Play Book Tag discussion

Just wanted to remind you guys that many of us are excited to read the Weight of Ink together this month. I am doing it in my local book club for October 21st. So I am starting it as soon as my current book is complete. I haven't recounted recently, but i think we have a good 15 or so folks from PBT interested. Starting a thread here to add your ongoing thoughts, progress, reviews, and discussion.

Hopefully I get a chance to get to it.

I picked it up from the library a week ago and plan on starting it as soon as I finish The Kite Runner.

As soon as I finish this one book I plan on starting Amy. I'm excited for another buddy read.

If I can finish up a couple of the books I have going now, I will join you-if not see you in November for Circe

Starting it tonight! Finished my last book... ready to jump in...

You finished that one quickly! I will get started on it by Wednesday.

I'd like to join in the group read and discussion too. I read The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. I loved it! To this day it is still my favorite book. I just have to get by a Barnes and Noble to pick up a copy. Looking forward to it.

I've started! :)

DianeMP wrote: "I'd like to join in the group read and discussion too. I read The People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. I loved it! To this day it is still my favorite book. I just have to get by a Barnes and No..."

Glad you are joining!

Charlotte wrote: "I've started! :)"

Oh boy. You and Amy both. I will be finishing up this one book today and will start Weight of Ink tomorrow. I have been looking forward to this book for some time.

Rachel wrote: "Oh boy. You and Amy both. I will be finishing up this one book today and will start Weight of Ink tomorrow. I have been looking forward to this book for some time."

I have limited time to read this month starting next week.... I'm heading to FL to pack up my mom's house and put it on the market... so I needed to really hit the ground running, once I get to FL, I'll be too busy or too tired to read.

Hopefully, something about this book will be soothing or comforting when you have the time to settle In.

Went by Barnes and Noble today and picked up Weight of Ink. I started reading and may be hooked already.

Everyone says it’s incredibly compelling. I’m only about 25 pages in and wish I had a free day today. So glad all of you guys are reading with us together. That was a poor writing and sentence structure but I think you know what I mean. I’m thrilled to be reading this with all of you. Thank you for participating with me.

I started last night and wish I could sit and read this all day. I'm already enthralled. Glad to be reading with you as well Amy.

I'm not that far into this book but wow.

I'm honestly struggling... I've been reading for a few days and am barely 50 pages in... which is not normal for me.

Although, I think it is more to do with all of stuff that is going on in my life that is overwhelming me, rather than the book itself. I did just renew it at the library so that I can take it on my cross country trek to FL and maybe I'll get some reading in at the airport and on the plane next week.

I do find it incredibly interesting and am so glad that there is truth to some of the history around what was going on in England during the 1660s. It was prior to this time that my family fled England and other parts of Europe for the US. It makes me want to read more about this time period to get a better understanding of the climate and culture of the time and place.

Charlotte wrote: "I'm honestly struggling... I've been reading for a few days and am barely 50 pages in... which is not normal for me.

Although, I think it is more to do with all of the stuff that is going on in my li..."

I know for myself there are times I struggle to read a book when other times I could read this book. But as I continue to read I do see that this is a pretty heavy book. Literally and figuratively.:) I find the present time easier to read and going back into time slightly more difficult. Difficult in the sense I will reread certain paragraphs to make sure I have a grasp or if I feel I missed something.

Rachel wrote: "I know for myself there are times I struggle to read a book when other times I could read this book. But as I continue to read I do see that this is a pretty heavy book."

I agree with you. I'm thinking I'll take a couple of lighter books with me on my journey to fit Canadian or Halloween.

I’m hoping to get to it next week. I’ve been off the grid in general. I sold my house in Boynton and relocated to Clearwater. Officially moved in on 9/29 and have been here since 9/25; cleaning and setting up. Going home to NY on Monday so should be good to go for the group read.

25% in....

Ladyslott wrote: "I’m hoping to get to it next week. I’ve been off the grid in general. I sold my house in Boynton and relocated to Clearwater. Officially moved in on 9/29 and have been here since 9/25; cleaning and..."

Congrats on your move! I love Clearwater!! I lived just south of there in St. Petersburg near Treasure Island before I moved to Washington State. Headed to Jacksonville next week to pack up my mom's house and put it on the market... She's following me here to WA.

Amy wrote: "25% in...."

Awesome!!! I hope to get about that far by the end of the weekend. Not planning on doing anything else today other than watch college football and read.

