Alysa’s Comments (group member since Jun 27, 2015)

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

DQ'S - DAY 3 Izzy Out of Sorts - The Book of Doors Discovered

9. If you could talk to anyone from your past, would you? Who would it be?

This answer is going to be a downer and I apologize if it triggers anybody…
I used to have a friend from university (he was a little older; we met while working together in the library!) with whom I lost touch, and that was kind of deliberate on his part because he had a girlfriend at the time who was insecure and did not like me. And to be fair, in retrospective I can see that I was indeed being too flirty in our interactions. Anyway, I had hoped to give it some time and reach out again someday, but I found out long after the fact that he had moved back to his hometown and then committed suicide a few years later.
I’m sure there’s nothing I could have done to change the outcome, but I’ve thought often about what I would say if I could go back and talk to him, and just be a better friend.


10. With more information about what happened to Drummond and his friends but also what happened to Izzy after she woke up, did it change your answer to DQ#8?

What happened to Drummond’s friends was absolutely terrifying. But I still don’t think that taking away Izzy’s memory was fair or right, and it didn’t even protect her much. I mean, she was almost immediately attacked by Hugo, and whether it had been a Hugo or The Woman who reached Izzy first they clearly have no problem using/hurting/killing anyone, erased memory or not. Drummond should have just let Izzy come along to the Fox Library. Or at least not left her at her known address. That was so dumb.


11. What did you think of Lund and The Bookseller?

They are both interesting but Lund is more enigmatic and the one I’d like to know more about. The Bookseller seems more like a plot device than a person, at least up to this point.


12. Was Cassie trapped in the past longer than you expected? Did it make some things that happened in the beginning make sense?

Oh it definitely made earlier stuff make more sense! I went into this book having zero idea that there would be time travel involved (hence my answer to DQ#1) so it’s been chock full of surprises, and they are mostly well done.
Cassie was trapped longer than I expected (and unless l missed something, we STILL don’t how the Book of Doors turned up in that time). And I heart Mr. Webber so much.


13. Now that we are about 2/3 through the book, predictions?

I have given up trying to predict anything in this book! But I have also read ahead a bit, so I can’t say anything.

DQ'S - DAY 2 A Night of Travel- Matt's All-American Burgers

6. Are you more like Cassie- adventurous and a risk taker or Izzy, more careful and think things through?

I wouldn’t consider Cassie adventurous or a risk-taker, as I feel like it’s been established that she has always been a sort of meek and scared person — it’s only now with the Book of Doors that she has suddenly perked up and wants to do something a bit more grand. And it’s interesting to me that Izzy is the more careful and thinks one in this situation when she’s also been established as the louder and more outgoing of the pair. It just goes to show that people contain multitudes, and the author is pretty good at creating complex characters. Given all of that, I am more like Izzy for sure!


7. What are your thoughts on "The Woman" now hearing more of her story.

She is hella scary. Like, deeply creepy horror-novel scary. I hope we learn more about how she became the way she is.


8. Drummond Fox has the Book of Memories and it is often used more to forget than to remember something. Can you pinpoint anything in your life you would willingly forget on purpose? Cassie is now on this adventure on her own because Drummond made Izzy forget the Book of Doors but Cassie was now able to see the Library. Was the trade off worth it?

I wouldn’t want to forget anything on purpose, and that’s largely because I don’t think it is fair to other people. Similarly, I don’t think Cassie getting to see the (awesome!) Fox Library can be described as a trade off for not having Izzy around anymore because that is not fair to Izzy. In fact I don’t think enough attention was paid to how big a violation it was to Izzy’s agency to make her forget, without asking her first, even though I understand why Drummond did it, and I think his intentions were good.

Ooh the team names are so much fun!

And I see there are some mini-challenge details up as well.
This is going to be a great Wheel! Thanks, Mods! :D :D :D

DQ'S - DAY 1 START - BOOK PEOPLE

1. "This is the Book of Doors Hold it in your hand and any door is every door"
If you could open a door to anywhere, where would you go?

That's actually a hard one not because I can't narrow my ideas down to a single door, per se, but because there would be a "When?" component. Like, I would want to choose a place from my childhood but only if the place could be as it was then, not as it is today.
For places as they are now… IDK, maybe a house on the Dalmatian coast. Ahhhhh.


2. The first page of the novel starts with this lovely sentence - so true for book lovers. "I've read it before but as I get older, I find comfort in re-reading favourites. It's like spending time with old friends." - Mr Webber
Does this ring true for you? What is your favourite comfort read?
PS - Have you read The Count of Monte Cristo? If you have do you agree or disagree with Cassie's opinion?

