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Welcome to Week 2 of the Online Book Club discussion of Victoria & Abdul by Shrabani Basu. 

How did the beginning of the book treat you this week? I have to admit, I thought the beginning was a little slow. I had a hard time getting into the story. I thought the introduction and foreward were really interesting, but the first chapter was harder to read. Did you find yourself feeling like it was hard to get into the action? It was hard to keep all the names straight, even though there was a list of characters at the beginning. 

In the second chapter, a quote really stuck out to me and really affected me as I read. Near the end of the chapter, Basu writes about Queen Victoria after her golden jubilee saying, “The warmth of her people had cheered her, but they had gone home to their loved ones and she had returned alone to her Castle, her maids and Household.” Isn’t that such a sad quote? I thought it was so sad to imagine that Queen Victoria had such a great jubilee day, and so many people celebrated her reign, but still, she went home alone. 

Could you believe all the descriptions of the great wealth of the maharajahs? The descriptions of their jewels and clothes was so interesting. In chapter 2, there was a section that described a solid gold howdah and the Pearl Carpet. I did a little research, and I found some pictures that show both of these objects. Check out this auction description on Sotheby’s to see the Pearl Carpet, and this photo from the British Library shows the howdah mounted on the back of an elephant. 

If you can’t get enough of Queen Victoria and her jubilee celebrations, check out this online scrapbook. It provides details about her diamond jubilee, which took place in 1897, ten years after her golden jubilee, but it’s interesting nonetheless. I especially liked the menu and seating chart. You can research information about the Queen’s early life on this scrapbook as well. 

What do you think of Queen Victoria and Abdul’s relationship so far? We haven’t learned too much about them so far, but it’s interesting how quickly Victoria latched on to Abdul and trusted him to teach her and advise her about India. So far, Abdul has moved to secretarial duties for the queen, and he has taught her to love curries. Do you think other staff members were threatened by the fact that he became so close to the Queen so quickly? Check out the movie clip below if you’re interested to see how the movie depicts the early relationship between the two.

I hope you enjoyed this section and are excited to continue reading. Please let me know your initial thoughts in the comments section. Make sure to read chapters 6-10 for next week’s discussion. Happy reading until then!

Welcome to a new Online Book Club discussion for November! This month, we’re reading Victoria & Abdul by Shrabani Basu.

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 a comment in the comments section. Make sure you check back each week and see what new topics we’re talking about.

Victoria & Abdul is the true story of Abdul Karim, a man who became Queen Victoria’s Urdu teacher and her counselor on Urdu and Indian affairs. Abdul originally became a servant of Queen Victoria during her Golden Jubilee, but he soon became one of her closest friends and advisors. The relationship between the pair was a point of contention for Queen Victoria’s children. After her death, he was banished from court and his letters were destroyed, almost erasing him from the historical record. Shrabani Basu, the author, found a portrait of Abdul in one of Queen Victoria’s galleries, and she knew that he had to be more than just a simple servant. Basu was able to connect with Abdul’s living descendants and read his personal diary, and through these accounts, she was able to understand the relationship between Abdul and Victoria. If you like learning more about the history of the British royal family, you’ll love this book.

You can also watch the Victoria & Abdul movie if you’re interested in the story. Check out the trailer above if you’re on the fence about watching this month. Feel free to leave comments about the movie on the blog posts, even if you aren’t reading the book with us.

If you want to follow along with our pace, make sure to read the foreword, the introduction, and the first five chapters before joining us next week. I hope to hear from you in the comments section!

Welcome to our last Online Book Club discussion of The Maze Runner!

Have you recovered from the ending of this book? What was the most upsetting part for you? I think the hardest thing for me to read was Chuck’s death. That was so incredibly sad. I couldn’t believe that he made it all the way through the Griever hole and then still died. It was interesting that he chose to sacrifice himself for Thomas, though. 

Could you believe that Thomas volunteered to go through a Changing so he could get some memories back? Would they have been able to escape without these memories?

Were you mad that the whole maze was just a test to find the strongest kids? That is a pretty messed up way to find children who are strong enough to look for a cure for “The Flare.”

In the last few pages, we learn that this whole experiment was designed to help the Earth recover from something called, “The Flare.” Did you really understand about the Flare and the Scorch and all of that stuff? We see Flare-infected people throw themselves against a bus, but we don’t get too many details. Does the lack of details make you want to continue reading the series to learn more?  

What are your thoughts about WICKED? The epilogue sure makes you wonder about WICKED, doesn’t it? So, we see that the rescue of the kids from WICKED was just another test. The epilogue mentions a group B. What do you think that is? Are there more kids? 

What are your final impressions? Are you going to read the next book? 

Just for fun, take this Buzzfeed quiz to find out what Maze Runner character you would be. Let me know your results in the comments section!

