Louise’s Comments (group member since Aug 29, 2015)

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

Day 2 DQs Jess to Jess

5.) This section opens with Jess and Nick meeting which provides more insight into Ben and his relationships with friends. The conversation Nick and Ben had about the apartment rent seemed really odd, why was the rent for that apartment so cheap? And how could Nick really arrange it?

Not sure but there must be some sort of angle Nick’s playing

6.) More layers added to the Concierge, she seemed to like Ben because he treated her like a person. Anyone else think he had an angle there and he wasn't just being a decent person? However, she's following Sophie's instructions about Jess and vaguely threatened her. Any thoughts as to why?

Sophie seems to be the leader and have power over the others. The Concierge knows that Sophie could force her to leave despite what she knows of the occupants. Ben was playing an angle to get to know each player better.


7.) Things are not looking good for Ben, I'm back to pondering the freshly planted flower bed in the courtyard. Any guess at what he's been up to? The blackmail of Sophie?
Ben’s definitely got involved in something bigger than he could deal with. The flower bed is probably hiding the weapon that Ben was attacked with although I think Sophie is keeping him in the attic

8.) The police station. Do you think Nick told them what Jess think he told them? Or do you think he told them "this is my friend's nutter sister who thinks he's missing when he's off getting laid".?
I think it was a mixture of both, but I don’t think Nick was aware of what had happened to Ben until he heard the recording. He seemed genuinely worried when they left the police station.

LaurLa wrote: "I added my first book. Let me know if you have a preferred way to enter the scav words and locations."

Looks good 😀

DAY 1 QUESTIONS - PROLOGUE - CONCIERGE

1. Lucy Foley has been a very popular author over the last few years starting with The Book of Lost and Found in 2015, this is her sixth book. How many have your read? Have you a favourite? What is it about her writing style that keeps you coming back? And if you are a newbie what are you expecting from The Paris Apartment?

This is my first Lucy Foley book. I’m expecting a gothic thriller with lots of twists and turns

2. Ahhh.. Voila. Paris the city of love and light. 💕 How important do you think the apartment's location will be to the story? Have you been to Paris or is it on your travel bucket list? Any memories/stories you want to share.

I think the location will become very important although we haven’t been told where in Paris the apartment is we are told it’s a half hour walk of Garde du Nord which places it in the vicinity of the Catacombs of Paris. This would lend to the creepiness of the apartment block and the “evil” feeling that Antoine’s ex describes.

3. And now to the prologue. Does is set the scene? What are your initial thoughts of Ben and what is to come? PS Isn't the key so cute with the Paris landmarks on it. I want one!
The prologue sets the scene of what is to come and we’re left wondering who was at the door.
I think Ben has definitely charmed himself into something he can’t get out of. He seems to come across as a bit of a conman. I had to to look for the key and it is cute. (If you’re listening to the audio there is no key)

4. It's a bit of a femme fest with all the main characters at this stage women. Jess, Sophie, Mimi and the mysterious Concierge - all seem to be full of subterfuge and secrets. Compare and contrast these women and what do you think their ongoing role in the novel will be?
Jess - the heroine, she seems strong and independent and fearless. In search of her brother I see her delving into everyone’s secrets and uncovering them.
Sophie - She is the typical rich kept women who believes she runs the apartment block. It will be interesting to see what/who is up in the attic rooms. Her blackmailer maybe.
Mimi - not quite sure what to make of Mimi, I don’t buy the whole innocent act. She is definitely hiding something but could be something that goes against her convent upbringing.
Concierge - I like the concierge, I see her as a mix of Mrs Danvers and Argus Filch

If anyone is reading The Paris Apartment I just found Vinegar 🎉

Laura wrote: "Louise wrote: "Posted the scavenger words here Msg 19"

So the scavenger words are the items that make up the dish? Is the spell-out for the name of the dish?"

It’s generally easier to use the scavenger hunt words, last time we played I used the spellout option for 3 dishes in 3 months,

Stacie wrote: "the spell it out is another option to make ingredients but it's just easier to use the scab hunt words. Louise or I (mostly Louise) named them last time.

you want to focus on the scavenger words h..."

I think I put on about 5lbs last time I done this 😂

countdown clock
https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown...

14hrs to go

Posted the scavenger words here Msg 19

Highest Scoring Dishes

Monthly Special - 80 - only pensioners

Sandwich - 60 - Children, Adults & Pensioners
Curry - 60 - Teenagers & Adults

Fish and Chips with Vinegar- 55 - Adults & Pensioners

Salad - 50 - Adults & Pensioners

RESTAURANT NAME
At the start of the challenge, name your restaurant and give a (max. 5 sentence) blurb “about” the restaurant. This may just give you an advantage for round 2….

BOOKS OF THE MONTH
For every team member that participates in a Book of the Month (BOM) (by joining the discussion and/or writing discussion questions) they will be able to swap out two assigned customers for others of their choice.

Limited to two customers for each team member per BOM. (i.e. you can't get the customer bonus for writing DQs AND participating. But if you join 2 BOMs in one month, you can get 4 bonuses).

