Joanne’s Comments

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

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

Day 1 DQs

1. At the very beginning we are hit with a chilling image and as Officer Marius is descending into the basement looking for one of the little girls he "...becomes aware of the room. Glancing around, he realizes what it's been used for. He's disgusted." What do you think this room was used for?

My first thought was something related to pedophilia.

2. We get brief look at what happens to Laura before Thulin and Hess get called out to the scene. While looking over the body and the garden Thulin notices a chestnut doll and has an odd reaction to it. "It's a simple doll consisting of two spheres and four sticks, but briefly, for some reason she can't explain, it makes Thulin's heart stop." Why do you think she had a strong reaction? Could it be a repressed memory?

I agree with others that Thulin may be the girl from the earlier scene.

3. Speaking of Thulin and Hess. I'm a bit put off by the both of them. Thulin seems to think homicide is boring and Hess just seems to not give a flying rat's behind about anything. What do you think of our MCs so far?

It seems like Hess hasn't really done much yet but Thulin is determined to find fault with everything. It's clear she doesn't really want to be there.

4. Then we have Rosa and Steen, the parents of Kristine who is missing and presumed dead. They each have a different way of handling their grief. Rosa has thrown herself into her work as a politician and Steen is drowning his sorrows in alcohol. As a parent it's really hard to imagine losing a child. How do you think you would handle losing your child? Do you think their reactions are typical for parents who have lost a child?

I don't have kids. I'm sure it would be devastating.

5. Do you think Kristine Hartung is still alive? Or is it a cruel joke being played on her parents? Why or why not?

I really don't know. I think it's more likely that her hand was taken so that her fingerprint could be placed on the chestnut by the killer.

I'm not going to be able to get Hidden Bodies done this round (have a dinner to go to tonight and then have to work tomorrow), so I will finish that one next week instead, if someone can adjust the spreadsheet for me.

So for the mini-challenge, is our goal to mostly fill in the stories with books from the bad books thread? So that we get the 5 points for bad books + the 2 points for the story (plus the 14 points when the story is finished)?

I'm going to make note of all the "bad books" I want to read on a shelf so I can pick from it for the next couple weeks.

Going to change my poll vote for The Ninth House also.

Allison Ann wrote: "I haven't read anything on the list, so tell me what I should vote for so we can all read it. :)"

Same! I'm willing to read whatever. The ones I have on my tbr are , , and

I moved one of my books from brown cover (mini-challenge) to the "haunted house" task, since it seems harder and noted another one it fits as well.

I found spots for almost all of my planned books in the mini-challenge, but I'm still looking for Pachinko. I suspect that since it is a multi-generational saga, that there will be more than 5 named character deaths in it, so I'm keeping track (3 so far). Otherwise it may fit for main character death.

Jessi wrote: "So this has been my day:

Start driving to work and my car feels all wobbly so I pull over. And I have not one but TWO flat tires. Call the hubster to come rescue me and take me to work. One tire h..."

Wow this sounds incredibly frustrating!

What does the task "Read a book where a religious crime takes place" mean exactly?

In my current book, a Korean man living in Japan in the 1930s is put in jail for 2 years for practicing his religion. Would that work?

I've got a copy of Chestnut Man ready to go and a hold at the library for Two Can Keep a Secret. Since we're the BOM team I've got to do my part. Hopefully I'll have better luck with these ones, as all 3 from October were 2-star reads for me. 😂😂😂

Nice to see us back in first after dropping a bit last week. I love how we are going all out as a team for the BOMs.

Even before hearing about the mini-challenge I had chosen 3 books that have the mystery/thriller MPG so I'm hoping I can find a good spot to fit them in. This is not my usual genre, so it worked out really well.

I won't be finishing any more books this round, but I will get started on some for next week and keep my eyes peeled for which tasks they fit for the mini so I can list them all.

Alysa wrote: "Joanne wrote: "Would this work for a brown cover?
"

Maybe.
What do all you others think?"

Hang on, I'm going to read the ebook so this would be the specific edition: Maybe it looks a little on the brown-er side?

Would this work for a brown cover?

Yes, I think so too.

When I get home tonight I'll find the quote

My horse book also works for beagle, so you can have horse.

Here's the quote in chapter 7: "I'm sure the ones I'm used to aren't ethically sourced, hand-fed organic ducks though."

Save the date mentioned ducks. Not sure if we want to use it for that.

I know right? The book is a bit ridiculous!

Fair point on the Vanity Prize. Well I'll keep my eye out for more tricky animals and I can post the quote for whichever one we decide on.

Alysa wrote: "Joanne wrote: "I already noted the elephant (easy) on the cover, if you’re talking about The Windup Girl. What’s the tricky one?

Btw regarding the Vanity prize, it’s not per sin group, it’s altogether. So if we read more Wrath books that Team Wrath, but Lust reads more Lust books than we read Wrath books, then Lust would win the Vanity prize. At least that is my understanding!
So it’s nice to grow the Wrath Tower, but we’re not going all out for that prize :)"

Yes, The Windup Girl. I thought it was an elephant on the cover too, but going by the book it's actually a genetically engineered elephant-derived animal called a megodont. I added the tricky animals (2 so far) I found to the "alternate justification" in the spreadsheet.

For the Vanity prize, I saw we're in third place so I figured it might be something we want to try for.