Tag: Online Book Club

Welcome to Week 2 of the Online Book Club discussion of the The Last Thing He Told Me.

What did you think of the first part of the book? Are you enjoying the story so far? Was it hard for you to stop reading at the end of Part 1? 

One thing I thought was so interesting about this book was the setting. I had never heard of the floating houses in Sausalito, had you? I can’t believe there is such an interesting array of houses that are floating right on the water. If you want to learn more about these exciting homes, check out this article. 

The characters are also really interesting and engaging. What do you think of Hannah? She seems like a very nice person. She definitely tried hard throughout to be a kind and loving stepmother to Bailey. She didn’t flinch when she realized that she was going to have to take care of Bailey–I don’t think that all people would be like that. I thought it was surprising that she was so patient with Bailey, even when they hadn’t known each other for that long. Owen and Hannah were not married very long when he left. She also jumped right in to trying to figure out where her husband was. It didn’t seem like she had to take much time to decide if she was going to search for him on her own or not. 

What do you think of Owen? In all of the flashbacks, he seems so kind and unassuming. It seems so unlikely that he would put up with illegal behavior at work. Do you think he knew what was going on at work? What do you think of the money he left for Bailey? Was it illegally accessed? At the end of the section, Hannah decides to go to Austin, Texas to figure out more about Owen. Do you think he’s hiding a secret past? Did he run away for some other reason than the illegal money problems at work? 

Do you think Bailey and Hannah are going to become close? Hannah is definitely trying a lot harder than Bailey to have a good relationship. I hope this experience brings them closer together. 

What did you think of Grady, the U.S. Marshal who shows up at Hannah’s door? Do you think he has her best interests at heart? Do you think he really wants to protect Owen, or does he want to bring him in? It’s odd to me that he isn’t working with the special agents that also came to her house to investigate. I just don’t know if he is someone that Hannah can trust. But, I don’t blame her for wanting to trust someone. This is a situation that would feel really isolating. 

What do you think is going to happen in the next section? What will Hannah find in Austin? Do you think his hesitance has anything to do with his first wife? 

Before you go, check out the video below to hear from author, Laura Dave and actress, Jennifer Garner. What was your favorite part of the video? 

Make sure to read Part 2 before checking back next week! I can’t wait to hear your initial thoughts of the book in the comments. 

Welcome to Week 1 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Last Thing He Told Me.

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 Last Thing He Told Me follows Hannah Hall after her husband mysteriously disappears. Hannah thinks she has a happy marriage with a wonderful man, so she is shocked when her husband doesn’t come home from work and sends a note through a neighbor that says, “Protect her.” Hannah doesn’t know why her husband has gone, but she knows that she needs to protect his teenaged daughter–but what is she protecting her from? Hannah soon learns that the company her husband works for is under investigation, and he has seemingly disappeared to avoid prosecution. She quickly realizes that her husband is not who he said he was, and she must find out his true identity and why he really disappeared. 

If you want to follow along with us, but you aren’t interested in reading the book, you can always watch the show on Apple TV+. Don’t have a subscription to Apple TV+? 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 read Part 1 for next week, so make sure to read that before checking out the next blog post. I look forward to hearing from you in the comments!

Welcome to Week 4 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Nickel Boys.

What did you think of the end of the book? Were you surprised by the ending? I was shocked. 

At the beginning of this section, “Elwood” bumps into a guy he knew from school named Chickie. Did that encounter make you wonder if things with Elwood weren’t really what they seemed? It was a weird interaction, but I didn’t guess that Elwood was anything other than what he seemed. I thought that he just wanted to leave Nickel Academy behind and didn’t want to associate with anyone from the school. He really created quite the business for himself. It was nice to read that he was so successful when it seems like many of the boys that graduated from the school were not. I was curious to find out how Elwood left the school since he believed that he had escaped, but Chickie didn’t seem to remember that. I wanted to know more about how he was able to leave the school. 

