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

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

Excellent news Marie, I'm so glad you've got an answer and know what your treatment path should be!

Excellent Sammy!

I can't commit for this round, but could equally sacrifice myself on the Equal Rites altar!

I can say that I enjoyed Empress (has some issues but fun), Emily Wilde and also Everyone in my Family...
Etiquette was also a lot of fun.

Day 2: Chapter 6 - 10

5. Of those Òdòdó has met so far, who do you think will become allies? Or turn out to be enemies? Why?

I think the griot will be an ally, but the women are all using her one way or another. Whether she'll find common cause with the blacksmiths and or Kolo is the interesting route

6. Having been so steeped in western traditions where blacksmiths are always big, burly men, I’m loving the whole concept of a female sisterhood of blacksmiths, thought to be witches because of their connection to the Earth. Understanding that they were forced to join due to transgressing the female norms of the time, what is your impression of the blacksmiths? What do you suppose is going on with all the disappearing blacksmiths? Do you think Òdòdó’s mother is with the other blacksmiths or looking for Òdòdó?

They have a lot of power in a martial setting, and are not given appropriate respect. Honestly, if your value system is based on quality of metalwork, respect the metalworkers or reap the rewards!


7. “After all what is love but a choice?” This quote from chapter 4 keeps popping into my head, so I’m curious what you all think: Is this true for general love only? Can it really be true for romantic love? Putting aside the retelling aspect for now, what do you think about the growing relationship between Òdòdó and Aremo? Do you think Aremo had an ulterior motive seeking out a blacksmith girl when they first met? (Yes, yes - I’ve gotten a touch cynical and suspicious in my old age.)

I think that the blacksmiths are realising their power,for sure, and Aremo was probably planning to use her as a hostage. That he actually likes her is a problem for him....

8. I’m finding Kolo to be more and more interesting as the story progresses. In the vein of “History is written by the victors,” what is your take on Kolo’s reaction to Gassire’s version of how Sangot came to be? What do you think about her tribal scars that opened when she saved Òdòdó? Are you hoping (like I am) that she secretly trained with the Ahosi warriors?

Kolo is interesting, and I'd like to hear her truth. I think she's plugged into a rebellion, but I don't know if it's the same as the blacksmiths

It was actually Angie who sorted you last time, so the Turf chat is an option.

I say this as I am on mobile now, and transferring info is tedious!

I'll link your request in the Captain's group anyway...

Day 1 DQs: Chap 1 to 5

1. What do you think of the choice of location for the book? Did the location effect your decision to read the book?

I only know of this book because of the BOM nom, so that's the main driver. That said, I do try to hunt down stories of and by the Global Majority, so this is totally my wheelhouse. So far it's a winner

2. There is a lot of information dropped in this first section. Are you finding it awkward to read or well-integrated? Are there questions you still have on the setting?

I think the set-up and sharing of information is done well, especially with the politics and geography being part of the lessons for Ododo (sorry wrestling with phone to respond, and wrestling with the keyboard too is too tricky). I like also that the basics are left for us to work out from context etc

3. We meet the blacksmiths at the start of the book including Òdòdó’s mother. How do you think her relationship with her mother characterizes her as a character and her request for her mother to join her? If you have not read ahead, do you think asking for her mum to be kidnapped was a good idea?

I can't think of a situation where kidnapping someone is the right answer! Okay, maybe rescuing from a cult to deprogram a person, but no, this is not going to end well.

4. We have met two new important characters Aremo and his first wife. Do you think he is as vapid as he appears? Do you like stories with a forced/political marriage theme?

I think he has plans for sure! I like Kolo , who promises to be an interesting addition to the mix

Shap-ng-tsai (China/Vietnam)
1 350 to 450
2 Takes place along the South China Sea in Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, or Viet Nam
3 Letters in TONKIN in title
4 "port" in text
5 X in author's name



Other open tasks:
MC is a journalist
takes place in New York City

651+

Tagged "Trans" or "Transgender" (5 or more times)

Type of true deer/cervid on cover

I'm not sure this is a wise move.... but I'm going in!

