Amanda’s Comments (group member since Feb 03, 2011)

Amanda’s comments from the Books Without Borders group.

I'm in a biography kind of mood so I'm reading Chinaberry Sidewalks by Rodney Crowell.

So far this year I've read The Lovely Bones (not impressed), The Kitchen House (it was pretty good) and The Hangman's Daughter (loved it!).

I hit my goal for the year! Woo hoo! I read 51 books and 18,041 pages. Well technically I ready 54 books and 19,196 pages because I read The Hunger Games series twice. Now to set a goal for 2013!

Hope everyone has enjoyed The Heretic's Daughter this month! I'm in the Halloween spirit now, how 'bout you?!

Here are the final discussion questions:

1. Why did the community of Salem, and the magistrates, so easily believe in and rely on “spectral evidence”?

2. What caused Martha to change in her relationship toward Sarah?

3. Do you believe that Sarah’s uncle really killed himself out of desperate self-loathing, or did her father actually murder him?

4. If you were Martha Carrier and faced being condemned as a witch, would you have made
the decisions she made, including asking your children to lie to save themselves?

5. As Mercy was portrayed at the book’s end, do you think she “got what she deserved”?

6. Why did the townspeople fear Sarah’s father, Thomas? Why did Martha write down his
life story in the red book that she later asked Sarah to hide? What would have happened
to the family if that book had been discovered?

Woo hoo! You're right!

I was hoping to make it challenging. Haha!

Title: -----/---e-/a--/--tte-/The/I-a--e-te-t/E---ati--/--/a/-e---ta-t/--e-
Author: -a--ie--e/Hami-t--

Title: -----/---e-/a--/--tte-/The/I-a--e-te-t/E---ati--/--/a/-e---ta-t/--e-
Author: -a--ie--e/Ha-i-t--

Letters: a,e,h,i,t

Title: -----/---e-/a--/--tte-/T-e/--a--e-te-t/E---at---/--/a/-e---ta-t/--e-
Author: -a---e--e/-a---t--

Letters: a,e,t

Great guesses!

Title: -----/---e-/a--/----e-/--e/--a--e--e--/E---a----/--/a/-e----a--/--e-
Author: -a---e--e/-a------

Letters: a,e

Where has this month gone?! Hope everyone is still enjoying the book.

1. What is the significance of Martha Carrier's big red leather bound book?

2. Why do you think she asks Sarah to "keep this one thing a secret, even among your brothers" (page 150)?

3. Why do you think Martha makes Sarah promise not to try to read the book until she comes of age?

4. Identify and discuss some of the factors that led to the witch hysteria in 17th century New England.

5. Why did Martha choose to take a stand of innocence, knowing that a refusal to confess meant death?

I think this will be a tough one!

Title: -----/-----/---/------/---/-----------/---------/--/-/---------/----
Author: ---------/--------

David Oliver Relin :)

Whew! My day almost got away from me! Sorry this is late. :)

1. At one point Sarah says, "Mother had an unsettling ability to foretell the weather" (page 91). Do you believe that Martha Carrier possessed special powers of any sort?

2. What about Martha's character seemed to antagonize so many neighbors?

3. In what ways did Martha and Sarah have a typical mother-daughter relationship?

4. What about their relationship could be contributed to the particular time and circumstances in which the Carriers lived? Consider Sarah's statement: "Perhaps it was true that I was like my mother, as everyone seemed to think so" (page 142).

5. What are your first impressions of Mercy Williams?

I hope everyone is enjoying the book so far! I think we're going to have some great discussion over the next few weeks.

Here are some questions to think about for the first two chapters:

1. Sarah mentions at times she doesn't believe her mother had tender feelings toward any of her children. Do you believe at this point in the book that that is true?

2. How is Martha distancing herself from her family? Why do you think she does that?

3. How does Grandmother Carrier's relationship with the children differ from Martha's?

4. How was Sarah changed by the time she spent living with the family of her cousin Margaret?

A please

F please

Hi ladies! I thought I would go ahead and give you the reading breakdown for The Heretic's Daughter in case anyone wants to get a head start. :)

I have the paperback version, 332 pages. There are only 10 chapters so breaking it down was sort of weird but I tried to break it up to fairly easy chunks each week. My version has a good discussion guide in the back that I will pull some questions from but I will also include some of my own.

Discussion #1, Sat. Oct. 6: Chapters 1-2
Discussion #2, Sat. Oct. 13: Chapters 3-4
Discussion #3, Sat. Oct. 20: Chapters 5-7
Discussion #4, Sat. Oct. 27: Chapters 8-10

Happy reading! I hope you all enjoy this book!

Amanda

C please

I'll get the discussion schedule posted in the next couple days in case anyone wants to start a little early. I'm trying to get ahead!!

Yes!