I wasn’t surprised, once the narrative moved back to the past, that Elwood was determined to find justice and wanted to tell what was really happening at Nickel. He had shown throughout the story that he was committed to doing what was right, even when it hurt him. But, I was sick to my stomach thinking that he would get caught. Were you surprised when Turner agreed to be the one to pass off the letter? It was surprising when Elwood was taken to the White House that they didn’t kill him straight away. I would have thought they they would have wanted to be rid of him. I couldn’t believe that Elwood tried to have a positive attitude while he was locked away in the jail cell. He was so good and really tried to make a difference in the world. 

Were you surprised when Turner came to break him out? Was there any part of you that thought that both boys would make it to safety? How surprised were you when you realized that the survivor was really Turner, and he had just assumed Elwood’s identity? I was so surprised. I was just sick with how the story ended for Elwood. He deserved so much more than he got. He was an innocent boy with a heart for justice and equality, and he was shot down like a dog. It was so, so sad and so hard to read. 

At the end of the book, Turner finally confesses to his wife that he used to go to Nickel and that his name was really Jack Turner. So many pieces fell in to place for her once she realized what kind of past Turner had. I really can’t believe he was able to keep all of that a secret. It was such a huge thing, and I can understand how he would want to move on and not talk about it anymore, but it had to affect every part of his life. I was glad that Turner decided he was going to speak up about the school at the end. I think that was a good way to honor Elwood’s memory. I hope he was able to move Elwood to a proper grave. It was sad that Elwood’s grandmother died so soon after Elwood. I bet she was just heartbroken. In the end, Turner ends up in the same hotel where the story starts with Elwood. Why do you think Colson Whitehead chose to end the story that way? 

How did you feel after you finished reading? Are you sad that there are real people who had to experience the horrors of places like Nickel? That was what made this book extra hard to read. I kept remembering that it was based on a real place and that real people had to experience horrors like the book described. Did you enjoy reading this book, even though it was sad and hard to read in spots? Would you recommend it to others? If you liked this book and are interested 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!

Before you go, check out the video below to find out more about the school that inspired the book. Do you blame Whitehead for not wanting to visit the site of the school? 

Thanks for following along this month! Make sure to leave a comment to let me know what you thought of the book! Next month, we’re reading The Last Thing He Told Me. I hope you’ll join us again next month!

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

This section was different since there were chapters about Elwood after Nickel Academy. Did his life seem like the life you would have imagined he would have after he left the school? 

At the beginning of this section, Elwood is in the hospital ward, trying to recover from his beating. I couldn’t believe how long it took him to be able to rejoin his peers. I don’t know how he survived such a beating. Then, he’s assigned to community service with Turner and is able to leave campus for a few hours a week. I can’t imagine how freeing that was to him. It was really upsetting that during the community service, he had to unload things that were meant for the students at Nickel, but it seemed like he genuinely enjoyed being out in the world. 

The chapter about Griff, the boy who was the boxer, was really hard to read. I couldn’t believe that they killed him because he wouldn’t throw the fight. At first, it seemed like he didn’t throw the fight on purpose, but I really think he just got mixed up and had planned to lose. I really can’t believe that they killed him. It just seems to unbelievable that grown men could be so violent towards these young men, but obviously, it really did happen. It’s just so unsettling. 

Near the end of Part 2, the boys band together to give horse medicine to someone on staff. They decide on Earl, and surprisingly, they aren’t punished for what happens to him. I was just sick the whole time I was reading, afraid that the boys were going to be caught. I can’t believe they would take such a risk. They were lucky that Earl didn’t die. 

In Part 3, we learn that Elwood now lives in NYC and runs his own moving company. He seems really successful. I’m glad that he was able to move past his time at Nickel. Aren’t you curious, though, how he ended up leaving? It seems like there is more to the story. It was so hard to read the chapter where he describes how the one boy who tried to escape, Clayton, ended up being brought back to the school where he died. 

