Thomas Cromwell Trilogy - buddy read

[Tien]

Yay!! Are you going on ship then will be on ship for however long your deployment is for?

[Tien]

I've finished Part 1, Dee.

Assuming you're somewhat busy settling onto ship & new routine. I'll pause & read something else meantime.

You're right, this one feels like it reads faster but that may be because we're now used to her writing and characters & setting are familiar. Also, it's a shorter book.

Still meh from me though...

[Dee]

I finished part 1 up last night - def much quicker than the first book

Feeling meh too but not so much so that I don’t want to finish the trilogy kwim?

[Bea]

Dee wrote: "I finished part 1 up last night - def much quicker than the first book

Feeling meh too but not so much so that I don’t want to finish the trilogy kwim?"

LOL. Dee, I am surprised that I intuitively knew what KWIM meant! Thanks for the grin today!

[Tien]

LOL @Bea and *face palm* - I had no idea what kwim was/is!! Had to google that ha ha ha... I was going to ask, what are you talking about? Is that a typo... did not even register that it's some acronym thingy lol

I'm approximately 80% so will finish tonight. Am away Thurs-Sat so wanted to finish this before I go since I won't be taking the tablet with me. Still meh... felt like someone's (Cromwell's) rambling thoughts- stress on the 'RAMBLING'

[Tien]

Finished!!
★★

my review - in summary, meh!

Let me know if you're still keen on book 3, Dee... I'll read only if there's a party ;)

[Joanna]

I'm interested in book 3.

[Dee]

Cool Joanna! I should finish up book 2 this weekend then we can figure out plan for Book 3

[Meg]

I might be up for book 3 too

[Tien]

Let me know if you manage to finish, Dee...

And everyone, how are your availabilities for this buddy read?

[Dee]

I have 100pgs left - going to try and finish today - has planned yesterday but got caught up quilting

How about next weekend to start?

[Tien]

sure... I've no other buddy read scheduled to date. I'll just have to check book availability but I don't foresee any problems

[Meg]

I think that would work for me. How long did you plan to spend reading it? Mine will be an ebook, which is my slowest reading mode.

[Tien]

Meg wrote: "I think that would work for me. How long did you plan to spend reading it? Mine will be an ebook, which is my slowest reading mode."

Um, I haven't check how it's divided and I'll be reading on ebook too... have to borrow digitally. But if it's same format as first 2 books, probably a week on Part 1 and a week on Part 2? Something like that... though this book seems longest so we may take a little bit longer.

[Dee]

We’d need to see layout but the previous ones have been a book with 2-3 parts and we aim for 2ish parts a week - library is 21 days so trying to read in that period if possible

[Bea]

My copy is in the library and just needs to be picked up.

[Dee]

Finished up Bringing up the bodies today - can’t believe it took until oh 370 to explain what that meant (bringing them up for their trial)

I was leaning towards 2 stars but the last 50 or so Pgs pushed it to 3 for me

[Tien]

Dee wrote: "We’d need to see layout but the previous ones have been a book with 2-3 parts and we aim for 2ish parts a week - library is 21 days so trying to read in that period if possible"

ok, borrowed mine and there are 6 parts so aiming at 2 parts a week then though the first 2 will be longest (approx 300 - 200 -200 pages)... This is a BIG book - I may struggle :p

I'll do my best to keep up but I may have to stretch this a bit longer to read...

[Meg]

I think I'll be able to manage that

[Dee]

worse case we reborrow from library again - mine hasn't had a huge waitlist (i'm sure that will jinx me)...

[Bea]

Oh, my! I picked up my copy today. It is a 7 (SEVEN) day loan! I don't even know if it is renewable. That's over 100 pages a day...doable if I read nothing else or ignore my yard for a week.

[Dee]

Yikes bea! Hopefully you can reborrow it if there are no holds

[Bea]

Dee wrote: "Yikes bea! Hopefully you can reborrow it if there are no holds"

Yeah, or maybe another edition will become available. Anyway, I will give it a go.

[Tien]

oh dear, does it mean that you have 7 days from today? We weren't going to start til Sunday but you can start first, Bea!

Why would they do 700 pager for 7-day loan!?

[Bea]

Tien wrote: "oh dear, does it mean that you have 7 days from today? We weren't going to start til Sunday but you can start first, Bea!

Why would they do 700 pager for 7-day loan!?"

I have no idea. It did not even register until I left the library and put it on the seat of the car!

In the meantime, I will look around for another option just in case it cannot be renewed.

[Tien]

I just noticed that my ebook is due back in 7 days, yikes! I don't think I have any issues renewing, I hope... or I think I should be able to borrow elsewhere. There doesn't seem to be much demand around here.

