Author: Erin K.

Welcome to Week 2 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Hobbit.

Before we start talking about the book, take a moment to read this article about how Tolkien came up with the idea for The Hobbit. It’s always so interesting to me what sources fuel a person’s creativity. 

Did you enjoy the beginning of the book? I was intimidated once I saw all of the names of the dwarves that would be accompanying Bilbo on his journey, but I didn’t end up feeling like I should remember each name. Did you try to keep track of the dwarves, or did you just kind of treat them like one big character in your head? 

At the beginning of the book, Gandalf says to Bilbo that he will send him on an adventure. Bilbo is not excited to go on the adventure, even though Gandalf claims that Bilbo asked to be sent on an adventure. Bilbo declines, but the next morning, the dwarves and Gandalf show up at Bilbo’s door, and everyone seems to be under the impression that Bilbo is a master thief and is ready to go on a journey. Did you wonder why Gandalf would choose Bilbo for this task? I don’t know why Gandalf advertised Bilbo as a great burglar, and I’m really not sure how Bilbo will end up handling all of the danger and problems on the journey. 

The crew is going to head to the mountains to take back a stolen treasure from a horrible dragon named Smaug. It sounds simple enough, but I can’t imagine that the journey will be easy. I think just getting to where Smaug lives will be incredibly hard. In this first section alone, the crew has to face trolls and goblins and wolves. What else do you think they will encounter on their journey? 

One big part of this section was Bilbo’s encounter with Gollum and his discovery of the ring. At one point, Bilbo is separated from the others as they are escaping from goblins, and he ends up in a tunnel, lost and afraid. He finds the ring almost immediately, and then, as he is trying to find a way to escape the tunnels, he runs into a lake and Gollum. The two then trade riddles back and forth. I found this scene to be incredibly stressful. Riddles are so tough, and I was nervous that Gollum was going to realize that Bilbo had the ring. If you’d like to see how this scene played out in the movie, check out the clip below.

Bilbo getting the ring was definitely a turning point for him. Because Bilbo becomes invisible when he wears the ring, he was able to sneak past the goblins and make it back to his crew. I’m sure it’s going to come more in handy as the story progresses. 

At the end of this section, the situation seems pretty hopeless for the crew as they are stuck in trees, trying not be eaten by horrible wolves. But, they are rescued by giant eagles and are flown to safety. What horrible thing do you think they are going to encounter next? Do you think they have a good plan in place for when they actually encounter Smaug? I think that part of the journey is going to be more difficult than they imagine. 

The events in this book are shown in the first movie in the Hobbit trilogy, so if you’d like to see how all of the events in this movie look on screen, check out that movie. If you’re curious about the movie making process itself, check out some of the vlogs that director, Peter Jackson, made about the process. I love seeing how movies are made. It’s just so interesting to me. 

Thanks for following along ths week! I can’t wait to hear what you thought of this section in the comments! Make sure to read chapters 7-11 for next week!

Welcome to Week 1 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. 

The Online Book Club, if you’ve never joined us before, is a book discussion group that takes place entirely online. Each week, I write a new blog post that talks about different aspects of the book, and you can interact directly with me and other readers by leaving your comments. Check back each week and see what new topics we’re talking about.

The Hobbit is an adventurous story about a reticent Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins who embarks on a journey with a group of dwarves. They encounter goblins, elves, and enormous spiders on their way to raid the treasure trove of a dangerous dragon named Smaug. Watch Bilbo gain confidence in himself and his skills as the journey progresses. 

If you want to follow along with us but you aren’t interested in reading the book, you can always watch the movie version starring Martin Freeman. Check out the trailer above if you want to get a feel for the movie. Feel free to still leave comments on the blog posts, even if you’re only watching the movie and not reading the book.

Make sure to read chapters 1-6 for next week!

Welcome to the final Online Book Club discussion of Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares.

This last section was a little wild, wasn’t it? There were so many things happening–it was almost hard to believe. Did the book end like you thought it would? What element was the most unexpected to you? 

