bookloversnest’s Comments (group member since May 01, 2015)

bookloversnest’s comments from the Tea and Tales with Cate and Allison group.

Thanks for that reminder, Cate!

I'll go first. I'm Allison, and I'm one of the leaders of Tea and Tales. I enjoyed this book, though I don't think I loved it. I had a hard time getting into the book, and it was a bit slow for me at the beginning. It definitely picked up more toward the end, and I like the second half a lot better than the first. I'm looking forward to talking about this with everyone!

Hello hello! As people you join us, please post a short comment introducing yourself so that we know you're here! :)

Ditto what Cate said! So happy to see so many new faces here, and I can't wait to get to know you all! Don't forget that our first live book discussion is next Thursday at 6 PM PST. Hope you'll join us!

Hey everyone!

So Cate and I have what we think is a pretty awesome idea to make this group feel more like a book club. Instead of us simply posting discussion questions and you all answering when you have time/finish the book, we're going to host a live discussion. We'll set a date and time for the discussion, everyone will log into Goodreads then, and we'll discuss the book in real time. Sounds pretty cool, right?

We're going to try this out with our March read, The Girl with All the Gifts (which I hope you're enjoying!). Our discussion will be on Thursday April 7th at 6 PM PST. If you are going to be joining us for our live discussion, please just comment here so we can have a sense of how many people there will be. If there's a lot of you who want to participate (which would be great!), we'll probably host two different discussions just so that they're more manageable.

Cate and I really hope you'll join us next Thursday! Can't wait to discuss this very interesting book with everyone!

Allison

Hey classic lovers!

So Anna Karenina was chosen as our March book, but because it's such a beast, I figure we'll take this month and next month to read and discuss it. Does everyone want to read at their own pace or would you like me to post a reading schedule?

Can't wait to finally tackle this one!

Allison

Hey everyone!

Sorry we're getting the Six of Crows discussion up later than expected! Both Cate and I have been incredibly busy, and March just kind of got away from us. We're looking forward to discussing this book with all of you!

This month's discussion questions come to us via litlovers.com. If you haven't checked them out, you totally should! They have some great discussions for a lot of different books.

1.. How do the characters—Kaz and his crew of five—differ from one another? Start, perhaps, with each one's defining characteristics; then consider...
♦ their individual motivations
♦ their skills (what talent each brings to the heist)
♦ their past histories
♦ how each views the society they live in, the job at hand, and one another.

2. To what extent do any of the characters grow or change by the end of the book? Do any (or all) reach a new level of maturity, gain insights, or find peace and redemption from their pasts?

3. Do you have any favorites within the Dregs? Is there one you relate to or sympathize with more than any of the others?

4. Six of Crows is set in the same world as Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy. If you've read any of the books in that trilogy, how does this one compare? If you haven't, was it hard to find your footing at first?

5. Did you enjoy the book's structure—a story told through five different characters? Do the differing voices progress seamlessly through the book, or does the storyline feel disjointed? Why might Bardugo have chosen to tell her story using different points of view?

6. Talk about the various loyalties and friendships that exist among and between crew members—there's Nina and Inej, as well as Jesper, Wylan, and Matthias.

7. What is going on between Nina and Matthias—do they love or hate one another? Or are their conflicted feelings flip sides of the same coin?

8. Follow-up to Question 7: What about the romance between Kaz and Inej? What does Inej mean when she says to Kaz, "I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all"? What are his feelings toward her?

9. Fantasy/dystopian literature is frequently a veiled allusion to the ills of contemporary, society, perhaps serving as a warning. What aspects of Ketterdam, though exaggerated, might be a reflection of our own 21st-century society?

10. Were you surprised by the twists and turns of the plot? Or did you "see it coming."

11. If Six of Crows is the first installment of a series, as most believe, will you be read the next volume?

As always, please feel free to post your own questions and observations about the book!

Hey everyone!

I can't believe we're already over halfway through February! I pulled last month's suggestions from this thread, but if there are any new books you want to add to be included in the March poll, please list them here. I can't wait to see which classic we'll be reading next month!

Allison

Hey book lovers!

How is everyone doing with To Kill a Mockingbird? Is this your first time reading it or are you re-reading it for the hundredth time? What has stood out to you so far? Which characters do you like and/or relate to? I'd love to hear your thoughts and questions!

Allison

Hey book lovers!

Cate and I just wanted to send out a reminder about a few of our group's guidelines. As the moderators, Cate and I are responsible for starting all discussion threads. We want to make sure that all discussion threads are on topic, relevant to our readings, and, of course, appropriate for our community, which is why we start them.

In regard to buddy reads: if there is a book you would like to read with others, please let me or Cate know. If there is no overlap with any upcoming polls or group reads, we will post a buddy read thread for you and others to discuss a particular book. We also want to make sure there aren't too many buddy reads going on at the same time so as not to overwhelm members or distract from the main books we are discussing as a group. A great source of books for buddy reads are those that ranked high on a monthly poll but did not win. We'd love to see more of those titles in our group, especially since there are usually others in the group who'd like to read them.

