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Welcome to Week 2 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Sun Is Also A Star. 

How did you enjoy the first part of the book? Do you like the way the book is written? It took me a minute to get used to the way the chapters moved, and it took me a few chapters to get used to the little asides and historical sections she added in the middle of the story. Did you enjoy the extra stuff, or did you find it a little confusing? Do you like it when authors do non-traditional things while writing? I read a book recently that had emails and text message threads and news articles spread throughout, and I enjoyed that. Nicola Yoon’s other book, Everything, Everything, has a lot of ephemera on the pages–have any of you read that book? 

A big thing about this first section is that Daniel convinces Natasha to talk to him by telling her that he can make her fall in love with him using science. He mentions an article that includes 36 questions that will make people fall in love. Nicola Yoon includes several of the questions in the narrative through conversations between Daniel and Natasha, but if you want to read the full list of questions, check out this site. Then, check out this site that gives personal anecdotes from couples who have actually used the questions–don’t miss the video on the page because the video has a really interesting interview. Finally, check out the video below to hear from the scientist who created the questions!

What did you think of Daniel and Natasha in this first section? They are obviously very different, but I think they are compatible. What did you think of the way they met? Do you think the questions will bind them together? 

The main conflict in this section is that Natasha’s family is going to be deported at the end of the day if she can’t figure out a way to keep them in the United States. Natasha gets the name of a “fixer” lawyer in this first section, but do you think he’s going to be able to help her? At the end of this section, the lawyer’s secretary is hopeful that the lawyer will be able to help Natasha’s family, but Natasha is still not sure. What do you think will happen? 

 I think a really interesting thing about this book is the fact that the action is taking place over such a short period of time. I feel like Daniel and Natasha have already made a pretty meaningful connection to each other, even though they have only known each other for hours. Do you have to keep reminding yourself that all of the action is happening in a really short time frame?

At the end of this section, Natasha and Daniel are separated from each other. How do you think they’ll reconnect? Do you think Daniel will actually make it to his meeting? 

Before you go, make sure you check out this article that gives information about the inspiration for the novel. Let me know which parts of the article were most interesting to you!

I hope you enjoyed this first section and are excited to read more. Make sure to read to page 230 before joining us next week. I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments section.

Welcome to October’s Online Book Club discussion. This month, we’re reading The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon. 

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 The Sun is Also a Star, Natasha has 12 hours to stop her family from being deported to Jamaica. She believes in science and facts, and she has no time for love. But, then she meets Daniel, a boy who has worked hard to do whatever his parents want. When Daniel and Natasha decide to spend the day together, they both take a chance and decide to see what fate might have in store for them. Will the day end up working out happily for both of them? 

If you want to follow along with us but you aren’t interested in reading the book, you can always watch the The Sun Is Also A Star movie. Check out the trailer above if you want to get a feel for how the story plays out on the screen. Feel free to still leave comments on the blog posts, even if you’re only watching the movie and not reading the book.

Next week, we’ll be discussing the first 115 pages, so make sure to read those before reading the blog post next week. I hope you’ll check back for the blog post, and I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments section.

Welcome to the final discussion of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. 

Did you figure out the mystery before the final page? I definitely didn’t. I got to the epilogue, and I was so confused. I thought for sure that we weren’t going to have any closure, and we weren’t going to know who was committing all of the crimes. So, I was so relieved when everything was cleared up in the final letter. Were you shocked? I didn’t suspect Justice Wargrave at all. I didn’t think that his death was faked. 

Were you satisfied by the ending? Did you think it was kind of a cop-out to have all of the mystery explained in the last couple of pages? I wasn’t overly happy with the way Vera’s story ended. I didn’t like her whole death scene at all. But, then again, I didn’t like her backstory very much, either. I couldn’t believe that she purposefully let Cecil drown. That was so incredibly heartless and sad. I’m glad that Hugo decided to drop her after the incident because I would have hated for her to be rewarded for her actions. 

This section started with the murder of Mr. Rogers, and then, in the next chapter, Miss. Brent meets her end after seeing the bee buzzing around. After Miss Brent’s murder, it seems like suspicion falls on Dr. Armstrong again because he is the only one who seemingly would bring a hypodermic needle to the island. Why do you think Christie kept leading the reader towards Dr. Armstrong? Did you ever suspect him, or did you think he was just a distraction, so we couldn’t figure out who the real murderer was? 

