The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, by Lisa See

Characters
Akha Ethnic Minority	Others
Li-yan – “Tina” A-ma A-pa Three brothers and sisters-in-law Haley Davis – Yan-yeh, Li-yan’s daughter, left at orphanage Paul William Chang – Li-yan’s son with Jin Ci-tech – best friend	Teacher Zhang Deh-ja – married Ci-do, had twin “human rejects” and had to kill them, banished from community San-pa – pancake thief and Li-yan’s first husband Huang Benyu – tea buyer from Hong Kong Xian-rong “Sean” – son Pu’er tea Tea Master Sun – Pu’er Tea College Jin Chang Mrs. Chang – mother Haley’s parents: Constance – professor of biology Dan - arborist Girls in therapy session with Haley: Tiffany Jessica Ariel Heidi

For Discussion:

NOTE:  Page numbers refer to the hardback edition of the book.

1. Traditions played a large part in the Akha people’s day-to-day life at the beginning of the novel.  When Li-yan returned as a grown-up after being away eight years she found things greatly changed.  When asked, her father said that “the world has come to us…we don’t have time for all the cleansing, ceremonies, sacrifices, or worrying about Dog Days and Buffalo Days when we have so much work to do” (pages 184-5).   How important were the traditions if they were so easily abandoned?
2. Is there a difference between a tradition and a superstition?   What were most of the things the Akha people did?
3. How did the Akha people justify encouraging the unmarried girls and boys to go to the Flower Room but then deemed it disgraceful if the girl got pregnant?
4. The word “tu” was used very often in the novel and changed meaning over time.  The original meaning was negative (page 168) but changed to a positive concept meaning, “…untouched by the evils of civilization” (page 169).   What words are in our vocabulary that have changed meaning?
5. Discuss the character of Jin.  Would you have trusted him?  Was everything he did (secret trips to visit Li-yan’s family, purchases he made such as houses without consulting anyone, etc.)  realistic? 
6. How do you think Jin and Li-yan were so easily able to go between the two lifestyles in America and China – living in a mansion to a primitive newlywed hut?
7. What did you learn from the transcript of Haley’s therapy group?   Do you think the author portrayed the adoptee’s experience realistically?   Did you understand the pressures the girls felt to be successful and their conflicted feelings of being both grateful and angry?
8. The ruma and nima call a village meeting when Ci-teh and Li-Yan return to the village after the tea market collapses so that they will settle their differences in front of the people (page 155 – 262).  The ruma states that, “The Akha Way tells us that a single moment changes destinies” (page 261) and the moment that changed both women was when the “human rejects” were born into Ci-teh’s family.  Where else in the novel does a “single moment” change someone’ destiny?
9. In Haley’s English class in October 2012 she wrote a story about her immigrant experience.  The instructor’s evaluation noted that she, “would have hated to see you fall back on the Shakespearean trope of coincidence” (page 316).  What part did coincidence play in this novel, for example Haley meeting Xian-rong who knew where her tea cake came from or Li-yan running into Deh-ja on the street?  Was this too much?
10. Discuss Ci-teh and Li-yan’s relationship throughout the novel.   Were you surprised that Ci-teh wanted to tear down the tea trees and plant coffee?   Could you understand Ci-teh’s motivation given what her family went through when they lost everything due to her brother and Deh-ja having the “human rejects?”
11. Pu’er tea was as important as a major character in the novel.  What was in the tea that cured Xian-rong?
12. Tea Master Sun taught Li-yan that there are three disciplines of tea: 1.) Confucius, “…help people understand their inner dispositions” 2.) Buddhists, “…among the four ways to concentrate the mind” and 3.) Daoists, “…a way to regulate internal alchemy, be in harmony with the natural world, and serve as an ingredient in the elixir of immortality” (page 191).  Do you think tea can do all of this?
13. If you like to drink tea or are a “tea nerd” (page 333) like Xian-rong, what did you learn about tea in this novel?
14. Discuss your reading experience.  This book was unique in that it used spelling lists, emails, homework assignments and therapy session transcripts in addition to regular narrative to tell the story.   Did you like that?  Do you think it added to the story?

