House of Chains the team not the BR, Year 2!

[Veronica]

What exciting trips! I'm jealous! :-)

[Charlie]

Me too! I haven't been out the country for a few years. I am going to Cuba though in September for a wedding (not mine!) so super excited for that.

[Petrik]

Melissa wrote: "Siobhan wrote: "Melissa, I'm hopefully planning a trip to Japan later this year, (we're trying to decide what season is best). So I'm definitely coming to you for some recommendations!"

How exciti..."

Melissa. You're in Japan right? Is it true that Airbnb is now allowed there anymore? Or was it super difficult to host one? I forgot which one! It would be a shame if it's true because Airbnb in Japan has been such an awesome experience for me so far!

[Yanique, Thread Master]

Has anyone read the Pines series by Blake Crouch? Does anyone want to read them together? I'm thinking of marathoning the series next month.

[Veronica]

Charlie wrote: "Me too! I haven't been out the country for a few years. I am going to Cuba though in September for a wedding (not mine!) so super excited for that."

My husband and I would love to go to Cuba. You'll have to report back after your trip, please. :-)

[Charlie]

Veronica wrote: "Charlie wrote: "Me too! I haven't been out the country for a few years. I am going to Cuba though in September for a wedding (not mine!) so super excited for that."

My husband and I would love to ..."

I definitely will. We're going to a little island just on the very edge of Cuba called Cayo Guillermo. It looks like there's nothing there except sea, sand and trees. I'm really looking forward to the peace and quiet since my last holiday in Oman involved a desert crossing, camping under the stars and climbing a mountain! This is a nice slower change of pace.

[Veronica]

It sounds beautiful and a quick google looksee confirms it!

[Siobhan]

Yanique wrote: "Has anyone read the Pines series by Blake Crouch? Does anyone want to read them together? I'm thinking of marathoning the series next month."

I'd like to read them but my next month is already quite full. If you manage to plan with someone else, I'd jump in if I found the time.

[Mel]

Petrik wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Siobhan wrote: "Melissa, I'm hopefully planning a trip to Japan later this year, (we're trying to decide what season is best). So I'm definitely coming to you for some recommendatio..."

Last June was when they changed the laws. It's not completely illegal, just very difficult. For example, I had to leave the country for 5 months last year, but I am explicitly forbidden from renting out my place. Getting a license is a difficult, time-consuming, and expensive process, and even then there is a limit on how many days you can have people stay. I can just imagine the havoc this played with the zoning commission.

So there should be AirBNB in the future as licenses are issued, but I imagine it'll still be less common than in other places.

[Mel]

Also, I finished reading The Song of Achilles! It is an instant favorite! ❤ I've been gushing about it to all my friends.

Rating: ★★★★★
Pages: 389
Buddy Read: Yes
Challenge: Bingo
Total Points: 7.1

[Petrik]

Melissa wrote: "Petrik wrote: "Melissa wrote: "Siobhan wrote: "Melissa, I'm hopefully planning a trip to Japan later this year, (we're trying to decide what season is best). So I'm definitely coming to you for som..."

Ahhh okay! Thank you so much for the explanation. Too bad that it's made more difficult now, my experience with Airbnb is so much more better than hotel when I'm in Japan.

[Charlie]

Melissa wrote: "Also, I finished reading The Song of Achilles! It is an instant favorite! ❤ I've been gushing about it to all my friends.

Rating: ★★★★★
Pages: 389
Buddy Read: Yes
Challenge: Bingo..."

I really fancy this one. I read Circe and loved it so I have high hopes.

[Mel]

Charlie wrote: "I really fancy this one. I read Circe and loved it so I have high hopes."

I could say the exact same! I loved The Song of Achilles and Madeleine Miller's prose, so I have high hopes for Circe. Can't wait for the April buddy read.

[Seán]

We're getting close to a -10% difference for the lead - the competition is definitely still going, glad we're not drifting too far from that!

I'm officially going head-first into a Malzan re-read, so my progress might be a bit slower. I can make some good progress if I get a rhythm going but can sometimes slow down if I don't get a solid hour to sit down with a book during the day.

I'm still planning a ton of TTRPG stuff so am reading through every pdf I have lying around for ideas - that should translate into some nice points as well as I'm reading them in the background at work!

