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Welcome to Week 1 of the Online Book Club discussion of Twilight. 

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.

Twilight follows Bella Swan as she moves to Forks, Washington and discovers that her new town has some surprising and mysterious inhabitants. Once Bella starts at her new high school, she quickly becomes intrigued with the Cullen family, a family of impossibly beautiful teens that keep to themselves. She’s especially drawn to Edward, but he seems to want to stay as far from her as possible. Eventually, Edward and Bella decide to become friends, and Bella quickly realizes that being friends with Edward might be putting her and her whole family at risk. He’s hiding deep secrets that have dangerous consequences. 

To celebrate the 20th anniversary release of the book, the Fairborn Community Library is having an anniversary celebration! To help celebrate the event, Jessica, the head librarian at Fairborn, will be sharing her thoughts on the book, so the entries this month might look a little different. I hope you enjoy reading about the book from her perspective! 

You can still watch the movie version of the book, even if you aren’t interested in reading along! Watch the trailer above to get a feel for the movie version, if you’ve never seen it!

I hope you enjoy the different format of the blog this month! Make sure to leave comments to let us know how you’re enjoying the book and movie!

Welcome to Week 4 of the Online Book Club discussion of A Gentleman in Moscow. 

What did you think of the ending? The book did not end like I thought it would, but I enjoyed it anyway. 

I enjoyed reading about Sofia and her musical journey. It was cool that she was able to have so many experiences with piano and school, even though her guardian was not able to leave the hotel. I think she ended up having a pretty normal childhood, all things considered. It was really scary when the director of the Red October Youth Orchestra basically ordered Sofia to become part of his orchestra. I was really afraid that she was going to be taken away. Anna really came in clutch to save the day. Did Rostov just not want Sofia to go to Stalingrad because she would be far away? Or do you think he worried she would become part of the Soviet machine and never be the same? I bet it was a little bit of both. 

A really surprising thing in this section was that Rostov confessed that his friend Mishka, who died in this section, was actually the one to write the poem that made Rostov famous and saved his life. I was shocked by that! I guess it makes sense, then, why he never wrote any other poems! 

I was really confused when Rostov started to break into rooms and take random things. I couldn’t figure out what he was trying to do. I just never expected that he was going to have Sofia defect and that he, himself, would leave the hotel. That was so surprising to me. I felt like if he were going to leave, he would have already left, but it makes sense that Sofia getting older would make him feel more of a sense of urgency. Sofia was so brave to follow through with the plan. I couldn’t believe how she was able to keep such a level head and was able to do everything she was supposed to do. She really was well-prepared. I was also really surprised that Rostov gave Sofia information to pass along to the American, Richard. I never thought that Rostov would actually be a spy. He must have really believed that what they were doing was wrong. 

What did you think of the scene near the end between the Bishop and the Count? I was actually surprised that Rostov didn’t shoot and kill the Bishop. It was surprising how the Bishop nursed his grudge of Rostov throughout the book. He was determined to find something to get Rostov arrested. What do you think he would have done if Rostov had not locked him up? Do you think Rostov would have been able to escape? Rostov’s escape was really ingenious. He really thought through every detail to throw the investigators off of his trail. He was really lucky that Viktor agreed to help him out. Would you have been able to come up with a plan that clever? 

What did you make of the very end? I was really surprised that he didn’t meet up with Sofia. But, I guess it would have been really hard for him to leave the country. But, at least now, he is in the countryside, near where his family home once stood. It was really sad that the home was burned down. But, he didn’t seem that upset about it. I’m sure he expected something like that would happen. And, you took the last lines to mean that he was meeting up with Anna, right? What other woman with hair tinged in gray would be waiting for him? It’s nice that she and he were able to stay together throughout it all. What do you think they will end up doing? How do you think the rest of their lives will play out? Do you think they will ever be able to reunite with Sofia? 

What parts of this last section stood out the most to you? Would you recommend the book to a friend? If you liked the book and would like to read or watch similar titles, check out this list I created. Make sure to let me know if you check out anything on the list!

Thanks for reading along with me this month! Next month, we’re reading a perfect book for October–the young adult classic, Twilight! I hope you’ll come back next month and follow along with us! I look forward to hearing from you in the comments!

Welcome to Week 3 of the Online Book Club discussion of A Gentleman in Moscow.

Did you enjoy reading this section? So many things happened! It’s amazing all of the adventures a man can have even if he isn’t leaving his house! He’s lucky that he got to spend his house arrest in a place that has so many people. I think a person would really go insane if they were stuck in a house alone forever. What did you think of the fact that he started helping out in the restaurant? It definitely helped him fill his days and interact with more people. 

The most surprising thing, by far, in this section was that Nina returned with a daughter. I was shocked. I think the thing I really had the hardest time with in this book was absorbing time as it passed. Since his location didn’t change, it was hard to track the years, even with them displayed at the beginning of chapters. I just had a hard time really locking in on the time. So, it was shocking that Nina had been gone for so long. To me, it felt like she just left. I couldn’t believe she had such an old daughter. It was so sad that she was going to go looking for her husband. And, it was really sad when it was revealed that Nina never came back. Do you think she ever found her husband? I can’t imagine how hard it was for her to leave her daughter behind. I’m glad she felt like Rostov was a trustworthy person to leave her daughter with. I’m kind of surprised that she picked him since he doesn’t seem to have any experience with children. It was sweet to see him attempt to bond with Sofia. He seemed like a fish out of water. What do you think of Sofia? She is so serious. She’s definitely less whimsical than Nina was when Rostov met her. 

