Tag: Online Book Club

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

Did you enjoy reading this book this week? I felt like the chapters were really short, so the reading went really quickly. Short, little chapters definitely help me read books more quickly. Do you feel that way, too? When I was researching about this book, I read that it was first serialized in a periodical called Pearson’s Weekly. That definitely helps to explain the short chapters. If you’d like to see a page from Pearson’s Weekly, check out this link. I love looking at old newspaper headlines. They are just so interesting. 

The Invisible Man is incredibly unpleasant in this first section. He was so rude to the woman at the inn, and he was increasingly rude to everyone as the story progressed. I understand that he was frantic and upset because he’s unable to stop being invisible, but that didn’t endear me to him as a character at all. I wasn’t rooting for him in this first section. It was pretty obvious that he’s the one breaking into houses and causing trouble, right? Why is he always sneezing? Is that just H.G. Wells’s way of letting the reader know that the Invisible Man is around? I can’t really see any other reason for him to be sneezing so much. 

What did you think of the part where he threw his fake nose at Mrs. Hall? That was definitely a surprise. I can’t imagine how scared and surprised she was when she was expecting to see a disfigured and injured face but then saw no face instead. His invisible form must have some sort of weight and definition, right? How else could clothes and fake hair and a fake nose stay up in the air? I wonder how that works. I’m interested to learn more about the experiment that made the Invisible Man invisible. I’m assuming we’ll learn more about that as the book progresses. 

At the end of this section, the Invisible Man convinces Mr. Marvel to work with him. It seems like Mr. Marvel will be helping the Invisible Man do daily tasks. I wonder how that will work out. I can’t imagine it will work out very well. When he’s trying to convince Marvel to work for him, the Invisible Man says that an invisible man is a powerful man. Does that make you wonder if the Invisible Man really wants to give up his ability to be invisible? I bet he wants to keep the ability to be invisible, but he wants to be able to change back and forth more easily. 

Check out the video clip before if you’d like to see a clip from the 1933 movie adaptation. I think it’s a pretty true to the book account of when the Invisible Man first took off his bandages. Aren’t you impressed by the special effects, too, since this version came out in 1933? 

I hope you enjoyed this first section and are excited to keep reading! Read the next 10 chapters for next time! I hope to hear from you in the comments section. 

Welcome to October’s Online Book Club. This month, we’re reading The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells. 

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 Invisible Man is about a scientist who successful conducts an experiment that renders him invisible. However, he cannot change back to his visible form, and this brings a lot of trouble to the scientist throughout the book. 

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 Elisabeth Moss. Check out the trailer above if you want to get a feel for the movie. 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 the first 10 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 News of the World!

I really couldn’t believe how much I enjoyed this whole book. It is one of my favorite books that I have read recently. I liked all of it—the action, the relationships between the characters, the history. It was all good. Did you enjoy the book? Are you glad you followed along this month? 

What did you think of John Calley in this last section? I have to admit that when he first showed up and returned that money to the Captain, he didn’t stick out to me. I read that section, but the name didn’t stick. So, when he showed up at the end looking for Johanna, I had no idea who he was. I had to flip back through the chapters trying to find him. Were you surprised when he showed back up at the end of the book? Would you have ever guessed that Johanna would settle down with someone she had met earlier in the book? 

Did you laugh when Johanna killed those chickens as they were leaving town? I liked how she was being so sincere and kind to provide for the Captain, but he was so worried about being polite and proper. I couldn’t believe that he actually sent money back to the man who lost the chickens. He really went above and beyond in that situation. 

I felt sick throughout this last section because it was so sad to imagine Johanna and the Captain separating. There was one scene where Johanna attempts, in her own way, to convince Captain Kidd to keep her, and she keeps telling him to laugh, like all of the things he’s saying are just a joke. That scene was heartbreaking. He was trying to do the right thing to return her to family, but they bonded so much on the journey. Johanna definitely showed she was bonded to Kidd when they stumbled on that band of Kiowa and she didn’t betray Kidd. She could have attempted to go back to the Kiowa, but she didn’t. That was a telling incident. 

