Heena’s Comments (group member since Oct 13, 2014)

Heena’s comments from the RMFAO (Reading My Frigging A** Off) group.

Here's the link to the February - Mystery-Thrillers' board: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Hello all,

For a lot of people, February is one of the most exciting months here at RMFAO (including me) because it is the Mystery-Thrillers month! This month you can read all the thrillers and mystery books that you have on your shelf or on your tbr-lists. So what are we waiting for? Let's get rolling...

Here is the DEFINITION for this month's genre:

Mystery Mystery fiction is a genre of fiction usually involving a mysterious death or a crime to be solved. In a closed circle of suspects, each suspect must have a credible motive and a reasonable opportunity for committing the crime. The central character must be a detective who eventually solves the mystery by logical deduction from facts fairly presented to the reader. Sometimes mystery books are nonfictional. "Mystery fiction" can be detective stories in which the emphasis is on the puzzle or suspense element and its logical solution such as a whodunit. Mystery fiction can be contrasted with hardboiled detective stories, which focus on action and gritty realism.
Mystery fiction may involve a supernatural mystery where the solution does not have to be logical, and even no crime involved. This usage was common in the pulp magazines of the 1930s and 1940s, where titles such as Dime Mystery, Thrilling Mystery and Spicy Mystery offered what at the time were described as "weird menace" stories—supernatural horror in the vein of Grand Guignol. This contrasted with parallel titles of the same names which contained conventional hardboiled crime fiction. The first use of "mystery" in this sense was by Dime Mystery, which started out as an ordinary crime fiction magazine but switched to "weird menace" during the latter part of 1933.

Classification:
- Traditional mystery
- Thrillers
- Cozy mystery
- Police procedural
- Hardboiled

Thriller: Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film and television, having numerous subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. Successful examples of thrillers are the films of Alfred Hitchcock.[3]
Thrillers generally keep the audience on the "edge of their seats" as the plot builds towards a climax. The cover-up of important information from the viewer is a common element.[4] Literary devices such as red herrings, plot twists, and cliffhangers are used extensively. A thriller is usually a villain-driven plot, whereby he or she presents obstacles that the protagonist must overcome.

TYPES:
- Action Thriller(action is the main element)
- Conspiracy Thriller (protagonist must confront a large, powerful organization whose threat only he sees)
- Crime Thriller (usually from the criminal’s point of view)
- Disaster Thriller (natural disaster is taking place and the antagonist is either trying to stop the disaster or trying to run away from it or its extent)
- Eco-Thriller (protagonist must stop a threat to the environment - man-made or natural)
- Forensic Thriller (protagonist(s) are forensic scientists whose involvement in an unsolved crime threatens their lives)
- Legal Thriller (takes place in and around the courtroom. Usually the protagonist is a lawyer)
- Medical Thriller (involves something usually used for medical purposes becoming a deadly weapon. The protagonist or antagonist or both are doctors)
- Mystery Thriller (a subgenre of both mysteries and thrillers. It differs from a regular mystery by being much more fast-paced, with the protagonist on the run and the threat of another crime serving as the “ticking clock")
- Political Thriller (political relations or the whole government is at stake, and the protagonist is employed by the government to stop the decline)
- Psychological Thriller (a lot of the conflict is mental, rather than physical. The protagonist has become involved in a dangerous situation which literally threatens their sanity)
- Religious Thriller (uses the history and myths of religion)
- Romantic Thriller (a subgenre of both thrillers and romantic novels. The plot line follows a typical thriller’s tension, suspense, and excitement, but a main element is the growing relationship between two characters)
- Spy Thriller (focuses on the high adventures of field agents. It is usually set against the backdrop of some war.
- Supernatural Thriller (otherworldy elements are introduced, usually as an antagonistic force, but just as in the romantic thriller, the plot line and feel or distinctly that of thrillers. Some characters may have psychic abilities and other supernatural novel elements may be present)
- Techno-Thriller (a cross between near-future science fiction and thrillers. Cutting-edge technology plays an important role, either as something to obtain, or working for or against the protagonist)

-->>Please Note: There are absolutely no limits so you can interpret this genre in its broader sense and include other similar genres and/or subgenres that you feel might have a wee bit of similarity with the main genre. You can also include books that are not particularly centered around the main genre but has its components or elements somewhere in the story.

