Discussion Post #2 - Fun Home: A Family Tragiocomic by Alison Bechdel

Sorry this is a little late, all. I forgot how much of a punch in the gut this graphic novel is, and so I ended up having to take a break part way through to read something a little lighter. I realize that this is much different than the book we started with, and I wanted it that way. To show you all that graphic novels can touch on all topics, and can even be memoirs. Alison Bechdel's memoir is one of the best I've read, because her illustrations are essentially her heart bled onto the page. It's tough not to feel that. 

Here's hoping for a good discussion!

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Discussion Points:

* Alison Bechdel chose to tell her story as a graphic novel, rather than just a novel. What did you think about this choice?

* She also describes her style as one of "cool asthetic distance" at one point. Do you think this is true?

* Bechdel's relationship with her father was tenuous, but they used books as a way of communicating. Did this resonate with you? Why do you think it was easier for them than speaking frankly?

*  Bechdel claims that there was something entirely fictional about the life her family led. What does she mean by that?

* How do you think that Bechdel's own introspective look at her sexuality mirrored her fathers? Do you think it might have brought them closer together if he was honest with her?

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Feel free to add to this, and chat about anything that you're interested in!

Discussion Post #1 - American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

We started a little on the light side, with American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. This is a set of stories, parables if you will, all about fitting in with people who might not understand you. I'm so intrigued to see what all of you thought, and what you want to talk about! In the meantime, here are some jumping off points.

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Discussion Points:

* In the first story, we're introduced to the Monkey King. Why do you think Yang starts out with this particular story? What did you think of the Monkey King and his attitude?

* In the second story, we're introduced to Jin. What did you think of his character? Do you think that he treated Wei-Chen fairly? What did you think of Yang's decision to have Jin become a blonde haired boy?

* In the third story, we meet Chin Kee. This story is riddled with stereotypes that are related to Asian cultures. Which did you catch easily? Were there any that particuarly bothered you?

* Do you think these three stories tied together? How did you feel about this story as a whole?

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Feel free to add to this, and chat about anything that you're interested in!

Meanwhile... May is:

Yes my bookish friends, it's time to experience the world of graphic novels! We've read many a book together, but here's something new. Are you ready to dive into a new world of book enjoyment?

May 1st - May 7th

American Born Chinese
Gene Luen Yang

A tour-de-force by rising indy comics star Gene Yang, American Born Chinese tells the story of three apparently unrelated characters: Jin Wang, who moves to a new neighborhood with his family only to discover that he's the only Chinese-American student at his new school; the powerful Monkey King, subject of one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables; and Chin-Kee, a personification of the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype, who is ruining his cousin Danny's life with his yearly visits. Their lives and stories come together with an unexpected twist in this action-packed modern fable. American Born Chinese is an amazing ride, all the way up to the astonishing climax.

American Born Chinese is a 2006 National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature, the winner of the 2007 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album: New, an Eisner Award nominee for Best Coloring and a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Buy it:

Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Abe Books

May 8th - May 14th

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
Alison Bechdel

In this groundbreaking, bestselling graphic memoir, Alison Bechdel charts her fraught relationship with her late father. In her hands, personal history becomes a work of amazing subtlety and power, written with controlled force and enlivened with humor, rich literary allusion, and heartbreaking detail.

Distant and exacting, Bruce Bechdel was an English teacher and director of the town funeral home, which Alison and her family referred to as the "Fun Home." It was not until college that Alison, who had recently come out as a lesbian, discovered that her father was also gay. A few weeks after this revelation, he was dead, leaving a legacy of mystery for his daughter to resolve.

Buy it on:

Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Abe Books

May 15th - May 28th

Watchmen
Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons

This Hugo Award-winning graphic novel chronicles the fall from grace of a group of super-heroes plagued by all-too-human failings. Along the way, the concept of the super-hero is dissected as the heroes are stalked by an unknown assassin.

One of the most influential graphic novels of all time and a perennial bestseller, WATCHMEN has been studied on college campuses across the nation and is considered a gateway title, leading readers to other graphic novels such as V FOR VENDETTA, BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and THE SANDMAN series.

Buy it on:

Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Abe Books

Discussion Post #3 - Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Discussion Post #3, the final post, wants to know what you think!

