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

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

My precious is a good name :)

I really like my kindle paperwhite, but to be honest lately I'm having a bit of trouble with it. It's 2 years old, I don't think it's that old for an electronic device. I'm considering to go for a second e-reader just in case.

I like to alternate between paperbooks and ebooks. For new releases I rely on my e-reader.

Now excuse me ladies, I'm off to create some bookcollections on my kindle ;)

Sheila wrote: "Audrey Jane wrote: "I was lost for a minute with all the ongoing threads but I found save haven here lol. I'm currently reading The Silvered, I wanted to read it for quite a while a..."

Oh yes collection, that's what I was looking for :) Please, don't tell me I'm the last one to know you could do that.

Taryn wrote: "Does anyone want to read any of these in January with me?

[bookcover:The Man ..."

Taryn, I read the entire D'Artagnan Romances years ago and would love to do a re-read with you! I can't wait to revisit my childhood crushes ;) If I understand it correctly, you want to begin with The Three Musketeers and then go further with the series? I agree to do it in January since November and December are already full. Also each book is quite big so we can take our time. I'm tempted to ask the mods to make a thread for the series (instead of each book individually), is that good with you?

Renee wrote: "I have invited Kathleen to be your replacement player."

Our team is complete! Can't wait to start :)

I was lost for a minute with all the ongoing threads but I found save haven here lol. I'm currently reading The Silvered, I wanted to read it for quite a while and turns out I'm enjoying it a lot. Maybe a bit too much since I need to slow down.
Since I was losing track of which books to give priority to, I recently found out (yesterday evening by randomly pushing buttons) that I can create personalised list on the kindle. So I made one for Tower Teams and I'm ready to go.

Genre:

Round 1: 10/12

Chloe Traeger (character) - Head Over Heels - Tea
O'shea Liam (character) - Priceless - Danielle
Naasir (character) - Archangel's Shadows - Danielle
TThe Colonel's Lady (title) - Audrey
Emmaline March (character) - The Thirteenth Tale - Catherine
Marie-Terese Boudreau (character) - Covet - Danielle
PPrimal Passions (title) - Tea
O
Rylon Jayne (author) - Falling Softly - Danielle
Ashley, Kristen (author) - Rock Chick - Danielle
Rose Nicholson (character) - The Secret Keeper - Catherine
Y

Round 2: 1/12

CCloser Than You Think (title) - Danielle
O
N
T
E
M
P
O
R
A
R
Y

❀Tea❀ wrote: "Audrey Jane wrote: "Pick me! Pick me! :p

It is the last roll before Tower Teams begins :)"

We don't have to stop when TT starts. It's not exclusive. :D

Need wheel link?"

That's good. So we can make plans talk here ;)

It's ok I found the link.

✼Danielle wrote: "❀Tea❀ wrote: "C & T missing to complete spelling.

Who's rolling tomorrow? ☺"

Unless someone says that they want ago or Audrey a second roll, I'll spin the wheel"

Pick me! Pick me! :p

It is the last roll before Tower Teams begins :)

Finished by Eileen Wilks
Characters: Cullen Seabourne, Isen Turner, Nettie, Rachel Fuentes
--> Letters: S, C, I, E, N, F, T

I haven't read the Maze Runner either. That reminds me I still have to watch Catching Fire :)

Cynthia wrote: "I've got the first set of questions, so I've read up to the 4th chapter. I almost stopped reading during the first chapter, but I felt that such a fabulous prologue had to be leading me somewhere a..."

Great Cynthia!
Agreed! The beginning of the book was a bit difficult to follow. I remember I had to put it down and pick it up later. I'm glad I did. I hope you're enjoying it as much as I did. The audiobook is a good idea, I'm going to try it.

It's All Saints' day today and tomorrow All Souls' day, so we go to the cemetery and put flowers and such on the graves.

@ Lauren: I know. Something about translations being less 'authentic'.

K?