Here's a quick summary of the levels:

Level 1: Casual Reader: 1 book (easy)
Level 2: Frequent Reader: 2 books (moderate)
Level 3: Bookworm: 3 books (mildly strenuous)
Level 4: Bibliophile: 4 books (strenuous)
Level 5: Bookiopath: 5 books or more (challenging)

Please mention what type of books you'd be reading:

PB: Paperbacks
EB: E-Books
AB: Audio Books

Please feel free to announce your to-read books along with the level you are targeting for below.

PLEASE READ (for new members):
1. You can read any number of books for the respective genre each month in one particular month.
2. Take your time and go through your entire TBR-list before deciding the books to read.
3. You can join the challenge at any stage (in any month.)
4. You can drop out of the challenge any time you like.
5. You can select different levels every month.
6. Use this discussion board to share your reads with other members of the group.
7. Please be active and don't hesitate to ask questions or recommend books.

Note: The main intent of this challenge is to incorporate different kinds of books and genres in our normal reading routine to make the experience more fun and entertaining. Please do not lose yourself in the technicalities as we all know how literary genres can be confusing.

If you have any doubts or questions, then post them below and we'll be happy to answer/discuss them.
Happy reading!

1. Manga Classics: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austin - Manga Classic by Stacy King - 4/5

Pleasure :)

Cheryl wrote: "Since February's Genre Challenge is Mystery/Thrillers, I'd like someone to find me a Young Adult book that would fit the Mystery/Thrillers category. And I'd like it to have a contemporary setting, ..."

Have you read (or heard of) Theodore Boone books by John Grisham? I've read the first one and it was a good story: Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer
Another one (this one I'm planning to read for either Mystery or YA month) is The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett.

I'll keep an eye out for any other YA Mystery and will share if something catches my attention.

SumitRK wrote: "Heena wrote: "SumitRK wrote: "Heena wrote: "Find Me A Book: I'd like to read a book on Elves. Elves should be the main/lead characters and not just the side ones. Dark fantasy books would be really..."

I saw this now... Thanks a lot Sumit. I don't read a lot of ROmance unless it's by Nicholas Sparks, so I'm not sure about those, though I will definitely check out the other link as those comics/GNs look promising. Thanks for sharing the links! Appreciate it :)

My fourth book for Sci-Fi is Swan Song by Robert McCammon. I had wanted to read it for the Apocalyptic month, but I already have The Stand by SK for it, so I thought I'll read it this month, but considering that I'm only 2/9 parts done with it, it'll probably take me another 10-15 days to finish this.

I'll try and finish the other short story I was reading and count it as 4th instead.

3. River Rising - 5/5 stars

This was my 6th or 7th book by the author and as usual, author Heldt's time-travel story was as good as it can get. I'm glad that this was the first book in his new series, so I'm looking forward to the other books too!

Thanks, Cheryl.
I agree, this book is for everyone, gamers and non-gamers alike. There are just so many things so inevitably there's something for everyone.
I'm so glad we did this buddy read!

1. Herding Cats - 3/5

I'll be going for Level 5: 25 books or more.

My review of Ready Player One: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

1. Stranger In A Strange Land - 3/5 - a lot of unnecessary wandering, though great concept.

2. Ready Player One - 5/5 - Amazing book. A must-read for everyone! Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I'm done with the book and absolutely loved it!! 5 glowing stars :)

And here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Art3mis beat Parzival to the Jade Key. I knew something like this would happen because Wade really lost it in the last couple of chapters. He really needed a boost. And I really like Art3 so I'm not sad that it wasn't Wade who found the key first.

