answer to a question

Hey girls! I saw that a few of you asked if Ape House is a sequel to Water for Elephants. It is not a sequel, so you can read Ape House without having read Water for Elephants.

I also wanted to point out that we are going to try very hard not to compare Ape House to Water for Elephants. It's hard when an author writes an amazing book and everyone compares the second book to the first. I can't imagine that Ape House will be better or even as good as Water for Elephants.

I just wanted to point out those two things before we get started.

But... seriously, if you haven't read Water for Elephants, you simply must!

a new year, a new book!

Welcome back, book clubbers! Happy New Year to all of you.

After a two month hiatus to breathe during the holiday season, Rachel and I are ready to start reading and discussing great books again with all of you. We both have lists of books we'd like to read in 2011 and have come up with a few books that we think will be great for this great community of readers.

Rachel and I both loved Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. If you haven't read it, you should do it. Now. It's a wonderful book and the movie will be coming out soon. The movie trailer looks absolutely wonderful, but you know the book is always better than the movie.

I digress. Because we loved Sara Gruen's talent so much, we decided to go with another of her books for our first Book Beginnings and Bookends Book Club book of 2011.

We will be reading Ape House by Sara Gruen.

For more information on Ape House, click here.

To purchase Ape House, click here.

We won't start reading the book or doing the discussion posts until February, so you have the next few weeks to get the book. But don't start reading yet because we'll be posting a reading schedule. We'll also continue to set up the Linky tool for you to post your answers to the discussion questions on your own blog if you'd like.

Happy reading in 2011!

Rachel's Response to Commencement: Part 2

Here I am 3 days after we posted the questions finally answering them! I've really been thinking about this book since I finished it last weekend and I am just not sure how to phrase my feelings. This book seemed to be all over the place, so I hope I am able to accurately describe my final thoughts and reaction to it.


1. What parts of the book could you most relate to? Least relate?

The beginning, when they talked about going to college and making friends and that awkward weird transition those first few weeks in the dorm. Took me right back to August 2002 when I was in the same shoes as these girls. It was odd knowing it was your new home but feeling more confused and lost than ever before.

I could also relate to Celia in a lot of ways. She wanted to make her friends happy and she truly seemed to have the most "normal" live of all the girls. I could easily relate to her compared to the other 3 girls who seemed to have more issues.

What do I relate to the least? Definitely the feelings of feminism. It's an area I've never identified with. I am all about women's rights, but I'm also really into stay at homes and being a wife who cooks dinner. I typically steer clear of feminist material because I don't think it's necessary to feel guilty for wanting to cook dinner for my husband.

2. If the author were to write another novel that followed one of the girls onto her next step of life, which one would you want it to be about? Whose story would you want to follow more of?

Probably Celia. I just liked her the most but I felt like we learned the least about her and her personal life. I want to know more about her life in NYC and her dating escapades. Bree (and her romantic life with Lara) bored me. April was too far out for me to have much interest in, and Sally I liked a lot and would like to hear about her as a mother, but even still, Celia was the girl I enjoyed the most. I think the author could do a lot with her story.

3. What surprised you the most about this book?

The ending. It felt so open and empty. It all happened fast and didn't really conclude for me. I would have loved to have seen this a little more tied up. i understand that we don't always get a "and they lived happily ever after..." but this particular ending seemed rushed and almost fake? I don't know. Basically the whole last April section was kind of like a great big, "What?!" Anyone else feel that way?

4. Which character did you look forward to reading about the most?
It changed through out the book. In the beginning, Bree. She seemed like most the girls I knew in college and I liked making comparisons to her to my friends in real life. Celia and her story was always interesting. I think the part about her rape was the most interesting. I think the author could have done a lot more with her. Of the 4 girls, she seemed like the one we learned the least about. By the end I did like reading about Sally and the baby. But that's probably because I was just interested in reading about her pregnancy. Never cared for the April chapters.

