Middle Grade Madness! discussion

Reading a book is great. But reading a book with a friend is even better!

So you want to buddy read a book with your friend? Host it on the group!
Tell me below what book you will be buddy reading and the date you will start and I will respond back with a link to a new topic created specifically for your buddy read.
- You can format your own buddy read however you like.
- Take as long as you like on the buddy read; there's no time limit.
- Buddy read with whoever you like! You can specifically send an invite to someone to join, or request below and it's open to everyone!
- The books you buddy read don't have to be middle grade (they can be YA too) but preferably keep it middle grade.
- Please be open to allowing new people to walk in on/join your buddy read. It's a nice opportunity to connect with more people!

I am going to re-read the Fablehaven series soon. (I don’t remember a lot of it.) Feel free to join at any time (or not). I will likely take a break between each book.

I tried reading Fablehaven once. Could not get into it😩 I’m willing to give it a try again though! When are you starting book 1 Audrey? I’ll set up a new page so we can discuss the book as we read it😊

I would join that buddy read! Last year I read the first four and liked them, but got hit with a reading slump as soon as I tried to read the fifth.

I might as well join! I’m interested in Fablehaven and it’s one of the Middle Grade books on my TBR

The more the merrier!! Great, so Audrey, the date you want to start is up to you. Let me know what the date is and I can set up a page for this buddy read!

July 1, then.

Audrey wrote: "July 1, then."

Tada! https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Let’s BR this!

Starting Winterhouse this week if anyone would like to buddy read... reading aloud to my son so probably 2-3 chapters per day.

Anyone want to BR Found?

@Ilsa first of all thank you so much for even asking on this dead dead discussion page and second of all I would absolutely love to! I really love time travel and that book is already on my TBR! I'll create a discussion page for our BR and when would you like to start?

Kadi wrote: "@Ilsa first of all thank you so much for even asking on this dead dead discussion page and second of all I would absolutely love to! I really love time travel and that book is already on my TBR! I'..."
I can do it really any time this month. Do you have a preference?

I'm halfway through a book right now but it's not a long read so I reckon I can finish it in about 2 days. So what do you think about starting on Friday?

Ooh that book looks interesting. I'll join!

I've also been wanting to read Quintessence. Would anyone want to BR that?

@Bella that book looks awesome! We could BR it after we finish Found if you like!

@Bella @Ilsa here's the discussion page for the Found BR: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
I can set up the Quintessence discussion page after we finish Found or whenever you'd like me to Bella😊

Another book I would want to BR is The Forbidden Stone. I first picked this up about 5 years but never finished the series. I want to finish and see if I love it as much as I used to. This one I'm fine with doing whenever. Just let me know when y'all are free.

@Bella I've come across that book before but for some reason it wasn't on my TBR already! I'd really love to read it, it looks like a great mystery and I love mysteries. We can buddy read it after Quintessence if you like! I'll set up a page for 18th Friday (the week after the Quintessence BR) but let me know if you want to do it at another time that suits you and I'd be more than happy to change it!

The link for the quintessence discussion: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
The link for the forbidden stone discussion: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thanks! Those dates work for me

Well, I just requested quintessence, and The forbidden stone. Hope to be joining the discussions! :)

@Virginia hope to see you join in too, the more the merrier😊

Kadi, let me know when you are ready to read . I'll just need to make sure I'm finished with whatever I'm reading because I am lousy at reading more than one book at a time.

Hey Lynn so this is a while away but how about we say February 1st? We can have that as the working date for now and then can change it closer to the time because it's hard to determine whether I'll be midway through a book by then😂 What do you think?

Kadi wrote: "Hey Lynn so this is a while away but how about we say February 1st? We can have that as the working date for now and then can change it closer to the time because it's hard to determine whether I'l..."

February 1st is fine for me. I have a copy of the book here at home, so whenever you are ready...

@Lynn ok great Feb 1st it is!

Oh! I would love to buddy read a book, that’s something I’ve always wanted to try, unfortunately I’ve a limited amount of books available for me, but I hope I’ll someday be able to anticipate

@Little Miss Booked if you mention a few of the books you have available to you then maybe we could see if myself or anyone else is interested in buddy reading it with you! That is if you want to buddy read them, of course😊

Is the Inkheart trilogy considered MG? I'm not sure, I think it might. I'm reading it this year with another group and I love that series, so I would love it if we could read it here as well :)

@Robin I’m pretty sure it’s MG yeah. I know when I was in the years that are considered mg at school people in my year read it. I would actually love to read it! I’ve always wanted to and I’ve watched the movie and I like the concept. When are your other group reading it?

