Annalisa’s Comments (group member since May 04, 2018)

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

And we say it is fluffy. I think we needed one more of those and I believe two from our team read it so we should have that covered now. I'll update my completion post when I get on my computer. Limited on the app. I wish it wasn't so but no reply, edit, view spoiler, or add book links for the phone app.

Just realized my weekend read Catch of the Day is probably a fluffy chick-lit. I'm on the fence because of something that happened in chapter 19, most of the book was fluffy though. I'm checking to see if others reading it think it is fluffy.

Most of us are part of a TT so I wanted to check and see what others thought. Do you think this book is fluffy? I know it is chick-lit. I'm on the fence for fluffy because of chapter 19. What do you all think?

I'm interested in reading A Reaper at the Gates. However, I checked and my library doesn't have a copy. Meaning it might be 6 months before I'm able to get a copy. I'll keep checking to see if they get a copy but even if they do I may not be able to get it before challenge ends. It will all depend on the number of holds before me.

Red Rising was one of those books I immediately liked. I'm not sure why but it swept me up and I think I read it in mostly one sitting. I've been meaning to read the third book Morning Star but haven't had a chance yet. If there ends up being a BR for that I would join.

I've enjoyed the first 43 pages. It has a lot of set up so far and flashbacks. I normally don't care for that (an excellent example is in Daughter of Smoke and Bone it over powered the present story) but I think it is a nice balance. So far I'm thinking I'll be in the it was an excellent read. However I'm only 40 pages in so lots can change.

Exactly, Ready Player One takes more time for me to read. All those references are slowing it down for me. I'm hoping it will pick up after I he through part one. I started Red Sister instead of finishing part one of Ready Player One last night.

I've noticed with most of the buddy reads I've been reading serious books. I like a mix light and serious. So far I only have one BR in July and I am thinking I might not add anymore. Although, I keep seeing books I'm interested in.

I thought I would finish at least one more book this weekend but nope. I enjoy Ready Player One when I'm reading it but I've got so many books and I am way behind on the buddy read. I tried to keep up but to many other books. I'm also feeling a bit of fantasy overload.

Given how much time I've had recently for reading, not much, I'm going just cheer for Slythern team.

I keep hearing that the audiobooks for this series are amazing. Having read Illuminae the experience seemed very visual and I wonder how that is translated into the audio.

Catch of the Day by Kristan Higgins
Date: 6/17/18
Pages: 377
Rating: ★★★

Spells:
C - Title
H - Author
J - Jonah (character)
K - Author
M - Maggie (character)
T - Father Tim (character)

Classes:
Herbology Chick-lit fuzzy read

Buddy Read:
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How to Handle a Heartbreaker by Marie Harte
Date: 6/16/18
Pages: 368
Rating: ★★★

Spells
A - Abby Dunn character
B - Brody Singer character
C - Cameron McCauley character
D - Abby Dunn character
F - Flynn McCauley character
H - Title
M - Author
S - Brody Singer character
V - Vanessa Campbell character

I sat down and read this in one sitting. Very typical for me and cute books like this. Let me just say that Colonel, Maggies dog, is what really first got me. Although I also found the opening to be funny.

Middle of the book Chapter 20 (view spoiler)[Colonel's death is absolutely devastating. I'm not sure why but have a dog die in a novel and I'll cry. Not much else gets me. Malone is really there for Maggie when Colonel dies and this is also the point in the story where I started disliking some of the other characters: Father Tim and Maggie's mom. They didn't seem to get how hard this was for her. (hide spoiler)]

End of the book (view spoiler)[By the end of the book I didn't really feel like I cared about Father Tim he seemed like he had lost some of his importance to the story. I'm not sure why he left the town but he did, that felt a little unanswered to me. I'm still not sure why Malone didn't want to eat Maggie's cooking. That also felt strange to me and unanswered. However, the ending of the book was satisfying in many ways Malone giving Maggie a puppy and his first name seemed important. I also like that they aren't hiding their relationship anymore. That seems like an important step. (hide spoiler)]

Overall I liked the humor in this novel and the story was fun.

Amy "the book-bat" wrote: "I see I am a day early, but I just listened to this one today since I had to return the copy I had checked out. Anyway, I thought that parts of this book were really cute, but then other parts kind..."

I agree with both of your comments. Ending: (view spoiler)[The ending was very cute. And I also was bothered that we didn't know Malone's first name for so long. I would be upset about that just like Maggie. I really liked that he got her a puppy. He really seemed to care about Colonel. I'm a dog person and that really was the turning point for me. I think if Farther Tim had been a little more interested in Colonel I might have liked him more as a character. As it was I didn't much care for him. I did like Malone because of how he interacted with Colonel. (hide spoiler)]

Suzanne wrote: "The prologue made me laugh - nice embarrassing set of circumstances :)"

The prologue is great. I love how it just seems like another day in Maggie's life and she is always doing embarrassing things.

I've been on the fence about starting this book, but it sounds like others are enjoying it so far. I guess I should give it a try.

If you would prefer to use something else for history of magic, I noticed most of the books have been used for spells or classes at this point, and if you pick 7 titles I'm willing to try writing something with those titles. It would be a fun challenge. Or at least I think it would be fun.

I got a good start on the book this evening. At first I thought this book had the same characters as the last book but it doesn't. I'm glad because it has been a while since I read Illuminae.

This time I expected the writing to be in the form of emails, chat messages, and other files like that. It still took some getting used to though. It very different from everything else I've read.

Through page 141, 20%, or "Countdown to Hypatia arrival at Heimdall Waypoint: 01 Days 00 Hours: 36 Minutes (view spoiler)[So far I'm finding the story to be engaging. I feel like I'm still getting to know Nik and Hanna. I'm not instantly liking either of them but I don't dislike them either.

There have been a few surprises so far but nothing to big as far as new information about BeiTech, just more horrible acts on their part. Truthfully I'm having a hard time remembering if they had a resin we knew in the first book for attacking. I'm sure as I continue reading I will remember more.

I am enjoying the story and now that I'm adjusting to the format it is moving along quickly. (hide spoiler)]

The Lemon Orchard by Luanne Rice
Date: 6/15/18
Pages: 286
Rating: ★★★★

Spells
H - Julia Hughes (character)
J - Julia Hughes (character)
L - Author
R - Author
T - Title

Classes
I really have no idea where this would fit with classes.

Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero by Michael Hingson
Date: 6/13/18
Pages: 231
Rating: ★★

Spells
D - David
H - author
M - author
T - Title
R - Roselle (the author's guide dog so not sure counts)

Classes
Dog on the cover

I've listened to them all so far. Roy Dotrice does a really good job with the narration. I know they tried to switch narrators because Roy Dotrice was retiring or something like that and people were very upset. I get why. Anyway with the audiobook I can listen when I wouldn't be able to read a book so it doesn't get in the way of BRs to much. I noticed that the last few books I've picked for BRs I have not been able to get the audiobook of so all my audiobook time is just for me.