[Book 1] Part 1 Discussion

[Trina]

Hey guys! I'm Trina and I'll be your readalong host for the first book, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. We are reading this book July 1-7 but you can join in the discussion at any point during the month if you happen to read it later than the scheduled week!

I'm dividing the book into 4 sections so we can chat along the way without risking too many spoilers for first time readers. There are several editions of the book, all of which are different lengths and don't have chapter numbers. In the green cover hardback this first section covers pages 1-72, or up to the quote page that says "Rule #1: The customer is always right. Rule #2: If the customer is wrong, please refer to rule #1. - Duncan Howe"

Spoilers for this section are welcome, but please don't spoil anything beyond that.

Let's discuss this first quarter!
-Is this your first time reading, or a reread?
-How invested are you at this point?
-Which character do you find the most intriguing?
-Who do you think you are most like?

If you want to reach me elsewhere my YouTube channel is http://www.youtube.com/betweenchapters and my Twitter handle is @btwnchapters
You can also share your progress on social media using the hashtag #pantsalong

[Marie]

This is a reread for me and I love it even more the second time around. I love all the characters but at this point Tibby is my favorite. She just makes me laugh

[Mom2triplets04]

This is my first time reading this. Well, actually my 2nd. I read a few pages a couple months ago and put it down in my DNF pile. So starting it from page 1 again. Hopefully I will be in the mood to finish it this time around.

I'm finding it difficult to keep the girls apart. It's very confusing as they jump from character to character without warning. Still trying to figure out who is who!

I'm not invested in it much yet. Except I like the girl who is visiting her dad for the first time. I can picture this happening to my sister's kids. They are getting a divorce now (a painful divorce as my BIL is a total jerk and cheated). Anyway I will try to read on.

[E.E.]

Rereading this so far is making me smile! I love the girls different senses of humor. I've seen the movie several times, but only read the book once so I remember the movie mostly. I love seeing the differences and the other humorous things the book does that the movie doesn't.

My biggest reaction so far is Carmen seeing her dad again. He makes me so angry!!!!! She was so excited and then.. Ugh. I get that it's a thing he'd want to tell her in person, but he never mentioned before now that he was maybe seeing someone? He couldn't have taken her out to dinner or even ice cream before going to the house to tell her just the two of them before throwing her in there????? Ugh

I'm interested to see which of the girls I connect with now that I'm an adult. In high school I LOVED Bridget, but I'm wondering if that'll change this time around.

[Siiri]

This is a reread for me. I first read the series back when I was in high school probably about 8 years ago now. I loved it then so I'm interested in seeing how I like it now.

So far I would say I'm reminiscing a lot as the story comes back to me. I guess that counts on being invested but I feel like at this point we've barely hit the surface.

Right now I think Tibby is the most intriguing. I've definitely enjoyed what we've seen of her so far even though she supposedly will have the most boring summer, that I think says a lot about her character.

But personally I think I am definitely the most like Lena, the introverted one. But always wishing I'd be a bit more like Bridget.

[Desmondella]

I'm loving this book so far! I think I might have read it when I was about ten years old but that was so long ago that it's exactly like a first time read for me.

This book is definitely the perfect thing to read in the summer! It totally gets me in a summery mood and it's like I'm watching a movie play in my head rather than reading a novel. I'm definitely invested in the series at this point! I can't put the book down and I don't want to stop reading it.

I'm most intrigued by Lena or Carmen. I just love characters with ethnic backgrounds different than the average character and I think it might be that I can slightly relate to them since I'm a quarter Polish. I absolutely love Lena's grandparents. Their demeanour is a lot like my great-grandparents' demeanour was. It makes me feel homey when I read about them since my great-grandparents are gone now. Their parts that I read definitely comfort me. :)

I would like to think that I'm most like Tibby (eccentric, odd, out of the box and a slight rebel) but if I'm being honest, I know that I'm most like Lena based on her introverted personality.