In regard to group book discussions: if you have specific questions you would like to raise about a book we are reading, please post in the mid-month check-in thread or the end-of-the-month discussion thread. If you'd prefer, you can also contact me or Cate, and we will make sure to include your question(s). If you are interested in leading the discussion for one of our monthly books, we also welcome that! Again, just get in touch with me or Cate, and we will work out the details.

I hope this clears things up for everybody! As always, we want this to be a fun and safe place for people to read and discuss books, and we welcome your feedback and questions. Cate and I are here to listen and chat if you ever want!

Thanks and happy Friday everyone!

Allison

Also adding You by Caroline Kepnes!!

I second Brooklyn!

Hey book lovers!

February's classic book is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. If you haven't read this one yet, it is an absolute must, and I hope you'll join us! I read this year's ago, and I'm excited to dig into it again.

Happy reading!

Allison

How's everyone doing with 1984? I just stated yesterday, and I'm totally sucked in! This world is so creepy, and the similarities to our own reality are rather unsettling. I can't wait to see where everything goes!

What do you all think of the main character? I'm pretty put-off by his strange feelings toward women - maybe that's part of the point??

Hello book lovers!

I'm so excited to kick off our year of the classics with George Orwell's 1984! Who of you have read this one before? Who, like me, haven't read it? I tend to feel less bad about missing 1984 since I did read Animal Farm ("All animals are equal!"), but I'm so excited to finally get all of the big brother references that pretty much go over my head. I also think that this book will be particularly relevant to our society today.

Who else is excited??

Hey everyone!

Thanks for voting in our January classics poll! Looks like we'll be reading 1984 by George Orwell, and I'm so excited! This has such a huge place in our culture, and I can't believe I've never read it! Head on over to the 1984 thread so that we can chat about the book!

Thanks everyone for all of your AWESOME suggestions! And I've loved learning about each of you and why you're interested in classic literature. I think this is going to be a very fun year!

I just posted the January classics poll, so please take a moment to vote on which book you'd like to read. I tried to take suggestions from everyone, and I also made sure that we had some non-white, non-male, non-English choices since a number of you expressed interest in this. I can't wait to see what we pick! Yay!

Hey everyone!

Thank you to all of you who have expressed interest in reading/re-reading some of the classics this year! I'm so excited to read and discuss some amazing works of literature with you!

We'll be reading one classic book each month, so 12 over the course of 2016. Feel free to read all of the books or to pick and choose which ones you're most interested in. We'll have a poll each month to decide which book we'll be reading, and I'll pull the choices from the suggestions you leave here. Once we've decided on a book, I'll start a new thread in this folder where we can post questions and discuss the book as we read it. Sound good? Let me know if you have any other suggestions, and I'll incorporate them here!

OK, now the fun part: book suggestions! Please post which book(s) you'd like to read, and I'll get them up in a poll ASAP so we can choose our January book. I'll throw in Invisible Man, The Scarlett Letter, and 1984, all books I SHOULD have read but have not. Don't judge too harshly!

Also, I'd love it if we each shared a little about ourselves and why we want to read classic literature this year. I'll go first!

I'm Allison, and I'm currently in school working toward my single subject English credential. I'll be working with high school English students in the fall, and I want to read some of those classic high school English books that I somehow missed. I also love classic literature and haven't read as much as I'd like in the past couple of years. I'm looking forward to reading/re-reading and discussing some really great works of literature this year with all of your!

As always, happy reading!

Allison

I'm about halfway through, and I'm loving it! I'm a little irked by some of the Shimerdas, I think primarily because we only see them from Jim's point of view. I do think, though, that sometimes Jim is too quick to become angry with them or write them off. Like when Ántonia can't go to school and clearly puts on a front to protect herself. I just can't imagine how difficult it would be to be the Shimerdas. Living in a new country, not knowing anyone, being duped and losing almost all of your money, not knowing the language, having to do everything entirely differently - I don't know how I would handle that, so I think I'm inclined to show them some grace.

The wolves story is heartbreaking. I can't imagine living with that weight for so long. I'm glad Pavel was able to unburden himself before he died.

What do you ladies think of Mr. Shimerda's suicide? Is it selfish or understandable? Or both? How does it change his family? I have so many thoughts, but I'll save them for when I hear from you ladies.

Finally, the American west seems like a character unto itself. What do you think of Cather's decision to feature Nebraska and the "Wild West" in such great detail? How does the book work as sort of love letter to pioneer life and the land?

All the Bright Places is so, so good! It's one of my favorite books this year, for sure. I totally down to read it! I'll also throw in In a Dark, Dark Wood because it's looks creepily delicious.

I'm starting tomorrow, ladies!! I can't wait to get caught go on our discussion!