I hope you enjoyed reading along with us this month. I hope you’ll join us again next month as we read Victoria & Abdul by Shrabani Basu. 

Welcome to Week 3 of our Online Book Club discussion of The Maze Runner.

Didn’t you feel like this section just flew? It was so exciting and there were so many interesting things going on! I didn’t want to stop reading. Did you feel the same way? 

The beginning of this section talks a lot about the Changing that Alby endured. Were you confused by the Changing when they started mentioning it? Wasn’t it weird that the boys were able to remember some things after going through the changing? What is the purpose of that, do you think? 

Another really interesting part of this section is that we learn that Thomas and Teresa have some sort of mind connection, and Teresa is able to communicate to Thomas through his mind. She shares with Thomas that she triggered “the ending,” and she is the one to tell him that the maze is really a code. What do you think she was talking about when she said “the ending,” or when she talked about “the Trials?” What is Teresa’s purpose? How surprised were you that the maze was a code, not something that could be solved by running through it? I thought that was really interesting. I would have never figured out to look at the changes in the maze to see different letters. 

After Teresa wakes up, the doors stay open and the Grievers come to camp in the night. That part was really scary to me. I couldn’t believe that Gally returned, and the description of the Grievers carrying away his body was really disturbing. And, his message that one boy would be killed every night was really scary. How do you think the boys are going to escape? Do you think the Griever hole holds the key to their survival? 

What do you think is going to happen in the last section? Do you have any ideas about the ending of the book? Do you feel like the ending will be hard to read? 

While I was reading this section, I kept imagining how hard it would be to turn this incredible world into a movie set. If you’re interested to see the process the visual effects crew used to create this movie, check out this article from Cinefex. It’s really informative and gives some good behind the scenes peeks of the movie, with an interview with one of the visual effects supervisors, and pictures and videos showing how her team brought the world to life. 

I hope you’ll leave all of your impressions and thoughts in the comments section. I can’t wait to hear what you thought of this section. Make sure to finish the book for next week! 

Welcome to Week 2 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Maze Runner by James Dashner. 

How did you like the beginning of the book? I felt like the beginning of the book is pretty slow, but after the first ten chapters or so, the action really picked up. I also needed to learn about the boys and their vocabulary before I could focus on the story. Did you have a problem understanding all of the weird words that the boys used? Did you feel Thomas’s frustration because he didn’t know anything about the society and no one was answering any of his questions? 

As soon as I started reading, I was reminded of Lord of the Flies by William Golding. And then, I read in this Guardian article that James Dashner gained a lot of inspiration for The Maze Runner from that book, as well as Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. Have any of you read Lord of the Flies? Did you see echoes of Lord of the Flies in this story? The boys in The Maze Runner definitely created a much more efficient and peaceful society than the boys in Lord of the Flies. Could you believe how orderly the boys in The Maze Runner were? It was cool that they all had specific jobs and were able to figure out so much without much outside information. 

How shocked were you when a girl showed up in the Box? She is definitely going to bring change with her, don’t you think? 

The last couple of chapters in this section were intense, weren’t they? Thomas was so brave. First of all, he risked his life by going into the maze, even though he knew that it would close around him. Then, he didn’t abandon Alby, even after Minho runs away scared. Thomas’s whole vine routine of lifting and hoisting Alby was pretty cool. And, the way that Thomas and Minho killed the Griever was really interesting. How do you think that this night in the maze will affect the other boys? Do you think it will help them figure out a way out of the maze? 

What do you think will happen now that the boys know they can live through the night in the maze? How do you think the girl will change their society? What do you think is next for Thomas? 

I hope you’ll leave me a comment in the comments section to let me know what you thought of this section. And, if you have any guesses about the rest of the book, make sure to tell me about that, too. 

If you want to keep with our pace, make sure to read the next 21 chapters before next week. I hope to hear from you in the comments section!

Welcome to a new Online Book Club discussion for October! This month, we’re reading The Maze Runner by James Dashner.

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 a comment in the comments section. Make sure you check back each week and see what new topics we’re talking about.

The Maze Runner is a dystopian young adult novel that follows the lives of a group of teenage boys who are trapped in the Glade, a walled-in homestead surrounded by a huge maze. The boys have created their own society, with each boy performing a certain job. There’s also a strange metal box in the ground that regularly delivers supplies—and new boys. However, no one can exit through the box, and the boys believe that the only way they will be able to leave and go back to their families is if they solve the maze. One day, a boy names Thomas shows up in the box, and his arrival shakes up the camp of boys. The bulk of the book follows Thomas as he tries to make sense of the society. If you love action-filled, dystopian stories, you’ll love this book!

You can also watch The Maze Runner movie if you’re interested in the story but don’t want to read with us. Check out the trailer above if you’re on the fence about watching this month. Feel free to leave comments about the movie on the blog posts, even if you aren’t reading the book with us.