The aunt and uncle were horrible from the get go. Didn’t you just feel like they were not going to be good to Johanna? The aunt was so cold and dismissive. I could tell that she wasn’t going to be patient and loving to Johanna. You knew she was going to attempt to get Johanna to be “normal” as soon as possible. Were you shocked when the messenger told Captain Kidd that he couldn’t leave Johanna with the family? I was shocked that Captain Kidd actually left Johanna at that point. I thought the messenger saying that would have caused the Captain to steal her away right then and there. 

I wasn’t surprised when Captain Kidd came back to get Johanna in the end. I just knew he couldn’t leave her with those people. His instincts were definitely proved right when he found Johanna alone in the field dealing with the horses. I can’t imagine how happy Johanna was when she realized the Captain had come back for her. 

What did you think of the ending? I was surprised that we got to see how the characters ended up. I didn’t expect the story to give that much information about the future. I was a little surprised that Johanna got married. I guess I just envisioned her as a strong, independent woman, but that’s probably not very realistic for the time period. I was glad that the Captain was eventually back with his children. They all seemed like they had a very pleasant life. 

Is there anything you would have changed in the story? Were you satisfied with the story arc of each character? What was your favorite part? 

If you liked this story and are interested in reading similar books, 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 article about a Kiowa elder who was on the set of the movie version to help the actress who played Johanna to learn the language and customs. It’s a really interesting article!

I hope you enjoyed following along this month! I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments section. And, I hope you’ll join us again next month as we read The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells. 

Welcome to Week 3 of the Online Book Club discussion of News of the World. 

Did you enjoy reading this section this week? There was so much action in this section. I didn’t want to stop reading once I started. And, I really liked learning more about the characters and seeing their relationship develop. 

At the beginning of this section, Captain Kidd leaves Johanna with Mrs. Gannet, so he can go read the news. Johanna had a very hard time sleeping indoors, which I thought was interesting. It makes sense that she would be unsettled inside since she had spent so much time sleeping outside or in a tipi. I researched about Kiowa living structures after reading that chapter and found out that Kiowa lived in tipis. A couple of years ago, a Kiowa tipi was actually rediscovered in Oklahoma–if you’d like to read about the discovery and see a picture of the tipi, check out this article. 

A lot of the action in this section centered on that creepy man, Almay. Wasn’t your heart in your throat the whole time you were reading the chapters about him? I was glad that Captain Kidd was attempting to escape from Almay and his band of men, but I just knew that Almay was going to catch up to Captain Kidd and Johanna. How shocked were you when Johanna ended up being the one to save the day? I had never heard of using dimes to make a shotgun shell shoot farther. Had you heard of that before? I wonder how she learned that skill? She mentions that this is not her first gunfight, but still, I wonder how the people she lived with knew to do something like that? That was wild, and it was definitely effective. I tried to find some information about people putting dimes in shotgun shells, but everything I was finding didn’t give me any definitive answers. Let me know in the comments section if you have any resources to prove the validity of this scene!

If you’re curious, check out the way this scene plays out in the movie version. 

I think one of my favorite parts of this section was when Johanna was ready to go scalp Almay after the battle was done and Kidd said to her, “No scalping…it is considered very impolite” (118). She was such an effective warrior, so it’s no surprise that she wanted to do what she was taught and scalp her enemy after he was vanquished. I just really liked how Kidd had such a low key reaction–it was just a juxtaposition to what she was about to do. 

I was really nervous when Captain Kidd and Johanna showed up at the next town and had to pay to get in. I just can’t believe how much danger they keep encountering. It’s all so scary. They never know what’s going to be waiting for them just around the bend. 

Weren’t you sad for Johanna when she was yelled at for trying to bathe and cool off in the river? She was treated so meanly and unfairly. I was glad that the woman eventually relented and felt bad for the way she had treated Johanna. I just hate when people’s first reactions are ones of anger instead of understanding of what another person is going through. Johanna wasn’t trying to hurt anyone or cause a problem. 

