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

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

Good job everyone, I moved our first full spelling of NEON CARROT to our official SS so we are on the board.

Jenn,

When that happens, you need to use the GRs page number if it is only a few pages off, or I can ask a GR librarian to fix it. I have asked a GRs librarian in this case to fix the page number and will tell you if I hear back. This is also true if a book is missing page numbers.

Maddy wrote: "Captain, oh Captain, is this wheel enough? "

That is clearly a ship's wheel to me so yes

BOM Update
I also updated the post at the top of our thread:
Here

November BOM:
Adult: The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
Starts: 2 Nov, 2021 DQs Here
YA: The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix
Starts: 16 Nov, 2021 DQs Here

We still need a second person to volunteer for DQs for the adult Nov book. It helps out odds of getting the DQs if two people volunteer.

Dec BOM Nominaitons are open:
Adult
YA

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson

The dead of Loraille do not rest.

Artemisia is training to be a Gray Sister, a nun who cleanses the bodies of the deceased so that their souls can pass on; otherwise, they will rise as spirits with a ravenous hunger for the living. She would rather deal with the dead than the living, who trade whispers about her scarred hands and troubled past.

When her convent is attacked by possessed soldiers, Artemisia defends it by awakening an ancient spirit bound to a saint’s relic. It is a revenant, a malevolent being that threatens to possess her the moment she drops her guard. Wielding its extraordinary power almost consumes her—but death has come to Loraille, and only a vespertine, a priestess trained to wield a high relic, has any chance of stopping it. With all knowledge of vespertines lost to time, Artemisia turns to the last remaining expert for help: the revenant itself.

As she unravels a sinister mystery of saints, secrets, and dark magic, her bond with the revenant grows. And when a hidden evil begins to surface, she discovers that facing this enemy might require her to betray everything she has been taught to believe—if the revenant doesn’t betray her first.

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

rom the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, a gloriously entertaining novel of heists, shakedowns, and rip-offs set in Harlem in the 1960s.

“Ray Carney was only slightly bent when it came to being crooked…” To his customers and neighbors on 125th street, Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably priced furniture, making a decent life for himself and his family. He and his wife Elizabeth are expecting their second child, and if her parents on Striver’s Row don’t approve of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks, it’s still home.

Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks, and that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger all the time.

Cash is tight, especially with all those installment-plan sofas, so if his cousin Freddie occasionally drops off the odd ring or necklace, Ray doesn’t ask where it comes from. He knows a discreet jeweler downtown who doesn’t ask questions, either.

Then Freddie falls in with a crew who plan to rob the Hotel Theresa—the “Waldorf of Harlem”—and volunteers Ray’s services as the fence. The heist doesn’t go as planned; they rarely do. Now Ray has a new clientele, one made up of shady cops, vicious local gangsters, two-bit pornographers, and other assorted Harlem lowlifes.

Thus begins the internal tussle between Ray the striver and Ray the crook. As Ray navigates this double life, he begins to see who actually pulls the strings in Harlem. Can Ray avoid getting killed, save his cousin, and grab his share of the big score, all while maintaining his reputation as the go-to source for all your quality home furniture needs?

Harlem Shuffle’s ingenious story plays out in a beautifully recreated New York City of the early 1960s. It’s a family saga masquerading as a crime novel, a hilarious morality play, a social novel about race and power, and ultimately a love letter to Harlem.

But mostly, it’s a joy to read, another dazzling novel from the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning Colson Whitehead.

We got BOM discussion questions for the Oct YA BOM: House of Hollow. Lisa your day is Oct. 19, and I am backup if anything comes up.

Bit of a late start, but I need some accountability. I just wrote the review for my last one for October and have one left from September. However, I have 32 that are published already that I am behind on.

October Netgalley Challenge

Beginning of month
Books on shelf: 36
Feedback ratio: 74%

Past Publication:
2018-2019:

2020:

Jan - Aug 2021:

September 2021:

Nov 2021:

2022:

Just under 4 hours to go

Wheel starts tomorrow!
Let us know if there are any other questions before we start and feel free to ask questions any time.

Countdown to the start of Wheel:
https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown...

Jenn, car tires definitely work, and I would accept film wheel as well, as the spin on an axis like a wheel. I would also accept gear wheel, but Sophie may have some thoughts on this.

For page number and cover, always use the version you actually read. (Unless you are reading large print and then you use the standard page count and same for audios.

How is everyone doing? Anyone got any last minute book plans before Wheel starts? I have a comic I mean to read since I cannot prove word count - Aya: Life in Yop City.

Sophie wrote: "Between that and one of the characters being called Riley, it would be usable BUT it's tagged as a children's book which means we have to be able to verify the word count is over 40,000 words. Unfo..."

I also checked and there is no audio so you would need to wait and see if it gets added to arbooks if you want to use it.

I just put a library hold for as well if anyone wants to volunteer for backup DQs

Good choice for November. I'll vounteer for DQ's for Team Max.

Lisa - (Aussie Girl) wrote: "Oooh,, glad my nomination got up.

Nominating for Team Max. 😍"

I'll be Lisa's backup just in case

Lisa - (Aussie Girl) wrote: "The November BOM's are up.

I'm really pleased because the one I chose for YA got chosen. So I nominated for DQ's as well. "

Nice, my nominations came in 3rd for both, but I want to read both already so that's good. I can be your backup just in case.

Audrey Jane wrote: "Cat wrote: "Incidentally, I don't really recognise the image on the cover as being a willow. They are usually spindly sorts of trees, being helpful for baskets and fencing so needing flexible whipp..."

I am still not sure about the one on the cover, but Osier Willows are a Asian and European variety of willow which (view spoiler)[ makes perfect sense considering they are first seen in Germany (hide spoiler)] and is not a weeping willow. See this site and click on the top image to get more pictures: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/tree...

DQs Day 2 - Chapters 8-12

5. We have horror elements now, specifically body horror, with Them and the bus and park ranger. How creepy are you finding them? I often feel let down by the reveal in horror books, especially when you wait, and the ending seems lackluster. Does this book work for you so far as horror or creepy if not full out horror?

6. What do you think of the phrase "Pray they are Hungry"? Did you have an idea what it meant before being told?

7. Willows, let’s talk about the willows. I think in the first section they were supposed to seem familiar. How do you think that familiarity and imagery with the willows has shifted in this section?

8. We aren’t told what Simon is using to not think of Them , but Kara uses petty grievances (her ex, sister-in-law, fanfiction community). Do you think this is more effective than singing, and if you feel like commenting, what do you think would personally be effective for you to not think about Them ?

Section One
1. Uncle Earl, what a colourful character! And it seems he has some interesting friends as well. What's your opinion of him? Do you think he knew about the secret hallway?

I agree that he did not know about the hallway, and I think he is a great character. It is nice that the MC has such a good relationship with him and sweet how he set the room up.

2. What do you make of Kara and Simon's reactions following the discovery of the dead body in that "bunker" ? And their decision to not call the police?

I agree especially considering the situation. How do you even start explaining that and poor Simon?

3. Do you think there might be any connection between the carved corpse-otter sent by Woody and the hidden hallway or is it just a coincidence that the hole was there?

I have read this before but I think the connection is fairly clear for the reader but less so for the characters.

4. Maybe a random question but what's with all the maple trees ? Seeing as a tree is depicted on the cover as well, do you think there's any significance to this ?

They are willow trees in the book and I always found them creepy. There is a sense of being recognizable and thus safer because they are known in this section and that shifts in the next section.