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

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

I know I'm a bit late to the party with this one, but I hope to have it done quick-ish.

Day 1: Ted - Olivia (ends ""I am pretty hungry now, so I will sleep.")

1. Ted is .... interesting. With blackouts, no pain sensitivity and a very strange relationship to the present and past, is there any "weirdo" characteristic unplumbed?! How do you feel this set of quirks plays into the unreliable narrator trope?
I don't like this book. It makes me feel weird. I probably wouldn't keep reading if it wasn't for this. Ted definitely has problems. I feel like there are going to be things he's done, but either he doesn't remember them or he didn't think there was anything wrong about what he did.

2. Olivia - another unreliable trope. And a cat. (or is she?). And a cat who has found God. What's going on here? How do you feel about having a cat narrator? (as an aside, I'm amused we have now had two BOMs in the past 6 months with cat narrators)
As much as I love cats, I distrust this one. I generally enjoy having a cat narrator, but something about Olivia is off, just like the rest of the book.

3. The general set-up of Needless Street seems exceptionally strange - Ted is open about having a daughter (or does he?), but she doesn't seem to go out. The lack of nosiness by the neighbours is possibly the least believable thing about this so far, cat narrator and weirdo bingo-full-house included! What do you think about the set-up?
I don't really know what to make of it. It's all very odd.

4. There's a reference to the gods having to be reburied. Want to hazard a guess?
My only guess at this point is that there will or have been hauntings. There was already a hint of that with Ted's mother. But maybe it was just his mind.

I dont know what that is, other than it being done sort of sandwich.

I just started The House on Needless Street and found Anchovy! Now it's another reason to finish it quickly other than it being a BOM. I would like to have it finished by the end of the weekend, but we'll see how things go.

I will do, I think it will be at least a week until I start though. I think to switch my hours around (as I'm on a "normal" schedule) I might just have to stay up as late as I can for a few nights, which could mean some nights of reading are coming up.
Have any of you had to switch your hours around and if so do you have any hints for me on how to do it?

I began Ulysses today. I will try to finish it in the next few days, if not then I will spend saturday listening to it.

I'm going to be home alone on Saturday so I'm hoping to have a good reading day.

I got offered the job at the hotel doing night shifts. Only two nights to start with but she said that there is a lot of extra hours available at the moment. I may be able to get some reading done during those nights and I doubt there will be much for me to do, but they might have tasks set up to keep me busy on shift. I don't know when I'll be starting yet.

I managed to fill in a lot of the letters we needed with Ulysses. Unfortunately there were no I's I could use which we still need 4 of as well as a U and a Y.

DQs Day 1 - Prologue - chapter 12:

1. How are you liking it so far ? The chapters are quite short and written from multiple pov's. Is that something you usually enjoy ?
I prefer shorter chapters to longer ones. I find I read more in one go with shorter chapters. The beginning of the book drew me in. I don't mind multiple pov's.

2. The prologue was full of nostalgia. Unfortunately we don't get to revist the 90s since that first chapter. Was New Year's Eve 1999 something special for you ? Did you celebrate the new millennium in a more 'significant' way ?
I had only just turned 6 so I really don't remember much at all. I think we went to a party at a relatives.

3. What do you make of Jesse and her online background research on Ella ?
Maybe Jesse was interested in the Blockbuster incident from before?

4. 'Goodnight pretty girl'. Do you think that the Blockbuster case and the Ice cream shop incident are related ? Do you think Chris' brother, Vince, might be involved somehow ?
I feel like they will be related in some why as it would be strange to have this whole set up and them not to become interlinked in some way. I want to say I don't think Vince was involved. Set up maybe.

I have Ulysses waiting to be listened to. It would cover one of the U's. I agree that 5 is a lot. Ulysses has MANY characters just by looking at the book page on here. It's 700 pages so we'd get 12 letters and there are lots of A's so it would help with any of those, maybe some other vowels too.

I'm about 10% into the second BOM. I'm still waiting for my hold on the first one to become available. I think it said the 18th. Both will be ebook copies so I will be listening to audiobooks around them too.

Thank you Melissa, and well done finding both of those in one book!
I'll try and help make some of our meals sound a bit more exciting if I ever get more than a free half an hour to look at the spreadsheet!
I started listening to The Jungle Book. It's not the longest book, but I'm they go fishing at some point for them tunas!

Day 5 - Twenty-Nine - Epilogue

21. A lot of themes in this book resonated with me especially as the UK is undergoing strike action in a lot of industries and Uk history is full of strike action and it’s effects. Have you been involved in strike action? Are strikes an effective demonstration tool?
Luckily, strikes have never really affected me. I've never gone on strike either.

22. Migration is a big theme in the book with the thought of migrants instilling fear in the general populace. How would you show these people how to overcome that fear.
Education would be key to helping people not be afraid.

23. Elsa finally allows herself to become the woman in the red dress and seduces Jack. How has Elsa changed through the book?
Her confidence in herself grew and so did the acceptance for who she is.

