2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik.

Pages: 480 pages

Length: 1 Month (December)

Participants: Irma, Ruthie, SarahKat, Sai, Alison

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 }.


Happy Buddy Reading!

Hey when are people starting this? I'm having a lazy reading month so I might start it this week and read it slowly.

I can start anytime...it is on my Kindle! I think I might start in the next couple days...Looking forward to reading with you!

Looking forward to starting this!

I have started this and hope to make it to about 20% tonight (I am not sure what chapter that is but will check back in tomorrow :)

I started too! I'm on chapter 5 I think. Liking it so far. At first it had a similar feel as Pillars of the Earth which I loved.

I am now on Chapter 10 and have met all the characters so far! I am really liking this too and I love that we are reading it in December (lots of snow and frosty weather in the book which puts me in a Holiday mood! :)

(view spoiler)[ I am really enjoying the fairytale feel of this book... the synopsis said it incorporated "Rumplestiltskin", which I can see, along with other Eastern European fairytales. I have to say that I read Uprooted earlier this year and must not have been in the right frame of mind because I didn't enjoy it near as much as I am enjoying this one!

I am interested to see how Miryem and Wanda's tales intertwine with Irina (other than the fact that Irina is getting the necklace and crown from silver made from the Staryk coins).

At first I was confused as to why people were forgetting things but then the Staryk was referred to as an elf...do elves make people forget things? I thought that was fairies...

I feel sorry for Miryem and the fact that she and her family are persecuted/shunned because they are Jewish...but that is in keeping with history. Wanda, too, is abused by her father and I suppose their interactions with society is what has formed a bond between these two girls? I like the fact that Miryem's family has been taking care of Wanda and her brother with extra food, etc...
(hide spoiler)]

I'm only on Chapter 7. My son got me a bit addicted to a video game and we were playing that all weekend.

(view spoiler)[I still am reminded of The Pillars of the Earth, now with a mixture of The Bear and the Nightingale. Not complaining! I've just now met Irina, but I really like Miryem and Wanda already. (hide spoiler)]

I just started!

What video game were you playing SarahKat? My 5 yr old daughter loves pokemon so we play that on weekends. Also I haven't read Pillars of the Earth but I'm going to look it up now

Alison, I love that there's been a lot of snow and frosty weather in the book, that's perfect can't wait to get into it

Chapter 10 is crazy

(view spoiler)[

With the fire part!! What fairytale is that??? lol (hide spoiler)]

I'm on chapter 10 now but only 4 pages in!

Ruthie, my son is 8 and has been playing Among Us. I won't let him play without me next to him because it's online and you have to chat with other people. So since I'm next to him anyway and he wanted me to try it I did and we've been playing a lot haha.

Pillars of the Earth is great but hefty. The plot is definitely moving faster in this book, and there aren't fantasy elements in Pillars, but it reminds me of some of the female characters learning to survive and thrive on their own merits in the Kingsbridge series.

I love Among Us! lol that makes sense that you're playing next to him. I'm glad there's a way for chat to be censored because sometimes....eeeesh

Ok good to know about Pillars of the Earth. I do love the fantasy elements of this one and the fast moving plot

Alison, I wish it would snow here. Christmas is 2 weeks away and it's 65 degrees. This is not a normal thing generally and it's making me irrationally angry. I'd like to read this snowy frozen book in the comfort of my warm home while it's snowy and frozen outside!!

Ruthie, yeah. My daughter (8 months) was up all night with ear infection pain 2 nights ago and while she was falling asleep I tried to join some Among Us games by myself, because I wouldn't be able to focus on a book. 2am is NOT a good time to look for wholesome people to play with. Bleh.

I finally finished chapter 10! (view spoiler)[Everything moved really quickly in this chapter for all of our main characters. Alison, I'm also wondering how these people are going to intertwine. Someone said to Irina that she's meant for something more because of the jewels I think. I got the feeling they were alluding to the fact that she is meant to marry a Staryk, but Miryem did already so... ???
I believe it referred to the Staryk as fairy-esque most of the time. The silver is called fairy silver at least.
I don't generally care about "female empowerment" books for the sake of that, but I really really love that all 3 of these girls are put in a crappy situation and they are all just taking charge in their own way. Maybe they can't change what's happening TO them but they can change how it affects them, which of course has an effect on how others perceive them.

I'm still unclear as to exactly who the Staryk are. Are they evil? Are they just collecting debt like Miryem has been doing? I am kind of hoping that Miryem and the lord will come to like/respect/love each other maybe. I hope we get more information now that she can ask him 3 whole questions per day.

