First off, thank you so much to Lisa, for actually partcipating in the book club activities the last couple of days! Sometimes, I really think I am just picking a book for myself to read and discuss with myself. And Lisa. ha. (and kelly, when i wrote this last nite, i hadn't seen hers yet either!)
If you actually DO want to partcipate in next month's selection and reading, go back to Monday and put in a suggestion for May's group read.
Now here are some discussion questions for Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah.
1. From her earliest memory, Tully feels abandoned by her mother and father. How does this sense of being unwanted influence her life? How does her troubled relationship with her mother lead to the decisions she makes in her life? Do children have an obligation of some kind to forgive their parents, even inthe face of repeated disappointment? How much do you think childhood heartaches make us who we are?
2. The Kate-Johnny-Tully triangle is one of the fundamental underpinnings of the novel. How does Johnny really feel about Tully? How does Tully feel about him?
3. When Chad leaves Tully, she rationalizes away her broken heart by saying,"if really loved me, he would wait for me." What does this reveal about Tully's perception of romantic love? How do these perceptions setthe stage for the rest of her life? Do you believe that Tully will ever fall in love?
4. Under what circumstances do you feel a betrayal is unforgivable? Do you feel that any of these characters crossed that line?
5. What role do you see Tully playing in Mara's life, after the pages of the novel are closed?
Leave your comments, and I will be back later to comment back!
Showing posts with label firefly lane. Show all posts
Showing posts with label firefly lane. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Music of My Life as inspired by Firefly Lane
Those of you who have read Firefly Lane know that music plays a big part in the story. The songs change as the years change and certain songs bring Tully and Kate right back to a memory shared between the two. So many songs remind me of people or times or places in my life and this weekend as I sat in the theater watching Kenny Chesney in 3D (yeah no judging, he’s my true love yo!) it reminded me of how many songs take me back and how may of his songs in particular take me back. And when I say take me back it’s usually me thinking of myself belting out the tunes in my car; or hearing certain songs on the radio on long road trips with family. Compiling this list was so hard, because so many songs remind me of people, places and times in my life. I know that I will forget some important ones, but here I go!
The Childhood Years
1. American Pie by Don McClean – I LOVED THIS song. We used to hear it at least twice every time we drove to my grandparent’s house. I’ve known all the lyrics for what seems like my entire life. It reminds me of good times.
2. How Can I Help You to Say Goodbye by Patty Loveless – I remember asking my mom what her favorite song was when I was probably 7 or 8, and she flipped the channel and this song was playing and she said this was one of them. I then had to be just like mommy and decided I liked it too! Still makes me want to cry when I hear it!
3. Last Kiss by J Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers – So I may not have known current music existed until after I was 5. We listened to the Oldies station with my parents all the time. This was one of my faves! When I think of this song, I think of night time driving in my parents old mni-van.
4. Leader of the Pack by The Shangri-Las – Vroom Vroom. I always used to hear this driving to my grandma’s house! And I loved it!
5. That’s What Friends are For – We learned this in Music Class and would always sing it!
And further proof that my memory sucks, there used to be a song that I LOVED, and would sit out in my parents yard singing and pretending to play drums with my neighbor, and I cannot think of it’s name.. but many summer nights were spent out “playing!”
The Awkward Years aka Junior Hell er High..
1. California Love by 2pac – I still remember finding out 2pac was shot and killed during what I think was my very first Junior High Dance. My BFF’s mom picked us up in their rockin’ mini-van and we heard the news on the radio. Oh and they played that song AT EVERY dance I attended 7th-12th grade.
2. Pretty Much the entire 2pac Greatest Hits Double CD – I would blast this every morning as I got ready for school in front of my bedroom mirror!
3. Don’t Speak by No Doubt - Totally did a lip sync with 2 other girls to this song in speech class. It sucked.
4. Mariah Carey.. oh god did we listen to a lot of Mariah Carey and “dedicate” songs to boys we liked! Laaaaaaame.
You Couldn’t Pay Me to Go Back aka High School
1. Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC – Same group of us sang/danced this song at every dance we attended.
2.Ice Ice Baby – Junior Year, brand new car/license my bff and I purchased a rockin’ TAPE that included this. We would drive around town BLARING this song. I also know all the words to it ha.
3. Baby Got Back – It was also on the best tape ever!
4. City High Cd –My friend Mark and I pretty much wore this CD out one summer in my blazer driving around town!
5. Beer Run by Garth Brooks – Reminds me of a road trip to an out of town basketball game where we got completely lost, and showed up with 1 quarter of the bball game left. After, we had originally left an hour late. Whoops. We may have played this cd over and over. The boy who claimed we dated was with us. So sadly, I think of him too. Bleck.
College 2002-2007
1. Get Low by Lil Jon and the Eastside Boys – I worked as a night receptionist and people would always come in drunk singing this song and tell me they lived in room 369. Most of the time they did not.
2. It’s Your Birthday – Oh lord this song was alllll over the place. I always remember dancing around my dorm at MSU freshman year to this gem!
