spoko’s Comments (group member since Mar 05, 2021)

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

Kristen wrote: “I have my MLIS but I actually work in property management. Hard to break into the librarian world, but I use a lot of the skills I learned for data management at my current job.”

I didn’t get my MLIS until after I had worked in libraries for a few years. I came in through the tech side (technology, not technical services), and honestly I don’t even need the degree for what I do. But contrary to what so many people say, I learned a lot from getting it.

I heartily second The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.

I'll second My Brilliant Friend (again 😉).

Partly due to timing, and partly due to the length of the book, I’ve missed a couple of previous discussions on this book (in other groups—I wasn’t here last time it was read in this group). So I’m glad to finally squeeze it into my schedule & join this one. I’m about 15% into the book, and so far I enjoy the writing & character development quite a bit.

Jan wrote: “Why do they need to make so many donations? Are they all for the same person and people need THAT many organ transplants? Or are they just used for the general population?”

It’s been years since I read this, but I remember having this same question. It occurs to me now, though, that they are probably a younger version of the person they’ve been cloned from. (Is this ever mentioned/discussed? I can’t remember.) In that case, they might be donating a young, strong organ to someone in their 70s, 80s, or beyond. At the age, in other words, where it’s not unusual for one organ failure to follow on the heels of another.

I second The Turn of the Screw.

Last month of this Read-A-Long! For those of you finishing up:

⟡ Did you find the novel’s length overwhelming, or exhilarating? How about the pacing?
⟡ How did Tolstoy’s philosophical digressions on history, war, and human nature resonate with you? Did they enrich or distract from the narrative?
⟡ What did you make of Tolstoy’s portrayal of Napoleon? Did you find that he evolved over the course of the novel, as other characters did?
⟡ Which family did you most resonate with?
⟡ Would you recommend War and Peace to others to read?

[Moderator’s note: How about that final Epilogue? It’s like a book in itself.]

This begins our group discussion of our Modern book selection, Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, nominated by Tori.

This discussion will be full of SPOILERS.

Did you enjoy the book? What stood out to you? Were you able to visualize the world of Terabithia? Did Leslie’s death surprise you? What questions were you left with?

This begins our group discussion of our Classics book selection, Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, nominated by Renata.

This discussion will be full of SPOILERS.

Did you enjoy the book? What stood out to you? Did you find yourself sympathizing with Emma Bovary? What did you make of Emma’s men—Charles, Rodolphe, and Léon? Did Emma’s suicide seem inevitable to you, or did you think she’d find a way to live her life? What questions were you left with?

Never Let Me Go has been selected as the Catch-Up title for August 2024. Please feel free to continue with points from previous discussion, or bring up something new!

Do remember that this is the SPOILER thread, in case you would prefer to finish reading before proceeding here.

I nominate The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn (435 p., pub. 2022).

Thanks everyone—nominations are now closed, and the polls are open! Help us pick the next Read-A-Long read by casting your vote here.

Thanks everyone—nominations are now closed, and the polls are open! Help us pick the next Catch-Up read by casting your vote here.

Thanks everyone—nominations are now closed, and the polls are open! Help us pick the next Classic read by casting your vote here.

Thanks everyone—nominations are now closed, and the polls are open! Help us pick the next Modern read by casting your vote here.

Abe wrote: “Just finished chapter 5 yesterday and I’m having an issue with this novel, I loved the premise and setting, amnesiac protagonist alone on a mission, kinda like 2001 which I just read and became one...”

I do think you’ll have to suspend disbelief on the flashbacks, because they’re pretty integral to the story, and (for me at least) they don’t really get more believable. They’re explained, but it’s still going to require you to just let that be good enough.

On the bright side, the writing is also consistently funny, touching, and well executed.

Daniel wrote: “It was strange at the end that he remembers that he didn’t want to go in the first place!”

That was a nice ironic twist. I also liked that just after he realized what a coward he was, he commits a thoroughly selfless, heroic act to save his friend.

I also finished it over the weekend, and loved it. The part where he’s banging on the hull of Rocky’s ship, and Rocky realizes that Grace has come to save him, was a pretty great moment.

What did you all think of the way he used amnesia in the narrative, slowly unpeeling the previous timeline (on Earth, leading up to the Hail Mary’s departure) both for Grace and for us? It kind of worked, I think, but it doesn’t seem like a device I’d buy into more than once.

Not to go too far down the sidetrack of trigger warnings, but there are sites where you can check a book for TWs before deciding to read it. I recommend The Story Graph, as it’s a pretty good site in a lot of other ways as well. Any time a user reviews a book on there, they are presented with the opportunity to identify triggers in the book—I’ve entered quite a few along my own reviews. It creates a pretty reliable list of triggers, unless the book is pretty obscure.

If you look on the TSG page for this book ( https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/2... ), you’ll find the following TWs listed:


Under the “See All” link, of course, there are many more (along with a count of how many users identified that trigger in the book).

Systems librarian (-ish) in an academic library.