Sammy wrote: "Do we have a lovely librarian who can add a cover to an audiobook for me please>

The Magnificent Mrs Mayhew

cover: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/4...

Aud..."

Made the request to kind Captains' Group librarians

good news! I got a set of DQs for Masquerade :)

so I'll be reading that on holiday, together with Sociopath (Memoir MPG) and Great Expectations (friendship tags).

Obviously I'll be reading more, but I'm not sure what as yet.

If the authors are listed on GR we can, yes.
Characters - if they are key to their story, yes. I'm a little more leery of using incidental characters from short stories though.

There is a LOT, Marie, no stupidity though! X

@Sammy, when you get a mo can you add Service Model to your shelf, ta :)

And we are off!

Crack open those books! Launch the ebook! Press play on the audio player! Get reading1 :)

I did so well! Finished my two active books with only an hour to go!

So have been browisng to work out which work for this and Turf and SRC, that I also want to read! it's a venn diagram with a small overlap - one of the challenges (not this one!) will have to give!

I covered the Jan publish & fire plot element (Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng, which was excellent)

now finishing Little Eyes before Wheel kicks off, at which point I shall assess IO needs & task options and pick something!

DQ'S - DAY 5 Reality Again - end

18. Who else thought that Izzy really had been killed and was very upset about it?! Did you like how the fake-out was handled? Do you think it worked as a narrative choice?

For a second, but then I remembered the Book of Illusion and was confident she wasn't dead.

19. We finally found out how Mr. Webber got the Book of Doors. Were you expecting that? Did you have any other ideas about how that would play out? Did his “final” final scene change your feelings or interpretations of the earlier ones?

There was still some weirdness in that, but fine, whatever. And having the final final final scene met with the emotional tenor of the book.

21. The ultimate stories of Hugo Barbary and the Woman are… interesting. And rather unexpectedly intertwined! What did you think about all of that? Had you predicted anything along those lines?

Like others I had an initial thought that Hugo was Webber! Yikes!
But I dislike the pain hanging about looking for someone to infect. That was a weird concept not suggested elsewhere in the book and felt like a cop out.

22. What with how this ends for the remaining characters — not to mention a few loose plot threads — it seems to me like the author is leaving the door open (no pun intended, lol) for a sequel. Does this book feel like a complete story to you? Why or why not? In fact it looks like his next novel is set in the same world, even if it’s not a direct sequel. Would you read it? Why or why not?

It felt complete enough, and any further books would rock the somewhat precarious set of logic he's built (Cassie created the books when she was hanging about? I don't think so! though better than the suggestion they were around in Ancient Egyptian times - books being a very new invention!)
I'm not madly minded to read the next book, no

Idea!
I've been thinking about the many mini excursions we have, and the complexity of recording for them, and wondered if it would be a good idea to prioritise how we approach them.

I was thinking, let's focus on the unrepeatable ones first, ie.
BROWN (mix of requirements)
MOBILE (mainly about past BOMs)
ROADTRIP (tasks)

In particular, if a couple of people wanted to collaborate on the BOM squares and ladders, that would be a really easy way of tackling that one (just need to agree to read two of the same books and that's a square!)

But, tackling the MOBILE mini does require people to read from the past BOMs, which is limiting and niche, so we might prefer to tackle one of the other two first.

Thoughts?

That sounds like an amazing trip Marie! bit of holiday envy here!

and O, Sammy! I O I O I O!

all good by me :)

Can't add much to the country music chat, beyond noting that Alison Krauss is excellent, and I loved her first album with Robert Plant.

But I did finally get around to Fire book, and spin us

Torquemada (Spain / South America)
1 200 to 299
2 Takes place in Spain
3 tagged Jewish, Muslim, Judaism or Islam at least 10 times (or reasonable synonym)
4 author or character named Thomas or Tom
5 features a legal trial