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

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

So Turkey is complete and only the "u" in Istanbul remains. If we'll get more points for Istanbul please move my u from Turkey. Though someone else might also want to replace one of the other letters I've marked, L or T so that more travellers can participate.

1. I consume vampire books. Bram really opened a can of worms with this story and though I'm sure others wrote vampire stories before him, this is the one that truly began the genre. I love gothic lit and poetry. I love Frankenstein, Poe, Shelley & Stevenson, they made the severe, the grotesque and the macabre beautiful, though not glorifying death in the way modern goths seem to. Counter to reveling in death and physical pain, gothic lit continued to examine what most writers wrote about; loss, love and what it means to be human but through a lense that is fantastical, metaphysical and romantic.

2.I not seen pics of the real castle. But the descriptions of a fortified though crumbling edifice were pretty thorough, so i don't need to see a pic, really.
3.Nope.

4.D is definitely creepy though charming. I can see how JH might have written off some of the peculiarities as the eccentricities of an old toff. But D is way smarter than JH gives him credit for. Harker is the typical English victorian gent, propriety, dedication to service and a respect for class.
5.I wonder if it came from Dracula's physical description, in part, "...peculiarly arched nostrils, with lofty domed forehead...teeth protruding over the lips" and pointy ears. Sounds bat like and they're both nocturnal.

6.I have seen the film. And I too, have been picturing the actors. I like that I visualize them, I think it helps me keep track of who's saying what amid the various writing styles. Though it does nothing for the different dates.

7.. A wolf, maybe. I don't think he would've gotten him any animal, well maybe the cat. Hmm, maybe not, not even for the sake of science as Renfield was eating them.

8.I don't know, I like writing letters and if it's all i knew then I guess I'd be alright.

9.Really?! I didn't even notice that. Now I've to go back and check it out.

10. The events of the ship trip and the attack on Lucy are quite detailed and allows for a clear visualization, don't you agree. Of course, they also don't look like something someone would write from memory, but that's my inner rebel

11.I feel exactly the same way. I saw the film when it came out and immediately read the book. But at 14 I found the book so boring and tedious. Plus, Stoker's not a brilliant writer, even though it is a good story. I appreciate it more now that I have more patience.
12. No, I'm not surprised at the writing style. It's different but I'm not sure I like it, as it doesn't allow for atmosphere or terror or surprise. If Mina, John and Seward are writing about events in the past tense- a.) we know they're going to be okay or at least alive and b.) there's a detachment from the horror of what's happening as events aren't really unfolding.

13. I quite like Quincey. Though that might be cause I'm a Texan in England.

14. I like this Lucy much more that movie Lucy. It is weird now that you've mentioned it but whilst reading i didn't really think about it.

15. It's good to have Harker back. I don't think he's a vampire and he was supposed to be food for the trio of hungry ladies.

16. Yeah, I don't get that either. How can he be in sunlight? Unless it's because he is so old and powerful.

17. I love the movie. It's got Gary Oldman and Cary Elwes in it.

18. Yes i think he can control people. I think he was commanding Lucy in her sleep or sleepwalking. Maybe he leaves them alive so as not draw suspicion. People wasting away through illness looks better then exsanguination.

19. No, I'd think they were delusional. I'd have chalked it all up to the brain fever.

20. In complete honesty Van Helsing annoys me. His broken English is bearable but the endless repetition of affirming friendship and god talk is dull. Along with his secretiveness. I get it's an allegory for faith but we could have saved ourself some time cutting out quite a few of van Helsing's bits.

21. I love Stoker's take on it.

22. What did you make of the interview between Mina and Renfield?

23.No idea, maybe he needs the ground he died in. It's also weird that it's been sent to a chapel. That's twice, I think, that disused "holy ground" has bren used by Dracula.

24. I think he wants D to suck his blood, make him a vampire.

I hope I haven't breached any gd etiquette by putting Michelle's "Z" mentioned above onto the planning sheet, as I was updating my sheet. Thought it would be nice to get the spell it out done for the first leg.

All the devices I've tried require an app. When I downloaded the app it still requested that i download the stupid app! Very frustrating.