If you want to follow along with our pace, make sure to read the first 21 chapters before joining us next week. I hope to hear from you in the comments section!

Welcome to our last Online Book Club discussion of The Mountain Between Us!

At what point did you realize that Ben and his wife weren’t really separated? Was it when you first heard that there was a problem with the pregnancy? Was it when Ben recounted how he left for a run after his wife decided not to intervene with the pregnancy? I had a sinking suspicion that she was going to pass away as soon as I read about those problems. I was afraid to keep reading, because I didn’t want Ben’s story to go in that direction. Did you have a hard time reading to the end of the book after you realized his wife was going to pass away? Did you want to grab Ben’s sleeve as he left her for the last time and force him to stay with his wife? I sure did. 

Were you surprised that Ben and Ashley decided to leave the campground? I was a little surprised, but I understood why they had to do it. I don’t think I would have been brave enough to leave that comfort, though. It would be hard to venture back into the wilderness. 

I was pretty sure all along that Ben and Ashley were going to survive, but I didn’t anticipate the dramatic ending to the story. And, I didn’t really expect them to get together in the end. How did you feel about that? I’m still not sure if I really like them as a couple or not. 

I’m also not sure if I believe that two ordinary people could survive all the things that Ben and Ashley did. If you want to get an expert’s opinion about their survival, check out this article from Outside, in which a survival expert critiques their techniques. Also, check out this article for some real survival stories that are almost as interesting as The Mountain Between Us. 

I hope you’ll leave all of your thoughts about the ending of the book in the comments section. I can’t wait to hear what you thought. I hope you enjoyed this book and will join us again next month as we read The Maze Runner by James Dashner. I’ll talk to you in the comments!

Welcome to week 3 of our Online Book Club discussion of The Mountain Between Us!

This section had some surprising parts, didn’t it? Could you believe that they were able to leave the site of the crash and miraculously stumble on an abandoned camp ground? When they saw the camp in the distance, I first thought that they were having a shared mirage. It just seemed so unlikely that they would be able to find something so wonderful in such a harsh environment. 

If you’re curious about the area the two camped in, check out this website for Ashley National Forest. It looks like a beautiful area, but I know I wouldn’t want to be stuck there during the winter!

How are you feeling about Ben and the fact that he just happens to know a solution to every problem? Do you feel like this is believable, or do you think that he is almost too fantastic? Do you think many people have these kinds of skills to survive in harsh conditions? 

One of the scariest parts of this section was when Ben fell in the frozen lake. Didn’t your heart drop when that happened? In the movie version, Alex, played by Kate Winslet, is the one to fall in the icy water. Kate Winslet talked about her experience filming that scene on The Tonight Show. If you’re interested to hear her take, check out the video clip below. 

https://youtu.be/cSJjsTZuUfo

What do you think of Ben and his recordings to his wife? When do you think we’re going to find out the reason Ben and his wife are fighting? Do you have any guesses about the reason for their tension? How do you think their story will end? 

What about Ben and Ashley? What do you think will happen to them? Do you think they will leave the campground? What would you do? 

I hope you’ll be able to finish the book and will be ready to talk about the ending next week! I can’t wait to hear your thoughts and impressions in the comments section. 

Welcome to Week 2 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Mountain Between Us!

How did you enjoy this first section? It was a little confusing for me to get into the narration at first because I didn’t quite understand the significance of the italicized flashback sections. Once I understood that those sections were Ben’s thoughts to his wife, I felt like the story flowed better. 

The story starts by introducing us to Ben and Ashley, and it quickly drops them into a seemingly impossible situation: stranded at the top of a snowy mountain after barely surviving a plane crash. Ben appears to be the absolute best person to be on top of a mountain with. Could you believe all the things he was able to do? It was almost too convenient that he was so suited for this kind of disaster. What did you think of Ben and his survival instincts? Did any of the things he do seem too far-fetched? 

From the prologue and some of the flashback sections, we can deduce that something happened between Ben and his wife before he left on this trip. He seems to be atoning for something in some of his recordings. Do you think they had a fight? What do you think he hopes to accomplish with the recordings? 

At the end of this section, Ben manages to kill a mountain lion, so they have some food. How do you think they will be able to continue in this snow? How will they find more food? Do you think they will have to leave the wreck site? 

Obviously, the setting of this story is incredibly important. The snowy mountain top is almost like another character in the novel. So, when producers worked to move this story from the page to the screen, they had to plan carefully to figure out how to best represent the harshness of the mountains and the conditions. Read how the cinematographer, Mandy Walker, shot the movie at the top of a mountain in this article. If you do, I think you’ll have a greater appreciation for the movie!

Make sure to let me know your thoughts about this section. And, let me know if you think you could survive in these conditions! I hope you’ll join us next week, too, as we discuss chapters 18-34.