*****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.

Tomorrow Will Be Different, by Sarah McBride

REVIEW:  Recognizing that each reader brings their own background and beliefs to a book, I did not read this book as a political statement.  I read it as a personal journey that also informs the reader of the broader picture in our country of the struggles anyone labeled “different” has to endure to have the same basic human rights and respect as anyone else.  I thought the alternating between the author’s story and the nation-wide data was very powerful.  Of course, politics cannot be ignored because that is what determines the current “law of the land,” but even if you do not always agree with the author, she does a compelling job of explaining her experiences and point of view.  I found the novel very insightful and moving and recommend it be read with an open mind and kind heart.  I received a complimentary copy of the book for this review. 

People

Sarah McBride Sally – mother, former guidance counselor Dad – former antiwar protester, corporate attorney Sean and Dan – brothers Andrew Cray – husband, deceased Jack Markell – mentor, governor of Delaware Joe Biden – Vice President Beau Biden – son, Delaware Attorney General Bishop Gene – officiated at both wedding and funeral Helen – high school friend, first to call author by female name and pronoun State of Delaware

For Discussion:

NOTE:  Page numbers are from hardback edition.

1. How might Sarah’s story have been different if her parents had different backgrounds?
2. On page 10 the author stated that how people are represented in popular culture is crucial to how people are accepted.  Do you agree?   Can you think of how pop culture has influenced how you view something? 
3. Sarah asked her friend Helen, who was studying abroad, to try calling her by a female name.  How important was Helen’s acceptance to Sarah?  Would you be able to do this for a friend?
4. On page 28, Sarah identified one problem as an “empathy gap,” meaning that people could not understand how a transgender person feels because it was so far removed from their experiences.  How important do you think empathy is in our dealings with other people who are different from us?  How can we gain empathy?
5. Sarah stated that she was, “proud to be transgender” and that “Our identities matter” (page 68).  What is your identity and how important is it to you that other people know this?
6. The state of Delaware plays an important part in Sarah’s story.  Do you feel the same sense of connection to your state?  What makes Delaware special to its citizens?
7. After Sarah posted the picture of herself in the woman’s bathroom on Instagram and Facebook she received an overwhelming number of vicious responses (pages 235-6).   Were you surprised at the hatefulness of these responses?  Sarah thought she would not be affected by these but was surprised at the sense of despair she felt.  How can we counter this when it happens to a child for whatever reason?
8. Following the above incident, Sarah wrote that bullies, “…see our power and they are jealous of it” (page 238).  Do you agree that bullies are insecure and jealous and act like they do in order to make themselves feel better?  What can we do to stop bullies?
9. When Sarah was working on her convention speech, a friend reminded her of a quote by Maya Angelou, “At the end of the day people won’t remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel” (page 242).   Many people feel that our actions speak the loudest.  What do you think about this quote?
10. The author never told the reader her birth name or used a masculine pronoun when referring to herself before she transitioned.  How did this affect your understanding?
11. At the end of the book, Sarah quoted a statistic that, “the percentage of Americans saying they personally know someone who is transgender rose from single digits to roughly a third” (page 225).   (Please note that I could not find a citation for this statistic.)   Do you know anyone who is transgender?   Do you know anyone who is different from you and your family?   Do you think this is generational?

*****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.   Click on the upper right link.

A Spool of Blue Thread, by Anne Tyler

Characters

Mr. and Mrs. Brill – first owners of house Jurvis Roy Whitshank “J. R.” or “Junior” Linnie May – wife Merrick and Redcliffe – children Merrick Barrister Walter “Trey” Barrister III – husband Pookie Vanderlin – Merrick’s friend, first engaged to Trey Redcliffe “Red” Whitshank Abby Amanda – Hugh (husband), Elise (daughter) Jeannie – Hugh (husband), Deb and Alexander 9children) Denny Douglas “Stem” - Nora (wife), three sons Susan – Denny’s daughter (not biological) with Carla Lawrence O’Brien and Barbara Jane “BJ” Eames Autry – Stem’s parents

 For Discussion:

NOTE:  Page numbers are from the paperback edition of the novel.