Hey travelers I'm having a tricky time updating the spreadsheet while on holiday. I'll be back home in a few days and will update mine. I can also update the "z" mentioned in previous posts then we can get some points. :)

All the ones I've read and a few I've started are on my sheet, hopefully.

Can I read non-fiction for any of these? I've got You'll Die in Singapore' for the Indonesia leg?

I've read the following to now:
A Court of Mist and Fury
When We Wake - MC get a makeover
Looking for Alaska
The Dream House - The MC discovers an affair
Currently reading:
Outlander
Pelagia and the White Bulldog - Set in Russia/Russian author

I'm on holiday from Tuesday and I plan on mostly reading. So I'll try to get a location and a detour book read for as many stops as possible over the next 3 weeks. Yes that's right 23 lovely days off with very little planned.

Do we need to wait until the next stop to read a book for the detour? Or could we have read it before a detour is agreed? I've just read When We Wake and the MC gets makeover.

I finished mine yesterday, put up the info on my sheet. Was waiting to see if we were going to go an extra week before I started JPark, as I've got a few other books to read too.

I'm good for another week if I'm going to try and get Jurassic Park in too.

Quick question. When it comes to character names for the Spell-It-Out option does it need to be the main character(s) or can it be a secondary but rather important character? I'm currently reading A Court of Mist and Fury the MCs are Feyre, Rhysand and Tamlin but there are some secondary characters of import, such as Ianthe. Could I use Ianthe for the "I" I said I'd contribute with a different book? That way instead of reading The Illustrated Man, I could read Jurassic Park and get in a book set in Costa Rica which fulfils the other points path.

I'm good with either one or two weeks, I'm in no rush.
If it's spell it out I'll take "I" with The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury.

