Chava’s Comments (group member since Dec 19, 2013)

Chava’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

Ni Hao Maya :)

I'm a bit of all three. I like to read BOMs so I read with others and it keeps me from slacking off :)

Dale wrote: "Hi all,

My name is Dale, I joined super late but better late than never? I'm originally from Melbourne, Australia (lots of Aussies in this team)..."

Aussie Aussie Aussie (unless it's the rugby then it's All Blacks! :) )

Hi Jaime,
I used to live in NZ too (Hamilton and Auckland).

I lived in Ballarat for a year and worked there for 3 years. It was a big change from NZ!!

Hi everyone!!
I'm Chava (pronounced Hah-vah, for those playing at home) and I live in Victoria, Australia (at the bottom where we do get cold ;) ). I have 4 kids aged 5, 4, 2 1/2 and 7m. I am about to start work again after I've been on maternity leave since Feb. I am a psychologist and starting my final year of my Masters degree in clinical family therapy next year.
I read predominantly mystery/thriller, etc. The more gruesome the better :). I read ebooks, paper versions and listen to audiobooks in the car. That way I can get through quite a few, but will aim for 2 a month initially.
It's my first time doing the Tower challenge. I'm excited and still quite puzzled and intrigued about what I'm about to start :)

I'm signed up. I am going back to work (I've been on maternity leave since Feb), which means I can listen to audiobooks to and from work as well as during work in the car. I hope to get through more books than I've done so far...

388p 292p 265p 393p 96p 420p 592p 308p 378p 560p
313p 340p 71p 214p 416p 391p 383p 11p 27p 98p 32p 384p 34p 223p 352p 388p 352p
336p 496p 436p

Total: 8637

Current Total: 1,958,624

Thanks to you I got introduced to this author about 18 months ago. I'm in again too.

MEGAN (Thursday, 10 January 2013) – RACHEL (Friday, 19 July 2013)
PAGES: 62 – 111

6. Megan is very self-destructive. She tries to seek out a sexual relationship with her counselor and follows him home. Then she desires for Scott to be home. Do you think Scott is Megan’s stability? Is she a sociopath?

I don't think she's a sociopath at all, I think she is highly needy due to an underlying psychological issue. She appears highly anxious.


7. At the police station Rachel was told that Anna told them she took the baby. Rachel has no memory of this. A little later on she says she heard the baby crying then entered the house in the back, held the baby, then took the baby outside. Not being able to have children weighs heavily on her. Is this part of the obsession wish Anna and Tom?

I think it must be so hard to see your husband cheat on you, have a baby with the other woman when you weren't able to have kids. It would hurt twice over.


8. People in a drunken state tend to misread peoples interactions or intentions with them. Do you feel this has played a role with Rachel and her memories?

I think the drinking causes such massive memory lapses that she is just filling in the gaps she has. I think in general she lives in a fantasy world and therefore misreads people.


9. Do you think Scott has something to do with Megan’s disappearance? Perhaps he is tired of her cheating on him? Maybe she ran off with a lover?

I think she's with the psychologist. I do think she's been murdered though, not sure yet by whom. This book keeps me guessing.


10. Will Rachel quit drinking because of this investigation? Or will she continue to keep drinking?

I hope she will, but I doubt it. I think she'll keep drinking. It's a full on addiction, she won't be able to just give it up. The side effects of going cold turkey would be too much on top of the stress she's already feeling.


11. Do you think the police know that Rachel tried to contact Scott?

No, I think he's kept that secret. I can't really get a reading on the police. Initially I thought they thought she'd done it, now I am not sure.

There is so much going on, it's keeping me hooked!! I got so annoyed yesterday as I was reading in the bath and the water became too cold, so had to get out. So frustrating!!

DQ for April 22nd
RACHEL(Friday, 5 July 2013) - RACHEL(Monday, 15 July 2013)
PAGES:11 - 61

1. What are your first impressions of Rachel? Megan?

I didn't like Rachel very much. I struggled with her being drunk or alcohol affected. I was a bit creeped out by her watching Megan and her husband from the train each day. It felt very much like a stalker.
I felt a bit sorry for Megan. She sounds depressed.


2. Have you every people watched as Rachel is doing and made up a story to go along with the "characters"?

Like I said in Q1, I found this rather creepy.


3. A crucial question in The Girl on the Train is how much Rachel Watson can trust her own memory. How reliable are her observations? Yet since the relationship between truth and memory is often a slippery one, how objective or “true” can a memory, by definition, really be? Can memory lie? If so, what factors might influence it? Consider examples from the book. (Retrieved from http://www.penguin.com/read/book-club...)

I was actually doubting her recollection of events due to her alcohol use. It makes anything she says rather questionable.


4. I found this quote from the book interesting: "Life is no a paragraph, and death is no parenthesis." What are your thoughts regarding this quote?

Life is more like a book, I think, not a paragraph as in part of a book.
The parenthesis is a strange comment to me. I don't really understand it. I actually didn't think about the quote/comment when I read it, I just kept reading :)


5. Where do you think Jess/Megan went? Do you think she took off, was kiddnapped, or killed? Do you think Rachel had anything to do with Megan's disappearance?

I think she was killed and buried somewhere. I have thought that Rachel did it as she was in the area but can't remember a thing.

560p

current total: 916 872

177p
372p
Total: 549

current total: 911,927

416p
316p
398p
304p
384p
138p
416p
214p

Total: 2586

current total: 894,842

yey, I started reading last month, but would rather be reading with you guys. Awesome!!

Trafficked: The Terrifying True Story of a British Girl Forced into the Sex Trade
308 pages

current total: 438,263

292 pages

current total: 365,098

98 pages
388 pages

Total: 488

current total: 359,153

371 pages

current total: 343,890

I'm going to try this one too. That makes 3 BoMs in a row for me, wow!