The section ends with Elwood knowing that his appeal isn’t going to happen and that the lawyer took advantage of his grandmother. Elwood says that he is going to “get rid of Nickel.” How do you think he is going to do that? Do you think that’s how he makes it out of the school? What do you think is going to happen in the last section? Are you interested to keep reading? 

Before you go, check out the video clip below in which the director of photography from the movie version talks about how they made the movie. Don’t you think that looks like a really innovative camera technique? 

Thanks for reading along with me this week! I hope you leave a comment to let me know what you thought of this chapter. Make sure to finish the book for next week!

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

How did the reading go for you this week? I couldn’t believe how quickly the story turned for Elwood. It was so incredibly sad that he had so much promise and excitement, and then it was all taken away by a completely innocent decision. 

What did you think about the book starting the way it did? It was definitely a really somber start. It’s crazy to imagine that all of that violence and all of the horrible things were happening at the school and no one knew. It seemed like an open secret that was incredibly heartbreaking. The fact that the story is based on a real place makes the story even more somber. You can read more about the real school that inspired the book here. 

What did you think of Elwood at the beginning of the book? He seemed like such a nice young man. I felt like I was rooting for him immediately. He definitely had a commitment to justice, to his own detriment, making sure kids didn’t steal from the shop he worked at and going to the protests. It was admirable that he stuck so firmly to what he believed, even when it meant that he got punished. 

I absolutely could not believe it when the car he was hitchhiking in ended up being a stolen car. That was so incredibly unfair that he was punished for being in it. I’m sure no one believed that he didn’t play a part in the theft. It was so hard to read about him heading to the Nickel Academy when he should have been going to college classes. It was all so sad. 

What were your first impressions of Nickel Academy? When Elwood was first getting a tour, it seemed like it might not be that bad of a place, but as soon as he went to his first class and it was a joke, I knew the school wasn’t what it seemed. At the end of this first section, Elwood tries to stand up to bullies but is then punished more harshly than the bullies are. I had a really hard time imagining the whipping machine that was used against Elwood in the “White House.” I can’t even imagine how someone came up with the idea to create something like that. And, I really can’t imagine how someone could use it against a young person. The leaders of the school were so heartless. It just made me sick to read about it. How do you think this punishment is going to affect Elwood? Will it change his commitment to justice? Do you think he will be able to work his way up in the school and will be able to leave? 

What do you think is going to happen in the next section? Do you think Elwood will be punished again? How is he going to navigate his way through the school? 

Before you go, check out this video of author, Colson Whitehead, talking about his books and his writing process. What was your favorite part of the video? 

We’ll read through chapter 12 for next week! I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the book in the comments. 

Welcome to Week 1 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. 

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 Nickel Boys tells the story of two boys who are “students” at a juvenile reformatory school called Nickel Academy. The school is basically a jail with students being beaten and mistreated on a daily basis. Elwood, the main character, is determined to escape the school to start his life over again, but as the book progresses, we see that leaving Nickel Academy isn’t as easy as it might seem. 

If you want to follow along with us, but you aren’t interested in reading the book, you can always watch the movie adaptation on Amazon Prime. Don’t have a subscription to Amazon Prime? 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 read the first six chapters for next week, so make sure to check those out before reading the next blog post. I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments!

Welcome to the final discussion of The Bourne Identity. 

Did you enjoy reading this week? Did the book end the way you wanted it to? Would you recommend the book to a friend? 

One thing I struggled with throughout the whole book was keeping track of all of the tertiary characters. There were so many different names throughout the book! Did you have a hard time trying to stay on top of all of the people Bourne talked to? I think it was made worse that so many people had code names or aliases. That definitely didn’t help me remember who anyone was. 

