Beth’s
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(group member since Aug 12, 2014)
Beth’s
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from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.
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Jun 03, 2017 09:16PM
Day 1 questions:1. What do you think about the POV? Does it draw you in or push you away? It's not quite in 2nd person, but it's much more direct than most 1st persons, even ones that break the reader wall. Do you feel Joe is talking to Beck, to you the reader, or both -- are you supposed to identify as Beck?
It's hard for me to read a lot of this book at once, because it does feel like I'm overhearing Joe talk to Beck, and Joe is a crazy evil guy who I would not like to know! Sometimes I need some space.
2. Many times books are set in first person to make it easier to emphasize with the narrator. Do you have sympathy for him? Do you feel you understand why he feels the way he does? Would it be easier or harder if you saw him from outside?
It does a good job of helping me follow his thought processes and see how he understands the world and his place in it. But I don't have any sympathy -- he's a bad guy to the core, and crazy with it.
3. Is Joe an unreliable narrator? He's clearly delusional in some ways; how deep do you think that goes? Do you trust him that he's really doing everything he reports?
At first I thought he was confusing his fantasies with what is really happening, but by the end of this section I think he's clear about what he is actually doing, although his interpretation of everyone else is highly suspect. He's definitely delusional in his belief that he knows what everyone around him is thinking.
4. What do you expect from this book? What made you decide to read it? Do you expect it to have the beats of a thriller, or does the adventurous point of view change your expectations?
I think the plot will be that of a thriller, but since we will spend all the time with the bad guy some things will be shifted.
Day 2 Discussion Questions
Chapters 10-14
5. What do you think are Joe's intentions with Benji? Is there any way you can see this ending well for Benji?
I think Joe will kill Benji. He doesn't really understand the value of anyone else's life, and he sees Benji as a rival with Beck.
7. What is your impression of Beck through Joe's eyes? Do you sympathise with her situation with Benji? Can you see why Joe is so enthralled with her?
It's hard to get a good sense of Beck because Joe is so delusional. She seems to be a fairly shallow young woman, excited to be in New York, enjoying her pretensions and trying to impress her friends. She's obviously got a loser in Benji, but she's young enough that bad boyfriend is almost a rite of passage, and she's clearly not mature enough to even consider a long-term relationship anyway (long term for her right now would be a few months)
8. How do you think Beck feels about Joe? Do you think she genuinely likes him and it's only her feelings for Benji that are getting in the way of her progressing a relationship with him?
I think she finds his "different credentials" a bit exciting -- not going to college makes him sort of a bad boy, but she thinks in a safe way. But she's not really serious about anything, and she's not ready to give up on Benji. On Joe's part, I think it was random; he makes up everything about his obsessions so they can be any girl he picks.
9. I am finding Beck's friendships with Lynne, Chana and Peach to be lacking any real warmth and often interactions amongst the girls seem a bit strained. What are your thoughts on Beck's friends, do you think they are genuine friends who only want the best for her?
I think Joe's complete contempt for all women makes it hard to parse female friendships through his lens. I can't tell if the girls are really friends underneath their cattiness, or if they are really that cliched examples of Mean Girls, and whether this is a weakness on the author's part or just a sign of Joe's delusions.
I'm so excited for my friend Bob. He wrote a book, let me read it last month, and he just put it up on Amazon.It's nice for me, because I was a little bummed that I couldn't count his book for TT5 (I read it at the start of the challenge), but I asked and the mods said it would count if it showed up in goodreads, and look:
Strangeways
Read: May
Rating: 4 stars
BOM: Nope
Pages: 351
I read this as an ARC, as it's by a friend of mine, and he just published it on Amazon so it's officially on goodreads and now counts!
Shannon wrote: "Fixed! I'm starting to annoy myself with my forgetfulness. :) "
"
You are reading so much that a few missed clicks are perfectly understandable :-)
So, now I reveal my insecurities -- those of you doing the You BOM, what did you think of the first day questions? It was my first time writing DQs so I was a bit nervous. It was such a relief when people started answering them -- thanks Karen!
