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

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

Celia wrote: "Can "unnamed narrator" be used for a U character? I'm reading a mystery that's partly narrated by the anonymous murderer in first person."

I’m not sure on that I’ll have to check ot out 😊

We have completed 10 SpellOuts and 1 partial great work team. Take a breather while we wait for Round 2 to commence.

Chris wrote: "Will do! Question, do we get points for every day’s discussion, or is it dependent on completion (Days 1 -5), or is any number of days okay? I answered Days 1 & 2 and lead Day 3, but I didn’t care ..."

Minimum of 3 days for 20pts

NIce going Chris, let me know if you can cover this day.

BOM DQ's Assigned

Date MPDQ %age start / finish quotes
2 Jul Tammie (Oz) 21% ends "he opened the door."
3 Jul Jessie (Cat) 42% starts "'Wait a minute'"
ends "'Can we look at your pictures now?'"
4 Jul Laura (Pants) 64% starts "Jenny Summers, who had been my aunt's roommate"
ends "'I'll take it' she said."
5 Jul Chris(Gulliver) 82% starts "A few thin flakes"
ends "she plunged the knife back down"
6 Jul Jammin Jenny (Shannara) starts "Was I awake or asleep"

Sunny wrote: "I've started One of Us Is Lying to get that another O (although it fits for a few other letters as well, if needed), but I just have a question - do you think the cover qualifies fo..."

That's 4 people

Updated

A little over 12 to go until check-in. We have completed our word 89times and have one partial on the go. To complete this we need:

Needed
O
O
M
C

Sunny wrote: "Also, just another note, on the spreadsheet for The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life the task isn't written but i put it down as #4, if you don't think it fits I can find another tas..."

Meant to add that, updated

Chris wrote: "Also, thanks for the countdown clock! Time math trips me up, especially when I’m tired!"

No problem, I’ll always put a Countdown clock in the round info in message #8 as well as Post In general by Wednesday of the Second week 😊

Updated

A little over 24hours to go. We have completed our word 8 times and have two partials on the go. To complete these we need:

Word 1:
O
O

Word 2:
O
O
M
C

5 Questions Chapters 22- End

20. I was 6 miles into my walk when Will said “I’m all for being rebellious, but this seems like a death wish. Two kids with barely functioning lungs walking two miles one-way to go look at light?” and it hit me for a moment how often I take the the little things for granted. Even though this was not meant to be some life changing philosophical book, do you think you’ll look at certain things differently?

I think Covid has made me look at things differently and made me realise the little things we take for granted.


21.I suppose this question can be answered many different ways. But when Stella got a call about the lung transplant and purposely ignored it, what was your initial reaction? If you put yourself in that situation, what do you think you would do? If you are a parent, what do you think you’d want your child to do in that situation?

I kept thinking ‘oh no, this is your chance to live the way you want’. At the same time I understand her reluctance.

22. A part of me really thought they would go the whole book without touching and the ice skating scene actually surprised me. Are you glad that they added that into the book or did it feel unrealistic knowing how Stella was at the beginning of the book?

I think it was very realistic especially in the aftermath of Poe’s death. Touch is one of life’s great soothers

23.Them seeing each other at the airport but not talking but knowing they still love each other is not how I expected the book to end. Were you satisfied with the ending? Would you have wanted them to get on the same plane?

It was bittersweet, both knowing that they love each other but couldn’t actually be together

24.Did you have a favorite character? What was your favorite scene? Be honest here, did you cry at any point in the book? Any final thoughts/rants/praises on this book you didn’t get to share yet? Drop them here

I didn’t have a favourite character as such but I did enjoy the lead up to the birthday dinner

Day 4 Questions Chapters 16-21

15. We get to find out about the title in this section. What did you guys think about the new rule, and the reason behind it?

I liked this as a way of gaining some control.

16. Did you all like Stella and Will’s first date? Do you think you would have the self control to stay away from the love of your life?
As an aside, are there any YA books of this type that allow the kids to spend more than 6 minutes together before falling in love?

I though it was really sweet and showed how frustrated they both were with the reality of their situation

17. They spend a page or two discussing the afterlife. Do you think their takes on it made sense to the characters? Realizing I am wading into murky waters here, did you want to discuss your own views? (Optional, teehee.)

I think it was in keeping with the characters personality.

18. Abby. We find out why happens to her here. What did you think of this reveal? Was it a satisfying explanation of the missing sister story to you?

I thought so, it also explains why although Stella is fighting to live, she is scared of living!

