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

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

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@ Celia can you add Thirteen Rising to your wheel shelf. 😉

Brigia wrote: "I have read On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous (in German) and liked it okay, though in my opinion the author took the whole literary fiction genre a bit far :-)

I'm currently reading..."

Glad you enjoyed Louisiana Longshot it is a fun series, her other series Ghost-In-Law is also a fun quirky series,

Keely wrote: "I recieved the news today that I no longer have a job. I suspected it as I had only been there a month before they closed because of the virus and if they had to let people go, I would have been to..."

Sorry to hear that Keely, hopefully the prospect of a new adventure will outweigh your loss.

Keely wrote: "I am currently reading 3 different books, potentially 4 depending on the answer to my next question.

What is the standing on Non-fiction books? I read a little bit of [bookcover:How to Bullet Pla..."

None of the tags indicate that it’s against the rules, but in looking at the preview on Amazon I’m not sure.

Rules on Page
Books must be at least 160 pages in length. Children's books, Graphic Novels, Scripts/plays (movie and theater), Cookbooks and Poetry books cannot be used unless by word count they can be verified (by arbookfinder.com or arbookfinder.co.uk) as at least 40,000 words or have an audio edition that is at least 5 hours long

Discussion Questions - Day 3 - Parts 5 & 6

9. Structure: "The Jetsetters" is divided into nine parts with an average of five different chapters (other than Part 1, which had nine chapters) in each part. Each chapter has, as yet, indicated a point of view change. What do you think the different parts are designating, if anything? How is it affecting your reading of the book, if at all?

I like the way it’s laid out letting us get a read on each character a bit at a time. I generally find these short chapters make the story flow quicker.

10. Setting: So far, the Perkins have visited, in some capacity, Athens, Rhodes, and, most recently, Malta. How has the Mediterranian setting impacted both the story and the characters, if at all? And how do you think the story and characters would have been affected if the cruise was traveling through a different setting (say the Perkins boarded an Alaskan cruise line), if there would be any?
There seems to be an air of romance and freedom on the cruise which is helping the character come to terms with the events of the past and the insecurities they have built up

11. Minor Character (Paros): As a follow up to question eight (since I am biasedly refusing to discuss Matt at any great length if I can help it), Paros has positively influenced both Charlotte (in feeling seen and admired) and Lee (in reconnecting with her family after coming to some big personal realizations). Why do you think Paros (and not Charlotte's recently deceased friend Minnie or Lee's one-time therapist) has been able to make these positive influences? Do you think this will continue and Paros will positively influence Regan and Cord in some way? If so, how?

I think this is due to Paros being a stranger and the knowledge that they are unlikely to see him again once the cruise is finished. Charlotte and Lee are both very proud and don’t wish people to judge them,


12. Minor Character (Kiko): Kiko's character has been used to further characterize the children indirectly: signifying Regan's meticulous mind (a mind that is plotting a murder, ha!), Lee's reformed ways rejecting the advances of men, and Cord's attraction towards men. Is Charlotte's character also indirectly characterized via Kiko? If so, how? (Also, I was so dismayed because Cord was my favorite character and his engagement to Giovonni was so cute and yet many of you predicted that Cord would be outted by being caught in a compromising situation by his family! gasp! So I ask you...) Was Cord's flirting with Kiko harmless, or was it a foreshadowing of a similar situation to come later in the novel?

I think Kiko’s openness and williness to share his home life with everyone strikef a chord with everyone. Showing them what can be if they let go of the past

How is everyone getting on with their reading?
Currently got 3 books on the go!

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Updated

Chris wrote: "@Louise, that's crazy that you found "morris dancing" so quickly! While Googling the term, I also found out that Terry Pratchett happens to include it in a lot of his work."

I figured if I was going to find it anywhere it would be in a British Cozy and Agatha Raisin was on my up-next list and there was a fete in there. As it is set in a village other books in the series may have it too.

Discussion Questions Day 2: Parts 2 - 4

5. We get more flashbacks to Charlotte's early life in Paris, and start to get an understanding of why her family isn't close or communicative - she herself was brought up to repress feelings. Will her current crush on Paros blossom into a full relationship? How will her fascination with Paros help or hinder her main aim of this holiday - to reconnect her children?

