Joanna’s Comments (group member since Dec 27, 2013)

Joanna’s comments from the CPL's Book a Week Challenge group.

Through out A Bollywood Affair, characters are heavily influenced by traditions. From a childhood marriage to the sequence of events at Ridhi's wedding to the respect granted to elders, we see traditions steer the course of major portions of the novel.

How do you think these traditions help or hinder the characters?

Does your family have any traditions? Tell us about them and their influence.

Voting continues until February 14th for March's Online Book Club book. The theme is Historical Fiction. Make sure you go vote here!

The 2018 Winter Olympics are here!! Running from February 9th to February 25th, these games showcase the world's best of the best in athletic competitions of all sorts.

What we need, though, is a Book Olympics! If you could pick events for this sort of Olympics, what would they be?

Mine are:
1. Trade witticisms with Elizabeth Bennett
2. Race the Three Hunters (Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli) across the plains of Rohan
3. Book charades
4. Reading race
5. Library scavenger hunt

Tell us what events you would have at your Book Olympics!

What is everyone reading this week? I'm off to a Con so I probably won't get much done. I'm currently working on Beren and Luthien and Fruits Basket, though.

Ann wrote: "I'm on the fourth chapter, and so far it's interesting. Can't wait to see what happens next. :)"

It kept my interest way more than I was anticipating. Can't wait to hear your thoughts when you get to the end.

Kayzee wrote: "I voted for this one because I figure if I was going to read something from a genre I'm not usually into I wanted something that could give me a different world view and show a different culture as..."

Agreed. I'm too used to sticking to what's familiar so it was nice to be forced to read something that was a little outside those lines.

It was interesting to watch how the character dynamics were influenced by the grandfather. Some of those more familiar tropes (evil stepmother to mistress' child; "real" son vs. bastard) were flipped. Those bonds were strengthened and enforced in part, I think, from how abusive he was.

I can see how the audiobook would be a bit difficult. Some of the words get explained but it's almost a blink and miss it deal.

It's so funny that childhood favorites was this week's topic because I am currently in the middle of rereading all the Dinotopia books. Dinoptopia was my obsession as a kid (and still as an adult, lol). I had it checked out so often from the library, it was a wonder anyone else ever got to read it. I was so excited to see children's chapter books for it and then, when I got older, that there were two adult novels. It's a book series that will always have a special place in my heart.

Candace wrote: "I loved The Hobbit, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Judy Blume's books, Nancy Drew, and really, whatever I could get my hands on! I think I have too many favorites depends on the day. I still..."

It's always wonderful sharing your childhood favorites with the next generation. There's nothing quite like watching them discover a book for the first time; it lets you relive your own happy memories of the book, I think.

Nathan wrote: "I've had the good fortune to befriend several heroes from my college days. On the one (..."

That's a good way to use your disappointment in a hero- refine the criteria you use to define a hero. I've never personally met any of my heroes (most of them are no longer alive), but this will be a good thing to remember if I ever do get the opportunity to meet one.

I think we're all safe blaming Loki. ;)

Ann wrote: "I definitely want the "It's Loki's fault" pin."

We all want a "It's Loki's fault" pin. Lol

Nathan wrote: "My goal this year is to strike a balance between adding new books and completing books I've already committed to reading. Each year, my present and future selves fight over distribution of the read..."

This is something I need to do. I actually started making a dent in my pile last year but then I got distracted by shiny new books. You're inspiring me to be better this year!

Katie wrote: "I'm going to pick up Fruits Basket tomorrow at work! I can't wait to start and feel your pain! lol"

We'll have to have much discussions. I will also need to start working on actually finishing the series (I'm still on volume 12).

A Bollywood Affair is our February Online Book Club book. Has anyone started it yet? If so, what do you think so far?

I admit, I'm only about five chapters in but so far I'm liking it. One of the reasons I'm happy this book got picked is because it's written from a worldview that is distinct from my own. We have a character who is perfectly content and happy to accept a marriage from when she was a child. If this had been me, I would be fighting tooth and nail. But that's my western worldview. I know romance will happen and views will change, but I like seeing the world through different eyes at the moment.

Let us know what your first thoughts are!

Nathan wrote: "A few days late, my takeaways were as follows:

1. Try to meet your challenges head-on, but never discount opportunities for solving problems using lateral thinking (but be mindful of whatever con..."

These are great takeaways. I need "It's Loki's fault" on a pin to wear around work.

Out of curiosity... has anyone ever met their hero and had them not live up to expectations?

Everyone has such awesome goals! Here's to completing them in 2018!

Katie wrote: "My goals this year are to read 125 books, and to read more graphic novels and actually start reading manga! I've never read any so it'll be fun to dive into something new. I'm also going to try to ..."

Two words... Fruits Basket... ;)

Also, right there with you when it comes to reading the books I've bought. I'm doing an inventory and I think I have about 100. I need to give up my library card for 6 months so I can read all of those. Lol.

