2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi.

Pages: 264 pages

Length: 1 Month (February)

Participants: Violet, SarahKat, Meg, Mel, Irma.

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 is everyone still planning on this one? I could probably start this week sometime when I finish up a few other books I'm working on

Yes! I actually just finished it yesterday!

Nice! I want to finish at least one other book before starting this one. I joined too many buddy reads this month!

I started this yesterday and I'll finish it tomorrow. It was really easy to just keep reading. I'm pleasantly surprised. I listened to Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi a few years ago and really didn't like it. It's possible it's just because it didn't work for me on audio, but I'm glad I gave the author another chance!

Here's my short review

First time doing a buddy read and just started this book last night. I enjoyed Homegoing, so hopefully this one will produce similar results.

Kimberle wrote: "First time doing a buddy read and just started this book last night. I enjoyed Homegoing, so hopefully this one will produce similar results."

Welcome Kimberle! I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to share thoughts as you go. I didn't because I ended up reading it really quickly.

Hey folks! Just checking in -- I've never done a buddy read before either, so this should be interesting!

I actually picked up this book a few days ago, read the first couple chapters and stopped. Definitely not because I wasn't enjoying it, but because I instantly had the feeling I wouldn't want to put it down -- and I really need to finish "Black Buck" before it goes back to the library! :) Hopefully I'll have time to work on this one this weekend!

I just finished this one, and overall I really enjoyed it -- maybe not quite as much as "Homegoing" (I think I appreciated the long cast of characters in that), but still thought it was really good!

The story definitely wasn't plot-driven, but that didn't bother me (as it sometimes). I think I really liked the way Gyasi articulated the conflict between religion and science -- and even more, the way she addressed how mental illness and addiction are stigmatized. There's so much unnecessary shame!