VNerdbooks’s Comments (group member since Jul 04, 2014)

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

Thanks everyone for a fun challenge, TT is always so much fun.
Sorry for being MIA for a few days, had a family emergency, so been in and out of hospital a lot.
I was coming to update my 2 books I'd finished lol I knew it was ending soon, so I just missed it 🤦🏻

Completion post

Caught Up
Navessa Allen
Book 2 of Into Darkness
Narration: Teddy Hamilton
Date read 4 August
Rating ⭐⭐⭐✨

N/A - Navessa Allen
C - Caught Up
N/J/T - Nico "Junior" Trocci (he is known by both Nico and Junior)
L/M - Lauren Marchetti
R - Ryan
T - Taylor
A - Aly
J -Josh

Completion post

Guess Again
Charlie Donlea
Pages 343
Date read 4 August
Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

How it fits
Character Christian Malone chp 1 "just a tech guy from California.....I escaped silicone valley and live here now" also helps later on in the story with computer tech stuff - owns/owned a billion dollar company called CramCase

Spell out
G - Guess Again
C/D - Charlie Donlea
M - Christian Malone
E / H - Ethan Hall
P/K - Pete Kramer
M/J - Maddie Jacobson
M/J - Mark Jones
G/F - Geraldine Feck

Completion post

Chained
Evangeline Anderson
Pages 382
Date read 4 August
Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

How it fits
Character visits a Spa - "it had been so exciting and interesting and different checking into what a mounted to a five-star alien spa..." (17% chp 7) Maggie & Kor

Spell out
E/A Evangeline Anderson
C - Chained
K - Kor
M - Maggie
X - Xandra
N - Nina
R - Reddix
D - Donald

just finished mine, currently in court (working, not actually IN court lol)

My 2 I have just finished have a person that works in IT in one book, and someone visiting a Spa.l in the other.

I'll post completion posts soon, just thought I'd let you know 🙂

Completion post

When the Wolf Comes Home
Nat Cassidy
Pages 304
Date read 27 July
Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

Spell out
W - When the Wolf Comes Home
N/C - Nat Cassidy
J - Jess
K - Kiddo
P - Pete
M/S - Michael Santos
L/V - Lana Vaynburg
C - Cookie
B - Bob Bradford
M/D Mona Dahl

Completion post

Shadowed
Evangeline Anderson
Brides of the Kindred book #8
Pages 366
Date read 31 July
Rating ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Spell out
S - Shadowed
E/A Evangeline Anderson
K - Kat
O/L - Olivia/Liv
M/J Maggie Jordan
N - Nina
R - Reddix
Y - Darren
X - Xandra

I didn't even notice Pho until I searched for the words 😂

Completion post

Before I Let Go
Kennedy Ryan
Date read 22 July
Pages 391
Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Food:
Pho - "seated at her kitchen counter with an open laptop and a bowl of pho in front of her" (chp 16. 41%)

Spell out:
B - Before I Let Go
K / R - Kennedy Ryan
H - Hendrix
S - Soledad
D - Deja
V - Vashti
K - Kassim
M / L - Mark Lancaster
J / W - Josiah Wade
Y / W - Yasmen Wade

Completion post

Exiled
Evangeline Anderson
Brides of the Kindred book #7
Date read 19 July
Pages 371
Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Spell out:
E - Exiled
A - Evangeline Anderson
L - Lissa
S - Saber
D - Draven
B - Baird
O - Olivia
M - Merrick
K - Kat
X - Xairn


B

Welp finished 5 mins to midnight 💪🏻

Completion post for Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Narration Julia Whelan
date read 16 July
Pages 352
rating 4.5 ⭐

I'm on the app so can't post book cover as I'm off to bed 😔

Will come back with the rest of the spell out letters but quickly iff the top of my head
V / F - Vanessa Ford
J / G - Joan Goodwin

It was bloody gorgeous 🥰 5 stars. BUT it is super character driven, and v slow, like it builds, but I can understand some people saying they were bored.
The writing, and some of the sentences were just beautiful. I listened to the audio though, so I think the narration also bumped it up for me

