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

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

Hi Team,

This will be my 6th Wheel!

I'm from North Carolina and live in the mountains. We are starting to get some beautiful fall leaves. One of my favorite times of year.

I love music but not so much rap but every once in a while I'll listen to it, mostly one song by Ludacris that pops in my head every time someone is in my way. I'm more likely to listen to classic rock - Fleetwood Mac, Def Leppard, and Zztop are some of my current go to artists.

I read a lot of fantasy romance and science fiction romance. I'll read pretty much anything except urban fantasy. Fingers crossed there is a backroom book of the month.

My Wheelshelf: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

Very excited for Wheel. Music theme will be interesting. I don't plan an instrument now but played piano and violin as a kid.

Thank you captains. This was another fun TT.

World without End is on my Tower shelf now.

I just finished World without End. It was amazing. Not sure how a book set in the 13 hundreds can be so griping but it was.

I’m about 150 pages from finishing World Without End. I can’t believe it is almost over. It doesn’t feel like 1,000+ page book.

I’m currently about half way through World Without End and I’m focusing on finishing it rather than reading 5 things at once. I think we finished our 10 600 page plus books but when I’m closer to finishing I’ll look at tasks it can fit if we don’t need for pages.

I finished a book yesterday that works for any of these. I've added to the SS.

Spin 4 - Tower Teams 2: Chocolate Cupcakes
⏳ Read a book with cake or cupcake in the text
⏳ Read a book with chocolate in the text
⏳ Read a book where someone eats a sweet food item (cake, pudding, ice-cream)

I'm not sure if it is helpful or not but I added a few books and went ahead and included tasks from the July challenge that we don't have currently that work.

DQs Day 5
Chapters 19 - 23

19. In this section there appears to be a love triangle developing. Was this what you expected. Where do you see this going?
I don't know that is a triangle when there isn't interest. I really don't see Ali as a love interest for Nahri.

20. Dara lets Nahri know about the King’s marriage plans for her. He lets her know that they can’t be together. Are his reasons valid or should Nahri put up more of a fight?
I think his reasons are valid but I do think if Nahri feels as she does she would fight more for him.

21. Ali and Nahri both have a hidden agenda and are using their “friendship” to achieve that. Do you think they are aware of each other’s objective?
I think that Nahri knows Ali has other objectives. I'm not sure Ali knows that Nahri is looking at him as a target.

22. We learn that Ali has a separate agenda that the King is not aware of? Where do you see this heading?
No place good. I don't think the king will be happy if/when he finds out.

DQs Day 6
Chapters 24 - epilogue

23. Nisreen and Nahri have a very heated discussion after Nahri accidentilly killed a Geziri cleric. Nisreen believes that Nahri needs to be more thoughtful of her people and what she represents and wants to push her to become a bigger symbol to their tribe. Do you believe Nahri is too selfish or too close to "collaboration" with the Qahtanis and should have kept greater distance and shown more loyalty to her people?
Nahri didn't grow up in this culture. I would find it very hard to have these types of ideas placed on me when I didn't understand what was happening. I think that Nahri is right and she needs time. I understand why Nisreen is pushing her but I don't think it is the right approach.

24. Ali clearly showed some magical connection with water, even before the Marid possessed him, that might come from his mother's side of the family. What are your thoughts on this hidden ability?
I think this comes from the agreement that was made that allowed the city to be taken.

25. What are your thoughts on the King's actions, e.g. exiling Ali. He seems to not want to order him killed, even though he knows the exile will bring about his death either way. Why could he not forgive Ali too and spin a tale in his favour like he did for Nahri?
Because Nahri is a took where Ali is not and has done much that goes against the king. The king seems like he isn't one to forget or forgive treason.

26. What an epilogue! Jamshid has a hidden identity, what do you think this means?
It seems like Jamshid is Manizeh's son. Makes me wonder who Nahri is.

27. What a cliffhanger! Nisreen says Manizeh can do anything (even bringing Dara back), clearly meaning she's still alive. Do you think she is somewhere out there or was she maybe even referring to Nahri herself?
I think Manizeh is out there and the ifrit know where she is and I almost wonder if she is one of them.

Bonus: Will you continue reading this series or do you think you'll stop with this trilogy now? I personally will go hunt down the next two books immediately.
I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series.

DQ Day 4
Chapters 15 - 18

14. Nahri meets the king of Daevabad for the first time but doesn't seem to have a lot of further interactions with him. What do you think the king's plan is truly? He offers her everything but doesn't ask for much in return - yes, he revealed to Ali that he wants to marry her to Muntadhir, but is that really all?
I think having a healer again and one that is under his power will be prestigious and it seems like that is what the king cares about. Though I imagine some of it is just to keep an eye on her.

15. Prince Ali, fabulous he.. Were you surprised at this further development in Ali's character? The extreme hatred he displays towards Nahri? For some reason, whenever I read the passages from his point of view, I feel he comes across more like a brat rather than a hate-filled person, yet that seems to be what he shows most often when Nahri is around. He now feels he is a murderer, which, granted, he now is. He also realises that his father has been testing and playing him, and will now use him to his own ends. Do you think the poor boy will finally start growing up?
It seems like Ali has been taught hate, and in some ways he is just as hateful as the others just in a different way. I wasn't surprised by his reaction to Nahri, it seems like he is just abrasive. I think he will have to start growing up if he wants to survive.

16. What do you think will be the outcome of Dara's quest in the middle of the desert with a future king and a contingent of warriors, who may or may not be hell-bent on killing the Afshin? Are they going to find the ifrit before their journey comes to an end?
I hope they find the ifrit. I also think that the future king is a pawn. I really hope that they don't want to kill Dara as I think he can't dye.

