NetGalley Buddy Readers discussion

Some of us will be reading Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty in August. The publication date is September 10th. Everyone is welcome to join the discussion.



If you knew your future, would you try to fight fate?

Aside from a delay, there will be no problems. The flight will be smooth, it will land safely. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off. But almost all of them will be forever changed.

Because on this ordinary, short, domestic flight, something extraordinary happens. People learn how and when they are going to die. For some, their death is far in the future—age 103!—and they laugh. But for six passengers, their predicted deaths are not far away at all.

How do they know this? There were ostensibly more interesting people on the flight (the bride and groom, the jittery, possibly famous woman, the giant Hemsworth-esque guy who looks like an off-duty superhero, the frazzled, gorgeous flight attendant) but none would become as famous as “The Death Lady.”

Not a single passenger or crew member will later recall noticing her board the plane. She wasn’t exceptionally old or young, rude or polite. She wasn’t drunk or nervous or pregnant. Her appearance and demeanor were unremarkable. But what she did on that flight was truly remarkable.

A few months later, one passenger dies exactly as she predicted. Then two more passengers die, again, as she said they would. Soon no one is thinking this is simply an entertaining story at a cocktail party.

If you were told you only had a certain amount of time left to live, would you do things differently? Would you try to dodge your destiny?

Liane Moriarty’s Here One Moment is a brilliantly constructed tale that looks at free will and destiny, grief and love, and the endless struggle to maintain certainty and control in an uncertain world. A modern-day Jane Austen who humorously skewers social mores while spinning a web of mystery, Moriarty asks profound questions in her newest I-can’t-wait-to-find-out-what-happens novel.

My request is pending, but I hope to join. This is a fairly long one (512 pages), so it will take me a while to read.

My request was just granted, so hopefully yours will be soon!
I was worried about the length too, but always the optimist!

Also pending. I've actually only read ! And the show was great. I own a few others.

I always enjoy her writing, so I'm willing to take a chance on a longer book. I usually try to keep my NG books around 400 pages or less.

I never watched the show for Big Little Lies. I remember being really excited when it was being made, then I missed it.

This one sounds really good. I may request it. I did enter the giveaway on GRs though, which is going on now as well.

I also entered the giveaway, Tasha. Just in case.

Approved!

Yay!

I'm going to be joining this one, too!

That's great, A!

Does anyone want to choose a start date for this one? We have it pegged for August, but no specific date yet. I'm looking forward to it. It sounds so good.

I am open for any date in August.
We have The Swimmer on August 1, so what about 8/10?

That works for me. I am open in August too.

I'll be following to see what you guys think. I don't have the book.

I had a 20 hour travel day and was in the mood to dive into this one. I’ll discuss it more when others get to reading it.

The chapters are short which makes it read very quickly. If the length of this book intimidates you- fear not.

I think there are some good conversation starters in this one. I liked the buildup the best in this one.

I just started this one early, but won't really make too much progress before the buddy read starts. I've only read the first three chapters (5%) and I'm enjoying it.

chapter 1 (view spoiler)[ I liked the way it was described how the woman wasn't noticed by anyone because she didn't do things. I thought it was a creative way to describe everyone on the plane, if overdone a bit. (hide spoiler)]

I also liked the way that format was used to transition the chapters.

I’m SO BEHIND on my buddy reads. I’ll be excited to read your notes when I get to this one

No worries, Shruti! This one isn't even scheduled until the 10th. I started early, but don't expect to get through very much before everyone else joins the read.

I keep referring to this book as Here one Minute…even after reading it. The correct title won’t stay in my head.

That's so funny, Marnie. I had to go look up the title so I could add it to my currently reading list. I also had a block on it.

https://libraryc.org/tenakeelibrary/5...

in case anyone is interested! they send out a recording so if you want to catch it but can’t make it, register anyway. :)

I just got an email about that, Shruti! I signed up for it. Thanks for sharing.

Today is our planned start day! :) Is anyone else reading this right now?

I am up to chapter 9 (10%). I'm finding it interesting meeting all the characters. (view spoiler)[ We are still on the plane for the most part. A couple of people have been told that they don't have long to live or will die young and a few others have been told they will live a long time. I wonder if given the option how many people would have chosen to be given that information?

I can't imagine being told that my new baby would die by drowning at 7 years old! The mom's first instinct was to say that she would keep him away from water forever. I think that is unrealistic, though an understandable response. It might be better to try to make sure he knows how to swim and to teach him water safety at a young age. What do you think your response would be, if anything? It also begs the question, is it fated to be regardless of what you do?

