2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss Revelation, the fourth book in the Matthew Shardlake series by C.J. Sansom.

Pages: 550 pages

Length: 1 months (December)

Participants: Beth, Lorraine, Carmen, Nancy

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 }.

I am still working my way through Sovereign. I am determined to finish it this week so I'm all caught up!

Finished Sovereign. The end was great! Completely unexpected for me. I did think that this was a slow read, and not in a good way. Maybe I was simply impatient wanting to ensure I got through it by the end of the month.

On to book 4!

I’m starting this one next week.

I don't know when I'm going to start this one.
I'm going through a phase of extreme laziness and I'm focusing more on planning next year's challenges than on ending the books I have for this month.
Nevertheless I hope during Christmas time I'll be able to read it.

Carmen wrote: "I don't know when I'm going to start this one.
I'm going through a phase of extreme laziness and I'm focusing more on planning next year's challenges than on ending the books I have for this month...."

Carmen, after reading 456 books (and counting!), I think you’ve earned the right to take it slow! 🤣

(view spoiler)[I finished Revelation (Prophétie in French) a few days ago and really enjoyed it. I think it’s the best in the series so far, though I still find these books a bit too long. But hey, we’ve only got three books to go, so I’ll make it through! The French title is well-chosen—it doesn’t give away anything about the story but makes perfect sense once you’ve finished it.

One aspect I really appreciated in this installment was the exploration of what might have been the first serial killer. While this killer isn’t a character in the story, Matthew is trying to understand the concept, which is fascinating and entirely new to him.

As for Matthew, he falls in love yet again… and, unsurprisingly, it doesn’t work out. At this point, I’m not holding my breath for him to find the right person in the next three books. He seems to have a knack for picking the wrong people! (hide spoiler)]

Ack, still haven't started this one. It'll probably be one of the last ones I read this month. I have a 1000+-pager that I'm working on plus two other Buddy Read books that I haven't started yet. Plus, you know... Christmas. 😂

We can move everything for a month. You tell us

Thanks, but I think I'll be good to finish it this month. It'll just be at the last minute, that's all. :)

So I decided to reprioritize my reading and get to this one sooner than I'd anticipated. Started tonight, and I'm partway through Chapter 3.

Finished! I was able to spend a lot of time listening to the audio book doing Christmas preparations. :)

Lorraine, I agree with everything you said in your spoiler tag! (view spoiler)[I forgot that Matthew can't seem to find love, and I was really sad that Dorothy didn't decide to get together with him. I completely understand her perspective, though! Oh and Jack! What are you doing with your poor wife? Ah, when she told him what it was like when the baby died was so heart wrenching. I'm glad she's decided to take some time apart. She deserves better than how he's been treating her. Gah, the doctor's "apprentice" was a right piece of work, wasn't he? I'm glad he got found out and got kicked out! (hide spoiler)]

I agree I think this one is the best so far. The story held me much more than the previous books have. Again, I agree with Lorraine that these books all seem too long... are they getting longer?? And, yep, I'm for the rest of the series. Why stop now? :)

Sorry girls, but I didn't read a page in the last ten days.
I guess I'll start 2025 getting on track with my books 😉

Happy New Year, my friends! 🤗

Happy New Year ladies! I just received the next book but do not think I’ll start before the 5th or something.

Carmen, I hope you enjoy your time off! And that you are now prepared for all the challenges you registered in! (I have to do that tomorrow…). You deserved that break! See you in 2025!

Happy new year, all! I am working hard to finish up my December books. Thank goodness I don't have any plans the rest of today or tomorrow!

I've read it al last!
I agree with both of you, I liked the mystery very much but as always what admires me most about this series is how Sansom describes everything, the clothes, the environments, the buildings, the smells, it's almost like being there, experiencing them in person.

Carmen wrote: "I've read it al last!
I agree with both of you, I liked the mystery very much but as always what admires me most about this series is how Sansom describes everything, the clothes, the environments,..."

So happy you liked it! I hope the next one is even better!