Elinor’s Comments (group member since Apr 06, 2022)

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

Wow. This thread is moving fast - I’ll catch up once I finish my last UNO read - soz to be MIA here in the meantime.

Hi Suzanne, thanks lovely meeting you too and the whole team. I have played with Nanci in the past I believe :).

Yes, you can use the walls in padel but the ball has to bounce off the court first or it’s out. The racket is very different from a tennis racket, it has far less grip on the ball so that means reworking any tennis techniques (e.g. lifting 😅).

I’ve been trying to access our tracking sheet link but it doesn’t seem to be editable (may be intentional?) and has a different team’s name (Damara Damara?).

Hi everyone,

I’m Elinor - English, I live in Belgium with my partner and our two dogs. I work in IT Software Development. My hobbies include reading (of course!), tennis, aerobics and have just started some padel tennis classes. I love going to the cinema too though don’t often find the time. Also, I’ve planted some passion flower seeds and hope I don’t kill them (that’s unfortunately what usually happens with my gardening projects! 😅).

Link to my shelf:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

Looking forward to the challenge. It’s my second TT. Currently finishing up UNO… go, go, go!

Can’t wait :).

Yay! What was last year’s theme again? Something to do with the gods? Tinker Toys - good :)

Hi everyone,

Can’t believe how fast the challenge flew by! In retrospect, I managed to stick to my commitment of 2 reads a month - including a doorstopper. A bit disappointed I didn’t manage to stretch it a bit as I normally do - I started Shuggie Bain (tragic!) but have a busy day today so doubt I’ll finish it by the deadline this evening. Apologies for being so busy with real life lately that I hardly found time to check in, but reading I was. And you guys absolutely rock - I am in awe at the hundreds and hundreds of books read! So thank you so much for being a great team - it was all smooth and good fun, no hitches or misunderstandings, and we have had some great captains too! Looks like a lot of hard work - so cheers for all the cross-checking, questions to the captains group, … including on the group challenges.

My key takeaway as a slow reader for my first TT would be: try to get more involved with the BOMs when the genre suits because they’re point winners and quicker for me than reading an extra 200 pages. Also, they’re just plain fun!

I’m definitely hoping to be back next year and look forward to seeing the final rankings.

Just hoping everyone enjoyed it as much as I did - :) & good luck with the final reads that are still going!

Writing an actual story… sounds interesting!

Hi everyone,
Just a quickie from my mobile - I have finally finished American Gods.
S’il catch up soon on all that’s been happening!

Bernadette wrote: "Elinor wrote: "Bernadette wrote: "Hey team - I'm going to ask you not to check the "used for mini" box on the SS. It's our way of tracking what we've put on the mini on the main SS. Thanks🙂

What w..."

Super news, thanks for following up on that one in the captain's chat - I see you've already updated the tracking sheet :). And thanks for updating Malibu Rising page count too (hadn't realised special rules applied to BOMs).

Just finished Malibu Rising - really enjoyed it! - and added it in the song quote category - hoping fictional songs are accepted(?)

Day 5
20 Jul 2:00 AM - 7:00 AM

17. I love how the author describes how the party goes feral starting with that awful Vaughn Donovan. Have you ever been to a party where things spiralled out of control?

No, never to that extent.

18. I fist pumped the air when Nina tells herself to stop being a doormat and goes to find her dad (or as she says, her "f&*(ing nothing"!!). That whole scene where she confronts him felt so cathartic. I loved the line "It would not be her that bent and broke anymore." How did you find it?

Same here: finally, Nina giving herself the right to simply be. I really hoped she'd allow some of the burden handed down by her parents to be lifted.

19. There are always many sides to a story. Why do you think Mick came to the party? If he was your dad, would you have forgiven him? Would you have wanted to see him again after the party?

I think he noticed the invitation when he realised that his life of instant gratification did have a price after all: loneliness. I think I would have forgiven (in the sense I would have ended up not caring, just so I could live my own life), but I would never have forgotten. I might have agreed to see him after the party, but probably more from a sense of pity than anything else (feels bad to admit that!).

20. The party changed the siblings in lots of different ways. How do you think their lives will be different now?

Kit will be given space to glow - finally. Nina and Hud will each live their dream. I'm not sure about Jay, I think he's the one with the most to figure out and cope with - I admire he found it in him to forgive Hud. And I think Casey will be loved by these guys.

Also, cutting loose from the restaurant is really symbolic: letting go of the past and moving on.

