My copy of Bubblegum arrived today, and I’ve had a chance to flip through it and come up with a timeline for reading it. I figure that about 100 pages a week should be doable, and the book breaks down fairly neatly into sections of about that length. Here’s what I propose:
| Date | Read Through Page |
|---|---|
| May 11 | 81 |
| May 18 | 176 |
| May 25 | 282 |
| June 1 | 377 |
| June 8 | 476 |
| June 15 | 583 |
| June 22 | 660 |
| June 29 | 767 |
That means it’s fair game to write or comment about the first 81 pages on May 11, the first 176 on May 18, and so on. I’m not going to worry too much about spoilers, but I suppose it’d be a kindness to readers sticking close to this pace to avoid any huge or far-future spoilers as we write about and discuss the book.
If you’re planning to write posts along with me and have done so here in the past, your account should still let you do so. If you’ve not written here in the past and would like to, send me a note at infinitezombies at gmail or comment here and I’ll be in touch. Anyone of course is welcome — indeed encouraged — to comment. The more ideas we toss around in the comments, the more I think we’ll get out of the book.
The schedule’s not set in stone, so if you’re a would-be writer and this simply won’t work for you, let me know. I’m open to making some adjustments over the next few days. Otherwise, I’m looking forward to kicking things off in earnest the week of May 11.
Infinite Zombies 
I’d like to join the group read
Great! Just keep an eye on this site for new posts and jump into the comments.
I would like to join the reading group.
Hey, Andrew, glad to have you aboard.
Hey Daryl – Count me in? Thanks!
~A repeat reader of “The Instructions”
Hey, neat, Shifra. Hope to see you in the comments!
I just stopped at pg. 176. I definitely want to write a post!
Oh that makes it sound like I don’t plan on continuing, but I do!
I’m in as well, thanks for putting this together. This will be my first Levin novel, The Instructions has been sitting on my desk looking imposing for the past several months.
Looking forward to everyone’s thoughts.
Daryl, do you see comments on older posts? Probably.
I’m wondering if you would be willing to provide a text snippet that corresponds with the reading schedule’s page numbers (e.g. page 476’s stopping place ends in “and then Belt had lunch”.
I’m asking for those of us with an ebook and no access to page numbers. I’m having a harder time now, about half way through, knowing where I am compared to the reading schedule.
I realize this involves effort on your part but I would think five minutes (can skip the first half of the schedule now!) maybe? Depending on how easy it is to edit an existing post.
Thanks for considering.
Hey, I do see comments on old posts. Thanks for asking for hints for ebook readers. This is easy enough to pull together.
476 ends (for me, a little different than what you’ve listed above) “grinds his palms til the painsinging stops” and the next week’s reading begins with the big section heading (section IV) “COMPOUND”.
The reading for June 15 (page 583) ends “Jonboat’s office, where Jonboat received us” and the next page starts with a new smaller subchapter heading “JONBOAT SPEAKS”.
Reading for June 22 (ending on page 660) ends “We laughed and hung up, then I wrote eleven pages.” The next week’s reading starts with a fresh chapter (or subchapter?) heading “AOL”.
And that “AOL” section starts off the last week’s reading, which finishes the book.
Thanks for that.
To be clear, “and then Belt had lunch” was a made-up example, and also demonstrates how Levin is a novelist and I’m not 😂
Oh, ha, I guess it was convincing enough for me. 😉