24. The final scenes brought a tear to my eye especially as Loreda reflects on what she didn’t do. Is there a book that left you feeling this way?
I've had a few books that left me feeling like this. None of the titles come to mind right now (I am very tired), but I definitely remember feeling like that.

Day 4
Chapters 24-28 (78%)

16. My heart sank when Loreda got into that strange man's truck in the middle of the night. Anyone else concerned for the young lady at that point? Did you think he was meeting a group of communists in the middle of the woods?
As a woman who has constantly been told about the dangers of getting into strangers' car, I was extremely concerned. Even more so in hard times when people are more desperate and people with bad intentions may use that to get what they want.

17. The hospital and the police department had little time for the migrants. What a picture of America at the time. I struggle to relate with this situation. Do you think there are parts of America that still feel this way? Even toward fellow Americans?
In hard times, you will get people who will do their best to help others even if they have little to give. Others will just look after themselves. Unfortunately, workers at places like hospitals and the police who want to help just don't have the resources to help everyone.
As a non-American, I can't comment on things in America. But I have witnessed hated towards migrants before.

18. The communists swoop in with places to stay, food, clothes, friendly faces and yet, they are the enemy. I thought it was interesting that Elsa said, "we're proud. We believe in hard work and a fair chance. Not one for all and all for one." Does it have to be one or the other? Can we all work hard and get a fair chance, and still want our neighbors to succeed and get a hand up when they need it? Why is what Jack doing different than what Elsa and Jean and the other wives who handed down shoes and potatoes (or whatever was needed) were doing?
I agree that there can be a middle ground.

19. What about that Welty Farm? Seems too good to be true. And maybe it is. I have thought a village that keeps people employed, housed and fed would be a good thing, but I guess it only takes a few bad (greedy) apples to make it terrible. Will Elsa and her family find a happy ending?
They were exploiting people and keeping them trapped, with the idea that this will be the best they get. I hope the family get a happy ending, they deserve it after all they have been through.

20. On another note. While reading this book with this group,
am also reading The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl. I do this from time to time when reading historical fiction. I happened to have this book on hand and found it really interesting to get a little more information on what happened before the Dust Bowl started and what else was going on. Does anyone else do this? Do you read non-fiction and fiction about the same topic at the same time? Do you have any non-fiction books about the Dust Bowl you can recommend?
I don't do this, but it is a good idea. If I had more time and resources, I might try doing this. I never really knew about the Dust Bowl before this so I don't have any recommendations.

Bonus: There was a lot to talk about in this section! I picked out a few things and my own habit. Were there different things that stuck out to you?
I think you covered the main bits.

So I had a bit of good news not long ago. I interviewed at a hotel yesterday. The hotel chain has two hotels in my nearest town and apparently they are both fighting over me. They are looking for someone to do night shifts which I am okay with. The lady I saw yesterday said she needs to meet with the other manager to come to a decision. I will find out Tuesday morning what I'm going to be offered!

Thank you Heather. Maybe my other interview didn't go as bad as I thought and they surprise me with an offer. I'm not getting my hopes up though. I have another job I'm waiting to hear from which would potentially be more hours and probably better for me in terms of experience.
I'm sure I'll get something eventually, I'm just annoyed that I was offered the job but then rejected without any explanation.

I must rant to someone. That job I said I was offered on the spot, I had an email this morning say I WASN'T successful. I didn't accept when I was there as I said I had a few more interviews so I asked if I could let her know in a few days and she said that was fine. I tried contacting them but was told she wasn't around at the moment so left a message. I'm not sure if something I said at the end made her change her mind or it was a mistake.
I feel like I really messed up the interview for the full time job so I was really wanted this other one to fall back on. Hopefully I will get a call back and get some answers.

Nice! We need all the bonus' we can get.

We are looking good on the meal front. I know a lot of them aren't complete yet but we are up to 67 and we're not even halfway through the month!

I really underestimated how busy I would be this week. I am making very slow progress on my books, but I am still hoping to be done with the three I have listed by the end of the weekend. And then I'll work on some new books as well as a couple I have started, but didn't get far enough into to put on the spreadsheet yet. I'm really hoping things will calm down here soon and I can get back on track.

DQs Day 3:Sixteen - Twenty-Three (62%)
I apologize in advance, because this was a depressing section in the book.

11.) When the family stops at the gas station, Elsa and kids get their first try realization of what they are in for, and you get to see some of Lareda’s true grit when she is prepared to kill a man to save her life. Do you think that you could pull the trigger if you had to? Could you put your kids through the crossing of the Mojave dessert on your own like that?
I'd like to think, for the sake of my family, I'd be able to do it.

12.) The squatter’s camp is hard to fully fathom. People dying of dysentery. Children picking to be able to have enough money to not starve to death. Being able to only survive off of previous season’s pickings and living in such terrible conditions with trying to purify water as best as possible. What was your initial reaction to this new way of life? What would you do if faced with this situation?
It is kinda what I expected. I knew it wouldn't be as glorious as they were making it sound. I would want to keep moving, maybe even try to make it to the next state where less people might think of going.

