Beth’s Comments (group member since Aug 12, 2014)

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

Any idea how much gold we are starting with? By that I mean how many books we read but didn't use in events before Emerge, because we can trade all those books in for one gold each.

Sheila, wow! Good luck to her, and congratulations on the new grandbaby! I hope the labor goes smoothly.

Should we make a chart for purchases, to see how we do with each kind of potion?

I made a tab for the quests, even though we don't have any yet, on the assumption that some of them will make us read books.

Looking at Emerge the Victor:

So, to level up the weapon and do more damage, we need to read a lot of series books.

To get lots of gold, first we cashed in all unused books, and then keep reading more books (400+pages = 2 gold!). We spend gold on potions to heal and to do extra damage.

We get quests that will probably ask us to read various kinds of different books.

This will be a lot of fun -- if you have to read books for other things, they all count because even if they aren't series they are much needed GOLD. Quests give us books we want to read quickly, to get more cards. So there's things for the fast readers and things for books that are dragging along. This looks like a pleasant final event!

OK, I finished my pink book, and I stared uselessly at the anagrams for a few minutes, but I think I'm done for this challenge. Go Team Tapirs!

A Bookworm Reading (Plethora) wrote: "Beth, can you count the number of words on an average page, multiply by the number of sentences in page, multiply by number of pages?"

That gives me an estimate of over 30K words, so I'm feeling comfortable with this book. Thanks for the tip. (I counted two pages and averaged them.)

Faro's Daughter by Georgette Heyer
Finished 10/7/16
Kindle: 288 pages
Rating: 5 stars

1700s book

I found a quick pink book as well but I'm worried because I can't find a word count. It seems to be about at the level of a book I read for the 100-125 word challenge, with similar page & word size but a slightly longer page count (134 pages).

But the previous book in the series was only 17K words. I don't have a copy of that one, so I don't know if the series aged up a bit or what. So if we end up with an extra pink book we can throw mine out.

Yeah, let's get everything finished that we can. Use it for sisters! I should finish my 1700s book within 2 hours (says Kindle).

Have a great time on your cruise, Nancy -- I loved mine last July.

Requiem for a Mezzo by Carola Dunn
Finished 10/7/16
Kindle: 172 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars

Piano player bonus

And if anyone is signed up for something but think they may not finish it in 12 hours, shout now! Because it would be better to have a few finished last bonuses than many almost-done ones.

Or I could reread Faro's Daughter, which is set in the 1700s, and we can use Carmen's book to finish Bonus 40 and submit it to get a new one.

Should I start a book with a white cover or does someone have one in banked books?

I'm 50% done with a book that has a piano player. I can take that one. Requiem for a Mezzo is due back soon and it has sisters and a piano player, so Sheila can concentrate on one and I'll take the other spot.

Doesn't Son of Neptune have people getting things to do magic with? Come to think of it, the children of different gods have different sorts of magic. The the "When the War Began" series is set in an alternate timeline, one with the invasion of Australia. Is that what the last category means in the new bonus?

Law of the Desert Born by Louis L'Amour
Read: 10/7/16
Rating: 4 stars
Kindle: 256 pages

For Title Relay Bonus 26

Did I post

Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare
Finished 10/5

For the red dress bonus

Finished Law of the Desert Born: Stories for the Title Relay. It was fun reading westerns again!

One day left! I'll wake up tomorrow and see what there is.

I found this challenge and just earned my Associates Degree! Time to work on my Bachelors.

Science: Flight Behavior, Barbara Kingsolver 9/8/16
Literature: The Flowers of Adonis, Rosemary Sutcliff 9/12/16
History: The Countess Conspiracy, Courtney Milan 9/19/16
Social Science: Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey Through Autism, Dawn Prince-Hughes 9/8/16
Art: Falling in Love, Donna Leon 9/19/16 (main character is an opera singer)
Language: Once a Soldier, Mary Jo Putney 10/6/16
Athletics: The Winter Garden Mystery, Carola Dunn 9/21/16

Bachelors Accomplished! 11/4/16
Major: Science (well, I concentrated on Fantasy)

