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

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

The Power of Purple
(view spoiler)[ Leprechauns are just a wee bit sensitive about their wee size. In fact, you commented on their relative size to the other Novelarians and was immediately served with a summons to Leprechaun court on discrimination charges. These charges are preposterous! You've never discriminated on vertical endowment in your life. But how to prove it...

Prove your love of all things short.
• Read a book with a short title (10 characters or less).
Firebolt 11/7/24

• Read a short book (100-150 pages).
Once Jilted, Twice Shy: A Midwinter's Scandal Novella 143pgs 7/18/24

• Read a book with a short person. (Either mentioned as short, or a dwarf/hobbit/midget).
The Iron Raven Features goblins and gnomes 18/12/24

For proving your acceptance of shortness, receive 5 experience, a purple shard and 7 Leprechaun Coins. (hide spoiler)]

The Blue that Soothes - Comlpleted 12/1/24
(view spoiler)[ The leprechauns have been up for hours! They're way past tired and as soon as one of them starts to snooze, another one bops him on the head. Frankly, you feel like you have thousands of small, crazy children. You need a way to calm them all at once... but what?

Construct a harp to soothe the leprechauns to sleep.
Read a book with 1 word in the title for the shortest string.
Bloodlines 5/24/24

Read a book with 2 words in the title for the next string.
The Spellshop 11/8/24

Read a book with 3 words in the title for the next string.
Picture You Dead 10/22/24

Read a book with 4 words in the title for the next string.
The Rules of Attraction 8/28/24

Read a book with 5 words in the title for the longest string.
Christmas in Silver Bell Falls 11/7/24

For soothing the leprechauns, receive 8 experience, a blue shard and 14 Leprechaun Coins. (hide spoiler)]

December Log
(view spoiler)[Lady Louise: Lvl 8, HP :5/25; Sword: Level 8, Magic Staff: Level 8, XP: 356

After some rest and recuperation Lady Louise is back to once again venture into the unknown as she entered the kingdom she came across Roger who agreed to help her recover but only on a Sunday.


1/12 Easter Bilby heals 3HP
Lady Louise: Lvl 8, HP :8/25; Sword: Level 8, Magic Staff: Level 8, XP: 356

📚Delving into her bottomless book bag Lady Louise completes Green is For Leprechaun:
+ 3XP; Green Shard; 6 Leprechaun Coins
Lady Louise: Lvl 8, HP :8/25; Sword: Level 8, Magic Staff: Level 8, XP: 359

📚 Lady Louise delves even deeper into her bottomless book bag to complete The Blue that Soothes
+ 8XP; Blue Shard; 14 Leprechaun Coins
Lady Louise: Lvl 9, HP :27/27; Sword: Level 8, Magic Staff: Level 8, XP: 367

14/12 📚 To defeat Paul Lady Louise visits the witch for a few potion classes and learns the skill of making
🧪 Potion of Re-death - uses 1 essence of still death
🧪 Potion of Life - uses 1 Heart of a baby pumpkin and 1 essence of life force
🧪 Potion of Meekness - uses 1 essence of mouse

Attack of Re-Animated Corpse:
500 Attack 500 Health
Lady Louise: Lvl 9, HP : 27/27; Sword: Level 8 AP 14 (10+3+1), Magic Staff: Level 9 , AP 15 (11+3+1) XP: 367

Round 1: Lady Louise delves into her potion bag and throws Potion of Re-Death quickly followed by Potion of Life before Paul can recover Lady Louise throws Potion of Meekness
Paul : Attack 3 Health 35
Lady Louise attacks Paul with Magic Staff and strikes him down.

Rewards: + 5 XP, 1 Duplication Potion, 1 Amber Orb
Lady Louise: Lvl 9, HP :27/27; Sword: Level 8, Magic Staff: Level 8, XP: 372

15/12 Lady Louise has been polishing her magic staff and has increased it’s power to Level 10 Attack: 10 + 2 = 12 ; AP: 16 (12+3+1)
Lady Louise delves into her travelling tote to inspect the gems she has discovered completing the Rare Gems quest.
Reward: +7 XP
Lady Louise: Lvl 10, HP :27/27; Sword: Level 8, Magic Staff: Level 10, XP: 379

20/12 Lady Louise has been partying with the little folk and completed The Power of Purple
Gain: +5xp, Purple Shard, 7 Leprechaun coins