13.) “$0.40 for 10 hours of work.” Man was I mad for Elsa when I read this! What a piece of crap to take advantage of people like this. How would you have handled this situation? Could you have walked away as easily as Elsa?
I probably would have just walked away too. I hate confrontation. Although sometimes it does depend on what mood I'm in. Apparently I am scary when I am angry, but maybe that's because people rarely see true anger come out of me.

14.) “Do you ever get tired of being strong?” How have you found resilience when dealing with a time that seemed insurmountable? When you looked back on that time, was it better or worse than it felt at the time?
I'm kinda going through something like that now. I've been trying to move to Norway from the UK to live with my boyfriend, but because of Brexit, moving is so much harder. Sometimes I just want to give up especially as more time goes on and it seems like nothing has changed. But I just keep working on learning the language and keep an eye out for jobs that I could do over there. I'm considering doing a masters degree as that would really help me find work over there.

15.) The small spots of kindness that breach the darkness in life are essential to mental survival. Jean and her family, as well as the man and woman at the beauty salon have helped add kindness into Elsa and the kid’s worlds. How did you feel when reading the beauty salon section> Is there a random act of kindness that stands out as making a different in your life that you would be comfortable sharing? If so, what it is it?
I'm glad people are still willing to help in such hard times.
On a trip to Norway, I had a hell of a day. My flight got delayed which made me miss the next one. The next plan was for me to get a train to a place where my boyfriend and his mum would pick me up from. But the trains were cancelled and had bus replacements. The bus was late so when I tried to ask if the bus was going to the right place, he just said yes rushed me on. About halfway through the bus ride, we break down. Now my Norwegian was worse than it is now and all I managed to pick up was something about a new bus and taxis. I desperately tried to look for someone who might be able to speak English so I would know what was going on. I called my mum and boyfriend and loudly spoke to them about not knowing what was happening. Thankfully the woman sitting next to me asked, in English, if I knew what was happening. She explained that we had broken down and we had to wait for a new bus, but some people has called some taxis. She asked me where I was going and she was going to the same place so she told me to stick with her. I was so thankful to her. It had been such a long and stressful day and she made the end of it just a little bit better. I wanted to get her name and number so I could maybe send her something to say thank you after I recovered from the day, but she left the bus area too quick for me to say much more than thank you.

DQs - Day 2 | Eight - Fifteen (38%)

6. Early in this segment, Elsa sees Rafe crying and they experience the ground visibly cracking. Rafe asks Elsa “How can you not break?” Elsa replied incorrectly saying “Because the kids need us not to.” What do you think Rafe expected her to say? Do you have an opinion on what she should have said? ...and would it have made a difference?
I don't know what he expected her to say, but I think I probably would have said the same thing if I was her. I'm not sure it would have mattered what she had said.

7. After trying to convince Elsa to leave behind the farm, and then he agrees with her they can’t leave…Rafe still abandons his family. Justified or cowardice? Was Elsa right in not supporting her husband to leave the farm? Do you think they’ll ever see Rafe again?
I was very annoyed when he just left. I guess I understand Elsa more as I can't just do something so drastic without serious consideration and planning. If he has waited just a little longer, they would have gone with him. For the sake of the story, I think he will appear at some point.

8. In chapter 11, Elsa and Rose commiserate about Loreda blaming Elsa for Rafe leaving.
“I want her to go to college, Rose. To be brave and have adventures.” “A Girl?” Rose laughed. “Ant will be the one. Loreda will settle down. You’ll see.” “I don’t want her to settle down, Rose. I’m in awe of her fire…”
Should Elsa be sharing her dream for Loreda with her? What is your prediction for Loreda 10 years from this point in the story?
I think Elsa and Loreda's relationship would really benefit if Elsa shares her hopes and dreams for her daughter. I hope Loreda gets to go to college and have the future she wants.

9. The government expert shows a movie and delivers some startling facts about the state of things. This reminded me a bit of what we all just went through with Covid…warnings not believed, fear of misinformation and lack of trust in the government. What did you think of the approach of the government rep and the denial that seemed to radiate from many of the residents attending the meeting? Any mirrors to our recent experience with Covid come to mind?
People don't like change. And people don't like being told what to do and even worse that they are doing things wrong.

10. Ant experienced extreme sickness from the impacts of the dust storms, and Elsa has indicated they must leave Texas. What do you think of Elsa’s decision and what do you think will happen next in the story?
I think it was the right thing for them to do. And I've read a bit further so I know a little about what happens.

I hope you feel better soon Heather!

I had my first interview this morning and got offered the job then and there! I didn't accept straight away as I have a few more interviews and the woman understood. I have a video interview in a couple of hours which would be a full time position and something I am more interested in, but it's nice to know I have a backup.

I've got a lot to sort out today so I'm not sure much will get done on the reading side, but hopefully I'll have some time this evening to chill out and read.

I've seen Tuna a few times in books I've been reading, but not anchovies or capers. I'm not even sure what capers are. I'm assuming they are a fish related thing. I started a book that is a retelling of The Little Mermaid so hopefully there will be some types of fish we can use from that and it would be even better if one or more of those bonus words show up.