I don't tend to re-read books very much but I used to when I was younger, so I've had certain comfort reads that make Mr Webber's line resonate. My main one is the original version of Laura Argiri's The God in Flight (the more recent edition is terrible: they changed a whole bunch of stuff!), about which I remain sad that the characters aren't real.
I have not read The Count of Monte Cristo but my daughter read it over the summer because her school is doing a themed trip in just a couple of weeks. They're taking a bunch of 10th graders over to France and Italy on a sort of "follow in the steps" journey. Their itinerary looks amazing, and yes I am envious!


3. After Cassie's and Izzy's first outing with the Book, despite Cassie's delight it seems that Izzy's reservations are valid. Can you see the positive and negative aspects of owning the books - So far other than the Book of Doors, the Books of Pain, Shadow, Memories, Illusions and Luck have been revealed. If you could own one book which one would it be? Which one wouldn't you touch with a ten foot pole!

Definitely positive and negative aspects to owning the books -- even just using the books, apart from the fact that owning them clearly makes one a target. But if I could own one of the books mentioned so far it'd be either Doors or Luck. As for which I would not want, well, Pain sounds like it's used to inflict on others, and I wouldn't want to do that so the book would be useless to me other than as an art object I suppose, or to keep out of anyone else's hands… Maybe I'd stay away from the Book of Memories. Sounds like a rabbit hole I would not want to be sucked into.


4. Everyone seems terrified of the mysterious Woman? Who do you think she is and why is her name capitalized?

Not enough information yet but it sounds like she's a rabid collector of Books and/or the power that comes with them. Between her and some of the other characters who are tracking down Books and their owners and former owners or whatever is going on, I'm kind of getting The Bone Clocks vibes. It'll be interesting to see if that holds.


5. Cassie goes to Mr Webber's apartment to get some answers.
"Why did you give me the book Mr Webber" she asked the room "and where did you get it. What is the secret behind it?"
These are the "64 million dollars questions"!! Do you have any theories or is it too early in the story to come to any conclusions?

It seems like the Books used to be all in one collection, got broken up in some calamitous way, and now there's this little underworld of people trying to get them back together but for individualized reasons as opposed to some greater collective good. I suspect that Mr. Webber was either a member of the "library" that originally owned the Books or he knew someone who was (possibly a woman but not "the woman"), and that he'd been successfully evading detection by the others for a long time. That's about all I've come up with so far.

Moderators of NBRC wrote: "Breakdown up and posted!"

Thank you!

I'm in!
I can write DQs if it's possible to have the final day?

Eldarwen wrote: "Yes, they're traded in. Once you've spent a token on an extra BOM entry, it is gone."

Great, thank you!
I had been thinking of using some of my Ruby coins for another BOM takeover but it can be hard to time it so it’s not during a team challenge. 😆

Alysa wrote: "Judith wrote: "And Alysa your BOM understanding in regards to tokens and using them is correct."

Yay!"

Actually a follow-up question:
So "tokens" (i.e., ruby gem coins) are being traded in for the extra entries? I want to make sure to log that correctly in my gem coin collection if/when it comes up.

Judith wrote: "And Alysa your BOM understanding in regards to tokens and using them is correct."

Yay!

FWIW, I agree with everybody who is saying to just play for fun even if one feels one can’t be very competitive. 🙂

I tend to be competitive by nature (as some of you may recall, lol) but for the past few years I haven’t been able to play very competitively in NBRC challenges due to stronger constraints on my time. I still play when I feel like I can at least contribute something within the various time limits, and I enjoy choosing books based on the rules of the game, and chatting with teammates.
So, the more the merrier!

Bigger books are always great but the mods already improved the point system a while ago to make points/page counts fairer.
So, you never know what can happen. Up to a certain point, it’s anyone’s game.

Wait wait wait...

Remember that you can collect your participation points from previous BOM (from January 2022) for an extra entry in the randomiser, on a basis of 3 participation points to 1 extra entry. Your team will be allowed a maximum of 6 entries for each BOM

So if a person has [fully] participated in, say, 6 BOMs between Jan 2022 and Sept 2025, that's 6 points, which would be 2 extra entries for that person? Meaning that if 4 people in total volunteer from their team including that person, the team would have 6 entries (1 entry each for the three other members, plus that person's "3" entries)?

Sorry if it's a dumb question, I just wanna make sure I understand!

Quite a while since I’ve been able to commit to a group challenge but this time I am in! 😃
I love NBRC Wheelathons. Looking forward to it!

