Perks Moderator’s Comments (group member since Jun 28, 2014)

Perks Moderator’s comments from the The Perks Of Being A Book Addict group.

The other winner of the July Book of the Month is Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano. Please discuss here and remember to use spoiler tags as needed, as everyone reads at different speeds and may start at different times.



An emotionally layered and engrossing story of a family that asks: Can love make a broken person whole?

William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him. So it’s a relief when his skill on the basketball court earns him a scholarship to college, far away from his childhood home. He soon meets Julia Padavano, a spirited and ambitious young woman who surprises William with her appreciation of his quiet steadiness. With Julia comes her family; she is inseparable from her three younger sisters: Sylvie, the dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book and imagines a future different from the expected path of wife and mother; Cecelia, the family’s artist; and Emeline, who patiently takes care of all of them. Happily, the Padavanos fold Julia’s new boyfriend into their loving, chaotic household.

But then darkness from William’s past surfaces, jeopardizing not only Julia’s carefully orchestrated plans for their future, but the sisters’ unshakeable loyalty to one another. The result is a catastrophic family rift that changes their lives for generations. Will the loyalty that once rooted them be strong enough to draw them back together when it matters most?

Vibrating with tenderness, Hello Beautiful is a gorgeous, profoundly moving portrait of what’s possible when we choose to love someone not in spite of who they are, but because of it.

Main Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Romance, Family

Questions under the spoiler tag to help you along.

(view spoiler)[What are the repercussions of personal trauma in the novel? And how does that affect the relationship between characters?

Where do we see the repetition of circles and patterns in the novel?

Where do we see the patriarchal reinforcement of gender stereotypes and roles?

What was one of Julia’s biggest mistakes in the novel?

Is William at fault for the fallout of his marriage and the upcoming events?

Is it selfish of her sisters to prioritize Julia’s coming back from New York over Sylvie’s love for William?

Why do William and Sylvie love each other?

Why having too much control over our lives can affect how we live it? (hide spoiler)]

One of the July 2023 Book of the Month is Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister.

Please discuss here and remember to use spoiler tags as needed, as everyone reads at different speeds and may start at different times.



Late October. After midnight. You're waiting up for your eighteen-year-old son. He's past curfew. As you watch from the window, he emerges, and you realize he isn't alone: he's walking toward a man, and he's armed.

You can't believe it when you see him do it: your funny, happy teenage son, he kills a stranger, right there on the street outside your house. You don't know who. You don't know why. You only know your son is now in custody, his future shattered.

That night you fall asleep in despair. All is lost.

Until you wake . . .

. . . and it is yesterday.

And then you wake again . . .

. . . and it is the day before yesterday.

Every morning you wake up a day earlier, another day before the murder. With another chance to stop it. Somewhere in the past lies an answer. The trigger for this crime--and you don't have a choice but to find it . . .

Main Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Time Travel, Suspense, Crime, Science Fiction, Adult

Questions under the spoiler tag to help you along.

(view spoiler)[Why do you think the title is Wrong Place, Wrong Time? How does it relate to the actions in the novel?

Let’s talk about the night Jen witnesses Todd murder a stranger. What were your thoughts as this unfolded?

Jen wakes up to the day before the murder. And then the day before that. How would you have reacted if you were Jen?
When did you start to suspect that the police offer Ryan was more connected to the mystery than it seemed? Were you surprised when it turned out that Ryan was in fact, Jen’s husband Kelly?

Why did Kelly hide the truth from Jen all this time? How would have things turned out differently if he would have been forthcoming?

As Jen travels back in time, she’s able to view her relationship with Todd in a new light. She at first blames herself—wondering if she worked too hard and wasn’t present enough for Todd. What was the wake up call that showed her that wasn’t the case and it wasn’t her fault what happened?

Jen also revisits her relationship with her deceased father. What was your impression of those scenes and the reveal that her father was working with the criminal Joseph (the person Todd killed in the present timeline)?

Eventually, Jen goes to 20 years in the past. Let’s talk about the climax when Jen is able to stop the accidental kidnapping of Eve.
What did you think about the ending overall and everything that changed as a result of Jen going back in time?

Due to Jen changing the timeline, her friend Pauline is now in the time loop in order to stop her son Connor from becoming a criminal. What do you think will happen there?

Did you feel the author fully explained the reasons that brought Todd to murder Joseph? Or did you think that needed more context?

We never get the full reason why Jen was able to travel back in time—it seems like a vague ‘mothers intuition’. It also implies that this might happen often but then the person forgets once everything has been reset. Did you want more explanation about why this occurred or do you think that description is plenty? What are your feelings overall about these Groundhog Day-type stories? (hide spoiler)]

BINGO Button 6 - Various


To post this button to our BUTTON thread and/or your blog, use the code shown under this spoiler
(view spoiler)[
Use this code, but remove ALL the spaces EXCEPT between img and src

< img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/photos/1..." width="700"< /a > (hide spoiler)]

BINGO 6 - Various



(click image for larger version)

Bingo button to use when this card is completed is here

Congrats to Ty & Zane - Winners UNO 2017!

Announcement is here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
:)

Team Ty & Zane

Winners of UNO 2017!!

And we need to give a special mention to Teams Ove & Jack Torrence who also completed all the mini challenges for maximum points, but due to the luck of the draw did not have the overall points to beat Ty & Zane

We hope you had a wonderful time and read lots of books and we hope to see you all back for UNO next year!