By the end of the section. Kidd and Johanna have a definite connection with each other. She’s calling him Kontah (grandfather), and Kidd wonders if he should kiss her at the end of the section. Do you think Kidd will have a hard time letting go once he gets Johanna to her family? Do you think she’ll be able to leave him, especially since she has already encountered so much loss in her short life? Do you have any guesses about the end of the book? 

I hope you enjoyed this section! I can’t wait to hear your thoughts in the comments. Enjoy reading the end of the book for next week!

Welcome to Week 2 of the Online Book Club discussion of News of the World. 

How did the reading treat you this week? I absolutely loved this first section, but I have to admit it took me a couple of pages to get into the story. I think what threw me was the fact that there weren’t any quotation marks for the dialogue. I don’t know if I’ve ever read a book that didn’t use quotation marks. Once I got used to that, I flew through the first section. 

In this section, we get to know Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd pretty well. Once I got to know the character and knew how much he traveled and exposed himself to dangerous situations, I was surprised by his age. I assumed, since he was doing all of those things, that he was a younger man. I couldn’t believe he was in his seventies. I definitely appreciated how he treated Johanna like a little girl, not like a savage beast. He was the best person to take her on the journey back to her family. What did you think of the section where we traveled back in time and learned about the Captain’s past war experience? That definitely helped make his a more realistic and fleshed out character. 

What did you think of Johanna in this section? It was interesting that she had no memory of her life before she was with the Kiowa. I felt so sorry for her throughout this section since she had experienced so much loss throughout her short life. I can’t even imagine how sad and scared she was. She really had to trust that the Captain had her best interests in mind. The part where they ran into those soldiers and she was so scared was really sad. She definitely saw adults doing very scary things to each other, so it’s understandable that she was so skittish around people. 

Did you appreciate having some of Johanna’s thoughts displayed throughout these chapters? I was glad to understand why some of the things we would consider “normal” were so scary to her. Things like pointing at oneself or saying “an enchanting naming word” were very scary to her, and I was glad to have a little context as to why those things were affecting her. 

This section ended with Simon and Doris losing track of Johanna while the Captain was reading the news. I understand why she ran away, and I understand why she wanted to catch the attention of the Kiowa she saw, but that whole thing was so scary. A lot of people could have gotten really injured. I’m glad they were all safe, and I’m glad the Captain went out looking for her. I think other people might not have risked their safety to chase after her.

What other things stood out to you in this section? Did you like the chapters? Are you excited to read more? Do you have any idea what might happen to the main characters as the book progresses? 

If you’re interested in some of the newspapers that Captain Kidd might have been reading from, check out this link with1870’s Texas newspapers. I love looking at old newspapers. I’m always so surprised by how small the print is and how many stories are put on one page. If you are really curious, you can check out some non-Texas newspapers here. 

Before you go, check out a clip from the movie version in which Captain Kidd reads the news. Do you think you would like to go to an event where someone reads the news aloud? 

Thanks for joining us this week. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this section in the comments. Make sure to read through chapter 14 for next week!

Welcome to September’s Online Book Club. This month, we’re reading News of the World by Paulette Jiles. 

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.

News of the World is an adventurous story about a man named Jefferson Kidd who travels around Texas giving live readings from the newspaper. After one of his readings, he’s tasked with delivering a young girl who had been captured by a band of Kiowa raiders back to her family. The pair embark on their perilous journey and encounter many dangerous situations along the way. 

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 Hanks. Check out the trailer above if you want to get a feel for the movie. 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 seven 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 The Good Lord Bird.

How did you enjoy the reading experience this week? Were you satisfied with the ending? Did you enjoy the book as a whole? 

The most shocking part of this section was the part with Frederick Douglass. The description of him was definitely not like any description of him I’ve ever read. Were you surprised by his depiction? I think the biggest tidbit was the fact that Douglass had two women living in his house. I definitely didn’t learn about that in history class. And, it was shocking to think that he would hit on a young, innocent person like Onion. If you’d like to read about the historical accuracy of James McBride’s characterization of Frederick Douglass, check out this article. 

