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

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

It has been good! I am really enjoying it, which is lucky because 1200 pages is a bit of a marathon. I have had to intersperse with Days of Blood Starlight to break it up a bit. I finished DoB&S this morning though, and I am 54% through The Stand, so should definately finish it this weekend... hopefully :)

V Audio Nerd wrote: "Just the giant book to go, all of the other have been filled"

I am hoping to have this done by the end of the weekend. Actually, I am hoping to have all three of my 'currently reading' books done this weekend :)

Ok. You guys have convinced me and Tell the Woves I'm Home is now on my list and moved straight toward the top. I have never heard of it before - I love this group for recommends, you get to find great books that you otherwise would never know about!

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS - January 9
CHAPTERS 19-22

28. What did you think about Aervyn’s spell at the Circle? Did you expect something of that magnitude to occur?

29. Lauren is now using her powers in her real estate job. Is scanning her client’s thoughts and using what she finds to mind nudge them, ethical use of her powers?

30. Now that Jamie has moved to Chicago to be with Nat, what do you think of their relationship? Is it a good match?

31. Given Jamie runs a website where he and his sister try to locate witches, I was surprised that he didn’t want to go to see the coven? It seemed like a perfect opportunity to locate any potential witches. What did you think of Jamie’s initial reaction to the coven?

32. We have had more time to get to know the characters now and everyone seems super nice. Are there any characters you don’t particularly like?

I have recommended to heaps of people including the techs at my workplace :)

Way to go Erin!!

24. I loved the way how mind magic can help children with special needs. I think Lauren enjoyed it too. What do you think, will she switch from real estate to this profession?
I think she is very fulfilled by her real estate job. She seems to feel that she is helping people by finding them their homes. I can't imagine her giving her real estate career up.


25. Helping kids with special needs is first great use for mind magic I noticed so far. Can you think of some other humanitarian purpose where mind magic can be applied?
I agree, I thought that was a pretty awesome use of mind magic. One other useful use, although probably not ethical, would be to read the minds of potential suspects in a criminal case - rather than say, a lie detector test.

26. It seems like precog vision of Jamie and Nat is going to come true. What do you think will we see them building that snowman in the epilogue of this book, in the sequel or you don't think HEA for them will happen?
I think we could see it in this book, but I think there is a chance that it won't be their child, it will be Aervyn that is with them.

27. Wow there are some huge preparations going for that circle. I imagined it to be much smaller gathering. What do you think, will the spell backfire? What will Aervyn do? Change color of all hair in the world to pink or something more serious?
I must admit this is the first part of the book where I am really interested to see what happens. I think it will be pretty powerful whatever it is.

Oops, I deleted the spoiler part.

Cynthia wrote: "Chapter 45


(view spoiler)[ I can't believe Zuzana wouldn't have at least sent her an email to tell her she was coming. In fact Zuzana travelling to find her doesn't make sense - crossing a desert to do so as well, that goes far beyond friendship and way into 'what the?'

I am really concerned what's going to happen to poor Kiri, I hope they don't hurt him too badly!.

So far I am enjoying this book as much as the first one. Laini Taylor is just such a beautiful writer (hide spoiler)]

Yeah, I agree with your creepy comment!

Yeah (view spoiler)[ seeing Twoflower trying to sell something as mundane as insurance to these people in a fantasy world that have never heard of it was really quite funny and it does make you realise what a stupid concept it sounds like (hide spoiler)]. I'm looking forward to seeing what else Terry Pratchett comes up with in later stories :)

I would like to volunteer for the DQs please (Jubilant Chickadees)

Kristin ~ Experiment in Terror Junkie wrote: "Yay Erin! That's great news!!!

Glad you're liking your biggie Emma!

As for "I'll give you the sun", I forget, do you listen to much audio? I can usually speed thru an audio faster than book..."

For me audio takes a lot longer as I usually only listen to it on my commute to work, but I guess I can use the time I would usually sit down and read and listen to the book instead :)

Wow Erin, that was so quick! But Yay!!! How was it the second time around?

My eReader says I still have 18 hours of reading to go on my 1200 pager, after reading it pretty solidly for several days now. Thankfully it's such a great book it's not a chore at all.

Snowtulip wrote: "Emma wrote: "ST, what is the book you are doing the daily questions for?"

I'll Give You the Sun and Yes Please :D"

Snowtulip are you still putting down for DQs on Yes Please, I just couldn't see a post from you on the thread anymore. Just wondering, because if you aren't doing it anymore I will put down for them since I will be reading the book anyway :)

20. I enjoyed the triplet's anecdote about how their parents Nell and Daniel got together. Although the story is light and upbeat it does touch on the moral and ethical question of being a witch. Thoughts?
It would definitely be a skill that someone who wasn't highly moral or ethical could take advantage of. I also think that the ethics of mind reading is treated very lightly in this book.

21. Ewwww. Lauren accidently intrudes on Jamie and Nat in an intimate moment. Do you think there are more advantages or disadvantages in being a mind witch?
I personally could not think of anything worse than reading people's thoughts. I am sure I would hear plenty of things that would keep me up at night, whether it was hearing horrible things thought about me personally, or hearing thoughts about terrible things other people had done or thought about people I cared about... no, definitely happy not to read minds.

22. What is your opinion of Moira and do you think the chat sessions add to the story?
I don't mind the chat sessions, they don't take away from the story for me, but they don't add anything to character development. For this reason, Moira doesn't really stand out to me in this book.

23. Lauren showed great power at the practise circle. What do you think will happen at the official circle and what do you see for Lauren's character into the future?
I think something major will happen at the official circle with so many more witches and much more power flowing around. I don't know if this will be a good or bad experience for Lauren though.

Tell me about this waterproof Kindle!

I had to get I'll Give You the Sun on audible so I could read it with everyone else this month because it's not released on kindle or paperback until bloody March in Australia! So annoying.. Grrr

15. What are your thoughts on the developing relationship between Jamie and Nat? Do you think they would have gotten together regardless of Jamie's precog? Or has the precog been the catalyst for their relationship?
It woulld be hard to say if they would have gotten together without the precog. They probably wouldn't have spent enough time with each other, before Jamie and Lauren left town, for a relationship to form without the precog to help it along.

16. What do you think about the ethics raised in the story over the use of mind skills? Do you think Lauren has used her skills unethically - whether intentional or not? What about the ethics around Aunt Jennie's use of her mind skills in her photography?
I have not problems with the ethics of it unless it was misused - such as trying to access someones private thoughts for personal gain.

17. What are your thoughts and impressions on the interactions between Aervyn and Lauren?
I think it's a very sweet burgening friendship.

18. What are your thoughts on the visualtions used in the story to build the mind barriers, i.e. Jennie's camera, Aervyn's matchbox cars, Lauren's couch? Are you surprised to read about these types of visualtions, rather than the traditional walls that Jamie used initially with Lauren?
I think it is great that walls can be used that reflect the witch's own personality and experience. That makes it a bit more interesting and creative than just plain old bricks. I also like that when Lauren did have bricks, she covered them in moss and made them a bit more interesting.

19. We are now at the half-way point in the book. What are you thoughts? Are you enjoying the story? Do you have any comments or thoughts about the characters? What star rating would you give the story at this point?
I am not really enjoying this book too much. It reminds me very much of chick lit in substance and that isn't a genre that generally appeals to me. I would give it 2, maybe 2.5 stars at this point.

Thanks for the heads up Renee.