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

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

I finished Anna Karenina today. Can someone can add the date to the spreadsheet for me? :)

I can read Xerxes for an X. It's not the longest book in the world, but it's been on my TBR for a long time. It would also work for a J if we somehow got many enough x's.

I'm not sure how useful I will be with the tags, but I will at least read another longer book, hopefully one with one of the tags if I can find it.

And just to let you know, I'm going to be away most of tomorrow and over the weekend and while I'm sure the hotel will have wifi, I'm not sure I will have a device that will easily access the spreadsheet. So if I have a problem with that, I will just post here when I finish a book.

34 pages
544 pages
80 pages
1,006 pages
261 pages
36 pages
245 pages
22 pages
200 pages
144 pages
320 pages

Current Total: 1,201,198

We don't do Thanksgiving in the UK (unless you have US relations, I guess) so it's not a holiday I celebrate, but I hope those that do had a great time.
Black Friday isn't that big in the UK either. You get a lot of online deals and some stores use it as an excuse to sell off some older less popular stock, but I've never seen any deals that have wowed me. But I don't usually look too hard, especially the past few years, just because I haven't really had the money to spend on things I don't really need so I'd rather not be tempted.

In terms of reading, I'm plodding along with my books. I've been in a mixture of moods so I've got multiple books going at once. I should start finishing some soon.

DQs - Day 3 - Chapter Nine - Twelve

10. We are about half way through the book now and I've been looking at the cover and trying to see how it fits with the story. The cover feels dark to me and so far I don't really feel that in the story. Do you feel like the cover fits the story?
It's hard to tell much about what will happen from the cover.

11. So the old fashioned booksellers in charge might feel the need to remove Susan if they find out her father is one of the Ancients. It seems like Merrihew and Thurston are not greatly respected in the Booksellers realm. How do you feel about them? Do you think they might be involved in what is happening to Susan?
I'm not sure they will add much to the story.

12. We keep getting all these references to books, musical groups, and other pop culture from the 80's. Take for example this quote: "The ground floor facing the street was all floor-to-ceiling high windows, with a wonderful display of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose complete with a cardboard castle to the left of the central revolving door, and a selection of new release thrillers an mysteries built up in a series of pyramids in the window to the right, including John Le Carre's The Little Drummer Girl, Jeffery Archer's First Among Equals, and Ken Follett's On Wings of Eagles." That sentence is long and the following one is not much shorter. How do you feel about all of these references?
I was born in the early 90s so a lot of the reference fly over my head. References in books can be hit and miss for me. If it is very modern references then I often wonder about people reading reading the book in 10 years time and whether the references will still be well know. But in this case some of the references are still well known and it helps this book appeal to older readers.

13. In the last section Vivian gives Susan a steel knife and salt and tells her how to bind something to herself. Do you think she will have to bind something? Any idea who or what she will bind?
They are making a fuss about it so it would seem that Susan will have to bind something. Probably Vivian or Merlin or even her dad.

DQ's - Day 2 - CHAPTER 5 to CHAPTER 8

6. Merlin and Susan get pulled into the May Fair. "The happiness is unsettling, all the smiling and laughing". Was there a part of the fair that stuck out to you? And would YOU have noticed the colorless rose?
So much seemed to happen all at once. I'm not sure I would have noticed the rose unless it was right in my face. There would have been too many other distracting things.

7. Susan seems to have some sort of powers of command, which we see with the wolf at the end of the fair, and hear more about at the end of Chapter 8. What are your guesses about her heritage? Do you have any new guesses about her father?
I'm not up to date on my mythical beings so I'm not really sure. Of course my mind jumps to werewolf when communicating with wolves are a thing, but I really don't think that is the case with this book.

8. My favorite part of these chapters was reading about the New Bookstore and its contents. If you could spend time in there, what would you want to check out?
Oh, I would look at everything. Probably just see what draws me in at first, but after I while I would want to look more closely at everything.

9. The grandmothers were interesting. Any thoughts about them? If I were one of the grandmothers, I'd totally be hanging out with my mastiff. What would you have keeping you company?
I love cats so I would definitely want a cat (or multiple).

DQ'S DAY 1 - PROLOGUE - CHAPTER 4

1. I nominated this book because titles with libraries or books naturally draw me in and I've wanted to read a Garth Nix book for ages. What are your reasons for reading.. long term Garth Nix affectionado or "It's only about the points, baby"?
Basically everything about the title of this made me want to read it. I'm left handed (although I now know that that's not quite what they meant), anything to do with books interests me and I live very close to London.

2. Wikipedia (The Oracle of quick searches about whatever and sometimes actually factual) defines a prologue as "Opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one and other miscellaneous information." What have you learnt in this particular prologue that seems important to the story moving forward?
It seems to set up the point that there is more to Susan than first thought.

3. Chapter 1 introduces us to our main protagonists in a scene filled with murder, fashion descriptions and a giant louse! First impressions of Merlin and Susan and any sign if they will be friends or enemies or maybe even frenemies ?
I can almost sense a love interest developing so it seems like they would definitely be friends, but maybe there will be a twist later on that changes things

4. Right handed and left handed booksellers policing multi layered worlds and realities. Set in 1983 London but the language and environment heavily leans on the Victorian Age. Are you comfortable with the preliminary world building, do you find it interesting and unique or same old same old in the YA fantasy genre?
I've not read a whole lot of YA fantasy, even though I have meant to read more, so I don't know if the setting it unique but I do find it interesting.

