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BotM 2016 - [February] Attachments, by Rainbow Rowell - Part 1
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message 2:
by
Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod
(last edited Feb 01, 2016 03:19AM)
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rated it 4 stars
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2. Who would you cast as the characters? (pictures please!)
3. Do you think Lincoln's job is unethical? What decisions would you have made if you were in his position?
4. Which relationship is your favorite so far (Lincoln and his mother/sister, Beth and Jennifer, Beth and Chris, Jennifer and Mitch)? Least favorite?
5. Predictions for the rest of the book?
Part 2: Coming soon! (in a new thread)
The copy I reserved at the library just came today!
Just downloaded this onto my kindle app (the kindle edition was fairly cheap). Looking forward to starting it! This is my first group read so I don't know if I'm just more excited about that than anything else.
Mod
I'll start this evening (it's currently lunch on my side of the Earth) and come back when I'll reach the 25% mark to answer the questions et give my opinion :)
1. I think Beth and Jennifer are really close and funny. I think I can, to a certain extent get to know someone through email. There are even times when I think people reveal more stuff through email (or any other digital form) than through face to face encounters. But email also has its limitations.2. Lincoln
Beth
I couldn't picture any of the other characters at the time. (view spoiler)
3. I don't think it's unethical since the employees were warned that someone's going to read their email. If I were in his position, I honestly probably would have stalked a lot of people's emails even if they weren't flagged.
4. Favorite: Beth and Jennifer
Least: Lincoln and his mother
5. I can't answer this. I got too excited and finished reading the whole thing.
Francesca wrote: "Just downloaded this onto my kindle app (the kindle edition was fairly cheap). Looking forward to starting it! This is my first group read so I don't know if I'm just more excited about that than a..."I've been waiting for a price drop on this! I'm so happy I saw your post to this because I was looking at this book last month for my kindle and it was still around $12 or $13!! But $8 I can definitely do!!
I already read 63%, but I'm trying to answer the questions only to the 25% mark.1. Beth and Jennifer are really good friends, I like that we get to know them through the e-mail perspective and not in the usual way.
Yes I think that you can get to know someone only through mails (and other digital forms). I have a few really good friends I only know through the internet and I have never met them.
2. I'm on my phone, cannot do this right now :/
3. No I don't think it's unethical since they got warned about it before. I'd feel exactly like Lincoln and would kinda feel like an intruder, but on the other side I'd really enjoy to read the mails! :D
4. I like Beth and Jennifer's relationship the most, but I also like Lincoln's and Christine's, idk why.
5. I think Jennifer will get to know first about what Lincoln is doing. And surely I hope that Lincoln and Beth will meet and we're getting an happy ending.
Aline wrote: "...4. I like Beth and Jennifer's relationship the most, but I also like Lincoln's and Christine's, idk why...."Me too! But it's also a little strange in a way.
message 11:
by
Brittany (tinsel hoarding bookdragon)
(last edited Feb 01, 2016 10:37AM)
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rated it 5 stars
1. What do you think of Beth and Jennifer so far? i.e. what are your first impressions? Do you think you can get to know someone through only e-mail correspondences?I do think that you can get to know someone just through email. Think of all the dating apps we have today, isn't that mainly just emailing back and forth until you decide you're ready to meet? Other than that I love Beth and Jennifer. They remind me a lot of my best friend and I so I am constantly catching myself with a massive grin on my face while reading their emails!
2. Who would you cast as the characters? (pictures please!)
I really can't think of anyone to cast as them...I'm awful at this lol. Although I guess I would cast Lincoln as :
3. Do you think Lincoln's job is unethical? What decisions would you have made if you were in his position?
I don't think there is any problem with his job at all. After all, company policy for the internet is that someone will be monitoring your email and website usage. I wouldn't cause trouble for people that were just chatting...I mean don't we all do stuff like that at work?
4. Which relationship is your favorite so far (Lincoln and his mother/sister, Beth and Jennifer, Beth and Chris, Jennifer and Mitch)? Least favorite?
Favorite: Beth and Jennifer
Least Favorite: Beth and Chris (he just seems like a moocher right now)
5. Predictions for the rest of the book?
I'm hoping that Lincoln and Beth end up getting together...Time to Ship them!!
