Books and Jams Readalong discussion

You'll see I'm going to start doing things a little bit differently this time around. Since this is a longer book...and I don't know much about it, I'm going to share my thoughts chapter by chapter. I'm hoping this will inspire some of you to do the same or to respond to what stands out to me. It saves me coming up with questions when I haven't even read the book and I'd really love to have great discussions as we go along! So. This thread is for chapters 1-6.

Chapter 1
I wasn't captured right away and found the Scottish "history lesson" a bit info-dumpy right at the beginning of the book.


Chapter 2
I am not a writer. Are any of you? I found it interesting to read how this character thinks as an author. Her characters speak clearly to her and she has dreams/visions that feel very real so she writes them down right away. I love the section that talked about how some characters come barging into the story even if they were unknown or unwanted. Super interesting. I wonder if it's this way for other authors I know.


Chapter 3
I bet the audiobook of this would be great. I checked and didn't see it at my library. I get just a little bit confused reading the Doric/Scottish brogue, but bet it would sound so cool listening to it.
I wonder if there's a bit of foreshadowing when she feels a bit of unease as she's walking up to the cottage with Stuart and Jimmy.
Stuart is quite the charmer, eh? I wonder what his brother Graham will be like. Similar or opposite? I wonder who will she go for (since you know there will be a romance with one of them, haha).

I
I was glad to see that we're going to get chapters from Carrie's book she's writing. It will be fun to see how it all comes together! I didn't know that would be a part of it. I don't always like a story within a story though, so I feel a bit hesitant about it too.

Chapter 1 I love hearing anything about Scotland so the information on Scotland and the history caught me and The man with the dog had me wondering who he was since she brought him up twice in that chapter. Not necessarily hooked but ready to move on to the next chapter.

Chapter 2
No I am not a writer, but have put pen to paper many times and felt eh silly. I love her description of the area and I agree with you Krista, they way her characters are brought to life. so interesting.
Also interesting about Bram Stoker I wonder if that is true.

Chapter 3
I absolutely love Jimmy, everything about him, the way he talks and just how sweet and gentlemanly he is. Like stated in the book young men are not like that these days. I agree about the brothers Stuart or Graham which will it be. Maybe it was Graham who was walking the dog. Maybe he was visiting when she stopped by on her way to her friends house.

I
I like how we are hearing the story told, I love the history of everything. I am going back to school in hopes to get my English degree along with History. Any thing historical I find fun to read. Sophia sounds young and not sure of herself right now, but to travel back then must have been so difficult especially for a young women.

Chapter 4
So funny how Jimmy is there first thing to make sure her fire is going and that she is doing ok. When Stuart is taking her around and they go to the hotel lounge for lunch and a drink. She wonders why he looks familiar, I think it is because his brother is the man who was walking the dog. I think that is who she is going to fall for.

II
I am enjoying this book so far. So glad that the mistress of the castle isn't horrible and seems pretty nice. I wonder about Captain Gordon is he a nice guy or is he bad. hmmm. Also the stable hand, Rory why is he so quiet and standoffish. A bunch of questions in this chapter, why was the captain seeming to warn Sophia to watch out for misadventures.

Chapter 5
Pretty quick chapter. Not much to say. She did mention that feeling she had in the one chapter where it seemed someone or something was watching and waiting on her. A little eerie. I love the authors descriptions of the cliffs and the castle though. So want to go to Scotland. Wonder if I would never want to leave. lol

Chapter 6
I love all her characters in this story. Dr. Weir and his wife Elsie sound adorable. Again, I know I keep repeating myself but the history is so interesting to me. I actually want to go google some of the names and see if they are real people and real places. Fell bad for Stuart I just have this strange feeling she is going to fall for his brother when he finally shows his face in the book. Strange coincidence how she knew Captain Gordon's first name and also how she was correct with the other Hamilton. Her editor is going to be very surprised I think.


Krista I have to say I really like going chapter by chapter. It makes me feel me invested in what I am reading and also take my time and enjoy the story more.

Wendy wrote: "Chapter 1 I love hearing anything about Scotland so the information on Scotland and the history caught me and The man with the dog had me wondering who he was since she brought him up twice in that..."

