Read Along Partners

[Varla Fiona]

No problem. I also appreciate those aspects.

[Liezel]

Lauren wrote: "Varla, Liezel, and anyone else who wants to do a group read of The Passage - how about we start on Monday 10th September?"

I'm in, but might start off a bit slowly since work is a bit nuts at the moment

[Lauren]

That's fine; I'll no doubt read slowly as well, unless it turns out to be a real page-turner.

[Emma]

Hope you guys enjoy this book. Theres no guarantee that you will as we just found out with Laurens nomination of Cry to Heaven! Books are as individual as the people that read them. There is a part of me that really hopes that you love this book as much as I did, but there are so many varying tastes on this bookclub it would be rather difficult to find something that everyone likes. The persons books that I dread reading are Barbara's (Because they are so long) and Laurens because they are rather complicated and unusual.I guess we will find out.

Good luck :-)

[Lauren]

I'm quite optimistic about The Passage because it's something I've been wanting to read for a long time.

Do you dread my books or Lauren F's? I'm guessing mine because "unusual" is the kind of characteristic I often look for :)

[Barbara]

Sorry! I didn't nominate them because they are so long, but because these are books I really really loved. Also if the books I nominated were the only books I could read for the rest of my life, I would be happy with them. If you need help making your choice, let me know, I can help. :)

Yeah Lauren F's Cry to Heaven turns out to be a tough one, but that is what I like about this challenge. You might be reading books you never would have read.

[Lauren]

Perfume by Patrick Suskind is relatively short though.

I wish Lauren F had nominated a short book!

[Barbara]

Cry to heaven isn't that long. Ok it is 500+ pages but not excessively so. It is still under 600 pages. There are longer books in the challenge. I nominated most of them. :D

[Lauren]

Yeah, I was considering some of your other books but I changed my mind when I saw the page counts! And then I got a Choose Wisely task that I could use Perfume for, so I went with that.

[Barbara]

You missed out on some great reads! Even if I do say so myself. :)

[Lauren]

I think I added one or two to my tbr list :)

[Barbara]

Did you see your TBR list? It is several km long!

[Lauren]

I try not to think about that...

[Emma]

Lauren wrote: "I'm quite optimistic about The Passage because it's something I've been wanting to read for a long time.

Do you dread my books or Lauren F's? I'm guessing mine because "unusual" is the kind of cha..."

lol Yes Lauren I think youre books would be classed as unusual.Not that thats a bad thing mind you. Also I shouldnt really complain about Barbara's books being too long, as The Passage is rather a long book aswell.

[Lauren]

Barbara and I are planning to start reading Contact on 17 October, for those who want to join in.

After that - probably in November - we will be reading The Club Dumas.

[Varla Fiona]

I'm in for Contact

[Lu]

Ooooh I might join for Contact :)

[Lauren]

Awesome :)

[Barbara]

Yeah! The more the merrier!

[Lu]

Anyone wanna join me for in October?

[Barbara]

Ah why not! Like I said in the BoM discussion I have the book, so I might as well read it.
I must warn you though. I am not too excited about it. I don't know what it is about but everyone is recommending it even people who hardly ever read a book. That normally means I won't like it. But I am willing to read it and see for myself what everyone is so crazy about. So when I found it a couple of weeks ago in a second hand bookstore I bought it and that means: I am your girl!

[Lu]

Yay then we do it!

Anyone else?

[Lauren]

I might join in. I'm also apprehensive like Barbara is though, because sometimes extremely popular books are disappointing. I do want to see what the fuss is about though.

[Lu]

Come and and join us then :)

If anything I will probably not like it and you guys will!

[Barbara]

That would be funny if that happened!

[Lauren]

I don't want to read this until some time next year, but would anyone be interested in reading Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle? It's these three books:



They are seriously long historical novels (800-900+) pages, so you'd be in for the long haul if you wanted to read all three. I've been wanting to read them for a long time and I'd be very proud of myself for achieving that feat, so I was just wondering if anyone else would be keen. Not until next year as I said, but we could even make it a year-long project.

[Barbara]

I am interested. You have recommended books by Stephenson before and it might be time to read some.
A year long project might be a bit long. One book per 2 months might be better. But let's decide on that later (if and when more people have joined in).
I did some research on the books and I saw that they are also devided into 8 books. Where books 1 and 3 are divided into three books and Book 2 into 2. That might be easier for you to read.
I also saw that Stephenson himself describes them as science fiction but set in a historical setting.

[Varla Fiona]

That series is about characters first mentioned in one of his other books which I have on my TBR shelf so let me try and get to it this year and if I enjoy it then I will join you.

[Lauren]

Awesome :) Now I have a good reason to commit to it. I have book 3 in a deckle-edged hardcover, so I want to buy matching books, although it looks like it might be out of print :( Either way, I'll probably go for the 3 volumes instead of 8.

Do you mean Cryptonomicon Varla Fiona? I think I have an eBook of that. Perhaps we could start with that one instead?

[Varla Fiona]

Yeah, that's the one. I was planning to start it next month, unless we all want to wait for next year and start with that...

[Lauren]

I'll read it with you if you don't mind waiting. It can be a four-book read-along instead of three.

What do you think Barbara?

[Varla Fiona]

Waiting is not a problem. I have plenty to keep me going.

[Barbara]

I read somewhere that the Baroque Cycle was a sort of prequel to Cryptonomicon. and that the characters are related so It would be a book I would read anyway just to complete the story. So I am up for reading it together next year. That gives me some time to find a nice edition of the books!