Charlotte wrote: "Amy wrote: "25% in...."

Awesome!!! I hope to get about that far by the end of the weekend. Not planning on doing anything else today other than watch college football and read."

Enjoy your day Charlotte.:)

I've finished the book and will hold off any discussion or my review for now. But I loved this book. It is most definitely not "light" reading but I thought it to be profound. I'm looking forward to talking about this.

57%.....

Succumbed. Bought it. I need to finish at least one other before I start it though 😁

Prep for travel and worrying about traveling into a hurricane got in the way... still traveling but I brought it with me!! I think I’m still around 50 pages in.

No worries.:) I’ve written my review and tried to keep it somewhat vague but I don’t need to post it yet. I’m just looking forward to talking about it. It’s still early! Charlotte stay safe.

All I want to do is read this thing, but my life continues to get in the way! Actually xeroxed pages 334-335 in the hardback version. Blew my mind what we were talking about! I’m not understanding it so differently.

You go girl!!! can't wait to chat about this one...

💗💜💚

Here goes: I hate spoilers and I try to make sure my review doesn't contain them. We have three that have finished the book (myself, KSZR, and Rachel), and others are reading it now, including Kate and Theresa. Charlotte farther behind. Maybe we wait to discuss it? Up to you guys, but my review is being posted anyway. I forgot to add something in my review so I need a few minutes for it. But here we go:

The Weight of Ink

Giving this book five stars is easy. But somehow actually writing a review feels incredibly difficult. A friend who just finished it recently as I was beginning it, said “I’m still processing it.” Those words have stayed with me, as I have felt the same way throughout the book. Like I am still processing it. Having finished it this morning – I find that I loved it, but that my thoughts are scattered. I just don’t know what to make of it. It was profound, meaningful, and the word confusing comes to mind, but it is not apt. More like there are gaps, but that’s not accurate either. Ah – it’s the spaces between the words, both of the book itself and the experiences that were captured within. The spaces between what is known and unknown, told and untold. We glimpse Ester’s life and thinking, with some things unfolded and some things missing and veiled to us. The Historians Helen and Aaron who are researching her, second scribing her some 300 years later, can only begin to guess or glean, and some things will never be told. Ultimately, is shows us some things cannot or might not ever be known about history. And yet we chase it anyway. But that’s only one part of the story.

The other part of the story is Ester and other characters (Helen, Aaron) and even minor characters quest to understand something both philosophical and profound – the basic question of is there meaning to life? Is there a God? Why does God permit such suffering, injustice, oppression? Do we cling to our beliefs to manage the losses and terrors of the past? How do we understand experiences such as love, desire, life, and pleasure? And through lenses of varying characters at varying points in time. There is so much to discuss in this book, that I know will expand it for me – and I am grateful that I have at least two forums for that.

I found I turned down pages (ACK!) to Zerox certain passages to return to, simply because the intertwine of the writing and the words moved me so. I felt I had found an essence, although that essence would shift. This book reminds me of a river – and I loved the references to river throughout the book. The word ‘life force’ also springs to mind, but with the contrast of mind, dusty volumes, conservation rooms, putrid air, religious intolerance, educational institutions, and constricting corsets. And yet the heartbeat pulses. When that would happen within the book mine would pulse too. In a way the book had a dry and slow quality as well as an exciting one. And this becomes mirrored in our current historians, one old, one young, as they carefully dryly, go through these papers in search of a clue.

Another friend who is reading the book and was halfway through, said that she felt this book was about PTSD. I didn’t know what she meant at the time as I was just at the beginning, but I have held her words too and have come to understand. How we narrate a life is also at the center of this book – how we make sense of our experiences. I have been thinking a lot about what the world opens to us, and what we open to it.

There is so much more to say, and so much more that’s yet to be said. I am so looking forward to conversation of all kinds, and to now reading reviews I had yet to fully read. Five stars that will likely grow into more. I feel a meteor shower is yet to come, as I now get to go deeper with others.

Amy wrote: "The Weight of Ink

Giving this book five stars is easy. But somehow actually writing a review feels incredibly difficult. A friend who just finished it recently as I was beginning it, said “I’m st..."

Amy, how wonderful. I can't wait to talk about this book. I was actually talking to a friend about it today that has not read it yet. I just can't stop thinking about it.

