All Aboard for The Girl on the Train

This month the book discussion group met to discuss Paula Hawkins's psychological thriller The Girl on the Train. A lively discussion was accompanied with some light refreshments. Below are some additional resources on this book for your perusal.

Movie Tie-In

• Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkoEE1i0CX8
• Cast info & more: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3631112/
• Press: http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/celebrity/549513/the-girl-on-the-train-filming.html#index=1; http://www.ew.com/article/2016/08/02/girl-train-movie-tie-book-cover; & http://christiantimes.com/article/the-girl-on-the-train-release-date-news-trailer-released-film-as-the-next-gone-girl/59402.htm

Discussion Questions

• http://www.penguin.com/read/book-clubs/the-girl-on-the-train/9781594633669
• http://www.randomhouse.co.nz/blog/ithe-girl-on-the-traini-reading-group-questions-371.aspx
• https://www.sarahsbookshelves.com/the-girl-on-the-train-by-paula-hawkins-spoiler-discussion/
• https://blog.whsmith.co.uk/rjsu16-book-club-questions-for-the-girl-on-the-train-by-paula-hawkins/

Read-a-Likes

• http://hollywoodlife.com/2016/07/19/books-like-the-girl-on-the-train-list-read/
• http://www.bustle.com/articles/174144-7-ya-books-to-read-if-you-loved-the-girl-on-the-train
• http://www.cincinnatilibrary.org/booklists/readalikes/girlonthetrain/
• http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/books-video-music/books/booklists/booklist.jsp?listTitle=Read+Alikes%3A+The+Girl+on+the+Train&listId=0AuWq260_K8h2dFBwNlk5TjRSZ19YYUswcFE1LV9RTmc&sheetId=oa5

Book Reviews

• The New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/05/books/the-girl-on-the-train-by-paula-hawkins.html
• NPR - http://www.npr.org/2015/01/13/376167043/girl-on-the-train-pays-homage-to-hitchcock
• The Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jan/08/the-girl-on-the-train-paula-hawkins-review-novel
• Boston Globe - https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2015/01/03/book-review-the-girl-train-paula-hawkins/s1VAJ2tsJ5HAGyxHLGrbUI/story.html
• The Washington Post - https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/mysteries-review-paula-hawkinss-the-girl-on-the-train-and-harriet-lanes-her/2015/02/01/97362332-a803-11e4-a7c2-03d37af98440_story.html

“I did as Gaskill said, I bought a ham and cheese sandwich and a bottle of water from a corner shop and took it to Witney’s only park, a rather sorry little patch of land surrounded by 1930s houses and given over almost entirely to an asphalted playground. I sat on a bench at the edge of this space, watching mothers and childminders scolding their charges for eating sand out of the pit. I used to dream of this, a few years back. I dreamed of coming here—not to eat ham and cheese sandwiches in between police interviews, obviously. I dreamed of coming here with my own baby. I thought about the buggy I would buy, all the time I would spend in Trotters and at the Early Leaning Centre sizing up adorable outfits and educational toys. I thought about how I would sit here, bouncing my own bundle of joy on my lap.”

               -  Paula Hawkins’s The Girl on the Train

Author Interviews

• NPR - http://www.npr.org/2015/01/13/376996145/girl-on-the-train-is-a-journey-into-the-lives-of-familiar-strangers
• The New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/books/paula-hawkinss-journey-to-the-girl-on-the-train.html
• BBC - http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-30882359 [video]
• The Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/apr/29/paula-hawkins-woman-behind-the-girl-on-the-train-interview & https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/19/paul-hawkins-girl-on-the-train-interview
• CBC News - http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/girl-on-train-hawkins-romance-reporting-bestseller-1.3286648

Miscellany

• https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/12/barack-obama-summer-reading-list-girl-on-the-train - The Girl on the Train is on Barack Obama's summer reading list; now that we've read it also I guess this means we're all one step closer to being presidential! ;)
• http://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobehmed/2016/08/03/paula-hawkins-joins-highest-paid-authors-ranking-with-the-girl-on-the-train/#4c3989f4ab05
• http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/awards-and-prizes/article/70332-girl-on-the-train-among-audie-award-winners.html

All the Little Birdies Go Tweet, Tweet, Tweet for The Goldfinch

For the month of June, our intrepid book group members tackled Donna Tartt's tome The Goldfinch. We enjoyed a golden bird cake (pictured below) with our discussion of this hefty novel.

Please find below various resources regarding this Pulitzer Prize-winning book.

Movie Adaptation

• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3864056/
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/29/goldfinch-movie-deal_n_5631822.html
• http://time.com/3597446/goldfinch-movie-adaptation/
• http://www.themillions.com/2014/03/we-cast-the-goldfinch-movie-so-hollywood-doesnt-have-to.html
• http://www.ew.com/article/2014/07/30/goldfinch-movie-dream-cast

The Goldfinch Painting

• http://www.frick.org/exhibitions/mauritshuis/605
• http://www.wga.hu/html_m/f/fabritiu/carel/goldfinc.html
• http://www.essentialvermeer.com/dutch-painters/masters/cfabritiusbase.html 
• http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704483004575524242638692182
• https://www.thedodo.com/the-story-behind-the-chained-b-389073851.html
• http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/01/face-to-face-with-the-goldfinch-the-painting-from-donna-tartt-s-novel.html
• The Goldfinch painting plus all the other paintings mentioned in the book: http://www.themillions.com/2015/08/beyond-the-bird-art-in-the-goldfinch.html

Discussion Questions

• http://www.readinggroupguides.com/reviews/the-goldfinch/guide
• http://www.litlovers.com/reading-guides/13-fiction/9396-goldfinch-tartt?start=3
• http://www.justusgalsbos.com/blog/2014/11/book-club-discussion-questions-for.html
• http://sixtyandme.com/book-club-the-goldfinch-by-donna-tartt/

Book/Literary Reviews

• http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2014/07/goldfinch-donna-tartt-literary-criticism
• http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/books/review/donna-tartts-goldfinch.html?_r=0
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2014/04/15/the-disappointing-novel-that-just-won-a-pulitzer-prize/
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/27/the-goldfinch-book_n_5489272.html
• https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/17/goldfinch-donna-tartt-review

Author Interviews

• http://www.chatelaine.com/living/chatelaine-book-club/interview-with-donna-tartt-author-of-the-goldfinch/
• http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/21/books/donna-tartt-talks-a-bit-about-the-goldfinch.html
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmZ_92v9D_E
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiL1dIXAQKo
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPgPixshbXo

Miscellany

• The New York Times article on the value of stolen art: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/17/magazine/what-is-the-value-of-stolen-art.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
• Pulitzer Prize page: http://www.pulitzer.org/winners/donna-tartt
• Salon article about the depiction of race in The Goldfinch: http://www.salon.com/2014/06/13/donna_tartts_multicultural_fantasy_how_the_goldfinch_got_away_with_its_disgraceful_racial_politics/