[Charlie]

So I had planned to spend the weekend reading Way of Kings but instead I binged Supernatural, oops!

[Seán]

Charlie wrote: "So I had planned to spend the weekend reading Way of Kings but instead I binged Supernatural, oops!"

Did you hear the Supernatural news over the weekend? :O :(

I'm about 60% through Way of Kings - really enjoying it, but I didn't spend a lot of time reading last week so I've stalled out a bit with it. The plan is to have it finished by the end of the week, and then either binge some Expanse books or maybe get re-reading Game of Thrones for no good reason.

[Charlie]

Yes! It's sad but at the same time I'd rather they go out with a bang, they've had a great run.

I'm enjoying WoK too, just taking ages to get through it for some reason. GOT re-read sounds amazing! I don't think I could bring myself to do it honestly.

[Seán]

Yeah, very sad but amazing they got that far. I'm still waaay back on Season 9 so I've still a lot to catch up on.

Also, I'm actually 60% through Words of Radiance - I'm getting them confused! I think the first 60-70% of Way of Kings is pretty slow, but it really ramps up after that and the second book has moved at a quicker pace too.

I might start GoT with audio - I've a couple of Audible credits I haven't spent. I've heard the narrator isn't amazing, but it'll be a way to get through the series a bit quicker. Trying to weigh up if adding it in on top of a Malzan re-read is overdoing it or not.

[Charlie]

I've never got past season 7 of Supernatural so I'm hoping this re-watch I can get through it all. This is my third go around wit the show.

GoT and Malazan at the same time is a big undertaking! Audio might make it better but I think with a series like GoT, audio might be a bit confusing.

[Siobhan]

I'd love to reread ASOIAF one day, but genuinely can't see when I'd have the time! Audio would be the answer probably, and it might be a bit easier to follow with it being a reread. I'd hate to attempt it as a first time read! Definitely confusing.

I finally finished Oathbringer last week so that was a good few points for the team, and a weight of my back haha. I'd been reading since January!

[Charlie]

Siobhan wrote: "I'd love to reread ASOIAF one day, but genuinely can't see when I'd have the time! Audio would be the answer probably, and it might be a bit easier to follow with it being a reread. I'd hate to att..."

It's a huge book, well done!

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

GoT, the first two books are amazing and then they start to slide with each one after IMO. The audio books which is how I did the last two books, the narrator has a really flat voice and I found myself zoning out and having to relisten.

[Charlie]

I think a bad narrator can really ruin a book. For something so dense like GoT you really need an enthusiastic narrator, someone to keep you interested.

[Petrik]

Scott wrote: "GoT, the first two books are amazing and then they start to slide with each one after IMO. The audio books which is how I did the last two books, the narrator has a really flat voice and I found my..."

I think the first three books were incredible. The rest after that is terrible (5), okay (book 4 and Fire and Blood), and great (A knight of the 7, The World of Ice and Fire). that's my opinion though, no idea where Martin is going with all this...

[Seán]

What I've found myself doing with some audio books is reading along while having the audio set to 2/2.5 speed. It makes some of the duller narrators a bit more upbeat, and I find I get through books a lot quicker but still take in all of the information.

It's a bit more effort than just sitting back with the audio alone, but if the narrator isn't quite clicking with me I'll try that as an option to still get a decent experience.

In terms of GoT, I enjoyed Feast and Dance well enough but I read them at release, so going back for a more solid re-read of the series as a whole might make me judge them differently.

[Charlie]

I think i'm back on track! After a few weeks of constantly starting new books without finishing any, I finished 1 last night and 1 more this morning. Hopefully I'll finish another tonight.

[Siobhan]

Woooo! Go on Charlie!!

[Seán]

Congrats Charlie - it's nice when things start to fall into place!

I've slowed down quite a bit. I've had a lot of time off work so have been enjoying time with our son - who's turning two in a few weeks :o

[Mel]

Although this has been a rather slow year trying to survive my 80 hour work weeks, this June I started reading again. Mostly a bunch of novellas and YA reads. I really enjoyed the Murderbot series in particular. Also glad that Silvana pointed out the webcomic On a Sunbeam which was a change of pace for me as well.

While I'm not as prolific as most people here, I jumped from 45.6 points to 81.1 , so comparatively it was a good month.

