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

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

Waving hi, I did not like Girl, Serpent, Thorn nearly as much as Girls Made of Snow and Glass but many people did so you many enjoy it. She only has the two books so far.

Wheel Spins:
Each round lasts for two weeks.

 Round 1 - NEON CARROT - Bonus Points: wheel on the cover (need 5)
 Round 2 - GRIM REAPER - Genre: Urban Fantasy
 Round 3 - EXPLORING - Genre: Horror (White)
 Round 4 -
 Round 5 - 

Point System
Books less than 160 pages = 0 points
Books between 160 and 1000 pages = 0.1 points/page
Books over 1000 pages = 100 points

Spell-it-out Rules
Find the letters needed using the first letter in:
◈ book / series title*
◈ author first/last name
◈ FICTION ONLY: character name**
◈ If listening to the audio book: audio narrator first/last name
◈ If you are reading a translation: translator first/last name

Over-reading Penalty ** NEW**
As a Team, so we an help each other out if someone reads under, someone can read over:

 % over 	Penalty
0-109%	 	1 * page points
110-124% 	0.9 * page points
125-149% 	0.8 * page points
150+%	 	0.75 * page points 

Page and Word Count
◈ Books must be at least 160 pages in length
◈ Books with MPGs Childrens / Kids / Poetry / Play / Graphic Novel / Illustrated / Photography / Art (or which have "Illustrated" in the title or an "Illustrator" contributor in the metadata) must have at least 40,000 words
◈ Sophie and Lexi can help you check wordcount if this is unclear before you read
◈ Can check audio using amazing or https://www.arbookfind.com/ (https://www.arbookfind.co.uk/ and www.arbookfind.com.au)
◈ "Re-reads" will be allowed, if it has been six months (this includes both audio and print)

BOMs:
October BOM: House of Hollow, by Krystal Sutherland (YA BOM)
Starts: 16 Oct, 2021 DQs 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

Dec BOM Poll is open: END 5 Nov
Adult

Points
Participating in BOM = 20 points
Writing a DQ set in BOM = 40 points

Duration: 5 weeks. Beginning October 9th, 9pm UK time and ending December 16th, 9pm UK time.

All Books Must be Started after October 9th, 9pm UK time

Check your timezones here: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldcloc...

Important Links:
Rules and Announcements
General Chat
Team Max Official Spreadsheet - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Planning Spreadsheet - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Team Shelf Links:
TBA

#20
Read one of my oldest on my TBR list (Feb 2016). I plan continue with the series though it has been an uphill battle to get them from the library for some odd reason. The library stopped owning this one as an ebook but they own 1 and 3 still. Why, I do not know.

- I like the writing style and ended up giving it four stars, even though they tend to be a little young and predictable.

Fun times. Aug 2018 was the only time I ever read over 60 books a month and it was 121. That was quite a month.

My family thought I was more nuts than usual that month.

I started with Wobble and you all have been stuck with me since then. Very excited for another round

I chose them in honor of the US’s Thanksgiving holiday

Donna wrote: "Christina, check back for November sign ups. I promise there will be no vampires, werewolves or zombies."

SO will November’s themes be settler colonialism, smallpox, racist uncles, and accidents/injuries caused by home deep fryers?

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Gossip Girl meets Get Out in Ace of Spades, a YA contemporary thriller by debut author Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé about two students, Devon & Chiamaka, and their struggles against an anonymous bully.

When two Niveus Private Academy students, Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo, are selected to be part of the elite school’s senior class prefects, it looks like their year is off to an amazing start. After all, not only does it look great on college applications, but it officially puts each of them in the running for valedictorian, too.

Shortly after the announcement is made, though, someone who goes by Aces begins using anonymous text messages to reveal secrets about the two of them that turn their lives upside down and threaten every aspect of their carefully planned futures.