22/12 Lady Louise goes in gather berries in the wood.
Reward: +2 XP
Lady Louise: Lvl 9, HP : 27/27; Sword: Level 8 AP 14 (10+3+1), Magic Staff: Level 10 , AP 16 (12+3+1) XP: 384
Lady Louise peeks from behind a tree and spots an imp.
•Lady Louise: Lvl 9, HP : 27/27; Sword: Level 8 AP 14 (10+3+1), Magic Staff: Level 10 , AP 16 (12+3+1) XP: 384
Imp - 25 Attack 5 Health
Lady Louise attacks with Magic staff and misses
Imp attacks :25 - 1(Rocky the Rock); 24AP
Lady Louise: 27 - 24HP=-23.964 HP 3/27HP
Lady Louise eats Bunny Egg: 3 +3 =6/27HP
Lady Louise goes off to gather bones and seek a different plan to defeat the imp.
Reward: +5
Lady Louise: Lvl 9, HP : 6/27; Sword: Level 8 AP 14 (10+3+1), Magic Staff: Level 10 , AP 16 (12+3+1) XP: 389
Brown Bat attack
Lady Louise: Lvl 9, HP : 6/27; Sword: Level 8 AP 14 (10+3+1), Magic Staff: Level 10 , AP 16 (12+3+1) XP: 389
Brown Bat: 3 Attack 15 Health - Reward: 1 Experience, 1 Bat Wing
Lady Louise attacks Bat with Magic staff: Bat is dead
Rocky Heals Lady Louise +1HP
Lady Louise: Lvl 9, HP : 7/27; Sword: Level 8 AP 14 (10+3+1), Magic Staff: Level 10 , AP 16 (12+3+1) XP: 390 (hide spoiler)]

Thank you Brooke, I’ve not been around much this round RL has really cut into GR and reading time. Going to spend a couple of hours today getting everything updated. Thank you Nistha and Fiona for holding down the fort

Definitely:)

Fiona wrote: "Hi team, we have officially completed our first mini, the garden mini! I copied the tasks so they can be used again but I'm asking you to please not make any changes in the minis before round 3 sta..."

Unfortunately we have not finished the first gardening mini has not been completed.

We still require this :
Find books with words in their title (or subtitle) that meet the following.
contains a H and 2 Os needs to be in a single word cannot be split across the title

@Fiona please see comment in Captains thread

DQs Day 5, Chapters 30-36

19. Although it seemed like all conflicts were resolved at the end of the last section, Radane’s (ex-)fiancé comes back and is looking for her. Were you surprised the story was taking another twist? What do you think about how all of that resolved?

I wasn’t surprised to be honest, it was inevitable that someone would come looking for Radane. The way it was resolved suited the story.

20. Radane ends up returning Kiela’s parents’ cookbook to her and even fixed the torn out page. What would be in your parents’ cookbook?

Not my parents but my grandmother’s who taught me how to bake from a very young age. It would be the recipes that we would make on Sunday mornings.

21. On Sunday I was at my friends’ place and had some of her stepmother’s raspberry and elderflower jam, which was delicious. What’s your favorite type of jam?
I’m not a great lover of jam but if I was to choose it would be strawberry

22. The revolution was successful, Radane is free, Kiela gets to do her spells with the coven, the merhorses foaled, Kiela und Larran are getting married… everything is just peachy on Caltrey! How did you enjoy the book? What is your rating? Are you going to pick up more from Sarah Beth Durst?

I enjoyed the story it was was a little bit of escapism. Not sure if I would pick up another. The novel suited my mood at the time.

Thank you Fiona

DQ Day 2 Chapters 8 - 13

6. There's more information released here about magic use and its impact on the world. What do you think about this?

I like the concept that magic is potentially accessible to all and that changing just a little of the recipe changes the effect of the magic

7. Lucky that Kiela can exploit the absence of fruit to fill a niche shop, eh?! What do you think about her plan to make a living out of jam and secret magic?
I think it’s ingenious, she can heal the island a little at a time and integrate herself into it.

8. Kiela and Larran keep having meet cute moments. Do you like this romantic pairing?
I do, they are both very solitary people and are bonding, even though they are out of their comfort zones

How are we all doing, we have 3 completed spellouts and 2 partials

DQs- Day 1, Chapters 1-7

1. The book opens with quite a tough scene: a Great Library is set on fire and Kiela has already packed crates of books to rescue. And she asks herself the question "if she were stranded on a desert island, which books would she most want to have with her?"
Now I'm putting you the same question limiting your possibilities to
- 1 complete works of an author
- 2 book series
- 3 standalone books from different genres, 1 must be non-fiction

Oh my, that is a tough one
I would need to take the complete works of Agatha Christie reading her novels as a young teen inspired my love of reading especially mysteries.

I read a lot of series books but I think I would need to save Women’s Murder Club each new book is always released near my birthday and I have the complete series so far. The other would have to be Harry Potter a series that appeals to adults and children alike

Standalone are more difficult but I would probably go with The Light Between Oceans All the Light We Cannot See and Spare

2. While it's only explained sketchily, a little politics, history (?)
of the Empire is mentioned, alongside some curious species, flora & fauna (winged kitties, anyone?) What do you think of the world-building so far?
I’m enjoying the world building so far

3. It's mentioned several times how Kiela keeps herself to herself in the Library (apart from Caz's company). Do you think such an almost complete isolation described here is possible even in such a vast Library?
I think it is possible if someone really wanted to be isolated.

