Ashlee’s Comments (group member since May 10, 2016)

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

DQ Day 3: Ch. 11-13

11. Do you think the author has been able to give Bess and Alexandra individual voices? Do you like books with multiple points of view?
I wish more of Bess's voice would have been mixed in once she moved into Alexandra's home. I would have liked to hear her thoughts as she was being the nursemaid.

12. What do you think ‘Eliza’ and Agnes were talking about in the kitchen? Do you think either Agnes or Maria know that Charlotte came from the Foundling home?
I think 'Eliza' was probably just talking to Agnes about wanting to look for her daughter. Alexandra seems extremely secretive, so I do not think Agnes or Maria know about Charlotte.


13. I think that Alexandra will get much worse re her fears of the outside after the mask prank. Do you think her thoughts about ‘Eliza’ will suffer because of it?
At this point, Dr. Mead has seemed to take all of the blame. I think she needs Eliza right now because she is not capable of watching over Charlotte.

14. Do you believe that Dr. Mead was telling the truth about not knowing about what happened to Alexandra’s parents? Why has he lied about who ‘Eliza’ is?
...maybe he truly didn't/doesn't know.

DQ Day 2: Ch. 6-10

6. Were you surprised to find out Daniel had a wife? I personally was super surprised as I originally believed him when he said he was single. What do you think of the way Daniel died?
I was not surprised to find out that Daniel had a wife. It seemed that at this time, it is well-known that men went elsewhere when their wives couldn't give them what they needed.

7. How do you think Alexandra Callard knew about Bess and her daughter?
This is still a mystery to me.

8. What do you think of the way Alexandra and Charlotte live? Do you think Alexandra keeps Charlotte home to stop her from being recognized or because she is truly scared of the real world?
At first, I felt that she was keeping Charlotte locked in the house to keep her from being recognized. However, now that I have read a bit more, I think that something is going to come out about Alexandra's past that has caused a bit of PTSD.

9. "Eliza" has been fired on her first day. What do you think of Alexandra's reasoning for firing her? Do you think part of Alexandra knows that she is Charlotte's real mom?
I'm not sure that she knows that "Eliza" is Charlotte's mom, I think she just doesn't like the idea of someone being close with her daughter.

10. Do you think Bess will find a way to still see her daughter? How?
I think that now that Bess knows Charlotte is her daughter, she will do everything she can to get her back. I think that the Dr. is going to help her. I'm curious to see how the whole thing transpired with Alexandra getting Charlotte.

Just checking in...

I'm still over here sneaking in some reading during some crazy busy weeks.

Looking at my TBR, I have a book for:
43. Repeated 4+ letter word in title Never Never
200. Title has an exclamation mark in it Gotcha! (I won't get to this until I am done teaching for the summer. So if someone gets to the task before me, that is fine.)

Sophie wrote: "Fair enough Maritza. Hope you enjoy them all!

BOM participation really makes a difference in the final rankings - teams who get more involved tend to do better.

The June BOMs have just been annou..."

Oooo...great to know. I added Firekeeper's Daughter to one of the tasks at the beginning of the challenge. I'll wait to get started on it .

Day 1

1. How are you liking the writing style ? Are you enjoying the story so far?

So far, I am really enjoying this book. I am intrigued by the events, as historical fiction is not usually a go to for me.

2. After reading that opening scene, what do you think of the practice of the Hospital taking babies based on a lottery (the coloured balls in the bag) ?

My heart was breaking during this scene because you almost know that the babies who aren't "chosen" won't get to experience a good life, if one at all.

3. At some point Bess says that "knowing she [Clara] could be anywhere instead of nowhere at all was torture even more exquisite." Implying that not knowing where her child is is worse than knowing she's dead. What's your opinion ? Or would you rather not know ?

I do think that not knowing where your child is would be worse. If she knew that Clara was dead, she would be able to properly grieve. As it is, she just has to walk through life wondering if every 6 year old little girl that she passes is her Clara.

4. What do you make of the child's father, Daniel Callard ? Everyone keeps asking Bess if he's really dead. Do you suspect there's more to Daniel than we've been told so far ?

Hmm...I hadn't actually thought much about him. Now that this question has been posed, I am wondering if he is still out there somewhere.

5. Time for your theories ! Who do you think claimed Clara on the 28th of November 1747, the day after Bess gave up her baby ?

My initial thought is that Abe had someone claim the baby. After all, he is the only one that knew, within the first day, what Bess had given as her token.

I have finished my first read .

I have started , and I will be starting today.

Maritza wrote: "How do I get access to ss, mine is view only."