I’d like for her to get together with Paros if only so that she can finally let her feelings show. I don’t think it will come between her and her children though

6. Cord: he jettisons a year and a half of sobriety very easily, though I did enjoy how the author then used his drunken ramble through the ship to show off some of the glorious absurdities of massive cruise ships. Will Cord be able to pull himself together over the cruise or is he going to self-sabotage any happiness he might have had? Do you think Charlotte would react badly to his coming out of the closet? Any guesses on how he gets outed?
I think Cord will have a lot of self discovery to make especially as he is trying to look out for Regan. I don’t think Charlotte will react badly but she comes across as quite prudish to her children so I think it will more than likely she will stumble across Cord in a compromising situation which will make her feel guilty

7. Lee: We get confirmation that Winston did commit suicide, and chose to do it in her bathroom (what a $*!@$!). Why would Charlotte make her lie to her siblings about how he died? And why does noone call her out about her lies about her career?
Charlotte wasn’t able to protect Lee from the truth but wanted to protect her siblings. As Lee was closest to their father I think they all have a sense of duty to protect Lee and allow her her fantasies, unfortunately by doing so they are making it harder for her.

8. Regan: plotting murder! The plot thickens! What do you think the private detective has turned up? I assume it must be worse that infidelity, because you don't hire a PI unless you suspect infidelity, right? ('cos of course we have all thought about having our partners trailed rather than just, y'know, communicating with them!) Do you find the flashbacks to Matt rescuing Regan from the artist teacher (shades of Charlotte again!) make him more likeable?

I think Matt is very controlling, to be described as a monster indicates something more serious than simple infidelity. It will be interesting to find out

We have nearly completed our first word. Great effort team.

Shelby wrote: "Louise - Can you find out from the captains group...when it comes to recommendations does it need to match the book exactly or since a lot of people are recommending book 1's in series', if it's a ..."

My instinct says yes but I will double check.

Christina wrote: "Louise wrote: "I’ve just found “Morris dancers” 🎉"

in which book? :D"

Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell
Ironically I figured if it was going to be anywhere it would be this cozy Mystery series. I know have to wait 2 hours before I can finish it to use for Olympics

Yes it hasn’t worked like that in a long time. Enjoy your day off. I’m off to bed.

I’ve just found “Morris dancers” 🎉

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Thanks Shelby. Can you add Oz to your wheel shelf please.

DQ - Day 1

1. This is not a book I would’ve picked up on my own, and from the beginning I felt very strongly that I’m not the target (age) group, so I’m extra curious how I’m going to feel about this. Had you heard about this book before it was chosen as BOM? What were your expectations going in?

I hadn’t heard of this before it was chosen as BOM, however this is the type of book I would have picked up. It reminds me of Kristin Hannah’s writing. I haven’t read the reviews or looked at the ratings as I do find that can Color your opinion of a book. Good start so far.

2) I was surprised to see that the POVs rotates. Somehow the blurb made me think the whole book would be from Charlotte’s POV. Whose POV are you enjoying the most so far? Who is your favorite character?

I like the rotating POV’s and was hoping for this from the blurb
Can four lost adults find the peace they've been seeking by reconciling their childhood aches and coming back to each other?. I’m liking Charlotte’s POV and Regan’s the most so far although I am also enjoying Lee’s. Can’t really comment on Cord’s as we haven’t really seen much of him.


3) While Charlotte is supposedly the closest to Regan out of all her kids, their POVs show that they actually resent each other the most out of any of our four main characters. I can understand where Regan’s coming from, but Charlotte’s dislike of Regan so far is quite a mystery to me. What do you think is at the core here?

I’m not sure that Charlotte dislike’s Regan, I think a lot of it comes from Charlotte trying to let Regan know in her own way that she doesn’t need to be stuck in a situation that makes her unhappy. Regan saw the worst of her mother’s struggles growing up and doesn’t want to put herself in that situation. Lack of communication on both their parts has led to a very strained relationship

4) What do you think will happen on the trip? Will they even do the whole thing? Who will be the first to pack their bags and run back home? Which secrets will come out first?

Matt shoehorning his way into the trip is going to blow up, and either Lee or Regan will see him for what he really is. The cracks are already showing. I think Matt will be the one that ends up leaving first possibly down to Charlotte, she sees him as the reason her family is estranged. I think quite possibly Cord’s secret will come our first, Lee is already hinting at Cocktails with Cord, so she is obviously unaware that he is a recovering alcoholic and circumstances will force a situation whereby Cord will need to expose his secrets.

@Celia and Shelby you both have marked books as completed on the spreadsheet but haven’t put a date. Can you add so that we can check and move.

Reminder to all on the spreadsheet I look for books with a Read date - if this isn’t there it will not be picked up 😊

Celia wrote: "Are we only supposed to use one task per person on the spreadsheet?"

We all have a task list to work on, you can use your book for any task on your list but you can’t duplicate the task. When you post your completion choose the task that it works for based on difficulty.

E.g if you are reading it can work for a number of tasks - Yellow Cover; Deckchair; Set on a boat. For me the hardest task would be deckchair on cover, someone else may already have a book with a deckchair on the cover so they may use it for a yellow cover.

As long as you can justify it; we’ll place it on the task you have requested.