I'm not sure why but I have a feeling about Aech playing some big part int he chapters to come. Maybe it's just because I wanted Wade to be his friends, and felt sad when he and Aech grew apart. Though I hope Aech's character doesn't turn out to be something entirely different. OMG, I can't wait to read further.

So far I loved all the quests and loved reading the names of some of my favourite stuff (bands, movies and cartoons.) And I do agree with Halliday that Indiana Jones movies died with the crystal skull. After that even I stopped watching them all together.
I'm planning to download Adventure and playing it once I get some time this (or the next weekend)! I can't wait to play it :D

I'm on Chapter 22 and what a ride!! I wanted to check in here before and share a couple of passages that I really liked, but I got busy with work and wasn't able to come here at all.

Here are a couple of lines I really liked:

The Hallidays looked like an ordinary American family. There was no hint that the stoic man in the brown leisure suit was an abusive alcoholic, that the smiling woman in the floral pantsuit was bipolar or that the young boy in the faded Asteroids T-shirt would one day create an entirely new universe.
- Page 103

1. Stranger in a Strange Land - 3/5 - A great concept, but a lot of wandering and an anti-climatic ending. I suppose I've grokked this book in its fullness... and it is a goodness too.

Hello RMFAO members,

This year we've decided to include Bonus Challenge to the list of our yearly challenges. Bonus Challenge is a challenge in which we give you a challenge in terms of some pre-decided specifications and you pick a book accordingly and read it. We'll be having one Bonus Challenge per month so you'll have enough time to get the book and read it accordingly. The challenge is completely open for creative interpretation, so feel free to do it as per your understanding.

To make it more fun, you can couple it with our other challenges like Genre Challenge or Classics Catchup and make this challenge more interesting.

Here's the list of all 12 challenges for 2018:

‣ January - Read a book with a popular expression for the title (eg. Gone With The Wind, Carry On, Catch-22)
‣ February - Read a book with a weapon on its cover
‣ March - Read a book on time travel
‣ April - Read a book with disability as a theme
‣ May - Start and finish a book on a weekend (or any 2 consecutive days of the week)
‣ June - Read a book with journal/diary entries (fiction or non-fiction)
‣ July - Read a book with illustrations of any kind
‣ August - Read a book with a female as the main character
‣ September - Read a book with striking typography on the cover
‣ October - Read a book with blood on its cover
‣ November - Read a book with a one-word title
‣ December - Read a fairy tale retelling

You can download this image here: https://thereadingbud.com/wp-content/...

In order to participate, simply announce your participation here. Or if you have a blog just do a simple post announcing your participation and sharing details of the challenge (you can freely copy and paste from here) and leave the link here.

>> We encourage social shares, so if you'd be sharing or mentioning this challenge on your social media, don't forget to tag - #RMFAO and @thereadingbud <<

Other challenges that you can participate in are:
RMFAO 2018 Genre Challenge
RMFAO 2018 Classics Catchup
RMFAO 2018 NetGalley Challenge
RMFAO 2018 Series Challenge
RMFAO 2018 Audiobooks Challenge

You can also read blog posts relating to this challenge, other challenges or the group itself here: https://thereadingbud.com/rmfao/

For any queries, you can post a comment or send a message to the group or the mods any time. We'd love to hear from you!

All The Best and Happy Reading!

Charvi wrote: "I just finished Warcross by Marie Lu and am giving it a 5/5 rating because it simply stole my heart and I cannot stop thinking about it(I read it in one sitting, it was so addictive)"

Sounds interesting. I'm going to add it to my TBR list. Thanks for the rec.

Cheryl wrote: "Copperhead, Vol. 1 by Jay Faerber (paperback) 3 stars. This is a space-western graphic novel, so there are alot of genres combined in this one book. Alot of fun, with a great female sheriff and her alien deputy."

I love Copperhead. I've read the first two volumes only, but I'm looking forward to reading the entire series.