Ilona’s Comments (group member since May 02, 2017)

Ilona’s comments from the The Side Quest Book Club group.

Travis wrote: "Hey there everyone! Just a quick note to say I'm considering changing up the discussions threads to streamline them. People seem to really enjoy the Goodreads page, but the discussion threads on th..."
I think streamlining makes sense. Thanks for taking care of the Goodreads page!

Seconded (especially since I can't make this meeting). Her books never fail to make me uncomfortable. (That's a good thing.)

Travis wrote: "I don't mind allusions to darkness, but I think it's creakily outdated regardless. Granted, I haven't read a huge number of "classics," but it never ceases to amaze me how they spend so much time a..."
I have actually read the entire works of Shakespeare (one-time theater major who took 2 Shakespeare courses in college) no problem. I am cool with ponderous writing. I can't read this book however.

Travis wrote: "I having a pretty hard time getting into this book. I'm a little over 25% through and it's pretty boring."

I made it a few pages in, before I gave up and moved onto Oryx and Crake (which I'm enjoying.)

I just finished Dawn, which I know was a book club selection before I started attending. I'd love to discuss it if anyone is up for it, cause... whoa.

Travis wrote: "That's awesome. I've always loved the written word and have a lot of respect for good writing skills. If I could go back to high school I'd probably look more seriously into journalism. How did you..." Journalism was fun, but very long hours for very low pay. Which is why I do marketing these days. :) That being said, strong writing skills can get you a lot of paid freelance work. Even without a formal background in writing, you clearly have a lot of experience you could leverage if you ever wanted to try to find some paid gigs. Feel free to pick my brain at the next book club if you want. I'm always happy to chat about writing!

Recently finished Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman. I loved it. It's a fun, quick read that serves as good context for American Gods. Before that I also read Lovecraft Country, which was excellent.

It's so good. Like American Gods, it does a good job of bringing the original story to life with a bit of modernization. The 3rd episode's protest scene is absolutely chilling.

Alicia wrote: "I can't wait for Laura to dig out of her grave...." ME TOO!

Yeah, the second episode was carried entirely by the fantastic performances. Otherwise, it would have dragged a bit. I love the casting of everyone so far. I also appreciate that it's pretty faithful to the book, while still updating it for modernity's sake.

The mother of all book sales, the Case Western Reserve Book Sale, is coming up June 3-6.

Travis wrote: "@Lindsay Welcome! I wasn't sure if we had any distance members, but it's cool knowing we do. One of the reasons I wanted to do this group was expressly for that reason. Roller derby sounds rad.

@L..."
I am a former journalist (I was an editor for Ohio Magazine, and did some work for Cleveland Magazine). These days I work in web content creation, which involves a lot of copywriting and writing for blogs. I occasionally do freelance work or write for fun as well. Where do you work that you do editorial writing?

I'm newer to the club. I'd been meaning to join in sooner (thanks to my husband Eric's urging). I work in marketing and am a writer. I like outdoorsy stuff, making stuff, baking stuff, climbing and fashion. My favorite types of books are fantasy, sci-fi and horror. Favorite authors are Tolkien, Neil Gaiman, and I'd have to add N.K. Jemison after reading Broken Earth.