[Bea]

Put book on hold with another library...just in case. However, it is currently checked out, so that might mean a wait.

[Dee]

i'll see if i can check out today and we can kick off if you want?

[Bea]

I'm definitely not making 100 pages a day. So far I have only read 22.

[Tien]

I also want to try to finish SRC before I attempt this ha ha ha

I've got a handful books left & may just make it ;p

[Bea]

I was able to renew the 7 day book...so now I need to start really reading it. Did we make a schedule...or is everyone else delaying this to Sept?

[Dee]

i started it the other night - its roughly 36pgs a night to finish in my 21 day borrow - i should finish up book 1 this evening - i know Tien was trying to finish SRC up before diving in

[Tien]

Dee wrote: " - i know Tien was trying to finish SRC up before diving in"

yep and failed to finish the couple I wanted to finish last night so will do so today! Hope to get some pages read today but otherwise, will read lots tomorrow ;p

There wasn't a 'fixed' number page wise, Bea... We are aiming at 3 weeks as Dee's limit to her borrowing which is approximately:
2 parts-ish per week
1 chapter-ish per day

As we're both on digital borrowing, page numbers vary a bit (I find page numbers change if I change my tablet's display - landscape / portrait).

Congrats on finishing SRC, Dee... Sorry it took iso confinement to do that :( but I hope it did help with the boredom :)

[Meg]

I'll start reading tonight

[Dee]

Tien wrote: "Dee wrote: " - i know Tien was trying to finish SRC up before diving in"

yep and failed to finish the couple I wanted to finish last night so will do so today! Hope to get some pages read today bu..."

like i said in my task - the worst part was seeing that swimming pool and not being allowed to use it - we tried just sitting out there one day and got told we weren't allowed - italy is really serious about their 14 quarantine upon arrival in country

[Dee]

i'm at the start of chapter 3 of book 1 - that section is also like 100pgs - so probably will take through tomorrow to read it

[Tien]

I started reading last night and got to somewhere in the middle of chapter 2. I'm still driven to confusion with the perspective -a number of times I have to puzzle out which 'he' did she mean?!?!

[Bea]

Tien wrote: "I started reading last night and got to somewhere in the middle of chapter 2. I'm still driven to confusion with the perspective -a number of times I have to puzzle out which 'he' did she mean?!?!"

Oh, my. I thought my confusion over the "he" was simply due to the amount of time since I read Book 2. Glad to know I am not alone!

[Tien]

oh no, Bea... I've been confused since book 1 - it's her style of writing/this particular perspective.

[Dee]

some is ppl looking at thomas cromwell's reaction vs. being from his point of view (i think)

[Meg]

I'm about halfway through chapter 2. I'm somewhat enjoying it, but I really don't get all the fuss about this series. It's fine, but I don't see why it's won so many awards.
I have read a lot of books about the Tudors in the past few years (mostly Phillipa Gregory). So in some ways it's a nice change to read about them in a different voice (I've found the other books very same same), but also I feel like I know this story to death so it''s not hugely exciting. I think I might find it hard to follow some of the plot, the way Mantel writes, if I didn't already know it so well.
So in summary, tracking about 3 stars for me (which is what I've rated the other two).

[Dee]

@Meg - i feel the same way - not sure why all the accolades for it - but yeah

i'm on book 2 of part 2 (which is confusing in and of itself) - so like 250pgs in

[Tien]

I don't read Tudors / medieval stories at all so you could say I don't really know much yet I'm still not enamoured of this trilogy.

I didn't manage to read any last night, so still in Part 1 (beginning of chapter 3). I renewed my loan; only 10 extra days - not sure I can finish in 10 days so I hope I can renew again!

[Meg]

Power is out and child is sleeping already, so looks like I'll be spending the whole evening reading this on my phone!

[Tien]

I'm tempted to give it up as a bad job...?

I'm just not finding any joy in it...

[Dee]

i won't be hurt if you give it up tien - i'm still mildly interested enough to keep going

[Bea]

I haven't read for a couple of days due to read-a-thon. I really do not want to give up, but the story just is not grabbing me at all.

[Tien]

ah thanks, Dee... I do feel bad :)

I was using this for read-a-thon too so not sure what I do with those page counts! such a waste :( :( :(

[Meg]

I don't hate it, but I wouldn't say I'm enjoying it. Definitely not one I can sit and read all evening.
But I may not have much choice ; 26 hours later we still don't have electricity :(

[Bea]

Meg wrote: "I don't hate it, but I wouldn't say I'm enjoying it. Definitely not one I can sit and read all evening.
But I may not have much choice ; 26 hours later we still don't have electricity :("

Wow, Meg! I hope you have a lot of candles!