You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

You are not limited to the two chosen books. You may read any book within the theme "Book with an adventure on the open road" if you prefer.

In order to receive a badge you must:
1. have read the book before or during June 2025.

2. discussed it in this thread. Discussion must be more than "I read the book and I liked it". Discussion requires something more substantial and analytical of what you read. Please elaborate on your thoughts on at least 5 of the following topics:
- Setting
- Characters
- Writing style
- Genre
- How the book made you feel
- Which parts stood out
- Did you/will you read more by the author
- Anything else related to the book you find worth mentioning

This can be done in one post after finishing the book, but preferably in a few posts while reading. Please refer to our group spoiler policy for further information.

3. Report that you have read AND discussed the book in the reporting thread (include a brief summary of what you thought of the book).

General Rules:
1. Please mark your spoilers with the spoiler tags along with mentioning what stage of the book you are at so other's don't get a nasty shock. Chapter numbers/titles are generally best as they are the same across all formats and editions. See our spoiler policy
2. The book may be combined with the Year Long Challenge, Topplers, and Monthly Challenges.

Happy reading!

I am planning on reading The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett, but won't get to it until after the Toppler.

I’m planning to read The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis.

LoriLovesBooks wrote: "I’m planning to read The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis."

I read this book and really enjoyed it, Lori. You have to press the "I Believe" button because it was really quirky.

Started The Road to Tender Hearts last night. It seems to be a quick read and I am already loving the MC PJ. He's quirky, over the top and kind of loveable.

I was reading Homecoming for the monthly challenge, but put it aside to read after the Toppler. It was to dense to read right now.

I'm at about 20% in my book and I am totally engaged. it is really the oddest book. The events that are happening are pretty tough - sad, but the voice/narrator is so fresh and compelling. It's like you are sitting around with a couple of good friends drinking coffee and one of the friends is telling you a story that is so unbelievable that you are listening with open mouth and crying and laughing.

This is a good book.

It sounds intense but good, Jayme.

I don't know if you would consider The Snow Gypsy as fitting the theme. In the 40's, post WWII, Daisy travels from England to Spain in search of her brother. She travels by train and Romani "vardo" around the various areas visiting the areas her brother had been according to his letters. I think it does.

Rose's mother and father had died in the war (they were Jews), and all she had left was her brother missing in Spain. She decided to go to Spain to try to find him hoping that he had survived the war.

She starts out in Carmanque, France where she meets a flamingo dancer and joins up with them as they return to Spain. She stays in the Sierra Nevada Spain area for a short time before striking out on her own into Andulsia, and finally ending her journey in Madrid.

The events of the story were 8 years after that Spanish Civil War in which her brother was fighting alongside the Nationalists.

I like books like this because they bring awareness to historic events that I didn't know about. I didn't know much about the Spanish Civil War except that it happened. The book doesn't go into detain about the war except to expose how (view spoiler)[it had been used as a cover for the persecution of the Romani people. Even after the war, the discrimination continued. (hide spoiler)]

I gave the book 3-1/2 stars rounded up to 4. I enjoyed the story and am glad that I read the book. The characters I really enjoyed were Nieve, the exuberant 8 year old full of energy and wonder, and Gunesh, Rose's dog. Gunesh was a character in her own right.

I felt a bit confused. At times, especially in the high mountain villages, it felt like you had stepped back in time, but then Rose's actions and verbiage seemed more modern that the 1940's (view spoiler)[in specific the casual sex and the way she spoke like using light profanity like saying "Oh, God, it is so beautiful." I'm sure that they said things like that back in the 40's, but having read a ton of WWII books, it felt a bit off. (hide spoiler)]

Sandra, if you think this fits the theme, I will report this book in the reporting thread.

Janice, I read your description and the blurb, and I also asked AI, and it seems the journey is a central point of the plot, and although it is not obvious how much time they actually spend on the open road, the descriptions emphasize that their journey from the Camargue to the Sierra Nevada mountains is a significant part of the story, and the road portion of the novel is a substantial part of the narrative.

