Hello fellow readers!!! Do you love to think deeply about the books you read? I have a spent a few days, putting this discussion post together to do just that. I took a look at some of the author interviews, reviews from different news sources, and used the Study Guide for Book Clubs: Klara and the Sun by Kathryn Cope to pull this post together. While I love and often think I am talking to my shelf when I delve deeper into the books I read, I would love for you to join in the comments below. Or give me a thumbs up, or a like if I am not talking to just to my shelf or you thought this was a good idea and was helpful to think deeper about the book.

Caution, Spoilers below

Question 1: What did you think of the story narrated by Artificial friend Klara? Did you find Klara a likeable narrator? Were you able to connect with her, or did you find it hard to?

Brenda: I found Klara a likable narrator, and I loved the depth of her emotional intelligence that mirrored and was used as a metaphor for the perfect parent/human. We see some human emotional truths that are a little uncomfortable to admit, and I loved how through Klara, she gave me some insight on how we connect with others.

I liked what Ishiguro had to say about Klara being artificial, and that gave me a bit to think about how we relate to characters that I hadn’t thought about before.

“It shouldn’t be that surprising, really, though, that an artificial creature could actually solicit our sympathies as much as a human one. Because after all, characters in books are artificial. We’re making that kind of leap anyway. When we read books and you get weepy over the fate of some character, we’re not weeping over a real person. We’ve put ourselves into some kind of space where we’re relating to created beings. At some level, we’re responding metaphorically because we think that it impinges, in some metaphorical relationship to our real lives, I suppose. I never thought it was going to actually be an intrinsic problem in terms of how my readers would feel because my main character was artificial” ~ Ishiguro taken from an interview

What do you think of Ishiguro comment above?

Question 2: There are a few themes explored through the eyes of Klara. Themes of loneliness, class/discrimination, parenting, and different forms of love. Which one stood out the most for you, and did you understand something different about human behavior through Klara? 

Brenda: Themes of parenting stood out the most, seeing Klara as a perfect parent metaphor. I thought differently about how what we feel is best for our children might not be. Our hopes, dreams, needs, wants, and feelings can cloud what is best for our children. Klara’s hope, feelings and wants for Josie are not complicated by her own. Also, the idea of how society treats people as being replaceable.

Question 3: Think about the themes of Class/Discrimination ~ the haves and have nots are examined here between the lifted Josie and non-lifted Rick. Genetic editing has become the norm for the privileged. The advantages are significant enough that parents are willing to put their children at risk to ensure their children have the advantages and benefits from being lifted. In a world where technology replaces human jobs, these advantages become more critical. Through Rick, we see him pitied and shamed by other children. Chrissie and Helen both carry quilt over their decision to have their children lifted. Chrissie is less honest with herself with her regret, while Helen is haunted by the consequences of Rick’s lifted status. Themes of guilt, regret and sacrifices are explored. Were you able to put yourself in the mother’s shoes and wonder what you would do? Did the way you felt about Chrissie change as you saw how Rick was treated and how that put him at a disadvantage in getting into college? Did you feel sympathy for Chrissie?

Brenda: I felt differently for Chrissie as I understood Helen’s feelings and guilt when seeing how Rick is treated and at a disadvantage. It can also be painful for a parent to see their child struggle to fit in, be happy, and succeed. It was easier to put myself in Helen’s shoes, and it also made it easier to put myself in Chrissie’s shoes and see why she would want her children to have those advantages. I could relate to both mothers with their endless guilt for their children, but I couldn’t find the sympathy I wanted to feel for Chrissie even though I understood why she would make the choices she did.

Question 3: AFs are created solely to be companions of children. They can be disposable, substituted, and replaced. There are parallels here as to how humans treat each other. Friends/companions will often move on when they no longer need each other. Josie’s attachment to Klara shows how fragile human affection can be and how humans can exploit others for their own needs. Klara is also treated as a threat for taking jobs away or like a household appliance. She receives little respect or thanks. What takeaways did you pick up on what this says about humanity’s capacity for empathy and gratitude?  

Brenda: My biggest takeaway from this is we don’t live in this world alone, we share it with others. This speaks strongly to the idea we live in a selfish/throwaway society, and it has become harder to empathize with or appreciate others. I think accepting that as an emotional truth makes it easier to understand humans better.