At the beginning of this section, Dash takes Lily home. He is obviously disappointed in the way she is in real life, and he does not seem interested in seeing her again. Do you think that is a fair reaction? Do you think he was too hard on her? Do you think Lily deserved a second chance? 

Lily is so apologetic for her actions. She leaves the notebook for Dash, and she leaves him some tea. Were you impressed by Lily’s ability to find Dash? She was very persistent to find him and his apartment. 

Everything really goes wild once Boris the dog enters the picture. He really made the story go sideways. Could you believe how the mothers believed that Lily and Dash were attempting to steal the child that they actually rescued? I could not believe that Lily was able to catch that baby–I would definitely have dropped it on the ground. The mothers were so crazy! I was so glad that the police ended up believing that Boris was the problem, not Dash and Lily. Weren’t you glad that they ended up not getting in trouble? 

What did you think of the last date that Dash and Lily had? The kitchen set they visited made me think of Martha Stewart. That sure was a fun date experience. The Oxford English Dictionary at The Strand was really cool, too. They definitely made up for the awkwardness of their first meeting with the final date. Do you think they got in a lot of trouble the next day after they were released from The Strand? I think they must have gotten in a lot of trouble–Lily was already on probation. 

At one point, when Lily finally gets the notebook back from Dash and has an in-depth conversation with Boomer, Lily and Boomer go to a restaurant named Max Brenner. They get a chocolate pizza which sounded like the most decadent dessert. Take a look at the Max Brenner menu to see what treat you would order if you traveled to the restaurant. If you know a trip to New York City isn’t in your future, check out this recipe for the chocolate pizza instead. Make sure to let me know if you make a chocolate pizza at home!

If you enjoyed this book this month, you might enjoy this list of similar titles I created. Make sure to let me know if you check out aything on the list! 

Before you go, check out all of the dares that show up in the movie version. There are so many more in the movie than the book! Which one would you like to do the least? 

Thanks for following along this month! I hope you’ll leave your thoughts in the comments section. And, I hope you’ll join us again next month as we read The Hobbit. 

Welcome to Week 3 of the Online Book Club discussion of Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares.

Did you enjoy reading this section? It started a lot more positively than it ended, didn’t it? I have to say that I was disappointed by the first meeting that Dash and Lily had. It wasn’t what I was hoping their face-to-face meeting would be like. 

In this section, Lily sends Dash to Dyker Heights to see the Christmas lights. She sends Dash to a place called “The Nutcracker House,” and from what I can figure out, that is not a specific place, but the Christmas lights and excitement are real! If you’d like to see how the area looks in real life, check out the video clip below. Do you think you would enjoy if your neighborhood had this many holiday decorations? 

After he visits the Christmas lights, Dash sends Lily to hear a band in the middle of the night. It seems like Lily has a fun time stepping out of her comfort zone, but then, she is too scared to approach Dash’s friends, so she doesn’t leave the notebook behind. She does, however, leave one of her shoes. That detail sure turned the story into more of a Cinderella story, didn’t it? Why do you think she was so scared to approach the boys? Was it just because they looked cooler than her? 

I think Lily loses her way a bit in the latter part of this section. I think she’s really thrown by the fact that her family is far away, and they might be moving away forever. Do you think that influenced her decision to spend time with Edgar? I was surprised that she was even willing to go to a party after being punished by her grandfather. That seemed a little out of character for her. I was sad that she spent time with Edgar because he seemed like a much less quality guy than Dash. 

Dash is able to get an address about the boot from Mark at the bookstore. This address leads him to Lily’s aunt–the one she refers to as Mrs. Basil E. Mrs. Basil E sure gives Dash the run-around. She definitely vets him to see if he is worthy of spending time with Lily. I felt like his responses and the fact that he was so patient and kind really showed his character. I’m glad that Mrs. Basil E. saw through his snarly-ness and saw that he was really a nice young man. 

At the end of this section, Lily and Dash meet, but, unfortunately, Lily has been drinking, and she does not make a good first impression. She drops the notebook on the floor, and she ends up passing out in front of Dash. How do you think they will be able to move on from this disastrous first meeting? Do you think they will continue to pass the notebook back and forth? Do you think Dash will give Lily a second chance? 

