2025 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss Pines, the first book in the Wayward Pines series by Blake Crouch.

Pages: 307 pages

Length: 1 month (March)

Participants: Beth, Lorraine, Kristy, Jaida, Thieryn

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?

Starting today

I'll try to jump into this one as soon as I finish Charlemagne Pursuit.

Almost done. Weird story! But good. I will certainly need explanations! LOL

I was expecting weird. I think I watched at least one episode of the TV show back when it first aired. I just remember it was rather strange. That was before I discovered how much I enjoyed the Blake Crouch novels. My first was Dark Matter and is still my favorite so far.

Kristy wrote: "I was expecting weird. I think I watched at least one episode of the TV show back when it first aired. I just remember it was rather strange. That was before I discovered how much I enjoyed the Bla..."

I have not read it. I will for sure. I might suggest it after the Pines series.

Hi ladies, this series hasn't been confirmed past book 1. Are you interested in reading Wayward next month?

Yes I am.

Yes, we can confirm the series.

Thanks I'll get it added

I just finished Pines, and I’m really looking forward to reading Book 2 of the series! (view spoiler)[I don’t usually read a lot of "weird" fiction, even though I have no problem with horror or the occult—I was a huge X-Files fan, after all. But a story like this, with such an unusual premise, isn’t something I pick up often. That said, I really enjoyed it, and now I’m eager to see what Ethan will do now that he knows the secrets of Wayward Pines! (hide spoiler)]

I found this book impossible to put down once I started!

I started yesterday... what an amazing opening! Pulled me right in. Eagerly anticipating to see how it all plays out.

Finished this morning. My review

Looking forward to book 2!

Hoping to start this one later today. I also hope to catch up on everything this month. My husband is going on an astronomy trip so planning lots of reading time while he's away.

Kristy wrote: "Hoping to start this one later today. I also hope to catch up on everything this month. My husband is going on an astronomy trip so planning lots of reading time while he's away."

That's cool! never thought of doing that. Where is he going?

Lorraine wrote: "Kristy wrote: "Hoping to start this one later today. I also hope to catch up on everything this month. My husband is going on an astronomy trip so planning lots of reading time while he's away."

T..."
There's a group that meets in West Texas every spring. They used to have hundreds come but it's been less since 2020. It's on a ranch in the Fort Stockton area.

Finished this one yesterday. Wow! I really enjoyed it. The beginning was very familiar to me as if I'd read it so it must have been because I watched the first couple of episodes of the TV show.

I just kept reading because I was so curious about what was going on and the I found the answer very satisfying and it made me even more curious. I'd pick up book 2 immediately except that I have 5 more library books due tomorrow. There's a wait list of 80 people at my library!?! That's odd for a book that's over 10 years old. I may have to splurge on points day.

After reading your reviews and comments, looks like I was the only one that was expecting this kind of strange.

Have either of you read Blake Crouch before? He's a favorite of mine. There is one book that I need to read that my book club read before I joined and most agree that it's one of the worst books that they've ever read. Makes me want to read it. 😂

No, this is my first Blake Crouch. I was expecting a straightforward mystery (I had forgotten what the synopsis said by the time I started reading this), so it all started out quite bizarre. I remember thinking "wow, this is exactly the same vibe as Twin Peaks!" And then I got to the end of the book and read the author's note, where he talks about how that show inspired him and this series.

I love that you're motivated by every one else's negative opinion. hahaha! 😅

Yes, I thought it was interesting that he was inspired by Twin Peaks. I don’t think I watched that show but I vaguely remember hearing about it.