Question 4: Klara is programmed to learn human emotions, we see that she is able to process some the positive emotions. In many ways she can be seen as a selfless human. She could be argued she is an improved version of a human. Does this strike you as more or less human? Do you think Klara had feelings? Or do you think that we, as readers, imposed feelings on her throughout the story based on her actions? In that sense, discuss the fine line between action and feeling.

Brenda: I don’t think Klara did have feelings, but because she could process positive emotions, her actions were based on that and not her feelings. I am not sure there is a fine line between actions and feelings. Just feeling something is not enough it’s what we do with those feelings through our actions that define us. With the idea that humans are not designed to love unselfishly because it’s hard to put aside our own feelings, Klara could be an improved version of a human. When we see Klara’s hopes for Josie, it’s not complicated by her feeling. However, being the perfect companion could have allowed Josie to become selfish. I think in the end, through her actions, it made Klara feel good she was a good companion, and that was all that mattered to her. I think it’s easy to forget that it feels good to do something selfless for others. I feel like we have become an artificial society with how we feel, care, treat and need other people. 

I think as a reader I did impose feeling on her not only based on her actions but also because I wanted to see her as a selfless being and take inspiration from that. I think as humans because we can live in an artificial society we can be incapable of being selfless through our actions but I think we do feel for others and maybe see that as a weakness when really that is a strength.

Question 5: How does loneliness drive the behaviour of the characters?

Brenda: I think Klara sums it up when she says, “They fear loneliness, and that is why they behave as they do”. While reading Men and Mice, I picked something up for it about loneliness that I think we saw here with how the children treated Rick. When people feel helpless with loneliness, they can dehumanize those they think are weaker than they are.

Fearing being alone the mother is unable to accept losing Josie. She is focused on her grief and pain is only capable of protecting herself. She has given up on Josie surviving.

Question 6: Ishiguro ponders some human and emotional questions about the mother wanting to have Josies’ personality captured and re-created algothnnically. How did you feel about the mother wanting to do this? This opens up questions like what is this loss, and what can we do to protect ourselves from the pain? What makes an individual unique, how irreplaceable is any human, and what does that person mean to you?

Brenda: At first, the thought of being able to recreate someone artificially scared me, and I didn’t want to think about it, but then I started thinking about how desperate the mother must be to want to do that. I think that showed us how her desperation clouded how realistic that would be because of what Josie really means to her. I think it could never replace the loss of the actual child, and she was fooling herself into thinking it would. I think if we could replace people artificially, it would be in our version of the perfect companion and not that of someone human.

I loved how this part of the storyline opened up those questions to pondered and I thought through Chrissie it gave us a good opportunity to think about them and evaluate how we look at any human’s life. With the idea we live in a throwaway society, have we come to see people as being replaceable. Is a neighbours life or one lost be easily forgotten or not important, if they don’t mean anything to you. I thought about what could Chrissie do to protect herself from the pain of losing Josie. Because I don’t an answer to it I found it hard to judge Chrissie. So it’s a good question to ponder.

Question 6: Ishiguro leaves out many details around the novel’s setting, Josie’s condition, and what it means to be ‘lifted’. How did this affect your reading of the book? 

Brenda: I found that frustrating I didn’t understand more about Josie’s condition and what it meant. I would of liked this explained more in the story.

Question 7: The sun symbolizes life and hope. Klara sees the sun as a source of life and nourishment. She makes a deal with the sun and we see the hope she has for Josie. Why do you think that Klara believes that the Sun is the remedy for Josie’s illness? What do you think the Sun represented in the book?

Brenda: While I think you could draw some God like comparisons to the sun, I think the sun represented that hope we need when faced with the hardness of life. While I don’t think hope or faith is what brings us what we seek in hardship it’s gives us the strength we need.

Question 8: The author refers to this one as a cheerful, optimistic book. Do you agree?

Brenda: I thought it was a realistic, profound, and insightful look at the emotional truth that humanity is fundamentally selfish. It’s hard to be optimistic about that, but maybe there is hope for humanity

Question 9: What did you think about the ending of the book? Could you be happy knowing you served your purpose despite being discarded later or think about a time you might of had a role in treating someone like that?

Brenda: It’s not the way I wanted it to end and I wanted an ending where Josie saw how unselfish Klara was. However one of the takeaways I took from the ending was we can’t change people but we can take pleasure in how it feels to be selfless and accepting of people. So maybe that an optimistic view.

Question 10: What was the biggest takeaway you took from the story?