This isnt easy-ish. It's hard. Don't know what I was thinking!!
109/127
For my first NBRC challenge I'll start off easy-ish with Scavenger Hunt I-Want-It-All, green thumb level. Q might pose a problem.
And E!
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
ANENOME - "...some lovely bits out of wood anenome, and violets..." Outlander
APPLE BLOSSOM - "We were walking beneath a canopy of apple blossom then, and the world smelled like honey." The Ocean at the End of the Lane
ASTER - "...complete to white asters and yellow roses pinned in my hair..." Outlander
AZALEA - "If it freezes tonight it'll carry off all my azaleas!" To Kill a Mockingbird
BABY'S's BREATH breath - "...a bouquet of pink roses, or daisies, laced with baby's breath..." Radiance
BACHELOR BUTTON - "... and graced with wicker centerpieces filled with bachelor's buttons, baby's breath, and yellow rosebuds." Hide and Seek
BEGONIA - "Little roses and begonias and irises." A Court of Mist and Fury
BELLFLOWER - "it's a succulent bellflower from hawaii. A curse on the land." A Curse on the Land
*bells of Ireland*
*bitterroot*
BLACK-EYED SUSAN - "...tidy but not effusive landscaping that included black-eyed Susans in their final bloom was expected." Quiet Man
BLUEBELLS - "...the light was bright enough to pick out the leaves of the bluebells..." Outlander
BLUEBONNET - "...and eyes that made him think of blubonnets, that misty purple." Texas Roots
BOUGAINVILLEA - "There were bushes of red bougainvillea and white gardenia, pink plumeria..." Dirty Angel
BOUQUET - "...beautiful pale-rose color, with the most delicious bouquet. " Outlander
BUTTERCUP - "So as we'll catchthe dew on the buttercups..." Outlander
*butterfly bush*
CALENDULA - "Calendula officinalis." - The Cage
CALIFORNIA POPPY - "There are jade and nasturtiums and California poppies, all hearty enough to grow amidst fog." The Immortalists
CALLA LILY - "darker green leprechauns and earth brown brownies sat on a huge calla lily beneath a magical spreading oak tree." Blood in Her Veins
CAMELLIA - "Plucking an occasional camellia..." To Kill a Mockingbird
CANDYTUFT - "She had a little bouquet of candy tuft in a collar of paper lace. “Smell,” she said
and held the bouquet to his nose" Cannery Row
CANNA - "Well," he admitted, "I canna say as I care for the man much myself.' Outlander
CARNATION - "This was an arrangement of cut flowers, featuring pink rosebuds and pink carnations..." Dead Until Dark
CARRION FLOWER -"...past carrion flower, with Sputnik-shaped blooms..." The Darkest Part of the Forest
CHICORY - "...in a thick coat of powdered sugar and drinking chicory coffee." Darker Angels
CHRYSANTHEMUM - "... and whorled over my breasts like the petals of a Chinese chrysanthemum." Outlander
CLOVER - "...a faint whiff of clover from a clump near my feet." Outlander
COLUMBINE - "Daisy got up and broke off a columbine that was bending double a pale blue delphinium..." Polo
CORNFLOWER - "Ben looked up at her with cornflower-blue eyes and black brows..." The Darkest Part of the Forest
*corpse flower*
COSMO - "'Cosmo,' my mother whispered, her head tipped back..." Until thr Sun Falls from the Sky
CROCUS - "...crocuses and daffodils poking their heads out of the thawed earth." A Court of Mist and Fury
DAFFODIL - "...crocuses and daffodils poking their heads out of the thawed earth." A Court of Mist and Fury
DAHLIA - "...Ethel came rushing in with a muddy nose and a dig up dahlia root in her mouth..." Polo
DAISY - "There were paper daisy bushes..." When We Wake
DANDELION - ...dandelion yellow and burnt orange that had a subtle sheen..." Penmort Castle
DELPHINIUM - "Daisy got up and broke off a columbine that was bending double a pale blue delphinium..." Polo
*dianthus*
DOGWOOD - "We were discussing the merits of a rosebush in place of the dogwood..." Fire Touched
EDELWEISS - "She hadn't liked the dark evergreen trees or the scruffy little edelweiss and holly busges..." Princess of the Midnight Ball
FLORET - "...Seb, chucking a cauliflower floret at Bobby Ferarro." Polo
FLORIST - "His first stop was to a florist." Slave to Sensation pg 93
FLOWER- "Numerous marigolds were scattered throughout the garden, bursting into golden flower." Outlander
FORGET-ME-NOT - "...she had on a loose housedress that Joan Palmer had given to her - rayon, with forget-me-nots in blurry bunches." Radiance
FOXGLOVE - "Mrs Fitz pointed out foxglove, sweet violet and fumitory..." Outlander
FREESIA - "Chessie breathed in the sweet scent of white freesias and stocks in the centre of dark green tablecloth." Polo
GARDENIA - "There were bushes of red bougainvillea and white gardenia, pink plumeria..." Dirty Angel
GERANIUM - "...slop jars holding brilliant red geraniums..." To Kill a Mockingbird
*gerbera daisy*
GILLYFLOWER - "Gillyflower, roses and sage scented the air, making her dizzy as she went." The Darkest Part of the Forest
GLADIOLUS - "Take the gladioli along to the vicar at thirteen hundred hours, Dogger, he'd say." The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
GOLDENROD - "Snakeroot and goldenrod sprang up in the prim boulevards..." Radiance
HAWTHORN - "He produced the stick in question, an aged hawthorn club..." Outlander
HEATHER - "We were suddenly racing towards the rock across the heather..." Outlander