You should be able to edit the SS that is in Message 4.

I am really good at planning out what I am going to read, but also really good at veering off that path. :P

I'm also going to be starting with , along with .

I do plan to read all 3 BOMs during May.

Sophie wrote: "How's everyone doing today? Just over a week until the fun kicks off!

My son (3) needed new jumpers so I went into a local shop - all they had in the boys section was either camo or had large bran..."

Finishing up my last read for UNO. I'm excited to get started on Towers, I'm kind of in a reading slump right now.

Discworld does not fall into something that I would normally pick up, but I did purchase Book #1 to try it out. Has anyone read the series? What are your thoughts?

Bernadette wrote: "@Ashlee and @Carlie - I see you are both from Pennsylvania too 😀
Where do you live? I'm in Media - about 10 miles outside Philadelphia."

I'm in Latrobe, home of Mr. Rogers. :)
It's about an hour east of Pittsburgh.

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

Hi Team,

I'm Ashlee from Pennsylvania (USA). I am a middle school special education reading teacher. I only wish I could get my students to love reading as much as I do. :)

I'm excited to get started on this challenge. It is one of my favorites!

I just updated the spreadsheet. I don't think that I will manage to finish anything else in time.

This was a great challenge! Thanks to our wonderful captains for all of your work.

Shannon wrote: "Ashlee wrote: "I just added my final 2 to the current spreadsheet"

Can you add 12th of Never to your "wheel v" list? Im not seeing it listed on there"

I can't believe I was so stupid! I accidentally put it on my Tower v shelf instead of my Wheel v shelf. It's fixed, but I guess it's probably too late.

And...I forced myself to finish that terrible book!

I just added my final 2 to the current spreadsheet

I have finished 1 and will finish the other by 2 or 3 PM (EST) today.

I am in a HUGE reading slump. I'm not enjoying anything that I am currently reading. I will know by this evening what I will be able to finish by Friday.

*off to read the day away*

Keli wrote: "Since we've got Asia as a tag again I'll recommend some of those that I've read Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. It's harrowing and heartbreaking at times. But so int..."

Yes! I am so glad someone else felt the same way about Life of Pi. I thought I would never finish that first part.

Just adding my last one now. :)

Day 3: Chapters 15-18

12. In chapter 16 we see Justyce have dinner with Manny's parents to commemorate Garret Tison's indictment. What do you think of Justyce being invited over and what they talk about? Did you have any thoughts about Manny's parents giving Justyce the watch and his reaction to it?

I think this whole situation just shows how much the people of this community respected Justyce. They all realized that his mother was giving her all to give him the best life possible, which meant that she wasn't always available for him. For this reason, the Rivers Family (and the Friedmen's) took him under their wing. By giving him the watch, they showed him that he would always be their "son".


13. Justyce sees Quan at the Fulton Regional Youth Detention Centre and a lot is said between them. What do you make of Quan's upbringing and his view on life now? Is there anything that stands out between what is said between them? Quan not saying that he killed the cop or the advice that he gives to Justyce? Do you think that Quan's advice will have a positive or negative effect on Justyce?

I think Justyce is going to remain true to his values. I don't see that Quan's advice will impact him much.

14. We see a few media releases in this part:
"Transcript from evening news... More on this story as it continues to develop"
"Tison Indictment... A trial date has yet to be announced."
The news report in chapter 18 with the photo released of Justyce in his Thug Life costume.

We also see the reporters mobbing the funeral party at Manny's funeral:
"Mr. McAllister, how's it feel to be the Boy Who Survived?
Justyce, do you think there will be justice?
What's it like knowing it could've been YOU in that casket?"

What do you think of the coverage of the event by the media? Are they siding with the police officer more than Justyce? Are they reporting the story correctly or making things worse? Do you think the author's portrayal of the media is similar to real life? Will the media ruin his chance at going to Yale?
I for one do not like the reporters at the funeral and that last question is especially nasty.

They are absolutely siding with law enforcement. I mean, who with any sort of conscience, asks these questions at a funeral?! Much less, asking them of a teenager. This part had me infuriated.

15. Chapter 18 goes through a lot. We see Justyace spending time with Doc to avoid making the call to Trey and the gang and isn't writing to Martin anymore SJ speaking to him again and she apologises. She also calls Jarod about the release of the photo. What are your thoughts on all these and the character development of the teens?

I enjoyed how Stone allowed the characters to change overtime. I think Jared is realizing the mistakes he has made. Hopefully, the others will follow in his path. SJ will forever remain steadfast in her pursuit to find equality for Justyce.