I had pictured Lincoln as a young and handsome guy and now because of Ana A. I have this image of Wolowitz in my mind :'( still working in my 25%. My book has 525 pages, so I'll come back when I reach the page number 90 :-)
@Brittany, I was wondering where I was going to get the book from because I wasn't going to buy the paperback version of this book and luckily the kindle edition was about £5 (I guess that probably equals $8) so I got that. Also, I haven't started it yet but no matter what I think Lincoln looks like I certainly like your choice! I love Jay Baruchel!
@Francesca that's who I see when I read the book, although I can't really get a visual of Beth and Jennifer....but the more I read, the more I think of Amy Schumer as Jennifer just because of her personality and *occasional* snarky emails haha
1. What do you think of Beth and Jennifer so far? Do you think you can get to know someone through only e-mail correspondences?I love Beth and Jennifer. I love the ease of their friendship. They're funny together. My only real hiccup with the Beth/Jennifer relationship is that Jennifer, who seems to be a more cautious (sometimes irrationally so - see: I'm pregnant 'cause I went out drinking) person, comes off as being a bit insecure. I don't think that Beth takes advantage of that insecurity by pushing Jennifer to do things that make her uncomfortable. It seems Jennifer is willing to throw caution to the wind where Beth is concerned. Maybe there's something in Beth's personality that makes Jennifer want to be more brazen and bold but, I don't know, to me it seems a bit of a deviation from her personality (as I see it).
I do think that you can get to know people online and through that medium.
2. Who would you cast as the characters? (pictures please!)
I think Anna Kendrick has the right personality for Beth.
My mental image of Lincoln is like an Andrew Garfield type.
Of course, I was also tempted to say Zachary Levi for Lincoln.
For Jennifer, I'm thinking someone sweet and bubbly. Maybe like Amanda Seyfried or Kristen Bell?
3. Do you think Lincoln's job is unethical? What decisions would you have made if you were in his position?
No, I wouldn't say so. Employees are made aware that this is going on. They're making the choice to engage in risky behavior that could result in discipline. I think the ethical issue comes up a bit later...
4. Which relationship is your favorite so far? Least favorite?
I'd have to go with Beth and Jennifer. They're very amusing. Least favorite, for me, probably Beth and Chris. I like that Beth is (at least mostly so) aware of the fact that the relationship isn't all it's cracked up to be.
5. Predictions for the rest of the book?
I've got to opt out of this question since I've already finished it.
Silvia wrote: "I had pictured Lincoln as a young and handsome guy and now because of Ana A. I have this image of Wolowitz in my mind :'( still working in my 25%. My book has 525 pages, so I'll come back when I re..."Hahaha! That was only my first impression of him, though. It changed the more I read.
1. What do you think of Beth and Jennifer so far? i.e. what are your first impressions? Do you think you can get to know someone through only e-mail correspondences? They seem to be very good friends although according to the emails they don't see each other very often. So, yes, it's possible to know someone through e-mail if they are as honest with each other, as they seem to be to themselves.2. Who would you cast as the characters?
No idea! Really, I never get to picture any actor when I read a book, unless I have seen the movie already :P
3. Do you think Lincoln's job is unethical? What decisions would you have made if you were in his position? No, I don't think so, it's a security issue and the employees know that their mails are being monitored. If I were in his position the warning note for Jennifer and Beth had been sent ages ago :P ... and you don't need to read everything to know that is nothing to worry about, you just look for the red flag word, see the context and you can pass to the next mail... he has being non professional, but on the other hand he doens't have anything else to do OMG he is being paid for to do nothing! So, he gets bored, I understand why he is so interested in the mails, is the only interesting thing around :(
4. Which relationship is your favorite so far (Lincoln and his mother/sister, Beth and Jennifer, Beth and Chris, Jennifer and Mitch)? Least favorite? Favorite: Beth and Jennifer, least Lincoln and his mother
5. Predictions for the rest of the book?
In some way, I think the experiences of Jennifer and Beth are going to influence Lincoln to get out of his lonely life ... I don't think right know that there will be a romantic relation between them, but who knows. This is just the 25% of the book :)
For the moment, it's a nice read. Not at all as good as Eleanor & Park, but I wasn't expecting the same quality with this topic. 1. What do you think of Beth and Jennifer so far?
They seem pretty normal and their discussions are friendly. For the moment, I've problem to associate their name to them, I've to check who is who when they are not on the pregnancy/love topics.
