Stacey’s Comments (group member since Oct 26, 2014)

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

Can I get an opinion on a task, please? I'm getting ready to read Officer off Limits. MC is a police officer. Which task does that fit better? I'm leaning towards 34, but wanted to double check.

Task 34: Read a book with a job word in the title (e.g. nurse / teacher / writer / etc)
OR
Task 196: Read a book with a title word in the title (e.g. queen / mister / president / etc)

My Z book is finished.

Tammie wrote: "Stacey wrote: "Tammie wrote: "@Stacey...please double check for the correct version you read...Fragile...you have listed as 496 pgs but a different version is shelved. Thanks!"

Sorry -- the defaul..."

Fixed. And just FYI, I'll probably be running right up to deadline to finish my last Z, but should be done by early Friday afternoon.

Tammie wrote: "@Stacey...please double check for the correct version you read...Fragile...you have listed as 496 pgs but a different version is shelved. Thanks!"

Sorry -- the default version has 496, but I read a different one. I'll change it when I get home.

Breaking Point (sorry on the phone) in Line 66 can be a Z. But that leaves an I open. Not sure which is more difficult?

I logged 3 books -- unfortunately they were left from last week and only work for one letter. But now I'm on to this week and I'll try to pick books with letters it looks like we will need more.

@Shelby, if you haven't read Ilona Andrews -- all of their books have a great combo of fantasy and romance.

All my books are in for this week. I was going to try to squeeze one more in, but I'm not going to make it.

Tammie wrote: "Bernadette wrote: "Tammie wrote: "Geesh....we’re going to need to be deliberate with those Qs...we can do it!"

I have 3 "Q" books already. I think I will have trouble with "Z"!"

I’ll have Zs I’m ..."

I've been saving my Zs, so I can help with those... I just wasn't expecting P, B, Q, U, and I all at the same time. :)

Ashlee wrote: "I added 2 finished books to the spreadsheet.

I will finish another today. I am going to try my hardest to finish the BOM by Friday, as I don't think that it will fit any of the letters in our new..."

Wow. It's hard for me to imagine a harder group of letters in a word. I don't even know what that is?

6.) This section opens with some spooky stuff going on. If you saw literal ghosts in the creepy place you worked, would you split right away? Would you of left with sketchy-past Nick? Would you go back to work or think the overnight creep factor was making you see things that weren't really there?
As long as the ghosts weren't actually causing any harm, I'd be creeped out for sure, but probably wouldn't leave. Probably would not have gotten in the car with Nick, though.

7.) Viv listens to guests' phone conversations. There is the saying 'people who eavesdrop are seldom happy with what they hear'. Or something close to that anyway. Do you think she may over hear something that results in her disappearance? Would you listen in if you were Viv? I would probably listen, I'm pretty nosey. I'm not sure I have a good understanding of the electrical issues -- has that really been explained?

8.) There really have been several deaths of young women in Fell, especially factoring in the size of the town. Do you think they are all connected? Connected to Viv's disappearance? Do you buy into the police stance of no connection between any of them? In a small town, I can understand why they would want to believe that they weren't all connected, but it seems like quite a stretch. I imagine they will connect to Viv somehow.

9.) What do you think of the complete laxness of management and staff at The Sun Down Motel? Anyone else wonder how the heck that place is still open? And more importantly, why? No idea why they haven't closed it and torn it down. The owner didn't really explain that in a way that made sense. But if it was closed we wouldn't have this lovely story. :)

10.) Any thoughts on the candy machine? It keeps popping up in both timelines. Maybe nothing, but in this type of story, who knows. No thoughts really. I'm assuming the ghosts are messing with it somehow. Although I don't think I would want any candy I could get out of it if I were Carly.

11.) Marnie and Callum are interesting additions to the character line-up, thoughts? Did you think it was strange that Marnie won't talk with Carly? Callum local nice boy-helper dude or creeper? I so want Callum to be the nice nerdy helper guy. But it seems like Carly is getting a creeper vibe, so who knows?

Tammie wrote: "Stacey wrote: "Day 1 DQ's: 0-21% (ends "he opened the door.")

1. The Sundown Motel...what a perfect name for a motel! Have you ever stayed at a motel before...something like the Sundown? What was ..."

My mother was pretty frugal (and less fun than my father) so even at only 25 cents a pop, the vibrating was a special treat. :)

Day 1 DQ's: 0-21% (ends "he opened the door.")

