Leah Kate’s Comments (group member since Jan 22, 2017)

Leah Kate’s comments from the Our Traveling Shelf group.

Caro wrote: "1. What did you like best about this book?

I really enjoyed the way this book was written. The different perspectives, as Leah said, created many different characters and stories and I loved how ..."

Haha I felt the same way about Mrs. Asrani and Mrs. Pathak! They were so obnoxious annoying, and petty!

1. What did you like best about this book?
The part I enjoyed best about this book was how the book was different in several perspectives, from Vishnu to the Pathaks to Short Ganga. There were many characters with all different stories, backgrounds and roles throughout the book. Also, I haven’t read very many books based in India so it was interesting reading a little about India’s culture, religion, social practices, etc.

2. What did you like least about this book?
My least favorite part about this book was how sometimes the chapters seemed to drag on. I found myself not 100% focused on what I was reading so I had to go back and read sections.

3. Which character(s) was your favorite in the book?
My favorite characters of the book were Vinod and Sheetal. I think their story was the most captivating of all the families throughout the novel. Although I don’t necessarily agree with arranged marriages I think their story ended up turning into a pretty beautiful and sad one. Vinod respected Sheetal and began to love her more and more each day. **Spoiler ahead** When she passed away there was a void and an emptiness that I think we can all sympathize with if we’ve ever had a loved one pass away. He did rituals that reminded him of her and did little things to keep her in his thoughts for nearly twenty years. He had the opportunity to marry another woman, but couldn’t bring himself to fall in love again because he had already experienced this before. I think these two characters were the most relatable in the story and weren’t consistently fixated on the drama within the apartment complex.

4. Share a favorite quote from the book. Why did this quote stand out to you?
“Why, then, did he not understand the mechanism of faith? What did religion do to people, to provoke such obstinacy, such hysteria-how did it push people to the stage of torturing themselves and killing each other (137)?”

The first quote stood out for me because in this world there are many different religions, practices, beliefs and yet, there is so much violence. People who are claiming to have strong faiths are the ones to lash out in violence towards people, create unnecessary hysteria and commotion and feel the need to take it out on others.

“He had always assumed it was a flaw in people, a human failing, that created this need to believe in something beyond the ordinary (137).”

The second quote seemed to stand out for me because sometimes you just need to believe in something, whether it is a god(s), superheroes; something ordinary maybe even extraordinary. But sometimes putting so much faith into something can be detrimental to a person, especially if they feel as though whomever they look up to has failed them.

5. What feelings did this book evoke for you?
The feelings this book evoked for me were fairly pleasant. I would say there was some slight annoyance, mixed with empathy, and enjoyment from reading this novel.

6. What do you think of the book’s cover? How well does it convey what the book is about?
I enjoy the book cover. Prior to reading the novel, I thought to myself, “okay, there’s a lot of random people on the front cover. The most obvious character being Vishnu.” After finishing the book the cover captures the characters perfectly and their daily lives. It shows the dynamic of the apartment complex and its inhabitants.

7. Do you have any book recommendations for next month’s poll?
Homegoing by: Yaa Gyasi

Hi Everyone! Caro and I decided that it might be kind of nice to have an outline of discussion questions to talk about books for each month. Personally, I think it will encourage me to write my thoughts, feelings, etc. on books if I had something to go off of. So, you can answer all of them, a few or whatever you want to do. We'll see how this goes for the next few months! :)

Happy reading & discussing!

Discussion Questions:

1. What did you like best about this book?
2. What did you like least about this book?
3. Which character(s) was your favorite in the book?
4. Share a favorite quote from the book. Why did this quote stand out to you?
5. What feelings did this book evoke for you?
6. What do you think of the book’s cover? How well does it convey what the book is about?
7. Do you have any book recommendations for next month’s poll?

To be honest this book was slow for me at the beginning. However, as it went on you begin to feel a connection with the main characters and you’re just hoping and praying for the main characters to make it out of their awful (doesn’t even describe it) plantation life.

Like Caro stated, one of the shocks was when this so called “safe place” covered up them trying to white wash the African American community. While the trade offs were education, providing decent jobs, housing, etc. it was mostly trying to push for a very white agenda. For example, African American women having surgeries to not have children. And doing medical testing on African American men and women with the syphilis outbreak and performing fake treatments (I have a lot of feelings about this section of the book).

Anyways, it was a great read and extremely heart wrenching, makes you hate humanity with some slight bits of joy. It makes you feel a lot basically. I would recommend reading this book.

Well I know I’ve been TERRIBLE at writing reviews and keeping up with finishing some of the books, but I did finish this one and I’m so happy I did! This book was beyond amazing. Seriously.

As Caro stated previously this book was written in a pretty unique way and coming from different perspectives from main characters throughout the book. I truly appreciated how the reader is able to view the war from two different sides of the war (France and Germany). I think both main characters were fascinating to read about and their journey leading up to *spoiler* the moment they met.

Towards the end of the book I think it was extremely moving how the author tied everyone’s story to one another and discussing how the aftermath of the war has had a long lasting impact on each of the characters’ lives. I think it was pretty cool how each one had some sort of connection to one another because of one of the main characters.

This book is seriously an incredible read and I would highly recommend taking the time to read it.

Yay! I'll have to check it out! :)

I really enjoyed reading this book by Michael Pollan because he wrote in a language/way that it was easy to comprehend - even the sections that talked more in depth about nutrients, and food science, etc. I believe many of the points he brought up were pretty concise and relatively common sense. It's crazy to think our food system doesn't act in the ways he presents in the book. For example, talking about the health of the soil is equally as important as the moment a person consumes a product. Also, I appreciated the way he connects the ecological aspect of food production. I know it kind of gets a little "hippy dippy", but it makes sense to me; everything involved in food production (sun, soil, water, etc.) are all interconnected with one another. There's a quote by Dan Barber and says, "When you treat nature well, it gives you the gift of great food."

Food for me is a way to connect with those around me, whether it's family, friends, or acquaintances and also, eating/cooking new foods. Food is 100% a cultural experience and an easy way for people to bond over something that is thought so little of, especially in the "Western Diet". When Pollan started talking about an "Americanized diet", I just thought to myself, "What does this diet look like? Oh yeah, quick, fast and convenient eating." Not that I'm saying I never eat at fast food restaurants, but it makes me appreciate food more and what I'm eating when I can actually cherish, and share a meal with people. Pollan asks, “What would happen if we were to start thinking about food as less of a thing and more of a relationship?” I think peoples' perspective of food would change more if they were to think of food as a symbiotic relationship, rather than something to take for granted.

To conclude, I thought this was a very good read and I'm looking forward to reading more books by Pollan! Reading about food culture is super fascinating to me and hopefully we will read more books talking about food! (Also, I'm sorry if I rambled everyone!! Haha.)

Hi Everyone!

It's finally February!! I can't wait to start reading this book by Michael Pollan! It should be an interesting read :)