21. Final thoughts on the book? Would you read more by the author?

I really enjoyed this - though must say a couple of things threw me about 70% in: they just felt unreal. I feared for my read, but it was really good. I thought things would end far more dramatically than they did, but this was way better - I actually found some of this really funny.

I definitely would like to read more by the author.

PS: thanks to the DQ writers for the great questions :)
PPS: Brandon is such a tw*rp

Bernadette wrote: "Hey team - I'm going to ask you not to check the "used for mini" box on the SS. It's our way of tracking what we've put on the mini on the main SS. Thanks🙂

What would help a whole lot would be if ..."

Oops. Sorry - won't be doing that again. I see you've unchecked The Island Home - thank you.

I have a question re the mini - for the geometry one we need to have titles to play around with to make them fit. For the tragedy / comedy / pairs, it sort of feels the same. So, if a book can fit several mini-tasks, do we have a strategy on which order we want to fill them or do we just pick one randomly or the one we feel fits best?

Cheers.

Day 4

59% 11:00 PM
80% 01:00 AM

13. From the four siblings, I was surprised to find out that Kit had been sending the party invitations to his father for the last few years. I would have expected it from Nina and Hud first. Was it a surprise for you too? What do you think the future relationship (if any) will look like between Mick and his children? I feel he is quite an unredeemable character so it could go towards many different directions.

It felt difficult to believe so yes, definitely surprised. I doubt Mick will ever have any kind of meaningful relationship with his kids, but it's difficult to tell how they actually "relate" to their father, from what I've read so far. I think the others may be upset with Kit for sending the invite.

14. Now that we know the story between Brandon and Nina and her reaction to his mistress' appearance, I can finally see the fire awakening in Nina. She has a chance to not commit the same mistakes as her mom. Do you think that she will finally stand up to herself and what she wants or will she fall into old habits? We haven't seen the last from Brandon, what do you think he will do to try to get Nina back?

I think Nina will (learn to) stand up for herself in the end. I'm not sure what Brandon can do - I just hope whatever he does she'll be listening to her inner voice (and her good friend Tarine).

15. Nina has taken very well the situation with Casey. How do you think the others will react to the news?

Nina seems pretty resilient because she believes they will never know whether or not they are related. I'm not at all sure how the others will react, nor whether Mick knows anything about Casey. It feels like a side-story to me, I'm wondering how relevant it will be or if it's a red herring.

16. I am worried about the fate of some characters. Now that we are getting closer to the end, do you think everyone will have a HEA or the story is leading toward some heartbreak and bittersweet ending?

Definitely heartache, possibly death :-S.

Sorry to hear that Ashley - good to know he is getting the necessary treatment. All the best with the surgery and hope he makes as swift a recovery as possible🤞

Day 3

41% 5:00 PM
59% 10:00 PM

9. The Riva house on the beach and Nina's husband's place on a cliff are described several times in the book as the most important settings. Do you find the houses and Malibu as appealing places?
What would your own dreamplace be like? And where would it be?

I love the idea of both places though the house on the beach sounds rather frazzled - so, place on the cliff for me please :). More seriously, my dream house would be in a village near a river, somewhere cute in the UK or the North of Europe; it would have a small garden at the front and the back, rooms for my family and an attic big enough to be turned into my very own library.

10. As we are moving forward in the story, the siblings characters may be getting fleshed out a bit more. What do you think of Nina? Does it seem like she's following in her mother's footsteps in her choices?

I'm wondering exactly the same thing. It reads to me like Nina gives into peer pressure and her decision has more to do with what others think than with her own inner voice (whereas June seemed the opposite). Let's see how it goes down.

11. Connecting to the previous question about Nina: while TJR is handing out information concerning her husband and their marriage rather sparingly, how do you see Nina's choice and their relationship? Any impressions on what Brandon is like?

I can see how Nina would be attracted to someone who, unlike her father, keeps the tone relatively low despite being so rich, though I'm getting vibes of Brandon being quite forceful too, and her letting him be that and getting frustrated about it. Not sure she will stick to her latest decision.

12. What do you think about the relationship between Jay and Hud? How do you think Jay will react when he learns about Hud's betrayal especially as he seems to have found a real love interest?

I think they had a good relationship that's going to get very sour, despite Jay's love interest. I picture this not ending well, and possibly some very old stuff getting pulled back up to the surface.

DAY 2 - 1959 "It was last December 1959"
41% 1981 "...in her arms, on her back."

5. 1959 - "It was last December, 1959" -
It sounds like a Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons song...Wow! What an explosive chapter. Your reaction? Mick was characterised as a sleezy womaniser, it was always going to happen or I didn't see that coming! And June's reaction? Sensitive woman with a huge heart or a doormat for putting up with what she suspected?

