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October 25th.

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I'm up for this one! Got it sitting on my bedside table ready :)

I'm in on this as well!

Halloween read!

Looking forward to this one!

I'm probably gonna make a start on this tonight as I don't have long until my next buddy read. Excited!

Wow, it's the 25th already?
I'll be starting this one today. It'll be my first time reading it, and I just realized that the timeline in the book also begins one week before Halloween. Aha, I see what you did there. Well played. Well played.

Melissa wrote: "Wow, it's the 25th already?
I'll be starting this one today. It'll be my first time reading it, and I just realized that the timeline in the book also begins one week before Halloween. Aha, I see ..."

Hehe I appreciated that too xD
This month is flying over isn't it!

Doing the audiobook for this one.
This will only be my second Bradbury.
My first was Fahrenheit 451 and confession time...I didn't really care for it.

I haven't read Fahrenheit 451 yet but I do intend to if I like this one.

Sarah, this is also my second Bradbury and I rated Fahrenheit 451 two stars which means 'glad I read it but meh' :))

Umm I will be late in starting this one since I am still in the middle of another horror read, The Girl with All the Gifts. Hopefully by this weekend I can start.

Silvana wrote: "Sarah, this is also my second Bradbury and I rated Fahrenheit 451 two stars which means 'glad I read it but meh' :))

Umm I will be late in starting this one since I am still in the middle of anoth..."

Ooh hope you enjoy that Silvana! I'm hoping to get to reading it sometime soon.

Well I'm up to chapter 28. Just started part 2. Not really sure what I'm thinking about it yet. Think it might be the kind of book that I need to read a few times..
(view spoiler)[ The whole evil nephew thing and the man getting younger then really old on the carousel is weirdddd. Which I like.
So far the theme seems to be aging and lost youth etc. Let's see where it goes. (hide spoiler)]

Btw, a question: I notice this is book #2 of a series? Is it ok to skip the first book?

Barry wrote: "Btw, a question: I notice this is book #2 of a series? Is it ok to skip the first book?"

Hi Barry, welcome to the group! :)

Yeap, it is fine as a stand-alone.

I think they're just set in the same place? Might have made that up... 😂

Siobhan wrote: "I think they're just set in the same place? Might have made that up... 😂"

They take place in the made up town of Green Town, which is based on the town Bradbury grew up in.
As it turns out, the town he is from is only about twenty five minute away from where I live (and I have an uncle that lives there). Not that he would recognize it anymore. Its horrible these days.

Ahh really?? That's a shame it's horrible now.

I like Will's dad. I just read chapter 38. How's everyone doing?
(view spoiler)[ I love that he believes their crazzzzy tale no questions asked. And that he lied for them when they were hiding. I'm a bit scared he will fall for the lure of the Merry go round seeing as he's so concerned with how old he is.
Also, what the hell was going on with that witch in the hot air balloon?! A lot of the time I'm not 100% sure what's happening haha, I keep rereading bits. (hide spoiler)]

I'm up to chapter 19.

I'm liking it so far.

Even if Will and Jim don't seem to have any common sense. Then again, they are young teenagers.

Sarah wrote: "I'm up to chapter 19.

I'm liking it so far.

Even if Will and Jim don't seem to have any common sense. Then again, they are young teenagers."

Haha yeah I guess we can't hold that against them.

In some respects I'm struggling with it, like I'm having to reread whole sections to figure out what on earth they're going on about. But then on the other hand, the story is intriguing and I've been hooked in since the beginning with the lightening rod salesman!

How's the audio for you? Narrator OK?

Siobhan wrote: "Sarah wrote: "I'm up to chapter 19.

I'm liking it so far.

Even if Will and Jim don't seem to have any common sense. Then again, they are young teenagers."

Haha yeah I guess we can't hold that ag..."

The audio is working well for this one! The narrator is really good. One of the better ones I have listened to lately, actually. He's doing a very good job of differing voices. He manages to set the tone really well.

Though I agree, there was a scene (view spoiler)[ the mirrors part, with the teacher (hide spoiler)] that I backed up and listened to again. I'm sure it will happen a few more times. That is the one downside to audio books. You can't just reread a scene, you have to carefully go back and hope you don't go too far.

Ahh yeah that would be a bit more difficult. I'm doing audio on a Darker Shade of Magic at the moment (taking me forever to get through), and every time I put it on I wish it was a book so I could easily flip back and scan the last bit I read!

