We read this book for "Virginia Reads" in September of 2008. Many of our members had already read the book or at least seen the movie many years ago. There was much controversy as to whether it was a good slection before we met. In the end, everybody was glad we took the time to read this book (for some again). The story takes on hot issues from the past of racism in the south with a white girl wrongly accusing a black man of rape. The story is seen through the eyes of the children of the man who accepts the case as the defendant's lawyer in a time when no white man would touch such a case. Harper Lee does an amazing job of portraing the incedent from many different points of view. Members of our group were disappointed and frankly shocked that Harper Lee never went on to write anymore books.

Although I didn't enjoy this title as much as I remembered I still found it insightful especially when you consider it was written in 1932. It is about a utopian world where everybody belongs to everybody, sex and drugs keep emotions in check and nobody is unhappy with their lot in life. Except, of course, the rejected culture that is left to fend for themselves. I think it's meant to shock us into realizing there can never really be a utopia because people are too complex.We had an interesting discussion but it was not a big hit with the group overall.

I like Agatha Christie. She is a great author but this isn't a great book for a book group simply because there isn't that much to talk about unless you've read many or most of her books. Most of us had not read more than one which sort of limited what all we could discuss.

I liked this book more that the rest of the group. They found it rather pointless as whole. I think if Sara would have concentrated more on the apes we would have enjoyed it more. It seemed that the character development was weak at best. It had potential to be quite interesting but left us unsatisfied.

I found this book interesting. It takes a while to understand how the different characters have any connection. What I liked about it best, once I began to understand what was going on, was how I really still had no idea what would come next. I thought it might be fairly predictable but it was anything but. The people,although not terribly likeable, are interesting. If you want a read that keeps you guessing...this might be the one for you.