Cat’s Comments (group member since Jan 28, 2015)

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

Day 2: Ch 6-12

5. In this world, many choose enhancements that facilitate their selected jobs - and it seems like most have some sort of Monkey’s Paw negative effect as well. On one hand, an enhancement like Din’s enables his perfect memory, so he never forgets anything. On the other hand, he CAN never forget anything, even if he wants to.
If you were to be augmented with a skill/ability, what would it be and why? Alternatively, what, for you, would be the worst or most dreaded skill/ability you could get?

eh. I'd rather not, especially in the context of this world - WAY too many downsides!

6. I thought it interesting that the leviathians are getting bigger every year, and that most of the special grafts and suffusions are from collected titian bits and bones. Do you have any theories about how this will come into play going forward?

Hmmmm... no, hadn't thought about that. is that part of why the leviathans are attacking - they want their bits back (and, more fundementally, to be left alone!)

7. “...I no longer formed normal memories. For a memory is just a sketch a mind makes of one’s experiences, imperfect and interpretive; yet what my mind made, from that moment on, was perfect, absolute, and endless.” Do you think this robs Din of the ability to be fully human, from the standpoint that one’s subjective take on the world around her/him is what makes a person "human"?

I think that the fact of having detailed memories doesn't impact on the humanity of a person. I'd judge more on their ability to reflect and grow and respond as being important

8. I’m enjoying the evolving relationship between Ana and Din, especially Ana’s humor. Despite Ana joking that Din had “lost his sense of humor in some tragic accident,” what is your take on the twosome? Do you think Din cheated somehow to pass his tests? Or do you think it's something else?

I like the relationship, and that Ana does respect him. I suspect that the test for this role was more likely to be verbal, so his dyslexia (I assume) wasn't a factor

Only a few days left, so a quick heads up on number of books to cap for people!

Danielle: 2 (and she's claimed them both :) )
Cat: 3 (or 4 if we ditch the short. 2 in progress, 1-2 to play with)
Yasmine: 3
Christene: 3
Dawn: lots
Dora: 6
Kaley: lots
Lucy: 10
Rina: 4
Sally: 5
Sarah: 7
Stephie: 6 (and has two claims for tasks - Wings & Once More, plus a BOM, so maybe 3 or 4 to play with)
Tati: ONE!!!!!
Teresa: 5 (and has one task claim)
Vian: 8


All of which is to say: watch your plans and claims and work out the best options for points and pleasure! :)

hurrah! I think that's all the tasks for the last two Wheel countries claimed then :)

ETA: oh, no: need a "eats Mexican food" book. Look out for any tacos, burritos, empanadas etc! :)

I did a spot of stalking of other teams for the "mentions Day of the Dead" task in Mexico, and came up with these books:

Bars and Butterflies 156 pages, MM PNR
Bread of the Dead 372 pages, cosy baking mystery
Violeta 322 pages, historical fiction (Allende)
Certain Dark Things 256 pages, vampire noir urban fantasy (Morena-Garcia)
The Sunbearer Trials 352 pages, Queer YA fantasy

If anyone fancies any of those, or another one with Day of the Dead, do shout :)

Similar for "goes to a musical"
Once More with Feeling 416 pages, MF Romance
A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor 452 pages, sci-fi SEQUEL
My Fair Brady 352 pages, Queer YA Romance
Fun for the Whole Family 357 pages, Contemporary
Phantom Heart 528 pages, YA Gothic inspired by Phantom of the Opera
Flowers of Esthelm 1008 pages, #3 in Wandering Inn. (I think these read fast than the page count?)



We also quite need Argentina and Mexico born author books - would be AMAZING to finish the country wheels! :)

As it's me, and as we are moving towards short for Turf Wars books, OF COURSE I spun

Leopold of Belgium (Belgium / Congo)
1 500 to 650
2 Takes place in an African country that Belgium once colonized (DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan)
3 tagged colonialism or imperialism 10x (combination accepted)
4 character works in construction or related job (carpentry, metal works etc)
5 MC travels to a different country

That sounds like a fun weekend!
Group of girlfriends reliving the fun?