I hope you enjoyed reading along this week! Make sure you finish the book before checking back next week! I’m excited to hear your thoughts in the comments section!

Welcome to Week 2 of the Online Book Club discussion of Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.

How are you enjoying the book so far? Is it fun to be reading a holiday title? I really enjoyed reading this week. I just felt so festive–now, if only it were snowing when I was reading. That would really make things feel Christmas-y. 

This book begins in a really interesting way. I really liked that the whole thing started with a fun mystery with Dash running all over the bookstore to solve the clues in the red notebook. Were you intrigued with the descriptions of The Strand bookstore? Did it sound like a place that you would like to visit? If you want some more information about the bookstore, check out their website. Make sure to check out the section where you can buy books by the foot. Isn’t that an interesting service? 

What did you think of the fact that Dash was able to finagle things so that he was spending Christmas alone? I thought Dash was a really interesting character–he was  snarly and surly, but he seemed to have a really kind heart deep down. I think he’s just had some hard life experiences that have made him more jaded about life. 

Lily, on the other hand, is basically alone this holiday season, but she is not happy about not being with her family. Lily is really different than Dash. She is really close to her family, and she loves everything about Christmas. Did you enjoy reading her chapters more than Dash’s chapters? 

Throughout this first section, Dash and Lily go on a bunch of holiday adventures. Which adventure did you think was the most outlandish? I thought that Lily’s dares for Dash were a lot harder than his dares for her. I could not believe that she expected him to sit on Santa’s lap to get a clue. That part was really weird and creepy. And, I thought it was unfair that she made Dash pay so much money to go into Madame Tussauds in Times Square. That wasn’t a cheap and easy little dare! Have you ever been to a Madame Tussauds Museum? It looks like a kind of creepy place. Check out this clip to see more information about some of the exhibits. 

I thought Dash’s “Make Your Own Muppet” dare was pretty sweet. Lily got to have a behind the scenes experience at a really cool toy store–that opportunity doesn’t come up very often! Unfortunately, the service is no longer available, but it looked like a really cool thing. Check out the video clip below to see a team of reporters create their own Muppet. 

Near the end of this section, we find out that Lily’s family might be moving to Fiji permanently. How do you think that information is changing the way Lily views the notebook and Dash ?Is it making her depend more on the notebook and all of the fun and distraction it’s providing? 

What do you think is going to happen once Lily and Dash meet? Do you think they will like each other as much in person as they do through the notebook? What other dares and clues do you think they will leave for each other? 

I hope you’re enjoying reading along this month. Next week, make sure to read chapters 7-12 before reading the blog post! I hope to hear from you in the comments!

Welcome to Week 1 of the Online Book Club discussion of Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares.

The Online Book Club, if you’ve never joined us before, is a book discussion group that takes place entirely online. Each week, I write a new blog post that talks about different aspects of the book, and you can interact directly with me and other readers by leaving your comments. Check back each week and see what new topics we’re talking about.

Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares follows protagonists, Dash and Lily, as they write messages to each other in a notebook and embark on a series of Christmas adventures in New York City. This book is full of intrigue and excitement and the Christmas spirit. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awJtIQYNE-k

If you want to follow along with us but you aren’t interested in reading the book, you can always watch the movie version called Dash and Lily which streams on Netlflix. Don’t have a Netflix subscription? No worries! You can request one of the library’s Netflix Roku sticks to stream the show for free in your home. Request a Roku stick here. Check out the trailer above if you want to get a feel for the movie. Feel free to still leave comments on the blog posts, even if you’re only watching the movie and not reading the book.

We’ll read the first 6 chapters for next week. I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments section!

Welcome to Week 4 of the Online Book Club discussion of A Long Way Home.

Were you satisfied with the ending? Did all of the details wrap up like you wanted them to? 

At the beginning of this section, Saroo makes it to India and decides to walk the streets to find his childhood home. Were you surprised that he was able to walk the streets so confidently? I don’t know if my memory for directions would be so reliable, but he really spent a lot of time as a child wandering around, so it makes sense that he would know the area intimately. Did your heart sink when he made it to the house, but it was abandoned? I know that was mentioned in the prologue, but still, it was hard to read! It’s so lucky that that stranger happened to be nearby and was able to recognize Saroo’s childhood photos. I can’t believe he was able to find his mother so easily. 

