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

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

Linda C wrote: "Some books that I have on my shelves for Countries

Hard
The Bird Hotel - Guatemala"

We have discussed Bird Hotel as captains, and it looks like by the reviews that it is set in an "unnamed Central American country." If it is never stated where even if just city, then it cannot be used for the country but could be for the region (if that was ever relevant). As a side note, if the author is born somewhere, then it does not matter where it is set.

Thank you, Judith.

Also, if you go to the sheet for the first mini, you will see a list of countries to the right. The number next to the country will turn yellow if we already have two from that country and will turn red if there are more than two books from a particular country in the mini. Only one from each country can be used per itinerary.

I tend to do my planning by where the author was born, which allows more flexibility by location, so I am planning:

Kintu - Uganda
The Gilded Ones - Sierra Leone
How Beautiful We Were - Cameroon
That Other Me - The United Arab Emirates

I have read and liked:
The Old Drift and Out of Darkness, Shining Light - Zambia
The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina - Ecuador

For some tiny ones but still good (maybe wait for the end of the month when you haven't reached book cap):
The Fisherman King - Brunei Darussalam
Small Country - Burundi
Tentacle - Dominican Republic
The Last Brother - Mauritius
The Blue Sky - Mongolia
Friend - N Korea
The Time of the Goats - N Macedonia
Celestial Bodies - Oman
The Ardent Swarm - Tunisia
It Would Be Night in Caracas - Venezuela

At this point, I have read an author from about 60% of the countries in the world so if you want help with a country, feel free to ask.

These are all some good suggestions. Just make sure that the book is over 50% set in that place.

Just from quick checking, I would suggest you double check People of the Book as it seems to be multiple places.

Also, the tag on Goodreads cannot always be trusted so Spinning Silver is actually set in the fictional place of Lithvas, "a fictional country with with elements of Lithuanian, Polish, and Russian history and culture."

The others look great.

Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* wrote: "The Berry Pickers sounds good to me."

I read it about 6 months ago and enjoyed it. Also, it is a good audio.

Book of the Month Info

The first BOM starts right after we start on May 18th. You can volunteer for DQS or just join to answer questions. Discussion is here.

Since both books are very popular and if you need to find copies, the two BOM books for June are Great Big Beautiful Life (June 2) and The Berry Pickers (June 16)

Next, feel free to nominate a book for the July two BOMs. Nominations are open until May 27th so lots of time.
July Adult
July Theme - Mountains

Please ask any questions if anything is unclear. The info is also at the top of this thread.

Hi all, My name is Lexi (she/her/hers). I live in Atlanta, and I work in global health and parasitology. I enjoy reading fantasy and sci-fi generally, but I’m also trying to read a book from an author from every country. Mini 1 is great for that. I have co-captained before with Judith and look forward to co-captaining with Erin for this TTs.

I will get the BOM details up this evening or tomorrow. I will also post some of my favorite books from “hard countries” for Mini 1 if anyone else wants to read them and feel free to post your own suggestions.

Please feel free to ask any question now and throughout.

Also, mine.

Links for Finding Countries
Note: You will still need to check author or over 50% of the book set there to still qualify.

1. https://readaroundtheworldchallenge.c...
2. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/list_... - This group has lists for every country by continent.
3. https://strongsenseofplace.com/ - more for fun but has some lists as well (thanks to Susan for this one)


Also, countries where we already have two books claimed (you can see this in yellow on the planning sheet):
Hard
Tanzania
Uganda
Kuwait
Ethiopia

Medium
Taiwan

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

May:
May 16th - What the River Knows- Discussion is here

June:
June 2 - Great Big Beautiful Life - Discussion is here
June 16 - The Berry Pickers - Discussion is here

July:
Poll closes June 7

So close but yet a fail. One book below the line.

Set in mountains


Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey

An unforgettable dark fairy tale that asks, Can love save us from ourselves?

Birdie’s keeping it together; of course she is. So she’s a little hungover sometimes, and she has to bring her daughter, Emaleen, to her job waiting tables at an Alaskan roadside lodge, but she’s getting by as a single mother in a tough town. Still, Birdie can remember happier times from her youth, when she was free in the wilds of nature.

Arthur Neilsen, a soft-spoken and scarred recluse who appears in town only at the change of seasons, brings Emaleen back to safety when she gets lost in the woods. Most people avoid him, but to Birdie he represents everything she’s ever longed for. She finds herself falling for Arthur and the land he knows so well. Against the warnings of those who care about them, Birdie and Emaleen move to his isolated cabin in the mountains on the far side of the Wolverine River.

It’s just the three of them in the vast black woods, far from roads, telephones, electricity, and outside contact, but Birdie believes she has come prepared. At first, it’s idyllic, but soon Birdie discovers that Arthur is something much more mysterious and dangerous than she could have imagined, and that like the Alaska wilderness, a fairy tale can be as dark as it is beautiful.

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

In Daretana’s most opulent mansion, a high Imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree spontaneously erupted from his body. Even in this canton at the borders of the Empire, where contagions abound and the blood of the Leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death at once terrifying and impossible.

Called in to investigate this mystery is Ana Dolabra, an investigator whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities.

At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol. Din is an engraver, magically altered to possess a perfect memory. His job is to observe and report, and act as his superior’s eyes and ears--quite literally, in this case, as among Ana’s quirks are her insistence on wearing a blindfold at all times, and her refusal to step outside the walls of her home.

Din is most perplexed by Ana’s ravenous appetite for information and her mind’s frenzied leaps—not to mention her cheerful disregard for propriety and the apparent joy she takes in scandalizing her young counterpart. Yet as the case unfolds and Ana makes one startling deduction after the next, he finds it hard to deny that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective.

As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the safety of the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect.

Featuring an unforgettable Holmes-and-Watson style pairing, a gloriously labyrinthine plot, and a haunting and wholly original fantasy world, The Tainted Cup brilliantly reinvents the classic mystery tale.

Me too, I'm in for DQs (Team Belem)

No worries, I had a vampire one to add when I saw it but sadly no modernization

New one and since Judith finished off the last one, I went with one of her Bad Romance Wheel (large page number just in time for UNO to be done luckily)

John Willoughby and Marianne Dashwood (Sense and Sensibility)
500 to 650
published under a pseudonym
MC has at least 3 siblings
character is a cheater (your interpretation)
GREED (letters in any order) found in title

Nope, sorry, I wrote the task and it is meant to be hard

Lexi's Tracking Post
DQ1: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
DQ2 ( I wrote)
DQ3: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
DQ5: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

My sister is attempting to wean her kids off Paw Patrol and now they can only watch it on weekends for their 10 min a day each. I wasn't part of the egg hunt this year here and glad you had fun.

DQs Day 5

17. what did you think of the quest into Faerie?
I found it a bit rushed and didn’t add much. The fuzziness seemed like an easy way out to not make it very memorable once she got to the castle. The poisoning seemed too easy and I hope the brother and mortal husband come back in the next book as they seemed interesting.

18. Orga seems like a fun addition to the characters, but do you have a favourite of the various Fae we've met?
I didn’t feel like Orga had much purpose or presence. I did like Snowbell tough. The author does not seem fond of cats. Shadow has a lot more presence for equally not talking.

19. Did you enjoy the ending? And the book generally? Any thoughts on character development during this book?
I agree with Judith on meh. I didn’t find this added anything and there wasn’t any character growth for anyone.

20. There's a book 3! Will you be reading about their retaking of Wendell's kingdom?
I will as well at some point but will give myself time. I am hoping it is less repetitive with the new location.