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

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

I knew it !! I've been logging on GR frequently lately just for this :D You were scheming behind the curtains; I could hear the gears working in the distant.
Whatever it is, I'm looking forward to it. I was getting restless!

Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "Yes Audrey Jane - we have decided to change things a bit (at least for the first part of 2018) and see how it works. So focusing more on challenges and reducing our BOMs

We will rotate each month ..."

Ok, makes sense. I'm looking forward to this new way of working. Thank you Karen!

@ Moderators: If I understood correctly, starting from 2018 we are going to have two BOMs instead of three, right? The 'Young-adult sub-genre' one and the 'Adult Anything Goes' one.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

A love story, an adventure, and an epic of the frontier, Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize— winning classic, Lonesome Dove, the third book in the Lonesome Dove tetralogy, is the grandest novel ever written about the last defiant wilderness of America. Journey to the dusty little Texas town of Lonesome Dove and meet an unforgettable assortment of heroes and outlaws, whores and ladies, Indians and settlers. Richly authentic, beautifully written, always dramatic, Lonesome Dove is a book to make us laugh, weep, dream, and remember.

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the ageing Doctor Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There the lives of two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil roads of London, they are drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror, and they soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine.

This edition uses the text as it appeared in its serial publication in 1859 to convey the full scope of Dickens's vision, and includes the original illustrations by H. K. Browne ('Phiz'). Richard Maxwell's introduction discusses the intricate interweaving of epic drama with personal tragedy.

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

Anderson Lake is a company man, AgriGen's Calorie Man in Thailand. Under cover as a factory manager, Anderson combs Bangkok's street markets in search of foodstuffs thought to be extinct, hoping to reap the bounty of history's lost calories. There, he encounters Emiko...

Emiko is the Windup Girl, a strange and beautiful creature. One of the New People, Emiko is not human; instead, she is an engineered being, creche-grown and programmed to satisfy the decadent whims of a Kyoto businessman, but now abandoned to the streets of Bangkok. Regarded as soulless beings by some, devils by others, New People are slaves, soldiers, and toys of the rich in a chilling near future in which calorie companies rule the world, the oil age has passed, and the side effects of bio-engineered plagues run rampant across the globe.

What Happens when calories become currency? What happens when bio-terrorism becomes a tool for corporate profits, when said bio-terrorism's genetic drift forces mankind to the cusp of post-human evolution? Award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi delivers one of the most highly acclaimed science fiction novels of the twenty-first century.

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Thank you team for playing and staying together until the end. We did well :) (results will be posted on the 5th of August if you are interested) See you in the next team challenge!
Thanks Beth for making it work ;-)

by Seanan McGuire
Date: 29/07/2017
Pages: 371
Rating: ★★★ (quite slow in the beginning and a lot of infodumping, not yet sure if I'm going to continue this series)

Hi team!
In case you haven't seen it yet - here's the countdown posted by the Mods:

Challenge ends tomorrow - COUNTDOWN

Main cities, FYI:

London, United Kingdom Sat, 29 Jul 2017 at 11:59 PM, BST
Sydney, Australia Sun, 30 Jul 2017 at 08:59 AM, AEST
Tokyo, Japan Sun, 30 Jul 2017 at 07:59 AM, JST
New York, USA Sat, 29 Jul 2017 at 06:59 PM, EDT
San Francisco, USA Sat, 29 Jul 2017 at 03:59 PM, PDT
New Delhi, India Sun, 30 Jul 2017 at 04:29 AM, IST
Singapore, Singapore Sun, 30 Jul 2017 at 06:59 AM, SGT

We're giving the captains/members a few days to update spreadsheets. Results will be posted on Saturday August 5th.

We had an extended weekend over here thanks to our national holiday. I wasn't able to read a lot the last couple of days, we were out of country visiting our southern neighbour, France (Normandy). I had my kindle with me but didn't even open it once, I was too busy having a good time.

It's going incredibly fast, we are almost at the end of TTV! I'm hoping to finish my current book Discount Armageddon today.