I thought the creepiest “death” was the one Justice Wargrave set up for himself. I didn’t like imagining him with the wool yarn on his head, and the whole scene seemed really creepy. Do you think he added all of those extra details to distract from the fact that he was only pretending to be dead? His actual death, described in his final letter, was also pretty crazy. It’s wild that he would be able to set up everything so that the gun would go off and actually shoot him. It’s all just so hard to believe. 

The most surprising death, to me, was Lombard’s. I was shocked that Vera actually shot him. I couldn’t believe it at all. I hoped that they would keep level heads and make it off the island. But, of course, that didn’t happen. I didn’t like Lombard because of his crime and apparent lack of remorse for his actions, but I never suspected that he was the killer. Did you ever suspect him? 

Justice Wargrave writes in his letter that he was going to put the letter in a bottle and throw it in the sea. Do you think anyone ever found it? Can you imagine what kind of a ruckus it would cause if the letter was ever found? 

What are your final thoughts about the book? Do you think you enjoyed it? Would you recommend it to a friend? If you liked the book and want to read and watch more things like it, check out this list I created. Please let me know if you end up checking out and enjoying anything on the list!

Before you go, check out this article and video about an Agatha Christie exhibit that toured England. There are so many cool photos in the video–make sure you check it out! And, if you’re dreaming about someday taking a trip to London, you might want to bookmark this site that gives great information about Agatha Christie sights you can see in London. 

Make sure you watch the video clip below, too, to learn more behind the scenes information about the BBC television adaptation. 

Thanks for joining us this month. Make sure to leave me a comment, so I know how you enjoyed the mystery. Next month, we’re reading The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon. I hope you read along with us!

Welcome to Week 3 of the Online Book Club discussion of And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. 

Did you enjoy the reading this week? I really did. I could not stop reading. I just had to know who was going to be the next person attacked by the mysterious killer. Do you have any strong theories about who is causing all of the chaos? I don’t really have any idea who the perpetrator is. 

I think one of the creepiest parts of this whole book is the fact that the number of soldiers on the table keeps decreasing. That is such a scary detail. Not only is the person smart enough to stage all of these murders, but also, he is collected enough to remember to take away a soldier immediately. I think the person doing this is such a sociopath. 

The first person to die in this section was Mrs. Rogers. I wasn’t surprised by her death. I figured she would be the one to sleep and not get up since she had had such an extreme reaction to the recording and then had to be sedated. It seemed like she was the most likely candidate for that kind of a death. The other person to die in this section was General MacArthur. Before his death, the people in the house were able to imagine that Marston died of suicide and Mrs. Rogers died accidentally. But, MacArthur was hit in the back of the head. That indicates that someone is hunting the guests, and it negates the suicide and accident theory. Did you ever believe that Marston’s death was a suicide? Or, did you believe there was a murderer from the beginning? 

In this section, we also learn a little more about the incidents mentioned on the recording. We learn that Mrs. Brent’s servant became pregnant and then killed herself because Mrs. Brent threw her out of the house. Mrs. Brent shows absolutely no remorse or regret for her actions. Even after she is questioned by Vera, Mrs. Brent feels like she did the right thing, and the girl deserved what she got because she acted indecently. How did you feel about Mrs. Brent after that section? I couldn’t believe how callous she was. Before his death, General MacArthur confessed that he deliberately sent his wife’s lover to his death. Were you surprised by that revelation? 

In chapter 9, Justice Wargrave holds a kind of a trial, trying to decide who U.N.Owen is. In this trial, they all have to give their alibis. Do you believe all of them? Someone has to be telling a lie, right? Or, do you think there is a hidden person on the island orchestrating everything? I kind of lean towards a hidden person on the island because everyone seems to be accounted for at all times. How is one person sneaking away to commit these murders? 

So far, I think Christie is trying to get us to think that Lombard might be the murderer since he has a gun. She also seems to be pointing at Armstrong, the doctor, because the first two victims were murdered. Do you think both of these are misdirects? Do you think either of them would really be the killer? 

What do you think about Christie after reading over half of the book? I think she had to be a very interesting person to create such innovative stories. If you’d like to read some interesting facts about her, check out this article from her website. 

One of the things I’m most excited for in the BBC adaptation of the book is the fabulous fashion. Do you love to watch period movies and tv shows, just to see the amazing costumes? I feel like the costumes are a big draw for me. Check out the video below if you’d like to learn more about the 30’s fashion in this adaptation. 

