Apoorv ’s Comments (group member since Mar 26, 2014)

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

Both spreadsheets should now be updated till here.

Lauri wrote: "Completion post!
Bless Me, Ultima
Rudolfo Anaya
Finished 6/14/21
Page count: 290
Fits task #96 - Coming of age
How it fits: Antonio grows up, starts school, learns the he..."

Added. And #117 is now yours! :)

Lauri wrote: "Apoorv wrote: "Would BINGO square D6 work? Chess was integral in the book. It was a game Nina always played with her school librarian & guide to the Midnight Library"

That totally works! Thanks for digging up the connection, Lauri. :)

Lauri wrote: "Completion post!
As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust
Alan Bradley
Finished 6/10/21
Page count: 392
Fits task #204 - #7 in series. It's #7 in the Flavia DeLuce series
..."

You got it! Added to the spreadsheet! :)
And you have task #124.

BakaRena wrote: "Hello, I do think I have it added. Please tell me if the problem hasn't disappeared."

Yup, you're good! :)
Thanks for adding it in.

Jade,

Just checking if you have finished Christmas at Holiday House since the spreadsheet says checks it as done. If you have, can you add a read date to your read when you get a quick second? Thanks! :)

Lauri wrote: "Hi gang! How is everyone doing? I was just checking the spreadsheet & I had previously claimed task #136 - MPG Witches. Now it's blank again! Could someone please put me back in? I'm reading "

You got it, Lauri!
While we are at it, can you check if The Midnight Library that you read fit into any of the open tasks or BINGO cards? Thanks!

DQ Day 3
Chapters 21 to 33

11. For someone claiming and trying to be body positive about herself, Willowdean sure isn't giving anyone else any slack. Her description of Hannah, like with others, was just mean. Do you think the author is projecting Willowdean's insecurities on how she sees herself onto others?
I'm just not a fan of Willowdean, to put it mildly. And I really don't think it is a projection of her insecurities because she assumes people's intentions and actions even outside the body-shaming aspect. She is just extremely immature and I wish I found something to root for her (apart from her owning her own body).

12. What did you think about the incident Patrick kneed in the balls incident? He didn't seem like Mitch's best friend saying that (honestly, maybe Patrick and Willowdean should date). What did you think about her mom's reaction and the resulting blow up between mom & daughter?
Another example of how lack of communication in these characters. Patrick was an ass and he sure deserved that for being a bully, but Will and her mom really need to talk and talk about things at a much deeper level. They both can have their point of views which may make sense to them, but at this point it just seems like one is stuck on their opinion because they are only looking at the other's from their angle, which never really yields anything positive.

13. Did anyone else want to high five Ellen for calling out Willowdean on her crap? What did you think of their argument? Do you think the rift will be repaired? If so, do you think a Dolly Parton sing-along (thanks Cat) will be part of their healing process?
Oh totally. Someone needed to show Will that she was being an ass. And it always stings when a person close to you shows the mirror. So, Ellen doing it was perfect. And ofcourse they will come back together towards the end of the book because typical.

14. Based on the blurb, Millie's attitude and pep talk while at the restaurant is what I would of expected from Williowdean. What do you think of these girls deciding to enter the pageant? What did you think of Millie's pep talk?
Millie has so much more gravitas to her than Will. Its no surprise that the next book is from her perspective. But, this is just another example where Will didn't really do what was needed and expected stuff from others. Millie though was solid!

15. Thoughts on Mitch? Where do you think his and Willowdean's relationship will go? Do you think she'll crush his poor soft heart?
Another person that Will was horrible to (gosh, this list just gets longer). Mitch was nice, simple, mature, and understanding. He had his eyes open the whole time. Knew his boundaries, knew the other person's boundaries and just was a nice guy. But of course, why would Will like nice people who are nice to her?

DQ for Day 2
Chapters 11-20


6. Picking up on the previous grief question to turn it around towards Willowdean and her mother. Will seems to think (I'm paraphrasing here) that her mother is a heartless cow and wants to use Lucy's room all to herself without any consideration whatsoever for anyone else. I can't help but wonder though if the mother isn't somehow trying to be close to Lucy - her own sister - by setting up a craft room in Lucy's space. Everyone deals with grief in their own way, and while yes, I agree with her (unlike Will) that the dusty old things will eventually need to go, I feel like she's trying to find a way to cope at the same time.
We can't really compare grief, so it is unfair to say that Will feels more grief than her mother. But, I am sure this is just Will's mother's way to cope with her sister's loss. Some people manifest grief outwardly, some dig deep within and store it there.

7. Will and Bo. Thoughts? More particularly, Will's reaction to finding out that Bo will start going to the same school?
Just not a fan of that relationship. It just seems (apart from being a stereotypical YA relationship) very immature. This whole "let's not talk about it" plot always gets to me, and boy Will was so douchy there.

8. The more I read, the more I wonder how Ellen and Will are (still) friends with the way they talk to each other. According to Will, they are drifting apart because Ellen is having sex and because of Callie (she doesn't quite say it but it is definitely there). Their interactions however do make me wonder, a lot. I feel like they're friends more because it's a habit than anything else. They're both dependent on each other - Will because she doesn't seem to have other friends and can't stay in the pool alone? Ellen because she needs a back-up when she goes to pick up her pay check?) What do you make of their friendship now that we know more. Irreparable rift? Habit? Undying friendship?
Another immature relationship! And all of this was just so on the cards. It is great that they were there for each other since childhood, but they were bound of go their own way and then things to fall apart given how inter-dependent they were. None of it was healthy. But as these books go, they will reconcile at the end and everything will be as it were (which would make no sense).