The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley

From the author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street and The Kingdoms, an epic Cold War novel set in a mysterious town in Soviet Russia.

In 1963, in a Siberian gulag, former nuclear specialist Valery Kolkhanov has mastered what it takes to survive: the right connections to the guards for access to food and cigarettes, the right pair of warm boots to avoid frostbite, and the right attitude toward the small pleasures of life so he won’t go insane. But on one ordinary day, all that changes: Valery’s university mentor steps in and sweeps Valery from the frozen prison camp to a mysterious unnamed town that houses a set of nuclear reactors and is surrounded by a forest so damaged it looks like the trees have rusted from within.

In City 40, Valery is Dr. Kolkhanov once more, and he’s expected to serve out his prison term studying the effect of radiation on local animals. But as Valery begins his work, he is struck by the questions his research raises: why is there so much radiation in this area? What, exactly, is being hidden from the thousands who live in the town? And if he keeps looking for answers, will he live to serve out his sentence?

Based on real events in a surreal Soviet city, and told with bestselling author Natasha Pulley’s inimitable style, The Half Life of Valery K is a sweeping new adventure for readers of Stuart Turton and Sarah Gailey.

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez (from Argentina)

A young father and son set out on a road trip, devastated by the death of the wife and mother they both loved. United in grief, the pair travel to her ancestral home, where they must confront the terrifying legacy she has bequeathed: a family called the Order that commits unspeakable acts in search of immortality.

For Gaspar, the son, this maniacal cult is his destiny. As the Order tries to pull him into their evil, he and his father take flight, attempting to outrun a powerful clan that will do anything to ensure its own survival. But how far will Gaspar’s father go to protect his child? And can anyone escape their fate?

Moving back and forth in time, from London in the swinging 1960s to the brutal years of Argentina’s military dictatorship and its turbulent aftermath, Our Share of Night is a novel like no other: a family story, a ghost story, a story of the occult and the supernatural, a book about the complexities of love and longing with queer subplots and themes. This is the masterwork of one of Latin America’s most original novelists, “a mesmerizing writer,” says Dave Eggers, “who demands to be read.”

DQs Day 6 : Chapters 34 - end

[22.] Within this section, we learn more about the dappleglass. What about the dappleglass do you find realistic? What is unrealistic about this plant?

I have a pretty vivid picture of it in my mind, and it “looks” realistic there, if that makes sense. But certainly the speed at which it bursts into bloom is the most unrealistic thing about it!

[23.] What did you think of the secrets Ana and Din told each other in the “darkest hour.”

I had guessed fairly early in the book that Ana was aware of Din’s trouble with reading, but I liked how that conversation went. It seemed in keeping with both of their characters.

[24.] Were you expecting the answer to the mystery as Ana revealed it?

Maybe some bits and pieces, but definitely not the final reveal of Uhad’s involvement! But then, I am not very good at solving mystery plots in books or movies before the end.

[25.] What were some of your favorite parts of the book? Was there anything you would have changed?

I loved all of it and would not change a thing.

[26.] How likely are you to read the next book in the series? If you have read the series, are there other books by Robert Bennett that you have read and would recommend?

I already knew going in that I would probably love this and would want to read the next one. From RJB’s other books my first recommendation would be the Divine Cities series, which starts with City of Stairs. I liked his subsequent series (The Founders Trilogy) a bit less, mainly because I felt it took a wrong turn somewhere near the end of Book 2 and never fully recovered, at least in my opinion.
From his standalone works, I would recommend American Elsewhere.
The only RJB book I’ve read that I would *not* recommend to anyone is Mr. Shivers, which I just finally read earlier this year. I think it was his first novel, and that unfortunately shows. At this point it is for superfans only, and even then merely as a way to sort of study his development as an author.

Preeti wrote: "I checked my copy and discovered my library book was missing a page"

Weird! It seems like this sort of thing has been happening a lot lately. Last week, my daughter was reading Klara and the Sun (school summer reading assignment), and a bunch of pages in the middle has been mysteriously replaced by a chunk of the book Sharp Objects! Wth?

DQs Day 5 : Chapters: 26 - 33

17. We learn more about the world and the empire’s rules in these chapters. What part of this world feels the most unusual or fascinating to you? Would you want to live there?

It’s a small thing but for some reason I really love the reagents keys. Just this tiny little object with the wee liquid vials in it, controlling access to different places. It is so neato!
I would not want to live in this world though. Too much anxiety about potential breaches, and too much inequality and corruption.

18. Power and control come up again in these chapters—especially with the way information is kept or revealed. Why do you think certain characters hide things, and what does that tell us about them?

