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

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

Let's gooooooooooooooooooo! :D

Make that 30!!!

*breathes heavily*
*starts dancing in excitement*

AAAAAAHHHH! Can't wait! :D

Yoohoo! :D

I'm Apoorv and I'm excited!
Wheelathon is bae and I love doing this every time it comes around - this year looks like an adrenaline rush of 5 weeks (which coincided perfectly with a mad rush at work, so yaay me :/ :P). But, we have such an awesome team assembled here and Sonia and Lisa are absolute masterful captains, so we are in super safe hands. I'll be around to answer all the easy questions, of course! :P

I currently live in Boston, Massachusetts in The United States and I try and read across genres but specifically queer-themed literature along with Thrillers, Horror, Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction always make me take notice.

Space Opera is going to be an interest genre to delve into - so the search for finding the best book in the genre commences! Best part of this challenge! Apart from being in the same team as all of you, of course! :P

I can't wait to get started. As I mentioned, work is going to kick my butt, but I know this challenge and this team will keep me going - so thank you in advance and let's gooooooo! :D

What an eventful three months this has been!
We read 656 books and raked up 28962 points. Those are huge numbers, if you ask me! Thank you to every single one of you for being such outstanding team players, for always bringing in the enthusiasm, and the will be read beyond your comfort zones at times. Appreciate it all.

I am sure in the aisles of GoodReads, we will bump into each other fairly often - but thank you for making the last three months a joy! I am taking home waaaay too many book recommendations based on all your reads. :P

Just a little over 3 hours to go for the end of the challenge.
https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown...

If you have any last minute books that you complete, between now and then - please mark them on the spreadsheet so we can capture those points. We are very close to the teams before and after us and may easily bump the one on top.

Excellent job so far!

Both the tragedy and comedy stories are concocted. LOL!
Let me know if they make any sense whatsoever - I totally had fun with it. :P

Jhmingos wrote: "Do we still get points for any book titles that are under Thalia and
Melpomene even if they are not used in the actual stories? Since there are a lot of spots left for those sections, we can still..."

I am working on creating stories out of the pending titles, hence those slots are empty. Will start putting books in as the titles gets used.

We have a lot of unused books, so hopefully some story can be concocted. :)

We are in the very last stretch of the competition! Exciiiiting!
Here is the countdown: https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown...

LaurLa wrote: "My last finished book isn't worth many points and I know we're getting close to the end and have to think about the Challenge Cap - Are we getting close? Should I only think about posting books now..."

We are doing fine with the Challenge Gap. I would suggest posting whatever books you have read and if we do overshoot where it starts affecting our score, we can always select the bigger books so we cash in more points.

Diane ~Firefly~ wrote: "Captains - I'm starting a book 9 in series that will work for Urania if you change ordering and have the first group go through 9 and the second through 7."

Awesome! Moved things around - we now have a series of 9 and a series of 7!

Team Helen - Discussion Questions
DQs Day 3

10) What did you think of Pasiphae’s response to the death of her son, the Minotaur?
I think it made absolute sense given how inexorably shackled she was emotionally up until that point. She may sob over the death of her child, but she wept over the all that happened to her to get to that point - it seemed like an amalgamation of all her emotions, mistakes, victories, pains that broke it over all those years. Kinda glad she got that moment.

11) Dionysus makes quite the entrance, doesn’t he? What are your thoughts on him and the interaction between him and Ariadne?
He certainly did and in my interpretative visions he definitely seemed to be quite the "Greek God" :P
Ariadne, on the other hand, is at that stage where after just doesn't trust anyone - so her guarded attitude does make sense even when it is a little sad.

12) Phaedra comes into her own in Athens. What do you think of her in her new life?
I do think her calculatedness is a perfect foil to Ariadne's naivete - so maybe she would sustain Theseus' dounchey behaviour in a much better way and manage to make her mark in Athens - though it probably won't be as easy as it may seam and something will give before it takes a turn for the better (if it ever does, no idea about her future from the myths).

13) We see many examples of the gods playing with mortals in this story; Pasiphae with the bull. King Midas and his golden touch, Hera causing Semele to burn. what do you think it would be like to live in a world where gods existed and interacted with humans?
As an agnostic person, my opinions on this might not hold too much water. But, it would be interesting none the less to see how someone with a slightly elevated sense of power can work with mere mortals who would care about getting their daily bread and butter, especially if the Gods are not going to make surviving any better than it is presently.

14) Do you think the sisters will find out the truth about one another? If so, any predictions on what will happen?
I do hope that they do because it did seem like they missed each others' presence, and Athens seems to be the right place for that interaction as they see Theseus go down.

Team Helen - Discussion Questions
DQs Day 2

5. Have you heard of Theseus before? What do you think of his backstory, does it compare with other well-known Greek heroes like Hercules and Achilles? Do you think it fits his humble and collected demeanor in the previous chapter?
I had not heard of Theseus before, so I had to take his story at its face value and believe what was being told. Having said that, I haven't heard of any Greek God really being all virtues, so I knew something was afoot - and well that came to the fore very shortly.

6. I don’t know about you, but “insta-love” stories royally annoy me. Ariadne spends a significant part of these chapters reveling in her undying and world-changing love and devotion to someone she just met. Do you think this is realistic, or just a cheap plot ploy from the author?
Oh my goodness, insta-love stories is one of my biggest pet peeves - give me a slow burn anyday. These overnight overhauls to feelings just don't sit well with me. But, I presume that is what happened, or as is considered as the truth - so maybe it did track well.

