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Welcome to Week 2 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Firm by John Grisham. 

How did you enjoy reading this first section? I was hooked from the beginning. I thought the book started in an interesting way with Grisham simply describing Mitch and why he was such an attractive candidate to the firm. It made sense that the firm wanted Mitch since he seemed to be such a successful student and all around nice person, but I was immediately suspicious. Why were they so generous from the get go? The firm offers Mitch lots of incredible things including a generous salary, bonuses, a low-interest mortgage, country club memberships, and a new BMW. Which of those perks would you be most excited to receive? Later in the chapters, the firm pays his student loans as well. Can you imagine getting all that from your employer? 

In this section, I was most surprised by how much Mitch worked. I could not keep up with those hours. He was like a machine. I was also shocked when he learned he got the highest score on the bar exam. Weren’t you expecting him to fail since he never got time to study? 

What clued you in to the fact that the firm wasn’t quite what it seemed? Abby’s first lunch with Kay Quin struck me as odd. Kay mentions that the firm doesn’t forbid women from working outside of the home, but they don’t encourage it. She also mentions that the firm encourages lawyers to have babies. It seemed strange and concerning to me that the firm was so interested in the personal lives of the lawyers. Can you imagine what an HR nightmare those conversations would be today? 

I think the story took a sinister turn in chapter 3. We first hear about the wire tapping, and we realize that the firm was listening to everything the McDeeres did when they were in Memphis. Were you surprised by this reveal? What could the firm be using this audio data for? Later in the chapter, DeVasher makes a comment that “New York” is getting suspicious, and they want to “eliminate” a couple of people. Who do you think “New York” is? Why would a law firm need to kill some of its lawyers? In chapter 4, these lawyers who were mentioned in chapter 3 just happen to die in a boating accident. The accident totally wasn’t an accident, right? It was a planned murder. 

Mitch has no reason to be suspicious of the firm, but in chapter 9, he spends a lot of time looking at the portraits of the lawyers who have passed away. He must suspect something because he keeps their names and dates in a drawer. Why do you think he’s suspicious even before he’s approached by the FBI? Were you surprised when Tarrance from the FBI met him? I wasn’t, but I didn’t expect him to immediately notify the firm about it. I would have been scared to mention it, because it would make the firm watch me more closely. Mitch pretends he’s not suspicious after hearing from the FBI, but we know differently since he hires Eddie Lomax later. When he’s in Grand Cayman, he talks to Mr. Abanks about the explosion that killed the 2 lawyers. From these incidents, we can see that Mitch took the FBI seriously, even if he’s not talking to them yet. 

This section ends with the firm talking about the inappropriate pictures they took of Mitch and that woman on the beach. It definitely wasn’t good for Mitch to have that interaction with that lady—especially since now it seems like that interaction could get him blackmailed. 

Did you feel like you could picture Grand Cayman after reading Grisham’s description of Mitch’s trip? If Grisham’s descriptions weren’t enough, make sure to check out the Cayman Islands tourism website. See the Seven Mile Beach that Mitch and Avery walk on, or check out the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park. And, if you really want to get a sense of the comfortable accommodations Mitch experienced, check out the Palm Heights. I think I could get comfortable and relaxed in a room like this. 

Before you go to read the next section, check out the video of John Grisham below. In the video, he gives a glimpse into his office and tells about how he got his start. I always love to understand how writers start their careers, so I really enjoyed this video. You’ll also get a little glimpse into the ballparks that Grisham owns. Did you know that he has fields for Little League players?

This section was chock full of interesting details, so I’m sure I missed something. Make sure to leave a comment to tell me what things I missed. And, leave any guesses you have about the firm and why the FBI would be interested in their dealings. 

I hope you’re able to read chapters 15–28 before checking back next week!

Welcome to March’s Online Book Club discussion. This month, we’re reading The Firm by John Grisham.

