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

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

DQs Day 2 (from "Five minutes later, Mort was lost." to "Sooner or later, everyone remembered the magic word." p98 / 37%):

Q6 - Mort walked through the walls a few times but couldn't when he tried to get into the castle. Why do you think this happened?

He can't do it when he's trying too hard! Not thinking about it at all seems to be the trick!
Hmmm… I guess that explains why I can't walk through walls...

Q7- What do you think of Ingneous Cutwell's character?

Ah, humor at the expense of ridiculous wizards! He seems ridiculous, though we haven't gotten to know much about him.

Q8 - The Abbot has been reincarnated 53 times. The concept of reincarnation is an interesting one. If you were to be born again what life would you choose?

Hah, see, can't predict any baby's future, so choice can't really come into it in that way. Especially assuming we can't remember our past lives while we are alive. So while I would not be opposed to being reincarnated, I wouldn't want to choose the life.

Q9 - Death sent Mort to reap three souls. In light of how he performed do you think Mort was ready for the job?

Nope, not at all. He did not have enough information to do particularly well at the first two, and obviously he completely botched the third. And he did it on purpose due to his crush on the mark!

Q10 - Mort found Ysabelle's handkerchief in the library. Why is she reading other people's life?

I have no idea. Can't remember. Seems like she's jealous of something, perhaps.

DQs Day 1 (from Beginning to "'I want' he said firmly 'a very fast horse.'" p52 / 19%):

1. Mort is nothing if not determined. He refuses to give up on being a “prentice” until the last stoke of midnight. Then at the very last second, Death arrives for him. Do you think Mort was quick to take the apprenticeship perhaps from feeling humiliated at the days events or was it something that truly intrigued him? Would you have been willing to work for Death?

Mort is an interesting combination of lackadaisicalness, subtle ego, and quiet determination, so his reasons for taking the apprenticeship with Death are also a combination of those things. He appears to be going-with-the-flow, but there's a lot more to him on the inside. One of the things I like about the way the beginning of this book is written is that Pratchett is restrained in his depiction of Mort's inner life. We are intentionally left to puzzle it out for a while. It's a weird choice, but it works!
It doesn't matter if I'd be willing to work for Death because he'd NEVER ask me, LOL.

2. Death has a sarcastic tone during this first section. What do you think of his fawning over Mort to ensure he gets new clothes and food and Death eating with him like a regular guy? Is he up to something sinister or does he just want to make Mort comfortable?

I think Death is just a regular guy, ultimately! I didn't see his behavior as fawning over Mort at all, just a kind of casual onboarding into a new job. Death seems to see potential in Mort, and also seems to want to set Mort up with his daughter.

3. Mort may be a bit gangly and lost in his own head at times, but he seems to have a lot of compassion. Upon realizing that he was talking to Death, he asked him to spare his Dad. Later he tries to intervene and warn the King that he was about to be killed and finally on that same trip he wanted to tell the King’s daughter not to trust the Duke. What did you think of all that? Are these normal reactions to someone who is the apprentice to Death? Do you think it will continue as Mort sees more and more of Death’s duty?

I think Mort's reactions are normal (whatever normal can be in such a strange situation). I also think he will try to change fate, but won't necessarily be successful.
Although this is a reread for me, I don't actually remember if I'm right.

4. What is up with the constant utterance of “Mort” every time someone calls our MC anything other than Mort or Mortimer after arriving at Death’s House and meeting Yasbell? Is there some significance to this or is it just rather annoying?! Lol!

He feels -- insofar as Mort is at this time capable of identifying his own feelings -- as if he's being disrespected when people can't be bothered to use his name. TBH, I would probably do the same thing if someone persisted in calling me "girl" after being told my name multiple times.

5. Mort, surprisingly, asked Death for an afternoon off. I think our dear Mort is growing up! He explains to Death that he wants to meet people for more than a few minutes. When he arrives in his own time and finds out where he is, he asks if he is near Sto Lat. He seems to have a plan when he says he wants a very fast horse. What do you think he intends? Will it work out like he plans?

Even if this weren't a reread for me, I would definitely guess that he wants to go meet that princess! And that the afternoon will absolutely not work out like he plans.

Completion Post

and

Details on spreadsheet

It's been a slow few days for reading, ugh! But I should be finishing a book today, and maybe another tomorrow (or Thurs), and somewhere in there I will also start the Mort BOM.
:D

Completion Post

Finished and
Details on spreadsheet. Both down for Bingo but can be moved if needed of course!

The Wee Free Men is such a great book. Definitely my favorite Discworld book so far (though I have a great many to go…)

Completion Post

details on spreadsheet

I kind of want to eat a hot dog now.