HIBISCUS - "...magenta and yellow hibiscus, and birds of paradise..." Dirty Angel
HOLLYHOCK - "It's half timbered walls floating like a quaint Old Ship upon a sea of old-fashioned flowers such as an anemones, hollyhocks, gillyflowers Canterbury bells and others whose names I didn't know." The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
HONEYSUCKLE - "Hazel woke up in an unfamiliar place, the air redolent with honeysuckle..." The Darkest Part of the Forest
HYDRANGEA - "Fine examples of hydrangeas and mockorange bushes vie with all manner of shrubs..." The Silver Witch
HYACINTH - "Especially the hyacinths." - The Dream House
*Indian blanket*
IRIS - "Little roses and begonias and irises." A Court of Mist and Fury
JASMINE - "I smelled jasmine first- then saw stars." A Court of Mist and Fury
JESSAMINE - "The scent of jessamine saturating the air around her." The Wrath and the Dawn
*Johnny-jump-up*
JONQUIL - I lost the page the word was on and returned it to the library but it's in there. Kicking It - 27/08/18
KANGAROO PAW - "'Ah, so that's kangaroo paw.'"
LADY'S SLIPPER -"Instead we trudged through pampas grass, interspersed with the brightness of coral trees orchids, dusty ferns, and lady's slippers" Shady lady
LANTANA -" The human Acacia had her daughter Lantana latched onto one breast,..." Shiftless
LARKSPUR - "I shall bind him with spider silk, and pudding grass, and larkspur, and with the sound of a moon moth..." A Pocketful of Crows
LAUREL - "From the laurels, I would slip down the hill and over the rusting metal fence that bordered the lane." The Ocean at the End of the Lane
LAVENDER - "A scent of lavender water emanated..." Outlander
LILAC - "Power, smelling of lilac and cedar..." A Court of Mist and Fury
LILY - "...the stems of the Bloodwater Lily, the seedcases of _'" Equal Rites
LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY - "Tanwen drops in a single white bloom, lily of the valley, for its purity and its sweet scent." The Silver Witch
MAGNOLIA - "The pink magnolias in the backyard of the house in Los Angeles." Station Eleven
MALLOW - "Mrs Randall's made some lovely bits out of mallow blossoms, and violets..." Outlander
MARIGOLD - "Numerous marigolds were scattered throughout the garden, bursting into golden flower." Outlander
MAYFLOWER - "It wasn't impressive from the outside, but the Mayflower Cafe was as interesting as Alcide had predicted." Club Dead
MIMOSA - "Do you smell my mimosa?" To Kill a Mockingbird
MISTLETOE - "For one thing, it was so covered in mistletoe that it looked green even in midwinter..." Equal Rites
MOCK ORANGE - "Fine examples of hydrangeas and mockorange bushes vie..." The Silver Witch
MORNING GLORY - "...a weeping willow bough entwined with morning glory vines..." The Restorer
MOUNTAIN LAUREL - "Rhododendron and mountain laurel so thick, he would need to chop it down to get through." - Iron and Magic
MYRTLE - "No wind troubled the leaves on the myrtles." Magic Bites
Books Used:
Radiance, Outlander, The Darkest Part of the Forest, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, The Curious Incident of the Dog In the Night-time, Until the Sun Falls from the Sky, Dracula, Firelight, Cinder, To Kill a Mockingbird, At the Water's Edge, Looking for Alaska, A Court of Mist and Fury, Dirty Angels, The Cage, Penmort Castle, Fire Touched, The Dream House, Equal Rites, When We Wake, Magic Bites, Darker Angels, First Grave on the Right, Dead Until Dark, The Devil's Right Hand, The Silver Witch, Midnight Crossroad, Slave to Sensation, Magic Strikes, Blue Diablo, Rock Chick, Kind One, Alex, Cormorant Run, The Restorer,Grave Ransom, Polo, A Pocketful of Crows, Entreat Me Blood in Her Veins: Nineteen Stories from the World of Jane Yellowrock Trillium The Immortalists Hide and Seek Curse on the Land Texas Roots Shiftless Princess of the Midnight Ball Club Dead Cannery Row Shady Lady Iron and Magic Down Under: Travels in a Sunburned Country

Thanks, A Bookworm Reading (Plethora) .
I look forward to the challenge.

A Bookworm Reading (Plethora)
3190 books | 64 friends
see comment history Keli, right now we are between legs so you aren't missing anything at the moment. Posting here that you wish to join is all you needed to do on that part. Once we request our next trip we get the reading goals to pick from.

Cool. I shall wait and check back.

Do you mean someone previous to my inquiry? Or another player along with me? If you do have a space for me and would like me to join just tell me how to proceed. I read the rules but there were a lot and, as I'm coming into this quite a ways in, I'm not 100% on what's going on. But I love reading so just point me in the right direction. :-)

Birthday: Sept 1
Favorite Book(s); A Prayer for Owen Meany, Working for the Devil, and Around the World in 80 Days
Favorite Book Genre: Urban Fantasy
Favorite Author: John Irving and Lilith Saintcrow
Favorite Color: Black
Favorite Food: Changes daily right now I'd kill for huevos rancheros
Any Pets: A Jack Russell cross
If I could live anywhere in the world it would be: Fiji or Tahiti
Finish the line: I know I'm a book addict because... I've not only maxed out my library card but my daughter's as well.

Hi all. I was directed here by a travel agent, are you in need of another player?