I was so glad when we finally got to know who Bourne really was. I couldn’t believe we had to wait until the very last pages to really get to understand Bourne’s story. It’s revealed that he is really a man named David Webb who turned to Medusa after his wife and children were killed. And, he killed the original Jason Bourne and assumed his name after the real Bourne was found to be a traitor and would have harmed David’s brother. Were you surprised by any of that reveal? The end seems to suggest that David will be able to heal in his mind and might be able to become David again, but I’m not so sure. He sustained a lot of trauma over the years! I don’t know how he will be able to sort through all of the alter-egos and deception to become himself again. Do you think Marie will stay with him through that process? I think the end of the book hints that she will. 

Even after they  hunted him down and almost killed him, the Americans want him to continue to help them hunt Carlos since he is the only person who knows what Carlos looks like. Is that fair that they ask that of him? I couldn’t believe that they still want Bourne to work for them. I hope they give him more time to heal before they send him out to hunt for Carlos.  

What did you think of Villiers throughout this last section? I couldn’t believe that he ended up killing his wife before they got any information out of her. It was a surprise that she was Carlos’s mistress, and I can understand how that was such a betrayal to Villiers. I guess her death ended up working in their favor because they were able to use the death to lure out Carlos. But, it was still hard to read about her death, and it was hard to read about how they described her and her dead body. Bourne was lucky that Villiers decided to help him. Villiers keeps saying that he trusted Bourne based on what he saw in Bourne’s eyes. That must have been the same thing that Marie saw. I just couldn’t believe that Bourne was able to find people who trusted and believed in him after he was so violent and aggressive. 

At one point, Conklin and some other intelligence agents think that Bourne might have schizophrenia. Why would that be more easy to believe than the truth that he had amnesia? Why would Bourne lie about having amnesia? 

What else stood out to you in this section? Did you enjoy the pacing of the book? Do you find yourself wanting to read more about Bourne? Do you think you might read the next book in the series? If you enjoyed this book and would like 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, check out this video from the author who took over the Jason Bourne series after Robert Ludlum passed away. What do you think of series that continue after an author passes away? 

Thank you so much for joining us this month! I hope you enjoyed the book–make sure to leave a comment to let me know what you thought! Next, we’re reading The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. I hope you’ll read along with us again next month!

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

Did you enjoy reading these chapters? Did you feel like any of your questions from the first section were answered? 

One of the most interesting scenes for me was the one where all of the American intelligence directors were meeting together to discuss Cain. It was interesting that they had received so much intelligence about Cain but did not verify if the information was correct. That makes me believe that all of the hits that are attributed to Cain are not really his. I think someone, probably Carlos, is trying to set Cain up to be taken out by the American government. 

I still wonder about Marie and why she has such confidence in Bourne. I feel like he has shown her again and again that he is a trained fighter and does not have a problem killing people who get in his way. Why does she keep saying that she believes in him and doesn’t think he is a bad man? Why doesn’t she think he is a killer? Even after he tells her that he believes he is Cain and tells her about the things he remembers, she tells him that his memories might be false. I just don’t understand why she believes that he is so innocent. It seems to me that he keeps telling her who he is, so she should probably listen to him. Do you think Marie is justified to think that Bourne is a good man? Do you think he is? 

I was glad that we got more information about Bourne and Cain and how Cain came to be. It was really interesting that Bourne was recruited to become Cain, a man who is a counterpoint to Carlos and is meant to bring about Carlos’s downfall. Did that make sense to you? Can you imagine being underground for over three years? It’s no wonder that Bourne doesn’t really know who he is. He was someone else for so long before he lost his memories. We also learn that Bourne’s family was killed, so that’s why the American intelligence community believes that he has gone rogue. Does it surprise you that they want him dead now? How will Bourne survive if he has so many people after him? 

