Joanne’s Comments

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

Note: Joanne is not currently a member of this group.

The Others is one of my favourite series!

I'm planning to start with and

Chris wrote: "It seemed that the most popular genres in this group are romance, fantasy, and thriller, so here are some favorites from those genres:
"

I haven't read the other two romances you mentioned, but I also LOVED

✿ Claire ✿ wrote: "I'm slowly making my way through the Kate Daniels books and I adore them. I haven't heard much about her other books though. Good to hear they are worth it. Honestly, I was planning to read them as well after finishing Kate Daniels, but now I'll make sure to make it a priority when that happens."

I was initially going to recommend a Kate Daniels book because I'm currently doing a reread of the series (on book 7 right now) but I figured most people have either read the series or decided not to read it so I thought I would recommend a less popular series.

Here are a few recommendations:

by Ilona Andrews. Honestly I could just recommend every single Ilona Andrews book I've read so far. They are all excellent.

by Aleatha Romig is a lesser known title I don't see discussed as much.

by Mariana Zapata I picked this up specifically because I live in Winnipeg and have never seen my hometown in a book before. Mariana Zapata is so good that I'm trying to work my way through the rest of her back catalogue.

Christina wrote: "I added a new tab to our planning sheet with the task list put in categories to have a better overview. hope that's okay. I would have made a list for myself anyway so I thought why not share it wi..."

This sorting is amazing and will make things so much easier. Thank you!

Hi Team!

I'm Joanne, from Manitoba, Canada, so I'm also going to be on a different time zone than most of you. I have participated in tons of NBRC team challenges over quite a few years, ranging from multiple wheelathons and tower teams, to wobble and cutthroat.

I'm looking forward to getting back into reading more with this challenge, as I've been struggling a bit this year. Between stress and lack of free time, rereads seem to be the only type of books that get me going lately. I work in healthcare (lab scientist doing patient testing for blood transfusions, and mother/baby testing) so although I don't have direct patient contact, I've been working as usual.

Excited to get started with this and here is my shelf: wat

Yessss! This sounds like just the thing to get me back into reading. I've been in a months-long slump.

Alysa wrote: "Team Ira, with 11 members, logged 390 books, with an average page count of 555.
That is amazing, ..."

I love stats like this. That seems insane!

Whether we end up with the most points or not, we sure made a good effort. Great job team and thanks especially to our captains for keeping us in line.

I just finished my last book but I don't have access to the spreadsheet right now, if someone can add the date read for me. I shelved it to my tt shelf.

I'll be cutting it close with mine, but definitely plan to finish in time.

I'm also looking forward to the end of the challenge. I'm going to take the time to catch up on some Netflix shows and podcasts.

I think both of those are brown enough.

DQs Day 6
Ch. 26 – end

23. We start off this section with Blake trying to kill Alex for revenge. Did you expect this and did you accept that he was also responsible for Tara’s murder? Or did you suspect there was still something more?
Also, were you surprised when Dawes came through to bash him in the head?

I was speeding through at this point, but I remember feeling like the explanation that Blake hates women and killed Tara because he couldn't get her to do what he wanted unsatisfactory after all the buildup. So I'm glad there was more

24. We find out that girls had been killed over the years on dates that coincided with the formation of houses and that Dean Sandow knew about it. Did you immediately jump to the same conclusion as Alex, that Sandow killed Tara to form a nexus?

Yes. I started to put it together at the same time as Alex did.

25. What were your thoughts when Belbalm revealed herself? Were you surprised? Did you suspect the connection with North?
It makes sense to me the Belbalm had a stronger role in the story than initially portrayed, but I was not expecting that.

I was surprised. When she first appeared and said she could see the Grays too, I thought she was there to help Alex and that she could be a mentor to her.

26. Belbalm seems to have the same power as Alex and she was able to live so long by stealing the souls from other girls like them and that they’re drawn to New Haven. Do you think Alex will meet other girls with her powers in subsequent books that are drawn to Yale?

I hope that she does. She now has a name for what she is also so she may be able to find something about others. And now that she understands, she can help others to have an easier time than she did.

