Thank you to everyone who filled out the buddy read matchmaking form this month!! Since this is the first go around and I suspect there could be hiccups I didn't anticipate, I'm going with the top three requests this month. Immediately after this post, I will thread 3 comments under this one for each of the books, that is where you will join the buddy read and coordinate the start time and pacing/schedule. The buddy reads are open to ANYONE even if you didn't fill out the form!!. Just say that you want to join in a threaded comment below that book to join the group!

Sign Up for the Next Buddy Reads The form is now open for the next round! Books submitted in this round will have a tentative start date of August 1st! Here is the link to the fresh google form

The top three for this first round were: Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer, Lobster by Guillaume Lecasble, and Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

Tentative Start Date: Beginning of July 2026 but y'all can finalize that in the thread below to see what works best for everyone. I just wanted to give people time to get a copy of the book. I do ask that you don't set a start date sooner than 6/15/26 so people have a chance to see this post and join in the buddy read. Note: There was a lot of overlap in people interested in Lobster and Piranesi - you can definitely do both, but I wanted to flag it to help with scheduling

Anticipated Questions

• Link to original buddy reads matchmaking post for background information here

• Can I organize my own buddy read for a fever dreams quest book that wasn't picked this month? Of course! And feel free to use this post as a way to connect with others. Thread a comment below this post with the book you want to read and your tentative timeline so people can join you. If it doesn't end up coming together, just fill out the fresh google form linked above so I can make sure I add that book to the interested dataset!

• What does a buddy read actually look like? That's mostly up to the group to decide! Some conversations will likely happen naturally through the groups status update cards, but the main hub for discussion should be the book's dedicated forum page. Those are evergreen posts, so conversations there are accessible to anyone who joins at any point.

• Is there a minimum commitment? No set minimum commitment. Participate as much or as little as you like. The goal is simply to give you the best chance to have people to reading along with you and hopefully be able to discuss the book with along the way. There's no posting requirement or expectation to finish on any particular schedule. I just want to give y'all the best chance of having an active forum!

• Can I join a buddy read for a book I've already read? Of course! As always, just be mindful of spoilers for your buddies who are coming in fresh.

• What if I fall behind or didn't see this until the group already started? No pressure - catch up when you can, or step away and come back. Just because a book is a buddy read this month doesn't mean it won't come up again in a future round. The forum discussions are evergreen, so you can jump in whenever it works for you! The goal is to give you the best chance of an active forum as you are reading it!

• Does July 1st mean everyone starts reading on that date? It's a tentative target, not a hard start. The forum is structured around a following-month timeline to give people time to get library holds in, purchase a copy, etc. Once your group gathers in the thread, you all decide when to actually start and what the pacing looks like. My only ask is that you don't set a start date before 6/15/26 so people have time to see this post! If no schedule is established within the group, plan on starting the book around July 1st!

• What if the group's timeline doesn't work for my schedule? You can still join at your own pace! The goal is to have people to discuss the book with along the way and give you all the best chance at having an active forum. If you need to start a little earlier, a little later, or pause in the middle, just jump back into the forum whenever it works for you.

• What does the coordinator role actually involve? Until we have tagging, coordinating a buddy read can be a bit trickier. There are two practices I have seen that seem to work well 1 - After y'all decide on a timeline, a coordinator can make a comment in the book's forum announcing the buddy read with the timeline/pacing so anyone who is not in this quest or didn't see this post can join in too! 2 - Making a reminder comment on the buddies' recent status update shortly before the buddy read is starting to remind them it's about to begin. You only need to do this once per buddy, I don't want people to feel pressured if they need to bow out of the buddy read for any reason, but I also want to help remind people about it so they aren't caught off guard when it starts. The coordinator role can also be shared between multiple people if that works better for the group.

• Piranesi doesn't have a coordinator - does that mean it might not happen? The buddy read can still go on without one! The main thing a coordinator provides is the reminder posts right before the start date. If no one steps up, the group can still self-organize (or just plan to start reading on July 1st) it just means that nudge might not happen. If it seems like people are still interested, but the buddy read doesn't get off the ground in July, I'll most likely carry it forward as a buddy read the following month too. I'll play this first round by ear and see how it goes.

• The book I want to do a buddy read with wasn't picked this month - do I need to fill out the form again? You don't have to, but you can! Any books that didn't get picked this month, I'll roll over automatically and add it with the June edition of the buddy reading matchmaking form on the backend. If you do fill out the form again, it just signals to me that you're still actively interested and eager for that one which is useful information! But there's no penalty for resubmitting or not resubmitting!

• How will I know if a buddy read I signed up for gets announced? Check this quest forum here during the first week of each month - I'll have the newest matchmaking post pinned here.

• What happens if the Annihilation group wants to continue with the rest of the Southern Reach trilogy? The plan for this buddy read is just the first book, but if the group wants to carry on through the trilogy together, they're welcome to! No pressure to commit to the series up front though.

• Can I join multiple buddy reads? Of course! There was a significant overlap in interest in Lobster and Piranesi in particular as a heads up! Just be mindful of not overcommitting yourself.

Questions not covered here? Drop them in the comments and I'll answer them and add them to the FAQ if they're likely to come up again!

Have an idea on how to improve this system? Drop them in the comments! I'm definitely open to adding things/changing things up as this system evolves!

Happy reading everyone!!