Cindy’s Comments (group member since Dec 18, 2019)

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

DQ - Day 2

6. I might be too judgmental, but her pining for Hansu is constantly making me frown. She promised to care for and honor her husband, never to betray him. Yet she keeps marveling about her lost "love", how she misses him, how she wants to see him, how she has already been in the city with him in her mind, etc. Are such thought not a kind of betrayal? She is so rational and reasonable about what happened and knows full well how he lured her in and used her, but cannot stop the pining and reminiscing about it. Why do you think she can't let it go and focus on her future?
I think its hard for her in the beginning because she loved him and he would be her first love. I feel like him being the father of her baby also has alot to do with it.

7. After all Isak said about his successful brother and all his dreams about the better life in the city, he arrived to some harsh revelations. I am starting to think they might have been better staying on the island. Isak's brother's revelations about his house, his neighbors, the judgement in the city, the discrimination at work and spying everywhere are very disappointing and brutal. Do you think it a natural disillusion of impossible dreams? Or Yoseb's hope that it might be better for his brother here, where he can watch over him?
I feel like he thinks its better if he can watch over him and care for them both. Since Isak has been sick most of his life he may feel like its his duty to protect and care for him. I think he also felt like the weather there would be better for him health wise than what is was where they are from.

8. That scene in the church with the brother and sister. The pastor discussing what it actually means when a wealthy man wants to be a young girl's "friend". The duplicity of the pastor - being nice and not judgmental to the siblings, yet judging them harshly when they have left was not surprising but annoying still. The sweet talk to their face, but harsh berating behind their back would have been exactly what happened to Sunja and her family. Do you think this scene was included to reveal to Isak more truths about his wife's condition and impossible choices to help him understand her?
I thought it was a coincidence that the situation was pretty much what Sunja went through but i don't know if Isak realized it or not since Sunja had never told him what happened and who it had happened with.

9. The pastor's reason for hiring Isak was revealed as well - to get money from his family and avoid paying him wages - and I must admit it didn't endear the pastor to me at all. And the pawnbroker and his greed, the loan sharks and their scare tactics. We get introduced to many characters that are not really likable and portray humanity at its worst. Do you think it is a decision by the author to reveal the true nature of people in all kinds of positions in general or is it included to especially note how people get in times of oppression and hard times? I am starting to think Isak coming to Japan was a huge mistake with every little revelation. Do you think it will work out? Or do you agree it was a mistake?
I think the author included all of this in the book because it was probably things that happened really did happen at that time, i mean it still happens today.

10. The debacle with the watch was very educational. We get to see a merchant's attitude towards women, husband's attitude towards a wife in stark contrast to how men are treated. Yoseb is enraged with his wife and sister-in-law, he can't forgive them or appreciate the help, yet he can forgive and accept when his brother asks him to. Do you think he would have gotten over it in time if his brother hadn't asked him? Or would he be always resentful towards women? The whole "head of the house" part further gets the point home that women will always be under the command of a man, even in regards to baby names. The prison scene also drives home how women are still supposed to be home and stay away from men's troubles, too weak to do something about it. And women who work are still frowned upon, even in their own family. Do you think it will change further in the story? Will oppression and war open their minds towards changing a woman's role in the family and world?
I thought it was a little much how mad he got over it but then again I haven't lived through times like these or ever had to experience something like that. Maybe the whole working women situation with get better as the story goes on but i could also see it continuously being frowned upon

1. This novel starts with the sentence: "History has failed us, but no matter." Did you like this opening line? What do you think it means, and why do you think the author chose it?
I think it was a good opening line. I think it could mean that history has a way of repeating itself and and we fail to learn from it. I could also see it has stuff happens but life goes on anyways.

2. I am half-Korean, and my mom has shared a lot of the history of her own family and how it's interwoven with Korean history in general. What, if anything, did you know of the Japanese colonization of Korea -- or the history of Korea, Japan, and China in the 20th scentury in general -- before beginning to read this book?
I dont really know anything about the subject.

3. Hansu seems like a complicated character. What were your thoughts on him? Did you hate him?
I thought that he just wanted to use her and take advantage of her from the start, from the way that he was staring at her in the market and wouldn't speak to her in front of others, that it had to be like their little secret.

4. What did you think of Sunja's decision to not accept being Hansu's mistress? Why do you think she chose to reject him? Do you think she made the right decision?
I think it was a good decision for her. I think it was hard for her to do because of the shame and how she would be living her life and what not. I think she knew that she didn't know much about alot of things but that she knew how she should be treated.

5. In this first section of the novel, we see two couples wed -- Hoonie and Yangjin, and then Isak and Sunja. What were some of the similarities between these marriages, and what were the differences?
Some similarities between them would be that they didn't really know anything about each other until they were married and that they both had to learn something new for their husbands.

I’m thinking I’ll be able to finish one more book if not two for this round

I’m trying to finish 3 books by the end of round three. Right now I’m reading into thin air and it’s a little slow going for me.

I’d be open to reading valentine as a group/buddy read

I was able to finish one more book before this round ends! Yayy

I have a question and it may be a dumb question lol but I just finished a book and I’m not sure if I can count it or not. It’s a book that I previously started in March but couldn’t get into at the time and this actually happened another time after that, but I restarted over on the 4th and I finished it today but it says read from 3-1-20 to today and now idk if I can count it??

I just noticed that the nightingale that I read is listed under the first and third completed word

Jenny wrote: "Cindy wrote: "I really enjoyed reading "

How does this one compare to her others? I really liked Winter Garden."

I haven't read that one, I'll have to add it to my list. I have only read one other book by her so far and it was . While i enjoyed that one, i definitely enjoyed this book so much more. It really sucked me in and kind of had me guessing how things were gonna turn out the whole time. I liked that she based it off of something that really did happen during the time with the women joining the resistance and what not.

I really enjoyed reading

I’m not sure if I will be able to finish the nightingale that i signed up for letter k since I’m also trying to read five feet apart

Hoping to finish my second book today! I’m also enjoying this challenge, thinking I may join it every time 😁

I know Angie I’m the same way with planning. That’s the reason I only listed one book on the spreadsheet because if I plan I always end up reading differently.

Here are some books that i have loooved this year, its more than 3 lol.

I have a question, for the hard letters that are listed do we only apply those if it’s in our word that we need to spell out or can we use them in general if we come across them in our books?

Hello everyone!
My name is Cindy and I live in Colorado. I also work in healthcare so it all has been pretty crazy lately.

This is my first wheelathon challenge, it looks fun so I thought I wouldn’t try it out 😁.

I read anything and everything. Right now I’m trying to make my way through my never ending TBR list. It grows everyday so it’s a challenge all within itself lol. I may be able to read more than 7 books per month but I didn’t want to promise a higher number if I wasn’t sure that I could complete it.