1. Discuss Junior and Linnie.  Could Junior have avoided marrying Linnie?  Did her really love her but didn’t know it?
2. It seemed the only time Linnie asserted herself was when she poured the blue paint on the sidewalk after Junior repainted the blue porch swing.   Do you think Linnie was happy?
3. In Part Two, before Abby and Junior were dating, Abby was helping Linnie in the kitchen and discussing Merrick.  Linnie said, “…it seems to me there’s just these certain types of people that come around and around in our lives…Easy types and hard types” (page 240, chapter 9).  Did you agree with this statement?   Are people even aware of being one type or another?  How would  you describe the characters in the novel – easy or hard?
4. When the Red and Merrick were young, Abby brought “orphans” into the house to help them, which annoyed the children.   At one point they commented that, “Other people showed love by offering compliments.  Abby offered pity.  It was not an attractive quality, in her children’s opinion” (page 67, chapter 4).  How did the different characters in the novel show their love to each other?
5. What did you think about Nora?  Was she really so perfect and easy going?  On page 195 (beginning chapter 8) Amanda commented to Denny, “I wish Stem and Nora weren’t so …virtuous.  It’s wearing, it what it is.”  
6. Discuss Denny.   What did you think he was like when he was away from family?    On the one hand the family thought he did not care about them, but on the other hand he helped out Jeannie during her postpartum depression (page 202, chapter 8).
7. Why didn’t Denny tell the family that he had graduated from college?  Abby thought it was because he wanted her to continue to worry about him (page 156, chapter 6).
8. Discuss Denny and Stem.  On the last page of chapter 3 Denny felt that Stem was, “More of a Whitshank than Denny was.”   Also, he asked his mother if the parents ever thought about asking the children’s permission before bringing Stem to live with them.   Do you think they should have asked?
9. When the subject of a retirement community came up, Red told his sister that he and Abby were “too independent for a retirement community” (page 132, chapter 5).   Her reply was that is was just another word for “selfish” and “It’s stiff-backed people like you who end up being the biggest burdens” (same page).  Do you agree?
10. In the last scene, do you think Denny should have spoken to the boy crying on the train?  Why or why not?
11. Have you ever heard the quote, “You are only as happy as your least happy child” (page 159, chapter 6)?  Do you think it is true?
12. This is the author’s 20^th novel.  How would it be different if she wrote it when she was much younger?
13. How do you think readers of different ages would read this book?  

*****

First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and  Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.

The Inkblots, by Damion Searls

REVIEW:  Inkblots is a very interesting and well-written book.  Don’t read it if you are pressed for time – it is extremely detailed and thorough as it follows the Rorschach inkblot test from inception to the present day.  I did find the staying-power of the test very interesting.    Besides being used throughout its history, it became a part of our popular culture.   While it might not be the best book for a book discussion group, if you have varied and wide-ranging interests, this book is a good choice.  I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for this review.

People
Family	Clinics/Psychiatrists/ Psychologists/Timeline
Hermann Rorschach 1884-1922 Olga – wife Children – Elisabeth and Ulrich Ulrich – father Philippine – mother Siblings – Anna and Paul Aunt Regina – stepmother Regina – half-sister	Burgholzli clinic and teaching hospital: Eugen Bleuler – psychiatrist, professor, clinic director 1898 Carl Jung – professor in Zurich, asst. doctor, 1900 Franz Riklin – asst. doctor, 1902 Sigmund Freud Munsterlingen Clinic 1909 – 1913 Elrich Brauchli – director Rorschach and Dr. Paul Sokolov – assistants Robert Vischer – defined empathy (page 84) and influenced abstract art Rorschach to Kryukovo – private clinic in Russia 1913 Rorschack and Nikolai Osipov – doctors Waldau Clinic – Switzerland – 1914 Walter Morgenthaler – researched art and mental illness Krombach Clinic in Switzerland – 1915 – psychiatric hospital and asylum Szymon Hens – medical student – used black blots to measure imagination David Mordecai Levy – brought test to America in 1923 Samuel Beck – 1927 – first article and dissertation on Rorschach test – objective view Bruno Klopfer – Rorschach Research Exchange journal - more holistic approach to test, subjective World War I –test  given as group multiple choice test in armed services  1945 – test used to examine imprisoned Nazi criminals for Nuremberg Trials Douglas Kelly and Gustave Gilbert Istvan Kulcsar – administered test to Eichmann – “psychopathic personality with an ‘inhuman’ worldview” (page 232) John E. Exner Jr. – 1969 – described five scoring systems for test – revived popularity Robyn Dawes – 1994 – “’use of Rorschach interpretations in establishing an individual’s legal status and child custody is the single most unethical practice of my colleagues’” (page 262). Gregory Meyer – 2011 – latest version of test, Rorschach Performance Assessment System (R-PAS) Joni Mihura – 2013 – gave test scientific basis Stephen Finn – current – new focus on empathy

