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

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

Me too!!

(Except everyone else might worry that my tendency toward rigid rule-following will slow the team down.
Wait... does that mean I am, in fact, a spelled broomstick? Or am I just Hermione?)

Jenny wrote: "Chava wrote: "Could we play a group monopoly game with book?"

Platform 9 3/4and Diagon Alley instead of Reading Railroad and Park Place?

It would be fun choosing the properties."

I think my daughter's friend has a Harry Potter edition of Monopoly... Must investigate...
*is still sad about missing the HP edition of Tower*

g. wrote: "I'm a bit late to the party, but I plan on buying the book on kindle and starting it in the next day or so. I'll attempt to get all caught up as soon as possible :)"

No worries, Day 3 DQs won't go up until Fri or Sat.
(I was aiming for Fri, but I can wait until Sat if it more people want to catch up!)

Sammy wrote: "Often people will refuse to even try to understand you, even if you're speaking their language with only a mild accent. With those people (mostly deliberately obtuse) it's not usually worth trying to engage, as they won't budge."

Oh yeah, I had forgotten about my encounters with this type! So obnoxious. You are so right.
I must have forgotten them on purpose.

I'll see your thud and raise you one plop.

Midu wrote: "Alysa wrote: "DQs Day 2: Chapters 6 - 10

6. Language. We use it to distance ourselves from others and to come closer. Daphne doesn't speak Mau's language and yet she bridges a huge gap with a nurs..."

Your questions were awesome (and Cat's too). Mine will probably be really boring and basic by comparison!

What do y'all think:
Does purple mist count as a purple object? :D



I know from previous books in the series that this is actually purple mist that people inhale as a drug; it's not just random background image color...

#11 done!



One of the oldest books on my TBR. It took me like 2 months to read because I broke it up into 1- and 2-story chunks.
An uneven collection, but definitely worth the read if you like superhero/supervillain stories.

DQs Day 2: Chapters 6 - 10

6. Language. We use it to distance ourselves from others and to come closer. Daphne doesn't speak Mau's language and yet she bridges a huge gap with a nursery rhyme. There are other instances too where not knowing each other's languages doesn't hamper the characters from understanding the other's POV. How much of it did you find to be incredulous? Or do you think people can reach understanding as quickly in real life?

In my own experience, language barriers tend to initially prevent people from detecting the nuances of someone else's personality, but it's absolutely possible to reach understanding quite quickly in a more general way, or even in very specific interactions if both parties are trying hard and paying close attention. I think that's the case here, to some extent, but perhaps the book's just a hair too optimistic about it.


7. We might hate them or be in awe of them but superpowers do lead by example. Our world might have fared better during the ongoing pandemic if the developed countries had done a better job of handling the situation. The Nation was such a beacon for the other islands in the book. Do you think that's why the survivors came to it? How realistic is that way of thinking?

Indeed, I think the various survivors came to The Nation thinking it had always been there and always would be, and was Too Big To Fail, so to speak. More fool them, as there is just no such place. Even when worlds don't end, ways of life do. Bangs and whimpers and all that.


8. Dealing with the aftermath of a catastrophe AND the crumbling of the foundations of their religion must have been hard on the islanders (Look at Ataba). What do you think the discovery of the new not-so holy stones means? Also, do you think it is easier for Mau to doubt his gods because he's younger?

Well, I don't know what specifically the newly-discovered stones mean, in terms of their possible origins, but I do know (as I already suspected) that their existence means The Nation's religious practices are hollow. Religion is built on humans' desire for absolutes and for guidance, and an inability to accept for an answer that there is no greater conscious being with all the answers, and an inability to process as possible that one's own consciousness simply ends when one dies. Most people need to believe that there is something more, or else they just can't cope with life. I'm not sure Mau's age has all that much to do with his doubts, though perhaps it is so, if one takes for granted that older people become more set in their beliefs, or at least in their need to hold on tightly to those beliefs.
There's a line in the book that was something like "'It's God's will" is the grown-up equivalent of 'Because.'" I thought that was pretty spot on. It reminded me, too, of how people always say "Everything happens for a reason" when something bad has happened, never something good. People need a reason, else they despair. I have become more and more hardline atheist over the years, and even I sometimes envy religious people for the peace that their beliefs can give them, false as it is. But Mau puts it bluntly: people usually want to believe lies. Even Ataba comes close to conceding this point.


9. Chapters 9 and 10 are full of quotable lines that are just...wow! One favorite of mine is what Ataba says to Daphne, “There are different ways to eat people, girl, and you are clever, oh yes, clever enough to know it." Do you have any favorite lines? Please share!

LOL, I knew I would regret not writing down any of the great lines! *just went back to check*...
"However much of a Daphne you yearn to be, there is always your Ermintrude looking over your shoulder."
"It was like being in a Jane Austen novel, but one with far less clothing."
"I don't think [Ataba] believes in his gods, but he believes in belief."
"Reality so often fails when it comes to small, satisfying details."
Also... PELVIC ORACLE, lmao.

10. Why do you think Ataba behaved the way he did at the end of chapter ten?

Ataba saw what he wanted to see in that cave, and his newfound certainty (plus maybe all that bad air) drove him mad with religious fervor.

