Does anyone else feel like a kid waiting for Christmas waiting for the next round of Seasonal Readalongs to come out or do I have a problem? 🙂

I am devouring this book!!! It is sooooo good.

Everyone on here always recommends the most amazing books. The ones they loved, the ones that changed them.

But give me a fantasy book or series that you wanted to rip apart- that you only finished out of SPITE

I very much enjoy reading 1-star reviews of books to see if I would hate the book too, or if it would actually be for me. People are more honest about a book if they hated it 😆 (in my opinion)

So give me a fantasy book you hated, and why?!

I've read 110 books this year because I was previously unemployed.

My unemployment has ended!🥳

And I'm too exhausted to read most days. I'll be lucky to get through a book a week🙃

I'm sad, but it's okay. I like my job. I work with really cool people. My bosses are actually decent people. I can get back on my feet because of this. And if it means I can't read as much, that's okay. The trade off is worth it.

I've seen quite a few posts lamenting that others can read so much, feeling defective because they can't. So I want to make visible the transition from one state of being to the other. I'm still going to read as many books as I can. And if it's not as many as before, that's okay. If I only read one book a year, I'm still a reader. It still counts ❤️

We're almost two thirds of the way through the fall readalong, which means we'll get to see the Winter Readalong picks soon, if I understand correctly.

So I'd love to pick your brains - I was wondering, both for the Fall Readalong and for the Dias de los Muertos readalong (or just one of them if you prefer, I don't make the rules)...

• how did you like the selections overall?

• which books, if any, turned out to be sleeper hits for you that you enjoyed better than you thought you would?

• which books, if any, were perhaps sleeper "fails" for you, in that you enjoyed them less than expected?

• if you didn't read all the book options: what made you choose the one(s) you ended up reading?

• if you read all of them: how would you rank them and how did you enjoy the full package overall?

• for those who have been here for a year and more: how did the Fall 2025 readalong compare to the Fall 2024 readalong in your opinion?

• any other fun thoughts, questions, observations, tributes to my black cat, hopes, dreams, plans for world domination?

Let's chat 🥰