[Varla Fiona]

Barbara, Baroque Cycle is about the descendants of the Cryptonomicon characters so how can it be the prequel?

[Lauren]

Varla Fiona wrote: "Barbara, Baroque Cycle is about the descendants of the Cryptonomicon characters so how can it be the prequel?"

I'd heard the same Varla Fiona, but I went to look it up now and Barbara is right - the Cryptonomicon characters are the descendants of the Baroque Cycle characters. The Cryptonomicon takes place during WW2 and the 1990s, while the Baroque Cyle is set between 1666 and 1714. However, The Cryptonomicon was published first, so I would start with that.

[Varla Fiona]

Oh, right!

[Barbara]

I am for starting with the Cryptonomicon as that was written first and then the other 3.

It gets a bit fuzzy when they are talking about who are descendants from whom. So I am not getting into that debate and will just see what happens and what the answers are when I read the books. But since Stephenson calls it science fiction I guess some sort of time travel could be possible if the connections seem to be a bit weird.

[Emma]

I have never read any of Neal Stephenson books before, the only book that I have of his is Mongoliad. Im not sure that I would be upto reading all 3 books, but I would be interested in reading Crypto nomicon. It might not be up my street but I will give it a go.

[Barbara]

Cool! All you can do is give it a try. I am not sure if it is something I'll like, but Lauren has on several occassions tried to get me to read one of his books. And these sound interesting so hey why not!?

[Lauren]

*feeling the weight of responsibility*
I certainly hope it is at least interesting. He's pretty cool in my opinion, and his book can be quite exciting, but they're not easy to read. Don't say I didn't warn you!
And at least our interests collide Barbara - historical fiction and sf.

I've been looking at The Mongoliad for quite some time Emma. I find it a bit daunting to be honest, especially since it's primarily historical (I think). Also, it's not just Stephenson but a whole group of writers.

[Barbara]

Hey, I read sf too! I just read a lot more sf when I was much younger. :D

You can't be held responsible if a book you have never read, turns out to be less than interesting (to say it politely). It is not your fault if an author hasn't done his or her job well and ruined perfectly nice trees by putting a crappy story on it. So don't worry!

Well maybe if we like the Baroque Cycle and Cryptonomicon we can also read the Mongoliad. Or we could leave that one for 2014.

[Emma]

Lauren wrote: "*feeling the weight of responsibility*
I certainly hope it is at least interesting. He's pretty cool in my opinion, and his book can be quite exciting, but they're not easy to read. Don't say I did..."

I got it free from mobibookz Lauren and it looked really interesting, its about a group of warriors trying to sav europe from a mongol invasion set in the 13th century, youre right it was written by 3 other authors.Totally agree with Barbara as regards responsibility issue. You posted wanting read along partners its our choice if we want to participate or not. If we dont like it then its no huge loss. Nothing ventured nothing gained.Lets give it a go :-)

[Lauren]

Yeah, I know you guys are right about the responsibility thing :)

I forgot you read sf Barbara, although you mostly read historical fiction don't you? And I've been dabbling with historical fiction lately, so it seems a good time to read this.

I'd be up for The Mongoliad, but I'd rather wait until 2014. Also, Barbara, it's part of a series so you may want to wait until all the books are out :) I've seen at least two short stories by Mark Teppo that are related to the series as well.

[Barbara]

Yeah I would like to wait until the complete series is out before I start it.

Well, I have periods that I read a lot of one genre or the other. Last year I read a lot of historical fiction, but also classics and mysteries, but this year I have read a lot of romance novels, fantasy/paranormal and YA. And a lot of Star Trek novels as my favorite fall back to finish challenges and use for the Choose Wisely challenge. :)
Most of what I read belongs to several genres at once though. I mean I read several paranormal science fiction romance novels this year.
The funny thing is that although most of us have one specific genre they read almost all the time, that can't be said for me. Ok, historical fiction is a favorite for me, but I read anything. Having said that, the really hardcore sf is something I hardly ever read and I recently discovered I haven't read a zombie novel yet. So if anyone has any recommendations, let me know!

[Claudia]

Barbara wrote: "I recently discovered I haven't read a zombie novel yet."

That is just wrong! I will send you one right away!
:)

[Barbara]

Oh, wauw! Thanks! I'll read it as soon as I get it and we can correct that lack in my reading experience. :)

[Claudia]

Oh dear ... I feel like I could potentially be the one responsible for putting you off zombie books for life from your very first zombie read. The book I chose might not be a very good specimen. Eep.

[Lauren]

Ok, now you have to tell us what you chose Claudia!

Now that I think about it, I've only read a few zombie novels myself. Death of a Saint by Lily Herne was the best of them. I thought I'd read more, but then I realised most of my zombie experiences come from movies; I've watched quite a few.

[Barbara]

Don't tell Claudia!!!
Don't spoil the surprise!!!
I will tell which book it is when I get it and what I think about it. Besides there must be a reason you chose this one so I will try it and see. Even if I don't like something I am always prepared to give it a second chance. Because with books it might be just that book or that author that I don't like and I might like another one.

I never watched a zombie movie either. I have seen some traditional zombies in the sense of the voodoo stuff but then only in series I followed that had an episode that covered something like that but nothing else. I wonder why I never watch that stuff.

[Lauren]

In that case, please go and watch 28 Days Later :)

It's pretty gory, but it's directed by Danny Boyle and has good plot/characters/acting, etc.