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

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

Jenny wrote: "Take two minutes to get some serious eye candy...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sg8T...

Sonia, if you happen to be here, you need to see this."

Haha, I just saw it an hour ago and thought immediately of team Hector :)

Insiyah wrote: "I don't have an editions addiction in general, but I could not resist buying the Slytherin edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I already have a boxed set of all seven books, but Sl..."

They are so pretty ! I would love to own the whole Slytherin edition as well. I'm using the excuse that my Harry Potter books are in 3 different languages and would like to own them all in English :D
I'm also eyeing the Mina Lima edition since a while now (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: MinaLima Edition (Harry Potter, Book 1))

Steven wrote: "Thank you!!! I’ll be finishing my Mercy ARC. Sooooooo good!"

Lucky you ! Really looking forward to Soul Taken. I hope we get to see a lot more of Wulfe, he's quite an interesting character.

Wishing you a nice flight in the company of Mercy and Adam, Steven :)

Checking in to give an update. I'm more than halfway through my first Ken Follett book The Evening and the Morning. It's 900+ pages but doesn't feel like it. I'm enjoying it quite a lot even with the despicable characters and the plethora of nitwits. Glad I picked it up for this challenge :) Hope to finish it by tomorrow. I still would like to squeeze in a last book before the month ends.

Re: The Night Circus. For me it was an agonizing reading experience. Pretentious writing and a slow plot going nowhere. Didn't try anything else by the author since then.

Amy the book-bat wrote: "Heading into town to run some errands today since I didn't make it there on Monday. Hoping to finish Travelling Cat while at the laundromat. Picked up a huge stack of books from the library yesterd..."

Oh boy, bureaucracy at its finest *chef's kiss*. Glad to see that it's universal...
I feel for you, Amy !

DQ May 19- How Noriko Learned to Love - End of Book

13. In this chapter we get to know Saturo's Aunt Noriko better. What adjectives would you use to describe Noriko's personality? How did you feel about the way Noriko revealed Saturo's birth story? Were you surprised to learn he was adopted?
She's just lawyer-ish. Working in a law firm I can confirm that most of them are like Noriko. Quite the insensitive workaholics. However I liked Noriko (probably because I don't have to work with her in real life haha).
No, not surpised, I understand more now why his family acted the way they did.

14. Did you think Nana running off towards the end and living his former life as a stray was fitting for the story. Was it believable that he would come back and forth visiting Saturo in the hospital?
Well according to the movie "The incredible journey" quite believable :) The cat was the smartest of the bunch. If it wasn't for the cat the dogs would never have made it.
On a serious note, it was done to pull at our heartstrings and it worked.

15. Endings...they must be the second hardest thing to write for authors after beginnings. Did you like the ending? You may consider the Epilogue also when answering the question, if you like.
Yes, I liked it, it came full circle and it's nice Noriko has a cat on her own now.

16. The author, Hiro Arikawa, has written other books, with very different genre. She has written books about Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF). (I have to admit I know nothing about that!).
Would you read another book written by her? And lastly, would you recommend this book to others? If so, would you only recommend it to people who you know are cat lovers or would you widely recommend it?
For me this was a story about grief and dying and not necessarily catered to cat lovers. Nana is our narrator but you can basically substitute her what any kind of pet.
As someone who lost a family member recently, this story hit home. I often wonder what I would do if I knew I had X amount of days to live. Quite the heartwarming story.

DQ: 18 May - Sugi and Chikako's Hotel for Pets & Between Friends

9) Considering Satoru seems to be quite perceptive overall, do you think he knew about Sugi’s less charitable feelings about him, both in the past and during this visit?
Yes, I got the feeling he did but he's just kind and tends to put himself in second place.

10) So far, the chapters have all been combining Satoru and Nana’s journey with Satoru’s past with several other people, as well as their backgrounds. How do you feel about this interlude (chapter 3.5) focused entirely on the man and his cat? What does it add to the story?
It adds that this book is doing its best to make me cry 😭
I loved their bonding time and that they were enjoying the little things in life.

11) For the first time, we got a hint of what’s going on with Satoru when the dog said “he smells like he isn’t going to make it” in chapter 3, and this came up again in chapter 3.5. So it sounds like Satoru is ill… was that your prediction for question 4?
Yes, I strongly suspected that when I finished reading the first chapter and was curious to know if other readers picked it up as well :)

12) Squabbles between cats and dogs were really present in these sections. So: Are you a cat person or a dog person or both (or neither)?
Both ! The fluffier, the better.
I mostly had cats and own currently two (a black cat called Tara and a Norwegian forest cat called Mowgli, he was found in the forest) and one new puppy (Khan, a Tervuurse (Belgian) shepherd). I like that cats are independent, overall low maintenance, and they are really funny (even if they are ganging up on me). But I also enjoy to play and walk with dogs and their goofiness.

Judy wrote: "My dad never wanted a cat in the house either but then she just kept showing up and suddenly she was living there and he was letting her sleep on his fancy desk chair, sitting crouched on a stool in front of it instead hahaha!"

