bamaace83 ’s Comments (group member since Dec 11, 2018)

bamaace83 ’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

I have one that I’m almost finished with. I switched to it this afternoon when I learned I could go slow on the highlander book. It also has gold writing on the cover in case we still need that also. Just give me like 30ish minutes and I’ll be back. :)

Oh thank you!!! I don’t have to rush this audio and can listen to it spaced out this week so we will have it ready for the next one. Now back to my steamy fast audiobooks that I’m working on knocking out.

I downloaded the second Outlander and I'll start it soon. Anything will be better than that one. The only good thing about that was it worked for lots of things. This one should also so I'll listen between 2.5 and 3 so I should hopefully have it done no later than Wednesday. If I can, I'll try to read some of it also to speed it up some.

Thanks! I may listen to the second Outlander. I can't do Passage because the default pages isn't over 800.

Alright, anyone have suggestions for a 800 page book that I can kick on audio to listen to for the next few days. I can do it on chipmunk speed but I probably won't get it done until tomorrow night/Wednesday morning due to some work things that I have going on. Something not so boring like Bleak House because that one was rough!

Suzanne wrote: "Oh I bet that feels good!"

Yes, I had so many books started and I'm glad that they are all done. Now, I can sit down and see what I need to put on audio and read this week. It's a shorter work week for me before I am for a week and a half. We will be on vacation from July 4-10th but I took off this Thursday/Friday just to make it a long weekend.

Just added my Master DQ's. I also have to sit down and figure out what all my big books fits in because I don't think it fits as many things as I wanted it to. Finally got all my books caught up and finished and now I can start a clean slate because I don't have any books that are partially started or anything.

Day 3 - DQs

14. Saved by Cock-Crow -> 18. Unwelcome visitors

11)
“Since antiquity, the rooster has been, and still is, a sacred animal in some cultures and deeply embedded within various religious belief systems and religious worship….
In the sixth century, Pope Gregory declared the rooster the emblem of Christianity and in 9TH century the figure of the rooster was ordered to be placed on every church steeple. Also in Central European folk tales, the devil is believed to flee at the first crowing of a rooster.” (Source : Wikipedia)

Maybe it is just me, but I think there is something deeply symbolic about the fact that in the seemingly atheistic society a man is saved from black magic/the devil by a bird that is strongly connected to Christianity and is part of people’s inherent belief/superstitions. Do you think this was intentional on the author ‘s part and if so what possible message was he trying to pass on?


I didn't know about the roosters. I totally think it was intentional. I just didn't know what his message was that he wanted to get across.


12) Connected to the question above: were there any superstitions you were brought up with or were told about by your family/friends?


Yeah, we weren't allowed to eat and go straight to the swimming pool. We had to wait 30 minutes for food to digest. Also, I never walk under a ladder and black cats on the road are scary.


13) While the plot mainly concentrates on the weird happenings in “modern” Moscow and only few chapters are devoted to Jerusalem, do you think any parallels can be drawn between the two cities or their people?

I knew that there should've been parallels but I honestly couldn't wrap my thoughts around to figure them out.


14) One of the many memorable scenes was when people broke out in a “song and dance flashmob” despite their not wanting to (the evil workings of Korovyev, the “ex-choirmaster”, translator ad assistant of Woland). Have you ever participated in a flashmob or saw one performed in person? If not: have you ever been involved in a school play/choir/etc?

Never participated in a flash mob but I was in drama club in high school. I was usually stage manager but I was one of the munchkins one time in Wizard of Oz.


15) We already agreed that it is quite difficult to make sense of this book. Have you ever read a book that had similar effect on you? (fascination/bewilderment/what-am-I-just-reading? :)

I think any really sci-fi-ish books usually make me go what am I reading. I try and try to like that genre but it's just a struggle for me.

DQs Day 2
7. The Haunted Flat -> 13. Enter the Hero

6.) Berlioz kept having things disappear from his apartment. What would you of thought if stuff was randomly disappearing from your home? Blame it on the kids? Partner? Ghost? Thief? Do you think it's supposed to represent Stalin's infamous purges where people simply disappear?

I would think that my husband was moving it around or the dog was hiding things. I would totally blame it on someone though. I mean I could've moved something myself and just forgot about it too.



7.) What do you think of Woland's posse of 3? Would you want to be a part of that group? Of the 3, do you have a favorite character?


I didn't like them and definitely didn't want to be part of the group. I don't really like cats so I would say the cat was my least favorite but don't have a favorite.


8.) Thoughts on Stavinsky? Would you want him treating a family member? Considering this is the 1930's and it's a mental asylum, was it what you'd expect? Or more modern?


I thought he was what I would expect from a Doctor during that time. I'm not sure if another one would've been any better.


