Louise’s
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(group member since Aug 29, 2015)
Louise’s
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from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.
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The Academy - part IIIThe Principal Mage at The Novel Academy just announced that he's looking for The Magical Teacher of the Year. You desperately want to be nominated.
• Complete two of these quests: Academy - History, ✔️Academy - Geography, Academy - Literature
• Complete two of these quests: Academy II - History, Academy II - Geography, Academy II - Literature
• Complete both of these quests: The Academy, The Academy - part II
• Read a book with a teacher as one of the main characters.
Reward: Receive the nomination and 1 Health Gem for your efforts.
Note: Health Gem grants +1 Max HP (permanently) and refills HP (one-time only). (hide spoiler)]
Stick to your New Year's Reading resolutions (For a change) - Repeatable.You can participate once every year.
1. Start fresh.
Read 2 books from a new to you author and 1 book published this year.
Reward: 5 XP.
New To Me
Letters to Alice: On First Reading Jane Austen by Fay Weldon 1/14
The Heirs by Susan Rieger 1/28
2. Read every day.
Read several pages every day for a month (minimum of 10 pages or 15 minutes of audio). You can break up the task into 4 week-long segments if you prefer (doesn't have to be 4 consecutive weeks).
Reward: 1 Minor Heal Potion.
3. Read More Diverse Books/Books You Don’t Normally Read.
Read three books from genres you usually avoid (e.g. classics, memoir, sci-fi, YA, history, science, comic book, book set in another country or different culture).
Reward: 3 XP and 6 Gold.
4. Don't be intimidated by longer books.
Read either one 1000+ page book or two 500+ page books.
Reward: 3 XP and 1 Duplication Potion.
5. Enjoy yourself.
Re-read one of your favorite books.
Reward: 2 XP.
6. Declutter Your Books.
Go through all the books you own (physical or electronical), organize them and if you come across some physical books you know you won't read (ever again), donate at least one of them to your local library or school or to a friend. (You don't have to read the book if you don't want to.)
Reward: 1 Minor Heal Potion.
7. Organize Your Bookshelves & Manage your ‘to be read’ pile.
Either read a book that you added to your TBR in the year you joined Goodreads or read a physical book that has been sitting on your bookshelf longer than that.
Reward: 1 Time Walking Potion.
8. Make More Reading Friends.
Buddy-read a book with one of your fellow adventurers. Use our local theatre for your buddy-read sessions.
Reward: 1 Major Heal Potion.
9. Stop Buying Books for a month.
Don't buy any books for at least a month and instead read a book that you got for free (might be from your library or borrowed from a friend).
Reward: 2 XP.
10. Pick up a number and stick with it.
Set yourself a reading goal that feels achievable yet still pushes you to find the time to read (minimum of 12 books per year) and stick to it. You can collect your reward for finishing this task no sooner than 1st December.
Reward: 1 Santa Coupon
Tasks 2, 6 and 10 are participation tasks (you can use the books you read for other quests).
Once you finish a task, report it in the Theatre thread and you can collect your reward.
If you finish all 10 tasks, you can collect your BONUS REWARD: additional 5 XP.
New Year, Same Me (Repeatable)[Another year has come and gone, and Queen Skye is staring at a toppling stack of her TBR from the past year that she never got to. It’s so tall now that it touches the ceiling and threatens to flood the room with pages. You can help her by reading some of these books and providing a TLDR.
This is a literary awards challenge!
Choose 1 year and read 5 winners and/or nominees from a single established literary award (e.g., Pulitzer, Hugo, Booker Prize, or Goodreads Choice Awards). Share a mini-review of your favorite in the Local Tavern thread.
!!! Only fresh books can be used for this quest!!! (i.e. read after publication of the quest)
Reward: 5 XP and either 1 Book Glue or 1 magical Book Cover – your choice. Can be repeated once every month.
Book Glue - Glues 2 books together to make a bigger book with the combined total of pages. Book Cover - Combines 2 books to create a book that has a combined serial number.
Imp - 25 Attack 5 Health - You're going to miss this little bugger 3 times before you finally hit him.This is not your month. First bats, then Paul. You shudder to think what is next. Trying your best to make it home you peer from behind a tree, see the coast is clear then take a run for it. Before you can make it three steps you feel a sharp jab in your shoulder. Ow! And another. Ow! And a third. Ow! Finally, you manage to get your weapon out and take a swipe at whatever it is that keeps poking you.
Rewards: 1 Shield Potion, 6 XP, and Essence of Tricks
Final day DQS:21. Do you think it made sense for the group to fall apart after the climax, or would you have expected the shared experiences to keep them close (who else are they going to be able to talk about it with?).
I wasn’t surprised that they all went their separate ways. They all carried a lot of guilt and to come terms with that guilt they needed to handle it in their own way
22. So all in all the characters are all quite unlikeable. Is there one that stands out to you as the least likeable of all?
I don’t think I liked any of the characters
23. What are your thoughts on the book as a whole? Will you read more by Tartt?
I enjoyed the book to some extent. My dislike was due more to the writing style rather than the story as a whole. I will probably read more but not yet
24. I'm surprised this book hasn't been turned into a movie yet, especially with the popularity of Dark Academia. Would you watch the movie if they made one? Any preference for any cast members? I’m not a great fan of books to movies, although I probably would read this
DQs Day 2 - Chapters 3 & 4 (pages 104 to 172)6. What do you think of Julian’s unique position as a wealthy outsider and its influence on his interactions with both the college and the group?
He seems an odd fit
7. The narrator and the group are greatly fascinated by the classics, in particular Greek tragedy. Do you think this influences their perception of the world and their relationships within the group and with other characters?
It must influence them to some degree, to what extent is yet to be seen or understood
8. What do you think of the relationship between Richard and the other members of the group? Do you think it has evolved over these chapters? What, if any, are the elements most likely to strengthen or disrupt this bond?
Richard is the definite outsider of the group. Not sure what it will take for Richard to be truly accepted by the group
9. How does the isolated setting of Hampden College contribute to the atmosphere and the characters' actions?
10. Did your thoughts about Henry’s relationship with Bunny change over the course of these chapters?
I got more of an understanding of their relationship and what they mean to each other.
11. What do the Bacchic rituals symbolize to the group? Are they seeking a transcendent experience, or are they simply indulging in hedonistic pleasures? How do these rituals contribute to the group's downfall?
I definitely think they are indulging in hedoniistic pleasures. Lack of understanding of the consequences of these rituals contribute to their downfall
DQs Day 1Chapters 1 & 2
1.) Is this your first Donna Tartt book or have you read hot book of whatever year that was, The Goldfinch? If you've read The Goldfinch, has this been sitting on your to-be-read list since?
This is my first novel by this author
2.) This has definite secret-college-campus-society vibes. Do you like this setting for a story? Have you read any from this genre you'd recommend to others?
I read a fair bit of this type of novel and quite enjoy it
3.) Speaking of the setting, does the author provide a good description of the campus and the surrounding landscape to set a believable atmosphere for the novel?
It took a little bit of scene setting to fully realise the scene.
4.) Initial thoughts on characters. It's early in the book, but any you like, don't like, or want to learn more about?
To early to say
5.) Do you think the narrator is reliable? Do you like unreliable narrated books or are you not a fan?
I am struggling with the narrator
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
Nov 09, 2024 07:50AM
DQs Day 5, Chapters 30-3619. 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.