5. It seems someone is after Susan, probably because of her mysterious missing father. Who do you think he is and what maybe is his significance in this alternate world and to the plot in general?
I get the feeling he's going to be some big influence in this world. Whether that is good or bad, I'm not sure yet but my gut is telling me he will be at least viewed as a 'bad' person.

Sorry guys, today got away from me a bit. I'm not going to finish my last one so it will have to go to next round. I'll move it over on the ss in a bit when I get on my laptop, unless someone beats me to it.

I'm still not sure about my last book. I've still got a few hours of listening time left and I'm struggling to sleep, so I will listen until I feel I am able to sleep, but I expect to be tired in the day and will probably need a nap.
Long story short, I may manage to finish my last one on the spreadsheet, but I also may run out of time. I'll try and let you know how things are going a good few hours before the end of the round.

Jenny wrote: "Since both authors are listed on the GR page, you can use either, yes."

Great, thanks! That means I can use it. It will only cover S though.



M, that's great news! I hope it all goes well and your kitties give you lots of cuddles after.

I found a book with purple text I was going to read but I'm having trouble making it work for next round. Behind Closed Doors says the author is Katherine X with Sue Smethurst. Can I use the second author or does it have to be the main one? It's a non-fiction memoir type book so I can't use characters. The narrators name doesn't fit into our word either.

I'm not sure if I will finish my last book in time. I've been pretty busy the past couple of days and the next few days are looking like I'm going to be busy too.

I'm going with my parents to look at a house they are interesting in which is supposed to be about and hour and a half away so I might be able to get a good chunk of my last book done on the journey, but I'm not sure how much other time I will have before the round ends.

I will let you know nearer the round ending, but I just wanted to let you guys know now just in case. I know we usually have some spare books that can be used instead.

Purple is my fav colour, but I'm not sure how many books I have with it on the cover text.
Book Club should be easier as I was planning on reading a longer classic which surely most have been used in a Book Club...

I'll have a look at my books at some point this week and see what I can find.

Oh no, M, it's a shame you're surgery was postponed, but at least you are staying safe and hopefully comfortable.

While I will have read more this round than others, the rest of the challenge will probably go back the amount I read before. I will be going back to Norway next week and will still be there when the challenge ends. This means that my boyfriend will want my attention some of the time and I won't have the luxury of reading/listening most of the day.
Both of our familes also have many birthdays in December (including my own) so I'm probably going to have to socialise as well. *shudders*

But I will definitely be participating in the remaining BOMs and I would like to read a couple more long books too. My boyfriend will just have to deal with it :P

I feel like I am doing well this round. I finished A Short History of Nearly Everything the other day, It didn't get much better and I won't be reading it again.
I'm about 40% through Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and I'm hoping to finish it over the next couple of days.
Dino Girls is indeed... interesting... I'm just over the halfway mark. I can't seem to read more than a few chapters before getting bored so that one is taking longer than planned.
Finally, I plan to start The Left-Handed Booksellers of London once I have finished Jonathan Strange.

If I keep up the pace I have had the last few days then I may even be able to squeeze one more in. But if time gets short I might just start another 1,000 page-ish book to use for next round.

128 pages
904 pages
304 pages
162 pages
96 pages
320 pages
192 pages
351 pages
200 pages
208 pages
18 pages
39 pages
544 pages
503 pages

Current Total: 1,156,606

M, I'm sorry to hear about your ankle. My cat (who is 18 now) likes to walk in front of me, especially when we go down the stairs so I have to be very careful. She's a bit slow in her old age though so I can usually beat her down the stairs.

I am now back in the UK. I didn't do nearly as much reading as I wanted on my travels as I was just so tired, but now I have lots of time to read (mostly in audiobook form).

I've been listening to A Short History of Nearly Everything today and I'm so glad I am reading it as an audiobook. I would never get through it as an actual book. I expected maybe short snippets of historical events or just the main ones... but it seems to just be more about the science of history. If it didn't have such a good page count and I wasn't a third of the way through, I would probably give up on it. But I will persevere for the team! I just might zone out a bit while listening to it :P

It doesn't get that cold in the UK so it's never really something I thought of before. But maybe I will look into it.

In the meantime, have you tried looking on Etsy? It's kind of like a crafters ebay, maybe you could find someone on there who makes them?

I've tried crochet a couple of times, but have yet to be successful. I'm determined to give it another try soon as I've been seeing people make so many great things on a facebook group I joined.

I'm also self taught with youtube being my best friend as I'm left handed and all the books assume you are right handed.

My boyfriend's grandma knitted some fingerless gloves for me a few years back (I think before I started knitting or I had just started) as I worked in reception on a campsite that wasn't the warmest building in the world. She often knits mittens but had never done fingerless gloves before. She just eyeballed it and used her many years of knitting to make them. I was very impressed. I know I might get there eventually, but being able to look at something and know how it's made without a pattern is amazing to me.

Sonia wrote: "Jenny said I need to check the knitting pictures and she was right!!!

That cat is so darn cute!!!

Do you sell patterns too?"

I'm not at pattern making level yet. The patterns I use have been ones I've got online or from books. If I remember rightly the cat is from a book called Mollie Makes Knitting: From Scarves and Cushions to Toys and Gifts, Over 30 New Projects for You to Kni T.

I've not really ventured into knitting clothes. I've made a few baby hats, but that's about it. I prefer to make things. The idea of any sort of clothing is a bit daunting to me because of the sizing. I might get there one day.