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

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

Quidditch is over. Jenny's team won. My team had some troubling times flying those brooms in the sky but I think near the end we were learning how to maneuver them so we will be ready for a repeat after wheel. It's been a crazy reading day so I'll catch up here tomorrow. :)

It’s a fun challenge and I like it. Whew this broom has a mind of its own though. I think we’ve made it then boom the quaffle is broken and down we all go. I’m taking a mini break and going to venture out to a real restaurant. I’ll be back and hopefully my broom becomes supercharged.

Jenny's team is beating us up and I can't stay on my broom. I'm here but this isn't going well.....who knew reading and broom flying would be so difficult!

I am a chaser on the other team. Good luck Jenny! I’m thinking I may have jumped in the deep end without a life jacket as a backup but we will see what happens.

I've already read Five Feet Apart but I just checked out the other one from the online library. There are currently 12 online copies at my library so The Jetsetters must be popular. I like the porter!

Hey everyone! I'm Anna. I see some familiar faces and some new faces. I live in the Louisville area and work in healthcare. Put those two things together and you can imagine real life around these parts have been quite crazy. I love to read almost anything but tend to gravitate towards romance, suspense, thrillers, and chick lit but let's be real I'll read pretty much everything. I mean I just finished a book about John Quincy Adams because it fit two challenges and I would not have picked that book up if it didn't. Let's see favorite road trip. Last summer, my husband, dad and I road-tripped it up to Toronto to hang out for a couple days. We visited Niagara Falls. We got to catch a baseball game there and another one in Detroit. I think that was a fun road trip because we got to visit another country and see some cool things.

I've never played before but I can read pretty fast when I need to. I tend to read 2-3 books on a weekend but if we do shorter books then I may be able to read a little more. I have no idea which position would be best for me to take on.

I'm always up for a good team challenge. I heard quidditch could be in the works possibly. Count me in. :)

Oh no. I totally forgot to enter my books into my spreadsheet for this. I was so focused on everything else. I'm going to have to catch my books up tomorrow and see if I at least did a halfway decent job. Eeek.

There must be something in the tea. It's the only plausible explanation. They waited until we all were looking the other way and lured us with pretty tea cups and fancy tea and then bam! hooked. At least, that's what I'm thinking as I sit here looking for books.

Sighs, I went ahead and did it also because it looked fun and interesting. Why did I do this to myself? Oh yes, because I have an addiction. Now, off to figure out what the devil I just got myself into....

Thanks so much for being such a great team. I hope to get to play with y’all again. Thanks Lexi and Donna and the others for keeping us all together. This was my first time playing tower teams but I’ll definitely try to play it again.

Just finished my last book but I’m out of town and can’t post to spreadsheet on my phone. Thanks so much for helping post my other books. I did get three days of questions done yesterday before I left for ninth house.

9. Well, these chapters definitely get exciting! Alex is attacked by a gluma, which seems like a Gray on steroids. She later recalls that they are messengers sometime used by the houses. Book & Snake are the ones that can "create" these messengers, but that doesn't necessarily mean they were behind the attack. Who do you think is trying to have Alex killed? Do you think it's because of her investigation or for some other sinister purpose?

I think there is a bigger purpose that we just don't know yet. I haven't figured out who is trying to kill Alex yet.

10. "But one thought returned again and again as he tossed and turned, fell in and out of dreams, morning light beginning its slow bleed through the high tower window: Alex Stern was not what she seemed."

We know that Alex is special because she can see Grays without the assistance of potions, but Darlington knows this, as well. What do you think that thought means? Is there something more to Alex that makes her "not what she seemed"? Why do you think she can see Grays in the first place?

I think she has unique abilities that make her stand out from the rest. We just have to figure out how those abilities will play forward in the story.

11. A lot has been happening to the Lethe House Dante and Virgil: Darlington gets purposely drugged at the Manuscript party, he subsequently goes missing, and now someone is trying to off Alex. Do you think that these incidents are connected? Do you think someone has it out for not only Alex, but Lethe House in general? Any other theories about what might be happening?

I'm not convinced they are connected but they could be. I have no theories about what's happening right now.