Ty & Zane Team Members:
♦ Emma White (Captain)
♦ Melissa (Co-captain)
♦ Camilla
♦ Cat
♦ Karen Shaw
♦ Sarah C.
♦ Andrea

Closing this thread as all questions should go through captains to the captains group

The title is considered to start with "took"

The dog can work for a different goal where the character is an animal

We gave captains an extra 36 hours past the end of March to finalise spreadsheets, and so now we can announce the March results!

Congrats to the teams who finished the March mini challenge! And Congrats to Team Ove for finishing the month in number 1 place :)

Team Name	March 	March Mini	Total	Ranking
Ove		2290	434		5084	1
Ty & Zane	2270	434		5039	2
Yvaine		2260	434		5019	3
Jack Torrance	2255	434		5009	4
Bones		2250	430		5000	5
Mark Watney	2220	434		4999	6
Liesel Meminger	2245	432		4997	7
Elizabeth Bennet2305	419		4994	8
Robert Langdon	2200	427		4977	9
Rachel Watson	2230	434		4974	10
Eve Dallas	2220	353		4963	11
Augustus Waters	2150	424		4949	12
Kate Daniels	2255	427		4949	12
Ron Weasley	2275	370		4930	14
Peeta Mellark	2280	424		4921	15
Rose Hathaway	2155	419		4914	16
Mercy Thompson	2230	424		4909	17
Buttercup	2240	351		4833	18
Heathcliff	2205	334		4793	19
Becky Bloomwood	2255	261		4746	20
Hercule Poirot	2200	314		4744	21
Harry Dresden	2205	292		4696	22
Sybilla B	2100	268		4603	23
Will Traynor	1560	85		3315	24

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Please welcome new team member Lil Book Harpy!

reserved

reserved

We gave captains an extra 36 hours past the end of February to finalise spreadsheets, and so now we can announce the Feb results!

Congrats to the 11 teams who finished the February mini challenge! And Congrats to Eve Dallas for finishing the month in number 1 place :)

Team Name	Feb 	Valentine	Total	Ranking
Eve Dallas	2070	320		2390	1
Augustus Waters	2055	320		2375	2
Ove		2040	320		2360	3
Robert Langdon	2030	320		2350	4
Mark Watney	2025	320		2345	5
Rose Hathaway	2055	285		2340	6
Ty & Zane	2015	320		2335	7
Yvaine		2005	320		2325	8
Bones		2000	320		2320	9
Jack Torrance	2000	320		2320	9
Liesel Meminger	2000	320		2320	9
Rachel Watson	1990	320		2310	12
Ron Weasley	2035	250		2285	13
Elizabeth B	2025	245		2270	14
Kate Daniels	2055	212		2267	15
Mercy Thompson	1990	265		2255	16
Heathcliff	2065	189		2254	17
Buttercup	2020	222		2242	18
Sybilla (Billi	2000	235		2235	19
Becky Bloomwood	1990	240		2230	20
Hercule Poirot	1995	235		2230	20
Peeta Mellark	1980	237		2217	22
Harry Dresden	2020	179		2199	23
Will Traynor	1660	0		1660	24

Great work everyone!

March is now open
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

reserved

IT'S A PERKS CONNECTED READ-A-THON

As a group let's see what we can read in the month of March and have a Read-A-Thon with a twist!

How this works...

* Each book needs to "connect" to the last one posted

* "Connects" can be based on by genre, author, title, character names, colour of cover, same award won or number of pages

* As soon as you have a book that you have read in Sept 2015 that can connect to the last one, post it with the reasons it "connects" and the running tally for you, and for the group for the month, and let's see how many books we can read and connect in the month!

EXAMPLE

Post 1:
Kristie posts:
Mr. Mercedes
Kristie's tally - 1 book
Perks Group tally - 1 book

Post 2:
Karen Posts
The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden
Connected by: "King" (author and then title)
Karen's tally: 1 book
Perks group tally: 2 books

Post 3:
Kristie posts:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Connected by: Cover colour is yellow
Kirstie's tally: 2 books
Perks group tally: 3 books

.... hopefully you get the idea....

NOTE: You can read any book of any length, children's books and graphic novels also count. Please just remember to check the tally of the book ahead of you and add up the tally as you post

Books need to be marked as "read" between March 1 and March 31. (It doesn't matter when you started)

Spreadsheet of the current team points is here

Note: Current Points is only as up to date as the captains are at updating their spreadsheets.
Some Captains update daily, others weekly, or somewhere in between!
Some only count points when hands are completed, others count points for all books as soon as read

So just use this as a guide as to where your team is up to :)

reserved

IT'S A PERKS ALPHABET READ-A-THON

As a group let's see what we can read in the month and have a Read-A-Thon with a twist!

How this works...

* Each book needs to follow the alphabet from the last one posted

* The Alphabet letter can be based on by genre, author, title, character names, narrator etc.

* As soon as you have a book that you have read in the month that can connect to the last one, post it with the reasons it follows the alphabet and the running tally for you, and for the group for the month, and let's see how many books we can read and connect in the month!

EXAMPLE

Post 1:
Kristie posts:
A
Artemis Fowl (Title)


Kristie's tally - 1 book
Perks Group tally - 1 book

Post 2:
Karen Posts
B
Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris (character Bobo Winthrop)


Karen's tally: 1 book
Perks group tally: 2 books

Post 3:
Kristie posts:
C
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (title and author)


Kirstie's tally: 2 books
Perks group tally: 3 books

.... hopefully you get the idea....

NOTE: You can read any book of any length, children's books and graphic novels also count. Please just remember to check the tally of the book ahead of you and add up the tally as you post

Books need to be marked as "read" between February 1 and February 28. (It doesn't matter when you started)

Please welcome new team member Ozana!