Heli’s Comments (group member since Jan 23, 2015)

Heli’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

Completion post

Book: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue
Author: Mackenzi Lee
Date Read: 12/13/19
Page Count: 513
Sin: Vanity
Mini Challenge: yes
How it fits: Favorite book recommendation
SS updated: no

Completion post:

Book: Crocodile on the Sandbank
Author: Elizabeth Peters
Date Read: 12/11/19
Page Count: 337
Sin: Gluttony
Mini Challenge: no
How it fits: Top page Historical Romance
SS updated: no

Completion post:

Book: The Afterlife of Holly Chase
Author: Cynthia Hand
Date Read: 12/11/19
Page Count: 400
Sin: Envy
Mini Challenge: no
How it fits: MPG Young Adult
SS updated: no

Completion post:

Book: Modern Romance
Author: Aziz Ansari
Date Read: 12/7/19
Page Count: 279
Sin: Vanity
Mini Challenge: no
How it fits: Won Goodreads Choise Award for Nonfiction in 2015
SS updated: no

I am so sorry for your loss Melanie!

Completion post:

Book: The Name of the Wind
Author: Patrick Rothfuss
Date Read: 12/5/19
Page Count: 662
Sin: Vanity
Mini Challenge: yes
How it fits: Favorite book recommendation
SS updated: no

Completion post:

Book:
Author: A.J. Pearce
Date Read: 12/4/19
Page Count: 281
Sin: Greed
Mini Challenge: no
How it fits: Yellow cover
SS updated: no

I just finished my second book and I'm almost done with the third. This week I will certainly be able to read at least 4 books, maybe even 5.

BTW. I checked our team sheet and it's missing my The Chestnut Man BOM points. Here is a link to my post: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Completion post

Book: Assassination Vacation
Author: Sarah Vowell
Date Read: 12/3/19
Page Count: 258
Sin: Greed
Mini Challenge: no
How it fits: Anything goes
SS updated: no

Completion post

Book: A Night Divided
Author: Jennifer A. Nielsen
Date Read: 12/2/19
Page Count: 357
Sin: Envy
Mini Challenge: no
How it fits: MPG Young Adult
SS updated: no

Completion post:

Book: Beartown
Author: Fredrik Backman
Date Read: 11/30/19
Page Count: 432
Sin: Pride
Mini Challenge: no
How it fits: MPG Contemporary
SS updated: no

Completion post:

Book: Cilka's Journey
Author: Heather Morris
Date Read: 11/25/19
Page Count: 352
Sin: Lust
Mini Challenge: no
How it fits: ARC from Netgalley
SS updated: no

Completion post:

Book: Nerd Do Well
Author: Simon Pegg
Date Read: 11/24/19
Page Count: 359
Sin: Envy
Mini Challenge: yes
How it fits:
N - title
S - author's first name
P - author's last name
SS updated: no

This week I will finish 3 books.

Completion post:

Book: When Dimple Met Rishi
Author: Sandhya Menon
Date Read: 11/23/19
Page Count: 380
Sin: Envy
Mini Challenge: yes
How it fits: S - author's first name initial / Also W, M, D, R
SS updated: no

Completion post:

Book: Two Can Keep a Secret
Author: Karen M. McManus
Date Read: 11/19/19
Page Count: 329
Sin: Envy
Mini Challenge: yes
How it fits: T - title Works also for K,M,E
SS updated: no

BOM: November
DQ 1: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
DQ 2: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
DQ 3: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Day 3: Chapters 12-19

11. So we've heard from Sadie again! (every time I hear her name she reminds me of Sadie by Courtney Summers and I have to keep reminding myself: wrong book sis)
I wonder if substance abuse is the only thing she struggles with, or if there's more to her. She feels a bit off to me... Is she hiding something, or is that just who she is? Do you think she knows or at least has an idea of what happened to her sister? Why does she not want to talk about Sarah at all, and why did she leave Echo Ridge? Would you have left?... Is she even still at the institute?

I guess it's not easy to live in a small town where everyone knows your business. Hard to say how much she knows.

12. Even though Sadie has hardly ever been back to Echo Ridge, I have a feeling Ellery and Ezra's dad might be from there. Do you think we have met the twins' father by now? Could it be Vance, or Peter, or somebody else completely? (I actually have a theory, and it's neither of the guys I just mentioned lol)

It might be Peter...

13. Viv has been acting very strangely towards Ellery. What is her problem? Do you think she's jealous of Ellery for getting nominated for Prom Queen, or that she has kind of gotten into their friend group without even trying?

I don't know what her problem is. Maybe she is jealous.

14. I can't stop thinking about what happened in the past. First Sarah went missing, then years later Lacey vanished and had been found dead shortly after. Do you think Sarah shared the same fate, or is she still out there somewhere? Are their cases related? And then Mr. Bowman has been killed in a hit and run - what a nice introduction to town our twins had here. Do you think this is connected to everything else that's been going on in town, with Daisy and Declan being back, etc.?