As a reminder, this is to discuss chapters 19 to the ending. If you're just catching up, feel free to scroll to the post right before this and chat about the last chapters as well! All discussion posts are open all month, and we love a good banter.

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1. This time around, I thought we'd talk all things Harry. Now that you know the whole package, what do you think about him? Do you believe he's a "good" wizard? What do you think people see when they soul gaze?

2. What do you think of the "Dresden universe"? Are you a fan of Dark Urban Fantasy?

3. Lastly, and most importantly, what did you think of the ending? Will  you be reading more of this series?

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Now get to it, and write up your thoughts!

Discussion Post #2 - Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Discussion Post #2 awaits your comments!

As a reminder, this is to discuss chapters 10-18. If you're just catching up, feel free to scroll to the post right before this and chat about the last chapters as well! All discussion posts are open all month, and we love a good banter.

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1. Now that we've had a deeper look into Harry's personality, what do you think about his character? 

2. Do you think that Harry's chivarly is a boon, or a handicap, in terms of the choices that he makes?

3. What do you think of Murphy's portrayal? Do you think that her character is within her rights to act the way she does?

4. It's prediction time! What do you think the ending will be?

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Now get to it, and write up your thoughts!

Discussion Post #1 - Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Discussion Post #1 is open for business!

As a reminder, this is to discuss chapters 1-9. If you've read beyond that, no problem! Just make sure that you keep spoilers to a minimum for anyone who is reading at pace. Let's discuss!

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1. Several important characters are introduced in these chapters. Based only on the content in these chapters, how well does Harry seem to know/understand each of the following: Murphy, Marcone, Susan, Morgan?

2. How do you think Harry sees himself?

3. In these chapters we see the beginnings of one of Jim's favorite story-telling techniques, creating an ever-growing pile of ever-worsening problems to be resolved in an ever-shrinking, seemingly impossible time frame. How effective is that technique in building tension within the reading selection?

4. What do you think the following quote reveals about Harry?
"... just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face."

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Now get to it, and write up your thoughts!

Final Discussion Post - SHIVER by Maggie Steifvater

This is the final discussion post!

As a reminder, all the posts prior to this are still open for comment, indefinitely! If you're just catching up, feel free to go back and join in the conversation at any point in time!

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This is a general discussion post! Since we've reached the ending, you're welcome to talk about anything that strikes your fancy. There's no worry about spoilers anymore. What did you think of the ending???

(Seriously, I'm really excited to know.)

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Now get to it, and write up your thoughts!

Discussion Post #3 - SHIVER by Maggie Steifvater

This week's discussion revolves around Chapters 32-44.

As a reminder, if you've read ahead, please don't post any spoilers! We want to make sure that everyone has the same opportunity to discover things as you did :). Let's discuss!

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* Okay, let's talk romance. Is Sam proving a swoon-worthy character for you? Do you think he's right for Grace? What do you think about him meeting the parents?

* What was your favorite scene in this set of chapters, and why?

* Olivia shares her secret with Grace, in these chapters, but things still seem tense. Do you think Olivia is hiding something else? Why do you think she didn't immediately go to Grace?

* Prediction time! Since we're on the 3rd set of chapters, it's time to let us know what you think is going to happen at the end. Do  you think Grace will get her happily ever after?

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I'm switching it up this year, and not being the first one to write responses! Instead, I'll respond to everything that you write. Now, keep in mind that I've read this book before, so don't worry if my responses are vague. It's just to keep spoilers to a minimum.

Now get to it, and write up your thoughts!

Choose February 2016's book!

Can you believe that another month has already almost come and gone? I know I can't. I'm still adjusting to the fact that it's even 2016. The good news is that it's time to pick our book for February! 

February is all about swoon-worthy protagonists, in all of their glory. I don't think they necessarily have to be in a romance to be deliciously addictive, and it seems you all agree. Here are your choices!

Amazon | B&N | AbeBooks

Slave to Sensation (Psy-Changelings, Book 1) by Nalini Singh

In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of “rehabilitation”—the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was…Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a Changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy coexistence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several Changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into their closely guarded society. But he soon discovers that this ice-cold Psy is very capable of passion—and that the animal in him is fascinated by her. Caught between their conflicting worlds, Lucas and Sascha must remain bound to their identities—or sacrifice everything for a taste of darkest temptation...