So I think it fits the theme. Go ahead and report it.

Thanks Sandra. It's fun when you read a book and then discovers it fits the current theme.

Yes! It's always a happy surprise.

I finished The Road to Roswell. A very enjoyable read. It’s my first Connie Willis book but I have had my eye on Doomsday Book.

I was surprised that her alien couldn’t speak and wondered how that was going to work. But I think she handled that well.

I had to stop reading my book because of the Toppler and I just spent the afternoon reading and finishing it. I loved The Road to Tender Hearts. It was quirky, funny, unbelievably sad, but uplifting too. The more I think about this book the more I know that I am going to have to go back and change my 4 to a 5 star read. Read it.

WOF Karin

The Roads We Follow by Nicole Deese
pages 384 paperback

Genre- a blend of contemporary romance, family, grief, drama and Christian.

This is a road trip story; the road trip lasts most of the book.

The two main characters are children of country singers, one still active and the other who retired about 30 years prior and who recently died. Raegen, the much youngest sister of three, is working in her mother's company under the direction of her oldest sister, but aspires to be a novelist. Micah is recently unemployed from work as a school psycologist. He's recently lost his mother and has learned something that rocks him to the core, so he wants to read the journals Raegen's mother told him she's found.

This is my fifth book by Nicole Deese, and one of the better ones (4+ stars--usually she gets 3 or 4 star likes from me.) I now want to read the other two books in this series (I started in the middle because it's a road trip.)

What I liked is that the characters had backstory; the only thing that stopped this from getting a 5 is that while her characters aren't stock characters and she did a good job, it wasn't as brilliant as my highest standards for this. This could partly be because it's in first person, but I'm not sure that's enough since her use of language is strong. There are some good twists in this, and I mean more than one (whether or not I saw any of them coming isn't the point.)

How did this book make me feel? That depended on where I was in the book since it deals with grief, family strife, thwarted dreams and a number of other things, but in the end it was a feel-good novel by the end, which is what I want given all that's going on with my aging father and the world in general.

I was reading My Friends and was surprised that they take an extended train trip. I was excited that it would fit the theme, then thought maybe not since it's a train trip, but then I saw Janice's comment above and think maybe it does fit. (It's been a bit of a rollercoaster. lol)

I don't want to give too much of the plot away, but two characters take a long distance train trip because one does not fly. I'm only about halfway through right now, but it sounds like they will have at least a couple connections to make.

The background story in the book is being told while they travel. I'm really enjoying the story, although it has a lot of sad parts and my eyes may have leaked. I'm not sure they could be broken. 😉 I really feel for the kids in this story. It is heartbreaking at times, but so well-written. I really don't want to put it down.

I read A Thousand Miles - it's a second-chance romance where a couple takes a 1000-mile road trip as part of their high school promise.

To be honest, I was a bit disappointed by the story. I really really want to read a good friends-to-lovers, but most books keep disappointing me. The story was fine, and it was funny, but I felt the MCs were lacking chemistry. I mean, I really don't think they are right for each other or for anyone else - they are such confused individuals - I don't even understand why they broke up in the first place!

I'm at 70% in My Friends and they are still traveling. I still don't want to give to anything away, but I do feel like it fits the theme now. There are a lot of sad parts to this book, but I think it's really good. I'll be back with some final thoughts later.

Kristie wrote: "I'm at 70% in My Friends and they are still traveling. I still don't want to give to anything away, but I do feel like it fits the theme now. There are a lot of sad parts to this b..."

I'm really looking forward to this book. I hope to read it in July.

I thought it was a great read, Janice. There are quite a few heartbreaking moments. The characters are all broken from life in some way and you want things to work out well for them. There is this impending doom feeling to the story being told, but also you want to know what happened and the bonds of their friendship are beautiful.

I was going to start it today, but then I realized I have my real life book club meeting coming up on the 17th. I think I'll read that first. I was so disappointed in The Winners that I think I need a different voice and not listen to two of his books back to back.

Remember to report your reading!

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