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

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

EXCURSION UPDATES!

At the start of Round 2, I thought it would be helpful to do an update on where we are with the Minis. I've also hidden the completed tasks on the planning sheet.

Mini 1 - Genres
G08 Cozy Mystery
G10 Thriller
G12 Space Opera
G14 Biography
G15 Memoir
G16 Nature
G18 Magic / Magical Realism
G20 Young Adult
G25 Music
G27 Art
G29 Contemporary
G34 Chick-Lit
G35 Paranormal
G38 Time Travel
G39 War

Mini 2 - Colours
C03 Red in text
C04 Red item on Cover
C05 Orange Cover
C07 Orange in text
C08 Orange item on Cover
C10 Yellow Text on Cover
C11 Yellow in text
C12 Yellow item on Cover
C13 Green Cover
C14 Green Text on Cover
C16 Green item on Cover
C17 Blue Cover
C18 Blue Text on Cover
C19 Blue in text
C21 Purple Cover
C22 Purple Text on Cover
C23 Purple in text
C24 Purple item on Cover
C25 Teal Cover
C26 Teal Text on Cover
C27 Teal in text
C28 Teal item on Cover
C29 Brown Cover
C31 Brown in text
C32 Brown item on Cover
C33 Black Cover
C34 Black Text on Cover
C36 Black item on Cover
C37 White Cover
C39 White in text
C40 White item on Cover
C41 Pink Cover
C43 Pink in text
C45 Grey Cover
C46 Grey Text on Cover
C47 Grey (or Gray) in text
C48 Grey item on Cover

Mini 4 - Brown
B04 Book between 301 and 400 pages
B06 Book between 401 and 500 pages
B07 Book between 501 and 650 pages
B08 Book between 651 and 800 pages
B21-30 10 books to make up a story

Mini 5 - Road Trip
R01 Character gets lost.
R02 Tagged "Fun" at least 10x.
R16 Road sign on the cover.
R18 Character drinks soda.
R20 Word car, vehicle, bike, bicycle, truck or lorry in the title. (Plurals are acceptable.)
R21 Word highway, road, avenue or street in the title. (Plurals are acceptable.)
R22 Main location (setting) as a bus, train, or other road based vehicle.
R34 Main location (setting) on the Antarctica continent.

Mini 7 - Mobile
I won't list out, but the plan is strong.
Books & Readers we need to have finished during the WHOLE challenge are:
The House in the Cerulean Sea Sammy
Carrie Soto is Back Sammy
Everything I Never Told You Franzi
Stillhouse Lake Marie
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone Sammy

Please shout ASAP if you can't read the books listed above so we can find a substitute :)

The series ladder is being climbed by Danielle, but we can use
#2 in series
#3 in series



TIME LIMITED MINI 3 - HOLIDAYS
We'll prioritise putting books into tasks for this one, as it only lasts this round.

I think we have agreed to use St Patrick's Day, so here's some suggestions for things to look out for:

H01 Set in a country where your holiday of choice is a public holiday - needs to be Ireland - Cat


H09-10 Decorations - could be all sorts of Ireland things. leprechauns, rainbows, green banners etc. St P famous for expelling snakes, so we could be very bonkers with some decorative snakes!

H15 Food Items - Marie suggested that we lay on a splendid Irish breakfast - bacon, fried eggs, tomatoes, bread, butter, jam etc. also think of stew, potatoes etc.

Amanda wrote: "For the "mini brown" story 9 means the series has 9 books in total right?"

no. for the Brown mini the Story section is for book titles that we'll then use, Mad-Libs style, to make a longer story.
For that one we'll basically use titles that don't fit elsewhere, and then fabricate an exceedingly strange story from them.

so - don't worry about the Brown mini! Focus is on things for the holiday mini - food items for our St Patrick's party, or drinks or decorations :)
After that, we'll look at genres and colour items

You could still answer questions if you wanted!

But no worries if not, don't want to be responsible for nightmares!

A little awks. And I'd be worried about our hot tea and third degree burns...

green

yikes, no!

