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

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

Done. I thought it was tagged, but it was the tag next to it. Sorry!

I just finished book #23



It had been on my TBR since 2013 and I'm pretty sure I got it when it was being offered for free. I enjoyed the book, even though it wasn't the best written thing in the world. But I don't really care about that. All I care about is if I enjoyed reading it and this one was an enjoyable read for me. The downside is now I have book 2 on my TBR so my list didn't get shorter by finishing this book.

I might read Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens which is over 600 pages. I'm still trying to catch up on my books already on the spreadsheet first, but I have made good progress the last couple of days. I should finish at least one or two of them this week.

DQs Day 1, Chapters 1 - 6

1. As someone who grew up with the Pern books, I love diving back into a world with dragons and dragon riders. And this one has extra bonus Gryphons, apparently!
Do you have any first impressions of the main characters (Violet, Dain, Rhiannon, Xader) and the world building? Do you want to know more?
I like the world building so far and I'm interested to see the development of the characters.

2. What do you think of Violet’s mother and sister? Any idea about why her mother chose to order her to the Rider Quadrant instead of the Scribe Quadrant?
It seems like her mother cares more about pride than what would be best for Violet. I like Violet's sister.

3. The brutality of the selection process and the casual acceptance of murder is something else. What do you think the purpose of it is? (If there is one beyond societal norms.)
Would you have given your boot to a stranger?
It feels like it is just a societal norm, but there may be other factors.
I'd like to think I'd be willing to give a book to a stranger, but I don't know if I actually would if it came to it.

4. So this is a world at war, but at the battle briefings at least, they don’t seem to know why the outer provinces are currently attacking the borders. Any ideas about why this is happening?
Could be a reason they are ashamed to share, or one of these disputes that has gone on so long, no one knows why they are fighting anymore.

5. Do you think that Violet will survive and get chosen by a dragon? If so, any predictions on what kind?
I feel like there will be something special about Violet. But I don't know if that means she will be chosen by a dragon or something else.

DQs Day 3 - The Australian Open (58%)

9. Gwen sends Carrie a gift the start day of the Australian Open…a Discman! The first song it plays is ‘The Bitch is Back’…I love this album. I immediately went to play me some Elton John tunes😊 Do you have a song or routine that gets you revved up…sets a tone to put you in the right state of mind?
I can't say that I've ever really thought about it, so I'm going to have to say no.

10. Reflections--
Carrie thinks…I inhabit the silence of this moment with my father, when we are still asking questions and do not yet have to live with the answers. What do you think she means at this moment in time with that comment?
"Te quiero mucho, pichona," he says.
I open up my eyes, "I know. I love you too."
Javier and Carrie both have many reflective moments throughout these matches… Is this a premonition of what’s to come with the open or even more in the future?
I think they are just enjoying being in each others company at that moment.

12. We hear from the media in various forms throughout. What are your thoughts about some of their comments so far? Do you believe any of them have affected Carrie or the game? I was thinking about this especially when Gwen indicates Elite Gold was pulling back some of their ads prior to the French Open. Gwen has a role in her job with managing all of this…what are your thoughts about the impact of media and advertising with sport?
As I said in the previous DQs, I don't follow any sport so I don't really know the importance of media. It doesn't seem to affect Carrie too much. But it does seem like the negative stuff fires her up.

13. Carrie’s been doing some very smart training thanks to her father. She’s been practicing in recent weeks with Bowe on clay and Bowe has challenged her, calling her a ‘quitter’. And here at the end of this segment, she’s just had a challenge from Nikki Chan. Is she going to win? Is Nikki? What do you anticipate happening in Paris?
I don't know if she will win.

DQs Day 2 - The Comeback (40%)

5. Welcome back sports fans! If any of you have read other Taylor Jenkins Reid's novels, you know she loves looking back at interesting eras in time. The Golden Age of Hollywood! 70s rock and roll excess! Why do you think TJR chose to focus on 90s sports for this novel? Do you think it was only to bring Carrie back or do you think there was something special about sports during that time?
I was born in the 90s so I don't know how important sports was. Also, I've never really been into sports so it's not something I know much about.

6. In this section we are introduced to Bowe. What do you think about him? Do you think he is a good match for Carrie (in sports or romantically)?
He seems like a good match for her in regards to sports. I think he could be a good match romantically if she just gave it a chance.

7. In this section, there is a letter from the editor entitled "Why I'm Thankful for Carrie Soto" in which the author, Helene, says that Carrie was inspiring to her as a child. Do you find inspiration in any sports legends past or present? If so, who and why?
Again, I've never really been into sports so I'm going to have to say no.

8. Up next is the Australian Open! Any predictions on what is going to happen in the next section of the book? Also how are you enjoying the book so far?
I've read that part already so I know what happens. The book is okay, not a book I would typically choose.

I just finished Carrie Soto, so we are done with those tasks.

I'm answering the DQs now.

I'm going to say it is unlikely I will finish it quickly at this time. I may be able to get it done over the weekend, but if you need it sooner, I'd go with something else.

