Hey Guys!
I know at least some of you actually read my blog and those people (hm hm) would know that I recently read and reviewed Hold Fast by Kevin Major because I had to read it for my book club. So today was the meeting and as usual it was complete disarray. And as I was rereading my review of Hold Fast, before I posted this report, I realised that I never got to ask them what they though Hold Fast actually meant. I actually really wanted to know, and I completely forgot. ugh... but it's okay because I think I can guess know. I actually kind of think that it mans something like "hold on to the things the you have and don't let go or take them for granted".
As I wrote in my review, that you can view here:, I actually did kind of like the book. Firstly, because it was a new experience for me, especially since it is legit 38 years old and I had no idea. I just though it was a little strange. And Secondly, no matter how bad the book is, it becomes ten times better when you can discuss it with people who have all read it and love books almost as much as you.
SO moving on the what actually transpired at the meeting...
First we talk about what books will be our next book club books and I am very happy to say that the next three books all seem normal. Bless! And also how at the end T brought us some Arcs, super exciting, yay thanks T. Double Bless! Lmao but actually. Here are the next book club books:
September -- Will Grayson, Will Grayson by: John Green and David Leviathan
October -- Everyday also by: David Leviathan ( lmao, totally did not realise that )
December -- We Were Liars by: E. Lockhart ( Yay, I really wanted to read it, and now I have to, ;) )
(And the covers all look amazing!)
After that annoncement, we basically just discussed how excited we were to be reading and then discussing such normal, and hopefully good books. Btw I have never heard of Everyday by: David Leviathan but it actually looks good and I'm excited to read it. I read the synopsis and it sounds very intriguing to me. As for Will Grayson, Will Grayson; I've already read it but I think I might re-read some parts or maybe even the whole book, because it was a while ago that I read it. A girl actually had a super long list of books she suggested and I felt kinda bad for her because I suggested one book and it got chosen, because someone else suggested it, and another one really wanted to read it and I had no idea. The Lovely Bones, sadly got rejected because it was under the adult category for violence, and we are a teen book club so I respect that. Apparently there's some good website called Common Sense Media, that I should check out, that has all the ratings for books and more. A girl also mentioned, btw we have guys too ;), how Will Grayson, Will Grayson sounds too repetitive and she says that it sounds weird because it's repeated twice. So we kind of decided to call it Willx2, this isn't concrete yet, but it sounds super cool, lol. After that we went on some silly discussion about how Will Grayson sounds like Will which sounds like Bill which sounds like Bill, Bill which sounds like Bill Nye the Science Guy. So before long, obviously, we were all singing that super annoying song. Aha...
Okay now back to Hold Fast and the meeting...
So right after that discussion I kind of summarised the whole Will Grayson thing into one paragraph so I can focus on Hold fast (ish) for the rest. Sorry if you only want to hear our discussion but I can't really control it, nobody can, and we just end up discussing everything. Anyways... After that I gave a summary of the book because a lot of people didn't read it or finish it because they either didn't like it or didn't want to read it, and I was one of the only people who finished it. I kept getting interrupted but it's okay, I think we finally got through it at around 40% through our meeting. Then T tried to get our discussion back on track and we started discussing a lot of things I was actually wondering about. We talked about the weird language in the book (which I mentioned in my review) and how they all have an old Newfoundland accent. Apparently some people even still have it today. We also mentioned how a lot of swear words were strange and we didn't know what the hell they meant. Some examples were "cripes" and "frigging". We also came upon a question of how people think of school (page 42), and how they either focus in class and do their homework or they don't and just study a lot. A lot of people were actually the second option but I found that I am mainly the first but I study too, I just don't cram, and I find it highly effective. Another question was: "What kind of adolescent struggles can you relate to in this book?" I think that a big issue for teens in the modern era is communicating with their parents and trying to get the freedom they think they deserve.