Aaah, I see the cat trained your father well, in true cat fashion ;-)

DQ: 17 May - The Unsentimental Farmer

5) I really like reading the cat's thoughts. It can be quite funny. Do you think these are convincing cat thoughts?
Same, I really enjoy them. They are convincing enough to me. I'm pretty sure that's what my cats would say about me. A lot of conspiring going on if you have more than one cat I tell you.

6) In this chapter we are introduced to Yoshimine, another potential owner for our cat. What do you think of him and his backstory?
For some kind of reason I was more invested into his backstory than Kosuke's. It was quite compelling and his behaviour towards pets - in his eyes animals - is quite similar to my friends here living in the countryside. They see it from a practical point of view and not really for cuddling and stuff. For them animals belong outside and should cater for themselves. I'm more of a Satoru in that regard haha.

7) Do you think Yoshimine would have been a good owner for Nana ?
It depends if the cat is used to this kind of living or not however Nana is used to Satoru's way of pampering him. I mean I own house cats but I also have a couple of barn cats spending their nights in my barn. And I concur with Yoshimine that they are great at catching mice.

8) Yoshimine has already a kitten called Chatran, and Satoru makes fun of him for naming his cat with such a cliché name. What is for you the most cliché cat name(s)? In french it is quite common to call a cat Chaussette (meaning sock), Mistigri or Felix (actually a cat food brand).
Yes, Felix is quite popular. I heard Choupette quite often as well. In Dutch you would also hear a lot of Poesje, Poepoes, and other variation of 'cat'. The funniest names I've heard so far is from a friend who named her cats "Sponge" and "Bucket".

Almost half way through The Travelling Cat Chronicles and really liking it so far. I guessed something early on so bracing myself for impact. I might be wrong though.

Working from home the whole week (covid outbreak at the office) and on vacation next week so will have a bit more reading time.

DQs 16 May: Prologue - The Husband Without a Wife

1. How are you liking the way the story is written with its alternating POVs ? Is there a POV you prefer ?

2. Through the flashbacks we get to know Satoru's personality a bit more. What do you make of him so far ? What did you think about his way of helping his friend Kosuke?

3. Talking about Kosuke, what's up with his parents ? It seemed to me that Kosuke was genuinely convinced that his father would agree to keep the cat (Hachi). What did you think about his backstory ?

4. Why do you think Satoru can't take care of Nana anymore ?

Challenge officially started. Happy reading everyone !!

I'm off to bed now but will start with the BOM as my first read tomorrow and prepare the DQs.

Denise wrote: "Here's my free puppy advice:

I'm a public librarian. Puppies LOVE library books. My theory is that they can..."

Thank you, Denise ! I see I will have some explaining to do if I leave them unattended. Good to know. Top shelf for library books it is then ;) I presume he's probably going to chew my kindle casing as well.

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

Set on the Korean island of Jeju, The Island of Sea Women follows Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls from very different backgrounds, as they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective. Over many decades—through the Japanese colonialism of the 1930s and 1940s, World War II, the Korean War, and the era of cellphones and wet suits for the women divers—Mi-ja and Young-sook develop the closest of bonds. Nevertheless, their differences are impossible to ignore: Mi-ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator, forever marking her, and Young-sook was born into a long line of haenyeo and will inherit her mother’s position leading the divers. After hundreds of dives and years of friendship, forces outside their control will push their relationship to the breaking point.

This beautiful, thoughtful novel illuminates a unique and unforgettable culture, one where the women are in charge, engaging in dangerous physical work, and the men take care of the children. A classic Lisa See story—one of women’s friendships and the larger forces that shape them—The Island of Sea Women introduces readers to the fierce female divers of Jeju Island and the dramatic history that shaped their lives.

Mia !! That sounds awesome ! Watched the recap of the songs yesterday and loving some of them. I need to prepare some snacks as well but I'm still undecided if I want to go with salty or sweet :)

Amy the book-bat wrote: "I just noticed that I lose 2 days of a read-a-thon over at AMMP by waiting to read for TT. I need to find some children's books, manga/graphic novels, and short novellas to fill up those days. Over..."

Same here. Currently re-reading one of my favourite manga series when I was a teenager. I'm not starting any full length novels over the weekend either (will watch Eurovision tomorrow anyway and I think I'm having a throat infection and I'm so annoyed by it).

Won't be able to write DQs for the June BOM after all as it's around the same date I welcome my puppy and want to give him my undivided attention. However I will participate to all of them including the Backroom BOM :)

Sophie wrote: "You can only use it yourself, so in effect your name is put into the randomiser twice."

Thank you for the clarification, Sophie !

@Captains: I have a question regarding the additional BOM entry. I've accumulated 4 participation points (so 1 extra entry). Can I give it to one of my teammates if they volunteer or can I only use it for myself ?

Sophie wrote: "I got fancy in the last TT and set up a lot of formulas so the tabs autofill. Means a lot less copy and pasting for the captains when we move stuff about"

Love this ! I really enjoy checking out the formulas. Can you believe it, I learnt more about spreadsheets from GR than all the training I've got from corporate companies in real life.