It seems that our 'fortune teller' was unaware of herself and sorry for doing what she did. Strange, but I'm sure we'll learn more about her soon. (hide spoiler)]

(edited above to add questions about the baby & mom's response.)

I'm up to chapter 24 (20%) (view spoiler)[ I can't believe she told the bride that her husband was going to kill her and the Allegra that she would die of suicide within a year. Yikes! (hide spoiler)]

It looks like we had a bunch of people planning to read this one, but are you all not quite ready to start? Vicki, Elyse, Tasha, A, Shruti?? Any update on your plans for this one?

I dropped the ball on this one. School started a week earlier this year and I went back to prepare the classroom. The kids started yesterday and it has been very hot and exhausting.
I also didn't start The Swimmer yet. I am going to do some reading this weekend and get back on track.

No worries, Vicki. That’s how it goes sometimes. Just figured I’d check on everyone’s status since I hadn’t seen any comments from anyone reading it yet. I’m sure back to school time is always hectic for you. Thanks for checking in.

I’ve been in a major reading slump unfortunately. Trying to pull myself out of it.

I hope you get out of your slump soon, Shruti. I know how crummy that feels.

I don't think Tasha will be participating. She is taking a break from NG right now and has other things she is doing.

Seems like this one fell apart a bit. I think we should all just leave our thoughts on it whenever we get to it. No need to add extra pressure. The whole point is to have fun with it. I look forward to reading everyone's thoughts as they come in.

Hi all - Just wondering if anyone has gotten around to starting this one yet. I'm curious to see what you all think of it.

I’m still a couple buddy reads behind. hoping to pick this one up after The Swimmer

I'm about half way through and picking it back up now. I hope to finish in a couple of days and will come back to leave my final thoughts.

I will start this one over the weekend.

I ended up starting this one a few days ago (I got a bit behind as well!) and have to say I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I'm about 30% through, and so far it's really slow and nothing has really hooked me yet. I'm not really finding the characters that engaging just yet either. Hoping it will pick up soon, though!

I'm about 50% and feel the same, A. I don't dislike it, but there isn't really anything to fully draw me in either. I also feel like the psychic's chapters in particular are sort of meandering.

I started it too and am reminded immediately why I don't click with this author.
A lot of characters already and I am already feeling the "get on with it" feeling.
I am at 7%.

There are quite a few characters to keep track of. I think it would've helped if you used the character name as the chapter title. Instead, I find myself trying to figure out who I'm reading about each chapter. It works itself out after the first line or two, but I still don't enjoy the transition.

I usually like this author. I just think this might not be her best work. I do enjoy the idea of the story and I think it would give people a lot to talk about in a book club. It's just kind of slow going.

I finished this one last night. I haven't written my review yet, but I'll be back with it soon. I think I'm going with 3 stars. I enjoyed the overall story and some of the connections towards the end, but it was pretty slow and meandering, especially the psychic's chapters. I kind of like that she's talking to you, but reading it wasn't fun to read. I need to coordinate my thoughts a bit more, then I'll write the review.

I am about half way through it.
It is slow and meandering, but I am really liking it.
I am curious what the point of the psychics chapters are leading up to, but I am enjoying the build up of what is happening with the other characters.

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

Well, I ended up finishing this one and can't believe how it grew on me.
I actually loved it. This is probably the best book I have read by her.
I agree that it meandered and the lack of names for the chapters was difficult to keep track of (which is why I am only giving it 4 stars)

But I felt the story just continued to build and my buy in to the characters continued to build. I think I liked the sections about the psychic and her life the best. I kept trying to predict how people's responses to the information might even make the predictions come true rather than just living life as they would have.
I am so glad I took the chance on this book. I especially like the ending where (view spoiler)[ the baby ended up being an Olympic swimmer! (hide spoiler)]

I liked that ending bit too, Vicki. This was one that I had a hard time rating. I was bored in the beginning and almost put it aside, but it got better as the book progressed. I also think it offers a lot to think about and to discuss for a book club. I had a difficult time pulling my thoughts together for a review and deciding on a rating.

I finally finished this one and I largely agree with you Vicki & Kristie. It did get better but it took so long to get there that I had a hard time regaining interest. The character viewpoints were so muddled to me - none of their voices really stood out as unique to me except the psychic.

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

Glad you finally got it done and reviewed.
Sometimes I don't want to read hers because they are too long and I do tend to lose interest if I don't keep the momentum going.