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 Firm follows Mitch McDeere as he starts his career as a lawyer at a private tax firm in Memphis, Tennessee. After two of the law firm’s partners die in a suspicious accident, McDeere realizes that the money and benefits of the firm may be hiding something more sinister. Soon, the FBI is involved, and the story becomes thrilling and suspenseful. Once the action starts, you’ll want to keep reading to figure out what is really going on. 

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 Tom Cruise. 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 are only watching the movie and not reading the book.

Next week, we’ll be discussing the first 14 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 Online Book Club discussion of The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. 

How did you enjoy the end of the book? If I’m remembering correctly, the ending of the book is different than the ending of the movie. Did you think the ending of the book was believable? Was it a satisfying ending for you? I appreciated that we got to see Allie and Noah when they were elderly, but I wished we got to read about their reunion after Allie read the letters. 

The very beginning of the book, when the two older people were introduced, was vague, but I guessed that the people were Allie and Noah. Did you? It made sense that Noah didn’t tell Allie who he was since it made her so sad to realize how much she had forgotten. 

Did you think the story was believable? It was inspired by Nicholas Sparks’s wife’s grandparents. If you want to read more about the inspiration for the story, check out Sparks’s website. Make sure to look at the book FAQs at the bottom of the page! 

Letters certainly played an important part in Allie and Noah’s early romance, but letters were special in their later romance as well. What did you think of the later letters Allie and Noah sent each other? Allie’s final letter, showing how much she had lost through her illness, was really heartbreaking.

What stood out to you the most in the final chapters? For me, it was Noah’s steadfast love. He was so persistent to keep loving Allie, even when she couldn’t remember him. 

Was there anything in this final section that I didn’t mention that you thought was really important? Make sure to let me know in the comments section!

Did you know that The Notebook is going to be a Broadway musical? Singer/songwriter Ingrid Michaelson wrote music for the Broadway adaptation, so I’m sure it will be great. Watch Michaelson’s announcement below. I don’t think an official cast has been announced, but I’m anxious to see who will be in the Broadway cast. 

If you enjoyed The Notebook, you might enjoy the books and movies on this list I created. Make sure to let me know if you check out and enjoy anything.

I hope you enjoyed reading along with me this month. Next month, we’re reading something with a totally different vibe. We’re reading The Firm by John Grisham. I hope you’ll join us. 

Make sure to leave a comment, so I know how you enjoyed this month’s selection!

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

How did this section treat you? Did the drama and tension go the way you thought it would? Were you surprised by anything that happened in this section? I wasn’t—I knew that Allie’s family and Lon had to make more of an appearance in the story. 

When this section starts, Lon is trying to call Allie, but he can’t get an answer. Lon was immediately suspicious, which I thought was interesting. I was surprised how quickly he guessed Allie was visiting Noah. It seemed pretty convenient that he was able to recall all the details he had heard about Allie and was able to deduce that she was in New Bern. Were you surprised that Allie’s mom had mentioned Noah to Lon? 

Even when Allie learns that Lon has been calling, she doesn’t seem concerned. She doesn’t call him back, and she doesn’t think there’s any way that he could figure out where she is. Why do you think she underestimated Lon so much? How could she change her feelings for Lon so quickly? 

Noah takes Allie to see swans. That isn’t what I was expecting, but it sounded like an incredibly beautiful place. The iconic scene in the movie was not shot in New Bern, however. The scene was filmed at Cypress Gardens in South Carolina. It looks like an incredibly beautiful place, and they offer swamp boat tours of the gardens and backdrops from the movie. This article from Trivago Magazine tells how you can visit other locations from the movie. 

Right after we read about Noah and Allie spending the night together, Lon postpones a trial to come to New Bern. From that short Lon chapter, we know that Noah and Allie aren’t going to just be able to be together easily. And then, Allie’s mom Anne shows up on the scene. Did you expect her to show up? Did you think it was going to be Lon at the door? 