2. Who would you cast as the characters?
No idea :p
3. Do you think Lincoln's job is unethical? What decisions would you have made if you were in his position?
IMO Lincoln's job is unethical in the way that he actually reads the mails. I've no problem with a bot checking for "bad words" as, at work, you're not at home, so personal stuff shouldn't be there. I would have sent warnings and big eyes at the bad people and then run away after picking 10 mails with just normal talks.
4. Which relationship is your favorite so far (Lincoln and his mother/sister, Beth and Jennifer, Beth and Chris, Jennifer and Mitch)? Least favorite?
Beth/Jennifer is nice (I can't say "my fav" as I really don't care) and Beth/Chris is terrible.
5. Predictions for the rest of the book?
Chris will probably dump Beth, Jennifer will finally have a baby and Lincoln will find the courage to talk to one of the girls.
Not quite at 25% yet, so I'll wait until I'm further in to properly answer the questions but so far I'm enjoying the friendship between Beth and Jennifer and I like the fact that their conversations feel real. I can definitely spot some familiar conversations that I've had with friends. There have been a couple of times where I've found what one of them said to be a little bit annoying but they've brought it back with something funny or it hasn't been a big enough annoyance to ruin my enjoyment, so that's fine. I'm not sure what I think of Lincoln yet. I'll come back when I'm at 25% or further and answer the questions.
I started it yesterday night and already read 35%! So far I like it, it's fun and easy to read.1. What do you think of Beth and Jennifer so far? i.e. what are your first impressions? Do you think you can get to know someone through only e-mail correspondences?
I think that Beth and Jennifer are nice, young and "normal" people, I can totally relate to conversations I've had with a colleague on our instant messaging thingy. I'm not sure you can really know someone through emails though, because they're almost always applying a "filter" on their writings and spontaneous words or gestures can teach you so much about a person.
2. Who would you cast as the characters? (pictures please!)
I'm sadly not enough in touch with actors and actresses today to give any names, but for once I would love if they looked more like normal people instead of improbably beautiful.
3. Do you think Lincoln's job is unethical? What decisions would you have made if you were in his position?
I think it's really unethical to monitor employees' use of technology! But maybe that's because I spend a lot of time on GR when I'm at work (like right now haha). I think I would have kept the job the time to find something else to do (and let's be honest, a job where you can read is a dream job), but I couldn't stay in that position for too long.
4. Which relationship is your favorite so far (Lincoln and his mother/sister, Beth and Jennifer, Beth and Chris, Jennifer and Mitch)? Least favorite?
I really liked the friendship between Beth and Jennifer. Least favorite I'd say Lincoln and Justin, because I don't like guys like Justin ;)
5. Predictions for the rest of the book?
Beth and Lincoln will finally meet. After an awkward moment, she will fall in love with him and dump her ungrateful boyfriend ;)
1. What do you think of Beth and Jennifer so far? i.e. what are your first impressions? Do you think you can get to know someone through only e-mail correspondences?Beth and Jennifer are hilarious. I love a healthy BFF relationship where there is no underlying jealousy/resentment...they really care about each other.
You can most definitely get to know someone through email correspondence. I think you can get to know a different side of someone through email correspondence. I'm slightly biased - I meet my partner via online dating ;)
2. Who would you cast as the characters? (pictures please!)
Sorry, don't know how to paste the pictures!
Lincoln - because he's so tall - maybe Seth Rogan? Or someone who looks like a younger Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
I picture Beth as Dakota Johnson (in How to Be Single, not Fifty Shades!)
And
3. Do you think Lincoln's job is unethical? What decisions would you have made if you were in his position?
I can see how it would have seemed like a big invasion of privacy back in 1999, but unfortunately I think we are pretty used to the idea by now! I also think the kind of messaging going back and forth between Beth and Jennifer would have been via sms or whatsapp or Facebook messenger these days...probably to avoid getting picked up by email monitoring!
If that was my job, I would have done the exact same thing as Lincoln. They weren't doing any harm - no need to report them.
4. Which relationship is your favorite so far (Lincoln and his mother/sister, Beth and Jennifer, Beth and Chris, Jennifer and Mitch)? Least favorite?
Beth and Jennifer are the best portrayed relationship so far.
5. Predictions for the rest of the book?
I'll skip this because I've finished...but come on, it is a love story ;)
1. What do you think of Beth and Jennifer so far? i.e. what are your first impressions? Do you think you can get to know someone through only e-mail correspondences?I think they are pretty funny and a bit screwed up. I am interested to see how they both develop.
