Books on the Nightstand discussion

Hi all!
It's September 3, 2 days than I said that we would start this group read. I see that some have already started the book. I plan to read the first chapter tonight.

I see that there are 15 chapters so I thought about reading a chapter a night. I have never read any Toni Morrison book before, but I'll try to help guide anyone who gets lost.

Feel free to post, ask questions, make comments. I'll make an initial post on Facebook, but figure this is where most of the discussion will take place.

Ok. I have the book . Started to read the first chapter and I’ll try to do the one chapter per day thing.

How about this...evidently I read this about 20 years ago. I have absolutely no recollection of that.

I read the first chapter last night. The first page or two seemed confusing to me, but I quickly got the idea of what was going on.

I’m heading into Chapter 4 today. Don’t let the jumping insurance agent throw you off. So far he remains a minor character. Maybe that will change.

Linda wrote: "I’m heading into Chapter 4 today. Don’t let the jumping insurance agent throw you off. So far he remains a minor character. Maybe that will change."

Thanks, Linda, I needed that.

I, too, will be reading Chapter 4 today.

I’m behind, just finished chapter 1.

Chapter 5 was a bit difficult, but I got through it and Chapter 6.

Ok. The relevance of the jumping insurance resurfaces in chapter 8-9.

Finished. Had a hard time in the first 5 chapters but after that I got the rhythm and figured out the characters clearer. Loved this.

Deb wrote: "Finished. Had a hard time in the first 5 chapters but after that I got the rhythm and figured out the characters clearer. Loved this."

Deb, I agree with you the first few chapters were difficult. But reading Toni Morrison is never easy. As I go along it is definitely getting easier/clearer. I have 6 chapters to go. I've been taking my time and letting it sink in. :)

I too found it challenging but so glad I re-read this and thanks for "hosting". I almost never read any book twice but there is clearly value in certain books being read again after a longer span of life and experiences. I read "To Kill a Mockingbird" in the 8th grade. What a waste. I re-read it recently and it was a completely different book. This ("Song of Solomon" ) was worth it. Thanks again.

I’m way behind. I got sucked into The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 on Tuesday’s publication date and haven’t stopped. It’s sad and slow going because I have to keep taking breaks (emotionally) and I don’t want to interrupt it with anything else.

Thank you all for your helpful comments. I’ve started the book three times. I was about to give up but maybe I’ll give it one more shot.

Tina, I think of hadn't parsed the chapters out - reading one a day, I might not have gotten as far as I did. Unfortunately, life has gotten in the way so the past few days I have not been able to keep up to the chapter a day, but the chapters have gotten very long. One was about 40 pages, but, still, I have fewer than 100 pages to go. And, I'm committed.

Starting it a third time was the charm. I’ve made it to chapter three. Thanks for the warning about the length of future chapters.

I finished this morning. As soon as I did I went to Shmoop.com and read the synopsis of the last seven chapters. That helped me a lot. I must have fallen asleep a couple of times because I'd missed things.