February 2022 Book Club
My IRL book club met this past Tuesday to discuss February’s book. We again opted to meet via Zoom rather than in-person because of the Omicron variant, but I think we’re going to be brave next month and meet in person.
We discussed TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE by Jenny Han. There were seven of us that met and all of us read the book. Here are some highlights of our discussion:
- One person hated the book with a fiery passion because of the “fake boyfriend” trope and the ending.
- Most, including me, liked the story but disliked different aspects of it, such as the love triangle, the ending, one or more of the characters, etc.
- A couple of people loved the book and the characters and didn’t mind the things that the rest of us complained about.
- All of us watched the Netflix movie as well and every one of us loved the movie. Those of us who only liked or hated the book thought the movie fixed the problematic parts of the book.
- Most of us don’t plan to read the rest of the series. Some of us don’t plan to watch the other two movies either (me included). A couple of people have already read the whole series and watched all three movies and advocated for us to at least read and watch the second book/movie.
- Most people like the addition of the Korean culture and the Korean protagonist and how that changed/added to the story.
We actually had a really good discussion about the book and the movie. It spurred on discussions about other tropes we like and dislike, own voices, and whether or not the book being YA played a role in our opinion of it.
We also each recommended some books to vote on for our next list of books to read. I recommended A TALE FOR TIME BEING by Ruth Ozeki, any book by Fiona Davis, THE LAST ANNIVERSARY by Liane Moriarty, any book by Sally Hepworth, and TASTE: MY LIFE THROUGH FOOD by Stanley Tucci. We should have all our books voted on and figured out by next book club.
Next month’s book is NINE PERFECT STRANGERS by Liane Moriarty. I’m so excited to read it. I love Liane Moriarty so much. Everything I’ve read of hers, I’ve adored. I’m usually the one who requests we read something written by her each year. This will be our fourth book for book club. We’ve read WHAT ALICE FORGOT, BIG LITTLE LIES, and TRULY MADLY GUILTY. All of them made awesome book club books because of the discussions we had.
Anyway, have you read TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE? If so, what do you think about my book club’s discussion about it?
I recently watched the Netflix movie, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before and really enjoyed it. I have not read the book. I have not read a Liane Moriarty book yet. But, I really want to soon.
You really should read one of Liane Moriarty’s books. They’re excellent. WHAT ALICE FORGOT is my favorite!
I won’t read the book or continue watching after the first movie because of the love triangle lol And I wasn’t a huge fan of Peter in the movie either so I loved the first movie and I’ll just leave it there.
It’s interesting that you found so much to discuss from it though. I wouldn’t have thought this would be a great book club pick at first thought.
Karen @For What It’s Worth
I understand about not liking Peter. I felt the same about the actor who played Josh, but I warmed up to him. I’m the same way. I loved the first movie and how it ended was perfect and I’m happy. No need to continue. 🙂
Yes, I was quite surprised that we found so much to discuss as well. It just opened up more topics, which was great.
I’m glad that it generated so much discussion even though it was a little bit of a disappointment for many of you.
Me too! 🙂 I think if it weren’t disappointing, then it may not have generated as much discussion. LOL.
Sounds like a great discussion! I think I’ve mentioned before that I liked the movie but haven’t read the books (and don’t really plan to, like many of your members apparently). It is nice to hear that the movie did a good job fixing some problematic elements of the book.
I’m a big fan of Liane Moriarty so should be fun to see what you guys think of that 🙂
I’m very excited for Liane Moriarty’s book next month. I love her books too. She’s so awesome with her character development and the plot. Most books you get good characters or a good plot, but with her, you get both. 🙂
My book club usually doesn’t select YA titles for some of the reasons you identify. My club has a bunch of old ladies in it like me, so they tend to want to read mysteries, histories, or just well-written books. Not romance (or in this case, fake romance.)
Lol. I understand. We pick a lot of different books–YA, adult, non-fiction, romance, thriller, historical fiction, etc. I like a lot of the books we read. This one was just a disappointment.