Leslie Ann’s Comments (group member since Mar 24, 2016)

Leslie Ann’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

Currently reading Ameican Gods….. : )

Happy Birthday Tone!!

@Nanci I haven’t read Joyland but it is now on my tbr : )

I love this group and all the chatter!

GO TEAM!!!

@Suzanne I saw you liked The Ferryman .... so glad you enjoyed it.

Suzanne wrote: "Sounds good Nanci! I cannot believe June 1 is so soon!

I just learned my grandson's school in Seattle is closed for 10 days or so (switching to online) because someone had measles. Yikes. Lol he c..."

Wow... we have the same problem in Colorado of kiddos not being vaccinated. I had both types when I was little. The 3 day measles is really not bad but Rubella is nothing to mess with. I was sick for quite a bit. We didn't have vaccinations at that time.

I will have to try Fingersmith it is on my tbr.

Shannon wrote: "I got my wisdom teeth out today so not sure how much ill be reading but ill try my best"

Ouch!! Hang in there!

Suzanne wrote: "
I did a mid-week update of the spreadsheet - which was easy thanks to wonderful co-captains who are SO on top of checking that books are on shelves. We are still the team to beat :)

Big shout out..."
Thanks for doing such an awesome job. Did you like the Ferryman?

Suzanne wrote: "Oh another important thing to note: If a book is used for a Chipmunk task it must be used as "free choice" and won't count towards our June requirements for page ranges."

Oh, then i should save my American Gods for page range since it is bigger.

Finished The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
Updated on ss…

@Tone I love Scotland . I have been there twice. Beautiful country.

I found
Olga Dies Dreaming by Xóchitl González

Awesome, I am going to read American Gods for the Hugo winner. I have been wanting to read this for some time.

Nanci, that is too funny about the Spanish edition. I had to laugh because I could see my self doing that!

Just finished the Daughter of Doctor Moreau. Starting The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest . I didn't really love the Doctor Moreau book. It was okay, but had to force myself to keep reading.

DQs: Day 3, Chap 12 - 18

10. I've noticed Carlota's perceptions are often described using non visual cues: she hears a lot, and even smells Montgomery behind her bedroom door but then dismisses the idea. After her attack, she finds herself noticing that "Her fingers, in the mirror, looked very long, the nails almost too sharp and the eyes...". Do you feel Carlota ever questions her own nature as a human/hybrid or is she too ingenuous to do so? Do you also feel the author is using alternate senses and, if so, as clues for the reader or red herrings?

I don’t think Carlota is aware that she is a hybrid.

11. For much of this part, I felt Montgomery was conflicted regarding his feelings for Carlota. He "writes" to his wife using what I felt was a brotherly perspective only to realise, a few lines and drinks later, he could not resist kissing her if she were there in that moment. What did you make of this change of heart and do you find his various missteps bring something to the story?

His feelings make me feel uncomfortable. The age difference is too much

12. We're already halfway through the story - Doctor Moreau and Montgomery are both complex characters. Am I alone in thinking Carlota and her hybrid friends deserve to be more thoroughly fleshed out and layered?
Yes!!! I want to know the hybrids!!!

13. What did you make of the scene where Carlota loses her virginity by the cenote - did her reaction seem natural to you or did you find yourself questioning her fearlessness? In your opinion, if Carlota is herself a hybrid, what effect might that have on their progeny?
I didn’t understand this at all. Wouldn’t hybrids be sterile???

14. There's a storm brewing as the hybrids plan to join Juan Cumux and Carlota attempts to retrieve her father's notes and formulas. Do you think the hybrids will remain subservient once they remove themselves from Doctor Moreau's influence or could the story turn dark?
Bring it on. Nothing better than a good uprising!

DQs: Day 2, Chap 6 – 11

6. As Sonia noted, we jump six years. Do the characters, especially Carlota, feel six years older? Do you like books that have time jumps or would you have preferred to see Montgomery get used to working in his new jobs? (Sonia already asked about the fallout but feel free to add that here).
I don’t feel like the characters are any older. If time jumps are done well, I do enjoy them if books. I don’t feel like this author did it well.

7. Do you like the method of telling the same scene from both points of view? Is there one point of view you prefer?
I do enjoy seeing different points of view in most books.

8. And we have the start of a love triangle. What do you think of the two young men and Carlota’s reaction to them?
I don’t really like love triangles, one of the main reasons I am picky on what cozy mysteries I read and rarely read romances.

9. So far these feels very much like a historical fiction book with relationships being forwarded over the science and hybrids. Do you agree, and were you expecting that?
I would of like to see more about the abilities of the hybrids and less historical .

Bonus: If you were part critter, and didn’t have the health concerns, what species would you prefer?
A dolphin, I love the sea

I have
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest up next 566 pages

DQs: Day 1, Chap 1 - 5

1. Have you read the original Island of Dr Moreau book? Or watched any of the films? I only saw the 1996 movie, so, in my head, I keep seeing Dr Moreau as Marlon Brando, Val Killer as Montgomery and Fairuza Balk as Carlota.

I have not read the original Dr. Moreau book. I remember watching an old Dr Moreau movie but really can’t remember it.

2. In the movie, Fairuza was one of the hybrids, although here, she only has "treatments" with jaguar genetic code.

I assumed she was a hybrid.

3. Montgomery's past was a sad one. And he looks like just a drunk with some natural instincts to protect the innocent. Were you surprised he was considering not to accept the job, and then when the incident happens and he needs to kill the hybrid he decides to stay?
I think Montgomery really just needed the job.

4. I'm a bit disappointed that he didn't explain exactly how his studies came to be. In a scientific point of view, how is it even possible? We're in the 1870s... way before in vitro fertilization or genetic advances... and he manages to separate and mix genomes, or as called in the book gemmules?

I don’t think they use cloning either. It would of been nice to know their process.

5. So, hybrids are dangerous. Specially when they're still developing, and their animal instincts are overpowering the human ones (in theory, since we had no idea what the level of brain maturity the developing hybrid was). Back in the movie, there is a rebellion and it doesn't end well for humans. Do you think it will be the case here?

I believe it might spell trouble for the humans. Reminds me of Jurassic Park…”Nature finds a way”. It is best not to play around with it.

And a bonus, Am I the only one that is sad that we're jumping 6 years? I wanted to see the fall out from the incident.

I am okay with it, I really want to see what happens. I have a bad case of FOMO! Lol

Finished The Ferryman. Loved it 5 stars for me…