17. Nahri's first patient! And what a patient that was! Did this first true test of her skills - towards someone she does not know or care about - live up to your expectations?
I don't think this was a test of skills so much as a test of her. I don't know that she will live up to expectation as she is so used to being her own person.

18. Any predictions on who Nahri's father might be? I have to admit, I thought it was the king himself. But would he really want to marry his daughter to his son? Hm. What do you think?
I really thought it was the king. I'm still of the opinion that it might be based on his reaction.

Book I finished recently works for 102: X-Rays - Read a book where a character gets medical attention. Snowblind the main character Ari goes to the hospital and has his shoulder looked at after he trips over the coffee table and falls on it.

I'm planning to finish The City of Brass before July starts so that is a 500-599 page book.

I know I will not be finishing my 600+ page book this month.

DQs Day 3 - Chapters 10-14

9. As he walks through the Daeva Quarters, Ali is shot by a toy arrow, let loose by one of the children playing about. Rashid suggests to Ali that he should punish the boy by taking him to be raised in the Citadel, which Ali refuses. What do you think this says about Ali, and about others in the city’s upper echelon?
I thought it showed that Ali cared about family and that many others did not see it in the same way. It has some eerie similarities to race issues in our world; parents of our race care but this other race is less than us so they do not care.

10. Nahri and Dara have a moment, but are interrupted. Do you like this partnership, romantically or otherwise? Is it doomed, or meant to be?
I like the partnership between Nahri and Dara. I have a feeling it is doomed but I still like the partnership they have come to and the growth as a result of it.

11. We learn about the terrible conditions in the shafit orphanage and the difficult lives all the shafit are forced into. Even though he immediately refuses to help, how do you think this will influence him in the future?
Ali seems to care deeply and I think he will continue to stand for equality. We see him doing that with the trash clean up.

12. As Dara and Nahri cross the last illusion shielding Daevabad, Nahri has an odd reaction and ends up flat on her back on the deck of the ferry, with Dara rudely refusing anyone’s assistance. Do you think this was caused by something related to what Nahri is, or something else?
I think it has something to do with what Nahri is. One of the ifrit thought she wasn't a shafit. I'm wondering if there was something done to hid her as a shafit.

13. Muntadhir takes Ali to a secret room filled with dead Nahids. Do you think this room will be a turning point for Ali? Do you think Dara will discover this and his relic, and what do you think will follow if he does?
I thought it would be but it seems to have had a different effect than I thought it would. I really hope Dara discovers his relic. He deserves to be fully free. I think what he does will depend on if it is given to him or if he has to find it.

Day 2 DQs : Chapters 5-9

5. So many groups! We had a couple of chapters in this part that described some of the tribes in Daevabad and elsewhere - the Daeva/Djinn, Ifrit, Simurgh, Zahhak and I'm sure I haven't listed them all. Where on the confusion scale are you - with 1 being totally confused and 10 being "I've got this". And are you ok with your level at this point in the book?
I'm probably about a 6. I think I mostly understand the trips, and for this point in the book I think I know enough.

6. Somewhat related to this - we learn that Suleiman curbed magical abilities because the daeva harmed humanity. I learned (thanks Google) that in the non-book world Suleiman the Magnificent was the longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1520 to 1566 - he ruled over at least 25 million people. Did you know anything about Suleiman and what do you think of his inclusion in the book?
I did know a little about Suleiman and I thought it was interesting that there was an inclusion that seemed so different from my understanding of him.

7. We now know Dara was a slave for many years and was forced to do some things that haunt him. How does this make you feel about his character?
This section really had me understanding Dara better. I like his character and the backstory we get is enlightening.

8. Ali's father was portrayed as brutal when we first met him at the execution, and then later he seemed like a pretty good ruler as he listened to and judged people's problems. What do you think - good king or bad king?
I think he is trying. However, I think the people he was listening to were Djinn or Deava and not Shafit.

DQs Day 1, Ch 1-5

1. This book begins in 18th century Cairo, with France and Turkey fighting over Egypt. I have never encountered this conflict in fiction before. Have you? Were you familiar with it before you started reading?
I have not come across this before in a book. Because of the "book setting history" at the beginning I felt like the start of the story was fiction and it took me a few pages to realize this was reflecting actual history.

2. Nahri has several mysterious powers, including healing, the ability to sense illness in others, and the ability to understand and speak every language she hears. Which of her powers would you like for yourself?
I would want the ability to understand and speak every language. That is so cool and would be great for traveling.

3. What do you think of the world building so far? Do you find it confusing, or do you feel like you’re along for the ride?
I'm not confused by the world building and do feel like I'm a long for the ride.

4. So far we’ve met 3 significant players in this book: Nahri, Ali, and Dara. Do you have a favorite character so far, or one who intrigues you the most?
We had three chapters with Nahri so I feel like so far we know her best. However, the one chapter we had with Ali was very interesting and his character was much more open. Nahri seems to be one who doesn't question when she is doing but as soon as she isn't doing everything is a question. That is alright for a while but if it continues I could see her character getting to be a bit of a drag.

Jean wrote: "Annalisa, can you add The Gentleman and the Maid to your tower shelf please? Thanks!"

Added

I finished Other Birds yesterday, the 5th. Can someone please mark completed on the tracking sheet I can’t access it right now. Thank you.

Hey team. Checking in from Iceland. I have not finished a book yet but am getting close to the end of Other Birds.

It’s added.