Alysa’s
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(group member since Jun 27, 2015)
Alysa’s
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from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.
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Yaaaayyyy! One of my holds came in for The Midnight Library !I'll probably start it tomorrow though. I'm already behind on doing the BOM in real time anyway, and I'd like to make some more progress with other books :D
And not having my old commute & old version of job more conducive to audiobooks is why I now get to read fewer, lol.
Completion post
details on spreadsheet
So glad I've had a lot of time for Audio this week and I dang finished this one right quick! :D
Dammit, I was waiting to see if any of my library holds on The Midnight Library would come in time to start the BOM today before resorting to unpausing my Scrib account... but apparently The Midnight Library has been removed from Scribd anyway!!! So, still waiting on libraries. At least I'm not far down in the hold queue! I could actually get it right now as read-online-only via ProQuest, but I would rather wait for an Overdrive version.
Argh.
And for another book option for me that fits tasks #175-179…This dude’s shirt is blue, yes?
@Caps - Winging It
Seems to be 300 pages (which is in line with the other editions on GR). More info here:
https://www.google.com/books/edition/...
ETA: Actually I think my library can get the latest Kindle version too, which will need an alternate cover version added to GR.
Current only Kindle version on GR:
Winging It
Current Kindle version on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...
Completion post!
details on spreadsheet
I also went back to check on possible Bingo for my last completed book. I dunno. It might work for Troll Doll maybe? Since I'm very literal, I think it's a stretch.
We could also move the book to Jackanory later if we somehow end up needing the animal-in-title task for a different book!
Finally back to answer final set of DQs! :)DQs - Day 4
13. Simon was kept very much a mystery character throughout the book. What is your opinion of him? How will he be able to support Esk in the future (or will he)?
I didn't really have much of an opinion about him either way, tbh. It was hard to decide whether the book thinks he is super smart, or if the book was pointing out the farce of adults deciding he was super smart just because he was male and socially awkward. But either way it was nice that he seemed supportive of Esk. No idea how that would evolve in time though. One hopes that in future someone that smart (supposedly) would age into an interest in blowing up the idea of binary gendered magic! (I seem to recall hearing somewhere that Esk does not reappear in future books, and if that's true it's kind of a shame, but it's also kind of nice to hold the idea of this powerful and determined little girl in one's mind, ever unchanging.)
14. The meeting between Granny and the Archchancellor and their actions afterwards are a pivotal part of the book. What were your impressions?
I really enjoyed their interactions. They see high intelligence and ability in each other, but are so different. Not sure they're quite there yet in terms of seeing each other as equally powerful and capable, however, which is sorely needed.
15. With duality of witchcraft vs. wizardry being one of the main themes, what do you think about the ending? Was it satisfyingly concluded?
Yes and no. One could gather from my above answers that I wish the binary had been blown up more, and one would be right. I love that Esk will be able to study magic as the "first female wizard" and that Granny was asked to come as a kind of visiting teacher, but I wanted more.
16. How did you rate the book?
If you are new to Terry Pratchett, do you consider checking out more of his books (NOT just because of BOM points :)?
If you are familiar with his books/a fan - any changes in your earlier impressions/opinion?
I rated it 4 out of 5 (the same as I rated it last time). It's hilarious, and clever, and inventive, and I recommend it! But I do wish it were even more critical of duality, and I find upon re-reading that I still think it runs out of steam (well, either the book does or I do!). That is, I'm loving it in the beginning but then start to get a bit fatigued by the style or the nearly non-stop humor perhaps, and by the end it's washing over me somewhat. I have read relatively few of Pratchett's books, considering how many he wrote, and have tended to like later ones best, so I do hold the opinion that Discworld gets better and better over time. I'm looking forward to re-reading Mort, and reading Guards! Guards! for the first time. I hope to continue with the Tiffany Aching books past the first one soon, too. I loved the first one!
BONUS: Any favourite scenes? :)
I liked earlier in the book when Esk first went to live with Granny! Whenever Granny interacts with the staff is always fun too.
Completion Post Finished on Friday 5/28 but haven’t been on GR (I am on a family trip for the long weekend and internet is not great)
Cuckoo Song
I have it down for a task but I think it could be moved to Bingo. I need to take a look at the list again but I can’t get on the spreadsheet right now. Probably when we get home on Mon night!