I think you can get to know someone pretty well through correspondence, especially in this case. As opposed to a more typical correspondence (i.e., actually being one of the correspondents), Lincoln is seeing genuine interactions between people who actually know each other.
I don't think I could ever trust that I really knew someone I hadn't met in real life. I do, however, actually know a couple who met and dated online. I'm not sure they had actually spent any time together in person before they got engaged, but they are still together a dozen years later.
2. Who would you cast as the characters? (pictures please!)
I picture Lincoln as pre-GOTG Chris Pratt. Cute but kinda dorky.
I also like Emm's idea of Zachary Levi.
For Beth and Jennifer, I kind of like Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Schumer. Smart, funny, sarcastic.
Or for a less blonde option, maybe Jessica Williams and Mindy Kaling? Also smart, funny, and sarcastic.
3. Do you think Lincoln's job is unethical? What decisions would you have made if you were in his position?
Jobs like Lincoln's are kind of a fact of the modern world. Although I find it hard to believe that's all someone in that position would do all day. I think I would struggle with that job in much the same way that he does. I think I would find it invasive and wrong and possibly still be fascinated by the interactions people were having.
4. Which relationship is your favorite so far (Lincoln and his mother/sister, Beth and Jennifer, Beth and Chris, Jennifer and Mitch)? Least favorite?
So far, Beth and Jennifer is my favorite. Although, I really liked seeing Lincoln's interaction with his D&D friends. Up until then, he just seemed sort of blank.
My least favorite is probably Beth and Chris. We really don't know much about him, but Beth doesn't seem very fulfilled in their relationship.
5. Predictions for the rest of the book?
I feel like we are being set up for a Beth & Lincoln relationship and Jennifer getting pregnant, but I'd love it if she did something a little different and less conventional.
Like maybe Jennifer decides she really doesn't want a baby and she and Mitch have to figure that out. Or not.
Maybe Beth's interaction with Lincoln will open her eyes to how unhappy she is with Chris and she breaks up with him. She and Lincoln could become friends and she can help him figure out how to talk to girls.
1. What do you think of Beth and Jennifer so far? i.e. what are your first impressions? Do you think you can get to know someone through only e-mail correspondences?I like them, they seem like smart young women who have some relationship issues to deal with but don't let that get in the way of being happy. Seems like we are getting to know them pretty well via email so would say yes but only to the extent each person is being real with one another.
2. Who would you cast as the characters? (pictures please!)
No clue how to enter a picture so just have names:
Jennifer - Mae Whitman
Beth - a young Janeane Garofalo ( think the time period made me think of her at that age)
Lincoln - Jesse Eisenberg
Lincoln's mom - Sally Field
3. Do you think Lincoln's job is unethical? What decisions would you have made if you were in his position?
I think that his use of his job is a little unethical but the job in its self is not. While I think he is being a little snoop and putting the company at risk for being unfair in his distribution of warnings; there would be no book without this aspect so won't let my real world thoughts get in the way of fiction. Don't think I want to know what I would do in his position; I would want to snoop.
4. Which relationship is your favorite so far (Lincoln and his mother/sister, Beth and Jennifer, Beth and Chris, Jennifer and Mitch)? Least favorite?
I am enjoying Beth and Jennifer. Not sure I have a least favorite, they are all adding to the story.
5. Predictions for the rest of the book? Lincoln's spying will cause problems for him. Hopefully, Jennifer get's pregnant is happy about it, Beth finds happiness with or without her current boyfriend and Lincoln finds a job he likes and lets him have a more normal life.
1. What do you think of Beth and Jennifer so far? i.e. what are your first impressions? Do you think you can get to know someone through only e-mail correspondences?I really like Beth and Jennifer's interactions. I think they are both pretty funny, and they seem to be really great friends. They both seem to have some pretty serious relationship issues that they'll need to deal with, but I like that they have each other's support and they seem to know each other so well.
I definitely think you can get to know someone through only e-mail, although I'm hesitant to say that you can know them 100% without any other means of communication. Like Elise, I'm biased because I met my boyfriend online and our initial communication was all through typed chats. Also, speaking as someone who is quite shy in real life, I personally often find it easier and even prefer to talk to people by e-mail because it gives me time to properly put together what I want to say. A lot of people also feel a lot more free talking online because they feel almost anonymous...I guess that goes against the idea of really getting to know someone, but some people are actually more honest online than they would be in person because they can "hide" a little behind the screen.
