Welcome friend. 2024 has been a milestone year! Armed with A Book turned 5 years old back in May. Today, Ariel and I are celebrating 5 years of buddy reading and discussions together on the blog. On November 21, 2019, we posted our very first book discussion. Fast forward to now, we have read 50 books together and chatted about so many more. Let’s take a look at our favorite book discussions, authors and genres.
5 Favorite Buddy Reading Discussions
The Farm by Joanne Ramos | Dystopia | Goodreads | Discussion (2019)
The first book discussion is definitely a memory for us! We had a timeline and everything for reading and discussing the book but it was so good that we finished it within a week, within hours of each other!
Yes, this was a fantastic buddy read and I loved being able to interview the author together, too! With such good discussion, it was hard to say no to future buddy reads and a great friendship began to grow 🙂
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel | Fantasy | Goodreads | Discussion (2022)
Retelling of the Hindu epic of the Ramayana, Kaikeyi offers a refreshing perspective on one of the most hated characters in the story. Kaikeyi was Ram’s step-mom. We approached this book with different backgrounds and had a great time discussing Kaikeyi’s actions and situations.
I loved being able to discuss this and realize we had so much to say about it! We learned so much about our different approaches and I know through this discussion, Kaikeyi set a high bar for folklore retellings for all of our future reads.
Dust Child by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai | Historical Fiction | Goodreads | Discussion (2023)
The second novel by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, Dust Child poignantly portrayed the 1969 Việt Nam during the war and how the war affected people in 2016. One of the reasons I (Kriti) particularly love this review is because Ariel was able to provide me with a lot of historical context. Books like this one are a reason we return to historical fiction.
I don’t cry while reading often, but Dust Child definitely impacted me greatly and I’m so glad we were able to read this and process it together. We read the author’s first book together, and I’m sure we will keep returning to her future works.
The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker | Fantasy | Goodreads | Discussion (2024)
Kylie Lee Baker is phenomenal. She creates relatable characters, dangerous magical worlds and a plot that hooks. We both read Baker’s debut series, The Keeper of the Night, it was a lot of fun to read her latest duology together. Excited to discuss the follow up, The Blood Orchid, in 2025.
This book was so exciting and I loved the magic system. Discussing this together through all the twists and turns made the book much more meaningful. I too am very much looking forward to the followup book next year!
The Annual Migration of Clouds by Premee Mohamed | Post-Apocalyptic | Goodreads | Discussion (2024)
Premee Mohamed’s Post-Apocalyptic series was a great find this year! Novellas with so much packed into them, The Annual Migration of Clouds in particular was quite thought-provoking in imagining communal style living scattered around the country, the repercussions of a parasite making human bodies home and the weight of her choices on a teenager’s shoulders.
Another genre we like to return to is thoughtful post-apocalyptic novels. Discussing the philosophies and meanings behind these stories often create a bigger impact of the read, and I’m so glad we were able to discuss this book and its sequel!
Though not yet posted at this time, we want to give a shoutout to our latest buddy read, The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong (Goodreads). It is an unforgettable cozy fantasy that we have enjoyed listening to.
While we love all kinds of fantasy, I have appreciated our recent dive into cozy fantasy. The stakes are lower, there’s often an animal companion, and the focus is the friends met along the journey. They feel reminiscent of the connections we make in real life, even across the miles!
5 Authors We Return to
Through our reading adventures, we have found five authors that we both love. We enjoy reading books by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai (The Dust Child, The Mountains Sing), Kritika Rao (The Surviving Sky series and more upcoming) , and Vaishnavi Patel (Kaikeyi and Goddess of the River) together. We read Kylie Lee Baker and R.F. Kuang separately and together, continuing to discuss them whenever we get a chance.
Being able to find authors that we know are a must-read going forward, especially as buddy reads, is a wonderful experience. Through finding some favorite authors, we have experienced a wide variety of worldviews and perspectives, and I am so thankful for this.
Top 3 Genres
Since we pick up books from pretty much all genres, it was a great exercise to look at how we choose our buddy reading books.
We read Fantasy together fairly regularly. SciFi and Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopia is our next go-to genre. Over the years, we have also discussed numerous Historical Fiction novels.
It’s great being able to see all our genres laid out on a graph, and seeing what we are ultimately drawn to. I really like being able to see a book and think to myself “This would be a perfect buddy read with Kriti!”
Revisiting these book reviews has been a walk down memory lane. We have changed our approach to the discussion. While we used to do first impressions and part by part discussions, now we analyse themes and don’t always care to stick to the same structure in every discussion. The variety of books we read have taught us that each book is unique and we want to highlight that.
I appreciate our flexible structure and our focus on enjoying the buddy read being the priority. Sometimes one of us enjoys a book more than the other, but that’s often a great time to unpack and think through our different approaches and perspectives and learn from each other.
It is lovely to have a friend to turn to for book recommendations, honest reactions, moral and reading support and much more. I am excited to see how our reading tastes evolve (if at all) in the next 5 years.
Thank you, Kriti, for all the amazing work you do on the blog and for your friendship both inside and outside the book world. I look forward to seeing our next 5 years of buddy reading, reading challenges, and excellent discussions! With Gratitude, Ariel
Thank you for joining us in our buddy reading discussions! Looking forward to the next one! 😀
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