Brenda: The idea that humanity is fundamentally selfish and we can learn something from all the characters.

Thank you so much for reading my post and please join it, give me a thumbs up or like if you thought this post was helpful or a good idea for future posts.

Penny for your thoughts in the comments

Howdy Bookworms, Book geeks, and Book Nerds!! Today I am switching it up a bit and geeking out about geeking out about books. This is what I do when I am supposed to be writing reviews. So here I am instead of writing a review for my most recent read, I am off in a different direction, talking about Bookworms, Book geeks, and Book Nerds!

Just for fun, I thought about what each one is, and then I did a little internet search, took a few quizzes, and then made this list. I have come to the conclusion I am all of them!!! Book nerd, geek, or bookworm, I am geeking out with my thoughts on why I think I am a book nerd, geek, or worm, and I found it fun to do!!

I am a Bookworm

• I have tons of books to read and feel I have nothing to read yet I am always reading
• I have piles of books beside my bed and even sleep with some
• I pack twice as many books for a trip just because I like looking at them
• I love to smell books
• I collect bookmarks and book sleeves (Norma makes the bookmarks and my Mom the sleeves) and I match bookmarks to the themes or mood of the book and book sleeves to the color of the covers
• When I am not reading I looking for my next read and constantly making new lists
• I get excited about anything that is book related
• It’s a good day when I see a new book written by a favourite author

I am a Book Geek

• It drives me nuts when I see someone reading and I can’t see what they are reading
• I have to control myself when I am in a book store not to suggest books to everyone
• I read more Ebooks than prints even though I have stacks of prints
• I roll my eyes every time I hear someone say they don’t have time to read because reading is like breathing to me
• I fall asleep reading every night otherwise my mind doesn’t quiet down enough to fall asleep
• I want to read every book I read with someone so I can talk about it and see what they have to say about the book
• I am introvert but won’t say I am socially awkward
• I love series but often forget what happened in the previous books by the time I read the next one
• People often look at me with blank looks on their faces when I start talking about books
• All my friends are fictional and I relate to them more than I do real people.
• I can tune out everything and everyone when I am reading or thinking about books and I constantly need to snap back to reality
• I wrote this post and found it fun.

I am a Book Nerd

• I find with any conversation I have, I have the opportunity to say, I read a book about that.
• I can relate almost everyone to a character I have read and it helps me understand people more. I want to give advice to people based on a character I read.
• I learn things through the books I read and use them to relate to the world around me
• I spend too much time dealing with the emotions of the characters
• I want to know everything there is about the structure of a book and not because I want to write one.
• I am in reading groups
• When I finish reading a book I want to geek out about the structure, elements and themes of the story.
• I spent hours looking up thing I want to know about books, gathering information and then struggle with narrowing it done to one topic.
• I feel the need to know why the author wrote the characters the way they did
• I have posts planed to geek out on topics related to books
• I have trouble narrowing down what I want to write in my reviews and posts because I want to dissect the book.
• I worry I might of missed something in a book so I read reviews on the internet for books after I read them
• I hold back how much I really over think a book so I am too nerdy

The book sleeves are made by my Mom and the bookmarks by Norma. Check out their Etsy shop for more book sleeves and bookmarks. Click here for their Etsy shop Use SISTERS20 at the checkout for 20% off.

What are you a Book nerd, geek, worm or all of them?

Hello Friends!!! Well, it’s been a year since the world shut down due to the Pandemic, and I have been doing some reflecting. Today, I am talking about how the last year has changed the way I read and what. Before the shutdown, I decided to shift my focus from print copies from publishers to reading more books on my kindle through NG and EW. With the publishers no longer able to send out books, the timing on that was perfect. With the load of print copies off my plate, I began to look at what I wanted more out of what I was reading, and I began to see more of what I liked and didn’t like from the books I was reading. I questioned if I was influenced as to what to read by the print copies publishers were promoting instead of my interests and the changing world around me. I began to feel more in control of what I was reading instead of being influenced.

That led me to focus more on the books I read and enjoyed and the books’ authors. With authors not promoting their books, I started to add more author Q & A to The Behind the Pages Group. I was thrilled with the response I received from the authors, and their passion shone through. I started to look at their stories differently and feel their love for their stories and characters. My focus shifted from the publishers and myself to the authors. I gained a deeper appreciation for their work and stories as they shared why they wrote the characters and themes the way they did.

