The Bone Clocks

In 2012 Care's Books and Pie and I co-hosted a readalong of David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas. I think that was the first (of many) readalongs we've hosted together. It was the craziest book, layered and complicated, but so beautiful. 

I can't even explain how much it helped to read it with a group. Hearing everyone else's thoughts on the plot helped me better understand it. Each person who participated brought their own unique view and it made the reading experience so much richer. 

So in the same spirit, Care and I have decided to host a readalong of Mitchell's novel The Bone Clocks. Here's a bit about the book...

"This is a feast of a book—perhaps the author’s best to date—a saga that spans decades, characters, genres, and events from Mitchell's other novels. The structure is most similar to Cloud Atlas, with The Bone Clocks pivoting around a central character: Holly Sykes. Each chapter/novella is narrated from the perspective of an intersecting character, with settings ranging from England in the 80s to the apocalyptic future. Each story could stand alone as a work of genius, as they slowly build on Holly’s unwitting role in a war between two groups with psychic powers, culminating in a thrilling showdown reminiscent of the best of Stephen King. Taken together this is a hugely entertaining page-turner, an operatic fantasy, and an often heartbreaking meditation on mortality. It’s not to be missed." 

“One of the most entertaining and thrilling novels I’ve read in a long time.”—Meg Wolitzer, NPR

“Astonishing . . . No one, clearly, has ever told Mitchell that the novel is dead. He writes with a furious intensity and slapped-awake vitality, with a delight in language and all the rabbit holes of experience."—The New York Times Book Review. 

The readalong starts today and loosely goes until the end of February. It's a big book and I don't want anyone to feel rushed. I'll do a wrap-up post in the end (and maybe a mid-way post too). It will be a relaxed readalong, go at your own pace and post thoughts here or on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #boneclocks17.Feel free to grab the button below to use!