Chava’s Comments (group member since Dec 19, 2013)

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

Kazen wrote: "How are you guys doing with your reading?

Personally I have fallen into a reading slump, eep! I'm telling myself it's good timing, in a way - I can take a break this week and build up all my read..."

toooooooo loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong :)

I couldn't get into some books this week. I've put off several this week. I've started one last one for the UNO challenge.
I'll be in the US when the challenge starts

I am a wife of the biggest kid in the house and mummy of 4 kids aged 6, 5, 4 and 2.

Sally906 wrote: "Kazen wrote: "With you and Chava traveling we'll have lots of team members jumping oceans! Using your cell to check in should be just fine but I want to give you a heads up to avoid the Goodreads a..."

I've seen the pure pods. They look super nice!! Imagine the starry night! Totally envious!

Leslie wrote: "Hi, I am Leslie from Colorado, USA. I am going to be traveling to the UK from May 28 till Jun 13th but I will have my cell so I should still be able to check in just not daily. Looking forward to t..."

Hi Leslie,
*waves excitedly* So nice to connect with you. I am rather excited that I am going to visit the US for the first time ever (!!) in just over a week. I'm going for 9 days to a town near Seattle, WA. I will then be back for 12 days in Australia, then back 9 days, back 12 days Oz, back 9 days US and then back to Oz for an unclear amount of time, then back to US for a week to either Ohio or Florida, then in 6 months time I go again, but not sure where.
Crazy amount of flying!

To you Americans, do I need to be afraid of bears or are toddlers with guns enough to worry about (apparently 21 people get killed each year by 'armed toddlers'...love my American colleagues' scare tactics).

Kazen wrote: "Hello everyone - I'm so excited to be your co-captain!

I'm Kazen, an American living in Japan. I'm a medical interpreter, helping Japanese doctors and English-speaking patients communicate. The ho..."

Kazen!! You are so funny. Everytime I hear anything about Japan, I think of you! :) So nice to be on your team again. I was just thinking about you recently, wondering if you were still living in Japan.

I look forward to connecting with everyone!!

Hi all,
I am Chava from Melbourne, Australia. I will be travelling a bit between Oz and the US over the next 2 months, so replies might take a bit longer than usual until halfway June, but so excited to be here!!!!

by B.A. Paris (336 pages)

THE NEW CHILLING, PROPULSIVE NOVEL FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLING BEHIND CLOSED DOORS.

If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust?

Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods, on the winding rural road, in the middle of a downpour, with the woman sitting inside―the woman who was killed. She’s been trying to put the crime out of her mind; what could she have done, really? It’s a dangerous road to be on in the middle of a storm. Her husband would be furious if he knew she’d broken her promise not to take that shortcut home. And she probably would only have been hurt herself if she’d stopped.

But since then, she’s been forgetting every little thing: where she left the car, if she took her pills, the alarm code, why she ordered a pram when she doesn’t have a baby.

The only thing she can’t forget is that woman, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt.

Or the silent calls she’s receiving, or the feeling that someone’s watching her…

I'm going to try for all 30 :) between the 1st of Jan and 31st of Dec 2017

◈ Female Narrator
An audiobook with one female narrator.

◈ Male Narrator
An audiobook with one male narrator.

◈ Duets
An audiobook with one female and one male narrator.

◈ Full Cast
An unabridged audiobook with several narrators; there is a narrator per character (e.g. American Gods by Neal Gaiman). To find these, you can search most sites by the term “Full Cast.”

◈ Dramatizations
An abridged audiobook with background music/noises like the “old school” radio plays (e.g. BBC Radio Drama Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett). Also known as “Performance” audios, if you’re doing a search.

◈ Celebrity Narrator
Category name says it all: Somebody famous narrates. Examples: James Marsters reading Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series or Anne Hathaway reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. BTW, when searching, audible.com is calling this their “A-List Collection.”

◈ New-to-Me Narrator
A narrator that you haven’t heard before.

◈ Favourite Narrator
A narrator that you have heard and loved before and would recommend to others.

◈ Volunteer Narrator
A narrator that is not professional, but volunteers to read books. (Such as those used on librivox.org)

◈ Less Than 3 Hours
An audiobook that you can read in one day!

◈ Between 3 - 5 Hours
An audiobook that falls in this range.

◈ More Than 5 Hours to 9.9 Hours
An audiobook that is over 5 hours in length.