I should be finishing another book today, finally. The past week has kicked my ass and really put me off the reading stride I had been in :/
Tina ❣ wrote: "Alysa wrote: "I just remembered about the "Discworld Bonus" we can get for simply reading 5 Discworld books, on the main team spreadsheet...It says we can use the BOMs, but does that mean we can ..."
But that is exactly my question --
Do we need to use 5 separate titles, or could we use, say (as an extreme example of the opposite), 5 people all reading Equal Rites?
Stacey wrote: "Tina ❣ wrote: "I managed to get Day 4 DQ for The Midnight Library. Yay! More points"Great! I really liked this book, too. I can't get points for answering if I don't read it now, ..."
Yeah it looks like you and Kimber have read it too soon, so unfortunately you can't read it again now or get points for answers. But everyone else could read/reread it!
I'm hoping my library loan comes so I don't have to reactivate Scribd again quite yet when I'm about to reactivate KU (so I can do the Back Room BOM) but we'll see. It's nice having an easy back-up plan :D
I just remembered about the "Discworld Bonus" we can get for simply reading 5 Discworld books, on the main team spreadsheet...It says we can use the BOMs, but does that mean we can only use one instance each of the three BOMs, and then one or two Carrot members would need to read additional non-BOM Discworld books to reach a total of 5 different books?
Or are we allowed to use multiple BOM reads of the same book?
Yay!
Completion Post
details on spreadsheet (including BOM tab)
I don't need to answer Day 4 questions for TT, but I'd like to remember to do them in the morning anyway. Right now I am SO TIRED. Goodnight, fellow people for whom it is night!
Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "I completed my re-read of
Details on s/sheet including links to the DQ days.
I added it into Bingo for "Ooook!" as I'm not sure what else could go there. haha. But ha..."
LOL, I I thought about moving mine to that, but I am way too literal. I was like "There is no 'oook' in this book with that exact number of O's." 😐
I figured someone else would use it anyway, because rationally I am aware that the exact number of O's does not actually matter. I am just insane!
I can't believe both Mort and The Midnight Library are starting so soon. Time is flying!!!!
DQs - Day 39 . What do you think on the creatures from the dungeon dimensions? Do you find them creepy?
I do find them creepy, in a Lovecraftian sort of way, but haven't been taking them very seriously. Maybe I should.
10. I enjoyed the Esk’s thoughts about being both witch and wizard and wanting to defend the one to the other. Do you sympathize with this view (more in general than in specific regards to magic fields)?
Welllll, it's hard to answer this without getting into, like gender theory, innit? Or I could just forget the ways in which it is problematic to equate one with Headology and the other with hard science. In which case, yes, I do sympathize with defending one to the other.
11. Why do you think Esk’s magic did not work?
I have been wondering about this, and just don't know. I don't think she was just nervous; there has to be something more to it. Like she was tricked somehow. If there's any explanation coming, I obviously (and unsurprisingly) do not remember!
12. Esk is supposed to be precocious but also nine years old. Do you think she acts in a way you could see a nine year old acting?
Not entirely, but it doesn't bother me the way that it often bothers me from other authors. What a lot of authors seem to get wrong is the way they write dialogue between children and adults, and almost always from the adult characters' POVs. Their child characters tend to skew either too young or too old -- it's either babytalk or absurdly mature, rarely capturing the in-between where so many kids seem to fall in real life. I think with Esk, Pratchett tried hard to hit that in-between spot, and while he didn't hit the exact mark, he came close in spirit if not in letter.
As a member of Team Ook, the bonus question is: Is not the librarian wonderful and would you want to be turned back in his place?
As an actual librarian, I can say no. No, I do not want to be turned back.
Oook.
How do you make those big orange X's on the Bingo card squares? I've never figured out how to do that... :/
@Sammy, do you do cookies, as well? Or are you strictly a cake disposal operation?
Kimber~☆♡Love of Books♡☆ wrote: "@TinaI can read Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
For
#182 on Spec-Fic Passing Bechdel Test list
Is this ok? If so please put me down for it. If not let me know so I don't read..."
I actually had Equal Rites down for that but I moved it to Bingo. Figured Bingo was harder to fill 😁
