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

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

@Judy, @Logan: it's the curse of a challenge BOM: a book that is fine enough if you are just reading for disposable fun, but as soon as you stop and have to think about questions becomes an absolute mess!

Tati wrote: "Hey, everyone!

Not sure where we are with the cheese task, but I have finished Realm of Ice and Sky, by Eric Jay Dolin. It'a non-fiction, so no character initials. It's on my challenge shelf, and ..."

I've added to the sheet, but the book's author is Buddy Levy, so I'm a bit confused!

correct! Yes. Sorry - Preference will be to have the minimum of easy (ideally 0, but who can tell!) and medium, but prefer medium over easy too :)

I've just picked up a shortish Afghanistan book, which I'll probably finish tomorrow, which would give the minimum medium levels.

Who is reading what for Hard and Medium countries at the moment? And what are estimated finish times?

OK, I'm grabbing an Afghanistan book :)

Tasks Unclaimed

knife/dagger on the cover - Sammy's taking one for the team!
Author initials in ENTIERRO - Sammy here, hopefully better!
takes place in Central Asia (Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) or Mongolia - Cat claimed
letters MAN EATER in title - Mel claimed
takes place in a cold climate (your interpretation)
MPG Paranormal > Shapeshifter
Takes place in the Eastern European countries of Belarus, Ukraine, or Romania
MPG Vampires
tagged dragon 10x


just because sometimes it's nice to get a round up :)

and helps me focus my mind on what to read next

New New Task!

Read a book that is a debut novel

christene_littlelibrary wrote: "Claiming the new task for my next read"

Assigned! :)

Incidentally, The Mountains Sing - recommend? I think I have it in the depths of my kindle - should I push it up?

sorry, missed the earlier chats due to GR playing silly buggers with my notifications!

I'm planning on finishing the BOM (Eygpt book) this evening, probably, but happy to be bumped :)

New Task!

Read a book with MPG Science-Fiction (or similar variations)

Current Tasks
Read a book with a cityscape on the cover
Read a book tagged "Review" at least 10x (reviews / reviewed OK)
Read a book set in the time period "Contemporary / Modern History"
Read a book which has the main location (setting) on the European continent
Read a book written in first person narration
Read a book which has several locations, none for over 50% of the book
Read a book that is #3 in a series (Or last book in a trilogy)
Read a book where a character gets on a plane

Read a book that is a debut novel - Vian
Read a book that is in the Have Passport Will Travel List - Stephie (Full Tilt)

Wheel Tasks Unclaimed
camel on cover
spellout Y

@Judith; yessss! Eleanor is absolutely fascinating!

Yup, always dangerous to feed the Chipmunks!

Thanks for looking up letters - always helpful - but in general, lets focus on the bigger points available from the tasks :)

prioritising which task to pick a book for by considering any cheesy letters is perfect :)

Sarah wrote: "We probably don't want more than the necessary 3 mid-level countries per itinerary, I'm guessing. Of course that may not always work out."

au contraire! I'm quite wanting to maximise our Hard countries in each itinerary, given they are worth double the normal task points, compared to half for the easy countries.

We do need to make sure we get our minimum mid-level countries, and we will of course be flexible in completing a set if there are a load of us backed up holding off finishing a book

Discussion Questions Day 3

10. As we reach the halfway point I am seeing more and more similarities to the Amelia Peabody series. Is anyone else finding this. Does this affect your impression of the book?

I'm not really finding that. Amelia is a rather different type of stubborn.

11. We have been introduced to a number of Characters is there anyone that particularly stands out?

I like Kareem, a lot. Whit is becoming more annoying!

12. We have been introduced to Isadora and her Father. Why do you think he doesn’t let her out of his sight?

Because he's a Bad Egg?

13. Inez seems to be attuned to Cleopatra and sees some of her memories. If you could choose to see one memory of a historical figure whose memory would it be?

Oooh... Interesting question, for which I have no answer!

Tee hee! That's a lovely bit of serendipity :)

Yasmine wrote: "Gotta love pecorino!"

And mods were nice for once - realised that the BOM has an O last name, so lobbed us a helpful one... :)

As we can't use books already finished, I've popped all our read books onto the official sheet and hidden them on the tracker, to tidy things up - and to make sure I don't get overexcited and try to use a book that won't work for Cheese! purposes (Danielle has to be very patient with me at times)

Tee heee!

This is a time-limited spellout challenge.

We can use books finished from today until either the cheese is spelt out or it's taken away by the Chipmunks!

No, we don't know how long that will be, which means your captains will be kept busy nibbling away at the spell out.


Full rules: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Part One, Chapter 6 - Part One, Chapter 12

6. In this part Inez spends some time with Mr. Hayes. What did you think of their afternoon in Cairo? Did you enjoy their banter?

I enjoyed the market, but not that bothered by the burgeoning romance. That said, the way she is responding is pretty on the mark for a naive school girl, but that just makes me uncomfortable about their disparities

7. After sensing familiar magic from an old trinket, Inez buys it and later has a vision of Cleopatra. What do you think this vision means? Do you believe Cleopatra’s burial site can only be found with Inez’s help?

I think Inez will get them there quicker, because of magic.... This magic system is flipping weird though! I am resolutely not thinking about the internal consistency of the world, as I don't think it'll stand up to much scrutiny!

8. Every now and then, the point of view shifts briefly to Mr. Hayes. Do you enjoy these moments from his perspective, or would you prefer the story to stay entirely with Inez?

It's supposed to show us more than his surface, so we get why Inez is into him, but I'm not convinced. And kleptomania as a sign of childhood trauma is just strange...

9. Inez finds a letter from her mother, in which she suspects that Tío Ricardo is involved in illegal activities. Does this letter, along with the boat conversation Inez overhears, make you suspicious of Tío Ricardo? Or do you think he’s not responsible for Inez’s parents’ murder?

I am not suspicious of Ricardo. Which might be a foolish assessment on my part, but I think that her parents have less concern over archaeological finds than Ricardo and Inez (evidence: the sending of the ring; the stuffing the house in Argentina with various magic-touched things). So it read more that she was concerned that he's working with Egyptian nationalists, and not with the colonial system (the letter is to Mapseo (sp?) - the stooge of Sterling, after all)

If none of the settings hits 50% we can use it for the multiple locations task :)