Harriet Tubman also makes an appearance in this section. It’s interesting to think that all of these powerful and famous people lived at the same time as one another and interacted with each other. It’s hard to think of these historical figures as actual people who lived actual lives. Apparently, Harriet Tubman and John Brown interacted with each other in real life, and Tubman actually helped Brown plan his attack on Harper’s Ferry. Check out this article if you want to learn more about that. 

One thing that drove me absolutely crazy throughout this section was the fact that John Brown acted like he had a strong plan, but he never shared the particulars with anyone. I cannot imagine following a man who would not give the specifics of what he was attempting to do. Do you think he actually had a plan throughout this last section? Was he afraid that no one would follow him once they knew how futile their final fight would be? I just wanted him to be forthright and honest, but he was so secretive. 

In this section, we meet Annie. She was definitely an important character to Onion. Were you surprised that he latched on to her so quickly? She sure got a big surprise when Onion jumped off the wagon and showed that he was really a boy. 

The attack chapters were so incredibly chaotic. From the shooting of the Rail Man to the loss of a bunch of the fighters, the whole day was pretty much a disaster. The Rail Man was a real person–check out a little biography about him here. Did you have a hard time keeping up all of the action in those chapters? I definitely had a hard time picturing exactly what was happening. I was glad that even though the event didn’t turn out the way John Brown was expecting, he still had hope at the end of his life. He was sure that the enslaved people would eventually be freed. I thought that was nice. The book ended pretty hopefully, I thought. I was surprised that John Brown didn’t find out about Onion’s secret until the very last pages. I can’t believe he was able to hide being a boy for so many years. 

What other parts of this last section did you enjoy? Did you have a favorite character? Was there anything you would have changed about Onion’s story? 

Before you go, check out the clip below in which James McBride talks about The Good Lord Bird and plays music. It’s pretty neat. 

If you liked this book and want to read similar titles, check out this list I created. Make sure to let me know if you check out anything on the list.

Thanks so much for joining us this month. Make sure to leave a comment to let me know how you felt about the ending of the book. And, join us again next month as we read News of the World by Paulette Jiles. I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments section!

Welcome to Week 3 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Good Lord Bird. 

Did you enjoy this section? I felt like it was a little easier to read–maybe because John Brown wasn’t really in it? I did feel nervous for Onion throughout, though, because I was so afraid that he was going to be assaulted, and I was afraid that he was going to be exposed as a boy. Were you surprised that he was able to make it all through this section without everyone finding out that he was a boy? 

What did you think of Pie? She was a hard character to like. I can’t even begin to imagine how hard her life was, so I totally understand that she wasn’t a warm and welcoming character. However, I found myself wishing that she could have been a little more dependable for Onion. He spent so much time being confused by her actions. Near the end of the section, he was desperate for her attention, but he didn’t get what he was looking for. She did seem to look out for him, though, in her own way. 

I think one of the most affecting part of this second section was the part where Sibonia interacted with the minister while she was in jail. Were you affected by that part? Sibonia’s honesty showed the minister the depth of pain that she and the other enslaved people felt, and it felt like he was finally able to see things from her perspective a little bit. It’s interesting that at the beginning of the conversation, the minister says that an insurrection would be wicked and the killing of white people would be wicked, but he never considered how the wickedness of the institution could warrant such violence. It seemed like he was willing to preach against slavery, but I don’t know if he really considered the personal heartbreak of a person who was enslaved. I just thought that whole conversation was very heartbreaking. 

I had a hard time picturing the “pen” that the enslaved people were kept in. In my mind, I kept picturing a barnyard with a big fence around it, but, hopefully, that wasn’t what it was. I wonder if that was a very common thing for a town to have. I’ve never heard of it before. I did a little research and learned that “slave pens” were often used to house enslaved people before they were auctioned off, but that doesn’t seem to be the case in this book. The pen in this book seemed to be more of a neighborhood and people left to do day jobs. If you want to read more about “slave pens,” check out this article and this one, too. 