Adult Fiction - Urban Fantasy - 352 pages

Amazon | B&N | AbeBooks

Tangled (The Tangled #1) by Emma Chase

Drew Evans makes multimillion-dollar business deals and seduces New York’s most beautiful women with just a smile. So why has he been shuttered in his apartment for seven days, miserable and depressed? He’ll tell you he has the flu, but we all know that’s not really true.

When Katherine Brooks is hired as the new associate at Drew’s father’s investment banking firm, every aspect of the dashing playboy’s life is thrown into a tailspin. The professional competition she brings is unnerving, his attraction to her is distracting, his failure to entice her into his bed is exasperating.

How can one woman turn a smooth-talking player into a broken, desperate man? By making the one thing he never wanted in life the only thing he can’t live without.

Adult Fiction - Romance - 256 pages

Amazon | B&N | AbeBooks

Wallbanger (The Cocktail Series #1) by Alice Clayton

The first night after Caroline moves into her fantastic new San Francisco apartment, she realizes she's gaining an--um--intimate knowledge of her new neighbor's nocturnal adventures. Thanks to paper-thin walls and the guy's athletic prowess, she can hear not just his bed banging against the wall but the ecstatic response of what seems (as loud night after loud night goes by) like an endless parade of women. And since Caroline is currently on a self-imposed "dating hiatus," and her neighbor is clearly lethally attractive to women, she finds her fantasies keep her awake even longer than the noise. So when the wallbanging threatens to literally bounce her out of bed, Caroline, clad in sexual frustration and a pink baby-doll nightie, confronts Simon Parker, her heard-but-never-seen neighbor. The tension between them is as thick as the walls are thin, and the results just as mixed. Suddenly, Caroline is finding she may have discovered a whole new definition of neighborly...

In a delicious mix of silly and steamy, Alice Clayton dishes out a hot and hilarious tale of exasperation at first sight.

Adult Fiction - Romance - 384 pages

Amazon | B&N | AbeBooks

Storm Front (The Dresden Files #1) by Jim Butcher

For Harry Dresden, Chicago's only professional wizard, business, to put it mildly, stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name.

Adult Fiction - Urban Fantasy - 332 pages

Discussion Post #2 - SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater

This week's discussion revolves around Chapters 19-31.

As a reminder, if you've read ahead, please don't post any spoilers! We want to make sure that everyone has the same opportunity to discover things as you did :). Let's discuss!

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* Now that you have more insight into Sam and Grace as characters, what do you think of their relationship? Do you feel any differently about either one of them than you did at the beginning of the book?

* Shiver uses a very common YA trope, where the main character's parents are absent most of the time. Do you think this helps, or hinders, the story line? Would you change it at all?

* In these chapters, Sam shares with Grace a special spot that she couldn't possibly have known about, but did. Do you think this is foreshadowing? Did it take you by surprise?

* This part of the story ends with Sam finding Beck again. What do you think of Beck as a character, and his plan for the pack?

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I'm switching it up this year, and not being the first one to write responses! Instead, I'll respond to everything that you write. Now, keep in mind that I've read this book before, so don't worry if my responses are vague. It's just to keep spoilers to a minimum.

Now get to it, and write up your thoughts!

Discussion Post #1: SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater

This week's discussion revolves around Chapters 1-18.

As a reminder, if you've read ahead, please don't post any spoilers! We want to make sure that everyone has the same opportunity to discover things as you did :). Let's discuss!

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* Since this is the first time we've met Sam and Grace, let's hear your opinions. What do you think of these two main characters? Do you enjoy switching back and forth between their POVs?

* The temperature plays a big role in Stiefvater's version of werewolf lore. Are you a fan of her take on this well known paranormal creature? How do you think it will affect the story?

* It's looming out there, so let's tackle it. What's your view of "insta-love", or the instant attraction between two people. Will it make or break a book for you? Do you think Sam and Grace fall in this category?

* What's one burning question that you were left with at the end of this set of chapters?

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I'm switching it up this year, and not being the first one to write responses! Instead, I'll respond to everything that you write. Now, keep in mind that I've read this book before, so don't worry if my responses are vague. It's just to keep spoilers to a minimum.

Now get to it, and write up your thoughts!