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Welcome to Week 1 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Underground Railroad.

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 Underground Railroad is a powerful story of an enslaved woman who escapes from a plantation on a physical underground railroad. Her journey is incredibly dangerous, and at each stop, she encounters a different sitatuion and a different view of slavery. This book is brutal and heartbreaking, but the story is necessary to understanding the history of our nation. 

If you want to follow along with us but you aren’t interested in reading the book, you can always watch the television series version called The Underground Railroad which streams on Amazon Prime. Don’t have an Amazon Prime subscription? No worries! You can request one of the library’s Amazon Prime 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 four chapters for next week, so make sure you read through the South Carolina section before joining us. I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments section. 

Welcome to the final week of the Online Book Club discussion of The Hobbit.

Were you satisfied with the ending of the book? I have to say, I was a little disappointed with the way the Smaug storyline went. I thought there would be more fight between the crew and Smaug. I envisioned Bilbo being the one to strike the final blow, but I guess it was more realistic that a full-grown person was the one to end Smaug. 

At the beginning of this final section, Bilbo uses the ring to slip, undetected, into Smaug’s cave. Bilbo is astounded by all of the treasure, and he immediately takes a cup. We find out that Smaug is immediately able to detect that he is missing that one small cup, so even though it looked like Bilbo didn’t make a dent in the treasure, the theft was really important to Smaug and made him really angry. Later in the section, Bilbo goes back down in the cave to check on Smaug, and they end up talking to each other, and they speak in riddles to each other. Smaug kind of gets in Bilbo’s head, telling Bilbo that he should not trust the dwarves or spend time with them. This causes Bilbo to think he’s justified to take and hide the Arkenstone, the thing that Thorin wants the most. 

Smaug ends up leaving his lair, looking for Bilbo and his crew, and he ends up getting killed by Bard. I thought that was a little bit of an anti-climactic way to get rid of Smaug, but I was glad that Smaug didn’t end up killing any of the dwarves. 

If you’re curious how the team behind The Hobbit movies created Smaug on-screen, check out the video below. I think they definitely captured his essence. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvr7DSEHcic

One thing that I thought was interesting about this section was the fact that those thrushes ended up being such important characters. They were able to communicate with Bard to let him know how to defeat Smaug, and, they communicate to Bilbo and the crew that Smaug is dead and people are coming to take the treasure. 

Thorin does not want to work with Bard or share any of the money with him. However, Bilbo uses the Arkenstone to help Bard gain leverage. Thorin is so hurt by the fact that Bilbo tricked him that he kicks him out of the crew. Things look grim, but then, Goblins come to attack, and everyone bands together to defeat them. The Battle of the Five Armies didn’t take up much room in the book, but it seems like it’s a much longer experience in the the third movie in The Hobbit trilogy. 

Thorin ends up perishing after the battle, but before he dies, he makes peace with Bilbo. Bilbo ends up going home with treasure, so that was good. He deserved it. 

At the very end, when Bilbo gets home, he realizes that everyone at home assumed he is dead, and they are auctioning off his things. I thought that was sad that it seemed like people were almost disappointed to see him home. And, after his return, everyone treats him like he is weird, which is sad. It did seem like everything ended nicely, so that’s good. It was satisfying to have Bilbo come home so successfully. 

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

Before you go, do you want to see some cool photos from the Tolkien family archive? Check out this timeline and let me know which picture you enjoyed the most. 

Thanks so much for joining us this month! I hope you enjoyed reading. Make sure to leave a comment to let me know which parts were your favorite! I hope you can join us again next month as we read The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments!

Welcome to Week 3 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Hobbit.

Did you find it harder to stay engaged during this section than the first section? I felt like there wasn’t as much action, and I really struggled to keep reading at points. I definitely hope that the action picks up again in the last section! 

At the beginning of this section, we meet Beorn. He was an interesting character. I thought it was wise of Gandalf to have the dwarves come into Beorn’s presence a little at a time. He seemed intrigued by the game and was more likely to help the group. Beorn really helped them out by killing the goblins and the wargs. Do you think we’ll see Beorn again by the end of the book? 

Bilbo and the gang have a lot of trouble with ginormous spiders in this section. Bilbo is able to kill one of the spiders, but then all of the dwarves are captured by another set of spiders. This part with the spiders really made me feel like Bilbo was the right addition to the team. He was really brave to trick the spiders and use the ring to help the dwarves escape. I don’t know if he would have had as much luck if he hadn’t had the ring, but he definitely used it well and to his advantage. 

After the spiders, the group is kidnapped by elves. Again, Bilbo is resourceful and uses the ring to help them get out of danger. I think the group was really happy to have him after he proved himself so many times. 

One of the most exciting parts of this section was the barrel escape scene. Bilbo is definitely getting more clever as the journey progresses. And, he’s losing a lot of his fear. It’s nice to watch him grow as a character. If you’d like to see the barrel escape scene as it is in the movie, check out the clip below–I will warn you–the scene looks a lot more exciting in the movie than it was in the book. Once you’re finished watching the scene, check out this featurette about the making of the scene. I don’t think I would like to film in the wet for several weeks. Do you think you would like that? 

At the end of this section, the group finally opens up the door in the mountain and will now be able to go in and find treasure and confront Smaug. Do you think they are ready? Do you think Bilbo will be a lot of help with the ring? 

Did I fail to mention one of your favorite parts of this section? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Before you go, check out this website about Tolkien and his art. Before doing research about The Hobbit, I didn’t realize that Tolkien drew many of the scenes in his books. He was a very talented artist, and it’s cool to see what he imagined his world to look like. Check out the drawings he did for The Hobbit. I love all of the detail he put in every single picture. 

I hope you’re excited to finish the book for next week!

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!