2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Pages: 352 Pages

Length: 1 month (January)

Participants: SarahKat, Amitha, Carri

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 }.

Here are some questions to help get the conversation started! Feel free to look up discussion questions specific to this book or come up with your own. Just make sure any questions that contain spoilers are under spoiler tags.
Discussion questions are not required but may be a fun way to talk about the book and get to know each other!

Prior to starting:
What prompted you to join this buddy read?
Have you read this author before? What do you think of their other books?

Mid-read:
What character or ideas do you relate to the most and why?
Do you have any favorite quotes or scenes?

After reading:
What was enjoyable or not-so-enjoyable about this book?
Did this book change your perception about anything, either within the book (character development) or in real life?

Would love to join!
I’ve never done a buddy read before, but would be great to be able to chat about it.

Joining you guys on this one! i have this checked out and am waiting for 2026 to roll around to get on it haha

Welcome welcome! The more the merrier! I'm not sure when I'll start this yet. I have all my January books planned but the order in which I'll read them is still utter chaos.

I hope I can finish my other buddy reads on time, so that I could join this one also, because I’ve had it on my TBR since it came out, and I love Taylor Jenkins Reid! I’ll follow your discussion at least 😊

Hi all! I plan to join you on this one! I have read a few other TJR books and really enjoyed them. Looking forward to this one!

I'd like to join this one too! Hoping I can get it from the library before January ends. I am hold #33 for 33 possible books. :)

Decided to somehow make time for this one, so I'll join you! Just reserved it in the library system, and it's available in three different local libraries, so it shouldn't be long to reach me. :)

Just came across this buddy-read! I really enjoyed my past Taylore Jenkin-Reids reads so I´d love to join. I want to finish 2 other books first though. Can´t wait to discuss this book though.

Plot twist for 2026, this book wasn’t on my list but here I am. First buddy read ever, excited to read along with you all.

Starting this next week as I'm almost finishing two other books. Excited to join this one as I've heard only good things about the book.

Just started some light reading of it today 😍

Just started as well!

Welcome everyone!

What prompted you to join this buddy read?
Mostly the "read a book featuring women astronauts" prompt on popsugar.

Have you read this author before? What do you think of their other books?
Yes. The first book I read of hers was The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo which was amazing. I've read all her other hyped books since then (Daisy Jones, Malibu Rising, Carrie Soto). I found them all overhyped but enjoyable.

I am through chapter 3: (view spoiler)[That first chapter really started out intense. I like that something actually *happens* in this one instead of just some big hint at some horrible thing happening like in a few of her other books. I like Joan and Vanessa's relationship. I love Joan's niece, Frances. Everyone else is still a little blurry for me. (hide spoiler)]

I am starting the audiobook today!

I am also reading this book for the popsugar prompt "featuring women astronauts." I kind of feel like the prompt was written specifically to prompt this book, lol.

I'm not a huge fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid. I tend to get irritated with highly hyped authors and 2 years ago, she was all anyone could talk about. I loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, but I find the rest of her books just okay. I keep reading them, hoping to reclaim that Evelyn Hugo high!

Just finished the book… and wow…
Firstly, I’m an absolute mess. So emotional right now after that.

I’ve never read anything from this author before, and didn’t read any reviews before reading, so I truly didn’t know what to expect. But I definitely didn’t expect the emotional whiplash I received.

Currently an absolute sobbing mess. Grown such strong feelings for many of the characters, so much love for some, borderline hatred for others.

Honestly loved this book!

Oh!! I just started this book!! I haven’t done a buddy read in so long!! I’ve read all of her books!! She’s one of my favorite authors!!

This was my first time reading this author, and I was not disappointed. Such a great read! I loved the characters, the setting, and how they were portrayed. It was emotional, ambitious, and cinematic. The middle was a bit slow, but it was worth reading. I especially appreciated how resilience played an important role in moments of uncertainty. I’ll definitely be exploring more of her works.

Through Chapter 12, Winter of 1982: (view spoiler)[ The only person I really care about right now is Frances and I hope her mother doesn't mess up her life big time. I'm not a big romantic so I'm not super invested in the love story. It makes the whole situation with Vanessa on the shuttle more intense I guess, but I'd rather just read more about that and less about this. (hide spoiler)]

Thank you. Happy new year

here is my review

Amitha wrote: "It was emotional, ambitious, and cinematic"
Wow, cinematic! I hope it lives up to this for me too. Starting to read today.

To answer the questions above, yes, I've read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Malibu Rising. I rated Malibu rising 3 stars, but I still remember the plot, characters and the feelings I got while reading very freshly, so I guess I could increase my rating. I loved the Seven Husbands. I like this author's books because she writes characters well.

Hi everyone, my hold was ready today and I picked it up on my way home. Already on page 80 (Fall 1980).

I too chose this book to fit the PopSugar prompt, and I didn't even realize until I picked up the physical copy from the library that it is the same author as The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, which I read last year and liked.

I've read a couple of "astronaut" books over the last year or so and I am remembering a lot from Col. Hadfield's book An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth and thinking about some of the background he talked about- especially about the role of astronauts when they are not in space, and how each mission depends on a whole team. I'm anticipating that might come into play in this book a bit.

If anyone reads nonfiction I do highly recommend Hadfield's book as well.

Jennifer wrote: "Hi everyone, my hold was ready today and I picked it up on my way home. Already on page 80 (Fall 1980)."

It reads fast, right! I'm also flying through it. Which is great, as I might be able to squeeze in one more read after this one that way, haha. Books that are this easy to read certainly help with reading goals.
Also, you're right about what you said about astronauts, team work etc. It seems to be touched on in this book as well. Thank you for recommending Hadfield's book.

I'm 1/3rd into Atmosphere (December 29, 1984 currently). What I liked about Taylor Jenkins Reid books I've read previously was her character work, but I agree with SarahKat that at least so far in Atmosphere (view spoiler)[most characters feel fuzzy, and only the very few *main main* characters are a bit more fleshed out, and vivid. Like SarahKat, I also just mostly care for Frances. I also like Joan, her vivaciousness, love for small beautiful details about this world, which makes me happy, because if I didn't connect at all with the main character, I wouldn't care that much about the book either.
I liked this quote and feel like, to me, it represents Joan best:
"Joan so loved the beauty in this world: showing people the stars, spotting the fuzzy glimmer of the Orion Nebula with just her eyes, the rare moments when auroras are visible even in the southern states because of intense geomagnetic storms, trying one more time to really nail Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C-sharp Minor, rereading The Awakening, listening to Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush, drawing for so long, so late into the night that her palm cramped, running so far that she forgot to think, taking Frances for ice cream and watching how long she deliberated over which flavor to choose, the smell of Frances’s hair...” (hide spoiler)]