We also talked about whether or not or is a coming of age story. And a lot of people didn't think so
and at first I disagreed but then I started to agree. A lot of people were saying how he grew but not that much, "he didn't come full circle". He went from sad to okay to giving up to sad. A girl mentioned how he just gave up on his awful uncle and left without facing his problems, which was a major struggle that didn't make it a coming of age story. And she also said how the only time he really changed in the novel was when he felt guilty for lying to an old man about Curtis having a hearing problem. And I completely agree. And I was just talking to a another girl about what she said when she randomly though someone said her name and hilariously introduced herself to the girl who "accidentally called her name", when no one did. It was such a hilarious misunderstanding that everyone died of laughter and I totally lost my train of thought. Another reason we all agreed it wasn't a coming of age story was because Michael, the main character, didn't really change or realise his mistakes. He never had a sudden personality change or anything... For some reason at some point we brought up Germany and how if you want to speed you can go there. I totally forgot why Germany even came up but it was funny nonetheless.
A bit later we discussed: "What are the clashes between small town life vs. bigger city living?" We thought this issue came up a lot with Michael because he was raised in the small town of Marten and when he was moved to the city of St.Alberts he had a hard time adjusting. And we also discussed why. In a big city you are forced to interact with more people, not as many people care about what happens to you, people just don't have the time to care. Vs. in a small town everyone is very friendly, there is more freedom, less laws, more sense of community, everyone helps each other out. And we thought this helped us understand Michael more because we can see the differences clearer now, and how hard it would be to change from one atmosphere to a completely different one. Then T said that we had 2 more questions left and it turned into a don't make me make you do the kindergarten clap but song version... Idk what was happening. Then we discussed the count to ten game and played. Where one person says one and then other people have to say two to ten, but it two people say the say number at the same time u gotta restart. Then we remebered how at some recent meeting we played an abc, everything related to book, game and also a ball throwing yarn game, I don't remember what that one was about sry. Lol, so obviously off track again but that's what makes it fun! :)
Then we talked about: "If this book is so old, is it still relevant to our world today?" Someone mentioned that it is out of print and also that if it was still relevant we would be reading it in school. But others disagreed and mentioned that "Issued don't change, culture changes". And how family views are still the same and haven't changed, but little things like hobbies did; fishing and hiking vs. gaming and texting. But we did say that parents don't punish kids like they used to, cough cough Evil Uncle, and that swearing has changed a lot over time too. Honestly I kind of think that they wouldn't put actual swear words in a book anyone could read, and that these words aren't the worst or exact swear words used at that time either. Someone said that there aren't as many abusive parents, which is kind of true but kind of not because you would never know. Flaunting it and telling people about it sure has changed, nobody knows what goes on behind a family's front door. Parents never show their true selves with their kids to other people or social media, if you want the full story you have to go to the kids. And that brought us to how parents have really had to adapt their techniques with all the social media. Parents are also more paranoid and protective in the modern world. Apparently, we think crime is going up but it's actually going down, just more people are made aware of it. And someone said how in a few years we will have more luck keeping track and understand our own kids, because we'll be closer to their technology knowledge then our parents are to ours. However, I disagreed because I feel that we never know how much our technology will advance. So after all that discussing and reporting and making 2 pages of super crammed notes (I'll spare you the horrible pictures this time) I feel like a reporter!!! And I actually feel like I'm not half bad either, and that this was a super long rant on one hand but a normal report on the other. Lmao...
Anyways moving on to the usual recommendations made by our group (which are slowly diminishing, the recommendations not the group members, lol):
The Marvels -- By: Brian Selznick
Such a Pretty Girl -- By: Laura Wiess
Harry Potter #5 (me) -- By: J. K. Rowling
The Odyssey -- By: Homer (apparently some really awesome old greek book)
Crenshaw -- By: K. A. Applegate
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child -- By: J. K. Rowling (dis-recommended/bad, the first ever to be)
Omg I almost forgot to mention how our amazing friend Shelly donated a few Arcs she had. She has an amazing blog btw. And our book club got to keep a bunch and I obviously scavenged like mad and picked up The Lovely Reckless by: Kami Garcia and am SUPER SUPER excited about it. It has been on my tbr list for a while and it comes out in October so I'm excited to add another actual Arc to my collection, one I was actually looking forward too. Some others that looked ok were "Girl mans up" and "When we Collide". Oo we also had Food (as always, lol); Earl Grey Tea (for me), oreo thins golden and original, and chocolate finger sticks. Anyways that about sums up the events of this night and as usual it took me a while to write it all down. Omg it took 1.5 hours exactly I just checked. Well if you have anything to say please don't be shy to say it. Thanks for reading as always!!! :)
- <3 Kat Hearts
I know at least some of you actually read my blog and those people (hm hm) would know that I recently read and reviewed Hold Fast by Kevin Major because I had to read it for my book club. So today was the meeting and as usual it was complete disarray. And as I was rereading my review of Hold Fast, before I posted this report, I realised that I never got to ask them what they though Hold Fast actually meant. I actually really wanted to know, and I completely forgot. ugh... but it's okay because I think I can guess know. I actually kind of think that it mans something like "hold on to the things the you have and don't let go or take them for granted".