The Weight of Ink is 560 pages of magnificent prose separated by centuries, and the choices and sacrifices that two women must make in order to reconcile the life of the heart and mind.This richly detailed novel about the Jewish population of 17th-century London brings to life the hardships of being a Jewish woman desiring to explore theology and philosophy. The author weaves a story making the lives of the researchers in the modern age as compelling as the story unfolding in the past. Near the end, the two narrative threads begin to parallel one another in unexpected ways.
In the 17th-century a young woman, Ester is serving as scribe to a blind rabbi. She struggles against the limitations society puts on her gender and her religion, desperate for the freedom to pursue her intellectual interests. Ester is presented as that rare gem, a young woman with her own mind who garners grudging respect from some men because she’s stubbornly different. But when the plague hits London, shattering any facade of stability, Ester must figure out how to survive in the face of a devastating disease, while maintaining her faith when confronted with angry Londoners looking to blame the city’s Jews for their troubles.
Three centuries later a lonely history professor, Helen is on the verge of a forced retirement and her assistant, a Jewish grad student stuck on his dead-end dissertation, uncover a cache of documents from the rabbi's household and begin to piece together who could have written them. Aaron finds himself relating to Ester’s own questioning of the Jewish doctrines both have been taught all their lives. Ester’s community wants her to marry and live the life of a traditional Jewish wife, while Aaron slowly becomes conscious of the pressures placed on him to play a certain role, whether it’s his rabbi father expecting him to be more pious, or even Helen, who sees in him a reminder of the Jewish lover she left behind decades ago in Israel. All three characters are deeply rich, full of many emotions along with strengths and weaknesses. The novel contains some beautiful meditations on love, history, gender roles, and Judaism. I will be thinking over the poetic passages for quite some time to come.
I've tried to keep this review simplified as I don't want to give anything away. I can wait until everyone is done so we can discuss this. Let me just say this is one of my favorite books of the year.

Your review Rachel, blew mine out of the water! It really did justice to such a beautiful book that I will be thinking about for some time to come.

Amy wrote: "Your review Rachel, blew mine out of the water! It really did justice to such a beautiful book that I will be thinking about for some time to come."

Thank you Amy. I love your reviews. I always do. When I read your reviews I feel like I'm sitting in a coffee shop with you sharing amazing thoughts about a book we love.

I have downloaded it, ready to read it in next week or so. I have a couple library ebooks to finish ahead of it!

Both reviews here are wonderful. As you have both noted, this book is like history = it needs time to be studied before you fully understand.
There were some lines that captured me so I took them down.
So looking forward to our discussion on this! Tried to leave most comments out of the review to have them.

I started it last night and I am loving it. I'm posting now to suggest another book those who have finished it might want to read: The Last Watchman of Old Cairo. Published in March 2018, it features in part the geniza of the synagogue in Old Cairo (now a museum and the geniza is in London). The Last Watchman of Old Cairo is one of my favorite books read all year, I recommend it to everyone, gave it 5 stars, and I just stumbled across it, thought it looked interesting.

You know, prior to reading The Last Watchman of Old Cairo, I had never heard of a geniza, let alone known any history about them. What are the chances of reading 2 books a few months apart featuring different ones?

Three of us just read it together in July....

Amy wrote: "Three of us just read it together in July...."

The month before I found PBK.

Possibly more. There was a buddy read company to the Decathalon many of us were in buddy read groups and this was a book that maybe four or five of us read. We loved it too. I was thinking about it, my book club he’s going to be talking about this book this Sunday. Maybe we wait openly talk about it until you Theresa Have finished it, and after Sunday. Although if you finish it before, I don’t mind if you dive in. That’s just my suggestion but I’m open to anything.

Amy wrote: "Possibly more. There was a buddy read company to the Decathalon many of us were in buddy read groups and this was a book that maybe four or five of us read. We loved it too. I was thinking about it..."

This sounds good to me Amy.:)

YES! Can’t wait to talk with you about this book! Will check in with you about where you are before we start really diving in. Unless you give us the green light.

Am finished. Such a lovely book!

Fantastic! Now who are we waiting for? Theresa, maybe AJ, and maybe Linda? Charlotte may not be close enough to starting. Come to tho k of it, I haven’t seen her around. We know she has pressing life stuff. Lets at least give the other three a chance to check in. Recent finishers include KSZR, Rachel, me and Kate.

By the way, I had remembered JoLene gave it five stars, read it earlier this year and loved it!

I’m looking forward to discussing this. And Jolene gave it 5 stars. I love this so much.