This is a world where nearly everyone is out for themselves, and maybe their immediate family and intimates, and to hell with everyone else. Maintenance of power and control and even basic safety and comforts seems tied to selfishness and secret-keeping.

19. We are introduced to Fayazi Haza and her Sublimes in this section. What was your opinion of these characters? Did you notice anything interesting about them?

This was fascinating. So messed up how these people manipulate everything. It was especially interesting to find out that Sazi connection to Ana. I wonder how she actually knows the Hazas (or a Haza) so personally.

20. “Born into systems beyond our control, into relationships and organisations that obligate us to change…”
How do these lines reflect the pressure felt by characters like Jolgalgan or Din during these chapters? Who seems trapped by expectations, and how do they respond?

Definitely brings to mind the different ways that people react to societal pressures. Some by working within the system, some trying to avoid the system, and some trying to bring it down.

21. As Din gathers evidence around the Haza family’s estate, water tanks, and engineer gatherings, he begins seeing clear connections. What moment in these chapters felt most like a turning point in understanding the conspiracy and why did it stand out to you?

All of it was suspicious from the start, but especially when Din was only grudgingly allowed 5 minutes in the rookery, and Fayazi had already burned all the correspondence that had been held in there.

Bonus: When Din is talking to Fayazi Haza in Chapter 28, he says, ”Last time they communicated to the staff at your household by throwing a yellow ball over the walls.”
I searched the ENTIRE book and never found any other reference to this “yellow ball”. What do you think of this? Is it a way of getting new information to the readers or do you think this got missed in editing? Or did I miss something? 😊

It was mentioned in Chapter 5! “Yellow wooden ball”
I have an eARC though, so if no one else saw it, I supposed it’s possible that something got edited out in the final publication?!

DQs Day 4: Chapters 21-25

12. At the start of this section, Din is experiencing some type of battle shock after the fight, and Strovi helps him deal with the situation. He’s quite gentle and especially after their drinks earlier with the whole “we’re too formal” thing, do you think he’s (romantically) interested in Din? Or what else could be going on there? Do you trust him or do you think he’s spying on them, especially as it’s revealed he’s gentry?

At first it seemed like Strovi was hitting on Din, but then seemed to back off. Maybe he really was just lonely for friendship. I guess it's possible that he's a gentry plant in the legion or something like that. I hope not! I also would not put it past RJB to write a layer scene wherein Din begins to suspect Strovi of weirdnesd, and confronts him, and then Strovi is like, "Actually I was just hitting on you, but you were not picking up what I was putting down."

13. Din’s engraving skills seem to be a bit different to what is usual, based on the reactions of everyone else to his fighting skills, and also the lockpicking before that. I wonder how that interacts with his dyslexia, and also how it’s connected to his performance on the exams… what do you think?

Definitely seems unusual, to everyone else other than Din. Like he actually just thinks this is normal Engraver stuff when it's not. Maybe it has something to do with his unusual decision to stay awake during his enhancement, as well as (coinciding with?) his difficulties with reading.

14. One of the things I always find interesting about fantasy is figuring out what technology exists and what doesn’t. Aristan and Suberek were quite obviously killed by gunshot wounds, yet neither Din nor the rest of the investigation team seem to recognize that, so guns aren’t a well-known weapon in this world – however, Ana seemed to have an inkling… something the might of the Empire is hiding from us? What do you make of this? Is types of technology also something you pay special attention to in fantasy?

I don't know if any technology is being willfully hidden in this book, but either way I do appreciate consistency in fantasy world building and that includes whatever technology is or isn't in line with everything else we're given. Like, it could be that there is a "gun" but this world's version of a "gun" shoots plant-based bullets that can burrow quickly through bone, or something along those lines. I'm inclined to believe that, or just the possibility the book has already stated, that the wounds were made by something sharp, wielded by a person with great strength.
FWIW, here is a somewhat obscure book that has a mystery and very interesting magic/technology. It's been a while since I read it but I remember it being basically like our modern world, but with all technology operating via something magical. For example there are telephones, but they work by Magical Gremlins or some such. It was a fun read: The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump

15. Speaking of technology – I’ve also been thinking about its relation to social class and especially fertility in this world. We have Strovi, who’s gentry which is why he doesn’t have any augmentations, as they impact fertility, and then we have Fayazi Haza who’s so heavily modified there doesn’t seem to be anything “natural” left about her, surely leaving her infertile (but maybe this doesn’t matter when you’re part of the Haza clan. Or maybe they found a way around that.) And then there’s people like Din who seem to undergo these transformations as a way of improving their situation in life (not that we know much about his or other regular people’s backgrounds – but him sending almost all his earnings back to his family does suggest a significant degree of poverty), where it seems like nobody considers infertility a negative impact… I’m not sure I have a concrete question here, so: thoughts?

