Bloggy Book Club Discussion Question - Week 6

Well everyone, we have reached the end of our first book of the "Bloggy Book Club". It's kind of a bitter-sweet moment - you're happy that you accomplished something but a little sad that it's all over. I had a wonderful time reading "Water for Elephants" and reading the responses to the discussion questions each week.

 For the last time for this book, here's this week's discussion question:

"What was your overall favorite part of this book?"

I don't know! Haha! I enjoyed a lot of moments from this book so it's kind of hard to pick my overall favorite. Since I have to pick one, I'll say the brief summary that Jacob provided us readers about his life with Marlena married with children and part of Ringling Bros. Circus. You could honestly feel the love that Jacob had for this women, even if it's a work of fiction. Hey, when it's love, you can feel it and you could definitely feel it. 

There was one complaint I had with this book though. I'm not a fan at all of foul language - never have, never will be. The story started out great with a rare use of foul language so I was pretty happy about that. But then, the longer the story went on, the language went from bad to worse. Yes, I did finish the book only because it engulfed me that much. But that does not mean that I enjoyed the language in it at all. Oh well...to each his own. 

Overall the story was nice and I was able to get an inside look into what circus life was like way back in the day. If you like history, drama, romance, animals, action, circus, and comedy you might enjoy this book. And if you're not a reader, you could also watch the movie :)

Bloggy Book Club Discussion Question - Week 4

SPOILER ALERT: 

DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK OR SEEN THE MOVIE

Aww, we're getting down to the nitty gritty with this week's discussion question:

"Who do you, upon reading the prologue, think murdered August? What effect did that opening scene of chaos and murder have on your reception of the story that follows?

Like Katelyn, I too thought it was Marlena who finally, and justly so, did August in. At the time, she was the only female character that had been introduced who 1) Wears pink sequins and 2) Had enough motive and reason to see August dead. But then Rosie the elephant enters into the story. She also wears pink sequins to match Marlena's outfit and she has plenty of motive and reason to kill August. August would beat this poor, gentle-souled creator whenever he got upset or he just felt like it. I hated him for that...among other things.

So, when I finally reached the part of the book that picks up where the prologue left off I figured it would be Rosie that would kill August. In the scene it seems as though she does it not only for herself but also for Jacob and Marlena. She made sure that Jacob saw what she was doing and after she did it, she stood over Marlena to protect her from all of the animals that were running wild. 

I really don't think that the prologue had any effect on me as I was reading the story. I honestly forgot about that scene until I read the discussion question for the week. LOL! Which I guess is a good thing because if I was so focused on trying to figure out who kills August, I would've missed out on so many good moments in this book. 

Bloggy Book Club Discussion Question - Week 3

Here is the discussion question for week 3 from the Bloggy Book Club. Only 3 weeks left to jump in and read "Water for Elephants" with us...or you can wait until the next book where you'll get a fresh, new start.

This week's question is:

"What did you think of Marlena? Was she a like-able character and strong enough to be the central female character?"

I LOVE Marlena! I think she's the epitome of a great female lead character. She's witty, sweet, talented, intelligent, and has strength to her daintiness. I love how she cares for the animals she works with. She doesn't just view them as "co-workers", being friendly with them while she's performing in the circus and then forgetting about them afterwards. Marlena honestly loves the horses and the elephant that she works with (hope I didn't spoil anything...). 

When one of her horses became really ill, she chose to sleep with him in his stable instead of in the comfort of her own bed. This part made me tear up a little. I know she's just a fictional character, but the love she felt for that horse was so real and evident. And when it came time for that horse to die, her emotional response was expected but still added so much more to her character.

The only thing I don't like about her is that she married August only as an escape route, or at least that's how I interpreted it. And it has absolutely nothing to do with the age difference. My husband and I are close to a couple that are about 15 years apart and they are the sweetest little couple to look at and hang out with. My problem is how August treats Marlena. She's so sweet and tries so hard to understand his "moods" and make excuses for him so that Jacob can overlook them as well. But August just does not appreciate the wonderful woman that he has in his lovely wife. I just wished that Marlena could have waited for someone who would really love her for her. Someone like...umm...I don't know...Jacob?

Bloggy Book Club Discussion Question - Week 1

Hello Cuties :)

It's time for the very first discussion question from the incredibly fun "Bloggy Book Club"! As you've probably read from my previous post, we are reading "Water for Elephants" for 6 weeks and then will discuss what we've read so far. It's not too late to join if you haven't. Just click on the button at the top right of my blog. Let's start discussing!

Question: "How did Jacob's experiences of being old in the nursing home affect you?"

I have to start off by saying that I got a kick out of it since my husband's name is Jacob and I can totally see him being that spunky in his 90's. Lol! But, back to the book...I fell in love with Jacob's character right from the beginning. The way that he describes he's every moment, the fellow residents in the nursing home, and how age will sneak up on you was amazing.

I loved how even though he is "kinda up there" in age, he never lost his inner youth. He is very spunky for his age. The way he talks about wanting a woman but then says he would rather sink his teeth into corn on the cob was hilarious! Sometimes you just got to have what you want, right?

The only part that I did not like about the nursing home scene was how certain people treated Jacob. When he finally spoke up for himself, his "friends" basically turned against him looking at him like a madman. I did not understand this part at all. It would seem as though the one's that knew him the longest would've taken his side over the "new guy". I also didn't like how the nurses treated him. They also treated him like he was a crazy, little kid instead of the dignified older gentleman that he is. I guess this is a sore spot for me because I would see this all the time when I would visit my grandmother in the nursing home. I wanted to scream "Show a little respect!" sometimes, which is what I did in my head when I read the nursing home scene in "Water for Elephants". 

My Thoughts So Far...

I like this book for so many reasons. The description, the characters, the environment, the comedy...the author makes you feel as though you're right there with Jacob. I look forward to getting into this story more and the discussion questions that are to follow :)

Bloggy Book Club @ The Dreamy Meadow and Craftbotic

Good morning cuties! How are y'all doing this morning? I wanted to share some news about a book club for those of you who love to read, like me. Katlyn over at The Dreamy Meadow and Rosie at Craftbotic have started a blog book club. It's called the "Bloggy Book Club". Isn't that neat! The first book that we will read is "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen. I've had this book for the longest time on my Nook, so I'm glad that I have extra motivation to actually sit down and read it.

If you feel a little intimidated about reading a book within a month, have no fear. Katlyn and Rosie understand that we all live busy lives and can't necessarily lose ourselves in the books we read. So instead of a month, each book will be allotted 6 weeks to finish at your own pace - no designated chapters to rush through to meet a deadline. There will also be post and chat discussions for all the book club members to gush about our favorite parts or rant about the parts we hated.

If you are interested in joining the Bloggy Book Club, you can click on the button at the top right of my blog. I'll also post a direct link to the post on The Dreamy Meadow so that you can get more details about the blog book club. If you do join, let me know. Happy reading cuties :)

http://katlynlarson.blogspot.com/2012/05/are-you-ready-to-get-your-read-on.html