As I wrote in my review, that you can view here:, I actually did kind of like the book. Firstly, because it was a new experience for me, especially since it is legit 38 years old and I had no idea. I just though it was a little strange. And Secondly, no matter how bad the book is, it becomes ten times better when you can discuss it with people who have all read it and love books almost as much as you.
SO moving on the what actually transpired at the meeting...
First we talk about what books will be our next book club books and I am very happy to say that the next three books all seem normal. Bless! And also how at the end T brought us some Arcs, super exciting, yay thanks T. Double Bless! Lmao but actually. Here are the next book club books:
September -- Will Grayson, Will Grayson by: John Green and David Leviathan
October -- Everyday also by: David Leviathan ( lmao, totally did not realise that )
December -- We Were Liars by: E. Lockhart ( Yay, I really wanted to read it, and now I have to, ;) )
(And the covers all look amazing!)After that annoncement, we basically just discussed how excited we were to be reading and then discussing such normal, and hopefully good books. Btw I have never heard of Everyday by: David Leviathan but it actually looks good and I'm excited to read it. I read the synopsis and it sounds very intriguing to me. As for Will Grayson, Will Grayson; I've already read it but I think I might re-read some parts or maybe even the whole book, because it was a while ago that I read it. A girl actually had a super long list of books she suggested and I felt kinda bad for her because I suggested one book and it got chosen, because someone else suggested it, and another one really wanted to read it and I had no idea. The Lovely Bones, sadly got rejected because it was under the adult category for violence, and we are a teen book club so I respect that. Apparently there's some good website called Common Sense Media, that I should check out, that has all the ratings for books and more. A girl also mentioned, btw we have guys too ;), how Will Grayson, Will Grayson sounds too repetitive and she says that it sounds weird because it's repeated twice. So we kind of decided to call it Willx2, this isn't concrete yet, but it sounds super cool, lol. After that we went on some silly discussion about how Will Grayson sounds like Will which sounds like Bill which sounds like Bill, Bill which sounds like Bill Nye the Science Guy. So before long, obviously, we were all singing that super annoying song. Aha...
Okay now back to Hold Fast and the meeting...
So right after that discussion I kind of summarised the whole Will Grayson thing into one paragraph so I can focus on Hold fast (ish) for the rest. Sorry if you only want to hear our discussion but I can't really control it, nobody can, and we just end up discussing everything. Anyways... After that I gave a summary of the book because a lot of people didn't read it or finish it because they either didn't like it or didn't want to read it, and I was one of the only people who finished it. I kept getting interrupted but it's okay, I think we finally got through it at around 40% through our meeting. Then T tried to get our discussion back on track and we started discussing a lot of things I was actually wondering about. We talked about the weird language in the book (which I mentioned in my review) and how they all have an old Newfoundland accent. Apparently some people even still have it today. We also mentioned how a lot of swear words were strange and we didn't know what the hell they meant. Some examples were "cripes" and "frigging". We also came upon a question of how people think of school (page 42), and how they either focus in class and do their homework or they don't and just study a lot. A lot of people were actually the second option but I found that I am mainly the first but I study too, I just don't cram, and I find it highly effective. Another question was: "What kind of adolescent struggles can you relate to in this book?" I think that a big issue for teens in the modern era is communicating with their parents and trying to get the freedom they think they deserve.We also talked about whether or not or is a coming of age story. And a lot of people didn't think so
and at first I disagreed but then I started to agree. A lot of people were saying how he grew but not that much, "he didn't come full circle". He went from sad to okay to giving up to sad. A girl mentioned how he just gave up on his awful uncle and left without facing his problems, which was a major struggle that didn't make it a coming of age story. And she also said how the only time he really changed in the novel was when he felt guilty for lying to an old man about Curtis having a hearing problem. And I completely agree. And I was just talking to a another girl about what she said when she randomly though someone said her name and hilariously introduced herself to the girl who "accidentally called her name", when no one did. It was such a hilarious misunderstanding that everyone died of laughter and I totally lost my train of thought. Another reason we all agreed it wasn't a coming of age story was because Michael, the main character, didn't really change or realise his mistakes. He never had a sudden personality change or anything... For some reason at some point we brought up Germany and how if you want to speed you can go there. I totally forgot why Germany even came up but it was funny nonetheless.