2. Who would you cast as the characters? (pictures please!)
I honestly have no idea. I can't consistently differentiate between Jennifer and Beth yet, and I'm not really familiar enough with current actors and actresses who would be in the right age range for the characters.
3. Do you think Lincoln's job is unethical? What decisions would you have made if you were in his position?
I seem to be in the minority here, but I do find Lincoln's job pretty unethical. I can understand monitoring employee's conversations to make sure they are focused on their work, but hiring a person whose only responsibility is essentially to snoop? Today, I'd say most of that job would be done by a computerized "flagging" system that would send out automated warnings but I guess this book was set before it was possible. Actually, to me what is more unethical is that Lincoln has a job where there really isn't any work the majority of the time. Why hire a person at all, if there isn't going to be enough work to justify the expense of paying him?
I have to say though, I find his job pretty interesting. Ethics aside, it does seem like a pretty cool job to have. Although I do think the rules are little strict. Jennifer and Beth are having personal conversations during work hours, but nothing about their conversations are really "inappropriate" for a workplace. It's no different than what they would discuss if they met at one of their desks during the day.
The fact that the employees were warned does make the situation a little better, but I find it very strange the way the job actually works. The fact that Lincoln has to actually read each message, and has access to all messages every employee writes seems very invasive. Also, it's a newspaper office...what is so top secret that they are worried about people sharing? Employees who were slacking off would be pretty noticeable when they miss deadlines or turn in terrible work anyway, so does it really matter what they e-mail about during their day?
4. Which relationship is your favorite so far (Lincoln and his mother/sister, Beth and Jennifer, Beth and Chris, Jennifer and Mitch)? Least favorite?
I like the strong friendship between Beth and Jennifer, and I also really liked reading about the relationship between Lincoln and Sam. For some reason, I also find Jennifer and Mitch pretty interesting. I don't really like Lincoln's relationship with his mother. I get that it's awkward moving back home as an adult, but his mother really shouldn't be treating him as a child by now.
5. Predictions for the rest of the book?
- Beth and Chris will break up
- Jennifer and Mitch will come close to splitting up, but she will get pregnant unexpectedly and actually love the idea of having kids
- The girls will find out that Lincoln was reading their mail after they have already befriended him, and it will cause some serious trust issues
1. What do you think of Beth and Jennifer so far? i.e. what are your first impressions? Do you think you can get to know someone through only e-mail correspondences?I like Beth and Jennifer, their friendship is nice and refreshing to see because it feels like a real female friendship. Once or twice so far, one of them has said something that I find a bit annoying but they've made quick recoveries with funny lines and the things I found annoying are just a personal preference thing which isn't impacting my enjoyment of the book itself.
2. Who would you cast as the characters? (pictures please!)
I don't know, I need to think some more on this. I did cast them but now as I've made it further into the book, my casting choices no longer fit them. Some re-thinking on that needs to be done, I'll come back to you!
3. Do you think Lincoln's job is unethical? What decisions would you have made if you were in his position?
It is pretty unethical, however you look at it. He's a professional snoop. It's understandable that he'd want an easy job with good pay, though, so we can understand why he took it. I have no idea what I'd do in his position. I would probably be terrible at the job, I'm not a strict enough person and I couldn't send someone a warning for something like sending personal emails and going on the internet (especially as I do it while I'm at work, so it would be very hypocritical).
4. Which relationship is your favorite so far (Lincoln and his mother/sister, Beth and Jennifer, Beth and Chris, Jennifer and Mitch)? Least favorite?
I'm not very far in but my favourite so far is Beth and Jennifer, and although I know they probably don't end well (as they're already split up at this point in the book) and it's unlikely to become a thing again, I like the relationship between Lincoln and Sam. That may just be because I've taken a shine to Sam, though. My least favourite is definitely Lincoln and his Mum. That is not a healthy relationship at all, and his Mum is weirdly over protective and almost possessive of him (her hatred for Sam is probably another reason why I like Sam so much).
5. Predictions for the rest of the book?
Beth will break up with her boyfriend. Jennifer will become ready to have a kid (not sure how I feel about this storyline, it seems like she's just feeling pressured to have one by her hubby which I don't think is fair on her) and she'll get pregnant and her husband will be really happy. Lincoln will meet the girls and get 'attached' (see what I did there? ;) ) especially to Beth. The girls will somehow find out that he's read all their emails and what his job is. He'll manage to make them forgive him. Lincoln will move out and come out from under his Mum's thumb. Lincoln and Beth will end up getting together.
