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

Several of us will be reading The Priory of the Orange Tree in a few months. Everyone is welcome to join us.

It sounds like everyone wants to schedule this in a few months. Did we want to plan for August, or September?

Thanks for setting this up, Janice. August and September (apart from the first week) are both good for me so I will fit around what works best for the rest of you.

I'm good for either month.

I'm thinking September might be the best month of the two. At least then we can all get summer out of the way, which is often a busy time for many. And a chunkster like this might be a nice way to kick off autumn. But like I said, I'm happy either way.

Oh, I'm in. It doesn't matter which month :)

I'm on holiday until mid-August, so second half of August or September would work best for me.

September would work best for me but I could do mid august.

Looks like we never decided on a date for this one. Shall we do September 2?

Peggy wrote: "Looks like we never decided on a date for this one. Shall we do September 2?"

September 2nd works for me. I actually get back from holiday on that day so I probably won't start this until the 3rd, but I will only be a day behind so can catch up.

September works for me too. I'll update the buddy read calendar.

I just put this on hold... if the library cooperates, I'll join you.

Fine with me. I will clear the first 2 weeks of September 😁

This is Audible's daily deal today in the US. It is currently $5.95 if anyone still needs to get a copy before the buddy read.

I just realized this has an animal on it! So it also works for the group read (unless dragons don't count)

I'd say dragons cont - unless the mean ole mods say different :-D

I think dragons should count 😉

I ended up getting this in the Audible sale. I don't know if I'll be able to read it with you, but I'll be interested to see what you all think and I'll pop in to comment if I'm able to get to it.

I'm glad I'm not the mean old mod that has to decide this time. :)

Well... it was your theme, wasn't it, Lisa? ;-)

No, I seconded it. I think it was Margo who nominated it and she did say earlier that dragons should count... :D

Mod ruling is that it has to be a real animal :(. I say we riot 😉

LOL!

Also, Komodo dragons exist. Let's just pretend the dragon on the cover is a fancy Komodo dragon. I'm sure no one will notice and I won't tell if you won't... 😁😉😜

I'm surprised! I really thought it would count. Sarah can be a meanie when she wants to ;-)

Ah well, rules is rules 😉

Are you all ready to start this next week?

I will a bit late starting. I'm leading the group read for The Girl in Red - I timed that very badly didn't I? LOL The audio book is only 8 hours long so I should be finished by Wednesday - Thursday latest.

I'm about 50% into a chunkster, but I hope I'll be done in time. It's a long weekend so should have some extra time to read.

Ready. I won a the library hold game and got my copy today.

Did you win the book, or did you rise to the top of the list?

I just manage to get a copy from my library at the right time. It is a real guess game to put it on hold (suspended) early enough to have a chance to get it. Then reactivate the hold at the right time.

I understand! That's the same here. There's no telling when the book will arrive.

I have about 2 hours to go in my current book. I'll probably finish it today. Won't have much of a headstart though, as I don't really have any reading time tomorrow.

I read the first 2 chapters.

(view spoiler)[ There are so many names! Of places, of people, of other things. At this point, I'm finding it hard to keep track. I hope I'm not supposed to remember all the names already. Also doesn't help that the names are very strange so it's kind of hard to make sense of. (hide spoiler)]

I'm back from my holiday in Scotland, so I will be starting this later today.

I made it all the way to chapter 3 already, lol. Or 4? Not sure. Not much progress in any case. Students are back so it's super busy at work and I feel less like reading. Also, the book hasn't really grabbed me so far so it's not like I can't wait to pick it up either.

Curious to hear your first thoughts on it Lisa.

I'm starting now.

I'm starting now.

I haven't finished the book I'm currently reading, but I'm going to set it aside and start this one. I don't want to get too far behind in the dust. :)

Well I had a false start! I had a medical as I need to renew my driving licence so I knew I'd waiting a while. I came prepared with audio loaded on my phone. As soon as I sat down 2 elderly and hard of hearing men sat, one on each side of me, and spent over an hour shooting across me about their respecting grandkids! I couldn't hear a word or the story :-o

Lol Margo! Couldn't you change seats with one of them?

I was sitting in a corner seat so when I offered to swap with one of they said no, no, it's easier to chat looking at each other. TBH it wouldn't have made much difference - they were very loud ;-)

I'm struggling a bit. I just can't get into it. Too many names and places, and the writing isn't terrific either.

Just found out there's a list with characters and who they are at the end. It's 24 pages!! E-book pages, but still! I feel like if you need such a character list for your readers for just one book so they can make sense of it all, something's off. Also, in an ebook such a list is not very handy, too much effort to find a character.

There's also a glossary full of made-up words (10 pages) and a timeline (3 pages).

I worry this book is going to take too much effort to keep up for 858 pages..

I'll read a bit more on the train but am going to start something else for in the evenings.

Looking forward to hearing what you think!

Peggy wrote: "I'm struggling a bit. I just can't get into it. Too many names and places, and the writing isn't terrific either.

Just found out there's a list with characters and who they are at the end. It's 2..."

I'm in the same boat as you, Peggy. I have read the first 2 chapters and am not very impressed so far. There are way too many names and places being dropped far too quickly. The character list and glossary is helping a bit but why does it have to be at the end of the book?! I'm reading the hardback and it's taking a lot of effort to keep flicking back and forth through 800 or so pages just to find out who someone is. I'm all for character lists but I agree that one as long as this does cause concern. I think the writing is okay but it does feel at times like the author is trying just a bit too hard to make the writing beautiful, poetic and descriptive. I also think it has a bit of a young adult feel at times, despite being an adult book.

I'm going to continue on and hope that it becomes easier to follow.

I also wonder if all the names and places at this point are necessary. It feels like the story would be much easier to follow if not all titles, relationships and histories of very minor characters were given every other line.

Glad to know it's not just me by the way! With the high rating the book has I hadn't expected this.

Peggy wrote: "Glad to know it's not just me by the way! With the high rating the book has I hadn't expected this."

I hadn't expected this either. Fantasy books are not always the easiest to follow and you do often get a fairly large cast of characters, but I wasn't expecting them to be thrown at us pretty much non-stop from Page 1.

Oh! Oh! This doesn't bode well. I plan on starting as soon as I finish here.

I started last night. I am in chapter 5. I will comment later as I should be working... The first chapters do bring you straight in it and are a be confusing but after this it starts making sense.

I agree Esther. I'm somewhere in chapter 6, and as of chapter 5 there's been less names-dropping and more information to make sense of the names, places and times that were mentioned before.