Rostov’s connection to Osip ended up being another really important relationship in this section. It was interesting that their lessons shifted from intellectual lessons with important books to more relaxed lessons with American movies. I liked how they were able to grasp so much about American culture and politics from the movies. 

I really liked seeing how Sofia and the Count’s relationship changed throughout this section. Their bond ended up being really special. How surprised were you that Rostov actually left the hotel after Sofia was injured? I was shocked! I was so afraid that he was going to be caught and punished. But, I liked how he acted with her best interest in mind, not his. It was interesting that he had the driver take her to what he thought was the best hospital but was not actually the best hospital. He had been out of the city for so long that he didn’t know what would be the best place! I was so relieved when Osip showed up and got her the best care and got Rostov out of the hospital unnoticed. I’m glad that he ended up being such an important trusted friend to Rostov. 

Were you surprised that Anna showed up again in this section? Her relationship to Rostov ended up being more serious than I imagined it would be. I wonder why they are so taken with each other. They definitely seem to be different types of people. 

Did anything else stand out to you in this section? What were your favorite parts of the section? Are you excited to keep reading? Do you have any guesses as to what will happen at the end of the book? 

Before you go, check out author, Amor Towles, talking about the television adaptation of the book. Don’t you think it’s interesting that authors really don’t have any say over the adaptations of their work? I think that would make the process really hard! I can’t imagine what it would be like to give up creative control. 

Thanks for following along this month! I can’t wait to read your thoughts on this section in the comments! Make sure to finish the book before checking back again next week!

Welcome to Week 2 of the Online Book Club discussion of A Gentleman in Moscow.

Did you enjoy the first chapters of the book? I really did. I didn’t know what to expect when I started the book, but it didn’t take me long to really start to enjoy the story. I was a little nervous starting because I noticed that there were some really long footnotes on some of the early pages, and I worried that would make the book really boring. But, I actually enjoyed those little extra details. I didn’t think the first section was boring at all. 

I couldn’t believe that the Count was sentenced to house arrest. Obviously, it was a better punishment than death, but I really can’t imagine being forced to stay somewhere and never go outside. That would be horrible. It was sad when he had to pack up all of the things in his rooms. I was curious why he was so insistent in taking his huge, heavy desk, but obviously, it was an important piece to him since it housed all of his gold. That really was a surprise that he had that much gold in his possession! I guess that answers why he was able to continue living and paying for things, even though he didn’t have any sources of income. 

What did you think of Nina? I thought it was really exciting once she joined the story. I liked how irreverent she was compared to the Count. She helped to loosen him up a bit. I liked that her first words to him were about his mustache. I can’t imagine what that mustache must have looked in real life! It sounds like it was magnificent. 

Do you think Anna is a likeable character? She seemed really spoiled at first with her misbehaving dogs and the way she threw all of her clothes out the window. But, she does get the clothes and seems to mature a bit after that. Would you think of her as a good match for the Count? I don’t think I would have thought to put them together. I think one thing I struggled with throughout the first section was getting a good idea of how old the Count was. At the beginning of the book, he’s 30, but he’s so formal that it was easy to imagine him as a much older man. I had a hard time imagining him as a man in his prime, so that made it hard for me to imagine him in a whirlwind romance with such a young actress. 

Throughout this section, the Count makes an enemy of the Bishop. I don’t think that’s going to end up being a good thing for the Count. I wish he wouldn’t have upstaged the Bishop with the wine suggestion. I think the Bishop is not a man who will forget a grudge. 

At the end of this section, the Count is interrupted before he is able to throw himself off the roof of the building. Were you surprised that he was so desperate as to throw himself from the roof? I was. He seemed to be in good spirits throughout the first chapters. Do you think he was depressed by the fact that Nina was growing older? It did feel like things were changing inside the hotel. I am so glad he was interrupted. It was interesting that the interruption led him to taste the delicious honey and realize that the bees were near the whole time. 

Did anything else stand out to you throughout these first chapters? Are you excited to keep reading? Do you think you have any idea what will happen to him in the next section? 

Before you go, check out the video below in which star of the television adaptation, Ewan McGregor, talks about getting into character. Does his mustache in the clip match what you imagined the Count might have looked like? 

I hope you’ll leave a comment to let me know what you thought of this first section! Make sure to read Book Three before checking back next week! 

Welcome to Week 1 of the Online Book Club discussion of A Gentleman in Moscow.

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.

A Gentleman in Moscow follows Count Alexander Rostov after he is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel near the Kremlin. At first it seems unthinkable that he will give up his life of privilege to live in an attic room in a hotel that he can never leave. But, the Count proves to be resourceful and begins to make the most of his experience, especially once he meets a little girl named Nina, and she shows him a side of the hotel he’s never seen before. The story is really innovative and funny–once you start reading, I don’t think you’ll be able to stop!

If you want to follow along with us but you aren’t interested in reading the book, you can always watch the Paramount + adaptation starring Ewan McGregor. Don’t have a subscription to Paramount +? No problem! You can request one of the Roku Express 4K+ Streaming Devices at the library. Check out the trailer above if you want to get a feel for the how the story plays out on screen. Feel free to still leave comments on the blog posts, even if you’re only watching the series and not reading the book. 

We’ll be reading through Book 2 for next week, so make sure to check those sections out before coming back to the next blog post. I look forward to hearing from you in the comments!