I'm only through Chapter 15 at the moment. I read and loved Fahrenheit 451, and Bradbury's prose is as atmospheric as ever. Almost every page has some delicious descriptive language. I'd be glad to hear eveyone's favorite passages or sentences that stood out.

However, I hate to say, but every time I pick this one up I can barely make it a few pages before I'm asleep! I'm not sure if it's the book or me, but I'm having a hard time making progress, and thus the story is frustratingly cut up. I'll have to try next time with a cup of coffee.

Melissa wrote: "I'm only through Chapter 15 at the moment. I read and loved Fahrenheit 451, and Bradbury's prose is as atmospheric as ever. Almost every page has some delicious descriptive language. I'd be glad to..."

I tried to read it in the bath last night and my eyes kept dropping and I kept jolting awake! I had to get out in case I drowned hahaha. Let's hope it's not a reflection on the book... XD

Starting this tonight, thanks to my insomnia I managed to finish The Girl book much sooner than expected.

Melissa wrote: "I'm only through Chapter 15 at the moment. I read and loved Fahrenheit 451, and Bradbury's prose is as atmospheric as ever. Almost every page has some delicious descriptive language. I'd be glad to..."

Sorry it isn't clicking for you yet. I think part of why its working for me is that I can see a couple of my younger cousins being like Will Jim.

Siobhan wrote: "Melissa wrote: "I'm only through Chapter 15 at the moment. I read and loved Fahrenheit 451, and Bradbury's prose is as atmospheric as ever. Almost every page has some delicious descriptive language..."

Oh boy, that doesn't sound good, my friend! Be careful. Drowning in a bathtub while reading is a most undignified way to go!

Hahah you're right there! I'll be careful xD
Hoping to get finished tonight. I read a little more before bed last night and I was actually quite hooked, I was a bit scared!

Silvana wrote: "Barry wrote: "Btw, a question: I notice this is book #2 of a series? Is it ok to skip the first book?"

Hi Barry, welcome to the group! :)

Yeap, it is fine as a stand-alone."
Thanks, Sil.

Started the other day, cause I finished the other book earlier than expected. So far I'm on Chapter 18. Delightful prose, but kinda hard to read, though. I had to go back a few times to understand what he wrote. Starting to get weird in this chapter, for me. I keep trying to see the events from the pov of young teens, little kids. Would they see the events differently from intended? (view spoiler)[ like the mirror thing with Ms. Foley? I don't quite get what she saw in there. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 18? I am still at chapter 8.
Yeah the writing takes some time to get used to. Been a long time since I read this kind of phraseology (beautiful and poetic nonetheless) and I have to force myself not to skim.

I'm a little relieved to see I wasn't the only one having a hard time getting started. I think that the descriptive language was part of the problem, being too distracting. Sometimes a sentence would leap out and I'd have to stop and handle it a while. Some were confusingly abstract, some vivid. Some were quite poetic.

Jim opened the door wider and stood in the music, as one stands in the rain.

Story-wise, I admit even around Chapter 26, I still wasn't that invested in the story. Like Jim I thought:(view spoiler)[

What's the carnival done is so bad? Scared a woman with a mirror maze?

(hide spoiler)] I didn't feel all that creeped out by the carnival to be honest.

I'm on Chapter 37 now, and finally I felt the tension begin to rise. (view spoiler)[ I think it was once Miss Foley disappeared from under the tree, that it began to feel real. And that scene with the boys hiding under the grate, that had me tensing up. (hide spoiler)]

Melissa wrote: "I'm a little relieved to see I wasn't the only one having a hard time getting started. I think that the descriptive language was part of the problem, being too distracting. Sometimes a sentence wou..."

Completely agree with you about the tension not rising until later in the book. But once it did I was on edge for the rest of the time.

I'm about 60% done now.
I have made my mom laugh several times by talking to this book.
I keep yelling at the boys to stop being so dumb! Seriously, I think these two think common sense is fatal!

But I am enjoying it!

Sarah wrote: "I'm about 60% done now.
I have made my mom laugh several times by talking to this book.
I keep yelling at the boys to stop being so dumb! Seriously, I think these two think common sense is fatal!
..."

Hahaha xD common sense is scarce.

Are you feeling the tension yet? Or am I just a scaredy cat?

Siobhan wrote: "Sarah wrote: "I'm about 60% done now.
I have made my mom laugh several times by talking to this book.
I keep yelling at the boys to stop being so dumb! Seriously, I think these two think common se..."

There is definitely tension!
Definitely creepy.

But also, Will is kind of a drama queen.