Before she leaves, Anne gives Allie all of Noah’s letters. How do you think the letters are going to affect Allie’s future decisions? This section ends with Allie driving away from Noah, but there are still several chapters left, so I’m sure this isn’t the end for the pair. How do you think the story is going to come together? Do you think there will be a showdown between Noah and Lon? Will we see Lon and Allie fight about the future? 

If you’ve seen the movie version, you probably can’t imagine anyone other than Ryan Gosling playing Noah. The movie studio wasn’t too sure about him at first, however. Check out this article from Vanity Fair to learn how he got the part. 

Are you curious how Nicholas Sparks got his start with writing and publishing? In this interview clip, Sparks discusses how surprisingly easy it was for him to get his first book published.

I hope you enjoyed this section and are excited to finish the book for next week. Make sure to leave me a comment to let me know your thoughts. I can’t wait to talk about the ending with you all next week! 

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

Did you enjoy reading the first section? The first chapter was so vague, wasn’t it? I didn’t really have an idea of what the story was going to be about after I read that it. Did having such a vague beginning intrigue you, or did it make you feel frustrated? 

One of the details that first stuck out to me about Noah was that he enjoyed the book Leaves of Grass so much that he brought it to war with him. Did you see that the book actually took a bullet for him? I was curious if books could actually stop a bullet during war, so I did a bit of research. I stumbled upon this article from The Daily Mail that tells about how a pocket Bible saved the life of a soldier during World War I. The article even includes a picture! 

After reading the article about Noah’s house in the newspaper, Allie decides to visit him. Were you surprised that she took that drastic step? Obviously, she wasn’t completely over him since she was willing to shake up her whole life and future by traveling to see him. She kept it a secret from everyone, so I think she didn’t think it was the most honorable thing to do. 

When Noah and Allie reunite, they easily slip into their old relationship. Did you think that was realistic? Do you think Noah should have been more upset when he saw Allie, especially since he never heard from her after she left town the first time? I did think it was good that Allie told Noah about her fiancé early when they reunited, but it didn’t seem to slow Noah down at all. 

I know Allie seemed a little conflicted at the end of this section, but once she agrees to meet Noah again, I think she’s proving that she is still invested in her relationship with him, and she is willing to risk her engagement to spend more time with Noah. Were you surprised when she agreed to see him again? Where do you think Noah will take her? 

How do you think Allie’s fiancé will come back into the story? Surely, we haven’t heard the last of him. What about Allie’s family? How is this all going to tie back to the first chapter? 

In this story, Noah lives in New Bern, North Carolina. At first, I assumed that it was not a real place because authors often create fictional towns in stories like these. New Bern is real, however, and it looks like a cool town. If you’d like to learn about it, visit its Convention and Visitors Bureau website. One of New Bern’s claims to fame is that it’s the birthplace of Pepsi. Learn more about that on the Birthplace of Pepsi website, or in these historic Pepsi photos. You can also learn more about New Bern through the Tryon Palace, the original home of North Carolina’s governor and now a historical center. 

I hope you enjoyed reading this first section. Make sure to leave all of your first impressions in the comments section. Before you come back next week, try to read the next section, through the “Crossroads” chapter. I hope to hear from you in the comments!

Welcome to February’s Online Book Club discussion. This month, we’re reading The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks.

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 Notebook tells the story of Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson, a pair who share a romantic summer when they are teenagers and then are reunited years later. The book jumps back and forth in time, following the couple throughout their whole relationship. 

If you want to follow along with us, but you aren’t interested in reading the book, you can always watch the movie adaptation starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. 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 are only watching the movie and not reading the book.

Next week, we’ll be discussing the first section, so make sure you read through the chapter “Reunion.” I hope you’ll check back for the blog post next week, and I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments section. 

Welcome to the fourth and final Online Book Club discussion of Fahrenheit 451.

How did you feel after reading the ending? Did you enjoy the book, or did you wish that the story had gone in another direction? 

