Brie’s Comments (group member since Mar 04, 2015)

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

Ok guys! If anyone can finish an I or an O by 10 pm EST tonight, we will have completed THREE WHOLE SPELL-IT-OUTS!!!

I AM SO OBSESSED WITH YOUR GOALS SARAH I LOVE IT!!!!

That's so awesome Sarah thank you!!!!! I am home sick aaaaall day and night, friends, so don't hesitate to add any last minute completed reads!!! I'll be able to add them to the spreadsheet up until the VERY. LAST. SECOND.

DQs for April 24
ANNA (Saturday, 20 July 2013) – RACHEL (Tuesday, 23 July 2013)
PAGES:112 - 162

12. This is our first look at Anna’s perspective. What are your impressions of her?
I think Anna is just as delusional and unlikable as the rest of these women. As of right now, the only thing keeping me reading is the mystery of it all. As far as the female characters are concerned, I can't stand any of them.

13. Up to this point, we have only seen Scott through Megan’s eyes. Did he seem different through Rachel’s interactions with him? Do you trust him?
Scott is possessive and dangerous through Megan's eyes, yet he is weak and wounded through Rachel's eyes. This only proves that we truly cannot trust any one's perspective in this novel as the absolute truth. I do not think Scott did anything. Right now, I am most suspicious of Tom.

14. Both Scott and Rachel have had strange feelings about Detective Riley. Why do you think they have such a negative reaction to her?
Detective Riley is not a warm compassionate character. She is the bad cop. She is there to piss off the suspects so much that one of them blurts something out and incriminates themselves. That's her job. Scott is the primary suspect because he is the husband! That's "Missing Wife 101." Therefore, Riley is DEFINITELY not going to go easy on him. As for Rachel, she plays victim, and Riley has absolutely no patience for that. She's a smart and astute cop (as evidenced by how quickly she jumped on Rachel's little "Jess" name slip).

15. Do you think Kamal was involved in Megan’s disappearance? Did you agree with Rachel’s decision to tell Scott about him?
I think that Rachel needs to back the hell off for a hot second and let the police do their job. She's obsessive and delusional. The police would have told Scott about the affair, if only to measure his reaction. An affair like that would be a primary motive for murder, both for Scott AND Kamal. I don't think the police releasing Kamal is the end of his story, by any means.

16. Why do you think Tom resists calling the police despite Anna’s fear and Rachel’s persistent disruption of their lives?
Because Tom is involved in the murder. Plain and simple. Tom was having an affair with Megan? Maybe Rachel witnessed it? Maybe Tom was trying to hurt Rachel, Megan stopped him, he accidentally killed Megan? Either way, Tom was the one to give Rachel the book about black outs. He knows that when you're blacked out, you cannot form memories. If Rachel WAS a witness of Tom's transgression, he's relatively confident she won't incriminate him. However, he does not want to take the chance -- therefore, avoiding all police contact.

17. Tom reveals some details of that Saturday night – blood on Rachel’s hand, she was very upset, etc. We also know she is having night terrors and panic attacks about the underpass and hearing voices. Are you starting to put together a theory, especially now that it appears Megan is dead? Anything you want to share?
I just revealed my theory in my answer to the previous question. But just to reiterate: Tom attacks Rachel. Megan intervenes. Tom accidentally kills Megan. Rachel, wounded, flees the scene.

DQs for April 23rd
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 necessarily think she's a SOCIOPATH. I think that when Ben died, a part of Megan died too, and she's been trying to fill that void ever since. I think she exhibits these self-destructive behaviors in order to FEEL something.

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?
Definitely! Anna can give Tom something Rachel never could, and though Tom never blamed her, she blames herself. Her infertility was what drove her to drink.

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?
Yes, I am still curious to find out what the story is behind the ginger man on the train.

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?
At this point I don't really have any sort of theory about what happened. I feel like everyone is somehow connected to her disappearance. Scott is involved, Rachel is involved, Tom is involved etc.

10. Will Rachel quit drinking because of this investigation? Or will she continue to keep drinking?
Her longest bout of sobriety was three days so far and that was because she felt like she had purpose. I don't think she's going to get sober until she's fully ready, and that means no longer blaming Tom and Anna, or anyone else for her actions. She needs to hold herself accountable. Right now, alcohol is her priority coping mechanism. She drinks when she wants to escape, when she wants to celebrate, when she wants to calm down, when she wants to think clearly.

11. Do you think the police know that Rachel tried to contact Scott?
I don't think they know yet, but they're certainly going to find out.

I'm a couple days behind but I wanna catch up!!!

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?
Rachel is pretty heartbreaking to me. She's in the throws of her rock bottom and it's hard to start this novel off watching her struggle so intensely. I haven't exactly warmed up to Megan...I find her pretty selfish at the moment but I'm sure that will change as I learn more about her past.

2. Have you every people watched as Rachel is doing and made up a story to go along with the "characters"?
I live in New York City, so people watching is my favorite thing to do. I have an hour long commute to and from work every day, so I love to create stories of the people I see consistently throughout the week.

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...)
The reliability of eyewitness testimony was, is, and probably always will be a very serious matter of debate. Unfortunately, Rachel's alcoholism leaves her with memories that are flashes of lucidity her sober mind has to attempt to piece together. However, when you're drunk, situations morph, senses and emotions become heightened...she can't trust herself. Megan, on the other hand, battles with the desire to manipulate her own memories. Therefore, memories can be altered based on one's own desires (denial, repression etc), as well as outside forces (drugs, alcohol, abuse etc).

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?
I would think of a parenthesis as an explanation or addition to what the previous content had been discussing. I don't really know what to make of this. I'm curious to go back and read other members' answers to see their thoughts.

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 definitely think that Rachel was involved SOMEHOW, perhaps merely as a witness. I know she was in an inebriated black out state where she exhibited vengeful feelings toward Megan. I also think that she and Tom interacted. I don't think Megan was kidnapped...if anything, she ran away AGAIN, or was killed.

WE HAVE OFFICIALLY COMPLETED OUR SECOND SPELL-IT-OUT!!! Great work ladies!!! All letters for the next 24 hrs are up for grabs!!!

:)

Stupendous Berit ;) and thank you Sarah!

Fantastic!!!! What letters?

Sorry if responses are limited today. I'm sick as a dog and typing is actually exhausting to me. Le sigh.

COMPLETED READ

The Children Act
A: Adam Henry
P: Nigel Pauling
R: Sherwood Runcie
I: Ian McEwan (author)
C: title
T: title

Amazing jobs guys!!! I know this week has been busy for everyone, and communication has been tough, but I soooo appreciate all of your efforts!!!!!!!!

Sarah, we need three more letters to complete our second spell-it-out! I agree with Berit, read whatever you want and we will make it fit. Keep doin what you're doin and providing all letters the book fulfills. Technically, we still need P-R-C, but many books fulfill MANY letters and can ALWAYS be moved around.

You guys are so great!!!

BAHAHAHAHA! She caught me in a really good place!

Stupendous!!!!!!!!!

We have completed our first Spell-It-Out!!! I have yet to hear from Princess so...hope everything's going ok there. How are you all doing this week???

Great job Sarah!!!! From the looks of it, we've all been a little MIA this week. I don't know about everyone else but it seems like total chaos in my world!

COMPLETED READ

Push

P: title
C: Claireece Precious Jones
R: Blue Rain

Awesome!