5. Did this book meet your expectations?
Not really. I think it was an okay written book, but the plot development was slow (it took more than half the book to get to the real problem in the story), and the theme(s) were uninteresting to me.


On goodreads I gave the book a 3 out of 5 stars, but I really considered giving it a 2. I think the author has great potential, but this particular story just wasn't cutting it for me. Don't know if it was the feminism themes involved, or if it was just the story in general. I think she's a good writer, I just wish there had been more to draw me in.

I haven't read any of your posts yet (I know, I know!). It's been a crazy week in the teacher world, but I really hope to read your thoughts and comments over the weekend. I'm curious to know if anyone else felt the way I did.

Discussion Questions for Part 2 of Commencement

We've finally posted the discussion questions for Part 2 of Commencement. We can't wait to hear what you all think of the book!

1. What parts of the book could you most relate to? Least relate?

2. If the author were to write another novel that followed one of the girls onto her next step of life, which one would you want it to be about? Whose story would you want to follow more of?

3. What surprised you the most about this book?

4. Which character did you look forward to reading about the most?

5. Did this book meet your expectations?

Another Change in Schedule

Y'all, life is just crazy right now. Rachel and I talked last night and I also heard from a couple of book club members and we decided that we'd post pone the discussion of Part 2 for another week.

I am so sorry if we're disappointing anyone by continuing to have delays, but I think it's more important that we enjoy the reading process rather than cram to get things read quickly. I hope you can all understand. And hopefully some of you can finish Part 2 that weren't going to be able to finish.

We'll be back next week with the questions for Part 2 so everyone can link up!

Rachel's Response to Part One

1. Which girl do you identify the most with?
Probably a toss up between Sally and Celia. I totally get the Sally feeling of being so in love and so happy, but feeling like you have to hide it around certain people. I've been there. I have plenty of single friends who are happy for me and for my relationship, but I think almost everyone has those bitter people in their life who find it hard to be happy for someone else's good fortune with love. And then there's Celia. She's so nice and seems likable and it also feels like she doesn't quite know the direction her life is heading it at the moment. I get all that and definitely identify with it. I also could relate to her in the dorms, wanting to make friends, but that awkwardness that comes with that.

2. If you're a college student or graduate, what similarities or differences do you see between this story to your own college experience?

Similarities: The friendships. The way that your dorm becomes your "safe place" where your surrounded by people you love and care about, the jealousy of friendships...all of that was familiar to me. I'll even say the "traditions" were the author writes about at Smith were familiar to me also. We had many different traditions and old rituals, but they were certainly there.

Differences: I didn't attend a women's college. In fact, many of my college memories are also connected to the males I met there. I have several good male friends from college. To imagine college without that seems crazy. I also find that my large coed state school didn't have the sense of feminism that the girls are finding at Smith. Big surprise!

3. Which girl do you think has changed the most since her time in college? In what ways has she changed?

I want to say Bree, but Bree's change occurred more IN college rather than out of college. She fell in love with Lara long before graduation. Because of that, I'm going to say Sally. Her relationships with men and her friends have changed greatly, and having Jake makes her a different person. Not a bad person, but things have changed for her.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I am really enjoying the book, but I'll say on here what I emailed Erin earlier this week. I had no idea that feminism would be such a strong subject in the book. Part of me isn't sure where the book is going and/or if I'm going to like part 2....It's just very different than I had expected.

Look for part 2 questions next week!!

Commencement: Part One

I feel like this book is off to an interesting start...I have lots to say! Can't wait to post it all tomorrow.

For now, here are three questions to get you started, but please feel free to add in your thoughts and feelings. We want to hear 'em! We'll put up a Linky in the morning...

1. Which girl do you identify the most with?

2. If you're a college student or graduate, what similarities or differences do you see between this story to your own college experience?

3. Which girl do you think has changed the most since her time in college? In what ways has she changed?