What did you think of chapter 20? That was the chapter where there was a shadowy figure called “The European” who ended up killing a bunch of people and then planted a fingerprint of Bourne’s on the scene. Why did he do that? Who is that man? Later, when the American intelligence agents are talking about Bourne and the fingerprint from the scene, they reveal that he was never their first choice for Cain. He was too unstable, so that’s why they believe he has gone off the deep end. What do you think is going to happen? Do you think Bourne is justified in his actions throughout the book? Do you think he is ultimately going to do something good by the end of the book? So far, he hasn’t done anything that makes me think he is a character to cheer for. I just don’t know what to think. And, I don’t know how Bourne is going to survive with so many different groups looking for him. 

What do you think is going to happen in the last section? Do you think Marie and Bourne are going to end up staying together? Do you think they will both survive and make it to the end of the book? Will we finally understand who Bourne is and what he is working to do? 

Before you go, check out this video in which Matt Damon talks about being Jason Bourne. Have you watched any of the Bourne movies? Do you think Matt Damon matches the Bourne character you see on the pages? 

Thanks for following along again this week! I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments. Have fun finishing the book for next week!

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

What did you think about the beginning of the book? Are you enjoying the story so far? It’s a really intense story, right from the get-go!

I don’t think I’ve ever read a book before in which the main character doesn’t know who he is. It’s hard to connect to a character that’s such a mystery. I think that’s why I had a hard time getting into the story. I struggled getting invested in Bourne because we didn’t know enough about him. Everything about Bourne is so shadowy, so I can’t decide if he’s a good man or a bad one. I feel like the book is setting him up to be some sort of James Bond type hero, but at this point, he doesn’t seem to be very good. He kidnapped an innocent woman to protect himself, and he doesn’t seem to have any problem killing people in his way. I cant figure out if I should be rooting for him or not. I can’t wait to find out more of his backstory and to find out who he is working for. That will help me know how I should feel about him.

What do you think about Marie? I struggled a bit to believe that Marie could go from wanting to be away from Bourne because he kidnapped her to wanting to be with him romantically in such a short time. I understand that she changed her opinion of him after he saved her life. And, I’ve obviously never been kidnapped or almost murdered like Marie was, so I don’t understand her emotions, but it seemed a little odd that she switched so quickly to romance. Especially after she was attacked so brutally by the docks. She didn’t seem to have any trauma from that encounter. It was all just a bit unbelievable to me. What did you think of her change in feelings? 

There were several different scenes in this section in which Bourne attempts to figure out a piece of information about his past and gets identified by a tertiary character. Why are there so many people on the lookout for Bourne? What do you think he has been involved in in the past? Do you have any guesses about why he’s so interesting to so many different people? What do you think will finally help unlock all of his memories so he can finally come to grips with who he is? 

Carlos is another big character that is mentioned a lot in this section. He’s an assassin and is also incredibly powerful. How is he related to Bourne? He keeps saying that he needs to find a man called Cain. Is this Bourne? 

At the end of this section, Marie’s former boyfriend, Peter, is killed. Is this because Carlos knows that Marie is connected with Bourne? All we know is that he got some phone calls and ended up heading towards the airport. I hope we hear more about this murder and that we can connect some dots to how all of these characters go together. 

What were your favorite scenes from this section? What do you think is going to happen in the next chapters? 

Before you go, check out this video in which author, Robert Ludlum talks about his writing process. What do you think of his writing style? 

Thanks for following along this week. I hope you’re able to read through chapter 24 before checking back next week. Make sure to leave a comment to let me know what you thought of the first section!

Welcome to Week 1 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Bourne Identity. 

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 Bourne Identity, a man washes onshore with absolutely no memory. He doesn’t know who he is or where he came from. All his rescuers know is that he seems to have an affinity for fighting, his face has been altered by plastic surgery, and he has a microfilm implanted in his hip. Who is this man and why does it seem like people are looking for him? What dangerous things are hidden in his past? This book is incredibly exciting and action packed! I know you’ll love reading it! 

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 Matt Damon. 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 the first twelve chapters for next week, so make sure to check those out before reading the next blog post!