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

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

We have a story. It is here under spoiler as it is about 700 words long. Feel free to comment. I'm pretty proud of this one.

STORY (view spoiler)[

Miss Marple sat on her porch enjoying the “Frost and Starlight.” Some would call her house a “Bleak House” with the unending noise of the waves on the shore and the cold rise of the mountains. However, it fits her purposes exactly. She may be an amateur sleuth, but a highly competent one. Furthermore, she knew from village life that everyone had “Deadly Secrets” if you were willing to “Scratch the Surface” a bit. Her thoughts were interrupted by the unexpected arrival of a “Long Black Cadillac” and motorcycles.

Stopping in front of a large group of half-dressed men, and giving them her best stare, she demanded, “Who are you?”

The first man stepped forward and introduced himself, as “the illegitimate son of the Marquis of Blackbeck—and notorious rogue … with a heart as dark as his Mediterranean looks.” The next man apparently was a “hot tamale of a ginger with icy eyes, the perfect playoff beard, and a body built for sin.” At that a third man introduced himself more succinctly as a “hottie lumberjack aka Sir McHotpants.” As a well-dressed fourth man introduced himself as “hot, blond and flexible,” Miss Marple cut them off, “What are you doing at my house?” she practically spit.

“You invited us to the Romance Cover Male Model Convention,” Sir McHotpants replied, as everyone piled into her house. However, little did the guest know there was “An Unexpected Peril” at this house party, as one of these uninvited guests was an “Inside Man.”

Inside, men were posing without their shirts and planning “leisurely gourmet meals, tennis matches, and plenty of relaxation by the pool,” as Miss Marple tried to explain she had not invited them and had neither tennis courts nor pool. Two men seemed to be planning to run away to a tropical beach together on their motorcycle in between staring into each other’s eyes. Murderbot could not figure out how it got to the party, as it was neither male nor a romance cover model and was planning on leaving immediately. As it stood there, DEATH walked over and offered a canape, “I’m supposed to be here for the next act, but this is excruciating.”

Thankfully for DEATH, the next act was about to start as “hot, blonde and flexible” stood dramatically in front of the largest window and declared he was part of a cult bent on raising the dead gods from the ocean as he was “Psycho by the Sea” and would rule the world. Miss Marple sighed putting her sleuthing skills to work and with little effort decided he was likely why this house party was currently at her house on the Winter Solstice.

However, “Psycho by the Sea” failed to consider the weather forecast, as a torrential, world-ending “Tempest” had been gathering, and one of the guests came running inside screaming about bodies in the garden. Lightning set the roof on fire, and the air smelled of “Burning Roses.” Miss Marple stood there and considered the chaos around her with a slight smile. As Psycho was chanting, “in dark corners, strange creatures are stirring,” the window broke as a large tree branch came crashing through, hitting him on the head. He stopped chanting and looked around with a “Change of Heart” and asked, “Where am I?”

DEATH sighed, “Amnesia, really?” and looking over at Murderbot, suggested they might go to the library. DEATH has just adopted a puppy and while DEATH enjoyed walking and bathing said puppy, house training was a pain. They left with DEATH mumbling about adopting a cat instead.

Miss Marple muttered, “Incompetent,” and started to call the Old Ones “Down Among the Sticks and Bones” herself. She was surprised no one thought to question the dead bodies in the garden among the chaos, but “They (that) Come by Night” liked fresh snacks better anyways.

The sound of a motorcycle was heard behind the chanting, as “hot tamale” and the former “Psycho by the Sea” decided on a road trip to the beach to Find Their Forever.

The house continued to burn down around Miss Marple, and both will be gone by morning, sucked down to the “Dark Places” of the “Drowned Cities.” Apparently, the snacks were not up to the Old Ones standards.

(hide spoiler)]

Day 5 Chapters 15 and 16

18. Is it DICOMY that is using Linus? Or is Charles Werner personally involved because of his history with Arthur? He is the only one responding to the reports Linus sends. Do you think he is jealous of what seems to be happening between Arthur and Linus?

Yes, they were definitely using it and I think it was very personal for Werner. I do not know if jealous or just he thought of them as all lesser and wanted to keep Arthur down.

19. The secret is out…Arthur is a phoenix. Wonderful power or a curse? Why would DICOMY want him to keep it a secret from the children?
Having children have a successful role model to look up to is impowering. It was hinted at earlier what he was, and it is painful how much the system failed Arthur. It is a symbol of rebirth but also potentially very lonely so good he has the children and the island.