I'm so happy that I'm taking part in this read-along. :)

[Jen]

This is my first time reading these books, although I have seen and loved the movies. I am getting more invested as I read; however, the jumping from perspective to another in such a quick manner has been a bit disorienting.

I am intrigued by Lena's story since I would love to visit Greece one day. She is probably the character that I am more like, more introverted. But I also identify with Tibby as I am often labeled an oddball by most.

[Trina]

I agree with some of you that the scene changes happen without warning. They seem to end very abruptly like there was supposed to be another sentence that got left out.

I can tell that the book was written in 2001 due to some of the attitudes and references, but I'm trying to overlook that for now. The writing isn't my favorite, I'm finding it kind of choppy and unpolished but what it's lacking is made up for in the characters. They are what is driving me through right now.

Bridget: I'm least interested in her storyline right now. We haven't seen much from her yet. I was also never athletic so I never connected with her when I saw the movies or now. I connect with her over the loss of her mom, but that hasn't been explored much yet in the book.
Tibby: I feel bad for her getting in trouble at her job over 'stealing' the tape, but we haven't had a lot of time with her either.
Lena: Lena has always been my favorite. I used to be artistic like her (plus I loved Alexis Bledel) and am still pretty introverted like she is. Her storyline is varying the most from what I knew of the movie so far.
Carmen: I remember thinking in the movie that her dad ignored her too much and that Carmen was acting like a huge brat (though it's completely understandable!) but I'm surprised to see how much I connected with her emotionally in the book. I had a similar relationship with my dad growing up - seeing him less frequently but always having so much fun, though he never remarried - and I would be DEVASTATED if I were in Carmen's shoes. But I can tell that her dad really does care for her and is nervous. Uh oh, I'm at that age where I'm relating to the adults in YA books, haha.

[Abigail]

Emily wrote: "Rereading this so far is making me smile! I love the girls different senses of humor. I've seen the movie several times, but only read the book once so I remember the movie mostly. I love seeing th..."

i have had the same thoughts with carmens dad, i could not imagine what she is going through it just being sprung on her like that!!!

[Abigail]

This is a first time read for me, i am loving every bit of it. it is also my first group re-along as well. Like many i grew up with the films, so i am surprised that i have never read the books!!

I am fairly invested so far, i left the book at a friends so i couldn't read it for two days, but i could not for the life of me pick another book up. This for me is a sure sign that i am enjoying this book.

to who i am most finding to be intriguing is Lena, as her story line is the most different to the film in which i am most familiar with. however all have gripped me in one way or another.

i would love to say i am most like Lena, however i can identify in some way to each of the characters, perhaps further in the books i will have a more solid character with i associate myself with.

[Baylee]

Hi everyone! Hope all is well.

So, I'm reading this book for the first time. I wasn't sure how I'd like it but I'm really enjoying it so far! It seems to be reading really fast which I like and I really like character driven stories most anyway.

I can't really decide who I am most intruiged by because I really like all of them so far. Each of them has something going on that I just want to know more about!

As for who I'm most like...golly that's hard too. I mean, obviously it'd have to be a mixture of all four. But I'm probably most like Tibby and Carmen.

[Baylee]

Emily wrote: "Rereading this so far is making me smile! I love the girls different senses of humor. I've seen the movie several times, but only read the book once so I remember the movie mostly. I love seeing th..."

This is my first time reading it and it ticked me off SO much that he did that! Like, it was just WRONG. You can't just thrust someone into a family of strangers with no warning.

[E.E.]

Baylee wrote: "Emily wrote: "Rereading this so far is making me smile! I love the girls different senses of humor. I've seen the movie several times, but only read the book once so I remember the movie mostly. I ..."

I KNOW! And even as I'm getting into part 2 I get filled with rage!

[Paige]

This is my first time reading! I am actually really liking it so far! I think Bridget is most intriguing, but I think I can connect with Carmen a lot more. I havent seen too many reviews, but the ones I have seen have said they like her least which is not surprising to me. I see why they think that, but I usually have the opposite interests in books than most people.