◈ 10 Hours to 14.9 Hours
An audiobook that is a CHUNKSTER! ;) More than 10 hours in length, but less than 15.

◈ 15 Hours to 19.9 Hours
An audiobook that is a Colossal Chunkster! More than 15 hours in length, less than 20.

◈ 20 Hours to 24.9 Hours
An audiobook that is a Super Colossal Chunkster! More than 20 hours in length, less than 25.

◈ 25 Hours to 29.9 Hours
An audiobook that is a Super-Duper Colossal Chunkster! More than 25 hours in length, less than 30.

◈ 30 Hours to 34.9 Hours
An audiobook that is a Monstrous Chunkster! More than 30 hours in length, less than 35.

◈ 35 Hours to 39.9 Hours
An epic, indeed! More than 35 hours in length, less than 40.

◈ 40 Hours and Beyond – or a Trilogy!
Beyond epic, indeed! Time to implant ear buds in your head. Forty hours or more! For this one we will also allow a trilogy that qualifies in length, or three books anywhere within a series, if you “read” all of it/them via audio.

◈ In-Sync Multimedia
Use an audible sync option to read-along! Such as the new read-along with your Kindle option by audible.com called Whispersync, which remembers your last stopping point in either device. However, you may read a book using any two media choices your desire, as long as one of them is via audio.

◈ Digital Downloads Freebies
Keep it legal! Public libraries using OverDrive Media Console, or Bolinda Audio (BorrowBox), or OneClickDigital downloads. There are also free sites like:
librivox.org
Project Gutenberg Audio Books Project
audiobooksync.com - scheduled release dates
...Audiobooksync has free audiobooks over the Northern Hemisphere’s summer.

◈ Doing it “Old School”
Use audiobook CDs, or cassette, or even LPs or 8-Track-Tapes, if you have them! Don’t have the right equipment? Oftentimes your public library will have these devices to loan.

◈ Planes, Trains, or Automobiles with an Audiobook
Go on a road trip, holiday, or just listen during your daily commute to work while “reading” in your car or public transportation!

◈ Multitasking! Listening on My Portable Music Player (PMP) Audiobook
Put on those headphones, get cleaning, gardening, grocery shopping, power-walking, even knitting while “reading” a book! Use your Smartphone, MP3, Walkman, portable CD player, iPod, episodic podcast, whatever! Just make Oprah proud.

◈ Audie Award Nominees and Winners
You be the judge. Try an audiobook that has been nominated or won an Audie – any category counts – and lists may be found at audiopub.org (look to the right of the screen for past years).

◈ Recommended by Others
Audiobooks recommended by your friends or other NBRC members.

◈ BOM via Audiobook
Read a NBRC Book of the Month via audio.

◈ “Buddy Read” via Audiobook
Read a “Buddy Read” book via audio and/or listen to your book with another person.

◈ Classic Read
Have you always wanted to broaden your reading horizons and get to that classic everyone seems to talk about? Try it via audio.

◈ Re-Read a Favourite
Old or new, choose a book you’ve read and loved - and see if you could possibly love it even more via audio. (Note: The right narrator is even more crucial here!)

The problem with this challenge is that I might have just culled my TBR list to join in, but now I've added at least 3 times as many books after seeing what everyone is going to read :D

LaRose

In this literary masterwork, Louise Erdrich, the bestselling author of the National Book Award-winning The Round House and the Pulitzer Prize nominee The Plague of Doves wields her breathtaking narrative magic in an emotionally haunting contemporary tale of a tragic accident, a demand for justice, and a profound act of atonement with ancient roots in Native American culture.

North Dakota, late summer, 1999. Landreaux Iron stalks a deer along the edge of the property bordering his own. He shoots with easy confidence—but when the buck springs away, Landreaux realizes he’s hit something else, a blur he saw as he squeezed the trigger. When he staggers closer, he realizes he has killed his neighbor’s five-year-old son, Dusty Ravich.

The youngest child of his friend and neighbor, Peter Ravich, Dusty was best friends with Landreaux’s five-year-old son, LaRose. The two families have always been close, sharing food, clothing, and rides into town; their children played together despite going to different schools; and Landreaux’s wife, Emmaline, is half sister to Dusty’s mother, Nola. Horrified at what he’s done, the recovered alcoholic turns to an Ojibwe tribe tradition—the sweat lodge—for guidance, and finds a way forward. Following an ancient means of retribution, he and Emmaline will give LaRose to the grieving Peter and Nola. “Our son will be your son now,” they tell them.

