RMFAO (Reading My Frigging A** Off) discussion

Hello RMFAO-ers,

We're going to begin 2018 with a bang at RMFAO with a buddy read of Ready Player One by Ernest Cline.

Ready Player one released on 16th August 2011, and in 2012, the book received an Alex Award from the Young Adult Library Services Association division of the American Library Association and won the 2012 Prometheus Award.
A film adaptation, directed by Steven Spielberg, is currently in production and slated to premiere on March 30, 2018 - the main reason behind this buddy read!

So get ready for this amazing month-long buddy read that will be beginning on 5th January 2018.

Comment here to announce your participation. You can join the buddy read at any time during the month.

I didn't know this was going to be a movie! After watching the trailer for it on YouTube, I just have to read this. I'm not a video game person - at all. However, it looks like the story is about more than video games. I feel a bit intimidated by the book, since I'm older than the targeted audience (I'm 55) and might not get all of the references in the story. But hey, that's what Buddy Reads are for! If you're confused or have a question about the plot, you ask someone else reading it to help you.

Cheryl wrote: "I didn't know this was going to be a movie! After watching the trailer for it on YouTube, I just have to read this. I'm not a video game person - at all. However, it looks like the story is about m..."

Age never matters when it comes to stories. I'm pretty sure that if Steven Spielberg is directing it, the book has to be good and would definitely cater to he non-video-games-playing crowd as well. And you're right, we all have each other to understand the references we might miss.

I'm really, really excited for this read!!

I'm so excited about this!

I was a teenager in the 80s - complete with my Rubik's cube (and Snake, and Barrel), Binatone TV Game and Commodore 64! I wore leg warmers, bright plastic jewellery and gelled my hair up to great heights with Boot's Country Born bright blue gel :D

I might miss any USA-specific references, but I can ask you chaps if I do :D

I just bought the paperback today, so I will start reading it on January 5th for the Buddy Read. It looks pretty good!

Amanda wrote: "I'm so excited about this! I was a teenager in the 80s - complete with my Rubik's cube (and Snake, and Barrel), Binatone TV Game and Commodore 64! I wore leg warmers, bright plastic jewellery and..."

I was a 90s kid but I have a special place for the 80s, just like the 90s :) I miss wearing scrunchies... :D

And same here, even I'm not from USA. I'm glad you're joining us!!

Cheryl wrote: "I just bought the paperback today, so I will start reading it on January 5th for the Buddy Read. It looks pretty good!"

Awesome. I got the book too (as my bday present last week.) It does look good!!
Even I'll be starting on 5th. :)

Happy birthday, Heena! Books are always a great gift to get.

Thanks, Cheryl! :) Books are the best gifts ever!!

Here's what I got:

It's 4th already! I'm so excited that I might start reading before midnight (though I'll try not to.)

Yay! The Buddy Read begins today!

Yay! (Though it began for me yesterday, I live in GST+5:30 time zone, but nevermind.)

I'm on page 25 and this book's hook is really good and unique. I'm already in love with the concept! The writing is good and so far I've already come across a couple of names of the video games that I've played in the nineties. I knew about the story of how the creator of Adventure hid his name in the game, so it was good to read about that. This is turning out to be even more interesting than I was expecting.

I'm feeling so elated reading about video games that I have to share my experiences here! I love(!!) playing video games!!!! I'm not an expert, but I do know my games and gaming consoles. I started playing my first video game when I was 3 years (or so my mom told) - I just remember playing them since like forever. My childhood favourites were - Tank, Mario, Contra, Tetris (I can still play this game silly for hours) and Duck Hunt. Though Jaws, Donkey Kong and Ice Man were also good. Presently, I have a PS3 but it has not been cracked yet, so I have limited number of games, though the 10 I have are super awesome and I have already finished 4 of them. In Play Station, God Of War is my absolute favourite!! Sly Cooper is next and Uncharted comes after that. Though presently I've just started playing the Assassins' series games and they are absolutely brilliant. I do want to play The Last Of Us so that is on my radar for when I'll be buying my next game.