Completion post

Pursued
Evangeline Anderson
Pages 567
Date read 13 July

Spell out:
P - Pursued
E / A - Evangeline Anderson
M - Merrick
K - Kat
L - Lissa
O - Olivia
S - Sophia
N - Nadiah
R - Rast
D - Draven
N - Nadire
J - Jonquil

Completion post

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
V.E. Schwab
Narrators: Julia Whelan, Katie Leung, Marisa Calin
Pages 535
Date read 13 July

Spell out:
B - Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
V - V.E. Schwab
J / W Julia Whelan
K / L - Katie Leung
M / C - Marisa Calin
S - Sabine
M - Maria
A - Alice
C - Charlotte

E, what is the start date of the new month? I'm holding back a couple of my shorter books I've read as I've noticed I'm close to my limit again (not sure what is happening to me 😭) so I'm going to log my longer reads, I think the one I'm reading now is 500+

congratulations Keely 🎉🎉

DQs Day 5, July 6
Chapter 44 - 52 / 74-88%

20. Not gonna lie, I felt like this part in particular had some unexpected 'plot twists' for us. We ended Day 4 with Joar showing up at Ted's window being all bloody. Did you think he had finally killed his old man?? Also, anybody else sobbing over (believing) the old guy had killed the bird? Did you expect any of this to happen the way it did, or did you end up as surprised as me?
I definitely thought that he had done it, especially since the details about the knife was just randomly thrown in there like a foreshadowing

21. We finally find out The Artist's name and it happens in quite an anticlimactic way. I was kind of hoping we would never get his name, like his name wasn't the important part of the book, it's His Friends who matter most. Do you think it's important for him to have a name now? Moreover, why do you think the author chose this moment in particular to finally give him a name?
I like the fact that it was just casually dropped in there without any fanfare, like it was kind of like yeah, so what, that's his name, big deal 🤷‍♀️
I think I would have preferred to not have known it and to always wonder lol

22. As we're reading this book as our BOM I assume most of us are reading it in the daily parts. Every time I open the audiobook and hear the narrator's voice I immediately start to feel emotional. I have teared up so many times already, yet only seconds later someone (usually Joar) makes some silly remark and I can't stop myself smiling. As I've never read a Backman before I didn't anticipate such a blend of humor with deeply emotional topics. How does this balance make you feel, and are there any moments that stand out to you in particular?
I actually finished this book in June so I know where this is all going, Backman has a great way of getting you really invested in his characters, if you haven't read Bear town yet I would highly recommend it

23. I thought we all knew (including Louisa!) where the story was headed, but now we find out Joar is still alive, and Ted actually makes him continue on with his story. We are briefly led to believe that something happened to someone in Joar's house, but then we learn about Joar's old man's accident, and that his mother is actually okay. She'll still keep caring for her abusive but injured husband even though she would now have an "easy way out". Do you agree with this decision? And with only 12% to go how do you expect the last few chapters to go? Besides, what happened to Ali??
I read somewhere that women are significantly more likely to stay with their partners when the man is diagnosed with the terminal illness compared to when the woman is the one diagnosed.
Where women are diagnosed with a serious illness, the separation or divorce rate can be around 20% in contrast when a man is diagnosed with a similar illness, the separation or divorce rate is only around 2%, so I'm not surprised at all with her decision

DQ's Day 4; Chapter 31 - 43 55-74%

15. “She wishes he hadn’t said what he did about believing in her. That’s too much responsibility. All she can give him is disappointment.” Belief is a big theme of this book. How important do you think it is to have people that unequivocally believe in you? Have you ever had someone’s belief in you feel more like a burden than support?
I think Louisa needs to be believed, but the only person that really stayed and believed her was Fish, and now they are gone she doesn't trust anyone anymore. Friendship is such a big landmark in your life, you never hurt as much as when you lose a friend.