LaRose is quickly absorbed into his new family. Plagued by thoughts of suicide, Nola dotes on him, keeping her darkness at bay. His fierce, rebellious new “sister,” Maggie, welcomes him as a co conspirator who can ease her volatile mother’s terrifying moods. Gradually he’s allowed shared visits with his birth family, whose sorrow mirrors the Raviches’ own. As the years pass, LaRose becomes the linchpin linking the Irons and the Raviches, and eventually their mutual pain begins to heal.

But when a vengeful man with a long-standing grudge against Landreaux begins raising trouble, hurling accusations of a cover-up the day Dusty died, he threatens the tenuous peace that has kept these two fragile families whole.

Inspiring and affecting, LaRose is a powerful exploration of loss, justice, and the reparation of the human heart, and an unforgettable, dazzling tour de force from one of America’s most distinguished literary masters.

LEVEL 1: 70 books

progress: 37/70

2006: The Tenth Circle

2007: Without Consent

2008:

2009: What Alice Forgot

2010:

2011: The Broken

2012: The Dalai Lama's Cat

2013
1 Broken Palace
2 Verse in Arabic
3 Watching You
4 War of the Wives
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13

2014
1 The Girl with All the Gifts
2 A Breach of Security
3 A Man Called Ove
4 Missing You
5 Fatty O'Leary's Dinner Party
6 You
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

2015
1 Liar Liar
2 The Murderer's Daughter
3 Motive
4 Midnight Sun
5 Blood on Snow
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

2016
1 The Underground Railroad
2 The Fireman
3 Never Never
4 Cross the Line
5 Home
6 Stumbling Stones: A Path through Grief, Love and Loss
7 The Spy
8 Woman of God
9 Truly Madly Guilty
10 All the Missing Girls
11
12
13
14
15
16

2017
1 The 4th Man
2 Right Behind You
3 The Nightwalker
4 The Red Hunter
5 My Not So Perfect Life
6 The Raqqa Diaries: Escape from Islamic State
7 UNSUB
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

Okay, I'm in too. I've been needing to empty out my TBR list and this is the ideal opportunity! I might add as I go

11. Kennedy explains the difference between "equity" and "equality" on p. 427. Do you think Ruth gets equity from the trial?
I have a major issue with justice being agreed by a jury of peers. I don't feel that there is a case of equality or equity in any case where there are lay people who decide on legal issues. People are biased and ideally the law is 'blind'.
I am not sure if Ruth got equity in this case. Race plays a major role here so there is no way it can be a case of equity.

12. Was your perspective on racism or privilege changed by reading this book? Is there anything you now see differently?
It has started to open my eyes more to my white privilege and things that I do to ensure I don't come across as racist, might actually mean that I do the opposite.

13. Did the ending of surprise you? If so, why?
not so much. I knew there was going to be a large difference with Turk at the end. I was sad to hear about Britt, happy about the new child for Turk. I wasn't so surprised as there are several extremists who turn and go on speaking turns.

14. Did the Author’s Note change your reading experience at all?
I didn't read this until the end, so no it didn't change it.

15. Would you recommend this book? Why?
I really liked this book. I would recommend this book, because I want to hear what People of Colour think of this book. The book was written by a white person, again telling POC what they experience or think...

Discussion Questions
16 December

6. Why did you decide to read this book? Is it meeting your expectations so far?
I decided to read it, because I've really enjoyed Picoult books before and I have been wanting to read this once I read the blurb on GR. I was so excited when I received a ARC, but have been eyeing a hard copy since it came out in the shops (just couldn't justify the $33)

7. Have you read any Picoult books before? If so, any favourites?
Yes, I've read many. Not sure what my favourite is.

8. The title of the book comes from the Martin Luther King, Jr. quote that Ruth’s mother mentions on p. 173: "If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way." What does this quote mean to you? Do you see any examples of small great things done by the characters in the novel?(Question from LitLovers)
To me this quote means leaving the world better than how you found it one little act at a time.
The small thing that stands out in my mind is when Ruth takes Kennedy out shopping to have her give a living experience of what it means to be a POC in a shop. It was eye opening. When Kennedy then says "I get it", Ruth says "you've only just started to get what it's like". Really amazing

9. Have your opinions of any of the 3 main characters (Ruth, Turk or Kennedy) changed so far? Is there one you can relate to more than the others?
I'm starting to like Kennedy more. My opinions of the others haven't changed much yet.

