Jen’s Comments (group member since Jul 20, 2014)

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

Karla wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "We fell to number 15 in the rankings. We need to get a few hundred more points, we are only 100 away from the next position but they are reading too.

What do we need to get more ..."

I've already read winter girls, darn.
What do we have left for the challenge? I see that we have a lot done but I'm not sure what people are planning on doing.

We fell to number 15 in the rankings. We need to get a few hundred more points, we are only 100 away from the next position but they are reading too.

What do we need to get more points on the question? I can read something that would help.

Yes, it's a buddy read. (:

I am half way done with Eleanor & Park. I'm hoping to finish tomorrow which will help us get some more points on the board. Happy reading everyone!

Yeah, the slow build up is great. Also, I like how Romeo and
Juliet was mentioned because E&P are the total opposite and those differences are really highlighted. For example, it is a slow romance, and they don't always know how to say what they are feeling.

Michelle wrote: "I listened to this one on audio, and it was great!
Eleanor is her own worst enemy, but I feel so bad for her. Her home life is terrible."

I agree, but I also think that she doesn't have a great example when it comes to relationships. We saw how Park was willing to put his arm around her athis house, but she didn't want to. His parents show a lot of affection and it doesn't sound like her mom and step dad do. So, I think in some ways she is doing the best she can. In looking at her ability to achieve in school, I think she is doing better than a lot of people in her situation.

I wish that Park would ask more questions, or the counselor would reach out more?

i might as well answer some questions. I'm just going to answer the ones recent to my reading.

Chapters 14-20

6. E&P like the idea of flying as their superpower. What would you like?
I think the ability to read minds would be cool, but I've also thought about being able to learn perfectly. Like a perfect memory that encodes everything you take in.

7. So many beautiful quotes in this section like "Holding Eleaor's hand was like holding a butterfly. Or a heartbeat. Like holding something complete, and completely alive". I think what I am enjoying about this romance is that it feels "real". It isn't like typical YA books where they instantly fall in love for no discernible reason other than grey eyes, flowing locks and nice muscles. Do you agree?
I like this pairing for the same reason. I also like that there are challenges for both. Often YA books have some crazy other world setting, but there aren't that many challenges in the relationship.

8. Her father seems almost as bad as Richie but for different reasons. He has 4 kids he hasn't seen in a year?! What did you think of him calling out of the blue like that?
I thought it was kinda low. I was annoyed that he didn't even give her the full 10 dollars.

9. I was a bit confused that Richie took the kids to the movies and eats steak, but they can't afford toothbrushes and soap? Or do you think Richie just doesn't proide them with essentials as a way of control?
I think Richie has some money. But it probably goes for food or pot. I think he was trying to prove something when the kids were all taking about their dad and how they road around with him.

I'm got finished the part when Eleanor went over to his house. I felt bad for both of them in a way. Bad for him because he wanted her to be liked but didn't knew if she could be. But also bad for her because she can't justbe herself.

Haha, I had a similar response to you with Rose and Dimitri.

So, I finished the book last night. Here are my final thoughts.

Tasha:
(view spoiler)[ When I realized she was really into Dimitri, I instantly hated her. That being said, I did agree with what she said about fighting. I'm really glad that he didn't agree to be her body guard. I thought it really escalated quickly from him being a body guard to him having babies with her. (hide spoiler)]

Rose's Mom:
(view spoiler)[ The fact that she was very factual about Dimitri and Tasha tells a lot. Clearly, she doesn't have a lot of insight into Rose. It just highlighted the gap between them. While I thought it was nice for her to give something to Rose that came from Rose's dad, I don't think it's enough. It wouldn't have been that hard for her to tell the story. (hide spoiler)] Also, I wasn't sure if I was missing anything, but I felt like there was never an explanation about (view spoiler)[ how her mom managed to punch Rose in the face. I don't think you do that by accident. And her mom is a well trained person so I feel like it doesn't make sense. (hide spoiler)]

Rose and Dimitri:
Gah. In the end, (view spoiler)[ I love them together. I like how they get eachother. But, I'm wondering how far apart they are in age. I thought it said 7 years? So she is 17 and he is 24? I dunno, but that seems a little odd to me. Do you know what the exact difference is? Does it strike you as too much of a gap? (hide spoiler)]

Thank you Karla for updating that!

Margauerite, I like your idea too! I think it would be neat if the mods did something.

Well, my goal was to earn 100 points this week. I read two books, both of which were buddy reads so I met my goal. It might be tricky, but I'm going to make my new goal to get another 100 points this week. Now that I'm off of school, I'm able to read for fun and not just work. So, I'm off for a little while, I need to make a dent in my next book!

Marguerite wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "Okay, I figured out the problem. We have 350 points from the quest that we haven't accounted for yet.

That puts us at 5370 points total.
However, the real spreadsheet has us at ..."

Just no mans land on our spread sheet. You are very important in our team (: and your points are also on the other spread sheet! By the way, according to the spreadsheet we are currently number 14 (3 positions higher than last week). So, now we just need to bust out some more books and finish up that Christmas challenge and we will be doing amazing!!

Cassie V and I have been reading The Vampire Academy Series together. We are on the second book. The first two books were past buddy reads. However, I just noticed that the last 4 books are not buddy reads.

Mods, can you either create a thread for a series read, or make 4 invidual buddy reads.

If you do the buddy reads here are the start dates:

Shadow Kiss- 12/20
Blood Promise- 12/23
Spirit Bound- 12/25
Last Sacrifice- 12/28

I'm a little late but I will be starting this one soon! Hopefully someone is still around to chat!

Moderators of NBRC wrote: "Added you J.A and Jennifer!

J.A - we just post some DQs for the allocated chapter numbers on the days listed in message 2. You can chose to answer some, or all, or just make your own comments abou..."

Thank you very much!

Okay, I figured out the problem. We have 350 points from the quest that we haven't accounted for yet.

That puts us at 5370 points total.
However, the real spreadsheet has us at 5510 . Which is a difference of 140 points.
I added the column of total points in our spread sheet and got 5160 which is what it should say under total points. However, it says 5020. Thus, 140 points are missing.

Long Story short... on our spreadsheet, we aren't counting Marguerite. The catagory total is sum(G2:G14) and we need it to be (G2:G15).

Karla- could you fix this when you get the chance. I know that the sheet the mods use has it, but I really like to look at our sheet. Sorry to be so picky. (:

It's higher. I haven't looked deep into it yet.

I have a question, why is our point total different on our spreadsheet than it is on the spreadsheet linked on the rankings page? There is a difference of 500 points.

I'm starting this tomorrow. Hopefully someone wands to discuss or read along with me! (:

I'm starting Eleanor & Park tomorrow. Does anyone want to join me, or maybe stop by to discuss it with me?

Two pieces of good news. One, I'm almost finished with this book and will get us those points. Two, my grades came in for the semester and I did really well.