Ch 4 - I loved when Jimmy and Stuart both showed up. I just love their interactions with each other. It was silly and teasing, but you can tell they love each other. I agree that I think the man with the dog might be the brother and that's why she felt like she had seen Stuart before when they were having lunch.

II - I am also glad that this separate story is interesting and engaging. I was a bit nervous that I would want to skip all these parts. I also wonder about Captain Gordon. Haven't made my mind up about him. But I'm loving the Countess.

Ch5 - I also didn't write much down in this chapter. I love how her agent/friend Jane pointed out the names in her writing. I thought then that she probably "guessed" them correctly. And again she feels the creepy/eerie feeling on the path up to the cottage.

Ch6 - I'm excited to meet all the people in the town. I loved Dr. Weir and his wife. They seem like such a cute couple and oh so helpful for her book! How crazy that she really did get the names right! I can't wait to see how this all develops. Then as Stuart was walking her up to her cottage and she steps off the path unknowingly while feeling a bit panicky all of a sudden. I wonder what that is. Is there some ghost or someone from the past that doesn't want her writing this story?


I agree, Wendy. I like making little notes as I read. It's a new thing for me and I wouldn't want to do it with every book, but for these ones we read together I think it will add to the discussion a bit to see what people are thinking every step of the way! Not everyone will probably write all their thoughts, but if just a few do then we'll have lots to discuss! :) We'll see how it goes.

Krista wrote: "Wendy wrote: "Chapter 1 I love hearing anything about Scotland so the information on Scotland and the history caught me and The man with the dog had me wondering who he was since she brought him up..."

I have been trying to annotate my books as I read along also. I actually love annotating. I started doing it a bunch toward the end of last year and hope to continue this year.

Chapters 1-4
I am really enjoying this book so far. I love the description of the cottage and the castle. I just had to google it and see if for myself. Awesome! I also enjoyed the local dialect and the conversation between the characters. Like you, when the narration switched to the novel she is writing; I didn’t appreciate it and hope I can get into it. I am going to have to reread it because I admit to skimming that chapter.

I like the way the story is coming together. I’m not opposed to the story within a story as long as it’s done well. So far I like it. I will say the history info dumps are a bit much for me. I tend to skim those passages. I like how she seems to be channeling her characters vs creating them. Their spirits seem to be guiding her through the story subconsciously. I did feel bad that she doesn’t seem to have any feeling towards Stuart since he is clearly attracted to her. I have a feeling that the man with the dog is his brother so that will make for and interesting love triangle. Can’t wait to read more today!

I honestly have no idea where I'm at in this book.
I started it well over a week ago - with the audio version and just wasn't captured at all.
I have switched back to reading it myself in the last few days and am riveted! I'm not really sure what's going on or how the connection is happening....but it's exciting and creepy at the same time. I'm finding it a bit more creepy than I did Rebecca which didn't seem creepy at all to me.
Creepy doesn't seem like the best word.....it's not scary though. I'm at a loss - which is why I read instead of write.

Leslie wrote: "Chapters 1-4
I am really enjoying this book so far. I love the description of the cottage and the castle. I just had to google it and see if for myself. Awesome! I also enjoyed the local dialect an..."

I wish I had googled it before the end of the book! Slains castle is so cool and the ruins are much bigger than I was picturing. I wish I had those images in my mind while reading. Oh well. I hope you grew to love the novel she was writing. I think I ended up liking that more than the "real life" storyline.

Amber wrote: "I like the way the story is coming together. I’m not opposed to the story within a story as long as it’s done well. So far I like it. I will say the history info dumps are a bit much for me. I tend..."

Yeah, the beginning had quite a few info dump situations. It was too much for me too.

Cassie wrote: "I honestly have no idea where I'm at in this book.
I started it well over a week ago - with the audio version and just wasn't captured at all.
I have switched back to reading it myself in the las..."

I love this. I am usually a fan of an audiobook when I'm not connecting to the writing, but I just had a similar situation with another book I'm reading. I wasn't connecting to the book at the beginning so I started the audio, but then I switched back to the print book and can barely put it down. I'm glad you're into this one! I think the "creepy" vibes will leave for the most part. It does have a strange feel to it. I liked it!