 For Discussion:

NOTE:  Page numbers refer to the 2017 paperback edition of the book.

1. At the end of the book the author wrote about his experience taking the Rorschach test.   If you could also take it, would you like to know the doctor’s interpretation?
2. In 1919, Rorschach wrote that, “Probably the only thing impossible to change by working on oneself is how one’s introversion and extraversion relate to each other, although the relationship does shift over the course of one’s life because of a kind of maturation process” (page 127).  Do you think we are capable of changing these basic characteristics?  Do you think we should try to change our basic personality?
3. Carl Jung in 1921 wrote that it is impossible to see things from someone else’s perspective, writing, “…Every man is so imprisoned in his type that he is simply incapable of fully understanding another standpoint” (page 157).   Compare this to Stephan Finn who identified that empathy does three different things.  (See page 303.)   How important do you think empathy is to your life and to our society?
4. Why do you think the inkblots have had such an influence in pop culture: for example, in Hollywood films such as “The Dark Mirror,” used in perfume ads, in Ray Bradbury novel, and a painting by Andy Warhol?
5. Why do you think the Rorschach test has been in use for so long?  What makes it different from other tests?

*****

First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.

News of the World, by Paulette Jiles

Characters

Capt. Jefferson Kyle Kidd Maria Luisa Betancort y Real – wife, deceased Olympia – daughter - husband, Mason, killed in war Elizabeth – daughter – husband, Emory, lost arm in war Johanna Leonberger – captured by Kiowa at age six, sold back at age ten Wilhelm and Anna Leonberger – aunt and uncle Britt Johnson – brought Johanna to Capt. Kidd Wife and two children taken captive, he found them and brought them home Simon Boudlin – fiddler Doris Dillon – fiancé Mrs. Gannet – ran livery stable John Calley – married Johanna

For discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from paperback edition.

1. In the War of 1812, Kidd was 16 years old when he was made a sergeant.  He wrote a list of the duties of a sergeant, “…because written information was what mattered in this world” (chapter 3, page 22).  He later was put in charge of transporting prisoners and, “…learned all the devices of interrogation” (page 23).   How did what he learned in the military help him in his future career as a traveling reader and in returning Johanna?
2. In chapter two, Capt. Kidd reflected on the differences between the young and elderly.  For example, he thought young people could dress with less care (page 15) and how much the younger generation liked the latest devices (page 17), in this case a more modern gun.  Could you relate?  How did Capt. Kidd adapt to growing older?
3. Discuss the changes in the children after living with the Kiowa tribe:
1. Britt Johnson’s son almost didn’t want to return to his dad.  He said he, “was on his way to becoming a warrior” (chapter 1, page 10).
2. Britt’s son didn’t like to be inside, roofs bothered him.    He had a difficult time quieting down to study.  He was often afraid.
3. Johanna, “…remained at heart a Kiowa to the end of her days” (chapter 22, page 202).
4. In the author’s note she wrote that children adopted by the Indians totally adapted to their new life, forgetting everything from their early years.  We think of the early childhood years as the most formative.  Why do you think the children so completely forgot everything and adopted the Indian ways?
5. The character who seemed to understand Johanna the best was Doris Dillon.  She said that Johanna had been through two creations (chapter 6, page 56) and that the second, “…tears all the making of the first creation and sometimes it falls to bits.”  Did this help you or the other characters understand Johanna better?
6. What did you think of John Calley?  He appeared three times in the novel: 1.) when he and two friends demanded money from the Capt. Kidd for safe passage (chapter 13), 2.) after one of the readings when he apologized for taking the money and said he only wanted honest work (chapter 15), and 3.) in chapter 22 when he came to San Antonio to see Capt. Kidd and stayed to marry Johanna.  
7. How were the Kiowa values (chapter 22, page 201) different from those of the white people?   How did they make it difficult for Johanna and the others to readjust to their original white culture?
1. Pride in doing without
2. Courage most important trait
3. Animals are food, not pets
4. It is not impolite to stare at what is interesting and to ask pointed questions
8. How did Johanna adapt back to the white lifestyle?   What coping mechanisms do you think she used?  How was she able to have a happy life and marriage?
9. What can we learn from Johanna and Capt. Kidd?
10. Discuss the writing style – no quotation marks, sometimes incomplete sentences (“And a man with a grave look and a silver lapel badge in the shape of a shamrock from Hancock’s Second Artillery Corps, Union.” page 91).  How did this affect your reading?

