Audrey Jane’s Comments (group member since May 27, 2014)

Audrey Jane’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

I'm also reading The Witch's Heart and I'm enjoying for the moment. I will answer the questions this evening and update the ss when I'm behind my laptop.

I had a team building event yesterday. We went to the seaside and got on a speedboat (think zodiac) which was awesome :) The weather was really warm though and there was no AC on the packed train :\
I will be glad when this Spanish heatwave is over. It's 37°C here and at my sister's place 41°C ! And that's pretty unusual for France and for the month of June. ACs and fans are something I associate with the US or Asia, in europe it's slowly starting to come up but in many places and homes you don't have ACs or fans. I've just put blankets on the windows and closed all the shutters haha

Wishing you all a lovely weekend ! (I will be waiting inside for the storm to hit and the temperature to drop ;))

I've read the Hidden Legacy series and I concur it's a great series!
I'm impatiently waiting to get my hands on the last book, Ruby Fever. It will be released just after this challenge ends I think.

Kerri, you're right, after I posted I realized there wasn't any 650-800 pages bracket task :)
Fire & Heist seems like a great option already! Knocking out a monster with only two books would be amazing as well. I will look what I have once I'm behind my laptop and will try to fill in where needed :)
I just came back from my first day at the dogschool and had so much fun :D

Such a creative mini challenge !! loving it. Makes me think a bit of the individual Novel RPG challenge :)

Kerri, I saw that some other monsters fit those pages if I'm not mistaken :) but no worries, we can still use your books for the other tasks (except for task 1) in order to defeat the monsters. Your book doesn't necessarily need to fit all 5 tasks (it just gives us a new monster and more points if it does ;)).

@Alison: Yes, I did enjoy the Charley Davidson series. Looking forward to it now :)

@Mia: I see! I remember it took me a while to finish it. I actually own a paperback of Kafka on the Shore, I'm keeping it for when I'm in the mood for it.

The progress being done with the maze is phenomenal ! Can't keep up

Haruki Murakami is quite an acquired taste imo. I've only read After Dark by him and could only digest it because it was short.

I've finished my trash and will read A Good Day for Chardonnay next. I picked it up because I need to read a book with a drink on the cover for another challenge I'm participating in with Kerri. I don't know what to expect of the book. It's been a while since I've read Darynda Jones. Hoping for the best !

Devann wrote: "people are routinely tagging things set in the 80s and 90s as historical fiction now and i'm just like NO! lol"

Haha, indeed! I refuse to acknowledge it. I'm not ready to be part of the historical fiction category just yet haha

@Mia: Makes sense. It seems the time limit is roughly a generation. I guess I will have to live with that...

Fyi - the July BOMs have been revealed, they are :

and

Those weren't the ones I voted for but might join Ariadne.

On a sidenote; I'm puzzled why Malibu Rising is shelved as "historical fiction" on the main page genre when it supposedly takes place in the 80's...

Checking in! I've finished the first BOM which was ok, I'm planning to read the next BOM as well but wanted to squeeze a couple of other books before that but didn't really know what I was in the mood for so in the end I went with something trashy. I'm 1/4 in and already know it's not going to be a favourite but for some kind of reason I can't stop reading!

Participation confirmation:

Day 1 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Day 2 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Day 4 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

DQs Day 4 - Chapters 30-38

15. In this section, we see Beth really open up in the interview and describe two different Christmas flashbacks. The first, when Beth was 14, Lily was bruised and had been clearly abused by her foster family. We also (at least according to Beth) see the beginnings of Lily as a serial killer. Do you feel any sympathy for Lily? Do you agree with Beth that Beth could have stopped her?
No child should go through what Lily experienced, it's clear she had an unhappy childhood. No, not necessarily sympathy, especially knowing what she did later. One thing doesn't excuse another but it does explain things.
I don't think it's Beth's responsibility. She was still young herself, younger than Lily. It's the parents that should have done something.

16. What did you think of the interview with the lawyer Ransom Wells? Why do you think he and Beth never told the police about Lily, even after the murders?
Mmm, can't think of a reason, except maybe that they were afraid of Lily but that doesn't make much sense either.

17. Beth gets a wonderful shopping trip with her mom that immediately gets ruined when they return home and Lily is there. Lily is clearly the favorite. Why do you think that is?
No idea, I'm still puzzled why. Don't think it has been explained so far; Beth seems like a well behaved & nice child so don't see why Lily is put on a pedestal.

18. Can Shea trust Michael? He seems almost too good to be true.
He does seems that. I've finished the book so won't elaborate.