The third section begins with Montag realizing that Mildred turned him in for the books. When she runs from the house, she expresses sadness over losing her “family” and her big television screens, but she shows no remorse over losing her husband. Were you surprised that she didn’t even acknowledge Montag? Do you think all marriages in this society were like Mildred’s and Guy’s? From what we saw about Mildred’s friends and their relationships, it seems like all human connection was superficial. 

Montag burns everything in his house, and then, after much needling from Beatty, he turns the flamethrower on Beatty and kills him. He then attacks the other firemen on the scene. I was really surprised that Montag took that extreme course of action. I expected Beatty to finally going to be kind and would help Montag in the end. I was confused by Beatty. I thought he knew too much about books and reading to not secretly be a reader himself. Later in the section, Montag thinks that Beatty wanted him to kill him. Do you agree with that assessment? 

I thought the first Hound was going to be harder to defeat than it was. Montag seemed to be able to burn it easily, even though he was injured. The second Hound was pretty terrifying, though. I can’t imagine thinking that something that creepy and powerful was just set out on the streets. I was sure that the second Hound would smell Montag regardless of all the things he and Faber did to throw it off Montag’s scent. 

The whole chase scene was pretty intense. The part that I thought was the most creepy was when the announcer instructs everyone to open a door or look from the windows in the same moment. That is just such a wild idea. The idea that Montag was the only one moving is just wild. That whole scene made me think of the television show, Person of Interest. Check out the trailer above to see how this show used government surveillance to track citizens. Can you see the connections between this show and Fahrenheit 451? What else about that scene stuck out to you? 

I was glad that Faber survived the Hound hunting, but are we to assume that he died during that big bomb explosion? Were you surprised that Bradbury threw in that war and bombing in the last few pages? 

What do you think will end up happening with the people in the woods that Montag found? Did you expect for him to find any people outside of the city? Do you think there are more spread out across the country? Do you think books will be able to make a comeback in their society? 

Throughout the book, Bradbury described technologies that were futuristic at the time, but many of those predictions have come true. Check out this list from the Washington Post to see some of the things Bradbury wrote about that have come to pass. How do you think he was able to write about future technology so accurately? 

If you enjoyed reading Fahrenheit 451 along with us this month, make sure to check out this list I created that features similar titles. Let me know if you end up checking out something from the list! And, make sure to leave a comment to let me know if you thought I missed anything important in this last section. 

Next month, we’re switching directions and reading something a little more romantic. We’re reading The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks—I hope you’ll join us!

Welcome to Week 3 of the Online Book Club discussion of Fahrenheit 451. 

This section ended with a pretty big cliffhanger, didn’t it? Did you continue reading, just to find out what was going to happen, or did you stop since we are only discussing the second section in this blog post? 

I think the best person in this section was Faber. He was such a cool character. I liked the way that he talked about books, and I liked all the tinkering he did—especially the earpiece he created. The scene where he was listening to Montag from the earpiece made me think of every cop show I have ever seen. I feel like there is an earpiece segment in every one of those shows. Faber describes himself as a bit of a coward, but I thought he was still brave to stay true to himself and not live like the rest of the people in the city. I feel like it’s understandable that he didn’t want to stand out or do anything to bring the firemen to him. And, he had to be brave to trust Montag. 

What did you think of Montag’s plan to plant books in the houses of firemen? Did you think that was a good plan? What about when Montag suggested printing more copies of books? Did you think that sounded doable? 

This section began with Mildred and Montag reading books together, but Mildred was not affected by the books like Montag was. She continued to be very anti-book throughout this section. We saw that clearly when she invited her friends over to watch shows. What did you think of Montag during that scene? Montag describes the women as “enameled creatures,” and implies that they have nothing human-like about them. When he forces them to talk, the women had no desire to talk about anything or interact with the real world. Do you think they believed Mildred when she said that firemen were allowed to bring one book home a year? Do you think Montag hurt himself by showing them a book and reading them a poem? Could you believe that Mrs. Phelps cried after he read the poem? 

