Kim’s Comments (group member since Dec 13, 2023)

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

DQ Day 1
Chapters 1 - 6

1. We meet Justyce when he's trying to do a good deed by helping is drunk ex-girlfriend. This scene sets quite the mood for the upcoming chapters and (I assume) the rest of the book. Do you like our main character so far? Do you like his inner monologue, portrayed in the letters to Martin?

I really enjoy the inner monologue with Martin; I think it gives us an even clearer image of his thought process about the situations that we wouldn't get fully.

4. The Equality Brigade was quite the spectacle! Literally. Disguised as a klansman to portray equality. I can't help but wonder if Blake is an idiot of epic proportions or if there was a message he would have liked to show the world including his friends, especially considering the fact that the "costume" was the genuine thing. What did you think of this brain child of Jared's?

I feel it's pretty clear that he may have had good intentions but what an awful way to try and deliver this message.

5. Justyce as well as his best friend Manny are black boys stuck in a rich white school. They each have their own issues to deal with in regards to this situation. Manny, the rich black guy, who is considered one of them, and Justyce, the poor black guy, who is more and more often questioning his place in this world, the place he is trying to carve for himself. Do you think Manny should have acted differently in the lounge scene when he was peer pressured into drinking to equality? Knowing full well what happened to his best friend not too long ago?

I think it's easier for us looking on to say that Manny should have responded differently, but I think it's important to recognize that these are high school kids. High school is a really difficult time in general; Manny has his childhood friends, who he has been with for years, saying they are equal. He may be questioning this within himself but doesn't want to start something and therefore agrees.

6. Short mention of Trey and his friends needs to be made. The Black Jihad gang, one of whose members shot Officer Castillo. Personally, I can't help but wonder if someone shot him to take revenge on the crap he's probably pulled for quite a while - Justyce certainly wasn't the only one - or if it was a shooting gone wrong. That thought aside, Trey makes Justyce (and maybe also Manny) feel like he's turning his back on his own people. Do you think he is right in telling Justyce this? Is Justyce right in questioning the things Trey tells him and wondering whether there may not be a grain of truth in it? Should Justyce have stayed at the party regardless or was it better to leave (with the others) when he did?

I agree with what Justyce said in his phone call with SJ; that regardless of what move he made, it was making a statement. I don't h=think either move would have been better, it would have been his decision in the moment. We will have to see as the story goes on how that decision propelled him into the timeline we are in. After that, it's only conjecture with what could have been.

hey y'all, since we have 2 K's for every completion, i thought this list that includes titles that start with K would be helpful

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Silje wrote: "I think this is as close to a perfect round we can get! We managed to finish 10 whole words!!!"

whoop!!

Posted my last book for Round 2. Can’t wait to see what our next word is!

I will also be picking up a copy of Dear Martin today for the BOTM discussion.

No problem, I’ll save it and hope we have a Q next round 😊

I promise I’ll get to more reading but Hamilton just came out on Disney+ and my musical fix is needed haha!

think we'll have an end of summer match??

@silje all set on the shelf!

just to clarify, round 2 ends on July 10?

I love the tab in the spreadsheet that is keeping track of how many books we have read in comparison to our goal when we signed up. Yea it's nerdy to love but tracking progress is fun to me

Silje wrote: "Kim, I chose task 135, one-word title, for Pretties, let me know if you want to switch it to 163, #2 in series. I also moved it to Y, as the main character is named Tally Youngblood=)"

Perfect! I didn't even think to use last names!

@silje checking the other spreadsheets is so smart!

Hello! Finished the BOTM, Five Feet Apart. My posts for DQ and what questions are:

Day 1 - message 75 (Q3 & Q5)
Day 2 - message 209 (Q6, Q7, Q9)
Day 3 - message 248 (Q10, Q11, Q13)
Day 5 - message 253 (Q20, Q22, Q23)

Day 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 hope I do. As crappy as it sounds, I feel like I read or hear about things and want to make a change in my life to either appreciate what I have, or live a fuller life, or take advantage of the things that are around me, but after some time passes I feel like I fall back into "normal life." I have gratitude for so much I just always wonder what else I can do that can help others that would be greater than just being thankful that I have it.