4. I found it a bit disturbing that Kiela doesn't tell anyone on the island that she came away because a revolution has broken out in the capital (I understand her keeping silent about the books). It IS supposed to be a big deal after all and one would think they will learn about it eventually. A bit later some excuses are offered. Do you think they are sufficient or it's just a usual plot-driving tool?
Probably a part of the plot as Kiela has her own secrets and is not sure who she can trust.

5. I really liked the idea of Kiela & Caz sectioning the garden and naming them after book genres. Which genres would you name parts of your real or hypothetical garden? :)

Sci-fi - Exotic Plants
Horror - Fungi
Romance - fragrant flowers
Historical- ferns and grasses
Non fiction - bushes

Joyce wrote: "Did the tracking sheet change I cannot seem to find it.
this is the one I went to from message #4 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/......"

I’ve been updating the master sheet so use the filter. It should be fine now

BOM Update
The Road Trip there is still time to participate until 16th November, you can find the discussion thread here

The Spellshop starts today until 2nd December. We haven’t been selected for DQ setting this time but do head over to the discussion thread to participate.

Feeding the Family Mini Update
Bonus Words - Vinegar - Lobster

F1 potato in text - FIONA
F2 rice in text - BROOKE
F3 pasta in text
F4 bread in text - BROOKE
F10 broccoli in text
F11 carrot in text - NISTHA
F12 pumpkin in text - PATTI
F13 squash in text - CECILY
F14 yam in text
F17 okra in text
F18 tomato in text - PATTI
F21 cucumber in text
F22 apple in text
F23 peach in text - CECILY
F24 fig in text
F25 grape in text - VIAN
F26 banana in text - PATTI
F29 sugar in text - LOUISE
F30 spice in text
• For Words in text please make sure to put a brief sentence, even if you cannot add the page number


F31 China *5 tags
F32 Mexico *5 tags
F33 Italy *5 tags
F35 India *5 tags
F36 Greece *5 tags
F37 Japan *5 tags
F38 Thailand *5 tags - NISTHA
F39 Korea *5 tags
F40 Turkey *5 tags
F41 Nigeria *5 tags
F42 Jamaica *5 tags
F43 Bangladesh *5 tags
F44 Hawaii *5 tags
F45 Southern Gothic *5 tags

Garden Mini Update
Bonus Words - Piano - Violin

G2 Trellis (series sequence) 1 - #2 in series - VIAN
G5 Trellis (series sequence) 1 - #5 in series - VIAN
G6 Trellis (series sequence) 2 - #1 in series - FIONA
G7 Trellis (series sequence) 2 - #2 in series
G8 Trellis (series sequence) 2 - #3 in series
G9 Trellis (series sequence) 2 - #4 in series
G10 Trellis (series sequence) 2 - #5 in series
G13 Mulch: word in title contains one of the following digraphs: CH, PH, SH, TH, WH - JOYCE
G14 Weed: word in title contains a double vowel
G15 Water: word in title contains and H and 2 Os
G16 Pest Control: word in title contains two letters consecutive in the alphabet (e.g AB in alphabet) - LOUISE
G18 Prune: word in title can be cut to reveal a different word of at least 2 letters (e.g PRUNE - RUNE / AFFAIR - FAIR) - NISTHA
G19 Harvest: title contains a word that could be a noun or verb (e.g TRAIN) - NISTHA
G20 Deadhead: word in title contains a repeat set of at least two letters (e.g BEGINNING repeats IN)

G21 Colour Cover: Green - Cecily
G22 Colour Cover: Brown
G25 Colour Cover 5: Blue - Cecily
G26 Colour Cover 6
G27 Colour Cover 7
G28 Colour Cover 8
G29 Colour Cover 9
G30 Colour Cover 10
(Colours already used: Black; White)

Admin Mini Update
•Bonus Word - Quilt - Coffee Table

A1 the main character works in an office - LOUISE
A3 typical administrative material on the cover
A4 tagged non-fiction / nonfiction (at least 10x) - MARIA
A5 tagged office (at least 10x)
A6 the main character works in taxes
A7 the main character works in finance
A8 the clue to solving a murder is found in paperwork
A13 the main character needs to know how to handle a budget
A15 letters TAXES in title - FIONA
A16 letters ADMIN in title
A17 author first & last initials in FILING - FIONA
A18 author first & last initials in PAPERWORK

Happy Saturday everyone, we are nearly at the end of our first week of Round 2 and we are doing well. We have 3 partial spell outs completed.
We need the following to complete each of these:
Spell out #1:
1 M

Spell Out #2:
1 M
2 G

Spell Out #3:
1 M
2 R
2 G
2 E
1 W

Letters Claimed
• Each Spellout Requires 1M; 1O; 2R; 1T; 2G; 2A; 3E; 1N; 1W; 1L
• Our book cap lets us spell our word a total of 9 times.
•We need more Es; As; Gs and Rs

M - 5
O - 2
R - 3
T - 1
G - 6
A - 5
E - 3
N - 0
W - 2
L - 1

Put them in the overflow and we can use if we’re running short

Just a reminder everyone please make sure to add what extra tasks your book works for as we may need to move books around.