7. Why do you think Theseus left Ariadne on the island with no heads up whatsoever? How do you feel about her thoughts and actions, as she processes this new reality?
Maybe because he is an assface man or maybe because he got what he wanted and she served her purpose in his books or maybe he wanted to go out on his own and prove his worth and mettle of having defeated the Minotaur to the world. Ariadne is being a pricey princess but then I did not expect much from her either. Atleast she has no one to disturb her on Naxos as she comes to term with this, so maybe she will be more rational and reasonable about this.

8. During the "great escape", Phaedra is left behind - do you think it was by accident, or purposefully (and if so, why)? Do you think it was wise of her to return to the Palace?
That was absolutely on purpose. Maybe he always wanted to leave Ariadne on Naxos, so having Phaedra in toe would have just been a thorn in his plan.

9. A common theme in Greek mythology is the linear progression of Fate - from Hubris (thinking and acting as if one is a God), to Atis (blindness of one’s puny nature, leading the mortal to commit an unforgivable or insulting act), to Nemesis (the anger and revenge of the Gods), and finally Tisis (the mortal’s punishment). Where have you noticed this process so far? Where do you think Nemesis will strike next?
Not very sure since I am still figuring out all these Godly details - but they are going to reap what they sowed in some capacity (or so I hope).

Team Helen - Discussion Questions
DQs Day 1

1. Excited about the book, or just here for the points? Were you familiar with the myths behind the story before starting this book?
Picked it up only for the points. I had no clue about who Ariadne was or of any of the characters introduced so far. I did a fairly thorough internet read through about what Ariadne's life is about and went into a internet wormhole clicking on associated relevant links, before I started the book, just so that I am not completely lost.

2. "Let me tell you a story..." I don't know about you, but I love opening lines like that. Do you have a favourite opening line? Have you ever bought a book on the strength of the opening line alone? (I have!)
I actually have never done that. I hear so many folks rave over the first lines of books, I feel so left out because, for some reason, that never seems to attract me much. I do appreciate a great start, but that rarely ever is a deciding factor for me when it comes to books.

3. Asterion: The early years. I bet no-one was fooled by the few paragraphs of almost sweet baby and toddler descriptions: This was always going to end with a monster in a maze of course.
But do you think it served well as a way to establish Ariadne's character?
Since I had zero background knowledge about this myth, I was actually more attracted towards how the Minotaur came about and its backstory and the absolute douchey nature of Minos and Poseidon, but I see what you mean as to how Ariadne's character comes through that.

4. What do you think of the writing so far? There's a lot of description and narration and very little dialogue, which tries in with the idea that Ariadne is telling the story to the reader. It allows for a lot more depth and detail than more dialogue-heavy storytelling does. Is that a style you enjoy, or do you prefer the faster pace of a book that is more about character interaction?
I am personally not a fan of this tell-not-show kind of storytelling, primarily because I perceive it as a cop out by authors who use the assist of flowery language to elaborate something that could be easily explained through scenes. It works only in certain genres and only in the hands of authors who have a command over their pen - here, it has been okay so far for me. I was a little detached from the proceedings in the beginning, but I am slowly getting sucked into the tale - so hopefully it will continue to work.

Okay! Re-read the rules, moved stuff around and now we should be good for Polyhymnia!

We have one complete square and two squares 3/4 complete.
So, we just need two books to close that out
- Starts with E, ends with E
- Starts with L, ends with E

Look into our July Mini tab in the tracking sheet for a visual representation. Holler if you think something doesn't make sense (so I can go bang my head against the wall... again! :P)

Diane ~Firefly~ wrote: "Apoorv wrote: "Apoorv wrote: "Jhmingos wrote: "For the Polyhymnia task, we're supposed to use the first and last letters of the book title. If the title starts with an article such as "The" are we ..."

You know what, Diane! You are totally correct!
I did get a bit way too excited thinking I got all the pieces. :P

I put them all in the square I created in our tracking sheet under the mini challenge and realized I flipped one book.

https://ibb.co/mhG6Nst

So, ideally we need a book that starts with an E and ends in an L. (the one I selected was the other way!)

Apoorv wrote: "Jhmingos wrote: "For the Polyhymnia task, we're supposed to use the first and last letters of the book title. If the title starts with an article such as "The" are we allowed to use the next word o..."

Yaay! Was able to shuffle things around and get our first Polyhymnia square done. Quite fun, I must say! :D

Jhmingos wrote: "For the Polyhymnia task, we're supposed to use the first and last letters of the book title. If the title starts with an article such as "The" are we allowed to use the next word or does it have to..."

The articles are optional.
It is tricky - because a lot of the books end with S or E.

Current open books:
T / P -> S
A / C -> R
A -> O

@Diane, you could very well be right.

I was just interpreting it as a literal "and" for each book - the way it is worded, for example "fish and chips (with vinegar)" makes me think we need both components in one go. Dropped in a question with the Mods - let's see what they say!

EDIT: We are all good! We just need a mix of food and drinks across all 12 books in Terpsichore. :)

Judy wrote: "I've had some surprising news at work today that mean regardless of what happens tomorrow I'll be busy until Friday at least... it's a good thing in many ways but not for my reading 🙈"

Glad to hear that it is a professional good news! Congratulations, Judy! :) Way to go!
Don't worry about the challenge - we got you covered!

Diane ~Firefly~ wrote: "Completion Post

finished: 7/15/22 (around 10ish US CT)
pgs: 326

mini: Terpsichore
food in text, loc 77
"I handed platters of chocolate-chip-peanut-butter bar..."

Hey Diane, Terpsichore asks for food AND drink items.
Can you list a drink item here from the book if any?