Readers United Meeting Minutes | Monday April 10th

Monday, April 10th

Discussion of possible books for long weekend.

Preferred themes: contemporary, mystery

Option 1: Murder on the Orient Express

Synopsis: Just after midnight, a snowdrift stopped the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train was surprisingly full for the time of the year. But by the morning there was one passenger fewer. A passenger lay dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside.

Option 2: Let Me Call You Sweetheart

Synopsis: Kerry McGrath is a dedicated prosecutor and a devoted mother. When her daughter's face is cut in a car accident, Kerry is relieved that the plastic surgeon who treats her is the eminent Dr. Charles Smith. Then Kerry notices something bizarre. Two of Smith's patients bear an uncanny resemblance to Suzanne Reardon, a young woman killed eleven years earlier. Why would Dr. Smith create look-alikes of a murder victim? A chilling tale of obsession by America's reigning queen of suspense.

Option 3: The Cuckoo’s Calling

Synopsis: A brilliant mystery in a classic vein: Detective Cormoran Strike investigates a supermodel's suicide.After losing his leg to a landmine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office.
Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the Cuckoo, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.

Other options considered: The Hate You Give, Still Alice, Room, The Wonder

Decision: Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie 

Readers United Meeting Minutes | Monday, April 17th

Monday, April 17th

Discussion of Murder on the Orient Express after reading Part 1:

• Recap characters: Who could be the murderer?
• Poirot (likely not the murderer)
• The Conductor
• Owner of the line - Monsieur Bouc
• Doctor
• MacQueen - secretary
• Young Dwedish woman
• Young english girl and guy from india - suspicious. Are they having an affair?
• Princess Dragomiroff - super ugly and commanding

• Circumstances of the Murder: 
• Secret door inside the room?
• Locked from the inside?
• Why was the train overbooked?
• Is it possible that there is a secret entrance? Then most likely the conductor and Bouc would know best.

• Poirot is a reliable narrator. What is an unreliable narrator?
• Someone who doesn’t relay information accurately. Leaves things out because of bias or insanity
• Why did the book start so slowly? Possibly the information will be relevant later.

For Next week: Part 2 

Readers United Meeting Minutes | Reunion at Red Paint Bay

Readers United decided to read Reunion at Red Paint Bay by George Harrar over spring break. Here are some of our thoughts when we discussed after we came back to school:

March 27, 2017

Summary: Overall, we did not enjoy Reunion at Red Paint Bay as much as we had hoped to. Still, it was an interesting read and led to a great discussion! We’re looking forward to picking our next thing to read! 

Discussion points:

• The story did not go the way many expected or the way in which many thrillers do—it felt like there were many moments it could have become more exciting.

• Many aspects of the story seemed cliché. 

• People did not like the ending at all—was there a resolution? Did the narrator commit suicide? It was left ambiguous.

• Were the characters developed enough?

• Does the author pull off this particular point of view?

• Unreliable narrator—we discussed the function and execution of unreliable narrators in general, but agreed that in this case it was not done super well.

• What function did the narrator’s wife play in the story—was she a voice of reason? 

• Did this book border too closely on giving justifications for rape? On one hand—we understood the point of view was supposed to be distorted but on the other hand it was very much like he was trying to convince us it was all okay.

• Does the author pull off this particular point of view?

Readers United Meeting Minutes | The Opposite of Loneliness

Over the past couple of weeks, Readers United read The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan.

January 30, 2017

Status: Midway through collection of short stories and essays

Introduction: Story of author and her tragic death right after graduating Yale

Discussion: 

Cold Pastoral—short fiction

• What do you think of Lauren? Did you pity her? Was she realistic?
• Was Brian and Claire’s relationship even real? After all, Claire had to get the notes from Lauren.

Stability in Motion—personal essay

• Explores the author’s relationship with her car and the memories she has there.
• Nostalgic tone

February 13, 2017

Status: Finished the collection

Discussion:

Baggage Claim—short fiction

• What was the point of the story? 
• An exploration of one man’s decision; the conflict seems to come from his internal tension.
• What drove the character’s decision to leave and go back for the ring?

Against The Grain—personal essay

• Story on multiple levels, exploring both author’s Celiac disease and relationship with mother.

Challenger Deep—short fiction

• Everyone dies? How were the characters developed?
• This story confused some people—but we all figured it out by the end.

Overall: How does the author’s death affect the way we read her work? Would this work have been published, or would it have been so widely read and acclaimed, if not for the circumstances?

Readers United Meeting Minutes | January 23, 2017

Readers United meets every Monday from 5:30-6:00 in the Rare Book Room of the Library. We have decided to start publishing our meeting minutes with our thoughts about the readings we do as club to the blog.

January 23, 2017

At this meeting, we discussed what book to read from now to Winter Long Weekend. Over a dozen novels and collections were suggested, and we whittled the list down to four. 

Our decision came down to:

1. Opposite of Loneliness

2. Things Fall Apart

3. Cat's Cradle

4. Ray Bradbury Short Stories

The club decided on: The Opposite of Loneliness, with the promise to read some Bradbury short stories together in the future!

Readers United Meetings Minutes | A Darker Shade of Magic

For our Thanksgiving and winter break reading, Readers United decided to read A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab. For all of December, we gathered weekly as a club to discuss what we had read together. We recently finished the novel for winter break, and here are our thoughts about it!

December 13, 2016

Status: Up to Chapter 6 

Thoughts:

• Slightly slow paced beginning; harder to get into than other books
• Great world building
• Discussion and clarification of the four different types of London that constitute the setting of the story:
• Kell lives in Red London, which is the magical London
• Grey London is the one in our world, and it's magic-less
• White London is getting corrupted by magic

Question for blog readers: What do you think of protagonists Lila and Kell so far?

January 9, 2017

Status: Finished book 

Thoughts:

• Positive reaction
• Loved the world building
• Second half of the book is better, faster paced
• Discussion (spoiler alert!): 
• Is Holland alive?
• Holland appears to die in the book, but Kell sends him and the stone to black London without it being confirmed
• There is a second book in the series so it’s likely to resolve this
• Are the brother and sister Danes definitely dead?
• What will the romance be? Kell and Lila? Lila and Rhy? Rhy and Holland?
•  It's nice that the romance isn't really a focus in this story; it's a great example of how a novel doesn't always need romance to be riveting.

Overall, everyone really enjoyed the book and most are thinking of reading the sequel (and some already have!) We would definitely recommend for everyone to check this novel out.

Readers United Meeting Minutes | November 15, 2016

Readers United meets every Monday from 5:30-6:00 in the Rare Book Room of the Library. We have decided to start publishing our meeting minutes with our thoughts about the readings we do as club to the blog.

November 15, 2016

At this meeting, we finished our discussions of Monkey’s Paw and The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, and we jumped into decisions over what to read over Thanksgiving and winter breaks. The decision came down to:

1. Americanah

2. The Beginning of Everything

3. The Collector

4. Salt to the Sea

5. A Darker Shade of Magic

The club decided on: A Darker Shade of Magic.