Trinia’s Comments (group member since Mar 29, 2015)

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

Book: Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus
Date Read: 11/17/19
Pages: 336
Sin: Envy
Criteria: YA Genre
BOM: Link to 1st post

DQ Day 2: Chapters 6-11

6. It's taken me a bit to understand what's happening in town currently and in the past. Has anyone else struggled or have you caught on well? Do you think the author has set the scene well, or are there improvements/other ways you think would work better?
I'm listening and have just been pushing through, it is a bit intertwined but I am feeling like it will come together soon. I think the author has set the scene well, it might take a bit of hindsight to see it but I think she has.


7. We meet Declan Kelly in this chapter, Malcolm's brother. What are your impressions on him? Do you think he murdered Lacey? Or has anything to do with Sarah's (Sadie's twin) disappearance? The hit and run of Mr Bowman or the threats around town? If not, who do you think is responsible for all of them, or any of them? Do you have any theories so far on the connections of the occurrences? I feel like there's so many suspects and Sadie is definitely hiding something.
I don't really like Declan, he seems like the typical bully jock. BUT I don't think he was capable of murdering Lacey. I think he is too young to have anything to do with Sarah, so we might need to look at older suspects I think it's a good problem with too many suspects, when the answer is too obvious it's not quite as interesting.

8. The Homecoming Court announcements: Did it surprise you that Ellery was nominated for Queen? Why do you think she was 'chosen' as a potential Queen? It's kind of ominous to the Homecoming, isn't it? I feel like Homecoming is where things will go crazy. What do you guys predict will happen?
I think it was silly that Ellery was nominated, no one would do that , even in a small town school. Especially if the nominations are related to the murderer. It seems like there are some holes developing in this story, I'm keeping the faith that it will make sense in the end.


9. As an Australian, I don't understand the craze around Homecoming. We have Formals which is similar to Homecoming but no one is chosen as a Queen or King. Did you go to a Homecoming in High School, or something similar? What was it like? I went without a boy (too cool for boys back then) and went with one of my girl friends. We had a blast! My aunty actually helped me design my dress and made it for me. It was actually my first introduction on how to dress feminine and like it!
LOL, it is even different within in the US. My high school had a King and Queen in NY. My kids are in Texas and this year was the first year for a King. Some schools have dances, some don't . We had a goofy parade around town that we rode on trailers behind cars. The dresses weren't such a big deal back then (in the 80's) but now it seems like local Texas girls spend hundreds on their dresses. Insanity, I'm really happy I have 3 boys ;).


10. It seems like Daisy has been through a lot... Her breakdown in the car and shutting herself in her room. What do you think is going on with her? Do you think she's finally dealing with Lacey's death or do you think something else is going on with her?
I've read ahead so I won't spoil anything here, but I think at the time I just racked it up to teenage hormones. And a moody older sister. But I'm guessing there's more to it than it seems.

Vicki- I had some issues the past 2 days too. Poor GR, we are just blowing it up 🤣

Yes MARY! It gave the team 215 points. Purple- Contemporary and a Shiny dome on the cover . Earlier someone mentioned another Stephen King Bingo, I may have to go back and look. It’s hard to find a long book Bingo 😅

Sorry to hear that Sharon... which app are you using ?

Thanks Carmen, you’re welcome to move any of mine. Except that sin bingo one 😏 Under the Dome, it’s probably worth more as a SB than for the Bingo card.

DQs Day 1
Chapters 1 to 5

1.) Why are you participating in this BOM? Just for extra Tower Teams points? Because you were interested in/going to read this book anyway? Have you read other words by this author?
I've been participating for the extra points, but this book would have been on my list anyhow. I've read One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus and enjoyed it, so it would have been inevitable to read this one.

2.) I'm loving Ellery's true crime obsession. Pre-child I used to have the Discovery ID channel (true crime, all the time) on a lot as background. Though I'm thinking this is foreshadowing of not good things to come. What do you think? Have you read any of the crime books mentioned so far?
Well, as a child we had only 4 channels ;D lol, but I enjoyed watching any specials on unsolved murders. When my kids were babies I would watch those crime shows all day, and then they got older and we switched to nikelodeon. I haven't read any of the books mentioned, but I will be adding them to my list!

