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

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

final food words (for this set) we are after are:

YAM
broccoli
cucumber
banana
pepper

eyes peeled! :)

Mini Update

Admin #3 Unclaimed (finish on or after 29 Nov)
A41 the main character works in an office
A42 the plot revolves around an office romance
A43 typical administrative material on the cover
A44 tagged non-fiction / nonfiction (at least 10x)
A45 tagged office (at least 10x)
A46 the main character works in taxes
A47 the main character works in finance
A48 the clue to solving a murder is found in paperwork
A49 cover colour is at least 50% grey
A50 cover colour is at least 50% orange
A51 someone is murdered in an office
A52 the plot revolves around white-collar crime
A53 the main character needs to know how to handle a budget
A54 letters GREY in title
A55 letters TAXES in title
A56 letters ADMIN in title
A57 author first & last initials in FILING
A58 author first & last initials in PAPERWORK
A59 author first & last initials in SHREDDING
A60 tagged DNF (or direct equivalent) (at least 10x)

Admin Claimed

Garden #4 Unclaimed (completion on or after 27 Nov)
G91 Trellis (series sequence) 7
G92 Trellis (series sequence) 7
G93 Trellis (series sequence) 7
G94 Trellis (series sequence) 7
G95 Trellis (series sequence) 7
G96 Trellis (series sequence) 8
G97 Trellis (series sequence) 8
G98 Trellis (series sequence) 8
G99 Trellis (series sequence) 8
G100 Trellis (series sequence) 8
G101 Germinate: word in title is 6 or more letters long
G102 Plant: word in title is exactly 5 letters
G103 Mulch: word in title contains one of the following digraphs: CH, PH, SH, TH, WH
G104 Weed: word in title contains a double vowel
G105 Water: word in title contains and H and 2 Os
G106 Pest Control: word in title contains two letters consecutive in the alphabet (e.g AB in alphabet)
G107 Feed: word in title contains a double letter
G108 Prune: word in title can be cut to reveal a different word of at least 2 letters (e.g PRUNE - RUNE / AFFAIR - FAIR)
G109 Harvest: title contains a word that could be a noun or verb (e.g TRAIN)
G110 Deadhead: word in title contains a repeat set of at least two letters (e.g BEGINNING repeats IN)
G112 Colour Cover: Brown
G114 Colour Cover 4
G115 Colour Cover 5
G116 Colour Cover 6
G117 Colour Cover 7
G118 Colour Cover 8
G119 Colour Cover 9
G120 Colour Cover 10

Garden Claimed (set 4)


Feed Unclaimed (set 2, completion on or after 12 Nov)
F55 broccoli in text
F59 yam in text
F66 cucumber in text
F73 pepper in text

Feed Claimed
F87 Jamaica (at least 5 tags) - Sarah

Relax Mini - finish in R4 only
R6 with a character who is neurodivergent
R8 with author initials found in ENVIRONMENT
R10 with letters in DINOSAUR found in title/series
R11 from a genre that your library wouldn't stock
R19 with author initials in KNITTING
R24 that features one or more books
R25 out of your comfort zone

Relax Claimed
R1 tagged bookclub at least 10 times - Preeti / Secret History
R3 with letters NIBLINGS in title / series / author name (across all of them) - Saar
R4 that features dragons - Saar
R7 tagged puzzle at least 5 times - Keely
R12 with a character who drives an electric vehicle - Elli (Holiday in Death)

I'm going to pick up an office romance one now.
I tried picking up a couple of books requiring some brain power, and it wasn't taking, so ridiculous smut is apparently where I'm at tongiht!

It's for Captain Pants - there's a fairly regular plea for the captains to pull on their pants and strut their stuff! often with sparkly sequin images to help!

Chipmunks needs no explanation, I think!

ah.... hmmmm. maybe not. any food items?

just finished a tagged office!

Sarah, that works!

I pushed Mel out of the family tree slot, finished off the Dragon King.

spun us a Greek:

Empusa
1 100 to 125
2 takes place in the suburbs
3 character is a bully (your interpretation)
4 sandals on cover (flip-flops/thongs accepted)
5 MC owns a cow or dog

Sounds like it fits,yes

And we are now into ROund 4! Books finished from now are into FIXING APPLIANCE! And Relax mini too!

hurrah!

That's perfect Preeti! Thanks for being reading to go! :)


In other news, I've finished my China book, which is the last for the round from me

@Preeti, hopefully you have a set of DQs ready to be posted. Day 1 has been delayed, but we should get some shortly after round 3 ends. You can post yours immediately after, or by this time tomorrow.

Starting Going Postal for the white collar crime - the story only happens because of Moist's con man antics

finally got around to answering the Mysterious Affair DQs - BOM tab updated :)

That's fine Marie - you've actually hit your cap now, so if possible no more books this round :)

ETA: Ragtime needs to be added to you challenge shelf, please?

DQs Day 3
Ch 8 to 10

10.) Any guesses about "find the extra coffee cup and you can rest in peace"? Does that fact Lawrence found it indicate guilt or innocence do you think?

pffffppppp I didn't have any thoughts on this. I never really thought Lawrence was the ad Guy.

11.) With books as old as this, some language/terms just do not age well and can be jarring to randomly come across in the text. Should language like this be censored/edited to match less offensive terms of the times (though not sure there is a correct way to say a lady dressed up in blackface). Or should they be left as is and used as a point of discussion on race/sexuality/class/gender/etc?