Finished Azerbaijan book! Will go mark as read etc now

I put it for a U to get one of the spellout food stuffs near to complete - but can switch to gravy if people would rather collect items?

All good!

@Teresa, if you want to read for Czechia for this itinerary that'd be perfect!

Lucy's confirmed she's not making fast progress on her Azerbaijan so I'll get mine done tomorrow, and if you can be done around then we can turn over with no restrictions!

Does that make sense?

Noone finish an itinerary book until both Teresa and I are done? All other tasks are far game ☺️

So, subject to Lucy we can't finish a Romania this itinerary. If she's no longer reading Azerbaijan we might.

So safest to pick something else? Mexico or Argentina author?

Thanks Sarah, really appreciate the flexibility!

I'll be focussing on my Azerbaijan and Costa Rica now

Cool! I'll maybe PM Lucy to be sure we are aligned!

I did see Sarah had a Poland planned, so am ETA on that would be useful info too.


But noone else finish a hard book now!!

So, an update on my reading for this last week...

Currently:
- Romania book
- Azerbaijan book (need to coordinate with Lucy)
- Costa Rica book
- Tainted Cup BOM

The current itinerary needs two hard books, one of which must be either Lucy's or my Azerbaijan book.
It also needs a medium book. Does anyone have one in progress/ able to finish one today or tomorrow?
My Costa Rica is possibly tomorrow, but likely Weds, so it's not critical, I'm just after info for planning 😀

Finished a Bhutan author book.

@Lucy - are you still reading your Azerbaijan book? I have one, and it'd be good to make sure we use in two different itineraries - if you can give an estimated finish we can work out who finishes first.

@Stephie - similarly, can you make sure you don't finish your Andorra book until AFTER we finish the current itinerary please?

DQs Day 1: Chapter 1 -5

1) Do you have any expectations going in? This book is one of the 6 novels up for the Hugo award for Best Novel this year: https://www.thehugoawards.org/hugo-hi.... Did you know that and do you try to read the Hugo books or winners or have no interactions with the awards?

The link to the award, plus the BOM, pushed it up my TBR list. I don't hunt them down, but do pay attention as a sign of a good story. That said, I have read three of the current nominees, with this as a fourth, and I will no doubt read the two Tchaikovsky books in due course.

2) What do you think of the world building so far? Are then any particular details that stand out and if this is a reread, is anything standing out more on your re-read this early in the story? (please use spoiler tags if applicable)

I am enjoying the world-building, which is creepy, giving me "eat the rich" vibes and very effective

3) So this runs right up to the edge/ crosses over into body horror between the murder scene and modifications to people? Do you read body horror or books with that theme in it? Do you have any favorites?

I'm not really a big fan of horror in general, nor of body horror. And ones that involve fungi even less so. but I appreciate an interesting "magic" system - which this is at it's core....

4) Does your version have a map? If it does, did you look at before reading or at any point when reading this first section? Do you like maps in books? (Map under spoiler if you were audio only)

It had the map, yes, and I gave it a brief look. I like maps as an indication of an author with a clear understanding of their world, but generally if I have to refer to the map to understand the story I think it's a bit of a fail

TASK UPDATE

World Wheel
WW185 character eats mexican food - claimed Kaley

Food Items
F03 turmeric
F04 ice cream
F05 strawberry
F06 chocolate
F07 gravy
F08 ube
F09 watermelon
F10 paella
F11 kiwi
F12 pierogi
F13 naan
F14 pho
F15 kimchi
F18 bacon
F19 mango
F20 empanada
F21 quinoa

Mini 1
One Medium or hard countries, but none of:
Albania
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czechia
Ethiopia
Fiji
Finland
Guyana
Iran
Kuwait
Mali
Monaco
Philippines
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Sri Lanka
Tonga
Tunisia
Uruguay
Yemen
Zambia

nothing to see here

finished a St Lucia book (it just tipped to 50%)

Tati wrote: "Hey, everyone!

I finished The Thursday Murder Club today, not sure if it works for anything. I'll only be able to add it to the SS later in the week, though."

Added for you!

You've one book left before you hit your cap :)