If you can comment here with a link to your comment for the BOM (any one, if you talk a lot), that would be helpful. You get the link by clicking on the time/date stamp at the upper right of the comment. Then we mark you down as participating, and then when you finish it we get the bonus points.
I'm in! It's fun seeing old challenges that I missed.Challenge Levels: I'm hoping to get to difficult, since I'm cheating a little by using both poems:
Difficult 9+ books
Something old, something new, Something borrowed, something blue, And a silver sixpence in her shoe.
So...
Read something old (Perhaps a classic or a book you've owned for a while and haven't read or an old favorite you'd like to read again) Trickster's ChoiceTamora Pierce 6/9/17
Read something new (Published this year or a book you just purchased) Shadow's Seduction
Read Something borrowed (from friend or library) Snow Hunters, Paul Yoon 6/2/17
Read Something blue (has a blue cover or has blue in the title) The Best Man Richard Peck 6/7/17
Read something with luck in the title or has a good luck charm mentioned (since I doubt we'll find one that has something to do with a sixpence for your shoe)
Read books which have the words bride, wedding, groom, marriage, etc in the title or have a wedding that takes place in the book.
---
Thought I'd throw in another poem just for fun:
Marry on Monday for health, (book with a medical professional or where someone gets sick) The Coyote's Bicycle: The Untold Story of 7,000 Bicycles and the Rise of a Borderland Empire Kimball Taylor 6/12/17
Tuesday for wealth, (book with a very wealthy character) A Man Called Ove Fredrik Backman 6/28/17
Wednesday the best day of all, (Book with a happy ending) The Islands of Chaldea Diana Wynne Jones 6/17/17
Thursday for crosses, (book where protagonist has a hard time) Angeleyes Michael Z Williamson 6/5/17
Friday for losses, and (Book where something gets lost or destroyed) One Fell Sweep Ilona Andrews 6/14/17
Saturday for no luck at all. (Book with a lot of coincidences, or where characters are determined to make their own way) The Best of Connie Willis: Award-Winning Stories Connie Willis 6/29/17
The Sabbath day was out of the question. (Book where religion plays an important role)
Completion post at 250!
The Innocent by David Baldacci
Pages: 422
Finished: 6/1/17
BOM: Nope
Rating: 4 stars. I liked the short chapters.
Best wishes for your surgery, Avid Reader! I hope for a relaxing convalescence with lots of reading and no pain!
It's really creepy! I'm might fall behind the group, so I'm glad I was first (just posted my questions). I'm a slow reader for creepy.
Jun 01, 2017 05:34PM
This looks like a suspenseful ride!1. What do you think about the POV? Does it draw you in or push you away? It's not quite in 2nd person, but it's much more direct than most 1st persons, even ones that break the reader wall. Do you feel Joe is talking to Beck, to you the reader, or both -- are you supposed to identify as Beck?
2. Many times books are set in first person to make it easier to emphasize with the narrator. Do you have sympathy for him? Do you feel you understand why he feels the way he does? Would it be easier or harder if you saw him from outside?
3. Is Joe an unreliable narrator? He's clearly delusional in some ways; how deep do you think that goes? Do you trust him that he's really doing everything he reports?
4. What do you expect from this book? What made you decide to read it? Do you expect it to have the beats of a thriller, or does the adventurous point of view change your expectations?
So far creepy (I read through page 70). And with hints of gory.
I'm in to write questions for the BOM You. I'm assigned the first day, pages 1-70.Anyone who wants to suggest good questions will be appreciated. This is my first time, and I'm doing it for us :-). The book is creepy!
May 30, 2017 11:06AM
Yay -- I'm first! Is it OK if I only read my section before making questions, so I can read along with the rest of you, or should I read the whole book so I make sure my questions have a chance to draw people into recurring things?
National Geographic Traveler: Dominican Republic, 3rd Edition by Christopher Baker
Date: 5/28/17
Pages: 240
BOM: Nope
Rating: 3 stars
Shannon, I double-checked our last fifty books, and I think Fast Connection doesn't have a "date read" marked.
