The Rory Gilmore Book Club discussion
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I had a paper due last week and a take home midterm due today so I've been kinda busy reading stuff for class. But I agree that we need to figure out a way to inspire more conversation!When will we pick the book for next month?
I think a date would be helpful. But maybe we can start easy and just have a post for "Like it, love it, hate it?" Usually when people start saying "I loved it" or "I hated it" that leads to further discussions on why.
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As for this month, I really look forward to the discussions, but as it is with others haven't quite finished both books yet. I keep coming back to read what others have to say, but you're right there isn't much talking going on!
By the way, random is good.
Cheers!
Can I also say that it doesn't matter if you've read the whole book to start a discussion? Part of the reason I joined a book club way back when was because I'd read a book and have no one to discuss the 'good parts' with. If you read a section that really speaks to you (in a good or bad way), tell us about it. You don't have to even write a question. Just tell us what you liked about it...or hated. You'll be surprised at what can spring from a little comment about a line on page 175. I know a lot of times by the end of the book, I forget some of the things that I want to mention that happened earlier in the book.Maybe put in your title the number of what chapter you're speaking on, so for people who haven't gotten that far will know to not read it if they don't want any spoilers.
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Great idea about posting!
I'm in the same boat too. I joined because I don't know anyone who feels like I do about books and I wanted to meet people who share my love for reading.
I am also not done with Wicked...I really like to try to finish a book before discussing it so that I have a more complete idea of how I feel about the characters, story, etc. All of my friends and acquaintances from grad school have read it already, but we are all "psychologists in training" (i.e. we end up with the same conclusions a lot of the time)...it is nice to hear what people with other interests think. But, so far, I love the book. It was not as hard to get involved (which lots of people told me that I needed to just "plow" through the 1st 6 chapters to get to the good part...). I really did not feel that way about it at all. I look forward to hearing what the nect book will be. :)
OK, I really want us to pick the next book! Hopefully this time it will not be one I have already read.
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Anyway, let's start voting on the next selection!
Yay - I'm so excited about choosing the next book! I really enjoyed discussing these two with you all. =)
Okay, first I would just like to say great pick Shannon for the first month. I would never have thought to pair Jekyll with Wicked but I'm continually amazed at how well the two can be compared. They really compliment each other. I'm with Alison on the classic/modern duo. I think this is working out really well.Secondly, suggestion - along with a "finish" date, perhaps we could set up a time (or times) to meet to blog? I know with some online book clubs they set a time to meet to discuss the book. This may help in getting discussion moving. It's not to replace the comment as you can ability, just to add to it. If you can't make it, then that's okay too. I know with time zones it may be difficult, so it's just a thought I'm throwing out there.
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Does anyone think they can pinpoint the exact reason WHY the world is so obsessed with Britney in particular? The world is full of celebrities with some form of talent, who do bizarre things on a daily basis, but what is so special about her? Sure, I get that she's got sex appeal, and that accounts for a lot of the fascination, but she's basically just a corn-fed sorority girl-type -- not someone like Elizabeth Taylor or Audrey Hepburn who would be considered one of the great beauties of all time. So, I think a group of intelligent, pop-culture savvy women like this one should give me some good insight. Any thoughts? Theories?
I am reluctant to admit Beth that I happen to be one of those people who almost involuntarily knows waaaaay too much about Britney Spears. I feel like I know sordid details as if by osmosis. I long for the days when she had a pop career and I didn't know her from Christina.But in the last four years, blogging, TMZ, etc, captures all the banal details of famous people. Private details seem to have a high premium and replace relevance of actually doing stuff.
I have no idea. I could not care less for Britney, Paris, or any of their cronies. If the world ignored them, they would go away.
You are so right, Sarah! We help to create these attention hounds.
Ugh, I too am SICK of hearing about so much fluff news! Lindsey, Britney, Paris, UGH go away! And I was disturbed to see on the top of the page for MSN seeing a big headline about Katie Holmes new haircut! Really, a haircut warrants such attention?? Although, it is really freaking cute, might do it myself...but that is not the point! How is that news?!?! Thank god for NPR!