9. And this inevitably brings me to Will's interactions with Callie. It seems like Callie is at least trying, even though there is the fat-girl-issue, but she isn't completely ignoring Will, unlike Will herself, who barely manages to be civil to the girl. Sure, I completely understand the jealousy of thinking that someone is stealing your (best) friend from you, but it isn't helping Will's case that she is basically being a douche to the girl.
Precisely why I am not a fan of Will's. She makes things difficult for herself by imagining situations or inserting herself where she doesnt need to be. Ofcourse, Callie is supposed to be that typical snooty girl in the school, but Will could have handled all of it so well.

10. Did anyone else have that moment of "oh shit, something really terrible is going to happen on the date" when Ellen and Tim tell Will that Patrick Thomas is Mitch's best friend. Or is it just me who thinks that there is a very obvious lack of mobbing and finger-pointing? Not that this is a bad thing, on the contrary! Though I do find it odd since Will has A LOT of issues and basically hates people who are not Ellen (and Bo).
You said it! Patrick was an ass, no doubt! But, apart from him we don't really see people being bad to Will for her to put them in the hate boxes so often. There is a lot that she needs to re-think about before she goes about finger-pointing at others.

Just so everyone knows. There is a Fourth BOM for June in the NBRC backroom. It is Prickly Business and starts on the 9th. If you are interested you'll need to join the backroom for the BOM discussion."

Added all the BOMs for June in the BOM tab in our tracking sheet for ease of reference.

DQs Day 1
Chaps 1 - 10

1. What do you think of Willowdean? Does she feel like a sufficiently real person?
So far, she seems like one of the hundreds of teenagers you come across in YA books, so maybe real?. She has a sunny disposition which is lovely, but haven't quite gotten anything other than the routine YA teenage angsty moments so far.

2. What you you think about her relationship with Ellen? They are starting to keep secrets from each other now - do you think that this is the start of a drifting apart or will they stay close?
Yeah, that! It is going to be a major point of contention for Willowdean down the line. There is a bit of tell than show there about their friendship so far. And it somehow feels more from Willowdean's side than Ellen's.

3. Bo is interesting - the opposite of Will in terms of being reserved in comparison to her chattiness, but with something lurking in his backstory. Do you want to have a guess at what's up with him? Would anyone NOT have done the same as Will and followed him to the abandoned school in the hopes of more making out?!
The silent, quite type boys have always been something I have been attracted to. So, Bo fits that well. But I have a feeling he is going to do something douchy that is going to hurt Willowdean and then she will probably go on a 'love thy self' journey.
Would I have followed him? No! Even as a teenager, knowing that it isn't smart to do something like this when you barely know the person.

4. Will claims ownership of "fat" when she introduces herself to Bo. How successful do you think she is in her aim to stop it from being an insult?
That was a powerful moment. Many times bully's or abusers feed off of the shame that we may feel internally about something about us. By owning her truth, Will certainly lets people know directly or indirectly that you can get to her by talking about her obesity.

5. Lucy has clearly been a big influence in both Will and Ellen's lives, and yet they haven't been talking about her at all since her death. Do you think this is a normal reaction to a sudden death? Would you be like Will's mother, and get rid of everything, or keep it?
There is a lot of baggage there. It definitely is a story I would love to hear, because Lucy seems like that adult figure in Will's like that probably her mother couldn't be and her demise definitely took its toll on her. While I went back a couple of times before knowing who Lucy really was everything they mentioned her (assuming I missed some introduction to that character), I do think it has been a nice slow-burn into her role in all their lives. Hopefully it pans out just as well.

I am so sorry for being MIA through May. Work has not behaved itself and it was not a fun reading month either. Ugh! Hate when real life does its thing.

Hopefully June is slightly better (happy pride month, yaay!) and I can get working on the spreadsheet to help out.

Apologies again!
Thanks Annalisa for keeping the ship afloat. You rock!

Becky wrote: "It looks like a lot of the completions in this thread haven't made it onto the spreadsheet yet. I'm not sure who is supposed to be doing that. I don't mind working on it this evening, I just don't ..."

It's been a rather mad month workwise unfortunately so far, so I haven't gotten around to keeping things updated, but if Nikk and/or Annalisa don't get to it in the next day or two, I can look through all our posts and update everything.

No book will go waste! Haha! :)

Quick Suggestion!

While we are choosing books for specific tasks, I think it might also be worthwhile to sort of mention if that particular book (as you may find during the reading) works for any other 'relatively difficult' tasks/Bingo/Jackanory elements as well, so that we can move books around if needed.

Yoo-Hoo!!


Angua von Uberwald hopes you are doing well.
Need some recommendations, you say?
Well, here you go!

We would also love for you to drop in our team thread, when you want to take a breather!

... and I'm off!

Yoo-Hoo!!


Angua von Uberwald hopes you are doing well.
Need some recommendations, you say?
Well, here you go!

We would also love for you to drop in our team thread, when you want to take a breather!

... and I'm off!

Yoo-Hoo!!


Angua von Uberwald hopes you are doing well.
Need some recommendations, you say?
Well, here you go!

We would also love for you to drop in our team thread, when you want to take a breather!

... and I'm off!

Yoo-Hoo!!


Angua von Uberwald hopes you are doing well.
Need some recommendations, you say?
Well, here you go!

We would also love for you to drop in our team thread, when you want to take a breather!

... and I'm off!

Yoo-Hoo!!


Angua von Uberwald hopes you are doing well.
Need some recommendations, you say?
Well, here you go!

We would also love for you to drop in our team thread, when you want to take a breather!

... and I'm off!

Yoo-Hoo!!


Angua von Uberwald hopes you are doing well.
Need some recommendations, you say?
Well, here you go!

We would also love for you to drop in our team thread, when you want to take a breather!

... and I'm off!