Is the forest in the mirror for Irina the same forest the Staryk are in? Will Wanda end up there somehow too? (hide spoiler)]

Oh man SarahKat, ear infections are no fun I'm so sorry. My youngest daughter had 3 last winter so I'm scared for this winter. ahhh. Yes I know! It's easy for me to loose track of time when I'm playing Among Us so once the chat starts to turn I'm like, how did all these rude people get on at once and then I look and the time and I'm like oooooo


(view spoiler)[
I wanted them to run into each other at the cottage! But oh well. Yesssss I totally agree, the "female empowerment" is really naturally done in this book. It's the characters not giving up and perservering and making the best of it.

As for your other thoughts, You'll find out soon! I'm on chapter 18 (hide spoiler)]

I get you about the snow, SarahKat! We have had a very dry winter so far (Santa Fe)...the mountains have almost no snow on them! Good Hiking weather but this time of year, I love to have snow! We are expecting a "storm" tomorrow night...they say we could get 3" of snow but we will see! This year all their storm predictions have fizzled out!

I am so sorry about your daughter's ear infection! I hope she feels better! I think ear infections wait until nighttime to make themselves known, also! Throughout the usual childhood illnesses that my kids had, one of the ones that was most memorable was a double ear infection my son had which showed no symptoms until midnight...then he was not a Happy Camper!

Pillars of the Earth is on my TBR...

Through Chapter 10: (view spoiler)[ I agree with Ruthie...as for your thoughts, SarahKat, keep reading!
SarahKat, As for your thought of Irina and the tsar liking/respecting/falling for each other...I had the same thought! I am not sure this is going to happen tho... (hide spoiler)]

I am halfway through Chapter 14:
(view spoiler)[ As for what the Staryk are...I think they have something to do with winter and snow? The Staryk King certainly likes it when the river is frozen over and wasn't moving and the heavy snow had fallen. As for why they are in awe of silver turning into gold, I really have no clue except for the fact that it is always mentioned the gold looks like warmth or sunshine...perhaps that is so lacking in their world that gold is something to marvel at?

The tsar has been lead around by the demon and has not thought a lot about the politics/ruling his country and I find it amusing when Irina brings all that up to him and totally confuses him! Also, I love the fact that Miryem stands her ground with the Staryk King and does not give way when he gets angry at her...

The double world at the cabin/cottage is very interesting! Wanda and Sergei (I forget how to spell his name) can see that someone has been in the cottage (like the spoon left in the porridge and a little of the porridge has been eaten...which was, I think, Irina feeding it to her old nurse to warm her up) but the two sets of people (Wanda and her brother/Irina and her nurse and Miryem) can't see each other! I wonder how that will be resolved!! (hide spoiler)]

It's supposed to start getting colder this week but there's no snow on the forecast for 2 weeks :( I hope that changes. We got 2 really bad blizzards in September but it's been very mild since then. We're usually covered in snow by now.

My son used to get bad ones. One of the last ones he got at age 4 or 5 was a double, and he couldn't hear anything. We had to turn him towards us and yell in his face so he could hear/read our lips.

I live in Texas so we hardly ever get snow. Its sad. There was a tiny snowfall this past January or February but I'm hoping for more this year.

I finished the book yesterday but my internet was out so I wasn't able to add a note. It was SO good. I can't wait till y'all finish it. I haven't written a review yet but it's going to be 5 star. This may be the best fairytale retelling I've ever read. I loved all the strong girls and I love a bit of the Jewish heritage because that's part of my heritage so it was extra special to me because of that. Especially a part towards the end where you'll get to.

Alison notes about halfway through Chapter 14
(view spoiler)[
Yes they definitely seem like winter fae people

Yes it's hilarious when Irina talks to the tsar about things that relate to running his country and he just looks at her like whaaaa?
I love the scenes with Miryem and the Staryk king as well and how she doesn't back down

I thought they would see each other in the cabin/cottage for sure but yes it was interesting to see how they effect each other's "work" in the cabin (hide spoiler)]

Here's my review-no spoilers in the review

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Through chapter 14: (view spoiler)[I love how Miryem and Irina are both just telling their king/tsar husbands how it's going to be and they are shocked. Especially Irina with the tsar. He hasn't been doing ANY governing. He's just worried about feeding his demon. These ladies came up with a really good plan actually. I hope Miryem can get all that silver changed.

Why though do they want the gold? It's not like they spend it in the mortal world. Obviously their silver is worth a ton there anyway. Alison you said because it looks like warmth or sunshine but they are all about the winter! The king is all proud that it's snowing already in spring.

We've spent a lot of time with Miryem and Irina. I am curious what Wanda is up to, and how the whole cabin thing works. I like Stepon's sections as well even though they are sort of sad. How old is he exactly? (hide spoiler)]

Ruthie, I'll read your review when I finish. I don't like other's opinions coloring my enjoyment of the book.