I was very relieved when Owen showed up to rescue Onion. I know being back with John Brown will bring more violence into Onion’s life, but I feel like Onion is still at an age where he needs someone to look out for him, and I think John Brown does that, even though he may not always go about it in a perfect way. I genuinely think John Brown wants Onion to have a successful and happy life. I don’t think Onion got that while he was at Miss Abby’s place. 

Before you go, check out the video below. James MrBride shares a little more information about the creation of the book, and then actors from the miniseries version share their experience with the story. 

I hope you were able to enjoy this section and are excited to finish the book for next week. Make sure to let me know any of your thoughts and impressions in the comments section!

Welcome to Week 2 of the Online Book Club discussion of The Good Lord Bird by James McBride. 

How did you enjoy the beginning of the book? I really enjoyed the prologue–I thought it was an innovative beginning to a story, and I really wanted to keep reading, but then the first couple of chapters were a little hard for me to read. I think John Brown’s dialogue made it hard for me to get into the story. He just talked so much differently than any person I’ve ever encountered. And, I think it was a little hard to read because Henry is recounting this story when he is an old man, so he’s not as clear of a narrator as he might be if he were telling the story as it was happening. I also think it was hard to keep all of the characters straight. After a couple of chapters, I got more into the narrative, but it did take me awhile. When I was struggling with the reading, I watched an interview with author, James McBride, and it helped me understand the writing better–especially Henry’s speaking pattern. Check out the interview below if you’re curious about how McBride started the writing process for this book. 

Onion was a very interesting character in this first section. His whole situation with John Brown was just so insane. First, John Brown rescues Onion, but really, it didn’t seem like Onion wanted to be rescued. He certainly didn’t want to fight for his freedom. Then, John Brown assumes that Onion is a girl and won’t listen to any hints to the contrary. Finally, John Brown gives Onion his nickname–a nickname that I’m not sure Onion even cares about. It appeared that John Brown had the very best intentions towards Onion, but he wasn’t willing to listen to the help that Onion actually needed. I think there’s a good lesson in that about making sure the help you’re offering to people is the help they actually want and need, not just the help that you think they need. I just felt frustrated on Onion’s behalf throughout. 

In the video above, James McBride describes this book as a comedic book. Did you feel like this section was very funny? I didn’t find it especially funny. John Brown was kind of a comedic character just because he was so over the top, but other than that, I didn’t see much humor in this first section. There was a lot of violence and gore, though. That part where Brown and his men kill that man and his sons by chopping off their heads was especially gruesome. I understood that, from John Brown’s perspective, the violence was necessary. To him, slavery wouldn’t end without bloodshed. But, his tactics appeared, at least in this first section, to be very chaotic and unorganized. It didn’t seem like he had an clear plan of attack, but that could be just because we’re only hearing his plans from Onion’s perspective, and Onion probably wouldn’t have understood all of the tactical plans. 

Throughout this section, there are mentions of the Good Lord Bird. Were you curious what a Good Lord Bird looked like? Check out this site to read more about the ivory-billed woodpecker, and then check out this site to see a picture of two preserved birds. 

This section ends somberly with Fred dying and John Brown leaving Onion, apparently for two years. I’m interested to see if Onion is going to continue to live as a girl throughout the next section, and I wonder how that will play out. And, I’m curious to see what John Brown is up to during their absence. Hopefully, he is a little more organized in his attacks in the next section. 

I hope you enjoyed this first section! Please let me know what parts stood out to you, and let me know if you enjoyed something that I didn’t mention! Make sure to read Part II before joining us next week! I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments section. 

Welcome to August’s Online Book Club! This month, we’re reading The Good Lord Bird by James McBride. 

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 Good Lord Bird is a thrilling story about a young boy who meets John Brown and unexpectedly gets thrown into Brown’s antislavery crusade. The young boy, called Onion, must also pass as a girl in order to survive. The story is both funny and challenging, and the action will have you on the edge of your seat. 

If you want to follow along with us but you aren’t interested in reading the book, you can always watch the televised version starring Ethan Hawke. Check out the trailer above if you want to get a feel for the movie. 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 Part 1, 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.