It's time for another book discussion here on The Farm and this time around I'm focusing on buddy reads. Up until a few years ago, I had never really heard of this concept. But along with blogging and watching Booktube, I started hearing it more and more and at times I thought it sounded really cool and then at times I felt like it sounded like a hassle. However, you know how much I love doing buddy reads with Stormi from Books, Movies, Reviews! Oh My! so I wanted to look at the concept a little more in-depth.
TYPES OF BUDDY READS
So basically I think there are several different types of buddy reads. You have your informal ones where you basically are just reading at your own pace the same book as a friend and discussing it at leisure. Stormi and I pretty much utilize this. At the beginning of the month, or several months ahead in some cases, we will target books we both want to read and then slate them for our "2 Bloggers 1 Book" feature.
Then you have more formal ones. You chose a book, and then agree to read a certain amount per day/week/etc. I've done this type only once or twice with Maria from A Night's Dream of Books. We read a certain amount each week and then asked each other questions which we both formatted into blog posts. This was more detailed and had it advantages and disadvantages. We had planned a few more but sadly Maria's husband became ill and she's not posted any updates so I'm just hoping and praying for the best for her family.
WHY I LIKE BUDDY READS
It's a well-known fact that Mr. Barb is very supportive of my reading. Although I know sometimes he gets a tad irritated that I always have my nose in a book. I also have to make time for dates and family time so reading doesn't completely take over my life. Yet he really doesn't care what I read and is not really a reader himself. In fact, the only other person who I know that reads a fair amount is my mother and she reads strictly romance, which is no problem but doesn't allow us to trade books or recommendations much. This has been where having a BFF like Stormi has really been a blast. Finally someone who understand my obsession and who I can "talk" about books with. Even if we aren't reading the same books, we are always chatting and we've even managed to save each other from some pretty horrible books.
I also have enjoyed sending books to Stormi and she has surprised me on several occasions when I really needed a pick-me-up.
CONS OF BUDDY READS
I really don't have any. I'm sure buddy reads don't work for everyone and the solution is simple - don't do them. I know for a fact that buddy reads have encouraged me to bump up books which have sat on my shelves for too long as well as helped get some review books out of the way.
If you haven't noticed, Stormi and I are now buddy reading at least 3 books a month and will be until we knock the All Souls Trilogy out of the way. We've loved doing our series buddy read so much that we already have a series planned out for 2020.
So what are your feelings on buddy reads? Can you think of any pros and cons I didn't mention? Have you made any lasting friendships because of books???