I didn't end up going on the road trip due to feeling unwell in the night and getting almost no sleep. I did manage to get some of Carrie Soto done after finally getting some sleep. I'm going to try and finish it today, but if not it will definitely be tomorrow.

DQs Day 1 - Chan v Cortez & The First Time Around (26%)

1. The most popular releases by Taylor Jenkins Reid have been BOMs in this group before (Daisy Jones & The Six in 2019, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in 2021, and Malibu Rising last year). Have you read any of these books (or others) by TJR too or is Carrie Soto is Back your first book by the author? What are your expectations going in?
I read Evelyn Hugo with the group, but otherwise that is it. I don't have any expectations.

2. After the first chapter is set in 1994 and Carrie Soto decides to get back into the sport to get her record title back the next few chapters follow her early years up until she felt like she had to retire because of her knee injury (and because she felt humiliated lbr) somewhat 30 years later. Her dad always wanted her to be the greatest whereas her mother just wanted her to be kind and happy. It doesn't seem like Carrie is either at this point in her life, also not the greatest anymore. How do you feel about her as a character so far? What do you think (sort of) being forced into retirement by her own body has done to her, mentally and physically; do you think she's changed at all in the last 5 years?
She hasn't really been allowed to be herself. Sure, it seems like she loved to play tennis, but she doesn't know who she is outside of that small world. She isn't the nicest person, but then she doesn't seem to have many friends.

3. What we've learned about Carrie's childhood and teenage years has quickly started to remind me of 'King Richard' the movie about the Williams sisters' life and I'm seeing a lot of similarities between Carrie's dad Javier and the Williams' (movie) dad (as I'm sure is often the case when athletes' parents are involved in their kids' sports careers/futures).
Javier seemed to have good intentions and only ever wanted what (he at least thought) was best for his daughter, but they grew apart after going separate ways in 1979. As we know, they've found their way back together (does this sound weird seeing they're father and daughter??), but things definitely changed between them. How do you feel about Javier and about his and Carrie's relationship growing up vs now?
Carrie just seemed like she always wanted to please him and the only way she knew how to do that was to be the best. Their relationship doesn't seem to be a healthy one.

4. It seems like Carrie doesn't believe in love (or actually of being worthy of being loved imo). She's been having flings/ONS left and right apparently, and appearing in tabloids with random guys regularly. The one time she let herself finally believe this could be IT for the long run was with Brandon Randall (who some of us already knew from Malibu Rising) who was cheating on his then wife with her. No surprise he left her for (yet) another woman, but were you surprised Carrie took him back after he wanted to go back to his ex-wife and she rejected him? Do you think losing her mother at such a young age and only ever having her dad as a single parent in her life has influenced how she views love, relationships and generally a deeper bond with other people?
I think losing her mother at a young age really influenced her. It didn't seem like she was allowed to grieve in the way she needed to. Maybe that made her subconsciously afraid of getting close to anyone other than her dad so she wouldn't run the risk of losing anyone else.

I am going to work on Carrie Soto is Back and I should be able to finish it or get close if that helps with a task. I'm on my phone so I can't really look properly right now.

I've been on a bit of a reading slump. But mostly I've just been spending time with my boyfriend. We are going on a somewhat long cat journey tomorrow and he is aware that I intend to listen to an audio book (and he'll listen to his own thing).

I definitely intend to finish my books currently on the spreadsheet, but at the rate things are going, I'm not sure I'll finish much more. Things may change a bit later in the month.

I'm not sure I'm going to finish either of those books quickly. I'm not close to finishing any books at the moment. I'll let you know when I'm close to finishing books as I'm happy to wait to finish them if we can use them for tasks.

I just finished the Sherlock book.

I've been super busy the last couple of days. Way busier than I thought. I will try and get the Sherlock book done tonight but I have to try to sleep early as I have a very early flight tomorrow. That does mean I will have plenty of time to read tomorrow while waiting for flights, so if I don't finish Sherlock tonight, it will definitely be the first book I work on at the airport.

Laura wrote: "Keely wrote: "I will do my very best to get the Sherlock book finished tomorrow, but I have quite a bit to do so it may go into the next day."

I wasn't trying to push to get books done faster, mer..."

Oh, I know. I still want to help get through it quickly to help with tasks where I can. I also have several books I need to catch up on. I am listening to the Sherlock books as an audiobook too so I can listen to it while I do some of the stuff I need to do.

I will do my very best to get the Sherlock book finished tomorrow, but I have quite a bit to do so it may go into the next day.

Laura wrote: "New Tasks

Tower Teams 1: The Original
Read two pairs of books where the second is a spin-off from the first. This could be a secondary series by the same or different author (e.g. Sherlock Holmes ..."

I have a Sherlock Holmes book to read if needed.

Things at work didn't go as planned so I didn't get any reading done last night, but I managed to finish my book for SEEKER. Which means we are done with those tasks

Work had me running around non stop which means I am shattered. I will almost definitely be asleep when the mini starts. I only have a tiny bit of Tess left so I will finish that when I wake up, but it will be later in the day.