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

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

Well, since Juliet Marillier and I are officially comrades now (she just doesn't know it yet ;)), I decided to upgrade our friendship to the next level. I'm going for posse.
It's been a while since I've read a book from her, but was reminded again yesterday while I was re-reading Heir to Sevenwaters why I fell in love with her writings. Time to pick back up the Sevenwaters series.

I'm also adding a new challenge with option 2; spelling out 'Alaska', linked to author Dana Stabenow because I'm enjoying her Kate Shugak series so much.

Link to post

Cleaning Out the TBR Closet 2017

⚜ Shelf: Clear the physical books
⚜ Duration: 01 January 2017 - 31 December 2017
⚜ Tracking: 0 of 10

I failed miserably last year, read only 1 book out of my list (2016). Will do better this year. Books I own and are currently still gathering dust:

1. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
2. The Oversight by Charlie Fletcher
3. Company of Liars by Karen Maitland
4. Gideon Smith and the Mechanical Girl by David Barnett
5. The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
6. A Turn of Light by Julie E. Czerneda
7. My Name Is Resolute by Nancy E. Turner
8. Dr. Mütter's Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz
9. The Devil's Diadem by Sara Douglass
10. A Place Called Freedom by Ken Follett

The Oversight by Charlie Fletcher

Only five still guard the borders between the worlds.
Only five hold back what waits on the other side.

Once the Oversight, the secret society that policed the lines between the mundane and the magic, counted hundreds of brave souls among its members. Now their numbers can be counted on a single hand.

When a vagabond brings a screaming girl to the Oversight's London headquarters, it seems their hopes for a new recruit will be fulfilled - but the girl is a trap.

As the borders between this world and the next begin to break down, murders erupt across the city, the Oversight are torn viciously apart, and their enemies close in for the final blow.

This gothic fantasy from Charlie Fletcher (the Stoneheart trilogy) spins a tale of witch-hunters, supra-naturalists, mirror-walkers and magicians. Meet the Oversight, and remember: when they fall, so do we all.

The Wonder by Emma Donoghue

Lib Wright, a young English nurse, arrives in an impoverished Irish village on a strange mission. Eleven-year-old Anna O'Donnell is said to have eaten nothing for months but appears to be thriving miraculously. With tourists thronging to see the child, and the press sowing doubt, the baffled community looks to an outsider to bring the facts to lights. Lib's job is simple: to watch the girl and uncover the truth.

An educated sceptic, trained by the legendary Florence Nightingale and repelled by what she sees as ignorance and superstition, Lib expects to expose the fast as a hoax right away. But as she gets to know the girl, over the long days they spend together, Lib becomes more and more unsure. Is Anna a fraud, or a 'living wonder'? Or is something more sinister unfolding right before Lib's eyes, a tragedy in which she herself is playing a part?

Thanks for picking this thread up again!
Like Danielle, the list of books for stop 4 isn't my favourite. The ones I want to read, I already read. Instead I'm going to do a re-read of The Three Musketeers (one of my favourite books)

Stop 5: Raven Flight (published in July) - 21/08
For stop 7 I recently finished (fishing boat on the cover) - 23/10

In the end I didn't finish my last book as soon as I wanted to.

I really enjoyed Wobble and this team, it was a pleasure getting to know you all. Indeed Michelle, we stuck together until the end. Well done Mammoths!
I'm going to read at a more leisurely pace again and save my reading powers for the next team challenge ;-)

Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding

Frey is the captain of the Ketty Jay, leader of a small and highly dysfunctional band of layabouts. An inveterate womaniser and rogue, he and his gang make a living on the wrong side of the law, avoiding the heavily armed flying frigates of the Coalition Navy. With their trio of ragged fighter craft, they run contraband, rob airships and generally make a nuisance of themselves. So a hot tip on a cargo freighter loaded with valuables seems like a great prospect for an easy heist and a fast buck. Until the heist goes wrong, and the freighter explodes.
Suddenly Frey isn't just a nuisance anymore - he's public enemy number one, with the Coalition Navy on his tail and contractors hired to take him down. But Frey knows something they don't. That freighter was rigged to blow, and Frey has been framed to take the fall. If he wants to prove it, he's going to have to catch the real culprit. He must face liars and lovers, dogfights and gunfights, Dukes and daemons. It's going to take all his criminal talents to prove he's not the criminal they think he is ...

by Emma Donoghue

An eleven-year-old girl stops eating, but remains miraculously alive and well. A nurse, sent to investigate whether she is a fraud, meets a journalist hungry for a story.