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker is the story of two sisters, who happen to be princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, the lesser god who doesn't like his job, and the immortal who's still trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago.

Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren's capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as breath that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people.

By using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be accomplished. It will take considerable quantities of each to resolve all the challenges facing Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris; Susebron the God King; Lightsong, reluctant god of bravery, and mysterious Vasher, the Warbreaker.

The Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron

When Katharine Tulman's inheritance is called into question by the rumor that her eccentric uncle is squandering away the family fortune, she is sent to his estate to have him committed to an asylum. But instead of a lunatic, Katharine discovers a genius inventor with his own set of rules, who employs a village of nine hundred people rescued from the workhouses of London.

Katharine is now torn between protecting her own inheritance and preserving the peculiar community she grows to care for deeply. And her choices are made even more complicated by a handsome apprentice, a secretive student, and fears for her own sanity.

As the mysteries of the estate begin to unravel, it is clear that not only is her uncle's world at stake, but also the state of England as Katharine knows it. With twists and turns at every corner, this heart-racing adventure will captivate readers with its intrigue, thrills, and romance.

As much as I love Good Omens, I wish I hadn't come to it as an American goth teenage Neil Gaiman fan in the mid 1990s.
If I'd discovered it completely divorced from that, I'd have probably started reading Discworld books back then too, instead of waiting until well into my adulthood.

Finished #10 a bit ago, forgot to comment:

Memory and Dream by Charles de Lint.

One of de Lint's "Newford" books. Liked but didn't love. It's definitely dated, though that seems typical of de Lint's books IMO. They just don't age all that well.


I should be finishing at least 3 more of my Old TBR books within the next week or so (one of the books happens to be a BOM)! It's nice to finally be catching up :)

JC wrote: "Finished #13. Added in 2013: Lirael by Garth Nix 5 stars

Another great read, book 2 in the series. I'm so glad I decided to read these books that have been on my physica..."

This series is great! But yes, certainly quite dark for K-6, and too advanced for most kids under Middle School, at least.

Cat wrote: "I have read this before - years & years ago, but the only details that stuck with me were the pig milking and the big wave."

This is the second YA book I've recently encountered wherein someone has to milk an unlikely animal.
In Fablehaven, a pair of siblings has to milk a giant cow by jumping, full-body, onto its udders and sliding down. It is also... memorable.

DQs Day 1: Chapters 1 - 5

1. Ahhh... Terry Pratchett. Best known for his Discworld, but this standalone is a departure, into YA historical fiction. Are you enjoying the differences (if you are a Discworld fan)? Enjoying the Pratchett experience (if you are a Pratchett novice)?

I love the Pratchett experience! I haven't read as many of the Discworld novels as I'd have liked by now, and agree with many others that the earliest ones are not the best, but one of my favorite Pratchett novels so far is actually Dodger anyway, which is also not a Discworld novel but another YA historical fiction. I plan to read more Discworld soon though!

2. The first chapter is action-packed with the Captain sailing his boat into the trees, and Mau's return home. Did you enjoy the set-up and immediate disasters, or would you have preferred more scene-setting?

I think the brief set-up and immediate disasters worked very well here. More scene-setting would have become a little too sentimental, I fear, so it's good that we learn a lot through memories later instead.

3. I found the second chapter to be wrenching, with the description of Mau in shock and separating himself from his emotions in order to send his family to sea and rebirth. These are not easy emotions to write about for any age, let alone for young adult. Do you think Pratchett got it right? Do you believe in Mau's character and world?

Totally right! I love that Pratchett's YA doesn't talk down to younger readers. It talks up, challenging them and taking them seriously!

4. Speaking of Mau - I love how much his character has developed even in this first third, with the classic Pratchett approach of just questioning everything! How do you think he will adapt now there are more people on Nation, and with someone who can communicate with the Ghost Girl?

I think Mau will question more and more, and decide that he is a "man" or better yet that the designation is meaningless, and probably that community is important but religion is meaningless. Re communicating the the Ghost Girl... It think that both hilarity and intercultural tragedy may ensure.

5. And what about Daphne? She's already started to remake herself with her new name (I'd've shucked Ermintrude too!), but how much further will she change? Should we worry that she'll try to become White Saviour?!

I don't think Pratchett would allow White Savior behaviors to go unchecked! I think the book has been digging at that trope from the start, and will continue to do so, through Daphne and through others as they come.

This is great so far! Looking forward to DQs :)

I can write some DQs. Preference for final day but it's not a big deal.

Keely wrote: "I finished two books over the last couple of days from my list. Book 37 was Remember, Remember which was a newer book added to my list but it was a good little history book that I c..."

What did you think of The Color Purple? I haven't read it since the mid 1990s but it was a favorite of mine at the time.

JC wrote: "Finished book 9: Added in 2010 The Good Samaritan Strikes Again by Patrick F. McManus Finished 5/2/20 ~ 4 stars

My husband had a signed copy of this book on our shelf,..."

Hah, we are both at #9 and you posted while I was typing. Yay for us! :)