What were you more surprised about once Saroo was reunited with his mother–the fact that she stayed in the neighborhood, so he could find her if he ever made it back home, or the fact that his name was actually Sheru, and he had been misprounouncing his own name for decades? I thought both of those details were pretty interesting. 

I could not believe that his brother, Guddu, died on the day that Saroo was separated from his family. Did that surprise you? I wondered if something had happened to Guddu since he was not featured in any of the family photos in the middle of the book, but I couldn’t believe that he was dead. And, that he had died the day that he left Saroo. I can’t imagine how hard it was for his mother to have to identify his mangled body. 

I was glad to read that Saroo’s siblings seemed to have good and successful lives. They both had important jobs–I was glad they were not still living in extreme poverty. 

What did you think about Saroo’s train journey that he takes at the end of the book? Can you believe he made such a long journey as a little boy? I bet riding the train and having the whole experience provided him with a lot of closure. I was glad that he was able to see the juvenile detention center he had stayed in, and I was glad that he was reunited with Saroj Sood. I am so glad he was connected with such an amazing woman–she definitely helped to save his life. 

What are your final thoughts about the book? Did you enjoy it? Would you recommend the book to other people? 

If you enjoyed this book and would like to read similar titles, check out this list I created. Make sure to let me know if you check out anything on the list!

In the epilogue of the book, Saroo writes about an extended interview 60 Minutes in Australia did about his two mothers meeting for the first time. If you’d like to watch that interview, check out the clip below. You can watch the whole thing–it’s really interesting, even though it’s long, or you can fast-forward to the 21:55 mark to see the part about his mothers. Let me know if you make it through the clip without crying!

Thanks for following along this month. Make sure to leave a comment to let me know what you thought about the book! I can’t wait to hear your thoughts. Finally, make sure to check back next month as we read Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares.

Welcome to Week 3 of the Online Book Club discussion of A Long Way Home.

How are you liking the story? Do you enjoy Brierley’s writing style? Are you excited to get to the end of the book, so you can see how the story comes together? 

At the beginning of this section, Saroo explains how his parents chose to adopt. I thought it was really interesting that his mother had had a vision of a child with brown skin standing by her side. What did you think of his adoptive parents? Did you think they sounded like interesting people? They sure provided some cool experiences for Saroo once he made it to Australia. I think the thing I was most shocked about in this chapter was the fact that Brierley arrived in Australia only 3 months after his parents were approved for a child. I have never heard of an adoption moving that quickly!

I thought it was interesting that Saroo seemed a bit rudderless for a while. He definitely seemed to be struggling to figure out who and what he wanted to be. It was during this time tha he finds out about Google Earth and decides that it could help him figure out his past. I can’t even imagine how much time and effort it took to look so diligently. I think I would be overwhelmed by the enormity of the task. He didn’t say exactly how long it took him to get results, but I felt like it was years. Could you believe that a random search was the one that brought him to his hometown? He was so lucky to just stumble on that line. When he gets to the train station, he realizes that the place he traveled to was called “Burhanpur,” and after consulting the Facebook group, he finds that his town was called “Ganesh Talai,” not “Ginestlay.” Can you believe no one was ever able to help him since he was so close with the names? I guess that shows just how vast India is and how small his town was. 

If you’d like to read more about Saroo’s process of searching using Google Earth, check out this blog post. Make sure to watch the video on the page! It shows real pictures and is narrated by Saroo. 

At the end of this section, Saroo decides to head to India. Were you surprised that he wanted to go alone? I think I would need someone to come with me and help me not get too emotional. He was very brave to go alone. 

Before you go, check out this interview with Dev Patel, the star of the movie version.  Let me know what you think of the interview in the comments section!

Thanks for reading with us this week! Make sure to leave a comment, so I know how you enjoyed this section. Join us again next week as we discuss the end of the book!

Welcome to Week 2 of the Online Book Club discussion of A Long Way Home.