*****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and wordassociation.com.  Click on the upper right link.

Daring to Hope, by Katie Davis Majors

REVIEW: This book is a memoir of one extraordinary woman’s journey of faith in Uganda.  I really wanted to love and be inspired by the book, and that happened, but not to the extent I was hoping for.  From the standpoint of a reader I found myself skimming the first few chapters looking for something to move the story along.  Perhaps a bit tighter editing might have kept the story moving without losing the impact of the inspirational parts.   (Note: I found the second half better in this regard.)  Besides the enthralling story, there are multiple positives about this book including that it is well grounded in scripture and the author makes it possible for the reader apply her faith and growth in Uganda to a completely different life in another country.   I particularly related to her realization that she was tired (chapter 11) but that God never gets weary.  I highly recommend this book to a bible study as well as a Christian book discussion group.  I received a complementary copy of the book for this review.  

People
Katie Davis Majors Thirteen adopted daughters Patrick and Celeste – friends – adopted Gift Christine – friend and co-worker Benji Noah	Stayed at house while ill or recuperating
	Jane – 4 years old Lisa – biological mother Gift – orphaned baby Mack – injured leg and Katie dressed Katherine – young, ill widow with six children Betty Simon, grandmother and Anna (mother)

For Discussion:

NOTE: The page numbers are from the hardback edition.

1. Consider the idea of joy versus happiness.  The author writes that, “The difference between shallow happiness and a deep, sustaining joy is sorrow” (page 89).  Do you agree?   How does experiencing sorrow help you experience joy?

 

2. In the same vein, when considering the sunflowers planted by her daughters in the backyard she writes, “Maybe the greatest joy isn’t just in beholding the flowers but in the process” (page 71).   Can you think of a time in your life when the process was more meaningful than the outcome?

 

3. Do you think a missionary can separate their personal life from the lives they are ministering to?  Katie writes that, “…this separation seems not only unbiblical but impossible” (page 59).  Do you agree?

 

4. One difference she noted was the Western idea of, “… valuing personal space and privacy” (page 59).   How difficult would it be for you to give up your personal space?

 

5. On the same page (59), one idea that really hit home to me was that she decided to, “practice the art of being interrupted.”   How difficult would this be for you? 

6. The Bible teaches that God works all things for our good.   Mack stated an example of this when he said to Katie, “If I hadn’t hurt my leg, we wouldn’t be friends now.  I wouldn’t know you, and maybe I wouldn’t know Jesus.  This leg, it was bad.  But now it is good, you know?” (page 31).  Can you think of other examples in the book?  In your own life?

7. Katie wrote that, “…the most powerful thing we can do for another person is not to try to fix his or her pain or make it go away but to acknowledge it” (page 101).  How difficult is this?   Do you think our culture is too focused on fixing everything?  What about things we cannot fix?

8. One of my favorite quotes from Aristotle is in the book, “We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit” (page 139).  How does this apply to your religious faith?

9. Did this book help you see things such as courage, burdens, being tired, etc. in a different light?

*****

First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and  Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.   Click on the upper right link.