I hope you’re ready to finish the book for next week! Please let me know if you figure out the mystery before the end of the book. I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments section. 

Welcome to Week 2 of the Online Book Club discussion of And Then There Were None. Are you reading a physical book with us this month, or are you reading a copy on Hoopla? 

The first couple of chapters in this section were all about introductions and setting up the scene and mystery. Did you find it overwhelming to try to keep up with every character? I found it incredibly helpful to write out the name of each of the main characters when I read the first chapter, just so I could keep everyone straight. And, then, after we heard the accusations of the crimes, I wrote that down, too. It was too hard for me to keep all the details together otherwise!

Did any of the characters stand out for you in this first section? I think the characters that stood out to me the most were Vera Claythorne and Philip Lombard. Lombard stood out to me because of the nasty, racist things he said about his crime, and Vera stood out because she seems so quiet and unassuming, but there has to be more to her story than she is letting on. She mentions Hugo at the end of chapter 5, and from her memory, we can see that he was related to the boy she watched. And, we know that she and Hugo were in love. What else is she covering up? Lombard is the only one who has openly admitted that he did something wrong–do you think that makes him a better person than the rest because he’s open about his past mistakes? 

What did you think of the fact that they all came to the island under different circumstances? Did you suspect that it was all a trick before we saw that the initials for all of the letters spelled out “Unknown?” I thought it was weird that they weren’t all invited by the same person, but I never would have been able to see “Unknown,” if the characters hadn’t figured it out first. 

Do you believe all of the stories the characters say about the crimes that were on the recording? Each crime seems to be able to be explained easily, so it seems silly that they are being publicly humiliated with the recording. Dr. Armstrong keeps having memories of being drunk–do you think he’ll come clean about his incident? 

Marston dies at the end of chapter 4 after remembering the incident he was accused of in the recording. He ran over two people, and when he remembered the incident, he said how inconvenient the whole thing had been because it caused him to lose his license. Were you sad to see him go? The characters believe that he committed suicide, but Rogers realizes when cleaning up, that there are only nine soldier figures on the table instead of the original ten. Who would have removed one of the figures? Do you think Marston’s death was an accident? It seems like Marston’s death fulfilled the first segment in the nursery rhyme that is displayed all over the house. The next segment says that someone went to sleep and never woke up. Do you think that will show up in the next section? Who do you think it could be? 

Aren’t you curious how Agatha Christie could come up with these types of stories? I know I don’t have the creativity required to make a story like hers. If you want to learn more about her writing process, check out this article on Agatha Christie’s website. 

Also, check out the video below if you want to hear what the actors for the And Then There Were None television version thought of being in the adaptation. 

I hope you enjoyed this first section and are excited to keep reading. I felt like I couldn’t stop reading once I got all of the characters and the crimes straight in my head! Make sure to read through chapter 10 before joining us next week. I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments section. 

Welcome to September’s Online Book Club discussion. This month, we’re reading And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. And Then There Were None is also available on Hoopla, so you can download easily and participate in our discussion from home without ever leaving your house.

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.

And Then There Were None is a mystery book in which ten people travel to a mysterious island called Soldier Island. Each person comes to the island for a different reason, and at first glance, it’s not easy to decipher how everyone fits together. On the first night, a surprising event occurs, and the guests quickly realize that this trip to the island won’t end peacefully like they first imagine. This book had me guessing until the very last page. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6chC3n4Kz4

If you want to follow along with us but you aren’t interested in reading the book, you can always watch the BBC television series on Hoopla. Check out the trailer above if you want to get a feel for how the story plays out on the screen. Feel free to still leave comments on the blog posts, even if you’re only watching the movie and not reading the book.

Next week, we’ll be discussing the first five chapters, so make sure to read those before reading the blog post next week. I hope you’ll check back for the blog post, and I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments section.

Welcome to the final discussion of Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. 

How satisfied were you by the ending of the book? I was very surprised by how the whole situation wrapped up. 

What did you think about Mulch? He was a really unexpected character. First of all, I was very confounded by his ability to dig through dirt with is mouth. I guess my only other experience with dwarfs is through Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Even though they were miners, they carried pick axes, so I assume they didn’t mine with their mouths. I admit I really didn’t like the visual of how Mulch rid himself of all of the excess dirt and air he acquired during his tunneling. That was really gross, but I can see how it might appeal to younger readers who enjoy potty humor. What did you think when Mulch knocked out the Butler with his expulsion? How did you envision Mulch while you were reading? Josh Gad plays this character in the movie, and you can see how he looks in costume.