3. Lips of An Angel – Totally reminds me of an ex. Used to belt this out in the car.
4. How Forever Feels by Kenny Chesney – Totally was proposed to during this song!
5. Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey – Tuesday dollar nights at a local bar with our favorite local band! It’s been my ringtone for 2 years now as well ha.
6. No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems by Kenny Chesney – Summer 2003. Sun, sand, drinks and friends!
7. Who You’d Be Today by Kenny Chesney – Always makes me want to cry and think of my friend who passed away waaaaaaay to young.
8. Young by Kenny Chesney – Wild times in my dorm in 2002! Haha
9. I go Back by Kenny – Reminds me of allll my good ole times!
Post-College
1. Went Out Last Night by Kenny Chesney – All the wild times I have with my friends! I have had more fun/crazy times post-college!
2. This Afternoon by Nickelback – Also reminds me of my friends and are late nights in my back yard!
3. Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus – This was our theme song for our Nashville trip. We may have a dance to it.
4. Lady Gaga – Reminds me of two friends and karaoke in Nashville. And the video I have to prove all the crazy happened!
5. Because of You by Reba and Kelly Clarkson – Reminds me of an ex. And I enjoy belting it out on my way to work in the morning to get me going for the day.
Wow, this is an incredibly long list and I feel as though I should stop now or I could keep adding and adding and adding. What’s on your list?
The Childhood Years
1. American Pie by Don McClean – I LOVED THIS song. We used to hear it at least twice every time we drove to my grandparent’s house. I’ve known all the lyrics for what seems like my entire life. It reminds me of good times.
2. How Can I Help You to Say Goodbye by Patty Loveless – I remember asking my mom what her favorite song was when I was probably 7 or 8, and she flipped the channel and this song was playing and she said this was one of them. I then had to be just like mommy and decided I liked it too! Still makes me want to cry when I hear it!
3. Last Kiss by J Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers – So I may not have known current music existed until after I was 5. We listened to the Oldies station with my parents all the time. This was one of my faves! When I think of this song, I think of night time driving in my parents old mni-van.
4. Leader of the Pack by The Shangri-Las – Vroom Vroom. I always used to hear this driving to my grandma’s house! And I loved it!
5. That’s What Friends are For – We learned this in Music Class and would always sing it!
And further proof that my memory sucks, there used to be a song that I LOVED, and would sit out in my parents yard singing and pretending to play drums with my neighbor, and I cannot think of it’s name.. but many summer nights were spent out “playing!”
The Awkward Years aka Junior Hell er High..
1. California Love by 2pac – I still remember finding out 2pac was shot and killed during what I think was my very first Junior High Dance. My BFF’s mom picked us up in their rockin’ mini-van and we heard the news on the radio. Oh and they played that song AT EVERY dance I attended 7th-12th grade.
2. Pretty Much the entire 2pac Greatest Hits Double CD – I would blast this every morning as I got ready for school in front of my bedroom mirror!
3. Don’t Speak by No Doubt - Totally did a lip sync with 2 other girls to this song in speech class. It sucked.
4. Mariah Carey.. oh god did we listen to a lot of Mariah Carey and “dedicate” songs to boys we liked! Laaaaaaame.
You Couldn’t Pay Me to Go Back aka High School
1. Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC – Same group of us sang/danced this song at every dance we attended.
2.Ice Ice Baby – Junior Year, brand new car/license my bff and I purchased a rockin’ TAPE that included this. We would drive around town BLARING this song. I also know all the words to it ha.
3. Baby Got Back – It was also on the best tape ever!
4. City High Cd –My friend Mark and I pretty much wore this CD out one summer in my blazer driving around town!
5. Beer Run by Garth Brooks – Reminds me of a road trip to an out of town basketball game where we got completely lost, and showed up with 1 quarter of the bball game left. After, we had originally left an hour late. Whoops. We may have played this cd over and over. The boy who claimed we dated was with us. So sadly, I think of him too. Bleck.
College 2002-2007
1. Get Low by Lil Jon and the Eastside Boys – I worked as a night receptionist and people would always come in drunk singing this song and tell me they lived in room 369. Most of the time they did not.
2. It’s Your Birthday – Oh lord this song was alllll over the place. I always remember dancing around my dorm at MSU freshman year to this gem!
3. Lips of An Angel – Totally reminds me of an ex. Used to belt this out in the car.
4. How Forever Feels by Kenny Chesney – Totally was proposed to during this song!
5. Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey – Tuesday dollar nights at a local bar with our favorite local band! It’s been my ringtone for 2 years now as well ha.
6. No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems by Kenny Chesney – Summer 2003. Sun, sand, drinks and friends!
7. Who You’d Be Today by Kenny Chesney – Always makes me want to cry and think of my friend who passed away waaaaaaay to young.
8. Young by Kenny Chesney – Wild times in my dorm in 2002! Haha
9. I go Back by Kenny – Reminds me of allll my good ole times!
Post-College
1. Went Out Last Night by Kenny Chesney – All the wild times I have with my friends! I have had more fun/crazy times post-college!