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 feel like the whole timeline was really unrealistic; both of their personalities completely changed in less than 2 weeks. That seems pretty crazy to me. I liked the ice skating scene though because it felt like "yea, at least she gets this."

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?

I was glad to see they were both still doing their thing regardless of the challenges presented to them both. It still doesn't feel realistic that 8 months after a lung transplant she would be flying, but maybe COVID has made me ultra aware of germs.

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?

Honestly, I think it'll be mutually effective. Will is going to be more aware of how precious his time is and take the steps of his treatment with more weight, less flippancy. Stella is going to realize that mapping out every step and avoiding the risks doesn't make a life lived.

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?
As an older sister, I also feel like Abby didn't feel real. Like she was always great and supportive and did so many things for her sick little sister. However, the reality is that I'm sure they didn't get to do a lot of things as a family because of Stella. Or that there were times when her parents missed Abby's events because of Stella. There had to be at least some level of resentment with all her understanding.

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?
How can you choose?! I feel like there's always this balance between "live for the present" and "save for the future" that feels near impossible to get correct. If you are knowingly going into a shorter but fuller life, would you appreciate those events more? Or would it feel terrifying to know this is your last "something something"?

Day 2 questions (sorry I am late to the convo!)

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?

Also being a member of the US i feel like there's this unwritten rule that medical care is so expensive. when i hear of Canada and UK that has universal coverage it becomes difficult for me to comprehend. Not that it is a strange concept but more so why did I never question this before?! I've had friends or family members who have stopped treatment or trying to understand the pain or discomfort they feel because they've "already spent too much" on this so they just deal with it. It's actually really sad when I type it out...

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?

For someone who "likes control," it feels very out of character. Especially since he is literally the antithesis of her personality. I get she is a teen and opposites attract but her attraction feels forced. Also, the fact that she adjusts his treatment plan that Will has straight up ignored to this point (because he thinks Stella is pretty) is annoying for both sides; if she was ugly, he wouldn't listen to her still sound advice?!

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?
I'm a GP trainee so have been at work throughout with a massive shift to remote consultations. That bit is easier compared to entertaining a 2 year old without any of the friends/family/groups as distractions!

I work at a grocery store in the US so I have seen the transition from what is this disease, to what can we do for our people, to is this our new normal?! It's been almost 2 months of face masks and social distancing and I am still surprised by the number of people who blatantly ignore the rules...

that's so good to know that our tag is the same because i feel like i have been looking up books but it hasn't fit in the my timeline. can't wait for next word to be honest haha.

For the tasks, are we supposed to try to get a book for each one? Or are repeats ok? Not sure which I should be trying.

Also these tags are tough!

Day 1 discussion question:
3) "If I’m going to die, I’d like to actually live first.“ This quote from Will’s POV reminded me of the countless bucket list stories and made me wonder whether this will go in that direction. Yet while Will takes more of a Devil-May-care attitude, Stella is very cautious to follow the rules. Do you think Will’s attitude is going to influence Stella as they got closer (literally?!). Will she also take more (dangerous) risks?

I really like this question because that sentence really stood out to me when I read it. It reminded me of the quote "live free, die young" which I think Will would totally embrace. While I think his errant personality could lead to trouble down the line, I feel like it's more likely that Stella will try things she had felt were out of her reach before.

5) Stella’s parents are recently divorced, in what she calls the “most ridiculous divorce of all time”, and she worries a lot about them. It both breaks my heart and confuses me slightly why it is so far being kept from us what happened - we only know that Stella believes both parents are unhappy after the separation. So… what do you think happened?

I agree with Alissa. There's a lot of foreshadowing going on with the status of her sister. She refers to her art in the past tense and is doing a lot of reminiscing about times when they were a family. Although I get their divorce isn't that new, the small interaction with her dad on Skype shows someone sad and worn down. Obviously Stella has a terminal disease that they have been coping with; maybe her sister died in a fatal accident? Like car crash?

@navi I like autobiographies for my nonfiction. I’m currently listening to Ali Wong’s book (but you’ll have to be ok with vulgarity).