2025 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss Orbital by Samantha Harvey.

Pages: 207 pages

Length: 1 months (February)

Participants: Lina, Surabhi, Kristy, LinaVer, Annie

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

Here are some questions to help get the conversation started! Feel free to look up discussion questions specific to this book or come up with your own. Just make sure any questions that contain spoilers are under spoiler tags.
Discussion questions are not required but may be a fun way to talk about the book and get to know each other!

Prior to starting:
What prompted you to join this buddy read?
Have you read this author before? What do you think of their other books?

Mid-read:
What character or ideas do you relate to the most and why?
Do you have any favorite quotes or scenes?

After reading:
What was enjoyable or not-so-enjoyable about this book?
Did this book change your perception about anything, either within the book (character development) or in real life?

This will be my updates-while-reading post. :)

Read first two little chapters. So far I find it somewhat boring? 😲 I hope it lives up to the hype further on.

I'm waiting for my hold to come in. It shouldn't be long. I'm thinking I may put this in my read a chapter each morning slot.

Hello All
Will begin the book tomorrow. Finishing a buddy read today.

I started yesterday. I've read the first two chapters. I'm find the writing beautiful and I did highlight a small passage. time will tell if I enjoy the story though. I need more than beautiful writing.

quote:
(view spoiler)["...without that earth we are all finished. We couldn’t survive a second without its grace, we are sailors on a ship on a deep, dark unswimmable sea." (hide spoiler)]

I think this will be a DNF for me 😮 it’s written beautifully like Kristy also mentioned above, but I find that I do not look forward to reading it. Maybe it’s just the moment in time that this book does not suit me, and I might come back to it, but who knows? Sorry to everyone to just bail out of the discussion/buddy read like this 🙈

Sorry it wasn't working for you LinaVer. I completely understand. I don't find it very compelling. I sit quietly every morning for 15 minutes before taking my blood pressure and a book that I want to read by chapter works well there.

I've reached Orbit 7 or 50%. Honestly, I still feel about the same. I think those that enjoy thinking about philosophy and the grand meaning of life would probably enjoy this more than me. I'm more of a practical get down to it person.

Some passages that spoke to me: (view spoiler)[
concerning the religious astronaut and the atheist... "Is Shaun’s universe just the same as hers but made with care, to a design? Hers an occurrence of nature and his an artwork? The difference seems both trivial and insurmountable."

I laughed over the "national toilet" and the crew's "flagrant disregard" of adhering to any labels and rules about using the amenities provided by other countries. (hide spoiler)]