Book Snails Book Group discussion

https://www.goodreads.com/challenges/...

This thread is for progress updates for our most recent challenge. If you have questions or comments, please post them here as well.

1. “The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt

**This is our 2020 Yearly Read! Reading this one will check off both the Yearly Read and this challenge. 1 Book, 2 Chances to Read it in our group this year!**

✔2. “Normal People” by Sally Rooney

3. The Broken Earth trilogy by N. K. Jemisin

**Even more challenging because this is 3 books!**

4. “Pachinko” by Min Jin Lee

5. “Exit West” by Mohsin Hamid

6. “Less” by Andrew Sean Greer

7. “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr

8. “Americanah” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

9. “An American Marriage” by Tayari Jones

✔10. “The Power” by Naomi Alderman

I've not read any of these yet :(

Any Snails planning to tackle this challenge?

Which of the 10 books above did you like the best, or dislike the most?

If you are reading (or have finished) our 2020 Yearly Read, The Goldfinch, our discussion thread is here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I've only read All The Light We Cannot See and thought it was outstanding.

So the challenge is to read these ten books (or less) Keli posted? I only read Donna Tartts so there’s a lot of interesting titles there for me!

Pachinko is an amazing book. Read it with my book club ladies. I just bought my own copy. I was a little indignant that it was on the bargain rack.

Dayna wrote: "Pachinko is an amazing book. Read it with my book club ladies. I just bought my own copy. I was a little indignant that it was on the bargain rack."

Thanks for the input, Dayna :)

It does sound interesting (I checked out the blurb). Might be a good book to suggest for a Quarterly Read, at ~500 pages.

Does anyone want to buddy read All the Light We Cannot See? I have had this book in my reading pile for about 18 months. It keeps getting bumped. This book will cover several challenges in this group (if anyone is taking part). I'll happily set up a reading guide to try and keep us together.

Keli...I think I have a copy of "All the Light We Cannot See" and if you're still interested in a buddy read, please let me know when you'd like to start.

readage 📚☕️ wrote: "Keli...I think I have a copy of "All the Light We Cannot See" and if you're still interested in a buddy read, please let me know when you'd like to start."

How about April 1st? Or at some point in the first week?

Tomorrow is the first Allison. I will post a breakdown of how I hope to read and will likely start on the 2nd.

Allison, and anyone else who may want to join, here is my breakdown. Cos I'm reading other books and still going to work and whatnot, I was only going to try to fit in around 50 pages a day. The chapeters are incredibly short, so this could turn out like Death of Bees, and I might finish it in a week. But I'm going for a two week schedule. I'm going by chapter titles with a rough page guide, cos we'll probably have different editions.
Day 1: part Zero - part one/chapter Rumors pg 61
Day 2: part one/bigger faster brighter - end of part 2 pg 106
Day 3: part 3 - part 3/sum of angles pg 163
Day 4: part 3/perfumer - end of part 3 pg 197
Day 5: part 4 - part 5/proposal pg 249
Day 6: break
Day 7: part 5/you have other friends - end of part 5 pg 299
Day 8: part 6 - part 7/loudenvielle pg 351
Day 9: part 7/gray - end of part 8 pg 393
Day 10: entirety of part 9 pg 438
Day 11: entirety part 10 pg 483
Day 12: break
Day 13: the rest of the book
I'm going to start tomorrow (Friday) so may sure to spoiler if you get ahead of me in reading.

Sorry, I missed this one!!

Thanks for posting a reading guide, though. Have you finished the book? Thoughts?

Alison have you started, yet?

I've only read to part 3. I'm really starting to enjoy it. The first 60 pages felt slow. I don't know why. It might be because it opens with such drama and then goes back in time to introduce us to the two main characters. It could also be because I kind of know where the bits back in time are heading, the atrocities and horrors along the way. I find Nazi time period books hard, they're always so tense, I get anxious. Probably because we all know how ugly it can get.
By part 3 the Nazis have just arrived in Paris. Marie-Laure and her father (view spoiler)[are fleeing to some contact from the library. We know by now that the original destination, to the contact, doesn't last long because they end up with the uncle in Saint Malo and we know that M-L misses her father when she is in Saint Malofo. So we knocked that something happens to him but it's all just foreshadowing. Little bits of foreboding dropped like mouldy breadcrumbs to us to follow. It's getting page turnery. They also (hide spoiler)] have such a beautiful relationship. I love the village and puzzles he made for her. Funny that our former book of the month is center stage at one point.

And hope you're liking it.

I should be on schedule now with my reading guide. Day 3 tomorrow.

Hi Keli. I definitely won't be able to keep up with your schedule but at least I've started and I'm enjoying the book so far 😉 I'll let you know how it's going

I’m reading it too, in my own (always very fluctuating) pace. I think it’s beautiful!! Starting on ‘Exodus’ now. Enjoy the read!

Yay! I'm glad you're joining us, Pien. I'm not really sticking with my schedule either, Alison. 😏 It's more like a rough guide. I spent my reading time yesterday on The Book of Three and today getting in a bit more of Just For You, Sir. So I haven't advanced any further on All the Light. We'll probably finish it together around the same time.
I will say that Doerr's prose is lovely. It has an aesthetic.

This thread is getting confusing... theme challenge and buddy read.🤔 Think it needs to be clarified. 💁🏼‍♀️

So I just couldn't finish All the Light We Cannot See. It just moved so slowly. I'm going to give it another try this year. But I think I'll go for an American Marriage next as I've got it.

Has anyone read anymore of these? Did either of you, Pien or Allison, finish the book?