27. What are your overall thoughts on the novel? Will you read book 2?

It wasn't bad. I thought it was a stand-alone so am disappointed to hear it's a series because I hate reading new books that start a series. There's no way I can read book 2 in 2021 without re-reading this one to remember what happens, and I'm undecided if I liked it enough to want to do so. I'll put the next book on my tbr though and see how I feel in a year and a half.

I agree if we're that close, we should try to go for most points.

Just finishing my last book for the week.

Looks like I will be done with Ninth House this week after all, so I'll add it to the spreadsheet. I'm up to the last day of questions, so I'll finish off the reading in the morning.

DQs Day 5
Chapters 21-25

18. Turner and Alex are working together now, trying to solve Tara's murder. How do you think, is it only a temporary truce or will they be able to become partners?

I see a lot of comments about this being the first book in a series, which made me realize, I thought this was a stand-alone! So yes, I think they will have a grudging working relationship in follow-up books.

19. Colin knew about Blake using Merity to rape the girls and didn't report it, hoping to use this opportunity for his society. Somehow I have the feeling that he is not the only one, who would act this way - most of the other members of his society (and probably other societies too) would do the same. What do you think?

Ugh, not surprising I guess, but too bad, since Alex thought Colin seemed like a relatively nice guy.

20. Colin has an alibi for the night when Tara was murdered, as well as Dean Sandow. Do you believe these alibis or do you think one of them could still have killed Tara with the help of a portal (as Turner suggested)?

With the portal option, it seems anything is possible. I can't remember why Dean Sandow is a suspect though.

21. During the summoning Darlington (or the Hellbeast) said Murder. What murder do you think he meant? Were these the murders that Alex commited? Or the hellbeast eating him? Or some other murder?

I don't know. His own murder I guess.

22. Do you think it is final that Darlington is dead? Or has he survived somehow?

Reading this scene, I was really disappointed that they weren't able to get Darlington back. I didn't realize until now how much I was wanting more from his character. So I hope he will be back somehow.

Day 4 DQs
Chapters 14-20

13. As disgusting as Alex's form of justice was on Blake, did you laugh and write it off as karma, or did she take it too far?

It was disgusting, but after seeing that he had raped multiple women and videod it on his phone and obviously had no remorse, I didn't feel she took it too far. Men like that always get away with it pretty much, especially rich college boys, and it's unlikely Mercy and the other girls could make charges stick.

14. At Rosenfeld Darlington felt the darkness of the "portal" before telling Alex that it wasn't a portal. I feel like there are still a lot of holes in the world building and the magic system, but do you have any idea what it could be if not a portal?

I don't. Even Darlington thought it was a portal until he got too close, so I have no idea.

15. In that same scene we learned what happened when Darlington disappeared. Do you think Alex could've stopped it or was to blame? She seemed a little uncertain herself. And if he didn't disappear, do you think he would've turned Alex in for what he believed her to be?

I'm not sure she knew what she could have done. She didn't have much training. I think Darlington probably would have turned her in, but if they can get him back, he may not in the future after he and Alex have been through more together.

16. After discovering what happened with Hellie, Len and the others in LA, did it help you understand Alex more? Did it change how you felt about her?

It was nice to finally get the story of what happened after it was hinted at throughout the story multiple times.

17. Lance seemed to be involved in more than just selling drugs, especially with the ability to portal! Why did he attack Alex as soon as he appeared? Did someone send him after her? But then going back to the scene in the morgue, if this was Lance, who did Alex see when she had the vision above Tara's body (you would think she would remember the face)? Anyone else thinking Glamours?

I'm confused. Why did she not recognize him as Lance if she saw his face from Tara's memories? Or was it just a thought that "Lance did it"? Or did it look like someone else?

I just checked and I haven't read anything else by either Amie Kaufman or Jay Kristoff before.

I mostly read ebooks but Illuminae series is best on paper (or audio, I hear) and while I own the first book I had to pick up the next two from the library. So the first is a re-read for me (5 stars both time) but this time I'm actually continuing with the rest of the series.

I'm enjoying Ninth House, but not finding it a super quick read. I put it down and don't feel the urge to pick it back up. I was hoping to keep up with the reading schedule and finish it this week, but I think it will get pushed to next week instead. I haven't started yesterday's section yet.