Finished by Jessie Burton
Characters: Nella (Petronella) Oortman, Cornelia, Frans Meersmans, Pieter Slabbaert
--> Letters: T, N, C, S

Missy wrote: "The ending was terrible. We got no answers as far as the miniaturist. And so we are to believe that the newer stronger Nella is now capable of running a business, overseeing a household, and raising a child who is half black? Seriously??? We saw how they react to homosexuals. Multi-racial children? I don't think so! And she can't wear a cap on her head forever, as they suggested! People stared at Otto every time he walked out the door. There is no way this particular society would tolerate Thea. As far as Nella now running a business, she may get the sugar sold, but what then? Women are not allowed to be guildsmen. what are they going to do down the road??
This book had such a good beginning. I truly couldn't put it down. It just got weirder and weirder and more and more ridiculous. And one final thing - I really wish that the author had changed the names of the characters, as they seem to have no connection at all to the real people. "

Oh yes, this! I agree with you.

Btw I also thought Cornelia and Otto were together.

I just finished the book. The last 50 pages were a complete mess. The title should never have been 'the Miniaturist'. I think I would have preferred to read about the real life Petronella and Johannes (with their 4 children lol).

October 29: pages 357-end - answers

34. For some kind of reason I knew he would die the moment he had been caught. I don't see how he would bribe his way out and the other characters were so unlikeable and I didn't see anyone in a position of power coming to his rescue. Also throughout the story Johannes was rather passive. I agree with the Guardian when the author of the article wrote: "Why, towards the end of the novel, does she (Nella) think longingly of all the thrilling conversations she and Johannes have enjoyed? The reader will feel they have barely been in the same room for more than five minutes."

35. I was surprised too, which is weird because anyone could have access to the Smit's list and therefore to the miniaturist. I just assumed Nella was the only costumer. Tell me about it. I'm hugely disappointed and I feel cheated by the title. In the end this story is in no way about the miniaturist. All very anticlimactic imo. To me it feels like a cop-out.
I assume that Petronella was a common name at the time, which is also pretty lame as explanation.

36. No, that was unexpected. Although the birthing was messy, nobody was qualified. In the end Marin does this book. It's because of Marin that Nella has a role in the story, Marin kept Johannes' household ongoing, etc. And it's only Marin's story that was the least predictable.

37. The Smit's list made me think a bit of today's telephone book or the Yellow pages.

38. No, in the end it hadn't any influence. It just seems the miniaturist was an excellent spy and very observant. Or she could predict the future. We will never know.
But I liked everyone's speculations on this thread better than how it turned out.

39. No, I didn't. Otto made very few appearances and I wonder why it has never been hinted at their romance. And why all the talk about Frans Meersmans? Otto being the father felt a bit as an afterthought. I'm disappointed by how little we saw of Otto. Because in the end it felt it was more about Marin and him than the miniaturist.

40. Reading the last chapters I had completely forgotten about the prologue. Thanks for pointing that out and making the connection for me lol.
I think it's all about creating a mysterious vibe. I honestly don't know.

41.I feel cheated and expected so much more. It's all so confusing. The ending is sad and it feels like nothing will change, just more secrets and prisoners *sigh*
I gave it 2 stars. I liked the writing, Jessie Burton is a great story teller but the story itself fell flat and was disappointing. I am willing to try some of her future writings. I can't recommend this one though.

I read the first three books in the Lily Bard series. It was okay but I prefer the Harper Connelly series.

Skandia wrote: "Estonia is a very small country and not much internationally recognized literature about it. "

Don't worry, it's still bigger than Belgium ;) I've checked some listopia lists and found this list about the Baltic countries, it is the most specific I could find. I remember during primary school we had to learn the countries & cities of Europe, and I always messed up the Baltic countries :)

In all honesty I can't recommend any Belgian writers, I would be a bad person if I do. It appears that they are so bad that they don't even get translated into English. I mostly read translations during my childhood, which at school we were forbidden to read.

Lauren wrote: "I also love HP - did my PhD on it and still..."

That's pretty awesome.

I'm impressed!
It seems I'm a really slow reader. If I like a book a lot I will read it in 1 or 2 days. 6-8 days is my average. I tried audiobooks but I always fall asleep while listening, I use it as a way to relax now.

@ Lauren: I understand now, before I always thought someone was messing with the page numbers but it's actually the hours.

@ Cynthia: That must be it. We will probably stumble upon it when we least need it. It's always like this :)

Lauren wrote: "Thanks for checking on that, Audrey Jane. Its always good to have the exact rule just to be sure."

I don't know why but for a second I was really convinced there was an audiobook to pages converter. Maybe I dreamed it :)