10. Any predictions for the end of the novel?
I think Ruth will get off...oh I really hope she does! I can't believe I have almost finished this book! I will be sad to see it finish. I'm glad to see that this is #1, hopefully meaning that there are more to follow

Stage 1: Early labor and Stage 1: active labor
12 and 13 Dec.

1) We get to know our main players in these chapters: Ruth (the African-American nurse), Turk (the white supremacist father of Davis) and Kennedy (the white public defender). What are your initial impressions of them?

I really like Ruth. She sounds like someone who I'd like to hang out with. I have a total bias to nurses though, I think they are unsung heroes of the medical world.
Kennedy sounds a bit full of herself to me at the moment
Turk got my backhairs standing on end, but I do feel some empathy towards his experience of losing his child.

2) Despite his views, do you have empathy or compassion for Turk? Discuss why or why not.
How can I not, he lost a child. I can't understand his deep rooted extremism, but I felt so sad for him and his wife losing their child.

3) Discuss your view on Ruth's nurse manager's stance to grant the parents' wish for Ruth not to be allowed to touch their child Davis.
It feels like total bum covering to me. I understand why she felt she had to, she didn't expect it to end the way it did. By posting it as POC not to touch (even if that's only Ruth) makes it sound like she was trying to make it not about Ruth.

4) Discuss your view and/or understanding of the sibling relationship between Ruth and Adisa.
I can feel the conflict between being honest to your history and wanting the best for your child. What a rough choice when choosing the best for your child means that they are a minority, how sad!

5) What are your views on this book coming out at a time when in America race and minority rights are topics of heated discussion and demonstrations following President-elect Trump's election victory?
I'm in Australia so I can only talk about this from what has been broadcast here. However, I feel it is very appropriate. To me the USA looks in a racial turmoil right now and people of colour are standing up for who they are, for their rights and it's making a lot of people very uncomfortable.

Question: Anyone else here not from the USA who didn't get all the terms (eg derogatory terms and terms for pensions, etc)? I'm in Australia and I have quickly learnt not to look up some of the words out of fear people using my computer might think I use those words or am like Turk.

Chava wrote: "Questions for Stage 1: Early labor and Stage 1: active labor
12 and 13 Dec.

1) We get to know our main players in these chapters: Ruth (the African-American nurse), Turk (the white supremacist fat..."

Disclaimer, I am Australian so please excuse my ignorance if I have used culturally inappropriate terms

Questions for Stage 1: Early labor and Stage 1: active labor
12 and 13 Dec.

1) We get to know our main players in these chapters: Ruth (the African-American nurse), Turk (the white supremacist father of Davis) and Kennedy (the white public defender). What are your initial impressions of them?

2) Despite his views, do you have empathy or compassion for Turk? Discuss why or why not.

3) Discuss your view on Ruth's nurse manager's stance to grant the parents' wish for Ruth not to be allowed to touch their child Davis.

4) Discuss your view and/or understanding of the sibling relationship between Ruth and Adisa.

5) What are your views on this book coming out at a time when in America race and minority rights are topics of heated discussion and demonstrations following President-elect Trump's election victory?

I am happy to take day 1. As I was the one nominating this book, I feel I have to contribute too :). Waiting for the mods nod :)

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. Life is hellish for all the slaves but especially bad for Cora; an outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is coming into womanhood - where even greater pain awaits. When Caesar, a recent arrival from Virginia, tells her about the Underground Railroad, they decide to take a terrifying risk and escape. Matters do not go as planned and, though they manage to find a station and head north, they are being hunted.

In Whitehead's ingenious conception, the Underground Railroad is no mere metaphor - engineers and conductors operate a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil. Cora and Caesar's first stop is South Carolina, in a city that initially seems like a haven - but the city's placid surface masks an insidious scheme designed for its black denizens. Even worse: Ridgeway, the relentless slave catcher, is close on their heels. Forced to flee again, Cora embarks on a harrowing flight, state by state, seeking true freedom.

As Whitehead brilliantly re-creates the unique terrors for black people in the pre-Civil War era, his narrative seamlessly weaves the saga of America from the brutal importation of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day. The Underground Railroad is at once a kinetic adventure tale of one woman's ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage and a shattering, powerful meditation on the history we all share.