Did you enjoy reading this week? Once I got started, I felt like I couldn’t stop. I just wanted to know what was going to happen to Saroo. Wasn’t it so hard to read the train section where Saroo is separated from his family? I just kept picturing a little, tiny boy riding alone, and I couldn’t imagine how scared he was. I know how scared I would be to be trapped in a train, not knowing where I was going, so I can’t imagine how much harder it would be for a little boy!

This section was definitely the most action packed out of all of the sections. I feel like there are a million things to talk about! I guess I should just start at the prologue where Saroo begins with a major spoiler/cliffhanger. He starts the story as an adult who has arrived in India. He arrives at his family home, only to see that it’s abandoned, but not all hope is lost, because a stranger in the crowd says that he can take Brierley to his mother. That’s a pretty great way to start a story, right? Don’t you just want to fly through the story, so you can pick up where the prologue leaves off? 

 The beginning chapters were hard to read from an emotional standpoint. It was hard to imagine a little boy experiencing such hunger and hardship. One of the saddest details was the fact that his little sister ate pieces of charcoal, so her belly wouldn’t be empty. That broke my heart. I was also surprised by the fact that Saroo was responsible for the care of his sister, even though he was only 5 years old. It was shocking, too, that he felt comfortable leaving her alone, so he could accompany his brother, Guddu, on the train. 

Guddu sold toothbrush kits on the railway platform–that sounds like a dangerous job. But, he agrees to let Saroo accompany him on a trip, and that’s the decision that changes Saroo’s life forever. He falls asleep on a platform, gets scared, tries to look for his brother on a train, and then is trapped. Eventually, he makes it to Calcutta, but once he’s there, he encounters more and more dangerous situations. He almost drowns in the river, he almost gets hit by a train, and then, he is almost kidnapped by the railway worker and his friend that promised to help. That section, especially, made me really sad. I know there are a lot of horrible people who are looking to hurt others, but I couldn’t stand reading about it. Saroo is so incredibly lucky that he had the maturity and street smarts to know that he should run away from those men. I can’t believe he had to crawl in a sewer to escape, but I’m so glad he did. 

Eventually, he is helped by a teenaged boy. I was so relieved that that boy actually ended up being a helper. Weren’t you relieved when Saroo finally made it out of the detention center and was in the orphanage? The detention center seemed like a really dangerous place–did you catch the part where he said people were climbing over the walls to take children? But, the orphanage seemed wonderful. I’m so glad he was rescued by Saroj Sood. She seemed like an amazing woman. 

I was relieved that Saroo was willing to go to a new family. I can’t even imagine the bravery it took to make that decision. He took all of the changes in stride, it seemed. I was glad that his transition to Australian life seemed like a pretty seamless one. His adoptive parents seem really cool, and they were obviously the perfect people to have him. If you’d like to see how the Brierley meeting scene played out on the big screen, check out the clip below. 

What stuck out to you the most in this first section? What surprised you the most? Did any of this first section make you feel really emotional? Make sure to leave a comment below to let me know what you thought of this first section!

Make sure to read chapters 6-9 before joining us next week! Thanks for reading with us this week!

Welcome to Week 1 of the Online Book Club discussion of A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley.

The Online Book Club, if you’ve never joined us before, is a book discussion group that takes place entirely online. Each week, I write a new blog post that talks about different aspects of the book, and you can interact directly with me and other readers by leaving your comments. Check back each week and see what new topics we’re talking about.

In A Long Way Home, Saroo Brierley tells the story of his life, explaining how he was separated from his family as a young boy in India and was eventually adopted by an Australian family. 25 years after he left India, Brierley decides to use Google Earth to figure out more about his Indian family and past. The results of his search are surprising and heartwarming. 

If you want to follow along with us but you aren’t interested in reading the book, you can always watch the movie version called Lion that stars Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman. Check out the trailer above if you want to get a feel for the movie. Feel free to still leave comments on the blog posts, even if you’re only watching the movie and not reading the book.

We’ll read the first five chapters for next week, so make sure to check those out before reading the next blog post. Our comments section is back up and running, so I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments this month!