From watching how the Pandemic separated us in different sides with wearing a mask I questioned how social justice played in those sides. I wanted to understand how there was such a huge gap between us. That began to influence what I wanted to see in the books I read and I became aware of how often themes of us against them was used in fiction.

The most significant change to what I read came from the black lives matter protests, and I began to see the world differently. I bought a few books on racial justice, which opened up doors for me, and I started to challenge how I thought about the world around me. It became clear what I wanted from books instead of what was expected in books. I then chose to challenge those expectations in books, and I wanted better from what I was reading. My search for better books started.

The book that had the most significant impact on me choosing to challenge those expectations in books and how women are portrayed in fiction was Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay. She starts by addressing “flawed if not damaging representations of women we’re consuming in music, movies and literature.” I took a look at my feminism and what that meant to me. I realized how all those expected gender roles for women shaped me, isolated me, and formed my thoughts on women’s roles. I started to question how conditioned we have become with expected gender roles for women and men and wondered how much of an impact what we read and watch has on those exceptions. I connected to her and her thoughts right away, and her tone and approach to her essays that open my eyes to how I connect to the world through what I read, and I started to see how important it is to expected better from what I read. 

Feminism gave me the framework to begin to understand the world more.

I began to challenge the way I thought about racism in Canada and realized I denied it existed here. I didn’t want to believe it did and I broke out of that bubble and read my first collection of essays by Canadian Haudenosaunee writer Alicia Elliott.

A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott

Alicia Elliott covers a bit of ground here with the subject matter she explores in her personal essays. She draws on her own experiences as she explores colonialism, racism, mental health, abuse, sexual assault, poverty, malnutrition, capitalism parenthood and writing.  With some of the essay I found myself denying her reasons for her arguments and I wanted to argue some of my assumptions with her in my head. I began to become aware of my denial and assumptions towards racism and I realized how important it is to listen instead of defending.

My eyes were now open and I began to look at more Canadian authors sharing their life experiences.

From the Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way by Jesse Thistle

While I had the privilege of owning a loft in downtown Kelowna BC it overlooked a street where homeless people lived. A much smaller and protected street than the streets Jesse Thistle lived homeless in Vancouver, BC. My perceptive of homelessness did change, and I wondered what their stories were that led them there and wanted to understand more about addiction and homelessness. Jesse Thistle gave a voice to the unseen homeless people by sharing his personal story and journey from his early years in Saskatchewan, abandoned by his parents, living with his grandparents in Toronto, his self-destructive cycle of drugs, alcohol, crime and homelessness, to finding his way.

“I longed to be part of something again. To be known and accepted. To hear my name. No one ever said my name anymore. I never told anyone who I was for fear of being found out. For what? I didn’t know. I had forgotten years ago. I slumped forward on the bench and held my head in my hands, trying to remember how my name sounded. I spelled it aloud to myself. J-E-S-S-E. Jesse.” 

It is an extraordinary, remarkable and inspiring story of survival that offers hope, an inspiration to others, and a lesson in empathy.

We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir by Samra Habib

I picked this one up because I wanted to understand the importance of identity. While Samra Habib showed me the importance she shared her experience growing up as a Ahmadi Muslim in Pakistan, where she was taught to keep her identity a secret to protect herself from danger. Hiding became a familiar way of survival for her, and she continued hiding after reaching Canada as a refugee and following her parents’ rules. She began to realize she needed to find her authentic self, who she identified as. I picked up something valuable here from her and her journey, and she challenged my thoughts on a few things towards racism, identity and the privileges of feeling safer because of the colour of my skin or who I identify as. This was another book that challenge my denial of racism in Canada.

With both books I read on talking to white people about racism, it’s clear to see the authors goals are to open up a meaningful discussion about race, between white and people of color while entering the conversation as equals.

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

With her compassionate and understanding tone, Ijeoma Oluo put me at ease right away as I took an uncomfortable look at my own denial about racism. Through her examples of conversations with white people about race and racism, I could see myself as the white person she was talking to, and it opened my eyes up to the assumption we have as white people. I realized the first step was I needed to understand that everyone who is white has white privilege and how I benefit from it. My understanding of privilege came from books I have read that portray privilege as something that wealthy people have or is “good shit you should feel bad about having so that other people can feel better about not having it”  Ijeoma Oluo helped me to understand that privileges are advantages we have that other people don’t. I can’t help myself by saying this, a few authors miss what privilege is. Understanding privilege changed the way I felt about myself and the world. 