Got selected for DQs for The Paris Apartment 🎉

Me too

There will be 3 rounds which are one calendar month each.
Starting 1 September 2022, 9pm UTC and finishing 30 November 2020, 9pm UTC.

Stacie wrote: "I'll be gone a week in November but I'll mention it closer to then.

Do we have any thoughts on how we want to organize this? Louise, I know you did a lot of the work last time. I don't want to as..."

I don’t mind pulling stuff together for this, I just won’t be available end of September to finalise meals and serve customers

I can do DQs for this

Just to let you all know I will be on vacation from the 26th September for a week so will have limited internet access.

Dishes
Fresh meals (must be used within the month - page count of 50 pages or more. No restriction on using children's, graphic novels, etc.)

◈ sandwiches items which would be suitable on a sandwich (for example: bread, butter, lettuce, tomato, ham, chicken, salami, cheese, carrot, cucumber, salt, pepper, beetroot or beets, gherkins or pickles, peanut butter, jam or jelly, vegemite, mustard, honey, pastrami, devon, egg, bacon)
Sandwiches have a minimum of 7 and maximum of 10 items.

◈ fish and chips (fish, or any types of fish, potato, salt, lemon) Note for scavenger hunt only: Must contain all these items (4), add vinegar for bonus points.
Fish and chips have a minimum of 4 and maximum of 5 items.

◈ coffee (coffee or anything coffee related, e.g. latte) ; milk, sugar, cream, water) Can be items to make a coffee, the word coffee, or just a coffee word (e.g. "cappuccino").
Coffee has a minimum of 1 and maximum of 6 items.

◈ tea(tea, milk, sugar, water, cream) Note for scavenger hunt only: Must contain at least tea and water. Other items are optional.
Tea has a minimum of 2 and maximum of 4 items.

◈ salad (e.g. salad, lettuce, cucumber, any cheese, tomato, olives, carrot, cucumber, beans, peas, nuts, pear)
Salads have a minimum of 5 and maximum of 15 items.

Frozen meals Can be used in the following month. Page count of 160+. No graphic novels, cookbooks, poetry or childrens books unless audio version is more than 5 hours or wordcount can be verified with arbookfind as more than 40,000 words

◈ pasta (e.g. pasta types, cheese, cream, salt, pepper, chicken, chilli, basil, tomato, garlic)
Pasta have a minimum of 7 and maximum of 10 items.

◈ quiche (e.g. eggs, bacon, leeks, ham, spinach, salt, pepper, pastry)
Quiche have a minimum of 6 and maximum of 10 items.

◈ curries (e.g. beef, lamb, chicken, lentils, potato, sweet potato, carrot, beans, curry powder or paste, turmeric, chilli, cloves, coriander, cumin, ginger, garlic)
Curries have a minimum of 10 and maximum of 15 items.

Desserts, drinks and cocktails ; can be shelved/frozen and used at any point through the challenge. 500+pages. No children's, poetry, graphic novels, plays, cookbooks.

◈ Champagne, wine, liqueur, beer (generic term or a specific brand/type)

◈ Chocolate, fruit, marshmallow, ice cream, custard or any dessert (generic term or a specific type, e.g. “tart”)

◈ Water, Juice, soda, soft drinks (generic term or a specific type, for e.g. Lemonade)
Desserts, drinks and cocktails have a minimum of 1 and maximum of 5 items.

Monthly Special
Round 3 Special
"◈ Fig and raspberry crostata. (figs, vanilla, sugar, raspberries, creme frache, cream, flour, butter, sugar, eggs, rum, almond meal, icing sugar)
-Must contain figs, raspberries, sugar)"


Bonus
"Use your spell-it-outs and scavenger hunts to find items to ignite passion for couples on a date. Think oysters, roses, crystal.... use your imagination!!
MAXIMUM 20 ITEMS IN TOTAL"

4-7 Keep up the great work, but perhaps get a bit more creative in round 3 to increase popularity.
Meals with the word "prawns" (shrimp is acceptable), "cherry", or "gelato" in the text or title, or used as a spell-it-out will attract more adults for round 3

Points
POINTS
10 points per book read
2 points per scavenger word / spell-it-out letter used per book (maximum numbers shown below)

Points are also given per meal eaten:

Sandwich 60
Fish and Chips 45
Fish and Chips with Vinegar 55
Coffee 20
Tea 30
Salad 50
Pasta 40
Quiche 45
Curry 60
Alcoholic drink 20
Dessert 20
Non-Alcoholic Drink 20
Monthly Special 80

up to 2 scavenger words / spell-it out letters per book >50 pages and <=160 pages
up to 4 scavenger words/ spell-it out letters per book >161 and <=300 pages
up to 8 scavenger words/ spell-it out letters per book >301 pages and <=500 pages
up to 12 scavenger words / spell-it-out letters per book >501 pages

I enjoyed all of TT as always and am constantly amazed at the creativity of the mods. Favourite mini had to be the monsters.

Just requested editing rights :)