9.) This section made me think about the housing/apartment situation in Stalin's Soviet Union. Maybe because I recently moved house, it made me grateful for the choices I have available about my living situation. Did this resonate at all with you? How so?


I'm really glad that I have a nice house and don't have to deal with the housing market. I do feel bad for people who don't have access to decent housing and have lots of struggles. It makes me grateful for what I do have.


10.) I still have like no idea what's going on really. I feel like I'm just going to keep reading and hope it either starts making sense or the book ends. How are you enjoying the book so far?

I didn't really like it at this point. Not really my type of book.

Day 1 DQs
Book 1- Chapters 1 (Never talk to strangers) - 6 (Schizophrenia)

1) Poetry and literature. Religion. Philosophy. Deep topics, deftly handled by a mad, funny writer. What do you think so far? Are you fans of Homeless (Ivan) and Belioz and their pretentious academic discussions? Are you intrigued? Confused?

I'm writing these after finishing the book because I didn't stay on track of things. I was confused at first and had to do some googling. It was totally not the typical book that I like to read and it took me a long time to get through it.


2) So, you meet a stranger that that knows your name, and says that he just had breakfast with Immanuel Kant (who died over100 years ago), and was there to see Jesus, then tells you how you are going to die.
Did you know who the Professor (W, foreigner, stranger, consultant, etc.) is from the synopsis, or when did you start to realize who this character really is?

I didn't know who it was at this point. I learned after google but definitely didn't know who it was.


3) We move to Judea, in the story that the Professor is telling. Pilate and Yeshua discuss why he has been imprisoned. What did you think of their talk? Did the characters of Jesus and Pilate differ from how you imagined them? What do you think of the different philosophies of authority vs the kingdom of truth and justice, in the book or in life?
What do you think of Yeshua’s belief that all men are good?
(I Personally loved the comment of Yeshua that his disciple keeps recording his words wrong. Teehee)

I liked seeing them this way. It was nice to see them in a different way than what I knew them as.


4) Well, Ivan’s life just took a turn. A dead friend, levitating men, a giant cat, a dip in a river resulting in missing clothing. Ever had a day like this? Do you think you would have given chase?

I think I would've given chase because I would've been curious.

5) I love the psychiatric hospital scene. It is so absurd. “Let him use the phone.” Teehee. I mean, poor Ivan. Do you think he will be there a while, or convince the doctor to let him go?

I'm pretty sure that I expected him to be there a long time at this point in the book.


Bonus question) Anyone familiar with Stalin’s Russia? How does what you know relate to the book so far? Does the fact that this
book was written during Stalin’s Russia make a difference to how you are understanding the book?

I'm not that familiar with this part of history. History wasn't ever a real love for me so I learned it but never really tried hard to find out all the things about it.

I finished a couple books and one actually was MPG adventure. I'm about to get my things updated. I still haven't finished the 600 page book but I'll have it done tonight. :)

The adventure book I finished actually works for a few of the tasks that we have open. We could save Leslie's House book and put it there along with the adventure task. I listed all the things that it was good for. Now off to list the other book that I finished.

I'll do that. I have 3 books going right now and if the day goes like I think it will I should be able to finish them and I'll make sure to put all the prompts that they fit. I get bored with certain genres so I have to have a fun book to go back and forth between. :)

I have the page number book between 500-650. I'm almost done with it but put it aside to read that fast book this morning.

Just fixed it. It didn't save any of the shelves that I added it to for some reason.

I just finished a fast read that works for brown cover. Also, I think it works for MC mother because the main character gets custody of her brothers when she's 18 and they are 6 and 8 because her parents died and she raises them by herself. Also, Sutton's own mother is in the book quite a bit so I would consider her a secondary MC. It works for initials HERA so we could knock that monster out.

I just put what it works for currently on the little side so y'all can play with it if you want. It was a short book so back to my other books that I'm working on. :)

I'll get my questions done tomorrow. I'll see if I have a brown cover that I can knock out. I'm working on a long book that we can bank for a few things. :)

So I have a HERA book in que ready to read and finish but it's also MPG war which is sometimes hard to find. I can start reading it and I think we just finished up two monsters so maybe one of those will have the war roll back around to utilize the book a little more. I don't have any plans this weekend but to read and catch up on all these tasks that I have going and to watch my Braves play all weekend while secretly wishing they hadn't traded Freeman.

I just finished the guitar book so I'm going to fill that in. I can do a MC Mother book today if I need to.

Cool I’ll have it done in a little bit. :)

I can read for music instrument and have it done this afternoon. It's sitting at 368 page count so it's not terrible. I do have a 600 page count book that I'm planning on for this weekend and I'm looking for a few more 500 page ones to help out also.