It's complicated! Haha. But it seems like a commentary on real life in many ways. Different socioeconomic strata; different paths for upward mobility but only to a point; money and power corrupting politics and law.

16. It seems very neat that Jolgalgan, from the Oypat canton, would be the one behind this plot and all of these murders. Do you think it was actually her, or do you think there’ll be a big twist? If it was her after all, what do you think she knows?

There's bound to be a big twist. Possibly several. But maybe the Haza family was directly responsible for what happened in Oypat and everybody else who dies in a revenge plot against them is collateral damage? We shall see.

DQs Day 3: Chapters 13-20

9. Were on the move now and hearing more of the environment. Are you able to imagine the world and How do you feel about the mix of genres - fantasy, sci-fi, mystery?

Love love love it. I hardly ever read ‘straight’ mystery novels or procedurals but am actually quite drawn to ones that take place in fantasy or sci-fi settings. And it’s a blend that this author has become particularly good at, I think.

10. Were seeing Ana showcasing her skills and abilities more and seeing Ana and Din interact even more. Have your thoughts changed about them and what secrets do you think Ana and Din is hiding from one another if any?

Ana’s past is still so opaque, I have absolutely no idea. We’ve had a few more breadcrumbs about Din. We know he sends all his earnings back to his family, we know there’s some question about his training and his abilities. But it doesn’t seem to me like either of the characters has been involved with something overly nefarious. In any case, they make a good team.

11. Knowing this is book one and we probably wont get much how are you imagining the Leviathans so far? What is your closest comparison to what they may be/look like?

I’m having trouble with picturing the leviathans, but I guess it’s been left vague on purpose? Like, sometimes they sound humanoid and sometimes they sound like sea dragons. At this point I am just hoping we aren’t in for a Lovecraftian turn because I am just not in the mood, lol.

DQs Day 2: Chapter 6 - 12

5. In this world, many choose enhancements that facilitate their selected jobs - and it seems like most have some sort of Monkey’s Paw negative effect as well. On one hand, an enhancement like Din’s enables his perfect memory, so he never forgets anything. On the other hand, he CAN never forget anything, even if he wants to.
If you were to be augmented with a skill/ability, what would it be and why? Alternatively, what, for you, would be the worst or most dreaded skill/ability you could get?

Having had random conversations on this topic before, I immediately know my answer to the first part: I would want my augmented skill/ability to be facility with languages (which I think was one of the ones mentioned in this book, which was neat).
Not as sure about the worst. If we were talking super powers, I would definitely not want the ability to read minds. But that’s not what we’re exactly talking about. I really don’t know. In the context of this book, the perfect-memory thing sounds like it has some nasty side effects over time, so perhaps that. I have quite a good memory in real life, though not eidetic, and I can actually already relate to some of the negative emotional issues it can bring (though there are positives too).

6. I thought it interesting that the leviathians are getting bigger every year, and that most of the special grafts and suffusions are from collected titian bits and bones. Do you have any theories about how this will come into play going forward?

Only the most obvious ones, which means I am probably very wrong.

7. “...I no longer formed normal memories. For a memory is just a sketch a mind makes of one’s experiences, imperfect and interpretive; yet what my mind made, from that moment on, was perfect, absolute, and endless.” Do you think this robs Din of the ability to be fully human, from the standpoint that one’s subjective take on the world around her/him is what makes a person "human"?

No, this doesn’t rob Din of anything, and I disagree with the notion that having a perfect objective memory undermines subjectivity. First of all, objectivity and subjectivity are not mutually exclusive. One can have objectively perfect recall and still apply subjective perspective and interpretation. One can still associate different emotions to a memory, and so on. One person can have a fuzzy memory and insist that it is the whole truth of what occurred, while another can have a perfect memory but not be in posession of all relèvent context or facts. These two people may argue, and both of them could be equally right and/or equally wrong. What makes someone like Din different isn’t ultimately that he has perfect recall, it’s that everyone else fully relies on Din’s recall as a source of objective truth.

8. I’m enjoying the evolving relationship between Ana and Din, especially Ana’s humor. Despite Ana joking that Din had “lost his sense of humor in some tragic accident,” what is your take on the twosome? Do you think Din cheated somehow to pass his tests? Or do you think it's something else?

I am enjoying their relationship! And I don’t think Din cheated, but also have no real sense of what else is going on.