I think there's a balance of interests. For books aimed at children, then having some amends does make sense. But for others, going the British Library way of acknowledging up front that there's outdated offensive language is probably better.

12.) Lots happening in the section, arrests abound! Do you think John was arrested for his step mother's murder or for some other reason like Dr. B?

13.) What do you think about our narrator and giver or random marriage proposals, Hastings?

Hastings is ridiculous. it's what, two women he's fallen in love with in this book alone?!

DQs Day 2: Ch 5-7

6. Poirot is concerned because Cynthia does not take sugar in her coffee and calls back to when he tasted all the coffees, but it’s never expanded upon. We later find out that the poison was likely administered in coffee and that it has a bitter taste that coffee could mask. Do you have any theories as to why Poirot put such importance on “Cynthia does not take sugar”?

I assume a red herring / Poirot playing with Hastings

7. Witnesses have testified to overhearing an argument between Mr & Mrs Ingelthorp the day she was murdered — but Mr Ingelthorp claims they are mistaken. Do you believe he is truly the one who was having the argument, or do you have any other suspicions? Poirot certainly thinks he is innocent and claims to be able disprove the other claim (about him buying the poison) — does that sway you at all?

It's very often the husband, isn't it? but if he didn't buy the poison, there are a few other options. And if you were planning on murder you'd surely avoid a fight?

8. Most people seem to believe Mr Inglethorp is guilty (ESPECIALLY Evie), while Lawrence seems to believe the death came by natural causes, and Mr. Inglethorp doesn’t seem to have any theories at all except to believe it was murder but never pointing fingers at a suspect. I have to admit, I expected more finger-pointing from this group! Have any characters’ reactions so far stood out as peculiar to you?

I don't understand why Lawrence refuses to believe in murder. it's annoying, how obstinate he is, especially given he could join the Inglethorp bandwagon, so it's not like he'd be saying the murderer is someone he likes.

9. One of my favorite things about mysteries is trying to figure out what happened before it’s revealed. Are you trying to solve the murder, or would you prefer to be surprised by the eventual reveal? Do you feel like you’re usually good at solving the mysteries, or do they evade you?

I'm better at newer books than Christie. Plus having seen so many of the TV adaptations, I'm generally able to guess closer....

DQ Day 1: Chapters 1 - 4


1. The first few chapters set the scene for this (first) instalment of Hercule Poirot. What do you make of the various characters we are introduced to? Especially "Alfred dearest" whom everybody seems to dislike. Do you agree with Mrs Howard that they're all only interested in the money? Do you agree with Hastings that they're all somewhat suspicious?

I don't think they are all only interested in money, but a large majority of them are!
And yes, all deeply suss

2. A murder has occurred! Anyone want to venture a guess at this stage as to who has done it? And was it really death by poison? Or is Dr. Bauerstein's expertise in the matter and the fact that Mrs. Inglethorp suffered from severe convulsions in front of practically the entire household merely a red herring?

No guessing here! It would be very strange if the convulsions weren't the cause of death, unless we are into multiple people trying to off her...

3. There was an argument the day before the murder between the late Mrs. Inglethorp and an unknown person, potentially Mr. Inglethorp. What might this have been about?

Probably money. possibly with a side of "are you cheating on me?" if it's Mr I

4. What might Mrs. Inglethorp not have wanted to show Mary Cavendish that resulted in the latter feeling somewhat peeved?

errr....

5. Are you enjoying the narrative so far? I assume I don't have to ask if this is your first Christie book? It seems like most everyone has read at least one of her books, or has seen an episode or two of the tv adaptations.

I do enjoy it. The Hastings narrated ones are quite fun as he pokes fun at Poirot in a way we don't get in the other ones.

Exciting news for Round 4!
A new mini :)

We only get to do these tasks once, and they have to be finished in Round 4.
Full info is in the link embedded in the pic (and shout out to mod Karen's amazing AI wrangling for that image!)
The tasks are:
R1 tagged bookclub at least 10 times
R2 with author initials in CITYBREAK
R3 with letters NIBLINGS in title / series / author name (across all of them)
R4 that features dragons
R5 where the title starts with a letter from BARBEQUE
R6 with a character who is neurodivergent
R7 tagged puzzle at least 5 times
R8 with author initials found in ENVIRONMENT
R9 with a character who does some sort of art (professional, hobby, with kids)
R10 with letters in DINOSAUR found in title/series
R11 from a genre that your library wouldn't stock
R12 with a character who drives an electric vehicle
R13 that features a cocktail
R14 that features a beach holiday
R15 with author initials found in MOSAIC
R16 with a page number including either a 3 and 6 or 4 and 7
R17 where characters spend some time in a wood
R18 where the title includes the letters PARK
R19 with author initials in KNITTING
R20 with a sky on the bookcover
R21 where the title starts with a letter from COMFORTABLE
R22 set in a fictional world
R23 with author initials found in DECORATING
R24 that features one or more books
R25 out of your comfort zone

I'll add them to the tracker at the top of this page if people want to claim one or two

That sounds deeply unpleasant weather :( hope you are home and warm with a good book now/soon.

Hurrah for okra! that's a distinct win :)

I hear you about book slump! I started a book (not as long as 11/22/63!) but quickly realised that it was not right. so I've churned through some silly fun Fred books.

I'm on #4 now. Which is possibly brown cover?

I might bump you Mel!
Just started a China book to find a beautiful family tree....