Well done Zaara. That is a lot of reading in a 24 hour period!!

@Jessica
(view spoiler)
Books mentioned in this topic
The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble's Braids (other topics)Wild Sky (other topics)
The Shadow of the Gods (other topics)
Paladin's Hope (other topics)
City of Stairs (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Courtney Milan (other topics)Ilona Andrews (other topics)
Only 14 planned for 2020 so far... 😋