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

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

Judith wrote: "that's the actual Queen of England. I just realized it's hard to tell that's her. Oh well. I was trying to be funny"

As a British citizen, I recognised my Queen instantly :P I don't think I've seen that picture before though...

I got ahead of schedule with The Foundling. I was happily listening away trying to stop at the right place and then all of a sudden "chapter 12". Oh well, it just means I have less to listen to tomorrow so I'll probably start a different audiobook as well.

DQ Day 2: Ch. 6-10

6. Were you surprised to find out Daniel had a wife? I personally was super surprised as I originally believed him when he said he was single. What do you think of the way Daniel died? I was not all that surprised. I've read/watched too many stories where that has been the case. His death sounded sudden, but not uncommon for the time period. People would work through any aches and pains without seeking any medical attention, not that they were likely to get a proper diagonsis if they did.

7. How do you think Alexandra Callard knew about Bess and her daughter? Maybe Daniel had told her about Bess before he died? Maybe someone Alexandra knew had seen them together? Probably the latter.

8. What do you think of the way Alexandra and Charlotte live? Do you think Alexandra keeps Charlotte home to stop her from being recognized or because she is truly scared of the real world? I think it started off as caution so that Charlotte wouldn't be recognised but just progressed into paranoia. Alexandra knows deep down she did something wrong and is afraid of the consequences.

9. "Eliza" has been fired on her first day. What do you think of Alexandra's reasoning for firing her? Do you think part of Alexandra knows that she is Charlotte's real mom? I think Alexandra is very cautious and Charlotte is all that remains of Daniel so she wants to hold her close, but maybe too close. Alexandra may suspect "Eliza" but is trying hard not to.

10. Do you think Bess will find a way to still see her daughter? How? I accidentally listened to an extra chapter so I know a little more than I should. But regardless, there is too much book left for Bess to give up on her daughter and now things are in motion, there's no going back.

Thank you! I hadn't chosen anything yet so you saved me some time :)

Lexi wrote: "If you go down to the list of spaces, it does describe them so G5 is "elf archer." I might look for elf or archer for that one. (Also, that is Legolas from LOTR in case you care).

Otherwise, ther..."

When I saw the sock, I immediately thought of Dobby!


I fell behind with reading The Foundling last night, so I got to chapter 5 and have answered yesterday's questions this morning. I'm determined to stay on track with the book to prove to myself I can do it!

DQ Day 1 - Chapters 1-5

1. How are you liking the writing style ? Are you enjoying the story so far? I quite like the writing style, it feels like it makes it a quicker read. I am enjoying the story so far. This seems like the type of book I would pick up, but if it hadn't been for this it probably would have been years.

2. After reading that opening scene, what do you think of the practice of the Hospital taking babies based on a lottery (the coloured balls in the bag)? I'm not sure if this is based on history or just fiction, but given my historical knowledge of the time period I can't say I was that surprised. The lottery I guess makes it as fair as it can be, but the babies that don't win getting left abandoned because their mothers can't take care of them is always so sad.

3. At some point Bess says that "knowing she [Clara] could be anywhere instead of nowhere at all was torture even more exquisite." Implying that not knowing where her child is is worse than knowing she's dead. What's your opinion ? Or would you rather not know? It's a tough one. Some people would be able to live their lives not knowing and be almost content believing that their child has a better life. Others wouldn't be able to move on until they knew, even if that meant finding out their child died. I think I would want to know, but then if it turned out the worst had happened then I would just be focused on the 'what if's' instead.

4. What do you make of the child's father, Daniel Callard ? Everyone keeps asking Bess if he's really dead. Do you suspect there's more to Daniel than we've been told so far? I think there will be more to him that we've been told already. In my reading experience, generally authors will give characters like Daniel a name because there will be more to it. Otherwise it would probably have been easier to leave him anonymous. But writers do like to surprise sometimes, so I could be wrong.

5. Time for your theories ! Who do you think claimed Clara on the 28th of November 1747, the day after Bess gave up her baby? It's too soon to say. I suspect the brother might have had something to do with it. In these sort of stories it's generally related to people that have already been mentioned. But I wouldn't bet money on a theory just yet.

I finished Black Beauty and I'll begin The Foundling a bit later and answer the DQs. I'm looking forward to it.

Hello team. I wanted to read lots on the first day to make a good start, however I had a terrible night's sleep which has left me exhausted.
I have started Black Beauty and will try and finish what I can before I fall asleep. Tomorrow, I will begin The Foundling with the group and maybe The Handmaid's Tale too.

I hope everyone is having a pleasant weekend!