At uni one of the lads was bullied into trying to do a yard of lager...
Whilst he probably couldn't have done a yard of ale quickly or dryly, that volume of cold fizzy liquid at the end of an evening (because of course!) just about went everywhere but down his throat!

EXCURSION UPDATES!

At the start of Round 2, I thought it would be helpful to do an update on where we are with the Minis. I've also hidden the completed tasks on the planning sheet.

Mini 1 - Genres
G08 Cozy Mystery
G10 Thriller
G12 Space Opera
G14 Biography
G15 Memoir
G16 Nature
G18 Magic / Magical Realism
G20 Young Adult
G24 Travel
G25 Music
G27 Art
G29 Contemporary
G34 Chick-Lit
G35 Paranormal
G38 Time Travel
G39 War

Mini 2 - Colours
C03 Red in text
C04 Red item on Cover
C05 Orange Cover
C07 Orange in text
C08 Orange item on Cover
C09 Yellow Cover
C10 Yellow Text on Cover
C11 Yellow in text
C12 Yellow item on Cover
C13 Green Cover
C14 Green Text on Cover
C16 Green item on Cover
C17 Blue Cover
C18 Blue Text on Cover
C19 Blue in text
C21 Purple Cover
C22 Purple Text on Cover
C23 Purple in text
C24 Purple item on Cover
C25 Teal Cover
C26 Teal Text on Cover
C27 Teal in text
C28 Teal item on Cover
C29 Brown Cover
C31 Brown in text
C32 Brown item on Cover
C33 Black Cover
C34 Black Text on Cover
C36 Black item on Cover
C37 White Cover
C39 White in text
C40 White item on Cover
C41 Pink Cover
C43 Pink in text
C44 Pink item on Cover
C45 Grey Cover
C46 Grey Text on Cover
C47 Grey (or Gray) in text
C48 Grey item on Cover

Mini 4 - Brown
B04 Book between 301 and 400 pages
B06 Book between 401 and 500 pages
B07 Book between 501 and 650 pages
B08 Book between 651 and 800 pages
B21-30 10 books to make up a story

Mini 5 - Road Trip
R01 Character gets lost.
R02 Tagged "Fun" at least 10x.
R16 Road sign on the cover.
R18 Character drinks soda.
R20 Word car, vehicle, bike, bicycle, truck or lorry in the title. (Plurals are acceptable.)
R21 Word highway, road, avenue or street in the title. (Plurals are acceptable.)
R22 Main location (setting) as a bus, train, or other road based vehicle.
R24 Book which has several locations, none for over 50% of the book.
R28 Set on a boat or ship.
R34 Main location (setting) on the Antarctica continent.

Mini 7 - Mobile
I won't list out, but the plan is strong.
Books & Readers we need to have finished during the WHOLE challenge are:
The House in the Cerulean Sea Sammy
Carrie Soto is Back Sammy
Everything I Never Told You Franzi
Stillhouse Lake Marie
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone Sammy

Please shout ASAP if you can't read the books listed above so we can find a substitute :)

The series ladder is being climbed by Danielle, but we can use
#2 in series
#3 in series
#9 or above in series (two books of increasing number)



TIME LIMITED MINI 3 - HOLIDAYS
We'll prioritise putting books into tasks for this one, as it only lasts this round.

I think we have agreed to use St Patrick's Day, so here's some suggestions for things to look out for:

H01 Set in a country where your holiday of choice is a public holiday - needs to be Ireland
H02 "holiday" in title or text (plural accepted)
H03 Published in the month the holiday takes place, i.e. February
H04 Book where the holiday is mentioned or celebrated St Patrick's Day - I think Marie has one for this :)
H05 Mentions a venue for the celebration (dance hall, home, park, wherever you plan to host the event!) - could be a pub, village green, etc

H06-10 Decorations - could be all sorts of Ireland things. leprechauns, rainbows, green banners etc. St P famous for expelling snakes, so we could be very bonkers with some decorative snakes!

H11-15 Food Items - Marie suggested that we lay on a splendid Irish breakfast - bacon, fried eggs, tomatoes, bread, butter, jam etc. also think of stew, potatoes etc.