12. After reading the chapter about Darlington's past, my immediate thought was, "Does Sandow do all of his recruiting in the hospital?" Do you think that he preys on vulnerable kids? Why would he do so when there are thousands of freshman at Yale they could recruit to be Dante?

I think that he looks for these kids because their talents aren't pressed on them from their powerful parents. I think he knows he can mold them into what he wants so that's why he looks for them.

5. In chapter 5, we meet Professor Marguerite Belbalm who Alex has a meeting with. What do you make of their meeting? Why is she proving help for Alex? Do you think she's just being a helpful teacher or that she has a sinister reason, like wanting to use Alex for something? How do you think this will influence Alex's behaviours and choices in the book?

When I was reading this part of the story, my thoughts went towards her wanting to help Alex. I didn't see any sinister reason behind the helping.

6. Whilst Alex is looking at the crime scene of Tara 'on the other side of the intersection', she has a sense of familiarity and then remembers Helllie and Len struggling in the apartment. Len asks her to let them out. What do think happened in that situation and why did she remember it? I feel like it is something important to the story. Do you think this memory will lead to a large reveal or is it just a small and not so important memory?

I want to know more behind the memory popping up. I think it will lead to a much bigger picture.


7. In chapter 7 we get a glimpse into Alex's past and what she had to go through to deal with the ghosts. I honestly wasn't expecting us to find out about her past until past halfway mark. She mentions a lot of issues she had to deal with like no one believeing her, kids making fun of her and ostracising her, her parents, that awful bathroom scene, her illicit drug abuse... Why do you think the Lethe society didn't reach out and help her through all that if they were watching her?

They were gathering information and wanted to make sure she was right for their group.

8. I'm interested in what you guys think of the writing style so far. We have a chapter written in the present tense with Alex and a snippit of passages from books. Then we get Darlington's POV in the past. Are you in favour of this? What do you think of the snippits and are you paying much attention to what they say?

I like the going back and forth. It's pretty easy to follow in this book so I'm trying hard to pay attention.

1. Our book starts out with a Prologue that leaves me understandably a bit lost and confused but wanting more, giving us minimal clues to our forthcoming story.
How do you feel about Prologues? Do you ever go back and Re-read them after you finish the book?

I don't ever really read prologues. I just skim through them really fast. I don't think I've gone back to finish one either.


2. The setting of our story is the prestigious Ivy League school of Yale. The history runs deep and gives a gothic and dark feel to the book. Why else do you think the author may have chosen Yale as the setting?

I think the setting was picked because of the rich history of the school. Also, we know even to this day that secret societies are there.

3. In Chapter 1 our Main Character, Alex Stern, is running late for the Prognostication. By definition Prognostication is the action of foretelling or prophesying future events. I'm curious as to what the Bonesmen final goal is by performing these ceremonies. Although it is still early in the book are there any guesses as to what the Bonesmen are seeking? Are they after glory ? Time travel? Immortality?

I would say immortality, money or power.

4. The Grays ! I love ghost stories and cannot wait to learn more about the Grays. Alex not only has the ability to see the Grays but is also able to see them in color. This is important and seems to be a key feature that got her this opportunity at the school. Darlington appears to be jealous of this ability of Alex because he needs to take an elixir at a great risk to do the same. How do you see the relationship between Alex and Darlington? Will they become friends, enemies or lovers?

I think it's interesting that she sees colors. That may play a hand in things later. I have a feeling they will end up as lovers but I could be wrong.

I finished Ninth House and another book. I'll add them to the spreadsheet. I haven't done my Ninth House questions yet but I will work on those today/tomorrow depending on work. I'm working on finding another good long book to help that I can read the next two days.

Thanks so much! My real life got in the way also. I think it’s a busy time for a lot of us. I’m hoping to get some reading in this week for sure.

I have books to add tomorrow morning. A couple aren’t the best of page numbers but I’ll get them added in the morning. They should all be on my tt shelf.

I thought I had a couple more days to finish The Chestnut Man and I wrote the dates down wrong. I didn't get it done in time but I am reading the Ninth House this week so that will help. Sorry about that! Real life just messed me up.