Set in the Irish Midlands in the 1850s, The Wonder—inspired by numerous European and North American cases of “fasting girls” between the sixteenth century and the twentieth—is a psychological thriller about a child’s murder threatening to happen in slow motion before our eyes. Pitting all the seductions of fundamentalism against sense and love, it is a searing examination of what nourishes us, body and soul.

Good evening Mammoths! Finished another book today and posted it in our read thread. I will start a #5 in a series next.
Btw the GR Choice Awards are up, I always get excited for those but most of the times disappointed at the results :p The winners are the books I'm trying to read every year for a challenge.

Completion Post

Finished by Simone St. James
Date: 01/11/2016
Rating: ★★★
Tasks:
-Read a book with clothing on the cover to acquire a nice selection of fabrics to construct the Queen's new clothing (?)
-Published in 2016
-Spell-it-out: L
-Read a book that's 300-399 pages.

I've finished Killing Grounds #8 in series tonight.

Yes, I confirm what Berit said for card 1- "originally written in another language". Lately I don't read a lot in my native languages, it finally feels natural to read in English. And I don't have to wait for translations any more :)

I finished a 4th in the series and posted my book on our read thread as well. I leave it up to the captains if it might be used for other quests.

I will finish my current 8th in the series book tomorrow. I've been to our national book fair last weekend and purchased some of the rest of the Kate Shugak series for half the price. So I'm picking up Hunter's Moon (#9) and Midnight Come Again (#10) next.

Completion Post

Finished by Heather Webber
Date: 22/10/2016
Rating: ★★★
Tasks:
Spell-it-out: Character starts with M - Marisol
#4 in the series
Published in May

Same here, Sam! Currently October has not been a good month to read for me, I'm progressing very slowly. But I really want to finish my two books this week. And we are doing really great, it's like we have become RPG experts ;D

Finished my 'title starts with A' book and posted it on our read thread before I go to sleep. I will see what we still need tomorrow.

@ Shelby: Congratulations! I like the name as well.

Completion Post

Book: by Kendare Blake
Read: 16/10
Rating: ★★ 1/2
Task: Title starts with A (for Square spell-it-out) or series #1

The books I'm planning to finish this weekend are:
Anna Dressed in Blood - Book 1 and works for letter A
Killing Grounds - Book 8

Since we are in need of 4th and 5th in a series, I'm going to pick up Perfectly Matched (book 4) next and try to finish the series this month.

Emerge the Victor

Book: by Juliet Marillier
Date: 11/10/20116
Task: #2 in the series

This is how I interpreted it and remember the rules:

- The higher our weapon level is, the more powerful our attack will be therefore easier to kill the monsters.
How? --> by reading numbers in a series

- The more experience points we get, the higher our Health Points are and therefore we are more difficult to kill.
How ? --> gained through completing quests (tasks) and killing monsters

And this is basically it (I think ;-)) Sleep well Mammoths!

Sam F wrote: "Are there other types of books that need to be read? I only have a #8 series left to do. Will try to find more but I could find other types if we need them."

Sam, from the 5 cards we received, one is a quest card. The tasks for the quest on card number 3 are:

* Read a book with flowers on their cover to make a bouquet
* Read a book that takes place in summer
* Read a book with a beach picture on the cover or book with beach related object on cover.
* Read something hot (steamy book topic, set in a hot climate or even a bestseller)
* Read a book that has been made into a summer movie or it would be great summer movie.

I hope this helps :) I found the info on the spreadsheet