Kayzee wrote: "Will there be any mini-challenges this year?"

As of right now, the Online Book Club book is acting as our only monthly mini challenge. If my schedule calms down at all, I would love to try and continue the Take It or Leave It challenge but we will have to wait and see.

One of the oldest digital libraries is Project Gutenberg. It was started in 1971.

No Book Trivia this week. Look for the next round of Online Book Club voting on February 1st!

With the end of January in sight, let's talk about goals. What are your reading goals this year? You've already committed to try and make it to 52. But are you shooting for more? Are you shooting for specific kinds of books?

I always have very large goals but can never seem to reach them without counting the graphic novels/manga that I read toward them. So for this year, I'm going to attempt to get to at least 120 books, not counting graphic novels/manga. Will I do it? Probably not. I'd say I'd also like to try to be more varied in my reading but I know that will not happen (hence the book club to at least force me a little out of my box).

Tell us your reading goals for 2018!

(PS. If you didn't see yet, the 2018 site is now available! Head on over now to sign up and start logging your books!)

As we say good-bye to the world of Norse Mythology, was there anything you took away from the novel?

For me, it's that the chaos in life is inevitable. For good or ill, it will find you. It's what you do with it that matters. The gods knew the end would come; Odin probably even had an idea of when it would come. Did they despair? Only a little. They still went out and lived life. I think that's a good attitude to have. No sitting around in the dumps. Get out there and live.

Share your take aways from Norse Mythology or any other thoughts and comments from the book.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to seeing you all next month!

Unpopular book opinions... hm... I'm sure I have some...

Well, since we're talking the Twilight series, while I thought those books were horrible (yes, I did read them), I actually think her book The Host was very good. It's been a while since I read it, but I remember greatly enjoying how she wrote an alien parasite inhabiting a body that still contains the conscious of the original person. I also thought the story was a bit more compelling.

Not necessarily an unpopular opinion, as it's slowly becoming more widely accepted, but I think graphic novels and manga have literary value and we shouldn't discourage people from reading them. For younger kids, they're an easy way of getting into reading because they are not so word heavy as a novel. And even for adults, they can contain higher level concepts, in addition to being entertaining.

And I am definitely physical books all the way!

2018's 52 Book Pickup site is now LIVE!!!!!

Sign up and begin logging books now by clicking this link.

On Monday the 29th, 2017's logs will be deleted. So if you have that link saved and want to save your old book list, please do so now.

Also note that until the old logs are deleted, you can't use the same user name to sign up for 2018's program.

Need tips on how to log books into the site? Please refer to this handy thread from last year..

As always if you have any questions, let me know!!

Enjoy logging your books!

Melissa wrote: "I've been listening to the audiobook version. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the narrator was Neil Gaiman. He's amazing and makes the story come even more alive."

Oh, nice! Now I want to listen to the audiobook version. Gaiman has such a wonderful voice.

Weekly book trivia returns!! On the weeks where there is no voting for the Online Book Club, we will be having our book trivia. So put on your thinking hats and head on over to answer: Who was the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature?

Online Book Club

February's book has been selected! Thank you to everyone who voted. We will be reading and discussing A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev.

Get in on the discussion for Gaiman's Norse Mythology with these two threads:
Welcome to the World of Norse Mythology
How do you like the book so far?

2018 Website
The problem with holidays and snow is that it throws your entire schedule off. Unfortunately, I haven't been at work long enough to sit down with our IT department to get the new website up. My hope is that it will be ready no later than January 29th. Thank you all again so much for your patient!

What are you reading

Now the fun stuff... what is everyone reading this week? Any exciting thrillers? Lovely romances? High flying adventures? I will admit, with all the holidays and snow, I read way more than I was expecting. Granted, they weren't high literature, but it was nice to have time to just read. This week, I'm working on Durarara!! Bk. 6, Fruits Basket, Because You Love to Hate Me, and Dinotopia Lost.

Tell us your reads!

February's Online Book Club book...

A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev

Pick up your copy today! Look for more posts coming February 2018.

Now that we are a few weeks into January.... how is everyone liking Norse Mythology? Or not liking it?

Give us your thoughts, impressions, questions, and comments!

This is actually my second time reading the book. So it's been fun to reread it, especially since a month or so ago, I actually read another book of Norse myths. Gaiman does a good job of narrating the tales and drawing you into them. He's also done a good job of putting them into an "order." I just wish it ended better for everyone!

Congratulations, Jasmine Holloman, for being our 2017 52 Book Pickup Prize Winner!!!!

Thank you to everyone who participated and read books in 2017! Looking forward to 2018!

Ingrid wrote: "So sad when the library is closed. 😢
Do you know if they are waiving the fines for the books that have been in the book drop while the library is closed?"

We will be backdating all check-ins to January 3rd when we reopen. So there shouldn't be any fines for the days we were closed if the book was just placed in the book drop.