2. This Afternoon by Nickelback – Also reminds me of my friends and are late nights in my back yard!
3. Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus – This was our theme song for our Nashville trip. We may have a dance to it.
4. Lady Gaga – Reminds me of two friends and karaoke in Nashville. And the video I have to prove all the crazy happened!
5. Because of You by Reba and Kelly Clarkson – Reminds me of an ex. And I enjoy belting it out on my way to work in the morning to get me going for the day.
Wow, this is an incredibly long list and I feel as though I should stop now or I could keep adding and adding and adding. What’s on your list?
Monday, April 26, 2010
Review: Firefly Lane
Wow. This was probably my favorite book so far in 2010. I flew through it and I have only done that with one other novel this year, 13 reasons why.
Firefly Lane covers the 30 year friendship of Kate Mularkey and Tully Hart. Absurdly different, they take on the world together. We enter their lives in 8th grade when Kate is a loner and Tully has moved to town with her stoner mom. They start off their relationship with Tully, in Tully form, being an awful bitch to Kate, and Kate being the friend Tully needs after a devastating experience. Tully's mom gets sent to jail and the two must rely on letters through most of high school.
Tully has decided they are going to be TV Reporters and Kate is easily manipulated into that dream as well. They are roomies at the University of Washington where they blossom and bloom in their own ways. Kate is a hopeless romantic and Tully the driven pessimist. After college they move into an apartment and get a job that Tully got for them and where they share Johnny as a boss.
Johnny like most people are drawn to Tully's personality and he is bewitched. Kate is equally bewitched with Johnny she falls head over heels with him and never breathes a word to anyone. Which, she should have because that would have saved her the heart ache of her BEST FRIEND SLEEPING WITH JOHNNY before they got together. Cuz that would have been nice.
Anywho, Kate the good Catholic girl, gets knocked up and marries Johnny. Tully can't understand marriage and tying yourself down and losing your dream. Which, Kate IS living her dream, but Tully is too stubborn to realize that HER dream isn't the same as Kate's.
Long story short, they grow up and older and Tully becomes hugely successful and Kate enjoys her life in her own way. They fight, they make up and they are always there for each other. Until they aren't after a horrendously bad decision on Tully's part. And that is alll of the spoliers I shall retell here.
My view: I LOVED IT. I adored Kate, flaws and all, and Tully was okay but she needed to be smacked. I couldn't stand how she always ran to Kate's mom to tattle. Dude, fight your own fights and realize the world is not all about you. Kate also needed to speak up for herself more. I could totally picture Johnny has incredibly handsome. Kate's daughter needed a serious attitude adjustment and I loved Mrs. Mularkey. It was such an awesomely written story that had me up way past my bedtime with tears dripping down. It probably wasn't the best book for me to read given how easy it is for me to cry about people dying lately, especially moms, but I adored it.
This was such a great book about enduring female relationships and mother daughter relationships.
What did you think? Who did you relate to the most? What part of the book made you want to throttle a character?
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Book Blogger April Book Activities
Hello one and all. I finished Firefly Lane by Kirstin Hannah on Monday night and while reading the back section of her book was directed to her website http://www.kristinhannah.com/content/index.php . While there I found some interesting book club suggestions and wanted to let you all know about some exciting events coming next week on my blog and I hope you all will join in!
On Monday, April 26th I am going to share my review of Firefly Lane. If anyone else would like to also post their review on their blog that day, that would be awesome, and we could all compare what each other has to say!
On Tuesday, April 27th, it is Music of Your Life Day! Come up with a playlist spanning your life. So I will be sharing 12-20 songs that have had special meaning in my life. It would be awesome if you would ALSO like to host this on your blog that day as well. Or you could share in the comments. This is one of the ideas I gleamed from her site!
On Wednesday, April 28th I will be posting Discussion Questions for Firefly Lane. If you have any you would like to include in the post, respond here or you can email me at pinkflipflops44 at gmail dot com. Or you can pose them in the comments of the post next Wednesday!
That is all I have planned now, but I may or may not have a few more ideas up my sleeves. If you have any suggestions, comments or whatever let me know. I really hope everyone who reads the book will participate in one or all of next week's book club festivities!
On Monday, April 26th I am going to share my review of Firefly Lane. If anyone else would like to also post their review on their blog that day, that would be awesome, and we could all compare what each other has to say!
On Tuesday, April 27th, it is Music of Your Life Day! Come up with a playlist spanning your life. So I will be sharing 12-20 songs that have had special meaning in my life. It would be awesome if you would ALSO like to host this on your blog that day as well. Or you could share in the comments. This is one of the ideas I gleamed from her site!
On Wednesday, April 28th I will be posting Discussion Questions for Firefly Lane. If you have any you would like to include in the post, respond here or you can email me at pinkflipflops44 at gmail dot com. Or you can pose them in the comments of the post next Wednesday!
That is all I have planned now, but I may or may not have a few more ideas up my sleeves. If you have any suggestions, comments or whatever let me know. I really hope everyone who reads the book will participate in one or all of next week's book club festivities!
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