19. Chapter 21 is a bit of a rollercoaster. The birthday dinner is pretty cool. Did you like what Stella and all set up? Then, Poe. This hit me more than any of the other "feels" in the book. How did you take this? Discuss.

The birthday dinner was a lovely touch, allowed the 3 of them to be normal for a bit. It was inevitable that one of the characters was going to die, but this completely blew me away

Day 3 Questions
chapters 10 - 15

10) I can't imagine the stress of trying to balance the knowledge of a fairly terminal prognosis with trying to be hopeful to live. I mean, we all know our days are numbered, but when you have an idea of what the number might be, you can either try to suck the marrow out of every day or curl up and try not to care enough to let anything hurt you more. Who do you think will have a bigger effect on the other, Will or Stella, and what do you hope will be the outcome, from a personal growth aspect?

I’be finished the book so I kinda know the answer to this

11) Maybe I'm too cynical, but I kept feeling like Abby was used as the personification of the idea that "See, you never know how long you have to live, so..." and not flawed enough to be a real person. Did anyone else feel that way or am I being a meanie?

She was portrayed through Stella’s eyes and in that way remembered for her positive attributes, I’m sure she had flaws but we rarely remember people's flaws when we remember them.

12) I loved Barb's parental takedown. Do you think the shift in Stella's parents will last?

I hope so

13) Reflecting on Barb's story of Amy and Trevor: would you choose a much shorter but immediately fuller life, or a longer lifespan though it may be less vibrant?

Difficult to say but I do believe in this by George Bernard Shaw “.,,We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing...”

14) Poe says "It's my sickness...it's my problem." While it's admirable to strive for self-sufficiency, a main message of the book seems to be about how it's imperative to open up and do the work to nurture healthy, supportive relationships. What is your take on this? When in crisis, do you distance yourself or reach out?

I tend to be a bit of a loner and have always been pretty self-sufficient, not always a good thing.

Day 2 Questions

6 . 'I wonder how many strings she had to pull and how much money she had to throw away to get me into this trial'
This quote caught my attention because in the UK we don't have to pay for treatment, even in a clinical trial in the UK. Did it catch anyone else's notice?

Even though in the UK we don’t pay for treatment there is still a postcode lottery as to what treatment is available, which in itself means that if you can afford to live in more affluent areas and/or go private creates a divide in primary care

7. Are you surprised at how quickly Stella has become attached to Will? I wasn't expecting this strength of reaction to him not taking his treatment seriously. Did you think it was in character?

Being as the only other person is Poe it is inevitable. I’ve finished the book so I understand her reaction


8. Wow Will's mum is controlling. I'm not surprised he's ended up rebelling from taking his treatments. Do you think you'd react like Stella (perfectionist, controlling about treatment and planning for the future) or Will (fed up, rebellious and living for the moment) to being in this type of situation?

Probably more Stella, but until you’re in that situation it’s hard to say.

9. Masks, lots of hand washing, staying 6 feet (or roughly 2m) apart, limited places you can go… The recent pandemic is giving me more insight into some of what this must be like than I'd had before. How are you coping with the changes?

Not too bad, the hardest is juggling work with going out to get food and stuff,

Updated

@Celia can you add Mornings in Jenin to your shelf please.

@Shelby your book The Raven King isn’t showing a Read date on your shelf.

;)

Chris wrote: "Do we have a countdown clock for the start of Round 2? Trying to finish up all the books I started before then!"

Here you go

End of Round 1/Start Of Round 2

Also posted in msg#8 with Round information. Please ensure that all books are entered into the s/sheet and on your wheel shelf no later than an hour before the countdown ends this gives Rina and I a chance to pull the final s/sheet together and check-in.

Brigia wrote: "I've been wondering if it would be more helpful to read a book from the tags lists with an easy letter, like T or S, or a book without a tag but a more difficult letter, like O/U. What do you think?"

Going on the premise of our book/round average of 80 across the team. We can spell our word out 11 times, I'd be tempted to read for the difficult letters. I've already earmarked Fish & Chips for a U, The Flatshare for an O and I have a whole series on Kindle audible narration that begin with I which I can knock out 3/4. We only get extra points for 10 books with the relevant tags, so as long as we have them covered we're good.

Updated

@Celia can you add Mornings in Jenin to your shelf please.

;)

Shelby wrote: "For anyone contemplating looking for Tiger books - there's a lot of fun Shelly Laurenston books on that list. If you're into shifter romances they're good choices."

Got to love a shifter romance. :)

Celia wrote: "Ok I updated it on the sheet. It's the same as I said in the example, for GR award instead of black cover"

Updated that for you.