I'm hoping Sarah could still be alive. But if she is, why did she leave? The earlier crimes are so far apart in time that I'm having a hard time believing they could be connected. But the recent crimes might have a common denominator.

15. Just like Viv, Brooke has been acting weirdly as well, but I don't think it has anything to do with Ellery. She seemed worn down when El sat with the girls at lunch, and Mr. Bowman's death seemed to get to her way more than to her peers. Do you think she had anything to do with the hit and run, or maybe was involved with the late teacher? Is this why she was so agitated at the party? Where do you think s
he vanished to when she slept over at Katrin's the week before but was gone for at least 20 minutes?

Brooke might be the driver or she might know who the driver was. There is the word "secret" in the title. Maybe her disappearance was related to that. If Malcolm is telling the truth she was not with him.

DQ Day 2: Chapters 6-11

6. It's taken me a bit to understand what's happening in town currently and in the past. Has anyone else struggled or have you caught on well? Do you think the author has set the scene well, or are there improvements/other ways you think would work better?

There are a lot of characters and sometimes I'm confused with them. But can't think of any improvements.


7. We meet Declan Kelly in this chapter, Malcolm's brother. What are your impressions on him? Do you think he murdered Lacey? Or has anything to do with Sarah's (Sadie's twin) disappearance? The hit and run of Mr Bowman or the threats around town? If not, who do you think is responsible for all of them, or any of them? Do you have any theories so far on the connections of the occurrences? I feel like there's so many suspects and Sadie is definitely hiding something.

Declan seems like a shady character. I don't have any theories yet, but How can all the crimes be connected? They have years between them. Sarah is missing. Could she be alive?


8. The Homecoming Court announcements: Did it surprise you that Ellery was nominated for Queen? Why do you think she was 'chosen' as a potential Queen? It's kind of ominous to the Homecoming, isn't it? I feel like Homecoming is where things will go crazy. What do you guys predict will happen?

I found it odd that Ellery was nominated. Something is definitely brewing. I just don't know what it is yet.


9. As an Australian, I don't understand the craze around Homecoming. We have Formals which is similar to Homecoming but no one is chosen as a Queen or King. Did you go to a Homecoming in High School, or something similar? What was it like? I went without a boy (too cool for boys back then) and went with one of my girl friends. We had a blast! My aunty actually helped me design my dress and made it for me. It was actually my first introduction on how to dress feminine and like it!

I live in Finland and we don't have anything like homecoming. There was a special ball at the end of high school and we practiced old dances for it and dressed fancy.


10. It seems like Daisy has been through a lot... Her breakdown in the car and shutting herself in her room. What do you think is going on with her? Do you think she's finally dealing with Lacey's death or do you think something else is going on with her?

Yes. She has finally started to deal with her sister's death.

DQs Day 1
Chapters 1 to 5

1.) Why are you participating in this BOM? Just for extra Tower Teams points? Because you were interested in/going to read this book anyway? Have you read other words by this author?

For extra points for sure. But I also read the previous book by this author and liked it.

2.) I'm loving Ellery's true crime obsession. Pre-child I used to have the Discovery ID channel (true crime, all the time) on a lot as background. Though I'm thinking this is foreshadowing of not good things to come. What do you think? Have you read any of the crime books mentioned so far?

I have read In Cold Blood, but none of the others.

3.) Characters, first impressions. What do you think of Ellery & Ezra? Sadie, and the fact they refer to her by her first name and not 'Mom'? Malcom & Katrin? Familial relations seems to be a central theme to this book and specifically sibling relationships. There's been several twin references and references to other sibling relationships (Declan, Daisy, Lacey's siblings, etc). Do you think these types of ties will play into the main story line?

I really like the relationship between Ellery and Ezra. They seem very close. Sandy is harder to read. We don't know enough about her. I think twins will be a big theme in the book. There are so many of them.

4.) This book is set in a small town and that type of atmosphere has been highlighted strongly during the set-up of the story. However, it isn't really the bucolic small town setting being highlighted by the author, but the everyone is in everyone else's business and will judge the crap out of your entire family if given the chance. What do you think of small towns? Would you like to live in one (or do you already)?

Small towns seem often idyllic. But I'm a city girl and love living in a city.

5.) I loved the epitaph of Mr. Bowman's tombstone.
"Tell me and I forget
Teach me and I may remember
Involve me and I learn"
What did you think about it? Do you agree with the statement? And why do you think there has been such a focus on a seemingly sad, but random hit and run?
I agree. It's easier to learn by practice. I at least would like to know who the driver was,

I just finished my last book of the week. The end of the week is too close for me to finish anything else.

One book that I will definitely read next week is Two Can Keep a Secret for BOM.