About 80% done now. Just hit chapter 46.
Will is still a drama queen. Jim is still an idiot who lacks common sense. Mr. Holloway is a very interesting character.
And I'm seriously creeped out now.

I'm really enjoying this book.
Even if it does make me want to never go near a carnival again!

I really liked Mr Holloway too. He believes his son all this crazy stuff, no questions asked. He gives him space when he needed it and is there when he needs him. He's a cool guy!

Carnivals = bad! Especially the ones that rock up at 3am on a creepy train with creepy music.

Siobhan wrote: "I really liked Mr Holloway too. He believes his son all this crazy stuff, no questions asked. He gives him space when he needed it and is there when he needs him. He's a cool guy!

Carnivals = bad!..."

Yes!
No carnivals with creepy trains.

And yeah, Mr. Holloway is pretty cool. Many parents wouldn't have believed the boys.

I also liked Mr. Halloway, and the way he casually deflects Dark in conversation. It's nice when a story with young protagonists includes parents and adult figures in a positive way. Or really includes them at all. In modern literature especially, it seems parents are either dead or otherwise absent, or even the villain. Not that I don't love plenty of books that follow that trope, but it's refreshing when the protagonist actually has involved parents.

Melissa wrote: "I also liked Mr. Halloway, and the way he casually deflects Dark in conversation. It's nice when a story with young protagonists includes parents and adult figures in a positive way. Or really incl..."

Yes!! It reminds me in a way of To Kill a Mockingbird, as their father is also a great man who believes them and trusts them. Obviously a very different threat involved, but still. :)

I finished this up last night.

I really enjoyed it. Definitely a good Halloween read.


Melissa wrote: "I also liked Mr. Halloway, and the way he casually deflects Dark in conversation. It's nice when a story with young protagonists includes parents and adult figures in a positive way. Or really incl..."

Yeah, that is always a nice change.

I'm not scared but I'm really bewildered, because unlike mr. Holloway I keep trying to figure out the "logical" explanation of the things that the boys see or experience.

On chapter 42 now. Starting to

Oops sorry accidentally hit post dunno how to edit from my iPad.

Anyway, on chapter 42. Starting to "believe" what the kids experience. Kinda hard for me to accept the magical reality of the story, though.

Mr. Holloway is pretty cool, though, I'm sure if I were the kids listening to him talk I wouldn't understand anything.

Haha, fantasy and magic often doesn't have a logical explanation xD you have to suspend your disbelief!

Sarah wrote: "I finished this up last night.

I really enjoyed it. Definitely a good Halloween read.

Melissa wrote: "I also liked Mr. Halloway, and the way he casually deflects Dark in conversation. It's nice ..."

Glad you enjoyed it Sarah! I'm wondering if my 3 stars was a bit harsh. I was bored at times but towards the end it did grab me.

I finished, and while I do agree that the second half was more engaging, I still don't know how well I liked it.

Which pains me to say, because I love his other works. In this one, there were words and sentences I loved. Whole passages and chapters I liked too. Generally whenever Dark entered the scene the story moved along better. But as a whole the story didn't grip me. My mind wandered, and I was constantly reaching for something else. Sometimes Bradbury would go off on abstract lyrical tangents which didn't help. Those, "it was, but it wasn't," moments like this:
(view spoiler)[It was indeed a time between, one second their thoughts all brambled airedale, the next all silken slumbering cat. It was a time to go to bed, yet still they lingered reluctant as boys to give over and wander in wide circles to pillow and night thoughts. It was a time to say much but not all. It was a time after first discoveries but not last ones. It was wanting to know everything and wanting to know nothing. It was the new sweetness of men starting to talk as they must talk. It was the possible bitterness of revelation. (hide spoiler)]

So sadly this was more like a 2.5 for me. I'm glad others enjoyed it more, but if you were left feeling ambivalent you're not alone.

Siobhan wrote: "Haha, fantasy and magic often doesn't have a logical explanation xD you have to suspend your disbelief!"

Yah, I made a mistake of reading the foreword, which basically said that this is a growing-up-in-a-small-town story. So, my mindset wasn't on fantasy mode.

Anyway, finished this a couple of weeks ago. I tried to like it more, but I couldn't. Decent but odd climax. Maybe, I would've enjoyed this book more had I read it 10-15 years ago when I was much younger. But, I just couldn't bring myself to fear for the boys' lives. Mr. Dark wasn't that scary, IMO. The story sort of reminds me of the Goosebumps series. Though, with much better prose.