I've just realized I forgot to answer the part of the question about what I would do if I was in Lincoln's position. Honestly, I think I'd probably also get sucked into reading someone's conversations. We do that anyway on Facebook now, and sometimes it's interesting to look at what other people are saying but the difference is, that's in a public format. Honestly, I'm a pretty curious person so I'd probably have a hard time not reading what ended up in my "flagged' box, but I don't think I'd go out of my way to access other conversations that the person had. Lincoln mentioned at one point that he could if he wanted to.I think I'd also struggle with the decision about whether to give Jennifer and Beth a warning. They are technically violating company policy by having many personal conversations by e-mail, but at the same time I don't really see what they are doing as "wrong" either as long as they are still getting their work done on time and properly.
1. What do you think of Beth and Jennifer so far? I.e. What are your first impressions? Do you think that you can get to know someone through only email correspondences?I like Beth and Jennifer's relationship. I think they are funny and have a close friendship and support system in each other. I do think that they both have some issues in their personal relationships. I think you can get to know someone to a certain extent through email but until you have face to face interaction you can't know a person fully. Sometimes people play with the truth when they are corresponding through email.
2. Who would you cast as the characters?
I don't have a picture in my mind for any of the characters. I am also still trying to differentiate between brethren and Jennifer.
3. Do you think Lincolns job is unethical? What decisions would you have made in his position?
I dont think it is unethical, it is the job he was hired to do and the employees had been warned, also it is on work time. I think it is
A job that is probably not ideal. I see why he works at night so that there is no interaction between hims of and the employees as he has to "govern" their behaviour and that could be a bit awkward if you could put a face to an email address. I don't think I could do the job, I think it would be too awkward.
4. Which relationship is your favourite so far? (Lincoln and his mother/sister, Beth and Jennifer, Beth and Chris, Jennifer and Mitch). Lest favorite?
Beth and Jennifer is my favorite as I enjoy their interaction with each other. Beth and Chris are my least Favorite as he seems very high maintenance.
5. Predictions for the rest of the book?
I think that something will come between Beth and Jennifer. Jennifer and her husband will end up pregnant. Beth and her boyfriend will break up and Beth and Lincoln will date and then she finds out that he had been reading their email.
1. What do you think of Beth and Jennifer so far? i.e. what are your first impressions? Do you think you can get to know someone through only e-mail correspondences?Like most people here, I like Beth and Jennifer's relationship. It's laid back and it seems like they can be open with each other. I think you can get to know someone better through email correspondences, but those need to be supplemented with face to face contact.
2. Who would you cast as the characters? (pictures please!)
I really have no idea.
3. Do you think Lincoln's job is unethical? What decisions would you have made if you were in his position?
No, I don't think it's unethical. The employees know that their emails can be read. I, personally, wouldn't want his job but it is an easy job with good pay.
4. Which relationship is your favorite so far (Lincoln and his mother/sister, Beth and Jennifer, Beth and Chris, Jennifer and Mitch)? Least favorite?
Beth and Jennifer is my favorite. I don't like the relationship between Beth and Chris.
5. Predictions for the rest of the book?
I think Beth and Chris will break up and Lincoln and Beth will fall in love.
1. What do you think of Beth and Jennifer so far? i.e. what are your first impressions? Do you think you can get to know someone through only e-mail correspondences?They are really funny, open, likable. Pretty close friends.
I think you can get to know someone through emails, sometimes people can share even more private things, which they wouldn't tell you in person. But I also think face to face conversation is also important, you get to know other side of this person, you can see face reactions, tiny gestures and immediate response. When we write emails, we have time to consider, change things.
2. Who would you cast as the characters? (pictures please!)
Beth:
Lincoln: 
Jennifer:
3. Do you think Lincoln's job is unethical? What decisions would you have made if you were in his position?
Yes, it's unethnical and invasive. These emails are usually private and unharmful.
I think I would be similar like Lincoln, very bored, I would start to snoop and have troubles with warnings...
4. Which relationship is your favorite so far (Lincoln and his mother/sister, Beth and Jennifer, Beth and Chris, Jennifer and Mitch)? Least favorite?
Favourite: Beth, Jennifer
Least: Lincoln and his mother (she is annoying)
5. Predictions for the rest of the book?
Jennifer gets pregnant (girl) and she is really happy because of that, Lincoln tells Beth he is in love with her, she dumps Chris, Lincoln finds another job, Lincoln and Beth happy together.