Ijeoma Oluo starts each chapter with a question and then explores the answers in a nonjudgmental, understanding way and avoids any tone of us against them by honestly exploring the answers. This also had me thinking about author’s tone in fiction with us against them and harmful that is. She explores “What is intersectionality and why do I need it?” “Is police brutality really about race?” What is school-to-prison pipeline?” “What is cultural appropriation?” and more. 

Ijeoma Oluo ends with the chapter Talking is great, but what else can we I do? She offers us great tips and reminders as well as a discussion guide.

Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

Well, I can see why Reni Eddo-Lodge is no longer talking to white people about race. She boldly lays it all out there why. While it was easy to feel her frustration, her tone comes from exhausting conversations with white people about race. “She is done talking to white people who haven’t thought about what it means to be white, who defend their whiteness and then flip it to a black person’s problem to deal with.” I realized the uncomfortable truth that she is done talking to white people like me. Nice white people who don’t understand or recognizance that racism is a systemic problem, or see the existence of structural racism and it symptoms.

“Not seeing race does little to deconstruct racist structures or materially improve the conditions which people of colour are subject to daily. In order to dismantle unjust, racist structures, we must see race. We must see who benefits from their race, who is disproportionately impacted by negative stereotypes about their race, and to who power and privilege is bestowed upon – earned or not – because of their race, their class, and their gender. Seeing race is essential to changing the system.”

While Reni Eddo-Lodge delves into structural racism and white privilege, she focuses on events and history in Britain, the themes she explores touch all people of color everywhere. Even though I still have more to understand once I check my denial and defence I was able to see the existence of structural racism and how whiteness plays into the world we live in. The thing that stood out the most to me was white feminism, and Reni Eddo-Lodge gives us a good understanding how the feminism movement is not about white women fighting for equal treatment in their workplace, but it is about equality for all women. 

“For those who identify as a feminist, but have never questioned what it means to be white, it is likely the phrase white feminism applies“

While it was a challenging year, it was a year of so many changes, opportunities to do thing different, and take a look at the world around us. To choose to do better and choose to challenge!!! It opened up a whole new world of information I seek to find from what I read!!!

Want to chat? How has the Pandemic changed the way and what you read?

Hello Friends! I am back with another overthinking it post, and today I am talking about what makes a strong female character.

Often in reviews, I see mention of strong women, and it makes me wonder if this is just an overused phrase or if there is some substance to those words. That led me to the question of “what makes a strong female character,” and I did a little digging around the internet to gather some thoughts about that question.

I think a lot about gender roles, how women are portrayed and represented in fiction. Do we see women strong because of their disadvantages, the actions of other characters towards them or the cruelty of men? Do we see women as strong for overcoming or surviving the violence of men? If we do, what about women who are struggling? Are they weak and considered not strong? What about brave? Does a women have to be brave to be strong? Are women brave for speaking out or their willingness to take action?

So let’s talk about what makes a strong female character!

She should be a strong character first who has goals that are well-thought-out and explored—a solid character with clear traits, interests, and challenges/conflicts. She feels fear, is vulnerable, flawed, and has self-doubt.

Gender comes after that. She is well represented without falling into gender roles, norms, or harmful tropes. She doesn’t go against gender traits to make a point, but her character does challenge some of them.

She has her own goals, objectives, challenges, conflicts but doesn’t have a personal agenda. Her goals are tied to her environment(culture, family, social justice, job, etc) and the story’s plot. She takes action and drives the story. She sees the bigger picture, and through her actions, she shows us. She makes hard choices but not just for herself, and she deals with the consequences.

She doesn’t exist because of the other characters. She grounds the other characters and is not grounded by them or is at a disadvantage because of them. Characters are there to support her as she achieves her goals. She is willing to take help and support from the other characters as the story develops but is still self-sufficient. She is strong because of her actions and not the actions of the other characters..

She has a back story that shows us her flaws, and we see her grow as the story unfolds. She has setbacks but bounces back, and we see her develop with each turn to the story.

She is as selfless as she is selfish. She cares about others and shows empathy. She is self-aware of her own truths and the truths around her. She is aware of her obstacles and driven to overcome them rather than bury her head. She fights for what is right and as hard for others as she does herself while being true to herself and others.

We can learn from her!

What do you think makes a strong female character? Drop me a comment below!