1. Water, Robin McKinley & Peter Dickinson 10/16/16 (fantasy)
2. Iron Kissed, Patricia Briggs 10/21/16 (fantasy)
3. The Raven King, Maggie Stiefvater 10/18/16 (fantasy)
4. Day Shift, Charlaine Harris 10/28/16 (fantasy)
5. Dark Witch, Nora Roberts 10/24/16 (fantasy)
6. Nine Princes in Amber, Roger Zelazny 10/29/16 (fantasy)
7. Home Improvement: Undead Edition, ed. Charlaine Harris & Toni Kelner 11/1/16 (fantasy)
8. Bayou Magic, Jewell Parker Rhodes 11/4/16 (fantasy)
9. Dragonsinger, Anne McCaffrey 10/27/16 (fantasy/science fiction)
10. The Ruins of Karzelek, Ruby Lionsdrake 11/2/16 (SF)

Minor: European History
1. A Fashionable Indulgence, K.J. Charles 10/22/16 (European History) (read the 3 book series)
2. The War that Saved My Life, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley 10/28/16 (European History)
3. Branded by the Pink Triangle, Ken Setterington 10/28/16 (European History

On to further education!

Masters in History 7/4/17:

History (historical book defined as the book's timeline occurring at least 30 years prior to the publication date):
1: Guts & Glory: The Vikings, Ben Thompson 1/7/17
2. Miss Jacobson's Journey, Carola Dunn 2/16/17
3. Black Butler, Vol. 4, Yana Toboso 2/23/17 (graphic novel, 190 pages) (Well, I've read 5-8)

Alternate History - alternative history genre
1: 1824: The Arkansas War, Eric Flint 1/2/17
2: 1632, Eric Flint 3/13/17
3: League of Dragons, Naomi Novak 4/5/17

American History - fiction or non-fiction historical book set in North America
1. Sunny Side Up, Jennifer Holms 12/11/16 (graphic novel, 200+ pages)
2. Fatal Fever: Tracking Down Typhoid Mary, Gail Jarrow 12/16/16
3. In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, Bette Bao Lord 3/13/17
4. Hidden Figures: The Untold True Story of Four African-American Women Who Helped Launch Our Nation into Space, Margot Lee Shetterly 3/31/17

European history - fiction or non-fiction historical book set in Europe
1:Superfluous Women (well, all the Daisy Dalrymples), Carola Dunn 11/5/16
2:I Go By Sea, I Go By Land, P.L. Travers 11/10/16
3: The Talisman Ring, Georgette Heyer 12/1/16

World history - fiction or non-fiction historical book set outside of North American and Europe
1: A Bride's Story, Vol. 8, Kaour Mori, 11/7/16 (graphic novel, 192 pages) (Well, I read 6-8) (Afghanistan -ish)
2. Snow Hunters, Paul Yoon 6/2/17 (South America)
3: A Coalition of Lions, Elizabeth E. Wein 7/4/17 (Africa -- Ethiopia)

PHD in European History: 10/19/17
1. Marry in Haste, Anne Gracie 7/10/17
2. A Gentleman in Moscow, Amor Towles 7/11/17
3. Black Butler, Vol. 8Black Butler 8, Yana Toboso 7/22/17 (too short, but I read 3)
4. The Inquisitor's Tale: Or, the Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog, Adam Gidwitz 7/26/17
5. Penric's Fox, Lois McMaster Bujold 8/8/17
6. The Valiant, Lesley Livingstone 9/10/17
7. The Youngest Miss Ward, Joan Aiken 9/18/17
8. Merely a Marriage, Jo Beverley 9/25/17
9. The Murder of Mary RussellThe Murder of Mary Russell, Laurie R. King 9/26/17
10. Silent in the Grave, Deanna Raybourne 9/30/17
11. Think of England, K J Charles 10/11/17
12. Beauty Like the Night, Joanna Bourne 10/17/17

I found Curse of the Arctic Star which would work for the title chain off of some already read Riordan book. Does anyone have a Star book?

There is also Curse the Dawn which is longer but I might be able to read it.

Once a Soldier by Mary Jo Putney
Finished 10/6/16
Rating: 3 stars
Paperback: 343 pages

For Bonus 29 Yellow Dress