Emma (M)’s Comments (group member since Dec 02, 2014)

Emma (M)’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

V Nerd wrote: "isn't that a series now Emma?"

I think t is, although I won't watch it until I've read the book of course :)

I haven't read Neil Gaiman before but have his book American Gods sitting on my shelf just waiting to be read. I hope to get to it soon as I have wanted to read one of his books for a long time.

Day 2 Discussion Questions
Chapters 10-14

5. What do you think are Joe's intentions with Benji? Is there any way you can see this endingwell for Benji?
6. Joe asks Benji to write down his 5 favourite books, if you had to write a list of your five favourite books, what would they be?
7. What is your impression of Beck through Joe's eyes? Do you sympathise with her situation with Benji? Can you see why Joe is so enthralled with her?
8. How do you think Beck feels about Joe? Do you think she genuinely likes him and it's only her feelings for Benji that are getting in the way of her progressing a relationship with him?
9. I am finding Beck's friendships with Lynne, Chana and Peach to be lacking any real warmth and often interactions amongst the girls seem a bit strained. What are your thoughts on Beck's friends, do you think they are genuine friends who only want the best for her?

1. What do you think about the POV? Does it draw you in or push you away? It's not quite in 2nd person, but it's much more direct than most 1st persons, even ones that break the reader wall. Do you feel Joe is talking to Beck, to you the reader, or both -- are you supposed to identify as Beck?
He seems to be talking to Beck, but in a very detached way, sort of talking at her, not too her. I don't feel like the reader is supposed to identify as Beck, I feel like we are more voyeurs in Joe's mind and we are listening to his thoughts.

2. Many times books are set in first person to make it easier to emphasize with the narrator. Do you have sympathy for him? Do you feel you understand why he feels the way he does? Would it be easier or harder if you saw him from outside?
I don't find myself empathising or sympathising with Joe, but it's really interesting seeing his thought processes and how he deludes himself. It's certainly nit the run of the mill POV.

3. Is Joe an unreliable narrator? He's clearly delusional in some ways; how deep do you think that goes? Do you trust him that he's really doing everything he reports? He's very unreliable as a narrator when it comes to his view of other people's actions, emotions and thought processes, but .i don't think he's unreliable when it comes to his own actions. I think if he says he is doing something, he is doing it.

4. What do you expect from this book? What made you decide to read it? Do you expect it to have the beats of a thriller, or does the adventurous point of view change your expectations?
I'm not sure what to expect, except for it to be good since everyone I know who has read it has enjoyed it. I don't know if I'd call it a thriller at this stage, maybe more a psychological study?

Ruin and Rising
Read: 2 June
Pages: 422
4 stars

Welcome back Tori :)

Jurassic Park

A billionaire has created a technique to clone dinosaurs. From the DNA that his crack team of scientists extract, he is able to grow the dinosaurs in his laboratories and lock them away on an island behind electric fences, creating a sort of theme park. He asks a group of scientists from several different fields to come and view the park, but something goes terribly wrong when a worker on the island turns traitor and shuts down the power.

The Midnight Watch: A Novel of the Titanic and the Californian

As the Titanic and her passengers sank slowly into the Atlantic Ocean after striking an iceberg late in the evening of April 14, 1912, a nearby ship looked on. Second Officer Herbert Stone, in charge of the midnight watch on the SS Californian sitting idly a few miles north, saw the distress rockets that the Titanic fired. He alerted the captain, Stanley Lord, who was sleeping in the chartroom below, but Lord did not come to the bridge. Eight rockets were fired during the dark hours of the midnight watch, and eight rockets were ignored. The next morning, the Titanic was at the bottom of the sea and more than 1,500 people were dead. When they learned of the extent of the tragedy, Lord and Stone did everything they could to hide their role in the disaster, but pursued by newspapermen, lawyers, and political leaders in America and England, their terrible secret was eventually revealed. The Midnight Watch is a fictional telling of what may have occurred that night on the SS Californian, and the resulting desperation of Officer Stone and Captain Lord in the aftermath of their inaction.

Told not only from the perspective of the SS Californian crew, but also through the eyes of a family of third-class passengers who perished in the disaster, the narrative is drawn together by Steadman, a tenacious Boston journalist who does not rest until the truth is found. The Midnight Watch is a powerful and dramatic debut novel--the result of many years of research in Liverpool, London, New York, and Boston, and informed by the author's own experiences as a ship's officer and a lawyer.

Hunted by Meagan Spooner

Beauty knows the Beast’s forest in her bones—and in her blood. Though she grew up with the city’s highest aristocrats, far from her father’s old lodge, she knows that the forest holds secrets and that her father is the only hunter who’s ever come close to discovering them.

So when her father loses his fortune and moves Yeva and her sisters back to the outskirts of town, Yeva is secretly relieved. Out in the wilderness, there’s no pressure to make idle chatter with vapid baronessas…or to submit to marrying a wealthy gentleman. But Yeva’s father’s misfortune may have cost him his mind, and when he goes missing in the woods, Yeva sets her sights on one prey: the creature he’d been obsessively tracking just before his disappearance.

Deaf to her sisters’ protests, Yeva hunts this strange Beast back into his own territory—a cursed valley, a ruined castle, and a world of creatures that Yeva’s only heard about in fairy tales. A world that can bring her ruin or salvation. Who will survive: the Beauty, or the Beast?