As Aces shows no sign of stopping, what seemed like a sick prank quickly turns into a dangerous game, with all the cards stacked against them. Can Devon and Chiamaka stop Aces before things become incredibly deadly?

With heart-pounding suspense and relevant social commentary comes a high-octane thriller from debut author Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

2021 Women's Prize for Fiction

From the New York Times bestselling author of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an intoxicating, hypnotic new novel set in a dreamlike alternative reality.

Piranesi lives in the House.
Perhaps he always has.

In his notebooks, day after day, he makes a clear and careful record of its wonders: the labyrinth of halls, the thousands upon thousands of statues, the tides that thunder up staircases, the clouds that move in slow procession through the upper halls.

On Tuesdays and Fridays Piranesi sees his friend, the Other. At other times he brings tributes of food and waterlilies to the Dead. But mostly, he is alone.

Messages begin to appear, scratched out in chalk on the pavements. There is someone new in the House. But who are they and
what do they want? Are they a friend or do they bring destruction and madness as the Other claims?

Lost texts must be found; secrets must be uncovered. The world that Piranesi thought he knew is becoming strange and dangerous.

Ah, I would recommend reading Swordheart before Paladin's Grace. You meet quite a few characters in Grace in Swordheart. Also, Clockwork is in the same world, but I think less critical for Swordheart. I'm sorry you did not enjoy Grace and it is very similar to Swordheart in tone and pace, so you may not enjoy it either.

Cat, I think you would like Swordheart (fantasy romance and my favorite rat god lawyer-priest).

Audrey, which one did you read? I enjoy T. Kingfisher's romance fantasy books esp the three ones with the rat god. I also highly recommend her MG books even to people who don't usu read MG, starting with Minor Mage.

I'll volunteer for this one as well since my library has me at a 6 week wait, which is about perfect.

Edited: Team Max

I'll volunteer and it is a reread for me so any day works.

Ha, this substantiates my theory that everything is Jenny’s fault. (I’m completely innocent this time).

The King of Infinite Space by Lyndsay Faye

In this lush, magical, queer, and feminist take on Hamlet in modern-day New York City, a neuro-atypical physicist, along with his best friend Horatio and artist ex-fiancé Lia, are caught up in the otherworldly events surrounding the death of his father.

Meet Ben Dane: brilliant, devastating, devoted, honest to a fault (truly, a fault). His Broadway theatre baron father is dead—but by purpose or accident? The question rips him apart.

Unable to face alone his mother’s ghastly remarriage to his uncle, Ben turns to his dearest friend, Horatio Patel, whom he hasn’t seen since their relationship changed forever from platonic to something…other. Loyal to a fault (truly, a fault), Horatio is on the first flight to NYC when he finds himself next to a sly tailor who portends inevitable disaster. And who seems ominously like an architect of mayhem himself.

Meanwhile, Ben’s ex-fiancé Lia, sundered her from her loved ones thanks to her addiction recovery and torn from her art, has been drawn into the fold of three florists from New Orleans—seemingly ageless sisters who teach her the language of flowers, and whose magical bouquets hold both curses and cures. For a price.

On one explosive night these kinetic forces will collide, and the only possible outcome is death. But in the masterful hands of Lyndsay Faye, the story we all know has abundant surprises in store. Impish, captivating, and achingly romantic, this is Hamlet as you’ve never seen it before.

Cat wrote: "Lexi wrote: "I agree, which is why I gave it three and not two stars, but I deeply get annoyed and will always notice medical errors. I know people who are that way with legal errors, so each reade..."

The medical error was that the author did not seem to consider that the police would have been able to tell the woman was post-partum. Honestly, it is not even medical as just common sense. It was too big of a plot hole for me.

My parents lived in London for almost ten years and my mother gets the same way on TV shows or books by Americans that just get the city so wrong. Also, ouch on the elevator.

I agree, which is why I gave it three and not two stars, but I deeply get annoyed and will always notice medical errors. I know people who are that way with legal errors, so each reader varies.