Megan’s Comments (group member since Dec 30, 2017)

Megan’s comments from the EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club group.

I’m listening to the audiobook narrates by Maggie Gyllenhaal, which is excellent. I’m only about 20% thru but it goes pretty fast. I agree that everyone is relatable. I’d forgotten what a great writer Tolstoy was, I read excerpts and short stories back in school.

I’ve started the audible version, it’s very good. The language is lovely and the characters are highly relatable. I’d forgotten how good Tolstoy was( read short stories and excerpts in school), and am glad to have the impetus of a group read to encourage me to finally read this.

added two books to post 21

I also second Educated and Poisonwood Bible

I second Beloved, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Americanah, In the Woods, Radium Girls, Perfume. . . , Ocean. . . and Watership Down

I nominate The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

just added my first November book to post 21

I'm so excited Daniela nominated The Outsiders because I've been meaning to read it, so a definite second. I also second practically everything else (sorry Zainab, I'm not a Faulkner fan) : The Fellowship of the Ring, Of Mice and Men, Brave New World, Don Quixote, Anne of Green Gables, Flowers for Algernon, The Great Gatsby, The Invisible Man, The Day of the Triffids, Slaughterhouse-Five, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,The Machine Stops, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and The Stranger

Added books 14 and 15 to post 24, trying to finish Elinor Oliphant, but may not make it by the end of the evening. Might read something short. . . Happy Halloween!

added two books to message 24. Celeste, thanks for all your hard work and the amazing team update!

Celeste wrote: "Megan wrote: "I have a question about re-reads. I'm assuming re-reads count as long as it's only once during the challenge. SO, if I read a book as a teenager and am re-reading it during the challe..."

I only had questions about two books. I wanted to make sure I was doing things correctly. It can be hard to track responses in the House thread, so I thought I should ask here. Thanks.

I have a question about re-reads. I'm assuming re-reads count as long as it's only once during the challenge. SO, if I read a book as a teenager and am re-reading it during the challenge, it counts for one book, or if I read a book earlier in the year and am re-reading it during the challenge, it counts for one book.

added another book to post 24, also question about re-reading

added four more books

I've always loved Jane's integrity and her deep sense of justice. She was really a firebrand under that meek exterior. After rereading, I understand why some people disliked her and were upset by her leaving Mr. Rochester. She had to though, she was afraid he'd try to coerce her to be his mistress, and she didn't feel that was right. Rumors about his mad wife could very well have followed them to Europe, if she'd gone along with his plan, and that would have had a negative impact on their social acceptance. I think she was afraid, too, that he would lose respect for her, just as he'd lost respect for his previous mistresses.

I think her journey and her family experience with St James provided time for important character growth for both of them. Jane finally gets to have a positive family experience, and, with her teaching job and her inheritance, gets to be independent, so she comes back to Rochester as an equal instead of a dependent. St James was definitely cold, calculating and ambitious. Spiritual bullies are some of the worst sorts, they justify the bullying because it's supposed to make the victim a better person. If she had stood up to him immediately, he might not have decided she'd be the perfect little wife/drudge. I was so relieved Jane maintained her integrity and refused to marry him.

I think Jane's leaving forced Rochester to realize he was being too pushy and needed to accept her as she was. And she didn't leave him alone with a madwoman, he still had his household staff. He also stopped pretending he didn't have a wife and tried to take care of Bertha. He really proved his great caring for those he felt responsible for in the fire, getting all his people out and trying to save Bertha.

It's an interesting question to wonder what Jane would have done if Rochester's wife had lived. If Bertha had survived, she probably would have been maimed and required nursing. Would Jane have nursed them both? I doubt she or Rochester would have been ok with institutionalizing Bertha, a nice room in the attic with a paid nurse was a much better situation than most mental institutions of the time.

I also second The Thirteenth Tale, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, Educated: A Memoir, and The Golden Compass

Zainab wrote: "

I nominate Watchmen because:
1. Highly Rated and well praised graphic novel
2. I mean .. it is Alan Moore after all
3. Quick-ish read for all of us fighti..."

I second Watchmen, it's excellent and I've been meaning to re read it

I nominate A Christmas Carol (someone had to)
I second everything else, because they would all be interesting to read: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Three Musketeers, The Master and Margarita, Slaughterhouse-Five, A Christmas Memory, Brave New World, The Brothers Karamazov, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Count of Monte Cristo.

Just updated my reading, message 24. I don't know the page numbers tho.

This is one of my favorite coming of age stories of all time! I loved Charlie and his friends, the characterizations were great. I like both the book and the movie. I thought mental health and trauma from sexual abuse were dealt with very thoughtfully, framed within a lot of satisfying high school interactions. I loved Charlie’s relationship with his English teacher, his love of books and his wry humor.

Reserved. Happy Reading everyone!
October
1. Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men by Molly Harper finished 10/3
2. Jane Eyre, the audible version with Thandie Newton, finished 10/4
3. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawkins, 10/4
4. Skim, graphic novel by Mariko Tamaki 10/5
5. Akata Witch, 349 pages 10/7
6. Anne of Green Gables, 320 pages 10/9
7. The Kiss Quotient, 336 pages by Helen Hoang 10/9
8. A Briefer History of Time 10/12
9. Beautiful Creatures, 563 pages 10/14
10. Beastly Bones, 296 pages 10/19
11. Dehlilah Dirk, graphic novel by Tony Cliff, 167 pages, 10/20
12. Trigger Warning, by Neil Gaiman, 310 pages, 10/24
13. Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 80 pages 10/24
14. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho 10/26
15. Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot 10/30
November
16. The Rose Garden by Suzanna Kearsey 11/3
17. Dracula by Bram Stoker 11/4
18. Eleanor Oliphant is Fine 11/7
19. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote 11/7
20. Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman, 97 pages 11/8
21. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, 406 pages 11/10
22. The Journals of Scheherazade by Sheryl St. Germain, 78 pages 11/16
23. Breaking the Spell: Tales of Enchantment by Sally Grindley, 80 pages 11/20
24. The Frog Princess by J. Patrick Lewis, illus Gennady Spirin, 32 pages 11/20
25. Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave by Marianna Mayer, illus Kinuko Y. Craft, 40 pages 11/20
26. The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt, Tony DiTerlizzi, 40 pages, 11/21
27. The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore, 496 pages 11/24
28. Jitterbug Jam by Barbara Hicks 11/26
29. When the Sky is Like Lace by Elinor Lawler Horowitz (and I’ve probably misspelled her name) 11/28
30. Horsefly by Alice Hoffman 11/28
31 . Madam Will You Talk by Mary Stewart 11/29

December
32. Prince Caspian, by JRR Tolkien 12/2
33. The Hobbit, by JRR Tolkien 12/4
34. Beautiful Mistake, by Vi Kreeland 12/4
35. Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo 12/5
36. Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like, by Jay Williams, Mercer Mayer (Illustrator) 12/12
37. Crazy Rich Asians, by Kevin Kwan 12/12
38. The Lost Islands (Explorer #2), by Kazu Kibuishi(Editor) 12/14
39. Educated, by Tara Westover 12/16
40. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, by Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman 12/21
41. In Real Life, by Cory Doctorow, Jen Wang(Illustrations) 12/23
42. The Christmas Hirelings, by Mary Elizabeth Braddon 12/23
43. Darth Vader and Friends(Star Wars: Darth Vader and Kids), by Jeffrey Brown 12/25
44. A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens 12/26
45. Fight Club, by Chuck Palahniuk 12/31