[Siobhan]

That's an amazing jump, Melissa! Well done! :D

[Siobhan]

I'm still going steady. I love how me, Barry and Charlie always seem to be around the same points and vying for 4th place on the team! XD

[Sha]

//collapses in thread
I just updated three months worth of books and boy are my arms tired
I still need to assign them to challenges
I know I read most of seven realms in a few days but I'm confused about the dates I think it was more spaced out but I don't remember the exact date.

[Mel]

Whoo! Way to go Sha! That jump of several hundred points really narrowed the gap, and that's without even the challenge points added in. Well done.

Haha, and it looks like you roundly took 4th place as well.

[Scott , Karsa Orlong]

Great job everybody. Sorry I've been a bit AWOL. The last year of work I've been doing a huge project so my time has been really limited as well. I've still read a lot but my buddy reads and commenting are way down. I'm in the middle of a month off from work and I've been out doing stuff with the kids and enjoying not being at the computer all day.

[Siobhan]

Melissa wrote: "Whoo! Way to go Sha! That jump of several hundred points really narrowed the gap, and that's without even the challenge points added in. Well done.

Haha, and it looks like you roundly took 4th pla..."

Haha there goes my observation! 🤣

Well done Sha!! That's amazing! :D

[Siobhan]

Scott wrote: "Great job everybody. Sorry I've been a bit AWOL. The last year of work I've been doing a huge project so my time has been really limited as well. I've still read a lot but my buddy reads and commen..."

Glad you're enjoying a bit time off, Scott. Being at a computer all day can be so draining.

[Veronica]

Awesome, Sha!

[Yanique, Thread Master]

SHA!!!! YESSSSS!!!
We just jumped up so many points.

[Barry]

Great job Sha!

Siobhan wrote: "I'm still going steady. I love how me, Barry and Charlie always seem to be around the same points and vying for 4th place on the team! XD"
I'm happy if I'm 6/7/8th if that means we're winning hehe.

[Siobhan]

Barry wrote: "Great job Sha!

Siobhan wrote: "I'm still going steady. I love how me, Barry and Charlie always seem to be around the same points and vying for 4th place on the team! XD"
I'm happy if I'm 6/7/8th i..."

Haha yes exactly Barry! :D

[Sha]

:D

I was doing the lone wolf thing for a while so there are no buddy read points (D:) but I should be able to wrong some challenge points out of that backlog.

... tommorow.

[Yanique, Thread Master]

Sha wrote: ":D

I was doing the lone wolf thing for a while so there are no buddy read points (D:) but I should be able to wrong some challenge points out of that backlog.

... tommorow."

You're not alone, only averaged about one BR a month so far. I've been reading from my physical TBR lots so I'm definitely getting those challenge points from that and the incomplete series challenge.

[Olivia]

I had to reduce my BRs because I’m a mood reader and they began to stress me :(

[Charlie]

Well done everyone! Lots of points for the team!

[Yanique, Thread Master]

Hey team mates! I'm about to finally start The Expanse series. Anyone want to BR Leviathan Wakes with me this month?

[Barry]

Can we start next month instead? My schedule is pretty full this month.

[Mel]

If it's next month, I might be able to hop on as well.

[Yanique, Thread Master]

Aw man, well I guess I’m on my own then 😩 I’ve been looking forward to this and I’m starting now. If you guys start next month, maybe we can read the other books together!

[Barry]

Melissa wrote: "If it's next month, I might be able to hop on as well."
Still interested to set up a BR starting August? Maybe every 10th of the month?

Yanique wrote: "Aw man, well I guess I’m on my own then 😩 I’ve been looking forward to this and I’m starting now. If you guys start next month, maybe we can read the other books together!"
You mind waiting for us to catch up before continuing with the series?

[Mel]

Barry wrote: "Melissa wrote: "If it's next month, I might be able to hop on as well."
Still interested to set up a BR starting August? Maybe every 10th of the month?

Yanique wrote: "Aw man, well I guess I’m on ..."

Yeah, I can start with the Leviathan Wakes at least. August 10th would work for me. Depending how the first one goes, then I'll see about scheduling the rest. It'd be fun to read Caliban's War the three of us if Yanique doesn't mind waiting.

As fair warning, I'm not the best at keeping to an extended monthly schedule. I either get distracted between volumes and lose interest, or I'm hooked and want to binge them at a faster pace.