I don't mind a bit of fluff now and then, but can we find new people? Lilo, Brit, Paris...seriously so last year! heh
Well, at least we're off the Bennifer, brangelina, vaughnistan tired, done, poke it with a stick because it's totally burned schtick.
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Since I returned from Europe I have been appalled by the news coverage here in the states. Then, too, living it Washington, D.C. for 3 years (where they actually do cover world events and real news, although living there you usually know it before you ever watch a show because everyone is so well-informed) I had my finger on the world's pulse again. But living anywhere outside of that area it's absurd...
But yes, Yahoo and CNN and all those are national. Hello. I remember there was some major news event going on in the world so I had on CNN (and would flip to the others). Do you know what it just kept highlighting over and over? Um, the response to the Sopranos final episode (hello, it already happened) and something to do with Anna Nicole Smith's baby. There were incessant. I was going insane! Where am I supposed to find real news? Literally they would just go back and forth with these two stories. I didn't give a rat's arse about either.
Pop-celebrity today is so disgusting. I REALLY DON'T WANT TO KNOW. Further, I wish I didn't even know who these idiots are. But you don't have a choice.
And it's not Brittany in particular - it's anyone they can seriously flog. (Oh, and by no means is Brittany the "sorority-girl-type!" She'd never make it. She's now considered the "trailer-trash-type.") I think that is sad, but that is the press, the monster that is fed by the public. If the public didn't want to know it or didn't care, they wouldn't tell the story. So there you go. I have to say, though, it is 1000 times worse in England - and they are far more scathing and brutal in their exposes. They are a tabloid nation.
I was watching a cartoon yesterday and there was the funniest line in it...
"It’s so beautiful. It’s everything I’ve always read about in tabloid newspapers while waiting in the lines at grocery stores... that I... don’t buy... just skim."
Truly classic.
Oooh, Katie's haircut is quite lovely, but I'm afraid that that is all that she has going for her right now.
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I think it just makes her look older. I don't think it's all that on her. But that's just me. And maybe older is what she was going for...
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1. I think these people get more attention than celebrities of the past because they thrive on it. It's a parasitic relationship.
2. I think the integrity of the news source has a lot to do with the news we get (listen up Yahoo news!)
3. I think rewarding people for bad behaviour the same way we reward people for good behavior (putting their picture in the paper) will ultimately lead to the downfall of our civilization. As someone stated earlier, if you want bad behavior to go away, you ignore it.
Anyone interested in celebrity as sickness should read Cintra Wilson's book "A Massive Swelling". It is merciless, laugh-out-loud funny. Her description of the Pitt-Aniston nuptials made me snort Diet Coke out my nose.
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message 28:
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Shannon, the founder of fun (back from sabbatical)
(last edited Aug 25, 2016 02:15PM)
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I really starting to appreciate power - I hope we get ours back soon. About 1/2 the people in our town do not have power. And.... there's more ice in the forecast for today, Tuesday, and Wednesday!!!
Think how bad it is in New Orleans... some people have not had power for over 2 years!
message 30:
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Shannon, the founder of fun (back from sabbatical)
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It is incredible to see the damage the ice does - trees are split in half all over the place. Power lines are down or hanging in streets - I have never seen anything like it and .... we are supposed to get more freezing rain tonight.
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Cold sucks on a whole other level. I feel for you, Shannon. Have fun with the folks! LOL
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Shannon, the founder of fun (back from sabbatical)
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message 33:
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Shannon, the founder of fun (back from sabbatical)
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Yay, Shannon!
Glad to hear that Shannon! I hear the midwest is about to get hit with another ice storm so be careful.
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Woo! I think I might have actually passed my Lit final! AND, while taking the test I came up with the best ever topic for my essay which is due Friday, but should now be a relatively piece of cake paper! AND I don't have to go into work today, like I thought. AND I had a really good conversation with a friend this morning. Yippee! Today is a good day. Seriously, like five weights have been lifted from my shoulders and I feel like dancing naked in the rain. Which I won't do. Because it's not raining. And no one wants to see me naked. LOL
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Shannon, the founder of fun (back from sabbatical)
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Hooray, Sarah!!