16. This book is, obviously, a lot about memories and the happy times we look back on when the people we cherish are gone. I thought the shopping/shopping cart scene was particularly vivid and one I could’ve seen me and friends doing something similar. Do you have any particularly memorable times with a group of friends from when you were a child/teen?
We went to a camp for a week when we were about 13/14 with the school, where we did things like rock climbing, and orienteering, it was such fun

17. We’ve come to the first(?) death from that summer, is it one you expected? It’s probably the most obvious one, but I still forgot it was a possibility.
The dad? I guess it was expected as he was ill, but you still hurt for Ted


18. While this is a story of friends, it’s also really a story of parents. From the bad ones, to the indifferent ones, to the kind loving ones. Did you expect for Ted and Louisa’s savior to be the mother? How important do you think parents are versus friends on your formative years?
Friendship is a huge part of your life when you are growing up, parents are always just there, but friends come and go, and sometimes that is the way you learn about love and loss, but there is usually always a "cool mum" in a friendship group that you can turn to


19. Ted seems to think that any of the other friends would have been better to care for Louisa, do you agree?
No I don't, Ted doesn't give himself enough credit, he is the perfect person to care for Louisa

DAY 3 DQ'S CHAPTERS 20-30

10. "Art is coincidence. Love is Chaos."
"Art is a small break from human despair."

Do you agree? Discuss these quotes in relation to the book and real life in general.
The art that takes me away from it all and gives me a break from human despair is music, Whether it's a gentle melody, or a feminist rage song, I can listen to them and it gives me a break from life for a while

11. We still don't know the artist's real name and now we find out he isn't even in the picture! What do you think is the author's intention in regards to the Artist's role throughout the novel? And how about the significance of the title of the picture, " The One of the Sea instead of the Artist's thoughts it should have been called, The Boys and Her?
I think it was a secret that only him and his friends knew, they were there, but only for their eyes, if the title had been The Boys and Her, it would have focused solely on them, and I don't think he wanted to do that

12. Louise asks Ted, "Were you two a couple?" In light of how the relationship is written were you surprised by his answer?
Yes I was, I was also wondering this while reading it

13. This novel is full of big emotions, real life hardships, death and tragedy but connected and possibly redeemed by the beauty in meaningful and fragile human relationships. The Artist and his friends, Christian and the Artist, Ted and the Artist, Ali and Joar, Ted and Louisa, Fish and Louisa... Which relationship has made the most impression on you? Which one do you think is pivotal to the storyline?
Ted and Louisa I think are most pivotal to the story, she is the one that brings the story together, she is the glue that binds the story back together

14. Chapter 30 - Louisa leaves the picture then gets off the train when Ted is asleep. Did you see that happening, what do you think will happen next? Ted and Louisa reconnecting or big tragedy? (More tissues needed!)
I was shocked when she did this, I already know what happened as I finished the book, but that was a shock while reading it, I though that she had maybe found her forever home with Ted

Day 2 July 3
Chapter 12-19 18-37%

#5. Joar mentions that his mom thinks the best invention in the world are pockets. I have seen a Meme that says a woman, when complimented on her dress will reply “It has pockets.” I love a good pocket. How do you feel about pockets?
"Thanks, it has pockets" is a universal call from women around the world that have been denied pockets in our clothes, OR given those weird pockets, but not really pockets in our trousers.

#6. I must admit I am confused and intrigued about the artist. Who do you think the artist is? What is his or her significance in the story?
As I mentioned before I have already finished this book so I already know, but I do love the way that Backman writes people, like this is already a fully fledged person with character, and we don't even know who it is yet

#7. I am loving the banter between Louisa and Ted. Louise is so precocious. What do you think of their relationship? Any ideas of what is to come between the two?
Absolutely loved the scenes between these 2 characters, the banter was hilarious, they have a big brother/sister vibe going on, or father/daughter

#8. In Chapter #19 we find more about the mentioned Ali. What is your impression of her?Any guesses on what happens next?
It's tricky, again because I already know, but Backman has a great way of writing friendships, and I think Ali is the glue that holds the group together

#9. Fredrick Backman has a way of pulling at your heartstrings. In Chapter 19 I both cried and laughed. The children's stories are both heartbreaking and heartwarming. How are you feeling about the book so far? Are you enjoying it
I absolutely loved this book and gave it 5⭐ and yes, I cried and laughed too