C’s Comments (group member since Dec 12, 2024)

C’s comments from the Hooked on Books group.

Hi Fi, I hope you're still feeling better! Just checking on your R book; I don't want to miss when the spreadsheet gets updated. :)

Everyone, picaresque event started today! Double up on books as needed! :)

Well, I think I'm gonna go with a biography of Davy Crockett. He has humble beginnings, was an explorer, challenged the status quo, so was considered a rogue in his day, but definitely a hero. So I think that's my best bet, and then if I get a picaresque fiction somewhere this week, I can always swap, but at least my nonfiction will be done lol.

Still hanging onto some longer books for the spellout. 🤞

Oh nice, I didn't think of looking for tags. I'll go check the list, but I still think combining nonfiction and picaresque is going to be my best attempt for this challenge.

Edit: Well, lists were a bust... And the definition on the list that existed was more confusing about what would work based on interpretation since tag isn't very available...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Prompt # / Name: 25: Detroit
Book: Austen at Sea
Author: Natalie Jenner
Date Read: 6/7
Pages: 320
Task: Read a book where the MC's first initial is NOT found in WINDSOR
How it Fits: MCs are Henrietta and Charlotte

So many feels on that, Char. Just stretch and squeeze where you can. I have zero books planned and I'm just taking what I read that fits. Unfortunately none have been YA yet...

Prompt Name / #: Thrillers #30
Book: Crocodile Tears
Author: Mercedes Rosende
Date Read: 6/5
Pages: 248
Task: Read a book with an outdoor scene on the cover
How it Fits: outdoor parking lot on cover

I used the 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hugo for unconventional, since it's groundhog day. It was pretty good. I'm glad that wasn't the first Turton I read, since it wasn't as good imo as Last Murder at the End of the World.

I assume Rachel Anne finished what she got for May, and decided to drop out for future months. If she's still watching the chat, I'll let her confirm, but that was her last message.

Not for picaresque, but I want to double up since I need motivation for nonfiction anyway. And if we're struggling getting books to complete this challenge, we can use all the doubling up we can get...
(And once I have nonfiction read, if I read a longer fiction that is also picaresque, I can swap...) Don't judge my underhanded way of motivating myself lol.

Google is remarkably unhelpful at determining whether someone had a roguish hero life lol. It disagrees with itself on whether Mark Twain was, so I think I'm left to my own determination lol.

On the bright side, if I can find a 200 page children's book, it will work since the pages are halved. Fi, check that as an option for getting through a nonfiction. :) It may go faster and be less of a slog.

Richard wrote: "C wrote: "I'll see if I can find something short for Che"

What do you mean? I thought it was just one submission. I can do it easily."

One book per person. If all four of us read, we get bonus points.

Oh my gosh, Francis Drake would be perfect for roguish hero! I think I even have a book on him already. As long as I didn't unhaul it lol.
And if it helps anyone else, I was thinking along the lines of Douglas MacArthur, Admiral Halsey, Eisenhower, and somehow that got me to Walter Raleigh, and then boom Francis Drake lol. I've accepted the fact that my associations aren't always linear! :D
Also Davy Crockett, maybe a Native American leader... I'm thinking Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Geronimo. I don't know enough about their lives to know if they'd qualify. The US Cavalry probably would have considered them rogues I think, but that's not the best definition lol.
Looking at more bios, Ulysses Grant, Robert Lee, Joan of Arc, maybe Annie Oakley.
I guess do people need to be universally considered a rogue and a hero, or does one side of opinion consider rogue and another side consider hero?

Blast, everything at my library is either 400+ pages or juvenile. Hmm, I guess I'll stare at my nonfiction for a bit, and Google on my phone to see if the internet considers anyone a rogue that I think is a rogue. And check that it's actually got the MPG tag, since most of what I have are vintage books. :P

I'll see if I can find something short for Che. I'm not a nonfiction reader, so it's gotta be short and sweet for the most part lol. Otherwise I'm like Fi and will slump so hard that I'll never get it done. 100 or 150 pages, I can push myself through hehe. Not many points, but it moves us along. <3

Also, because I almost missed it: completions for the event are 6/9-6/16, so I may grab my book, but I'm gonna cool my jets lol.

Thanks Ashley! I missed that announcement somehow...

Team, I'm getting the spreadsheet updated. This looks like a single completion, not individuals like last time, so we'll just see what we get.
I'm already worried about us getting through the remainder of the challenge, so hopefully this added book can work for an existing task.

For fiction, the first thing that comes to mind is Dungeon Crawler Carl, but those are longer. Possibly some romances would work, since some of those have rogue characters.

As a reminder, we have five challenges we haven't encountered yet, so five books min, plus up to three books for the existing challenges. And yes, I'm staring at myself for the nonfiction, but I'm trying to think of a historical rogue and then read a short biography lol.
Richard, any thoughts on who in history is a roguish hero? I'm thinking John Paul Jones, Patrick Henry, George Custer, but not sure if they're enough of rogues (or enough of heroes; looking at you, Custer...). Or for old time actors, Errol Flynn was definitely a rogue in his personal life. Groucho Marx? I will probably do better finding a historical figure than an actor, but I'm looking for suggestions, if you have any. :)

Prompt # / Name: 6: Bog Snorkelling
Book: The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
Author: Stuart Turton
Date Read: 6/5
Pages: 458
Task: Read a book that does not follow a "traditional" style
How it Fits: style is groundhog-day, and multi-timeline

Prompt Name / #: Thrillers #29
Book: The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
Author: Stuart Turton
Date Read: 6/5
Pages: 458
Task: Read a book where the MC has a girlfriend
How it Fits: the MC ends the book with a girlfriend

Ooh, Aqua Blasters or Water Snipers sound fun! Maybe some lucky karma lol. But really anything is good. :)