20. Theodore shows Linus his hoard, what did you think of it? What does it represent to you?
I really liked Theodore. His hoard is that which represents his family. It makes perfect sense.

21. Linus is nearing the end of his stay. Do you think he will go home after everything that happened in the village? Will there be repercussions from DICOMY
I have read the book before so I won’t guess here.

I’m a reread as well and I’m not getting much new out of it as well. It’s still a fun book but not one I would reread again. (Note, I’m also doing Murderbot on Audio right now and deeply enjoying it).

Redshirt wrote: "And 7/18 for Ace of Spades! (Also, ignore my momentar time travel above. It's supposed to be today that I finished Otaku)"

I added the date for both. Did you enjoy Ace of Spades? I have been meaning to read that one.

DQ Day 4 - Chp Eleven - Fourteen (p282)

14. Did you enjoy the visit to town? What are your thoughts on Helen? Does she seem like a real character or too convenient?

15. Why do you think that Sal trusted Linus to move his desk?

16. Lucy has a nightmare in this section. Did this make him seem more powerful or more like child? How do you think Linus handled the situation?

17. What do you think of the use of the word home, as a theme for this book? It has been used by Linus, Zoe and by Extremely Upper Management?

Jen wrote: "I finished the first day of my move. After 12 hours of driving, I'm finally checking into a hotel for the night. I listened to one audiobook and started two others. I have both on kindle too, so I'..."

Drive safely, I did half the US earlier this summer from Boston to KY and may be doing the other half if I get the job that I am interviewing for this week. Glad you made it to a hotel.

I just finished a South Africa book so we are all done with both the Bingo and Tasks. Good job everyone.

DAY 2 QUESTIONS. JULY 17. CHAPTERS 5-7

5. The book is set in an unknown city and then onto Marsyas Island. Country Unknown. Do you think it is set in an alternate universe to our own eg UK or USA or a completely fantasy location? Does it matter or make you think differently about the storyline either way?
I know the author was influenced by real events in Canada (residential school), which were also in the US, but I think it is a new location but similar enough that readers can see the parallel.

6. First impressions of the house and Linus' reaction to it? What is your own reaction to it and how it is described?
It sounds adorable and I love the gardens. Linus us stepping outside his comfort zone so everything is new but his joy about the sea was lovely.
7. In Chapter 6 we are introduced to a colourful array of children and the enigmatic Mr Arthur Parnassus. Who is your favourite child and ability so far and what special talents do you think will be revealed about Arthur?
The kids are my favorite and how each one takes some time and has their own reactions. I love all of them as they are each very different. This is a reread but I did guess some about Arthur the first time.

8. At the first dinner welcome for Linus the reader is bombarded with a plethora of notable pearls of wisdom from Arthur Parnassus which made me realize the allegorical themes of this story.
"Sometimes our prejudices color our thoughts when we least expect them to. If we can recognize that, learn from it we can become better people."
"Because even the bravest of us can still be afraid sometimes as long as we don't let our fear become all we know."
"There are things in this world that defy the imagination."
"He'd never be a bellhop because what Hotel would hire one such as him, people fear what they don't understand."

What point do you think the author is trying to make through the world and characters he has imagined and what do you think these quotes hint about the story moving forward?

The point is fairly clear about prejudices against those who are different and does draw on parallels with the residential schools.

DQ Day 1 - One to Four (p62)

1. What drew you to this BOM? Was it the fantastic reviews it’s been getting? Or the cute cover? Or something else?
I read it the day it came out. The cover plus the premise seemed lovely. It was the last book I picked up from the library before it closed for the pandemic so it was fun to reread.

2. What do you think of the writing style so far? I didn’t expect it to be so funny. I laughed out loud a few times at the terrible office Linus works in and at the rude neighbour. I love the way she is so rude about Linus but then keeps trying to set him up with her grandson.
This book made me smile the first time and the terrible cubicle land is so relatable/funny. Really, it is not a YA book. I am not sure why that many people tagged it as such. Addie felt a lot more like a YA book.

3. What do you think about Linus as the main character? So far, he seems to be quite frightened of the world. How do you think he will cope in the strange situation he has been put in?
This is a reread for me but this book definitely focuses on his growth and how he learns to live.

4. I was surprised that one of the children on the island is supposed to be the Anti-Christ. Heart warming stories don’t tend to feature someone like that. What powers do you think he will have?
Reread for me.

