Lexi’s Comments (group member since Jul 27, 2016)

Lexi’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

Polls are up for June BOM

Link to both here: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/3...

They are open until May 7. Vote for one you want to read or vote for one of the one's Judith and I nominated. I will remind people right before it closes again in case you did not vote yet or if you want to move your vote to one of the top choices.

My team will be twenty short so thankfully there was no pressure for me to try to finish it all. I still read five novellas.

Well, just in time for Tower Teams, I rolled us another 800 page monster

Logan wrote: "Can we get points for participating in the discussion for BOM if it's something we have already read?

Kings of the Wyld is really good for any of you fantasy lovers!"

You can if you have not read it in the last 6 months. That is true for any rereads for TTs. It must be more than 6 months ago.

It needs to be over 50%. If it grey and white but neither is over 50% then it works for neither. I use TinEye when I am unsure if a color is over the 50% line, such as this one , which is only 48% yellow. However, I do not use TinEye to label colors. It is really bad at labeling colors.

TinEye link: https://labs.tineye.com/color/

BOM General Info

Writing a day's worth of discussion questions = 40 points
Participating in a current BOM (participating in discussion) = 20 points

Whoever nominates the book gets a discussion day. We are in good shape for May as one book was Judith's nomination and the other was a joint one of mine (with Sonia). In general, the more people volunteer to write DQs, the more chance we have of getting DQs which is equivalent to a free 400-page book in points. For June, nominations are open for two more days. I will post the poll when it is up. We can all vote or nominate however we like or discuss as a team if we want to focus on one book we might all like.

So far for June, I have nominated and .
Judith has nominated and .

Judith covered mini details, and I added a column to the planning sheet for color to help with the rainbows. In addition, here is BOM info:

BOOK OF THE MONTH

MAY
starts 2 May - Discussion thread

starts 16 May - Discussion thread

Backroom BOM - MUST BE 18+ and join a seperate group. These are generally read for being explicit and terrible. It is book 3 but there has been no plot up to this point really and someone will likely provide a summary.
starts 10 May - Discussion thread

JUNE
Nominations for the June BOM's close 27th April (in 2 days)
1. Nominate the June Adult Fiction / Non Fiction book HERE
2. Nominate the themed BOM for June HERE - The theme for June is "Longest"

Alysa, I listened to almost all of it as an audio for my reread and thought it really did not work as an audio. I much prefer the book.

Also, very tired this evening but I will be by tomorrow with information on BOMs and some thoughts on the mini challenge. (I'm checking grad students spreadsheets so fun times).

Kira wrote: "Hi everyone! This is my first time in Tower Teams, but I've definitely participated in other challenges with some of you.

I'm Kira. I live in Alberta Canada (MDT), but am kind of a night owl. I wo..."

Waves at another veterinarian. I am non-clinical though; my formal title for my new job is veterinary epidemiologist.

Day 5: Chapters 35 – End


18. The Black Tongue is revealed! What did you think of this revelation? Did you suspect the double identity of Crawford/Jeremy?
Yes, I guessed pretty early. I put some of this under a spoiler before but Christie’s Three Blind Mice also presents with a snow storm and a previous abused child pretending to be the police officer. He was just too conveniently incompetent for it to be a real officer.

19. Ern has a unique role as narrator of the story. I felt like he was trying to give us all the clues to solve the mystery for ourselves. Did you get that impression or a different one? Did Ern’s narration make the book different from other crime novels; if yes, how?
I enjoyed it a lot. It was fun and did not take too much focus. I liked that it was set up to solve and still had fun even if I guessed some of it early.

20. What did you think of the book overall? Did you find it funny or witty? Do you think a humorous tone works for a crime novel?
I enjoyed it and am also planning to read the sequel when it is published. It was a really good audio book as well.

21. How well did the author stick to the rules?
I think he did well while also hiding a few things, so these was still suspense.


Links:
Day 1 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Day 2 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Day 5 - here

Hi all, My name is Lexi (she/her/hers). I live in Northern Indiana (EST) for all of two more weeks, and then, I am moving to Atlanta (also EST). I am starting a new job on May 15th in global health and parasitology. I enjoy reading fantasy and sci-fi, and am trying to read authors from a wider range of countries. I have co-captained TTs before with Judith, so I am excited for this team.

Also, just a reminder that all books must be started after TTs starts, so you have about a week to finish anything you already started.

Please feel free to ask any question now and throughout.

