u/NewNick30

We're currently reading Jade City by Fonda Lee for August's book of the month, and this discussion will be on the first half of the book.

Please only discuss the first half of the book. This will be everything up to the end of Chapter 28. This is page 233 in the softcover edition. Please try to avoid any discussion of Chapter 29 (Title of the chapter is "You'll Probably Die") forward.

Anything in the second half of the book will be considered spoilers and must be tagged as such.

Remember that even saying something like "you'll find that out soon enough" is considered a spoiler, so if you aren't sure if it's a spoiler - use spoiler tags to be safe!

I'll post some questions to go along with the reading but feel free to comment about anything else or start your own comment thread on anything you found interesting or any questions that you had.

• What do you think about Lan and Hilo and their contrasting leadership styles? How do you think both of their insecurities have affected their decisions so far?
• What are your thoughts on Shae and her reluctance to embrace being a Green Bone? Any thoughts on what her character might end up doing?
• Where do you think the conflict between No Peak and the Mountain is going? Who do you feel has made good (or bad) decisions regarding the conflict?
• What are your thoughts on Jade and the power it brings and attracts? What about how intertwined it is in the economy and culture of Kekon as they struggle with modern society and mixing of other cultures as well?
• Are you liking the book so far? Do you plan on finishing it?

Please use the comments to nominate books for August's book of the month. You can then upvote any of the book(s) that you would like to read. The comment with the most upvotes will be the selected book. The post will start in contest mode so that submitted entries are randomized and the upvotes are hidden.

You can make your nomination using the following format in top-level comments:

>

A link to Goodreads, Storygraph, LibraryThing, or the author's website with a description of the book can also be helpful but is not mandatory to nominate a book.

Voting will be closed on the 20th of the month to allow everyone a chance to get the book.

We're currently reading The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez for July's book of the month, and this discussion will be on the book's second half.

This discussion includes the entire book, so if you haven't finished it yet, please avoid this topic. The comments below will contain spoilers.

I'll post some questions to go along with the reading but feel free to comment about anything else or start your own comment thread on anything you found interesting or any questions that you had.

• Did you have a favorite part? What about a favorite character?
• What did you think of Keema and Jun having the powers of the moon goddess? How did it differ from the emperors' and Terrors' use of their god-like powers?
• What were your thoughts on the Third Terror and Keema and Jun's interactions with him?
• What did you think of the time travel scene where the focus flips to 'you' and Keema is given the spear back and is forced to make a decision?
• How would you rate this book? Would you recommend it to others?

This thread is for any authors or writers within the community to share books, announce upcoming projects, or even get feedback on something you are working on. Anything fantasy-adjacent is allowed too. Do you have a blog or podcast about a popular series? That's fair game too! You are allowed to promote on someone else's behalf if you found or know a new author you love.

Normal self-promotion rules don't apply to this thread, so feel free to reply even if you aren't a member of the community—though we'd love to have you join in on a monthly read.

Where is the best place to buy a 125-150G tank? Thoughts on the Marineland at Petco? Not finding many other choices online other than $3000+ custom tanks. Also open to local suggestions in NJ/NY area