H16-20 Drink Items - we can repeat, but some thoughts: tea, whisk(e)y, Guinness

H21-25 Entertainment Options - honestly, I've less thoughts on this, but music (drum, violin, flute, whistle), dancing, whatever

Hi Amanda. It's the initial of the first word only, though we can choose to use articles or not.

So The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe could be used for T or L, by not for A or W.

Not too last minute, and plenty of flex! Thanks Trio :)

Ugh! the worst :(

I've just finished my last book for this round. if you can check it, I can get everything sorted with plenty of time :)

fingers crossed for a good vewing!

I finished Cleat Cute today, and will be reading The Midnight Feast (former BOM, can get wriggled into the second ladder?) tomorrow. Fingers crossed within time, but I'll update if not.

Oysters would work, lamb might be more traditionally Welsh or Kiwi, but the Irish have a fondness too. Generic stew, or fish too

But generally, provided we are putting out rogan josh for our party I think we are probably ok!

Fab!

StPaddys was just a suggestion, but more interesting (to me, at least) than Turkey Days.

Sammy, surely you can find some whiskey somewhere?

Venue could be anywhere, really. Pub, even! And decorations could include rainbows, snakes, hats, greenery....

Nisse (Nordic)
1 350 to 450
2 Domestic scene on cover
3 "Tagged at least 5 times ""feel-good"""
4 MC owns or cares for a horse
5 Takes place in a Nordic country (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordi...)


Hope this is acceptable!

I've just finished a monster, does Domi want to spin?

DQ set 5 chapter 25 to end

18. That was an unexpected reunion with Òdòdó’s mother. Did you expect that resolution to their relationship? Do you agree more with Òdòdó or her mother's view of which life gives the most freedom?

19. Aremo fails pretty badly on all accounts! And yet Òdòdó seems to love him regardless. Do you believe in this love? Do you think it would have lasted, on either side?

20. This is a riff on the Persephone myth. Do you think it was successful? Do you like the changes made or not? Why?

21. The Yoruba culture was very strong. Do you want to read more authentic stories? The afterword talks about bringing Yoruba tales to life. Do you think that worked?

Day 3 DQs: Chapters 11-16

9. Let's talk about the twins, because I think they are stealing the show! The Twins, Taiwo and Kehinde, share names rooted in Yoruba tradition, where Taiwo is the "taster of the world" and Kehinde is the true elder soul. How might this cultural symbolism influence how we interpret their role in the palace and their relationship with Òdòdó?

I hadn't paid much attention to the twins. I assume they will help clarify the problems with the current way of life of the empire, as Ododo certainly needs someone to start opening eyes

10. In this section, Kòlò steps in and covers for Odòdó in a critical moment. What does this gesture reveal about her character and the relationship with Odòdó? Is it protective, controlling, self-serving, or some mix? Does this add to or change you option of Kòlò?

Self serving, and what I expected. I'm sure Kolo likes Ododo, but her priority is getting freedom for her people. If trading in Ododo gets her there quicker she'd totally do that

11. The "General Roundtable" plays a big role in power dynamics in these chapters. What does it reveal about how authority is negotiated in this world: who speaks, who is silenced, who wields influence behind the scenes? What does Òdòdó’s building "influence" tell us, despite her being not only a woman, but also labeled a "witch"?

Soft power shouldn't be underestimated.which Aremo certainly gets, and which Kolo is also taking advantage of. The challenge will be for Ododo and or Kolo to step up and wield power openly.

12. There is a riot in the capital during these chapters. How does Sangoyomi portray public anger versus elite maneuvering? What does the riot tell us about the fragility of the system in Ṣàngótè?

I think the riot was done well. It doesn't take much to push people over a tipping point, and you just have to hope that those in power react with the long term best interests of people.

✿~Danielle~✿ wrote: "Trio - as you haven’t added any letters to Second Chance, I’m guessing it doesn’t work for any in our word this round. That means we won’t be able to use it, as a book must work for a letter in our..."

Looks like there is Cass, Nate's daughter (in one of the reviews)

Me too!
Felt so guilty I'm assuaging with Out of Time. It's a hard reading life!