1.We get to know a lot more than i'd like about those characters through their emails, i can't shake the feeling of just doing a bad thing when reading them. And i'm not that interested in either of their lives, we get to see what they say to each other and since they are already friends we just stumble in the middle of all this and it feels too cliché, it feels like it takes too much time for the story to actually start.
I've built lots of friendships via mails and it allows people the time to properly construct their thought and not misuse a word. But you lack all those little gestures and the tone of the voice that is so nice to have in a real conversation.
2. I have no idea really i'm not particularly fond of casting, it rarely happens to me. I just like to have the representation of the characters in my head. I feel a movie adaptation would just cast unknown young and promising actors for this one.
3. His job isn't really unethical since he is only checking job emails that are supposed to be only work related. Spying on them though that's another thing, he's the one who chooses to read the mails and keep on doing so even though the girls express really intimate feelings, thoughts and things happening in their lives. I wouldn't have done that at all.
4. Which relationship is your favorite so far (Lincoln and his mother/sister, Beth and Jennifer, Beth and Chris, Jennifer and Mitch)? Least favorite?
I don't have much of a favorite relationship really, I don't find any charm in the beginning of the book like i did with Eleanor and Park. I like Eve, Lincoln's sister and the way they act together. Least favorite would be Jennifer and Mitch, so not interesting.
5. Well surely Lincoln will meet Beth unexpectedly (or so she thinks) at a concert or whatever and he won't tell her he knows more about her life than she suspects. He will keep on spying on them both, learning how she sees him and feels about him. I expect a grand reveal at the end of the book with a lot of hurt feelings and well it can either go well for Lincoln or he'll just have grown a little bit more i guess.
I am Rainbow Rowell-ed out at the moment. This is the only book of hers I have not read yet.I just finished Carry On, and loved it! I also recently read Fangirl and Eleanor and Park, both really good. However I did not like Landline, and Attachments is her only other adult book.
I will read it, just not now. I am sorry for missing the discussions... but I literally have too many books I want to read on my bedside table at the moment.
I'm a little behind, but I'm working hard to catch up. I'm loving the book so far, which is surprising to me. When I saw the topic was Romance, I really thought I would hate whatever the book was. I'm just not a romance-novel girl. But this is a different type of romance, and I'm really enjoying reading it! 1. What do you think of Beth and Jennifer so far? i.e. what are your first impressions? Do you think you can get to know someone through only e-mail correspondences?
I think Beth and Jennifer are hilarious. They are obviously good friends who have known each other for a while and are comfortable with their friendship. I think you can get to know someone through email up to a point. But email is so hard to read emotion into, and if you don't know the person at least somewhat it is hard to tell if they are being sarcastic or snarky or mean at times.
2. Who would you cast as the characters? (pictures please!)
Jennifer: Amy Schumer
Beth: Brittany Snow
Lincoln: Zachary Levi
3. Do you think Lincoln's job is unethical? What decisions would you have made if you were in his position?
I don't think it was unethical. The employees knew the "rules". I do think he probably overstepped the bounds of his job by reading all of their communications and not sending them a warning, but I also don't see anything wrong with what they were sending to each other, so I'm not sure if I would have sent a warning either.
4. Which relationship is your favorite so far? (Lincoln and his mother/sister, Beth and Jennifer, Beth and Chris, Jennifer and Mitch)? Least favorite?
Favorite is definitely Beth and Jennifer - they are so funny
Least is Beth and Chris - he seems like a loser
5. Predictions for the rest of the book?
Beth and Chris will break up
Lincoln and Beth will get together
Lincoln will get fired
No problem Angela, the books of the month are only every other month, so members have 2 full months to find/read them if they want to join :)It's fun to see the casting for Lincoln at 25%, it's totally not the same as later :p
Oh, I haven't even started. I will...soon. As soon as I make a decent dent on my standing TBR.
1. I really like Beth and Jennifer's friendship. It reminds me of the friendship I have with my close girlfriends. Learning about the women only through email conversations gives us (and Lincoln) a narrow view of their lives. You can learn a good deal about a person's life through email, but sometimes words can get lost in translation through social media. It's usually easier to understand a person when meeting face to face. 2. Well I definitely picture Chris as Eddie Vedder now because Beth was reminded of the Pearl Jam singer :)
3. The only reason why I don't feel his job is unethical is that he only has to read emails that contain flagged language. I think that the company's thoughts on certain restricted language is unreasonable, but I understand the security measure. If I had his job, I would be very lenient as well.