A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles

Characters
Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov Helena – sister Nina Kulikova Sofia – daughter, left with Rostov at age 5 Mikhail Fyodorovich Mindrich “Misha” RAPP – Russian Association of Proletarian Writers Katerina Litvinova – married Misha Anna Urbanova – movie star Katuzov – one-eyed cat Osip Ivanovich Glebnikov – dinner with Rostov once a month to learn Western ways of thinking Capt. Richard Vanderwhile – American Victor Stepanovich Skadovsky – musician and Sofia’s piano teacher Lt. Pulonov – shot by Rostov after betraying Helena in revenge for incident at party	Metropol Staff
	Arkady – front desk Valentina – cleaning Pasha and Petya – bellhops Vasily – concierge Marina – seamstress Boyarsky restaurant: Andrey Duras – maître d’ Emile Zhukovsky – chef Shalyapin – hotel bar Audrius – bartender Jozef Halecki – manager of Metropol Leplevsky, “the Bishop” – manager of Metropol Abram - Handyman met on rooftop
	Timeline
	Book One – 1922 Book Two – 1923 Book Three – 1930 Book Four – 1950 Book Five – 1954

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from hardback edition.

1. When the Count was confined to the hotel and most of his possessions confiscated, he ordered three luxuries: fine linens, his favorite soap and a sweet from his favorite bakery (page 29).   What are your favorite luxuries?
2. On page 28, the Count, “acknowledged that a man must master his circumstances or be mastered by them.”  How did this concept help him survive?    Are there any circumstances that you have had to come to grips with?  How did you do that?
3. What lessons can we learn from Count Rostov?
4. What did Katuzov, the one-eyed cat, add to the novel?
5. Why was Anna Urbanova so annoyed with the Count for being able to control her dogs and picking up her blouse?  (page 129)
6. Given that the two men were raised in such different circumstances, how were Count Rostov and Abram, the handyman he found on the hotel roof, able to connect so easily? (pages 126-128)
7. Misha was sent to Siberia because he protested the removal of a few lines about Russian bread in a letter from Chekov.  Why did those in power want the lines removed?  Why was it so important to Misha that the lines stay in?
8. When Misha came to visit Rostov after leaving Siberia he commented that, “For as a people, we Russians have proven unusually adept at destroying that which we have created” (page 290).  He went on to say that this, …was not an abomination…it was our greatest strength” and that, “We are prepared to destroy that which we have created because we believe more than any of them in the power of the picture, the poem, the prayer, or the person” (page 291).   Do you understand this idea?  What do you think?
1. Rostov continued this conversation with Osip who pointed out that American neighborhoods were destroyed to build skyscrapers and said, “…we [Russians] and the Americans will lead the rest of this century because we are the only nations who have learned to brush the past aside instead of bowing before it.  But where they [Americans] have done so in service of their beloved individualism, we are attempting to do so in service of the common good” (pages 293-4).   What do you think?
9. Rostov and Osip watched many American movies in order to learn about America.   He argued that during the Depression, the movies were, “…unprecedented mechanism of class repression.  For with the cinema, the Yanks had apparently discovered how to placate the entire working class at the cost of a nickel a week” (page 293).  Do you agree?  
1. Rostov wondered if the movies during the depression were “narcotics designed to put a restless nation to sleep? Or were they signs of a native spirit to irrepressible that even a Depression couldn’t suppress it?” (page 299).
2. What would Osip and Rostov think of today’s movies?  What is their overall message?
10. What were your thoughts about Rostov sharing Russian information with the Americans?  Was this a betrayal of his country? 
11. The author has high expectations of the reader.  For example, you were expected to remember small details that became important later, such as:
1. Nina not seeing the need to say “Thank you” when a kindness is not requested but offered (pages 52 and 185).
2. The importance of the “round-faced fellow” on pages 102, 113 and 198.
3. Osip has a, “scar above his left ear where, by all appearances, someone had once attempted to cleave his skull” (page 456).   Compare  to passage on page 205.

Discuss your reading experience.  Were there times you were confused?   What parts of the story do you particularly remember?   What did you like/dislike about the novel?  Did you gain any insights into your own life through this novel?

12. Do you think a Russian would read this novel differently than an American? 

*****

First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the  upper right link.