Keely’s Comments (group member since Aug 30, 2013)

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

True, but we did pressure you guys until running another Restaurant challenge the other year :P

Charlotte wrote: "Eldarwen wrote: "
ATTENTION ATTENTION


It is almost time. Sadly..
Those three months have flown by, haven't they?!

COUNTDOWN to End of TT: https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown......"

Usually there is a challenge towards the end of the year called Wheel-a-thon. It's mostly spell-it-outs with a mini or two thrown in for extra fun. The mods usually have a month or so off between this challenge and the next.

I say usually because they might decide to switch things up at any time. It sometimes depends on what the demand is from the group.

Eldarwen wrote: "With the exception of the BOMs and two book club books, all of my books were from my TBR, which I'm very happy about.

Dracula was an unplanned re-read, so doesn't count, and a couple of books had ..."

I haven't counted Dracula either as it was a re-read for me too.

Eldarwen wrote: "Buuuut, it's almost half of those at least. And you could just extend it all by two weeks and read the remaining TBR books until the end of August?"

That would work. I checked my Audible library yesterday and there are soooo many that I added from plus that are getting removed in just under a month from now. A lot of them are shorter books which is why I haven't read them for this. So it looks like I'm spending the next month (after TT) getting through as many as I can before they disappear.

I just had a count of books I've read for this challenge that were on my TBR before this year. If I finish the two that I want to, I will have read 9 from my TBR. Not quite the 15 you challenged me to read E, but I have focused on longer books.

Eldarwen wrote: "Nistha wrote: "Oh no! This went too fast...."

Right?

And there are so many books I still want to read for this haha."

Same!!

I don't know if I will read my two hard country books. I only have 4 books left that I can use. One being The Sword of Kaigen BOM which I'm just waiting to see if a task comes up I can use it for. Another is A Dance with Dragons 1: Dreams and Dust which is almost 700 pages and I'm about 80% through now.

One of my hard country books is under 200 pages so it would seem like a waste if I can read a longer book. So I'm considering getting a copy of The Tainted Cup BOM instead which will give us more points overall. I'll have to see how the time goes with my 4th and final book.

Jessica wrote: "Book: Violeta
Author: Isabel Allende
Pages: 322
Date: 11-August

Mini 1- Set in Chile"

Can you add this one to your shelf, please? :)

Jessica wrote: "In terms of points, is it better for me to focus on finishing the last itinerary or completing Mexico?"

If the countries are hard countries then they are worth the most points (we will need two medium countries for the itinerary though). We can add more itineraries if needed. It would also be nice to get another country (or two!) for Mini 3.

So, I'd say if you are reading hard contries for the itinerary, focus on those as E and Nistha both have medium countries they are reading. Otherwise focus on Mexico for now.

*edit* I just saw your last two books work for medium countries too! So only focus on Mini 1 first if you have hard countries planned.

And with that Mini 4 part 1 is complete!!

Completion Post


Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
Read: 11 Aug
Pages: 446

Mini 2 - Naan

Spell it out
D - title
M - author
C - Carl

Completion Post

We Own The Sky by Luke Allnutt
Read: 10 Aug
Pages: 368

Mini 4 part 1 - Quinoa (quote and location on tracking sheet)

I'll add character names when I'm off work and not super tired. I dont think there were any exciting letters.

Yay Logan!! That means we are just waiting for E to finish The Sword of Kaigen and Mini 2 will be complete!!

I've almost finished The Sword of Kaigen now. Just got about 5 minutes of audio left so we can use it for a task if one comes up it works for.
I'm hoping to finish one of my food books tonight at work, but I think it is going to get very sad and I dont want to be randomly crying at work XD
I'll switch to my other food book if it gets too much and then finish the sad one when I am home alone and can freely sob :P

I've got two books I've started but holding off on finishing in case they work if we get another country. I will finish one of my books for the food items this weekend and I will start the other one and hopefully get that done too if time allows.

I finally did it!!

Completion Post


The Diary of Samuel Pepys by Samuel Pepys
Read: 5 Aug
Pages: 1,096

Mini 2 - Diary task

Spell it out
T/D - Title
S/P - Author

Just FYI - the series has been continued by other members

Link to book 2 thread

They've done all 5 books now. You'll find the other threads in the same folder as this one.

DQ'S Day 3 Chapter 8 - Chapter 12

10. Mamoru is becoming more friends with Kwang Chul-Hee and seems to be rebelling more and finally has a fall out with his father. Do you think his father would have hit Mamoru again if Misaki wouldn't have accidentally interupted?
Yeah, probably.

11. Are you understanding their powers and magic system more through these last few chapters and the fighting that has occurred. Which power would you want?
Ice or just something to do with water sounds pretty cool. But being a healer would be nice too.

12. Misaki received a letter from her friend and told her to run and get out of town. With the Emperor keeping it a secret. Do you think anyone else knew war was coming? And why they are attacking such an isolated village?
I'm sure other people would have known. People close to the Emperor probably.

DQs Day 2
Chap 5 to 7

6. What do you think about the hierarchy of the villages and the Matsudos and Yukinos being the "rulers" of the mountain?
It's not surprising as it seems to be based off of how the tradional Japanese see family status and certain clans being more noble than others.

7. We get to know the history of the relationship between the Matsudos and the Kotetsus. Do you think this relationship / the Kotetsu family will play an important role later on in the story? If so, how?
I've read a bit further already.

8. In chapter 6, we find out that Misaki was a real badass in her past. Was there anything that stuck out to you when getting to know her backstory? Something interesting, shocking, odd?
When she said her family were very traditional, but she was allowed to attend the school anyway. And in the end she would still be married off and just be a wife/mother.

9. The conversation between Misaki and Mamoru was heartwarming. Do you think we will see both of them side by side as warriors by the end of the book?
That would be nice.

DQs Day 1
Ch 1 to 4

1.) Had you heard of this book before it was nominated for/was selected to be a BOM this month? Or read other books by the author? Any expectations going in?
I hadn't heard of this book and I haven't read any other books by the author. No expectations.

2.) How effective is the author at conveying the isolationist nature of Kaigen? And at the glimpses of what the rest of the world is really like? How do you think the Emperor has managed to do this so effectively?
I think it was quite effective. There's technology and events that they don't seem to know about.

3.) Misaki is an interesting character with a lot of repressed or hidden depths I think. I like that one of the main characters in an epic fantasy is not a 20 something who just happens to master everything in 5 pages. What are you most curious about her at the moment. Also, shout out to her friends, who seem like real women-friends. Yay!
I've read quite a bit further ahead so I know what happens a bit later. I liked Misaki from the start though.

4.) Tekure (husband/father) has managed to make me hate him without even popping up on page yet. Go him. Do you think we'll get a scene where Misaki does her version of 'down with the patriarchy' before the end of the book?
I really dislike him too.

5.) What do you think of the magic system so far?
I like it. Characters seem to take pride in what they can do.