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

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

Just a friendly reminder that anyone reading Starling House has to finish it and answer the 3 DQs by the 2nd July.

I ended up finishing my longer Battle book first. I will have Ender's Game done by the latest of Friday, but hopefully tomorrow.

I keep checking when I start a new book, but they just don't seem to work for any tasks we have at the moment

I started Ender's Game yesterday as that was the shorter of my two. I doubt I will get much read today as my boyfriend is off work, but he is still sleeping which may give me an hour or so. I'm hoping to get it done tomorrow, but at the latest on Tuesday. Which will give me plenty of time to get through my other one.

Ushashi wrote: "Keely wrote: "I am nearing the halfway point of the book. The "reaping" has just happened.
I have a thought though. If the Quarter Quell's are planned years in advance, how did they know District ..."

I agree that I don't think Snow would have stuck to something written a long time ago, especially if he wasn't apart of writing it. He'd want the credit.

They have made it into the arena in my reading and I really liked the unity the victors showed when they are together on stage.
My memory is a bit hazy as to how this book ends so I'm looking forward to remembering/relearning.

FYI I am happy to sit out of the next round of Battle as I have taken up two slots this round and to give others a chance to participate. I will of course provide suggestions if we need them, but I don't expect to be given priority.

Laura wrote: "Keely wrote: "I am nearing the halfway point of the book. The "reaping" has just happened.
I have a thought though. If the Quarter Quell's are planned years in advance, how did they know District ..."

That makes sense. I haven't read Ballad of Songbirds yet so I guess I am missing some information given in that book. I'm hoping to get around to reading it before the end of the Games. Maybe even Round 2 if I make it through my other planned books.

I am nearing the halfway point of the book. The "reaping" has just happened.
I have a thought though. If the Quarter Quell's are planned years in advance, how did they know District 12 would have a female victor to contend? Did they have a back up option? Did they only arrange it that way because of what happened in the games before?

I've watched the films at least twice since I read these books, so there are a lot of details that I am relearning about because they were not in the films.

I'm looking forward to them getting back into the arena.

I made a start, but didn't get very far. I decided starting my re-read of Catching Fire was more interesting right now. I'm getting through it quickly so hopefully I will be able to get back to this one tomorrow.

That must be what I am thinking of then. I was starting to think I had made it up!

I started my re-read of this today. I'm about a quarter of the way through so far. Like my re-read of the first book, I am listening to it as an audiobook. I have the same narrator for both books (and hopefully the third) and I am glad it is the same. Tatiana Maslany has definitely grown on me as Katniss' voice.

For some reason I remembered this book taking longer to get back into some action than it did. I seem to remember Katniss wallowing in depression for a bit, but maybe that is later or book 3. I enjoyed seeing into other Districts and I am already annoyed about things that are to come.

308 pages

Current Total: 966,309

DQs Day 3
Chapters 14-19

11. Starling House reminded me up to a point with some vibes of Beauty and the Beast, although lesser now as the story progresses. Is the book reminding you of any other stories you have read before?
I guess it did feel a bit like Beauty and the Beast.

12. Ch 14-19 have answered a lot of questions about Opal, the house, Arthur, the history of the place and what's going on. Has anything revealed in this section been surprising to you? Does the explanation so far of everything that has happened ring true?
Nothing has been that surprising so far.

13. Jasper and Opal are clearly close, although he is sometimes moody and surly. He seems resentful at times of Opal going out so far on a limb to take care of him and get him out of Eden. What do you think of the character now that he has more fleshed-out scenes and more has been revealed about him and their relationship?
I think he has been doing the same thing as his sister. Trying to act as grown up as possible so as not to be a burden.

14. Arthur and Opal have heated a few things up. Do you think they fit each other well with these developments?
I think they work well together.

15. There is humor in the book that is overshadowed by genuinely creepy horror like tales, What do you think about Underland "beasts" revealed so far?
I'm looking forward to finding out more about them.

Books being in the language you read them in is absolutely fine. The only exception at the minute is if you were going to use a book for the Battle then the title needs to be given in it's English form (but you can still read them in any language)

DQs Day 2 - Chapters 8 - 13

6) The narration is using dual POVs: 1st person for Opal, 3rd person for Arthur. Does it work for you? Do you think this suits the story?
I think it does suit the story. It doesn't bother me.

7) Opal goes to the Library to find out more about Starling House and finds her mother's phone number among the Gravely family's documents. What implications can it have? Do you think it could be a hint about Opal's parentage?
I could be, but it is a small town so maybe not.

8) After Bev's story about the relationship between Eleanor Starling and the Gravely brothers, we get a totally different perspective from what Nathaniel Boone went through. What do you think about the Gravely family and their "hold" over the town of Eden? What do you think Nathaniel may have discovered in the dark?
It is giving hints of being the underworld.

9) Finally we learn some more about about Arthur's role (warden) and his connection to the House. What do you think about their "relationship"? What is your opinion about Starling House as a sentient being? Could it be good or evil?
Part of me is hoping the house is actually good. I enjoy Arthur's attitude with the House.

10) On "characters not communicating"
In Chapter 12 we find out that Opal has not told Jasper about the fact that she arranged for him to go to a different school and she actually managed to put together the fee for the 1st year already. Opal doesn't tell his brother about her working in Starling House and she doesn't tell Arthur about her spying on the House for Elizabeth Baine and getting more and more demands.
What do you think of all this?
I find it strange that she is hiding so much from him, but maybe she thinks she is protecting him by not having him worry about where money comes from.

Who knew there were so many books that start with Cupcakes.

DQs Day 1
Ch 1 to 7

1.) Have you read other books by Alix E Harrow? Was this on your tbr list before it was a BOM selection? Any expectations going in?
I have never read a book by this author. I had no expectations going in.

2.) Did you read the footnotes as you went along? Find them helpful? Annoying?
I'm listening to this as an audiobook which includes them so they don't seem that out of place. Generally I'm not a fan of footnotes.

3.) The discussion of E.Starling's book being too scary for children reminded me of some interviews with M.Sendalk when the Where the Wild Things movie came out several years ago about books, etc that scare children (when children are the target audience). His response was basically children should be scared sometimes and there's nothing wrong with that. And has further said, it's better to have a book full of fears than one pretending there's nothing to be afraid of. What are your thoughts on this topic?
I agree with Sendalk. Preferably, the child should be aware that things might be scary before going in to it.

4.) What are your thoughts so far on Eden and Starling House? Has the author done a good job so far of creating an atmosphere and setting for a good gothic story?
I'm enjoying the story so far. I want to know more about everything.

5.) Any favorites so far in our motley cast of characters? Opal, Arthur, Jasper, Bev, and Starling House.
I'm keeping an open mind so far. I would like to know more about Arthur though.

Which reminds me. The Buddy read thread for The Count of Monte Cristo has been revived and a few of us are planning on tackling it from the 20th (or whenever suits each person really) so if anyone wants to join in, the more the merrier.

Link to thread:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I thought I would be ready for this on the 20th, but I have several BOMs to catch up on and then a couple for the Battle so it might take me a bit longer to get to, but I definitely want to try and get this done for Round 2 of Book Games.

I just started Starling House and I'm enjoying it so far. If I didn't have to sleep, I would keep reading. I don't think it will take me long to get through. And then I will probably work on Catching Fire. My plan is to get through whatever BOMs I can until I can start the Battle books and then they will be my main focus. I also have two 1,000+ books lined up (one I've started) and I am hoping to get done this round.