Well, here is a busted play.

I was all pumped for discussion and predictions of the first two books in the Chaos Walking trilogy before the finale is published tomorrow — but there was no hold on the release of the third book, Monsters of Men, and it has been thoroughly reviewed with most plot points that would have been subject to speculation now part of the public record. And why not? The book has been available in hardcover and paperback in the UK since 3 May of this year.

Which status quo calls for a HogwartsProfessor Book Club change of plans! Here are the changes: [Read more…]

The first book we will be reading in the Hogwarts Professor Book Club is Patrick Ness’ Monsters of Men, which will be published on 28 September. The thing is that Monsters is not a stand alone work; it’s the final novel in Mr. Ness’ Chaos Walking trilogy. If you haven’t read the first two book, The Knife of Never Letting Go and The Ask and The Answer, then you have a bunch of great reading to do in the next two weeks.

The bad news is “time is short!” The good news is that that’s the only bad news; the novels are wonderfully well written, challenging, and promise a huge pay-off ( a Monster pay-off?) in the series finale. My job this week and next is to provide “reading ideas,” questions and thoughts for your reflection on your first or second trip through the first and second books, ideas to foster return trips to the book that are spoiler free. In the days just prior to Monsters of Men‘s publication, I’ll put up some speculative notes about the last book that will assume you’ve read Knife and The Ask.

Here are my first five ideas to spur your thinking:

[Read more…]