June is pretty honest with herself from the very beginning that she likes some of the lies Mick's telling her. So, I wouldn't say 'doormat', because she has a steel core. However, she also seems to have got lost in a fantasy of living it big. I saw a lot of that story coming (Nina mentions very early on how she took care of children - presumably her siblings) but hadn't foreseen that specific twist.

6. "He gave no thought to the idea that he might break his children like someone had broken him". "You're drunk and you're killing yourself with this stuff." Discuss Mick and June's parenting styles and how they have affected the siblings as children and adults.

Mick and June are definitely two very different creatures - Mick's absences and lies cause trouble, mostly because June decides to keep betting on him regardless. Very early on, both June and Mick set Nina up to compensate for their shortcomings. When drama ensues she really is left with little choice or so she feels. It's tragic for children to feel orphaned despite having a living parent.

7. The title of the book is Malibu Rising and the author gives the reader a sense of the beach culture both in the past and the present time lines. What does it bring to the story and would it be as effective in another setting?

I think the setting is crucial to the story - from the prologue onwards.

8. Already with the first set of questions there are varying opinions by the group about both Taylor Jenkins Reid as an author and how it compares to her other work. I loved Daisy Jones and the Six but I am finding this one as bit like Days of our Lives... but the author is skillful enough to make it into a page turner. Where do you sit, engaging tale well written or too much drama and as we are half way through do you see this ending in triumph or tragedy for the Riva siblings?

I can't compare for not having read her other books but it's definitely a page turner that's going to end badly.

DQs Day 1: Prologue - 11:00AM

1. Both Daisy Jones & The Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo have been BOMs in this group before. Have you read these books (or others) by Taylor Jenkins Reid too or is Malibu Rising your first book by the author? What are your expectations going in?

This is my first book by Taylor Jenkins Reid - my expectations were average going in because I have read mixed reviews in the past. After reading the prologue, my expectations were pretty high however, I felt I was really going to enjoy it.

2. We have been introduced to quite a lot of MCs and their different POVs in the first 20% of the book. Do you prefer one character/POV over the others or is it still too early to tell?

At this stage in the book I was all in for the kids' generation & wanted to get to know more about the four siblings.

3. The writing has quite a contemporary feel to it, especially the 1983 timeline, which makes it easy to forget the book is actually set in the past. What's your opinion on the writing and the back and forth between the two timelines so far, and how does it compare to other TJR books you've read (if any)?

I'd hardly given it any thought tbh - the writing style is bringing me closer to the characters I think. So, although it is unusual, it is working for me.

4. "The story of June and Mick Riva seemed like a tragedy to their oldest child, Nina. It felt like a comedy of errors to their first son, Jay. It was an origin story for their second son, Hud. And a mystery to the baby of the family, Kit. To Mick himself it was just a chapter of his memoir."
We don't really know how June and Mick's marriage post kids 1 + 2 went (and ended) yet, but from what we've learned about each of the siblings and their (love) lives so far, how do you think their parents' story has affected them after reading the quote above?

This sentence stuck with me too - it got me intrigued. I guess at this point one can only assume they will all have reacted quite differently (also: see quote) but can't say for sure how this will have affected them.
(I've read past the chapter for these DQs so will say no more).

--- Also, for everyone who has read Evelyn Hugo, can we please talk about the (brief) mention of Celia St. James AND THE FACT THAT (view spoiler).
And while we're at it, Mick also had a cameo in Daisy Jones & the Six!

I haven't read them BUT will say that after the first few chapters, I am leaning towards reading more by the author - so thank you for pointing that out - I'll be paying attention when I do!

Bernadette wrote: "Genres needed for Round 3 of the Trojans War are posted in the Battlechat thread. For those that have not had a chance to contribute yet, take a look and stake your claim. Book will need to be fini..."

Thanks Bernadette, sorry I missed this. I did have one going that would have fit - I'll just post it in the thread in case another falls through (though I doubt that could happen with such great teams!) Just realised there's no point as all slots taken - just let me know if it can be any use, otherwise I've lined it up for mini-tasks.

Sorry for being MIA, hectic life - in the good sense! :)

Finally finished The Island Home and just started Malibu Rising - think I’m going to enjoy it. Will catch up on messages later this evening, and try to work out if The Island Home can fit in the mini somewhere.

Melissa wrote: "Elinor wrote: "Heya,

Little confused here, apologies if these questions have already been answered.

I'm currently reading a book which I don't think we'll be able to use for the Monster Challeng..."

Ok, thank you Melissa :).