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

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

Finished another book — it pays to be in a car for several hours and then be unable to sleep for several more hours after arriving at one’s destination, I suppose!

I started my next Tagged book. I still have some other (untagged) stuff planned on the spreadsheet, and depending on how fast I can get through, I will try to add at least one more Tagged book for the round. But it looks like we are still pretty short on Tagged books and most of them are mine already...

Xeno, York, and Zayn?! It’s like the book was written just for NBRC challenges, lol.

Keli wrote: "I think I read this in high school. But I can't remember. Think I will give it a second go after your review."

I was impressed by how Not Dated it was. It’s hard to believe it first came out in the late 1970s. There were some bits near the end that dragged a little for me, but not enough to bring down my rating :)

Finished #s 21 and 22.


The Blast was disappointing. It started out okay (aside from glaring plot omissions, and errors regarding the effects of, say, radiation sickness...) but ended up not being at all what I was expecting. In a bad way. Starts out as a decent if unoriginal post-apocalypse story about one girl's experience of surviving the end of the world, but turns into a kind of syrupy, rather patriarchal ode to weddings and babies. :/

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, on the other hand, was GREAT! I know, I know, everyone has read this before but me. No idea what took me so long. I didn't add it to my Goodreads TBR until relatively recently, when I somehow acquired a paperback copy, but I'd been wanting to read it since first hearing about it in high school in the 1990s. I have probably missed so many references to this book without even realizing.

Laura wrote: "I see the Adventure tag. I would say it fits the spaceship task."

I'll stick to MPG Adventure for now, and let you know before the end of Round 4 if I want to change it (like Titan's Curse).
There's another book I am thinking of reading soon that would also work for set on space ship... Lemme think about it some more.
Sorry I'm being annoying about task choices. ;D

Laura wrote: "Alysa wrote: "FYI, I finished The Titan’s Curse yesterday, and started H2G2, but I can’t update the spreadsheet until tonight or tomorrow, and I don’t think I put tasks in for either of those yet a..."

Thanks! I updated the task. I thought about using "set in US" but went with "#3 in series" -- hopefully I will not regret this choice, but I have over a week to let you know if I change my mind again. ;D

Also finished 2 more books today, including The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- task is MPG Adventure, if captains would like to verify just in case it drops off ;D
I was also wondering if I could use the "set on a space ship" task, but I don't know if it has to be set on ONE space ship? I mean, at least half of the book takes place on multiple space ships...

FYI, I finished The Titan’s Curse yesterday, and started H2G2, but I can’t update the spreadsheet until tonight or tomorrow, and I don’t think I put tasks in for either of those yet anyway. So, stay tuned :)

Also I think I will add another book for a Y... We seem to really need those!

Cat wrote: "It's after the end of the challenge, but we are into the last few hours for people to nominate the September BOMs!

Head over here to find the threads :)"

Thanks, Cat!
I should set a monthly alarm for these things...

A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H.G. Parry

A sweeping tale of revolution and wonder in a world not quite like our own, A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians is a genre-defying story of magic, war, and the struggle for freedom in the early modern world.

It is the Age of Enlightenment -- of new and magical political movements, from the necromancer Robespierre calling for revolution in France to the weather mage Toussaint L'Ouverture leading the slaves of Haiti in their fight for freedom, to the bold new Prime Minister William Pitt weighing the legalization of magic amongst commoners in Britain and abolition throughout its colonies overseas.

But amidst all of the upheaval of the early modern world, there is an unknown force inciting all of human civilization into violent conflict. And it will require the combined efforts of revolutionaries, magicians, and abolitionists to unmask this hidden enemy before the whole world falls to darkness and chaos.

Mayhem by Estelle Laure

A YA feminist mash up inspired by The Lost Boys and The Craft.

It's 1987 and unfortunately it's not all Madonna and cherry lip balm. Mayhem Brayburn has always known there was something off about her and her mother, Roxy. Maybe it has to do with Roxy's constant physical pain, or maybe with Mayhem's own irresistible pull to water. Either way, she knows they aren't like everyone else. But when May's stepfather finally goes too far, Roxy and Mayhem flee to Santa Maria, California, the coastal beach town that holds the answers to all of Mayhem's questions about who her mother is, her estranged family, and the mysteries of her own self. There she meets the kids who live with her aunt, and it opens the door to the magic that runs through the female lineage in her family, the very magic Mayhem is next in line to inherit and which will change her life for good. But when she gets wrapped up in the search for the man who has been kidnapping girls from the beach, her life takes another dangerous turn and she is forced to face the price of vigilante justice and to ask herself whether revenge is worth the cost.

From the acclaimed author of This Raging Light and But Then I Came Back, Estelle Laure offers a riveting and complex story with magical elements about a family of women contending with what appears to be an irreversible destiny, taking control and saying when enough is enough.

LaurLa wrote: "Alysa wrote: "Librarian request please!:

Can somebody add a new paperback edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, with the same 193 page count as the edition in the link abo..."

Yep, I know... which is why I said no ISBN either (just like the default Ed) because 9780345418913 is taken by a later printing.
I think Amazon just hasn’t updated the “look inside” feature to include the cover of the latest printing, is all.
Thanks LaurLa!

Librarian request please!:

Can somebody add a new paperback edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, with the same 193 page count as the edition in the link above, no ISBN either (because 9780345418913 is taken by a later printing), publisher Del Rey, year 2009, and the following cover as seen here:

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Book...

I want to use it for SPACE tag :)

Chava wrote: "Anyone interested in reading Forbidden with me?"

I am! But I won’t be able to get it for a couple more weeks...

Hi all! My internet is going to be a little spotty for next few days.
But! Finished The Graveyard Book and started two more things. :)

I haven’t been able to read much since Wed, but starting tomorrow I will have more reading time.
Not much left of The Graveyard Book, which is another re-read/read-aloud for my daughter and should be done by tomorrow evening. I am hoping to plow through a lot of books in the last 2 rounds of Wheel!

Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "Another one off the shelf.
I deleted it rather than reading it, but still a win because I actually was looking at getting it for Wheelathon and then found myself questioning why I would read it. lo..."

I actually really liked that one, though I might not if I were to read it now.

Laura wrote: "Updated official spreadsheet. :) "

Thanks!

Re Geri's blackwood book, in case she didn't see your comment -
I noticed that too, but Wikipedia says there are several types of blackwood, all different types of tree. Who knew!?

Done.
(It's currently all the way down in the partial spelling.)

@Captains
Can you please change the task for my book The Blast to #160 (featuring a wedding)?
Justification is: two couples have a double wedding

I had had it down for the more generic "set in the US" but I should probably save that one in case I need it later :)

I am changing it on the planning spreadsheet, but of course it needs to be changed on the main spreadsheet too.

Yeah, that is a good trick, the "only 1 person" thing :D