2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss Boy's Life by Robert McCammon.

Pages: 625 pages

Length: 1 Month (November)

Participants: Chantal, Saha, Michelle, Rebecca.

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!

Do you have room for one more? I literally just discovered I have this book in my huge TBR pile and I'd love to read and discuss it with everyone when I finish my October buddy reads.

D.L. wrote: "Do you have room for one more? I literally just discovered I have this book in my huge TBR pile and I'd love to read and discuss it with everyone when I finish my October buddy reads."
Ofcourse, you can join!

^^ Thanks!!

Hello, everyone,

Life happened and I am unable to read with you. I'm so sorry

Sorry, you can't read this month, Michelle. Also, I'm glad you're able to join in D.L.

I'm starting this one tonight, but I have a couple of other reads going, so I probably won't progress in this one too quickly.

So, I actually didn't end up starting this one until last night, and I read part one, chapters 1-3. I'm really enjoying so far. It's the type of book that just kind of draws you in. I'm going to leave my more specific thoughts marked with spoilers.

Part 1:
Chapter 1:
(view spoiler)[ I really got caught up in the lyrical language of this chapter. I was underlining quotes and appreciating metaphors in the "what a lovely coming of age novel kind of way," so I was completely unprepared for the car to cross the road in front of the main character and his dad and end up in the lake. It was the literary equivalent of a jump scare to me! (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 2:
(view spoiler)[ I really liked the notes that McCammon is putting into the text to show that the father's faith in the goodness of man has been shaken. It's something that I've struggled with as well over the past five years or so, and maybe I was just overly naive and idealistic before. I read Humankind: A Hopeful History last month, and it helped some, but I think I like that this book is going to address some of the same issues. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 3:
(view spoiler)[ I love the whole structure of this chapter with the scary movie and the then the sleepover. That was really chilling how Ben's father came back differently, even though it was alcohol and not a space alien. This chapter, in isolation, would even have made a good short story, except it's probably a little too on the nose for a short story.(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

I've been back to this one because I finished up some of things that I've been reading and here are my thoughts on part 1 chapters 4-6:

Part 1:
Chapter 4:
(view spoiler)[ I hard agree about the narrator's opinions on bees vs wasps. This wasp attack is the kind of thing that I consider to be nightmare fodder (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 5:
(view spoiler)[ I'm glad for. little more lengthy info drop on the ceremony and Old Moses because I was completely lost in chapter four on that stuff (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 6:
(view spoiler)[ Yikes! A nudist and blatant 1960s racism both expressed within pages of each other. Kind of cringe.

Also, there's a lot going on so far. Do you guys think that Cory is just seeing things or that there's something real going on here? (hide spoiler)]

I'm almost midway through this one now. I've been reading it kind of slowly because (view spoiler)[ I've found some of the magical realism to be a bit over the top. I feel like I'm in Big Fish and am not sure what it real and what is a tall tale. (hide spoiler)]