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

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

Finished God Save the Queen
11/11/2020
96 pages

Pumpkin, p.16
Rabbit, p.71

I think that was it. A seasonal autumn curry, perhaps?

Finished Apprentice
11/10/2020
390 pages

fish x2 : 49%, 52%
bread 56%
fresh bread 55%
salt x4 : 27%, 28% (x2), 29%
cloves x3 : 44%, 45%, 98%
cinnamon 98%
herbs 18%, 72%
peppermint 53%
salted meats 55%
venison 22%
pig's blood 76%
"buttered greens" 22%
vegetables x2 : 55%, 64%
"a handful of grapes" 7%
mango 10%
cherries 64%
water x4 : 53%, 54%, 56%, 76% (there's more water but I stopped tracking it)

Round 2 Completion Post


Apprentice by Rachel E. Carter
Read: 11/10/2020
Pages: 390
How it fits: tagged strong-female-lead (3 times), kick-ass-heroine (11 times), and other relevant tags
Nouns chosen:
mage (precis), combat (precis), romance (tagged 140 times), academy (precis & tagged 7 times), underdog (tagged 1 time)

Oh, and Spreadsheet Updated!

ETA:
Round #2
Adjective called: Revolutionary
Final noun pick: Romance

True that.

Lexi wrote: "I saw it and it makes no sense to me. Those aren't words for food. You could just randomly add them or what? "

Yeah, it’s weird. They are not ingredients so I don’t even know how they would be added, randomly or otherwise, anywhere except in the meal description. (And I am not sure I understand whether it is Round 2 or Round 3 in which we are supposedly getting “reviewed” — for points this time? — based in part on how good our meal descriptions are?)

Maybe they are a separate thing besides ingredients in terms of # of items that can be used per book? Like maybe, in a 350 page book for example, we would use 7 ingredients instead of 8 and then the 8th word would be if the book also has the word “chic” or “local” or whatever in the text/title?
Hopefully the Mods will clarify. I will try not to worry about it too much for now. 😕

Hey has everybody seen that “Google Reviews” thing for this round? Not sure I get when it takes effect.

It was posted on Saturday but I don’t know how much y’all have been online...

Generation Loss
11/7/2020
308 pages

coffee x8 : 3%, 7%, 8% (x2), 9%, 14%, 20%, 21%
tea 30%
pickled string beans 51%
home-baked bread 51%
corn on the cob 11%
lobster x5 : 11%, 13%, 17%, 19%, 71%
fish x8 : 14%, 52%, 57%, 66%, 71%, 75%, 77%, 79%
salt x5 : 14%, 22%, 24%, 76%, 83%
milk x2 : 35%, 36%
skim milk 39%
fried egg 21%
egg x2 : 82%, 90%
eggs x4 : 21%, 39%, 44% (x2)
egg yolk 42%
egg whites x2 : 88% (x2)
salt pork 14%
bacon 21%

OMG this book has so much coffee. The MC basically lives on coffee and booze.

Forgot to add SALT to my last completion post (#398).
Will go add there in case we still need it...

Finished The Cogsmith's Daughter
11/6/2020
302 pages

bread x8 : 19%, 22%, 64% (x2), 65% (3), 66%
wheat bread : 32%
meat x2 : 19%, 73%
egg/eggs x4 : 33% (x4)
bacon x2 : 33% (x2)
pork roast x3 : 65% (x2), 66%
goat milk x2 : 65% 74%
goat butter x2 : 64%, 65%
goat cheese : 40%
cheese x2 : 41%, 83%
yogurt x2 : 56%, 66%
strawberry jam x2 : 64%, 65%
tea x4 : 27%, 60%, 61%, 74%
fruit x3 : 40%, 56%, 83%
vegetables : 40%
garlic : 64%
rosemary : 64%
lemons x2 : 80%
lemongrass oil : 31%
peppermint oil : 32%
cacti meat : 32%

ETA:
salt x2 : 17%, 24%
(there are a bunch of mentions of "salt water" too if that can be parsed)

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 🤯