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.......You should know by now that I am a cross between Lorelai and Dharma (from "Dharma & Greg"). More like I'm exactly one and exactly the other, depending on the moment. I just don't have the weird parents, so you can leave out the hippy leanings of Dharma, and I've Lorelai's attitude and fashion sense. (If not her wardrobe, I mean come on! Who could afford that??) By the way, I'm claiming Lorelai right now because Heather compared me to her on another thread! I love Heather now! LOL
Oh good grief... Britney's younger, 16-year-old sister is pregnant. What did the parents teach these girls about responsibility?
Well technically it could be argued that by doing what she's doing now, she is accepting the responsibility of her actions. Who knows, maybe she was being safe, using condoms and birth control and it just happened.
But I think it's completely naive to honestly believe that a sixteen year old is NOT sexually active. I just hope the decision she makes isn't just for show, and she actually really does take the commitment seriously.
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I think it's sad that society has come to expect 16-year-olds to be sexually active. It might be a naive point of view, but I also don't think there is anything wrong with teaching teens about abstinence and letting them know it is okay to wait.
Well, if you think about it...it's actually only in the last century where we as a society find it morally wrong for a teenager to become pregnant. In all other eras, you were actually considered getting on in your years if you hadn't popped out one by then. Of course, you only expected to live until you were like 45 so it all kind of balanced out. hehI thought I read a headline that said Brittney was pregnant by her new boyfriend.
Brittney's mom was writing a parenting book, but now she's called off publishing it - gee, wonder why? I don't care if Jamie Lynn is pregnant - it happens, even to famous people, but for the mother to claim that she is the world's #1 parent is just ridiculous.
Sarah, you obviously haven't been to a public school recently. This has nothing to do with beliefs of whether abstinence or waiting is right or wrong, it has to do with the statistics. Since the implemented astinence is the only way to go system nation wide in all high schools and junior high, the average age of children and teens getting sexually active has gone from 16-17 to 12-13, in less then a decade. Obviously kids are going to be kids and they are going to do it (and being told they shouldn't makes them want to even more), maybe if they were educated how to do it SAFELY instead of being told 'no, you must wait' maybe it will be different.
My 15 year old sister, when she was 13, had five girls in her class get STDs and/or pregnant from unsafe sex because they honestly had no idea how to use condoms or what to do. They were always taught abstinence. That is NOT okay.
I could go on and on, and I do agree with you it IS okay to wait (and more teens need to learn that), but most kids/teens DON'T and I'd much rather them be educated on how to do what they're doing SAFELY then just slam that abstinence b.s. at them like the schools do that don't do anything but make them want to rebel and do it even more. Besides, the whole sexual stigma the U.S. has just totally feeds into it.
I'm not saying teen sex is okay, but I am saying that it IS happening and it's a huge epidemic and instead of just constantly telling them to be abstinent (which they are obviously NOT doing) then educate them on how to be safe.
You totally need to read Tom Perrotta's new book "The Abstinence Teacher", if you haven't already. I just finished it today. It made me so angry, as I knew it would. One of the main characters is a middle-school sex-education teacher, and she goes through this whole scandal because she makes the mistake of talking in class about oral sex as a viable sexual practice. So then, this whole thing starts with the school hiring a "virginity consultant" who implements the "abstinence curriculum". I agree totally, it is a very bad idea to teach abstinence as the only sexual option for teenagers.
I never said abstinence should be the only sexual option, but I do believe it should be taught as the preferred option. I also think that if kids knew there were other kids waiting, they wouldn't feel as pressured. I know how I always felt like the only virgin. Furthermore, I really wasn't talking about what kids are taught in school, I was talking about what parents teach their kids.And I understand what you're saying about SOME kids, Dee, but you can't convince me that Jamie Lynn Spears didn't know about condoms.
And that's all I'm going to say on the subject because I can see this getting personal like the political discussion did, and that's not what this group is about.
Also if anyone wants to post new topics or whatever - please do. I'm not the posting nazi.
I'm trying to think of ways to encourage more conversation. I feel like I want to discuss the book but I haven't finished it yet. Maybe next month we should have a "read by this date to discuss" - like a real book club. I don't know - just shooting ideas around here. Holla!