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

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

Lexi wrote: "Also, everyone, we are doing well on pasta and watermelon. I would focus more on fish and chips and sandwiches for a bit. Also, a few coffees but not too many."

The book I am about to log and the book I am about to finish will help with all of that :)

Lexi wrote: "Still not sure I am following, books cannot be carried over into Round 3."

Yes, they can, unless I am misreading the rules...

I see where it says “Only books read during the specified round can be used”, so Books Read tab has to include books finished within the round, but it also says:
“Fresh meals (must be used within the month)”
“Frozen meals Can be used in the following month.”
I thought that was the point of them being Frozen — so meals created in one round could be served in the next.
But it’s entirely possible that this came up in Q & A before I joined the team and I am just missing something.

Lexi wrote: "If we read over 90, I will remove the 2 point books so we get more words. If we do not read over 90, then we will use them for fresh only. Is this what you are asking?"

Not exactly. I’m asking: If we read over 90, why would we remove the 2 point books at all when they cannot be carried over into Round 3, whereas the 160+ page books can?
Am I misunderstanding something?
I mean, I guess it depends on whether we think we can reach full complements of 160+ page books in both Round 2 and Round 3, but if we don’t manage to do that, then we’re prematurely throwing away our available <160 page books if we don’t use them in the current round, no?

Lexi wrote: "
I'd like to replace the 2 point books but we need 27 books in 8 days to reach 90 books."

Was just thinking... if we do read over 90 books before the round ends, we would use the 2 point books for Fresh meals, right? Because we can hold back longer ones to use in Round 3 for Frozen meals?

ETA: there’s also a good chance we will be allowed more than 90 books in Round 3.

Ranked choice voting!
:D

Thanks everybody!

@Lexi I hope you feel better soon.
(I hope we all do, but I guess about 50% of the country won't, regardless of what happens... And that's only the election! Not even getting into everything else that's wrong in the world... :/ )

I finished a book this morning (will update tonight at home) and I'll finish another tonight or tomorrow.

Yesterday was my birthday and my daughter's birthday (yes, we share!) so there's been stuff going on for that. And election stress is REAL.
But lucky for me I've still been able to get a good amount of reading in :D

Round #1
Adjective called: Dainty
Final noun pick: Starship

Spreadsheet updated :)

Round 1 Completion Post


Machine Metal Magic by Hanna Dare
Read: 11/2/2020
Pages: 204
How it fits: tagged Mystery (2 people)
Nouns chosen: machine (in title), space (tagged 5 times), galaxy (precis), technology (precis), starship (precis)

ETA:
Adjective called: Dainty
Final noun pick: Starship

Finished Machine Metal Magic
11/2
204 pages

Vegetables x2 : 11% (x2)
Runner beans : 12%
Green onions : 16%
Seafood : 60%
Cuttlefish x2 : 64% and 73%
Coffee x6 : 23% (x2), 58% (x3), and 92%

...and just for fun:
"protein flakes" x2 : 22% and 57%

Wow, I hope you didn’t fry your brain!
I did a double conference (online) back in June, but managed to plan my schedule so there would be minimal overlap. And your conference topics are undoubtedly more intense 🤯

Maddy wrote: "The Devil in the White City

watermelon - 49.6%, 74.5%
lemon - 78.3%, 78.5%
creme de celeri, olives, bass rayee, sauce hollandaise, pommes parisiennes, filet de boef aux champignions, harocots vert..."

@Maddy — what did you think of that book?

My current book is MM space opera sci fi, and people have twice eaten “Protein Flakes” in the ship’s canteen.
There’s plenty of regular food too, but I wonder if the Mods would like protein flakes in a curry, lol.

Jessi wrote: "The Fellowship of the Ring

bread - pg 16, 39, 41, 43, 63
yellow cream - pg 63
honeycomb - pg 63
butter - pg 63
milk - pg 63
cheese - pg 63
green herbs - pg 63
berries - pg 63
dried f..."

@Lexi — I think this one didn’t make it onto the spreadsheet yet.

@Jessi — are you going to read the rest of the series? I am not into Tolkien, but it does seem like a good Stuck Inside In Winter activity 🙂

Finished Unbroken Circle: Stories of Cultural Diversity in the South
10/31
192 pages

Watermelon x2 : 63% and 93%
Spaghetti x2 : 9% and 84%
Green beans x2 : 58% and 88%
Lemon x3 : 43% (x3)
Potatoes, onions, peppers : 9%
Bread, goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes, pinto beans : 10%

Probably more than enough listed since we only get 4 words from this one 🙂

ETA: could also use the U title to spell UBE if we want, and there are WAY more authors in this book that what is listed on GR, if we want to get them added in order to best use 3 of them. But the two “watermelons” are probably worth more than one spelling of UBE...

I think everybody is like “How is it so easy, there must be a trick!” 😉

Finished Flavor: The Science of Our Most Neglected Sense
10/30/2020
320 pages
verified audio: 10 hrs and 19 mins

Library ePub reader had weird pagination so I pulled page numbers from the HC on Amazon (same page count). Hopefully that is fine. I can provide quotes if needed.

Vinegar x 3 : pages 28, 169, 232
Watermelon x 8 : pages 154 (x2), 159, 168 (x4), 264
Garlic x2 : page 4 (x2)
Onion : page 4
Oregano : page 4
Black Pepper : page 4
Ginger : page 4
Coriander : page 4
Chili Peppers : page 4
Spaghetti: page 171

After a great September for NGs, I didn't do so well in October.
The first half of the month was good, but then some other stuff came up. And by other stuff, I mean other solo book challenges I've been trying to finish with older books, lol.

I only read four NGs, and DNF'd a fifth.
And I got 3 new ones.

On the bright side, I am caught up with writing reviews, except for 2 of the books I read in Oct -- whereas before reading them, I still had 2 reviews to write for books that I finished reading like several months ago. And I DID manage to go up 1% on my feedback ratio in any case.
So I am still counting it as a win. :D

I've had watermelon in green salad, but I don't like cold pasta salads so that explains why I've never encountered it.

Watermelon pasta!?!?
Sure, why not? :D