I think A Gentleman in Moscow has been my favourite, but I've also enjoyed the several non-fiction books I've read this month

My allocated day works for me :)

Yay, I got a spot on the DQs for You. Woot

I'm only on the first couple of chapters so can't say yet, but she does do amazing world building, so maybe the density of her books require breaks?

Venecia wrote: "Talking about boobs :-). I need some recommendations for sport bras for huge boobs."

Venecia, this might seem weird but Hot Milk (online) is a maternity and nursing bras company. However, even if you are not nursing or preggers their bras are really good and they go to higher sizes. I still wear mine and would continue to buy from them in the future even though I am well past that stage now. Not sure how big you need but it looks like their sports bras go to an E. I've got as high as a G from them in normal bras when pregnant. Anyway, just a thought if you can't find the right size elsewhere.

Hello ST!!!!! Nawww, that's a cute gif.

Lauren wrote: "Glad you enjoyed the book Emma. It's really nice when you pick up a book you wouldn't normally and then realise that you love it! I'm currently reading Strange the Dreamer as it is a BOTM (and I al..."

I will be starting it this week and am really looking forward to it. You can certainly take part in the DQs though, regardless of the schedule. You have a month after the start date to participate in answering the questions and you only need to answer three sets to get participation points - so if you answer a set as you read each section, you will only need to read half a book in the next few weeks to get your participation points :). People are still answering the DQs from the first BOM of the month.

34. Time is a prevalent theme in A Gentleman in Moscow, the writing skillfully depicting the passage of years in the life of a man, as well as a country. How that time is experienced, be it through watching the stars travel across the sky, marking the day with the twice-tolling clock, anxiously watching the second hand of a watch - how time is experienced seems to vary greatly depending on what you are doing with your life and how you are spending your time. Do you agree with the quote "...life does not proceed by leaps and bounds. It unfolds."? Have you experienced time passing differently at different stages of your life? Without a doubt, life passes quicker the older you get. When I was young, a year seemed and eternity, now I'm middle aged I find the years whip by so fast its scary.

35. One thing I didn't expect from this book was the wry humor, especially from the narrator. Little lines like: "The Swiss diplomat, who spoke both Russian and Italian perfectly, exemplified his nation's reputation for neutrality by listening to both men with his mouth shut," reminded me, in tone, of the quiet smiles that underlie Jane Austen's social commentary. What aspects of the book surprised you as you read? What aspects will you take away with you most strongly
I was most surprised by how much I came to love the cast of characters. I truly feel sad that I have finished the book and will no longer get to spend time with the Count and his friends. I guess what I too away from this book was that sometimes BOMs can be a good thing to take part in because you may find an absolute gem of a book you would otherwise not have ever read.

36. Alexander is always analyzing chains of events, and how one decision or action led to another, then to another, i.e. what events led to him not being there for Helena's death, what events led to him meeting Nina, etc. What do you think Alexander was referring to when he said: "...in the end, it has been the inconveniences that have mattered to me the most." Do you think, throughout his life, he trusted to Fate more often, or grabbed his own destiny in his hands? Or is there one era of his life where he was more one way, and then changed?
I think he grabbed his own destiny, but I think he realised that no matter what choices you make or what happens in your life you never know where it will lead. That when an event may seem terrible or inconvenient at the time, they may eventually lead to something wonderful.

38. He may have had his mustaches snipped, but it seems to me that Alexander remained a Gentleman throughout the story. I loved that he used a dueling pistol to waylay his nemesis, the Bishop, (does that make Alexander the Knight? Or perhaps the Castle?) but wouldn't shoot him because the Bishop wasn't an aristocrat (or, perhaps more importantly to the Count, a gentleman of honor.) What do you see as some of the biggest changes between the Old World Order society (Tsars, noble class, etc.) and New World Order society (apparatchiks, uniformity, etc.) as reflected in the book? What stays the same?
I don't think things have changed that much, it just ended up with a different mob in power, but the power differentials were still there. The new world order may have resulted in a people from a different class taking hold of the country's reigns, but it didn't stop the fact that there were substantial differences in incomes and lifestyles from one group to the next.

40. What do you think caused Alexander to plan Sofia's escape? Knowing that he may never see Sofia again, why do you think he stayed in Russia with Anna - is he just a bee who has found his honey? And finally, do you agree with the statement: "One can revisit the past quite pleasantly, as long as one does so expecting nearly every aspect of it to be changed."
The only reason I can think of why he stayed in Russia, was that he felt he was too old to move to an unfamiliar country. I think he loved a lot about Russia and just wanted to be home in the place of his childhood. However, I think the author left it open ended enough that there is still the possibility that he plans to leave Russia with Anna but just wanted to see his childhood home once more before leaving and maybe wait for the investigation of his disappearance to cool down before leaving. I find it hard to believe that he would be ok with never seeing Sofia again.

Abir wrote: "When I decided to read this book, as with every other book, I had a certain expectations in line. But after twenty pages I found those expectations thrown against the wall. And after every chapter,..."

I loved this book too, it was just so beautiful and seemed to be written with such warmth. So many of the characters just made me smile. It was a delight of a book.

Read: 26 May
Rating: 5 stars
Pages: 464

Participating in DQs: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I've finally gotten enough reading time to finish A Gentleman in Moscow and my gosh I just loved it. I would never in a million years have picked this book up to read so I am so grateful that it was a BOM during the TT challenge. I love finding unexpected gems like this