Last Two Weeks
Good job everyone, we have two weeks left and we are fighting it out with two other teams between second and fourth place. We are down to two books left for tasks/story, and I will be writing and sharing our story this weekend. Let’s finish strong, good job again

Snowtulip or anyone still planning to read Mort, you have until July 22 to answer questions and get BOM points.

Also, tomorrow is the last day for Firekeeper's Daughter.

The rest all end when TT ends on July 31.

Also, a reminder, especially for Guards! Guards!, that you can start the book early if you want more time to read it since that discussion starts July 22.

I'll take a day. The start of Aug should still be quiet.

Joyce wrote: "Lexi wrote: "Joyce wrote: "I started a book for the set in South Africa task. It is not long so it should not take long The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency"

Joyce, I pretty sure that is..."

No worries, enjoy the book

Joyce wrote: "I started a book for the set in South Africa task. It is not long so it should not take long The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency"

Joyce, I pretty sure that is set in Botswana and not South Africa. Over 50% of the book would need to be set in South Africa.

DQ DAY 4 Part 3, II - Part 3, XII (p253)

14. Why do you think Addie puts herself through interactions like she had with Remi? It must be hard to see "lovers" grow old without you and not remember.
I don’t think she purposedly put herself in his way as much as Paris at that time was not the big of a city. She never seems to really focus on the grow old as much as the forgetting. She seems to care more as they relate to her than outside her.

15. Do you like Addie or Henry more so far? Why? Are you finding their stories interesting?
Neither entirely. I never really liked either character that much.

16. So Addie is going to tell Henry the truth! How do you think this will go? Do you think he will still accept her or even believe her?
I finished reading the book but since we were only at half way, I was confused at that time at how we still had half a book to go.

17. We're halfway through the story. Do you have any fun predictions or guesses about what will happen in the second half?
See above and I had no guesses at that time as I had no idea how the book could be as long as it was.

DQ Day 2 - Part 1, XIV - Part 2, III (p129)

5. At about a fourth of the way through the book, how do you like Addie LaRue as a narrator/person?
I find her a little too modern for 300 years ago in her thought pattern even in the flash backs and I never really liked her as a character. She reads very modern YA narrator.

6. Are you more interested in Addie’s past or present life (or both)? Why?
More present for me I keep hoping for growth and moving forwards.


7. How do you think she handled the start of her "curse"?
It was kind of a mess since she didn’t really think about her bargain so she made do with what she had and how little she knew. It was a rough start.

8. Addie seems to have serial one-night stands with the same person. Why do you think she does this, and do you have any concerns with the potential for manipulating the other party? (I am still thinking on this as a power imbalance).
I wrote this question, so my thoughts are fairly clear. I find it creepy and a power imbalance.

9. In this section, we meet Henry. What is your initial reaction to Henry and his ability to remember her?
I won’t answer here for spoilers but I did guess very quickly why he could remember her but not quit the full story.

DQ Day 1 - Part 1, I - Part 1, XIII (p67)

1. Other than BOM points what attracted you to this book? The rave reviews? The cover? The blurb?
I've also enjoyed most of this authors books but this is by far my least favorite of hers. I saw the reviews but similar to the last BOM, this one is not my kind of book. It reads more like YA book than the YA book for this month (which is not YA either to be fair).

2. Have you read any other books by V.E. Schwab/Victoria Schwab? If so, how does this book compare? If not, what do you think of the book so far?
Yes, I've read the first one in Darker Shade of Magic series (really enjoyed) and her Vicious series (really loved). I have also read some of her MG books. This one just isn’t as good.

3. What are your thoughts on Addie and the bargain she made?
A mess and not thought through.

4. Obviously, selling your soul is going too far but if you were able to get a wish granted what would it be?
Health and sufficiency

Judith wrote: "No, sorry. About the only time I take any sort of notes is when I'm writing BOM questions. I just kind of wing it and it's only during the section I need to write the questions on."

I am the same as Judith and only take notes if reading BOM ahead of when the day before me wrote their questions.

I have internet again. I hope everyone in the US had a good holiday weekend. (Which in my case involved avoiding all fireworks).

DQ Day 2 - Part 1, XIV - Part 2, III (p129)

5. At about a fourth of the way through the book, how do you like Addie LaRue as a narrator/person?
6. Are you more interested in Addie’s past or present life (or both)? Why?
7. How do you think she handled the start of her "curse"?
8. Addie seems to have serial one-night stands with the same person. Why do you think she does this, and do you have any concerns with the potential for manipulating the other party? (I am still thinking on this as a power imbalance).
9. In this section, we meet Henry. What is your initial reaction to Henry and his ability to remember her?