Oooh that's good to know about the narrator! I wouldn't have thought of that.

To add the link in the spreadsheet, if you right click in the cell a list will apprear. If you go to Insert Link a box will apprear. If you copy the URL link from the book page of the edition you are using and paste it into the second box and then type or paste the title into the first box it should create a link once you hit apply.

This is how I do it, if there is an easier way then I'm sure someone will share.
I hope that helps.

180 pages
354 pages
336 pages
474 pages
32 pages
224 pages
308 pages
550 pages
180 pages

Current Total: 519,979

I managed to finish 5 book from my TBR list recently!


I, Robot was the 5th book out of the 7 I had added in 2017, so I only have two left to read. One of those should be a quick read, but is the start of a series so may end up adding some to my TBR and the other I plan to read at some point in the next month or two.

Judith wrote: "Boo, the randomizer was mean and we weren’t picked for DQs for The Foundling. Oh well, maybe next time.

But the breakdown is posted in the BOM thread if people want it to plan. Remember you’ll nee..."

That's a shame.
I'm ready to start it and as I will be listening to it as an audiobook, I should be able to keep up with the days for this one.
I'm looking forward to participating in my first BOM.

I'm excited for this to start! I've almost finished everything I've been reading. It's going to be hard to not start anything before it's time, but I have some very short books on my kindle I can read if I need to.

I've been through most of the recommendations from other teams and made a list (I like lists, don't judge) of the books I have or can get a hold of easily. I'm definitely hoping to get a couple of those longer books that have been sitting on my TBR list for years read during this challenge.

Snowtulip wrote: "I'm with you Keely, even though I have plenty to read, I can't wait to start! Anticipation is always hard, and I just like finding books for tasks :D.

I'm trying really hard to use as many of my ..."

I do the same. I always refer to my TBR books first and then if I can't find anything to fit a certain task, I'll try my library app which usually has something.

I was having a quick look through the tasks, particularly the ones where you have to read a book off a certain list and there are a couple of books that I want to read that shows up in a few of them. Most noticably The Handmaid's Tale was in almost all of them, so I guess I've found the book I will be starting with. I wanted to read it this year anyway.

I also have a few classic books that are on the longer side (just over or close to 1,000 pages) on Audible which I will try and listen to over the course of this challenge.

I am glad this challenge focuses mostly on the length of the books as I made it a personal goal this year to read some of those larger books that I've had hanging about for too long.
I can't wait to start!

I would recommend The Letter. It is a mystery with two timelines and as the story progresses, more of it makes sense.

And if people are more interested in a more classic story, Goodnight Mister Tom was a book I read several times as a child/teenager and would happily read again.

Also I know quite a few of you have already, but feel free to add me as a friend if you would like to.

155 pages
335 pages
144 pages
505 pages

Current Total: 494,944

I found The Foundling on my library app and it is as an audiobook, so I will definitely take part in that BOM and that also means I should be able to finish it fairly quickly.

I have reserved Equal Rites and depending on how things go earlier in the month, it might end up my first Discworld book, but from what I hear that shouldn't be a problem anyway.

I couldn't find Dumplin' on my app but maybe I will use and audible credit for it. I'll see nearer the time.

I've never joined in a BOM before so I definitely would not be comfortable in writing any questions, but I am happy to try and participate in any that I can get my hands on a copy of the book of.

I'm glad that you clarified that you have a month to finish the book and answer enough question, Lexi. That has always put me off joining a BOM because I can be a slow reader if the book just isn't right for me.

My library app has all of the Discworld books so I can't see why I wouldn't be able to join in those BOM's. I'll have to see about the other books.

Hello everyone! I see some familiar names on our team!
My name is Keely (she/her). I currently live in the UK but I am hoping to move to Norway to live with my boyfriend. I was hoping to have at least begun the process of moving by now, but the current world situation has put that on halt. Towards the end of this challenge, I should be able to travel there again (fingers crossed) so my reading may lessen a bit then, although I may have to isolate when I first get there so maybe not :P
I am currently unemployed, but I enjoy several crafts which I hope to sell once I have a good stock and that gives me plenty of time to listen to audiobooks!

This is my first time playing Tower Teams, but I have participated in other team challenges. I find they help motivate me to read and also to pick up books that I might not have otherwise.

I have not read any of the Discworld books, although I have been intending to pick up the series so I will start when this challenge starts! I like to read things chronologically if I can, so I will start with The Colour of Magic (book 1) despite what I've seen a lot of you who have read them say.

Oh and I will read just about anything, but prefer to stick to fiction with the odd history book here and there. I'm currently working on reading classics so some of the books I read will be classic books.