Shelf: tt2023

And this one

Also mine

BOOKS OF THE MONTH

MAY
starts 2 May - Discussion thread

starts 16 May - Discussion thread

Backroom BOM - MUST BE 18+ and join a seperate group. These are generally read for being explicit and terrible. It is book 3 but there has been no plot up to this point really and someone will likely provide a summary.
starts 10 May - Discussion thread

JUNE
Polls for the June BOM's close 7th May
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/3...

1. June Adult Fiction / Non Fiction book Book details here
2. Themed BOM for June Book details - The theme for June is "Longest"

DQs Day 2
Ch 11 to 17

5.) Do you like it when Ernest blatantly foreshadows events like 'no one's phone battery runs out of battery until page 280' or whatever? Does that make you want to read faster to get to that part? Or if you are reading the ebook version, do you click on the links (Cat mentioned this was an option, I'm reading a physical book so I didn't realize that was a thing)? Also, did you enjoy the recap chapter?
No spoilers so I have not clicked on anything. Also, I am having the audio slower than I sometimes do, since I am mostly listening while driving versus walking. It is fun though to get the notes and to see as well when it comes back around again.

6.) Wow. Fun family times. Erin and Michael are now an item (gross). Why do you think Lucy is there? She clearly still loves Michael, why would she do that to herself? If you were the ex and had no kids together, would you go to family functions/events like this (funerals aside)?
I think Lucy thinks there is still hope for the relationship and is delusional on this point. I would not go to such functions as that seems odd.

7.) Ern and Audrey had an interesting discussion about killing versus being a killer. What are your thoughts on this? Did Audrey have a point about Michael or is she just being a mother rationalizing her son's behavior/wishful thinking?
It is interesting, but I think given the information we have at that point, Audrey comes across as a renationalizing and making excuses for her son.

8.) Why do you think Sofia needs the money? Do you think she'll get her $50K?
My guess would be blackmail or a mistake that needs money to fix but not lawyer’s fees as her father would be free.

9.) Any guesses as to why Michael said Ern was his lawyer? And to Sofia's question, what's in the truck?
I thought to have a private conversation with Ern about the truck and what happened that night.

Day 1 DQ: Prologue - 10

1. Have you heard about the ten rules of mysteries before? What do you think about them and how do think starting with them frames this book?
I've heard of them, but some of them surprised me and I could think of places where Christie broke them. I like them as a start as they set the stage for a slightly quirky narrator.

2. Our narrator is aware of being a narrator and directly addresses the reader. What do you think of this as an author’s choice? Are you listening to or reading this book, and do you think this style is better suited to one or the other?
I don’t tend to listen to books unless it is a reread but this one has worked well so far. I enjoy the narrator and the style. I am glad it seems to work well for reading too.

3. We are starting to learn the secrets of the characters and know of two of them who have killed people so far. What do you think of the family and history? Any favorites?
I like Ern and the direct address. I assume in a book like this that everyone is hiding something.

4. Finally, if this is not a reread, who do you think killed the current dead person and do you think it is related to the money or the serial killer? Also, where was his wife and brother?
At this point, I am at 60% so my guess is the post above.

Bonus: Am I the only who had to look up where in Australia there was enough snow to need chains? How does a setting of Australia or the specific part of Australia affect your expectations?
Well, I wrote this, so I did look it up. I am still suspicious of this much snow in Australia. I was in Melbourne in June to July, and it was cold, miserable and icy rain. But I guess this is the mountains.

I'll go back and answer the questions, but I am just around 60% and does anyone else think this is a retelling of Mouse Trap (or highly inspired by)? I'll put my thoughts under a spoiler.

(view spoiler)[
1. Snowstorm but not enough that other cops should have shown up
2. Whole blood on sleeve thing – don’t get blood from a frozen body
3. Sketchy incompetent cop who is too incompetent to not be in purpose
4. History with children being hurt – maybe one of the children not dead?
(hide spoiler)]

Day 1 DQ: Prologue - 10

1. Have you heard about the ten rules of mysteries before? What do you think about them and how do think starting with them frames this book?

2. Our narrator is aware of being a narrator and directly addresses the reader. What do you think of this as an author’s choice? Are you listening to or reading this book, and do you think this style is better suited to one or the other?

3. We are starting to learn the secrets of the characters and know of two of them who have killed people so far. What do you think of the family and history? Any favorites?

4. Finally, if this is not a reread, who do you think killed the current dead person and do you think it is related to the money or the serial killer? Also, where was his wife and brother?

Bonus: Am I the only who had to look up where in Australia there was enough snow to need chains? How does a setting of Australia or the specific part of Australia affect your expectations?

While we wait and people need a small book, The Album of Dr. Moreau is a really fun retelling. (Jenny also gave it 5 stars if you need a second vote).

In for DQs as a joint nominator.