I am enjoying this book more than I thought I would. Even though I was in my twenties during the 1980s, I understood ALL of the movie and music references. I have seen every movie mentioned in the book - although I don't have the dialogue memorized, like the book's characters.

I never was much of a video game player. However, I even recognized some of the arcade games mentioned. I think you can still enjoy the story, even if you're not a gamer, if you approach it as solving a mystery. It's all about finding clues, and any mystery lover can appreciate that.

I am not joining in on this read because I read it last January but I did want to say that I loved this book. The part that stands out in my mind is the stacks of trailers used for limited space. Quite ingenious! Hope everyone enjoys the book.

Kathy wrote: "I am not joining in on this read because I read it last January but I did want to say that I loved this book. The part that stands out in my mind is the stacks of trailers used for limited space. Q..."

Kathy,

Feel free to comment on the book, anytime you'd like. Even though you aren't reading it with us, we'd still like to hear your opinions about it.

I was glad to see that chapter 26 mentions one of my all-time favorite movies. I won't mention the name of the film, because it's kind of a spoiler in the quest to find a gate. This is such a fun book!

I finished the book, and the ending was fantastic! A very fast-paced read.

I am thankful to Heena for picking this book as a Buddy Read. I would never have picked it up if it wasn't for this group. (How many times have I said that? Lol.) I love this group. I have so much fun here!

I will post more about the book as others post. I don't want to give any plot points away.

I'm on Chapter 22 and what a ride!! I wanted to check in here before and share a couple of passages that I really liked, but I got busy with work and wasn't able to come here at all.

Here are a couple of lines I really liked:

The Hallidays looked like an ordinary American family. There was no hint that the stoic man in the brown leisure suit was an abusive alcoholic, that the smiling woman in the floral pantsuit was bipolar or that the young boy in the faded Asteroids T-shirt would one day create an entirely new universe.
- Page 103

Art3mis beat Parzival to the Jade Key. I knew something like this would happen because Wade really lost it in the last couple of chapters. He really needed a boost. And I really like Art3 so I'm not sad that it wasn't Wade who found the key first.

I'm not sure why but I have a feeling about Aech playing some big part int he chapters to come. Maybe it's just because I wanted Wade to be his friends, and felt sad when he and Aech grew apart. Though I hope Aech's character doesn't turn out to be something entirely different. OMG, I can't wait to read further.

So far I loved all the quests and loved reading the names of some of my favourite stuff (bands, movies and cartoons.) And I do agree with Halliday that Indiana Jones movies died with the crystal skull. After that even I stopped watching them all together.
I'm planning to download Adventure and playing it once I get some time this (or the next weekend)! I can't wait to play it :D

I'm done with the book and absolutely loved it!! 5 glowing stars :)

And here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I loved your review, Heena! This book works on so many levels. It's about a quest, the online world, nostalgia, video games, friendship, and trying to make the world a better place. The quest will appeal to fans of Indiana Jones, Allan Quartermain, Treasure Island, and Lord of the Rings, so you really don't have to be a gamer to enjoy it. It was such a fun experience!

Thanks, Cheryl.
I agree, this book is for everyone, gamers and non-gamers alike. There are just so many things so inevitably there's something for everyone.
I'm so glad we did this buddy read!

Dagny wrote: "I forgot to put this book on hold in time to get it for the Buddy Read, so just saved it for the Fantasy portion of the December Genre Challenge.

I started it last night and am really enjoying it!..."

I'm so glad you're reading this book, Dagny. This is by far one of the books that managed to really impress the hell out of me!
I had to Google it when I read about the Zapruder film and I'm glad that I did it because initially I thought it was some made up name that author gave as an imaginary comparison.

This book was so insanely amazing that when I started watching the movie (in which they totally destroyed the spirit of the book) I turned it off after 10 minutes only because it was a total buzz-kill!

I loved this book, hope you all enjoyed it!