Hi team, I hope everyone is doing well.
@Avid reader: I'm glad you are staying with us until the end :) Hope you're feeling better very soon!

BOM :
Wrote DQ's: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
And commented/participated: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

✿ Claire ✿ ~ Angel wrote: "I have a question for you guys, because I really want to know your opinions.
See, this book was sold to me as a kind of retelling of Mulan set in Japan. I'm halfway through and I barely see any res..."

No, not all. It rather made me think of other anime/Japanese movies I've watched before. I agree with Judith. Imagine if the same story would have been set in Europe, they wouldn't think of Mulan at all.

Comments and Questions
22 July: The Beginning - Fall Forward to Keep Moving

1. Have you read any other books by Renee Ahdieh? If so, is there one you would recommend?
No, this is the first book I read by this author.

2. This whole section seems to be the synopsis in one! What do you think of Mariko's character? Do you agree with her reasoning to pretend to be a boy and find out the truth?
Yes, it seemed to be the safest choice at that moment because she is a wanted woman as Mariko. In her place I would go and get my family's help. However I still don't understand why she has been attacked/why they wanted to murder her.

3. While on her way to Helan Castle, Mariko muses
"She should care that she was being exchanged like property in order to curry favour. But Mariko did not.
Not anymore."
What do you think of the last sentence? Did she have a falling out with her father before she left?
I can imagine they would qaurrel a lot because they disagree about a woman's position/role in life. At that point she has resigned herself to her fate.

4. Do you think the boy in the prologue (who watches his father die) is Ranmaru? Or perhaps the boy is "the lazy comrade...fast asleep on the bench" in the Black Clan?
I've finished the book so I know the answer already ;)

23rd of July : An Unmerited Blessing - Jubokko (p. 80-154)

5. Regarding the description of Okami’s powers, it's a bit cryptic imo. The author mentions he blurs/vibrates. Any speculation about Okami’s powers? Also what do you think about the Black Clan’s reaction after Mariko saved Ranmaru (they drugged and kidnapped her)?

6. A love interest(s) showed up in these last couple of chapters? Do you think there will be a love triangle?

7. When the ashigaru (foot soldiers) are singing about home, Kenshin kicks the boy who started the song in the face. Did you think it was unexpected? What does it say about Kenshin’s character so far?

8. At one point Mariko and Okami are having a conversation about their names/nicknames. Why that mysterious name Okami (= Wolf)? Is he hiding something? Or maybe he’s a shapeshifter?

9. Any thoughts about Ranmaru’s childhood friends’ story at the Jubokko tree? What are Ranmaru’s and Okami’s role in this story? (Btw that tree was creepy)

10. How are you liking it so far?

Claire wrote: "
Author: Agatha Christie
Pages: 224 p.
Date read: 19/7/2017
Rating: 4 stars"

Claire, I see there's no read date indicated for this book. Can you please check?

I'm good with the current breakdown.

Karen ♐ wrote: "I don't think that one of my books has been put on the spreadsheet. - finished 7/12"

Thank you Karen, I will check right now :)

Thank you Beth. Sure, will do :) I've started Discount Armageddon yesterday, so far so good.

Btw, I've been selected to do the discussion questions for the BOM Flame in the Mist. More points for us!

@Avid Reader: Really like the Mercy Thompson universe (+Alpha & Omega). I remember some people not liking River Marked as much because it doesn't involve the Pack etc but honestly it was one of my favourite in the series. I hope you will like Flame in the Mist more than I did, I was a bit disappointed with it.

I finished White Hot today, and as expected Ilona Andrews delivers again. Hats off to IA for the diversity & representation in the book, another reason why I like their writings so much.

I'm hesitating about which book to pick as my next read. Currently I have Discount Armageddon that I have to read in July for another challenge. However with the BOM discussion ongoing now, Traitor's Blade seems to be more and more tempting. Is anyone in the team currently reading it ? And if yes, how are you liking it so far? I'm trying to make up my mind :)