When I first read about Mulch opening the vault, I thought that Holly might be in there. I wasn’t exactly sure what he might find in a vault like that. Did you immediately assume that he found the fairy book, or did you think he might have found something else? What else do you think Artemis would hide in a vault? 

Did you feel sad for Juliet when Holly used the “mesmer” spell on her? I couldn’t believe that Holly was able to get so much power just by sticking the acorn in the tiny piece of dirt. I understood why she used her powers against Juliet, but I still felt bad for Juliet. I wish Holly had been able to use her powers on Artemis, since I feel like he deserved punishment more than Juliet did. 

I wasn’t surprised that Mulch was able to escape after leaving the house. He was just too tricky. Do you think Mulch shows up in later books in the series? I bet he does—he’s too interesting of a character to lose. Maybe he eventually works together with Artemis. 

The troll attack in this section wasn’t any better than the troll attack in the first chapters. He immediately wrecked havoc on everything. Could you believe how he took out the Butler? I was sure glad that Holly’s lights finally worked, so she could incapacitate the Troll. And I was glad that she was able to heal the Butler. That would have been an unimaginable loss if he had died from the Troll attack. 

What did you think about the ending? I was shocked that Artemis was able to keep some of the gold. And I was really surprised that his plan to defeat the time bomb was the put everyone to sleep. I’m glad it worked for him, but it was a really big risk to take. Do you think having his mother coherent will put a big crimp in his style? Will he be able to do so many nefarious things if his mother is able to keep tabs on him? Do you think Artemis was the real victor in all of this, or did he lose because he made mortal enemies of the fairies? Do you think they’ll keep close tabs on him now that they realize what he’s capable of? 

I’m sure Holly and Artemis will connect again in later books. I feel like they are so connected to each other through this ordeal, so I can’t imagine that they won’t work together again. What kind of event would bring them together and allow them to fight on the same side? 

I hope you enjoyed reading along with us this month. If you liked this book, check out the list I made of similar items. Make sure to let me know if you try anything on the list!

Before you go, check out the clip below to hear Eoin Colfer talking about the movie version. And read this interview in which director Kenneth Branagh talks about how he made the movie version his own. 

I hope you’ll join us again next month as we read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments section. 

Welcome to Week 3 of the Online Book Club discussion of Artemis Fowl.

Are you enjoying reading the book on Hoopla? My only complaint is that I feel the copy on Hoopla is missing some page breaks, so the action runs together sometimes. Have you noticed that? 

This section starts with Artemis explaining the ritual Holly needs to perform to renew her magic. He explains that Holly has to bury a seed in the ground to give her thanks for her power. If Artemis had not had this information from the magic book, he never would have known where to look for a fairy or leprechaun to kidnap. How do you feel about the fact that Artemis has the fairy book? It made me uncomfortable that he had all of that inside knowledge of the fairy world, especially since he used it to hurt Holly. I felt, throughout this section, that I wasn’t sure if I liked Artemis or not. He’s a hard character to get to know, and he’s not overly likable. What did you think about him? 

When Artemis first mentioned that they would need sunglasses, I was really curious. I wondered why sunglasses would be so important to their surveillance. But, once I realized that Artemis was using them to protect himself from Holly’s “mesmer” spell, I understood their importance. Did you feel sad when Holly was kidnapped? Were you thinking she would be harder to subdue? 

I didn’t really know what to make of Root throughout this section. He has such an uncontrollable temper! It seems like he has Holly’s best interest at heart, but he gets so angry all the time. I definitely didn’t think it was smart that Artemis tricked Root into thinking that Holly was on that boat. Artemis made himself a mortal enemy when he pulled that stunt. What did you think of the fact that Artemis was willing to blow up that boat in order to rile Root? It was moves like that that made me question Artemis. I didn’t feel like he had any redeeming qualities in this section. He just acted like a villain. 

I was really affected by the scene in which Artemis’s mom stuffed the clothes to represent Artemis’s dad. Wasn’t that scene so heartbreaking? I could see how a family situation like that could really make someone act out like Artemis did. 

Near the end of this section, Artemis tricks Holly and makes her think that she told fairy secrets while under the influence of truth serum. Artemis felt bad about tricking her for a second, but he still stuck to his plan. He really thinks that he will be able to get the hostage fund from the fairies. Do you think he will get it? He was able to easily defeat that first coalition that came to rescue Holly. But, I think the time stop and the bio bomb are going to be harder to defeat. Artemis claims he can escape the time field, but I don’t know how that could be true. 

