Keli’s Comments (group member since Jun 23, 2016)

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

Do we still need some Us? I'm fine with an extension.

Completion Post

Book: A Confederacy of Dunces
Author: John Kennedy Toole
Date Read: 08/07/18
Rating: ★★★★
Spell Letters: I, R, S, B, M, L, J, G, D, C, T, W
Ignatius Reilly, Santa Battagli, Manuelo, Lana, Jones, Darlene, Claude, Trixie, Watson

Shelby wrote: "FYI - Just found a quick U read on my list that I'm going to knock out tonight. That'll make 3 complete with Jane's 2, and if we shifted things around we already have 2 more used in Classes that co..."

I can't really keep up with everything buy I read City of Light, which is currently down for a C in spells, has several prophecies in it. One of the characters is a seer. The impetus for the story is because of one of her prophetic dreams.

Will a cherry work for a berry? How picky are the mods?
The only book I have immediate access to that is a cozy mystery with a berry on it is another Hannah Swensen one and I'd honestly rather not. It took everything I had to read that book.

So I just read a dreadful cozy mystery for boomberry juice without realising that the cozy mystery cover needed berries on it! Ugh, 5 hours of my life I'm not getting back. 😔I noticed that we still need a book with Fire. I read Firelight back in May which were currently using in a spell. Why not move Firelight to the fire vacancy and put this pile o' tripe in there for the "k" as there is a character called Mike Kingston. Just a thought.

Completion Post

Book: Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder
Author: Joanne Fluke
Date Read: 05/07/18
Rating: ★
Page Count: 336

Completion Post

Book: Blood of the Earth
Author: Faith Hunter
Date Read: 04/07/18
Rating: ★★★★
Page Count: 358
Spell letters: B, F, H, N, I, R, L, O, P, T, J, E, A, S, M (Faith Hunter, Nell Ingram, Rick Lafleur, Occam, Paka, Tandy, Jojo, Sister Erasmus, Elder Alden, Sam & Mud)

Just an fyi, as I couldn't change it on the spreadsheet. You've got me marked down for Hetty's Farmhouse Bakery and I believe that was read by Kelly.

I'll read a cozy mystery tonight.

Question Set 4
18. Do you think this novel is correctly marketed as Adult Fantasy, or was it more YA for you?
I think adult is right. Though, I think YA would've worked too. The themes of friendship, trust, self-reliance & honesty seem to be throughout life, so can be applied to either marketing bracket. Personally, I don't put too much stock in them, it just seems like a way to sell more books as opposed to meaning something to a reader. Looking for Alaska would've, back in the day, been called a "coming of age" story and sold as fiction but now it's YA and marketed to teens. Though it's a timeless story about first love, loss, mental illness, etc., that's relevant interesting and meaningful at all ages. I blame HP, it changed marketing in a really big way. The marketers realised there was this massive group they've not been making money from. And I'm not saying this cynically, cos young peeps reading is great but I don't see much of a difference.
19. In regards to the Convent and the structures of Power, Mark Lawrence said "I always invent as I go. My only research was to Google for a nice map of an abbey and take inspiration from the labels, such as “cloister”, “scriptorium”, “refectory” etc. How did the setting feel to you? Could you picture it?
I always have a hard time picturing things, even with added diagrams or maps.
20. Mark Lawrene finished the trilogy before this first book was published. Do you like it when authors do this (e.g. Michael J Sullivan), or do you prefer for them to wait to receive feedback from readers and changing things as they go?
I don't care how he writes it but I think it's pretty dumb to make readers wait for a book if you've already got it ready to go. Again, it comes back to money. If Red Sister had flopped would the others still get published? Now, I'm being cynical.
21. What are your overall feelings on the novel? Will you read the next in the series?
It's not my fave of his novels. I hated that whole "let's not tell anyone what's happening for fear of getting in trouble but let's totally stuff someone in a wine barrell" malarkey but I will keep reading.

Annalisa wrote: "Discussion Questions SET 3: chapters 21-34

12) I was thinking about the sisters' names, and how they all have a surface meaning, and a deeper meaning, like Abbess Glass: clear, lets light through,..."

I'm with you on All Quiet on the Western Front that book and Where the Red Fern Grows still haunt me to this day. Never Let Me Go is a new addition to that special part of my soul.

Teri wrote: "Nicole wrote: "Keli wrote: "Discussion Questions SET 3: chapters 21-34

I got really frustrated around this section and had to force myself to read. I hate it when characters do something so stupid..."

I read your comparison to HP and it is very similar, so I don't know why this one frustrated me in a way HP didn't. Maybe in HP it didn't seem so serious, so life & death. The world that Rowling built was one of wonder and cruelty but the wonder & joy outshone the cruelty. So when HP & co went off it was with less tension or trepidation but also, the overriding knowledge that it will come good because the world is full of love & caring. And when Rowling does start to get dark, everything from Phoenix onward, imo, we know her characters and what they're capable of.
Lawrence's world is abusers, molesters, etc., right from the start, with very little love or even kindness. Love & kindness are the exception to the rule. Nona is naïve for a girl who grew up in such a hard cold world. But her naïveté is because she's lonely, not because she's ignorant or stupid. And this whole let's save the shipheart, Nona, and get rid of Sherzal malarkey screamed of stupidity. Lawrence doesn't write like Rowling, so when he plops a bit of Rowling-esque in there it reads wrong. I appreciate that this is the story he told and how he wanted to tell it. I enjoyed it overall but that section below the hall in the caves with Sherzal & the bit with Hessa just p'ed me off. It's a clunky point in the plot. Personally, it feels like Lawrence had everything up to the start of the Grey Sister bit and the end, from the ranging onward, really clear in his mind, along with specific bits in between. The opening up to the shield trial and the end seemed so cohesive that I can imagine him just typing up the 1st draft nearly like we've read it. But for that bit inbetween, to me, it was like he was trying to fit those independent bits and pieces together, to carry the story from that awesome beginning to that awesome conclusion. And he didn't do it as well as he can.