Were you surprised when Montag went back to the fire station that night? I didn’t think he would be able to face the other firemen. Beatty really needled him. I don’t think I like Beatty at all. Did you have any idea, when the men went out on the call, that they would end up at Montag’s house? Who do you think called in the alarm? 

Did I miss anything that really stood out to you in this section? It definitely was an action-packed section. 

A lot of people think that Fahrenheit 451 is about censorship, but according to this article and video from Ray Bradbury, he believed the book was about the danger of television. What do you think? After this section, do you think the book talks more about censorship or the danger of media? Read this article, too, to get a complete picture of the argument. (And we should remember that in the Comic-Con speech that we saw last week, Bradbury discussed how book burnings influenced the writing of the book.)

I hope you enjoyed reading this section. Make sure to leave me a comment, telling me everything you thought. Don’t forget to finish the book before checking back in next week!

Welcome to Week 2 of the Online Book Club discussion of Fahrenheit 451.

Is this your first time reading through this book, or did you read it in school? Either way, did you enjoy reading it this week? I think Ray Bradbury has an engaging writing style. I felt like the first section flew by. 

The hardest thing for me to remember when reading the beginning of this book is that in this world, the firemen set fires, not fight them. Wasn’t it interesting that Clarisse mentioned how firefighters used to stop fires, and Montag didn’t believe her? He thought houses had always been fireproof, probably because he had only read the history that the fire chief, Captain Beatty, mentioned later in the book. Did you catch what Beatty explained? He said the first firefighter was Benjamin Franklin, and he said that the Firemen of America were established in the 1790s to burn English-inspired books in the Colonies. It’s scary that history was changed so easily in the book. 

What did you think of Clarisse’s first conversation with Montag? She shared so much information in the few minutes they talked. Through her, we learn that cars drive really fast in their world, and billboards are extra-long so drivers can still see the advertisements. And, we learn that most people watch something called a “parlor wall,” and they go to races and Fun Parks. At the end of the conversation, she mentions that her uncle was arrested for being a pedestrian. What do you think that meant? Are people not allowed to walk around in their world? 

After Montag talks to Clarisse, he goes in his home and stumbles upon an unconscious Mildred. We assume that Mildred took all of those sleeping pills, even though she denies it later. Mildred’s life is pretty empty, don’t you think? She spends all day looking at those huge wall TVs, and she only interacts with people through the screen. I think the reason Mildred is such a scary character is because she is so similar to what we have become today. She looks at huge screens and interacts that way, and we stare at small phone screens and interact with people through those small screens. Do you think Mildred’s character is similar to what we see today? Even her little seashell earphones are reminiscent to ear buds. 

Did you have a hard time picturing the Mechanical Hound that lived in the fire station? I had a hard time imagining what something like that would look like. Why do you think it reacts to Montag? How does it know about his hidden stash in his air vent? 

At the end of the section, Beatty has a big speech explaining books and the culture. One thing that I thought was really chilling was when he was explaining the speed of life and how the television companies wanted people moving so quickly that they wouldn’t have time for “unnecessary, time-wasting thought.” He explains that people just want to be happy and entertained, and to do that, they got rid of anything that made people think or anything that made people question or argue. Isn’t that scary? Doesn’t that seem like such a horrible world to live in? Does it seem like something that might be possible? 

This section ends with Montag showing Mildred his hidden stash of 22 books. The books frighten her, but she agrees to read them with Montag. What do you think will happen when they read these books together? Do you think Montag will be able to keep hiding? Do you think he really won’t go back into work? 

This story is such an interesting concept, don’t you think? If you want to learn more about Bradbury’s inspirations and how he wrote the book, check out this article from Mental Floss. You might also want to watch the above video of Bradbury speaking at Comic-Con in 2007.   

If you want to hear some behind the scenes information about the Fahrenheit 451 movie, check out the video above. Let me know if you notice any differences between the book and the movie. 

Make sure to read part 2, “The Sieve and the Sand,” before joining us next week. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts about the first section in the comments.