What do you think is going to happen in the last section? How will it all come to an end? Do you think Artemis will succeed? What plan do you think Root has up his sleeve? 

Before you go, check out this cute interview Eoin Colfer did with Scholastic. In the interview, Colfer answers questions from kids. And, check out the video below and tell me what differences you see between the book and the movie. It seems to me that the movie version is going to be really different than the book. What do you think? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMW5tQ55ca8

I hope you’re able to finish the book for next week. I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments section. 

Welcome to Week 2 of the Online Book Club discussion of Artemis Fowl. I hope you were able to easily find the book on Hoopla and are reading along with us this month. 

Are you having fun reading this book so far? I am really enjoying all of the imaginative elements of the fairies. Do you enjoy reading about magical creatures, or do you find yourself having a hard time imagining them?

What did you think about Artemis in this first section? I had a hard time understanding who he was because it was hard to imagine a young boy being so ruthless. But then I read that Eoin Colfer imagined Artemis Fowl to be a Bond villain in the body of a 12-year-old boy, and for some reason, that made the character click for me. It’s so interesting that he is so determined, even though he is so young. He was dedicated to decoding the Book, and used many different problem solving strategies!

The Butler is a really interesting character, don’t you think? I couldn’t believe that he was trained from a young age to serve and protect someone from the Fowl family. It’s almost as if the Fowls are royalty or something! I liked how the Butler’s training included Cordon Bleu cooking as well as martial arts and emergency medicine. He sure has a well-rounded set of skills. 

Do you think Artemis’s plan to restore his family fortune is a realistic one? I find it hard to believe that he’ll actually be able to steal gold from fairy folk, even with the Book as a guide. From the descriptions of them in Holly’s chapter, they seem to be a lot more technologically advanced than humans. I don’t think it will be easy to steal from them. I feel like Artemis would be able to find gold more easily somewhere else. Maybe he thinks he wouldn’t face as many consequences stealing from fairies as opposed to stealing from a bank. 

Holly might be my favorite character so far. I like how tough she is, and I like that she doesn’t back down from her supervisor. I liked that she did what she thought was right, answering the call for help from the people in the restaurant, even though her supervisor told her to stay outside. I think she’s really caring. Were you curious about the ritual she kept mentioning? I was interested about why she hadn’t done it in such a long time—maybe it’s a ritual that’s really hard and takes a lot of time? 

The troll attack was pretty crazy, wasn’t it? It was almost as crazy as the whole process Holly had to go through to get to the surface. The pressure she faced was pretty intense. I know for sure that I wouldn’t be able to withstand that kind of force, so I would just have to stay underground. Do you think the troll fight was worse than the journey to the surface? The troll fight definitely lasted longer. Do you think Holly made the right call to go into the restaurant? It was too bad that she caught the attention of the people in the restaurant, but I think it was better for them to have to be knocked unconscious by Holly than to be killed by the troll. 

The section ends with Holly promising to do the ritual. Do you think she’ll be able to do it? I’m very curious about what happens during the ritual. What about Artemis? What do you think he’ll do next? What do you think he’s going to do with the fairy book he has? 

Before you go, check out this video that gives some behind the scenes information about the making of the movie. Do you think you’ll try to watch the movie version? 

I hope you’ll come back next week to talk about the next three chapters. I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments section. 

Welcome to June’s Online Book Club discussion. This month, we’re reading Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. Artemis Fowl is available on Hoopla, so you can download easily and participate in our discussion from home without ever leaving your house.

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.

Artemis Fowl is a young adult fiction book in which the main character, Artemis Fowl is a 12-year-old evil genius who attempts to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold. He expects the fairies to comply willingly, but he gets a big surprise when they fight back with magic and technology. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl2r3Fwxz_o

If you want to follow along with us but you aren’t interested in reading the book, you can always watch the new movie version premiering online on June 12th. Read this article if you’re interested in learning about the movie premiere, and check out the trailer above if you want to get a feel for how the story plays out on the screen. Feel free to still leave comments on the blog posts, even if you’re only watching the movie and not reading the book.

Next week, we’ll be discussing the first three chapters, so make sure to read those before reading the blog post next week. I hope you’ll check back for the blog post, and I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments section.