Discussion Questions SET 3: chapters 21-34

12) I was thinking about the sisters' names, and how they all have a surface meaning, and a deeper meaning, like Abbess Glass: clear, lets light through, breakable - also invisible, so you might not know its there until you run into it. What do you think the name Cage says about Nona? What are the surface and underlying meanings to the Sister name you would give yourself?
Having read everyone else's answers, I'm going to sound rather unoriginal, so I'll just say that I agree with everyone's assessments of "Cage." As for me, Sister Novel cos there's always a story and means to escape.

13) Walking the path takes clarity and serenity, but each person has a different recipe for what brings personal serenity. And what is serenity - is it just being 100% true to yourself? Does serenity need to be the opposite of being a fighter? Why do you think Nona can't achieve her serenity, or does she need to take a different path? What brings you serenity?
Serenity is like a form of meditation, internal stillness if you will. I don't think serenity and violence are mutually exclusive, that's kind of what cold-blooded is all about. Nona is too passionate in her anger, I think she'll need to find another way to the Path. But who can fault her she was given to the childtaker. I am never serene, the best I can be for a few moments at a time is still mentally and physically but it's literally moments.

14) What do you think about Sister Pan words: "When you get to my age you need things like this to keep you alive. Take it from me. I have been too young to know, and I have been too old to care. It's in that oh-so-narrow slice between that memories are made. So enjoy it."
That's how I feel, live it up whole you can. I just read Waiting for Godot and there is a great line, "Astride of a grave and a difficult birth. Down in the hole, lingeringly, the grave-digger puts on the forceps."

15) When they go to Caltess, Nona sees Raymel, and remembering Saida, attacks him. I was a little surprised there weren't more repercussions for that move. What do you think about the things now in Raymel that seemed to recognize and trigger something in Nona? Do you think she's been irreversibly poisoned? 
I wasn't quite sure what that was about. Part of me didn't get that it was new & related to Raymel, even though she said it. I could believe that she didn't get in trouble cos it looked like an accident at normal eye seeing speed but, at the same time a Sister should be use to Hunska speed. So, maybe that was a little too convenient.

16) I love the quote "A book is as dangerous as any journey you might take. The person who closes the back cover may not be the same one that opened the front one. Treat books with respect." What book that you've read comes to mind when you read this quote?
I love books but not a single one has changed my life. I remember in high school a friend loaned me The Fountainhead with the words, "It changed my life." I was so excited at the idea but that book sucked, so I was consequently let down. I think the only book that has shifted my perspective a little was The Way To Freedom. I found the idea of transience profound. It truly helped with the pain of living.

17) Nona sees Yisht digging under the dome, where the shipheart is. Do you think she is doing this on Sherzal's orders? Do you think Zole is a participant or a tool? I am so curious about the shiphearts and the emperor's Ark, and how they play into the mysteries of the ice with its tunnel systems and hidden "undercities abandoned by the Missing." Sister Pan's view is that the four tribes descend from travelers who came from another planet on a host of ships. Are you starting to put together theories about this, and the Path, threads, the Ancestor, etc? 
I got really frustrated around this section and had to force myself to read. I hate it when characters do something so stupid to make the story work. I hate the left just bury the body instead of call the cops sort of thing. I think it was beyond idiotic that Nona would think it better to break several minor rules, steal & keep a massive dangerous secret rather than speak to Glass. It just didn't make any sense & the reasoning behind it was weak.

Book: Red Sister
Author: Mark Lawrence
Date Read: 18/06/18
Rating: ★★★★
Page Count: 512
Spell letters: R, M, L, N, S, A, C, R, G, P, K, W, J, D, Z, Y
this was a BOM & I answered discussion questions. I'm not sure how to link to my post but this should get you to the page. Post 114 is my 1st sets of answers.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Completion Post

Book: Entreat Me
Author: Grace Draven
Date Read: 24/06/18
Rating: ★★★★
Page Count: 461
Spell letters: G, D, E, C, A, J, M, B, L, I, T

Teddie wrote: "Keli wrote: "I read Prince of Thorns and loved Jorg, well as much as Jorg can be loved; he's pretty vile. ..."

After reading Prince of Thorns, I knew I wanted to read more by the author, but the c..."

Oh, do read the Red Queen's War trilogy. I loved the relationship between the two MCs. Jorg was such an anti-hero in a world of shit, it was easy to root for him because it somehow seemed his selfishness was more noble or honest or something. I don't know. But Jorg wasn't a good guy, ultimately, but Snorri is wholly backable from the outset. It was a great buddy journey story.

Nanci wrote: "I just looked at the final for our first match and I see that Hufflepuff beat Ravenclaw 1130 points to 1015 points. Valiant effort Ravenclaw! Let's beat Team Slytherin in this 2nd match!"

Good luck to you!

Shelby wrote: "Keli wrote: "I'm not really sure which sheet & where to put my books, so I've not been adding them to the spreadsheet. Thank you to whoever is doing that for me but, I didn't want to mess anything ..."

Thanks Shelby. I'll just keep doing what I'm doing then.

Completion Post

Book: Waiting for Godot
Author: Samuel Beckett
Date Read: 18/06/18
Rating: ★★★★
Page Count: 109
Spell letters: S, B, W, G, E, V, L, P

I'm not really sure which sheet & where to put my books, so I've not been adding them to the spreadsheet. Thank you to whoever is doing that for me but, I didn't want to mess anything up.