A bit later we discussed: "What are the clashes between small town life vs. bigger city living?" We thought this issue came up a lot with Michael because he was raised in the small town of Marten and when he was moved to the city of St.Alberts he had a hard time adjusting. And we also discussed why. In a big city you are forced to interact with more people, not as many people care about what happens to you, people just don't have the time to care. Vs. in a small town everyone is very friendly, there is more freedom, less laws, more sense of community, everyone helps each other out. And we thought this helped us understand Michael more because we can see the differences clearer now, and how hard it would be to change from one atmosphere to a completely different one. Then T said that we had 2 more questions left and it turned into a don't make me make you do the kindergarten clap but song version... Idk what was happening. Then we discussed the count to ten game and played. Where one person says one and then other people have to say two to ten, but it two people say the say number at the same time u gotta restart. Then we remebered how at some recent meeting we played an abc, everything related to book, game and also a ball throwing yarn game, I don't remember what that one was about sry. Lol, so obviously off track again but that's what makes it fun! :)Then we talked about: "If this book is so old, is it still relevant to our world today?" Someone mentioned that it is out of print and also that if it was still relevant we would be reading it in school. But others disagreed and mentioned that "Issued don't change, culture changes". And how family views are still the same and haven't changed, but little things like hobbies did; fishing and hiking vs. gaming and texting. But we did say that parents don't punish kids like they used to, cough cough Evil Uncle, and that swearing has changed a lot over time too. Honestly I kind of think that they wouldn't put actual swear words in a book anyone could read, and that these words aren't the worst or exact swear words used at that time either. Someone said that there aren't as many abusive parents, which is kind of true but kind of not because you would never know. Flaunting it and telling people about it sure has changed, nobody knows what goes on behind a family's front door. Parents never show their true selves with their kids to other people or social media, if you want the full story you have to go to the kids. And that brought us to how parents have really had to adapt their techniques with all the social media. Parents are also more paranoid and protective in the modern world. Apparently, we think crime is going up but it's actually going down, just more people are made aware of it. And someone said how in a few years we will have more luck keeping track and understand our own kids, because we'll be closer to their technology knowledge then our parents are to ours. However, I disagreed because I feel that we never know how much our technology will advance. So after all that discussing and reporting and making 2 pages of super crammed notes (I'll spare you the horrible pictures this time) I feel like a reporter!!! And I actually feel like I'm not half bad either, and that this was a super long rant on one hand but a normal report on the other. Lmao...
Anyways moving on to the usual recommendations made by our group (which are slowly diminishing, the recommendations not the group members, lol):
The Marvels -- By: Brian Selznick
Such a Pretty Girl -- By: Laura Wiess
Harry Potter #5 (me) -- By: J. K. Rowling
The Odyssey -- By: Homer (apparently some really awesome old greek book)
Crenshaw -- By: K. A. Applegate
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child -- By: J. K. Rowling (dis-recommended/bad, the first ever to be)
Omg I almost forgot to mention how our amazing friend Shelly donated a few Arcs she had. She has an amazing blog btw. And our book club got to keep a bunch and I obviously scavenged like mad and picked up The Lovely Reckless by: Kami Garcia and am SUPER SUPER excited about it. It has been on my tbr list for a while and it comes out in October so I'm excited to add another actual Arc to my collection, one I was actually looking forward too. Some others that looked ok were "Girl mans up" and "When we Collide". Oo we also had Food (as always, lol); Earl Grey Tea (for me), oreo thins golden and original, and chocolate finger sticks. Anyways that about sums up the events of this night and as usual it took me a while to write it all down. Omg it took 1.5 hours exactly I just checked. Well if you have anything to say please don't be shy to say it. Thanks for reading as always!!! :)
- <3 Kat Hearts
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