We are reading the books in May, June and July, because they're bigger books and people have more time in the summer sometimes.
It's a little bit of a wait, but I think a lot of us are planning to read a lot of books, so a little of an early announcement can't hurt

@Robin that’s after my exams finish so I’m more than free and it’s something to look forward to so I’ll add it to my reading list for those months in anticipation!

I've read Inkheart as a kid and it was one of my favorites. It's considered middle-grade although it's VERY dark and has some amount of swearing. I consider the next 2 books in the trilogy more YA than middle-grade because there are some parts I absolutely wouldn't feel comfortable having a younger reader read. I also wasn't too crazy about the last 2 books, The first book is pretty eventful and scary, although it can be slow in some parts so I don't know if you-@Kadi- will like it. The writing is phenomenal though!! One of the best atmospheric writing styles I've seen.

@Kadi Yeah! :)

@Spencer that’s honestly not what I expected to hear because the movie wasn’t so dark and it is for kids, but I don’t mind that. I always say that middle Grade books surprise me with how dark they can get and I like that! If it doesn’t skirt around hard topics that’s a serious bonus. Not sure how I feel about the slow pace you’re saying it has but sometimes I don’t mind it, especially if it’s well-written, there’s no way of knowing till I start reading it... we shall see in May when we read book 1!
You want to join in with us and reread the series or at least the first book Spencer?

I actually loved book 2 and 3 even more then book 1, because it gets more fantasy. Which probably isn't a plus for you Kadi, but I love it

@Robin sometimes I like fantasy. It really really depends. If we're talking about cliche YA fantasy then we can take a guess that I'm not going to like it but mg fantasy can be very versatile and different. So we'll have to see! Some mg books I've read and loved have been fantasy so there is a chance that I could like it.

@Kadi This one I think is very original. So hope you're going to like it

@Robin I hope I'm going to like it too! I've already set up a page just so I don't forget about it: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

It's definitely darker and SOOO much better than the movie. I don't think I'll read it since I just read the trilogy last year, but I'll definitely chat!! Books 2 and 3 are pretty dark high fantasy, not your typical whimsical light-hearted MG, like not Nevermoor or KotLC. Think Eragon type of environment is the best way I can describe it. Also, the first book can stand as a standalone so if it doesn't work for you then there's really no pressure from the book to read the next 2.

Hi kady

Thank you for your reply, I've got some books on the way from the library. That means that these books will be available to me soon:

Boy, everywhere by A. M. Dassu
13 treasures by Michelle Harrison
Kikis delivery service by Eiko kadono
When you trap a tiger by Tae Keller

If anyone is interested in buddy reading any of the books

@Little Miss Booked I've read 13 Treasures and it was a great book so I hope you enjoy it too! I'd say all of those books sound alright. The one that intrigues me the most is When You Trap A Tiger. I'm pretty busy in February though and have lots of books already planned so when were you thinking of reading it?

I was thinking about starting the Magnus Chase series, so if anyone wants to buddy read, that would be great!

@Virginia aah that's not really something I want to read buuut is anyone else interested?
I'll give it a few days for anyone to respond and then I'll send a group-wide message out for you if you'd like, Virginia!

Actually, I think that I will just read it on my own. But thanks anyway Kadi!

Virginia wrote: "I was thinking about starting the Magnus Chase series, so if anyone wants to buddy read, that would be great!"
Hi, I'm just finishing the first book, but I'd be up to buddy read the second one if you ever change your mind :)

I really want to read some more middle grade with you guys. Anyone interested in reading books by Alex Gino?

@Robin some of that author's books look really interesting! But I'm currently swamped with things to read and also a lot of work to do so I'm going to have to pass. If anyone else is interested please do say and I can set up a discussion page for you guys!

@Kadi Maybe in the near future? I'm also pretty busy with reading other books. Was more to see if anyone wanted to read it somewhere in the next few months.

@Robin We shall see in the coming months! My exams finish at the beginning of June so after that I'm free basically all year, well, that's the plan but I won't know till that time comes😂

@Kadi Good luck in advance!