4. Definitely Beth and Jennifer's friendship. I find then both very funny. They feel like real people with real relationship issues and insecurities. I can relate to them. My least favorite is probably Jennifer and Mitch. I don't like Mitch. He's too pushy so far. I do not want children myself so I find it very uncomfortable when a man pushes the issue.
5. I'm sure Lincoln will approach Beth at some point. Beth will find a man in Lincoln who truly makes her happy.
So far? Banal...Beth and Jennifer are 1990s Basic Bitches.
Lincoln's job pays very well for 1999 and it is fairly standard for companies even today to monitor internet usage. It's only unethical to misuse company hardware, software, and time. Everybody does it to some degree.
I have no favorite relationships in this book.
My prediction is that this book will continue to be banal but I"ll keep reading it with the hope that it redeems itself.
Is this standard Rainbow Rowell?
I'd say no as Eleanor&Park was deeper, more interesting and moving (4 stars for me). I didn't read her other books but if I read Attachment 1st, I wouldn't read another of her books. I'll probably try Carry On next and see if the quality is good enough for me.
Maybe I'll read Eleanor & Park for contrast and make a decision as to whether I like RR's work. Thanks for the recommendation
Merry wrote: "Maybe I'll read Eleanor & Park for contrast and make a decision as to whether I like RR's work. Thanks for the recommendation"I've read three of her books. Eleanor and Park is the best, Attachments is enjoyable for me but definitely not deep, and last is Fangirl which was (more) banal. I'm still interested to read her other books because I really like her kind of humor.
Ana A wrote: "Merry wrote: "Maybe I'll read Eleanor & Park for contrast and make a decision as to whether I like RR's work. Thanks for the recommendation"I've read three of her books. Eleanor and Park is the b..."
Attachments grew on me for a minute. I look forward to reading Eleanor and Park.
Ana A wrote: "Merry wrote: "Maybe I'll read Eleanor & Park for contrast and make a decision as to whether I like RR's work. Thanks for the recommendation"I've read three of her books. Eleanor and Park is the b..."
Landline is very good. It is very funny, and the concept is intriguing. I highly record you read that book.
Molly wrote: "Ana A wrote: "Merry wrote: "Maybe I'll read Eleanor & Park for contrast and make a decision as to whether I like RR's work. Thanks for the recommendation"I've read three of her books. Eleanor and..."
Molly wrote: "Ana A wrote: "Merry wrote: "Maybe I'll read Eleanor & Park for contrast and make a decision as to whether I like RR's work. Thanks for the recommendation"
I've read three of her books. Eleanor and..."
Landline is actually on my "To Read in 2016" list!
Since you are talking about their Rainbow favorite, I should mention that I have read four of her books Attachments, Eleanor & Park. Fangirl and Carry On. And Carry On is completely my favorite
1. What do you think of Beth and Jennifer so far? i.e. what are your first impressions? Do you think you can get to know someone through only e-mail correspondences? I like them so far, they seem fun together. It reminds me of me and a few of my friends at my old job. We'd try to email each other, but carefully word emails just in case..we didn't want to email anything too personal! I definitely think you can get to know someone through email, but only certain aspects of their life.2. Who would you cast as the characters? (pictures please!)
Lincoln: DJ Qualls was my first image
further along in the book I though of Jason Segel
Beth: Amy Schumer (she just seems funny!)
Jennifer: Melissa McCarthy
3. Do you think Lincoln's job is unethical? What decisions would you have made if you were in his position? I don't think his job is unethical, the workers were given fair warning. I do, however, think he should have gave Beth and Jennifer a warning.
4. Which relationship is your favorite so far (Lincoln and his mother/sister, Beth and Jennifer, Beth and Chris, Jennifer and Mitch)? Least favorite? My favorite is Beth and Jennifer, I really really really dislike Lincoln's relationship with his mother.
5. Predictions for the rest of the book? I already finished it, so I can't answer this unbiased!
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
Discussion of the book will begin on February 1. There will be a new topic for each quarter of the book, with all sections posted at the beginning of the month, allowing members to read at their own pace and enter the different threads as they progress. Moderators will handle the discussion questions for this book but anyone is welcome to piggyback with their own.
For more information about the book of the month, see the Introduction post.
Spend the remainder of January finding a copy of the book and maybe fitting it into existing challenge plans :)