DQs Day 2: Chap 12-19

5. Shea is trying to explain the taps being turned on and the cupboards being opened by themselves through telekinesis. If you had experienced what she did, do you think you would have tried to explain things logically or do you think you would have believed it was ghosts and left it at that?
I'm with Cat on this one. Typical for old houses. Since I started living in an old french farmhouse (from 1776) I can attest to that. However everything can be rationally explained: Every time the temperature changes the whole house cracks and groans. Doors don't close properly (underground shifted over the centuries), the water from the shower spontaneosuly leaks in the middle of the night (air in the pipes), and during heavy storms the windows of my library tend to crash open and every shutter creaks and bangs (wind & old wooden latches). And through all that I sleep like a baby haha.

6. After getting a cat, Shea calls on Michael to ask for advice on how to care for it, through the conversation she thinks about wanting to meet him. Do you think they will end up together or perhaps just remain as friends? Could Michael be interested as well?
I think they will end up together. Like others mentioned initially I wasn't convinced if he had good intentions however I think there's enough horrible things going on that he might be the 'bright spot' in this story/Shea's life.

7. Mr. Greer’s former secretary tells Shea Mrs. Greer wasn’t competent and that she was "sent away somewhere when she was eighteen". Do you think she was crazy or do you have any other theories?
I've read further so won't answer but at that point I thought she was mentally ill and put in a lunatic asylum.

8. While listening to the recording of Beth’s interview Shea hears a voice in the background whispering “I am still here” and poor Winston gets spooked. Did you find this scary? Do you think cats/animals have a feel for the supernatural? If it were you, would you come back to the house after hearing that?
Yes, I thought it was well done. Gave me the chills.
Yes, agree, with the previous comments, animals are more sensitive to these things, I trust their instincts.

9. Finally, in order to get in the mood for more scary stuff. Have you or someone you know have any scary/ghostly experiences you might like to share?
Personally no but I've had family members who say they have.

DQs Day 1: Chap 1-11

1. Have you read the The Sun Down Motel by this author? If so, does it change your expectation for this book? Either way, what are your expectations for this book?
This is my 3rd book by this author however didn't read The Sun Down Motel (I read The Broken Girls and Lost Among the Living). So far I'm liking this book more than the other two I've read.

2. The MC writes about cold cases and is in her late 20s and divorced. I have read quite a few horror/thriller/mystery books recently where the MC is a recently divorced, usually a bit older, woman. Have you experienced this as well? Why do you think authors might make this choice? Why do you think the choice was made for this book?
Agree with the previous comments. Haven't experienced the divorced bit but most of the time the MC is definitely a more mature woman with a complicated/troubled past. It makes the storyline more interesting in my opinion.

3. This section includes the start of the interview. Did it go the way you expected? Any one comment really stick out to you?
I found the reason why Beth accepted the interview a bit weak but otherwise no, not really, didn't expect "ghosts" to appear though. That passage gave me the chills.

4. What do you think about the ghostly occurrences in this section? How do they add to the story (or maybe detract)?
I wasn't thinking of ghosts when reading, I thought it was a combination of mental illness/unrealiable narrator. It seems most here are convinced that those were ghostly occurrences so will assume that when reading along.

Awesome Andrea, I saw you were selected to write DQs for The Book of Cold Cases ! Our team got really lucky this time with the odds. I will join you in the discussion. I've started the book today and I'm hooked already. Loving the mysterious vibe so far.

Just finished Small Favors which was not really enjoyable. I liked the overall mood but it dragged a lot and had a confusing/boring set of characters. It supposed to be a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin but couldn't tell.

I read House of Salt and Sorrows (a retelling of 'The Twelve Dancing Princesses') by the same author and enjoyed that one more.

For anyone interested, the July BOM polls are available. So many good options this time!

Themed BOM: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

Adult BOM: https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

I will be able to finish my last book for May, Small Favors, tomorrow. It works for a bunch of letters. I will update the ss when I have access to my laptop later.

Go for it, Sammy! I enjoyed it, hope you do too.
I wonder at the amount of Ken Follett that's being read for TT :D

Finished The Evening and the Morning (prequel of Kingsbridge series) a couple of days ago. I concur with Judy, that it seems to be a recurrent thing in Ken Follett's books. And in case of the The Evening and the Morning, not only instalove but a mismatched couple.

I was planning to start The Pillars of the Earth immediately afterwards, my mother owns all the hardcovers however turns out she lent The Pillars of the Earth to a colleague years ago but never got it back and she can't remember which colleague either...I will have to hunt for a secondhand copy first.