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

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

I remember Saga being a lot of drawing depicting the action and not a whole lot of words so I'd be very surprised if it met the word count. Definitely worth a read though at some point.

I just finished Part 2. I was dreading what happened to Rue, but it didn't hit me as hard this time. I guess it was because I already knew it was coming.

I really enjoyed the part where Rue explains how things work in District 11. I said in my last post that I would love to learn more about the other districts and this just clarified it.

Also, the rule change about there being two winners if they are from the same District really annoyed me. It sounds so much like a trap and Katniss doesn't seem to consider it could be a trap. I know she just lost Rue, but she seemed to consider everything else so far. Maybe she is just acting on impulse right now and actually thinks it through later. I don't remember, but I will find out soon.

You get a month from the BOM start to finish and answer the BOM questions/participation for bonus points.

So The Malevolent Seven began on the 16th May so questions must be answered by the 16th June.

For Salt & Broom it begins on the 25th May so you will have until the 25th June.

As Laura said, the info can be fount on the spreadsheet if you need reminders.

Chapter 1-4

I will immediately get back to the book once I have written this, but I thought I would stop here to give my thoughts so far.

This is my second reading of this book. The first time was 9 years ago according to Goodreads. Back then, I found a lot of comfort in reading in the bath (always a physical book because it was easier to replace should I accidentally drop it) and usually, I would read about 20 pages of a book before stopping. But when I started The Hunger Games, I remember I read about 100 pages in that first sitting. That is very rare for me as my mind usually starts to wander and thinks about other things I could/should be doing. And the bath wasn't very warm by that point.

I remember being drawn into the setting. Wanting to know more about the other Districts. I also think this was one of the first dystopian books I had ever read.

This time I am listening to the book as an audiobook. I have also seen the film a couple of times so my visualisation of things are different from how they would have been in the first read through. Even though I know how the story goes, it is still fascinating to get the details that I had forgotten about or were changed for the film.

I am going to get right back into it.

DQs - Day 1: Chapters 1-8 (pages 1 -71)

1. The book has the MPG Dark Fantasy. Do you like this genre in general? If so, do you have any favourite authors or books?
Dark Fantasy isn't a genre I have delved much into yet. But it sounds like a genre I would enjoy.

Picture a wizard. Go ahead, close your eyes. There he is, see? Skinny old guy with a long straggly beard. No doubt he's wearing iridescent silk robes that couldn't protect his frail body from a light breeze. The hat's a must, too, right? Big, floppy thing, covered in esoteric symbols that would instantly show every other mage where this one gets his magic?
2. The book starts with the quote above. Is this your mental image of a wizard, too? Or something different? :)
I guess this is my automatic mental image of a wizard. Especially an old wizard.

3. And the author lands us in the middle of a siege (ideal for the Book Games, right? ;) with 2 of the main characters Cade Ombra and Corrigan Blight. Cade is narrating what is happening and offering us his views on good and evil, the part they are playing and how they "win" this particular siege.
Do you think it's a strong start to the book? Has it got you intrigued?
Something about this book just isn't really grabbing me at the moment. If I wasn't reading this for the Book Games, I might have stopped reading it by now. I can't really put my finger on what it is because normally I would enjoy this sort of book.

4. As an extra incentive & entertainment, the Ascendant Lucien offers young girls and boys (sublimes) to the wanderists after the siege. We get introduced to Fiddick and Galass and learn that Cade decided to kill Lucien. We can actually start putting some pieces of Cade's character together. What do you think about him at this point?
It's hard to work out his play at this point. He seems like a decent person with good morals, but something is making me not trust him.

5. Some demonic highlights to this introductory part: Tenebris the demon, with whom Cade as an "infernalist" mage trades with to get his spells.
What were your impressions of Tenebris? How do you find the "religious/magical" system of the Infernals and the Celestines?
It's all a bit confusing at the moment.

I might finish my first book tonight, but if not it will probably be Saturday. I will also start the first BOM then. 17th May is a big celebration in Norway as it is their national independence day. It also means my boyfriend will have a day off of work, so after we see the festivities we will probably just chill out and watch some stuff.

The games have officially begun!

My initially planned books may change slightly. I have several books saved in my library on Audible Plus which are being removed on the 17th or 19th. Most of them are shorter listens so wouldn't be worth many points, but the books I read after will be longer.

I've been meaning to reread these books for years so I'm here for The Capitol.

I volunteer as back up for The Capitol

I volunteer as backup for The Capitol

I'll have a chance to finally have a look at if I can get copies of the BOMs later. I personally don't really like doing the questions, but I'd be happy to be a backup in case. If I can get copies that is.

I'm sorry I haven't been able to join in any discussions yet. I've been very busy with my last shifts at work and getting ready to fly to Norway tomorrow.
I'll be a lot more active once I have arrived there and settled in.

In regards to planned books, I don't really have any planned as such. I will join in the informal buddy reads as I have been meaning to reread The Hunger Games for years. When I get a chance, I'll look at the formal BOMs and see if I can get copies of those too for more points. I also started the Millennium series recently. I finished book 2 the other week so I will probably continue that series, especially as the books are a pretty good length.
Other than that, I'll just see what happens.

Hello team!

I don't have time to read through everything at the minute, but wanted to do a quick introduction.

My name is Keely. I am from the UK but I will be in Norway for most of this challenge. The long term plan is to move there so I can live with my Norwegian boyfriend, but that is proving more difficult than you would think so I just visit as often as I can. I fly out on the 8th May so I am very busy at the moment making sure I have everything sorted.

Bookwise, I will read pretty much anything although I tend to enjoy books with a bit of mystery/adventure. I also enjoy dystopian books so I have read The Hunger Games. I really enjoyed the first book, and other two not as much but still good. I haven't read the prequal yet.

That's all I have time for right now!

Shelf: book-games-2024

It is the same for me too.

#21

It had been on my TBR since 2012 and several people have recommended it to me over the years. I ended up listening to it as an audiobook despite owning physical copies of the series, but I am really bad at reading physical books at the moment.
I enjoyed it and I think for me personally, it was worth waiting for as I'm not sure my younger self would have appreciated it as much.
Unfortunately, the library app doesn't have the second book available in audio form (but has the rest) but I have some audible credits saved that I can use. I would like to complete the series this year.

I managed to finish the books I wanted to finish first today so I'll probably start it tonight. Hopefully I'll get it done this week.

I'm likely to be reading The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo soon which is over 650 pages if you would like me to get that done for us.

#15 was a DNF but I'm counting it in my total as I got 35% through before deciding I didn't care for it. was one of those freebies I picked up when I first got my Kindle so I didn't have the highest of hopes for it, but I gave it a fair shot.

That's another book off my list from 2012 (when I joined). 42 to go.

288 pages
75 pages
242 pages
303 pages
451 pages
285 pages
158 pages
197 pages
320 pages
341 pages
501 pages
400 pages
592 pages

Current Total: 301,816