3.) Characters, first impressions. What do you think of Ellery & Ezra? Sophie, and the fact they refer to her by her first name and not 'Mom'? Malcom & Katrin? Familial relations seems to be a central theme to this book and specifically sibling relationships. There's been several twin references and references to other sibling relationships (Declan, Daisy, Lacey's siblings, etc). Do you think these types of ties will play into the main story line?
So far, I like the twins Ellery & Ezra, they are survivors with a "damaged" mom. I hate when I hear teens calling their mom by the first name, even when the parent behaves like a child. They deserve more respect than that. I'm seeing those references too, but I think it's too early to see where they are going.

4.) This book is set in a small town and that type of atmosphere has been highlighted strongly during the set-up of the story. However, it isn't really the bucolic small town setting being highlighted by the author, but the everyone is in everyone else's business and will judge the crap out of your entire family if given the chance. What do you think of small towns? Would you like to live in one (or do you already)?
10 years ago we moved to a small town. With my husband being the only doctor in town, we were known quite soon and watched, always. So I get how quickly the news travels in this book. We enjoy our small town, and I think because we don't have "history" here, it makes it easy to get along with everyone. ;)

5.) I loved the epitaph of Mr. Bowman's tombstone.
"Tell me and I forget
Teach me and I may remember
Involve me and I learn"
What did you think about it? Do you agree with the statement? And why do you think there has been such a focus on a seemingly sad, but random hit and run?
love it, very true for me for sure. I am a hands on learner, and if learning was fun then I definitely didn't forget. I think Mr. Bowman was well liked and his untimely death struck a chord among everyone. As we get older people expect to die, but when a healthy and well liked person dies unexpectedly, it can shake your soul.

Thanks P! 😊

Just finished my 3rd book and updated part of the spreadsheet, I've left open some tasks because I wasn't sure where we wanted to place them. Mini vs Sin

I am so excited to see my long books paid off... 215 page points y'all ! for Under the Dome, and it was a good book to listen to. win win!

I'm going to try for some long ones again next week , in addition to the next BOM , Two Can Keep a Secret. I didn't get to write any questions as the lottery didn't pick me... but I'm hoping for the next one.

Also, Captains... I didn't get full credit for 3 BOM books so far, my points should be 60, rather than 40. Any ideas why it's not crediting those 20?

Book: Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky
Date Read : 11/15
Pages: 720
Sin: Envy
Criteria: Tagged YA on MPG 7 times



Book: The Hive by Barry Lyga
Pages: 420
Date Read: 11/15
Sin: Avarice
Criteria: Cover is Yellow

Well at least you had it correct 😉 would have been bad if you posted wrong info🤣 I’ve done that 😐

Thanks Cat.
Well back to my audiobook 😉

The end date is December 16th.

I haven’t looked into it to be honest but with the free space that sounds like it’s worth it. Sorry I just kind of dropped it mentally because all the other minis have been “minimal”😏 I’ll try to dig a little and leave a message.
I’ve been trudging through my long books over 70 hrs of listening and when I’m not listening I’m trying to get through my ebook. I’m glad I only signed up for 3 books a week 😳

Oh my Carmen! I’m sorry to hear you’ve had such a bad time lately. Thankfully you weren’t hurt ! Hopefully it will be smooth sailing from here on out for you😊

I volunteer for DQ's for team Jealousy

Book: Under the Dome by Stephen King
Date Read: 11/13/19
Pages : 1074
Sin: Vanity - SIN BINGO!
Criteria:
~Cover is Purple
~Genre is Contemporary
~Cover has a very shiny dome on it.

Great job !!!

it's definitely green. yep ;)

Those are all great points and questions ... I agree that it doesn’t make sense adding points up versus penalties. It’s all making it so complicated and not fun.
I’m sorry I’ve been mia I’ve been trying to get through my 36 hr audiobook.
So far it doesn’t seem like there’s an advantage to doing any of the minis, but I may be missing something.
Also, there hasn’t been any chit chat about the points vs penalties in the captains threads. Are we just smarter ? 😉 lol

Thanks All 😊 I’ll go with Blue 💙

I’m up 1 book for this week, read 4 books. And I’ve started a 34 hour audiobook , so I am done for the week . I’m hoping to get 2 long reads in for next week. Under the Dome and Imaginary Friend , and the. I’ll probably squeeze in a short 3 rd book. Hoping that will help with our points.