Just kidding. That’s what we talked about, according to YouTube’s automatic captioning feature. FOOLPROOF. YouTube captions: the new indie band name generator.
Here’s a guide to our actual discussion (SPOILERS, because obviously):
:40 Beth explains what an Uncrustable is to the uninitiated.
3:32 Bekah explains what Sage is to the uninitiated.
5:45 Bekah pushes her pro-wolf agenda on everyone. 1-800-SAVE-THE-WOLVES (real #)
9:50 We realize #TNbookclub means we have to say these made up names out loud, in front of others. And your twitter names.
11:45 We get another PSA from Bekah, that might as well be the takeaway for the whole book: “Don’t Sniff Crotches.”
Around this time, Google/YouTube decided Beth’s face was the prettiest, and stayed on her for a while even when other people talked. Way harsh, Google.
17:00 We talk about the romance…specifically, where was it?
18:00 Who was Meg, anyway? Why was everyone falling all over themselves for her? Were the other humans THAT BAD at delivering mail?
22:08 We talk about Asia Crane and how we felt aout her character.
24:34 Another Bekah classic: “You sniff crotches for a living, come on!”
25:40 We start shipping Tess & Simon, thanks to Jamie.
26:50 Grandpa vampire: “get off my lawn and let me watch my moving pictures”
31:20 What’s up with the Elementals – are there different ones in every settlement?
33:05 We ship Meg & Winter, because yes.
33:20 We decide to stop talking about the book altogether and to focus instead on Bekah & Nikki’s upcoming fake lesbian nuptials.
37:15 Elise explains that part of her disappointment in the book was due to the fact that Barrons was not in it.
37:45 Bekah can’t believe there wasn’t romance. Isn’t that what you do when writing? Don’t all books have romance?
38:58 If you had just read the first fever book without any reassurance from friends, you probably wouldn’t have kept going, right?
42:30 We finally talk about the cutting, and there’s a burping or farting noise from Beth’s portal. No judgment.
50:00 So many turtlenecks. Do authors have the worst fashion sense ever?
51:55 We talk about what we want to see in the second book (coming out next March).
Obviously, we’re going to be (perhaps brutally) honest in these discussions. 2 of us (Bekah and Elise) weren’t feeling it at all, while Jamie, Beth & Nikki felt there was some potential for the continuation of the series. To rate the book, we decided to give a simple thumbs up or down per person, which is reflected in our group rating in terms of wine bottles. So overall, we gave Written in Red:
3 wine bottles – (Bekah can count!)
Our picks for July 2013:
If you missed the first month of book club, join in for July! We’re reading The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp, soon to be a movie starring Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller.
“SUTTER KEELY. HE’S the guy you want at your party. He’ll get everyone dancing. He’ ll get everyone in your parents’ pool. Okay, so he’s not exactly a shining academic star. He has no plans for college and will probably end up folding men’s shirts for a living. But there are plenty of ladies in town, and with the help of Dean Martin and Seagram’s V.O., life’s pretty fabuloso, actually.
Until the morning he wakes up on a random front lawn, and he meets Aimee. Aimee’s clueless. Aimee is a social disaster. Aimee needs help, and it’s up to the Sutterman to show Aimee a splendiferous time and then let her go forth and prosper. But Aimee’s not like other girls, and before long he’s in way over his head. For the first time in his life, he has the power to make a difference in someone else’s life—or ruin it forever.”
We’ve also decided to include an alternate pick this month, because we’re dying to read it (and it’s short!): The Ocean at the End of the Lane by the one and only Neil Gaiman.
“Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn’t thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she’d claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.
Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.”
We had such a good time this month, and we can’t wait to do this again for our July picks. Get involved by joining our Goodreads group and introducing yourself! Many have de-lurked, which is awesome.
Thanks to everyone who participated in our discussion last night! You guys had some hilarious comments. For whatever reason, we aren’t able to see comments on the YouTube video while it’s live, so because we want to make sure we’re seeing your comments and questions, using the #TNbookclub hashtag on twitter is the best way to get involved. We’re working on a solution for next month that might involve using the comments on the blog instead of on the YouTube video. We’ll keep you posted.
Since this was our first shot at it, let us know what you guys would like to see happen in the discussion! Besides talking about Bekah and Nikki’s wedding, obviously. More of that, always.