Hot dogs are definitely sausages, but Tina & Jessi may need to check whether the girl in the costume counts… 🌭🌭🌭

Have fun, Lisa!

Karen, it is still so weird to hear people say they are going North for beach time. Upside Down World! 🙃

Stacey wrote: "Debating on my next book to start. Do you think MPG of mythology or Race will be needed most (assuming my last one is used for the spell it out)."

Probably Race. If it's not filled (by you or someone else) in the next couple of weeks I have a "Mythology" print book I can read at the beach :D

Tina ❣ wrote: "Oh I'm jealous Alysa! A trip is fantastics let alone a beach trip! Where are you headed to?"

Just the New Jersey shore, so nothing too exotic for a New Yorker. But! It's a really nice part, and we're staying at a hotel we really liked when we stayed there once before. So I am SUPER excited!!!
Also the trip is the week right after I'm officially getting my promotion, finally! I just found out today that it's supposed to be effective 1 July! So, lots of good things happening for me!

I have a 9-day beach trip in early July, and I don't like reading e-books on the beach so I'm trying to plan ahead for some print books that I might not otherwise get to!
So far I've added my paperback copy of The Lost City of Z:, which works for a Listopia task (#239).
If someone else reads for that task in the meantime that's fine -- I imagine that "The Lost City of Z" could be fun to use for the Jackanory instead. :)

Stacey wrote: "
Finished. We initally said we would use it for Race; however, the long title works for 2 ..."

Wow good call, that works for N-O-W-O-R-R-I-E-S!
Good find, Stacey! I had a couple of close calls with that task, but no cigar. :)

Finished

Details on spreadsheet


Tina ❣ wrote: "In case anyone hasn't noticed, I've highlighted in pink the tasks that haven't been claimed or that have been claimed but the book hasn't been read yet"

Re claimed but not read yet, several of these are mine (including the remaining Discworld BOMs)! I am definitely reading them, including 3 already in progress. So at least Captains don’t need to worry about them not getting done. 🙂

Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "Finished

which someone recommended to me. Lisa?
It was a crazy read but I really enjoyed it.
Added to bingo for Cabbage as they use cabbage ..."

LOVE that series. It’s actually a long-running joke through all the books that the time-travel pods always smell of cabbage!

Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "Alysa wrote: "BTW it looks like July BOMs have been chosen. They both have long holds at my library. I'm putting in requests now and we'll see what happens. They both have audio on Scribd too, but...."

Apparently there is one ebook copy of Addie LaRue available at one of my libraries right NOW, but that is waaaay to soon and of course when I do need it there will probably be a line again. Dammit!

Tina ❣ wrote: "In regards to tasks, Bingo and jackonary, I dedicate my weekend to updating them all. Tasks and Bingo are still a priority at the moment to complete as much as possible. We can start working on Jac..."

I feel like the super hard tasks & bingo remaining are high priority but the easier ones can wait until we do some Jackonaries. We are still less than 1/2 way through TT and there are not that many tasks & bingo left (especially it you don’t count the ones that are claimed but reading is still in progress).
Otherwise we are going to end up spending the entire final month writing Jackonaries, and a lot of them will be repetitive because of BOMs, and the people who read less won’t have had much of a crack at easy tasks & bingo before those of us who read more have taken everything.
Plus the people who read more can rush in to cover any remaining easy tasks near the end if needed, whereas it may be harder to cover if we need more books to complete Jackonaries, depending on what the stories need.

ETA: if it helps, I volunteer to remove a couple of my claims on “easy” tasks such as YA MPG and rec-from-a-different-team. I will still read the same books but they could be more useful in Jackonaries, and those empty “easy” spots can be held open for July!

And maybe for people who have trouble matching their Read books to a task or bingo, from now on those books automatically go in Jackonary?

Completion Post


details on spreadsheet

Alysa wrote: "Ugh I am DNFing The Knife's Edge
Not even Tim Gerard Reynolds' narration can save this book. And it is especially annoying because I actually own ebooks of the next two installments..."

I think I will go with the high fantasy one, but it may go best for #47 Sword on Cover, which is currently taken by Christina T. but she hasn’t been around in a while. @Caps and @Christina, is it okay if I take over that task? Christina if you finish your book after all, we could use it for something else, no?

ETA: Nevermind! Somebody mentions "meat pies" in Chapter 2, so I can use it for Bingo D8 ! 😀

BTW it looks like July BOMs have been chosen. They both have long holds at my library. I'm putting in requests now and we'll see what happens. They both have audio on Scribd too, but... yeah, we’ll see what happens.


@Caps do my eyes deceive me or does the first Sticky Post say we have a new teammate???