Chapter 18! (view spoiler)[I've gotten answers to some of my questions and none of them are good!

So it's Miryem who has made the winter come. I wonder if she can turn the gold back into silver? And will killing the king even help? (hide spoiler)]

I finished the book yesterday and really liked this story! To me, it was a great December read and I tried to take my time with it and soak it all in instead of just chalking it up to fulfilling another prompt for a challenge (which I unfortunately found myself doing with some of my books I read earlier in the year :( ) I don't know all the fairytales that were referenced in this story (of course Rumpelstiltskin is familiar) and believe some of them are Eastern European?

I find it interesting in this link that Naomi Novik talks about how Spinning Silver was about her Father's family...

https://www.pastemagazine.com/books/n...

Have either of you read any of her "Temeraire" series? I read the first book His Majesty's Dragon earlier this year and want to continue the series...probably next year before I forget what happened in the first book ;) I didn't like this first book as much as "Spinning Silver" but want to give the series a chance so I need to read at least the second book (plus I <3 Dragons!!)

(view spoiler)[ In the end, both couples end up getting their "Happily Ever After", which made me happy! This was explained more in detail with Miryem and the Staryk King but referenced with Irina and the Tsar when he thought she was beautiful after the Demon had been cast out of him!
I loved the fact that the gold coins melted and healed/sealed the crack in the mountain, thus saving the Staryk kingdom! Miryem really was a true Staryk Queen and proved she cared for the Staryk people by going back to help save them!
And Irina and her "handling" of the tsar/knowledge of the politics of the land really proved she was the perfect Tsarina and just had me smiling every time she had a conversation with the Tsar!
I also smiled at how many times the Tsar drew Irina and couldn't figure out what made her beautiful in the eyes of other people! I believe that once he got rid of the Demon inside of him, it opened his eyes to what other people saw in her :)
Wanda and her family were crucial to the story and the way that Miryem's family took them in was very special! I loved that they ended up safe in the house in the Woods together! (hide spoiler)]

Done! And there's finally snow on the ground here!

Great review Ruthie! (view spoiler)[I completely agree with your thoughts on the 3 strong women too. It wasn't obnoxiously pushed in your face. Their strength was natural. And I loved that Miryem made the king court her in the manner of her culture at the end as well! (hide spoiler)]

Alison, the interview you posted was interesting. I really want to read Uprooted now. I haven't read anything else by her but now I will have to dive in to everything. I love that she's writing a Game of Thrones fanfiction haha!

Definitely some Eastern European folklore in this. I'm not very familiar with any of it but like I said in my first comment, this has a lot of The Bear and the Nightingale about it, and that is based around a Russian fairytale I believe.

(view spoiler)[I wavered between 4 and 5 stars because some of the middle parts were a little slow for me. Especially the political nuances of Irinia's POV. It was not a big enough part of the story for me to keep all those names and motives in my brain. The ending pushed it into 5-star territory though.
Like you said Alison, I love that Miryem and Irina both got their happy ending, and it ended up being their choice. Like I said earlier, they couldn't change what happened to them, but they changed how they reacted and it completely changed the trajectory of their respective stories. They saved 2 whole worlds just by being intelligent and holding their ground!
And yes, Wanda's story ended happily too, with all of them living in the little house in the woods. (hide spoiler)]

I just read the article I'll be looking forward to her other projects particularly the Harry Potter and Game of Thrones inspired ones. I read Ninth House a few months ago which very much explores the darker side of magic and the cost so I would be interested to see how she writes about it. I'm glad you guys liked it too and I liked the way everything ended.

(view spoiler)[
The part that was special to me about my Jewish heritage was the blessing over the tree. I loved the weaving of her Jewish heritage throughout but that was the best part about it imo (hide spoiler)]

SarahKat wrote: "Done! And there's finally snow on the ground here!

Great review Ruthie! [spoilers removed]

Alison, the interview you posted was interesting. I really want to read Uprooted now. I haven't read an..."

SarahKat, I have read the Bear and the Nightingale trilogy and Loved It!! :)

Ruthie wrote: "I just read the article I'll be looking forward to her other projects particularly the Harry Potter and Game of Thrones inspired ones. I read Ninth House a few months ago which very much explores t..."

Ruthie, I Loved Ninth House!! I think she is coming out with the second book in 2021?

Alison wrote: "Ruthie wrote: "I just read the article I'll be looking forward to her other projects particularly the Harry Potter and Game of Thrones inspired ones. I read Ninth House a few months ago which very ..."

I think so I hope so!

So is A Deadly Education her "harry potter" inspired book? It seems like it!

I haven't read The Bear and the Nightingale but now I want to