1. The Sundown Motel...what a perfect name for a motel! Have you ever stayed at a motel before...something like the Sundown? What was the name of the motel...Any interesting experiences come of that?
We stayed at a lot of little strip motels when I was little, but I can't remember any of the names. No crazy experiences really, unless you count the vibrating beds. Had to have a pool though!

2. Viv is young and working alone. I don't think I would tolerate my daughter doing anything of the sort. What were you thinking from the 1st few pages? Viv comments..."Being with people was easy, but being alone was hard. Especially along in the dark. The person who could be truly alone, in the company of no one but oneself and one's own thought--that person was stronger than anyone else. More ready. More prepared."
I thought she was young to be in that situation -- but it was a little different back then, and she was a runaway, so really she ended up doing pretty well for herself with a job and a roommate. I imagine the streets of New York would have been a little worse.

3. What do you think the significance of the door to number 103 banging open/shut is? It seemed like Viv was used to it, so it must be something not unusual. Something ghostly I hope. :)

4. So far Carly's mom's reaction to seeing the newspaper clipping..."Vivian is dead" has really bothered me. What's your take? Have you already solved the case? Is Vivian dead? I felt like we didn't get much explanation about why Carly's mother refused to talk about Viv. It seemed strange that she was so violently against it. I've finished so I'm staying mum on the last question.

5. What did you think about the dual timeline between Viv and Carly? In what ways are Viv and Carly very similar? How are they different? They seem very similar to me, just each a little more a product of their time. Carly is a little more experienced and aware of bad things I think.

Tammie wrote: "Stacey wrote: "Captains: Are we allowed to use The Sun Down Motel for Task 11: Read a book set in a hotel? Cause technically its a motel.....

Yay Tammie for getting questions for t..."

At least half of it is at the motel so far... but I'll put it somewhere else.

Captains: Are we allowed to use The Sun Down Motel for Task 11: Read a book set in a hotel? Cause technically its a motel.....

Yay Tammie for getting questions for this one!

I switched around a few of my books, but didn't really change any letters. Should finish the 1 book I have planned for this week sometime Friday. :)

Day 3 Questions
chapters 10 - 15

10) I can't imagine the stress of trying to balance the knowledge of a fairly terminal prognosis with trying to be hopeful to live. I mean, we all know our days are numbered, but when you have an idea of what the number might be, you can either try to suck the marrow out of every day or curl up and try not to care enough to let anything hurt you more. Who do you think will have a bigger effect on the other, Will or Stella, and what do you hope will be the outcome, from a personal growth aspect?
I've finished so I won't say fully, but again, I think they will both have a positive effect on each other. I think both of the ways they were trying to live were a bit extreme with some room for both to move to the middle.

11) Maybe I'm too cynical, but I kept feeling like Abby was used as the personification of the idea that "See, you never know how long you have to live, so..." and not flawed enough to be a real person. Did anyone else feel that way or am I being a meanie? I didn't think about it while I was reading, but now that I know this is written from a movie, I think this is one of the 2 big things that make more sense in a movie setting. They can have nice quick flashbacks to Abby and flesh her out a bit more than they can in the book. In the book she's just kind of unnecessary.

12) I loved Barb's parental takedown. Do you think the shift in Stella's parents will last? Hopefully. I feel like they have really been making things harder for Stella than they have to.

13) Reflecting on Barb's story of Amy and Trevor: would you choose a much shorter but immediately fuller life, or a longer lifespan though it may be less vibrant?
Shorter but more vibrant and full of love.

14) Poe says "It's my sickness...it's my problem." While it's admirable to strive for self-sufficiency, a main message of the book seems to be about how it's imperative to open up and do the work to nurture healthy, supportive relationships. What is your take on this? When in crisis, do you distance yourself or reach out? I was all about this when he said it. It's probably the way I would have handled it.

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Day 2 Questions

6 . 'I wonder how many strings she had to pull and how much money she had to throw away to get me into this trial'
This quote caught my attention because in the UK we don't have to pay for treatment, even in a clinical trial in the UK. Did it catch anyone else's notice? I remember the line, but I think I just figured Will had already mentioned he had been in clinics all over the world looking for a cure, so it was clear that he was wealthy as NO insurance pays for treatment in Paris.

7. Are you surprised at how quickly Stella has become attached to Will? I wasn't expecting this strength of reaction to him not taking his treatment seriously. Did you think it was in character? I was pretty surprised by the turn around as it seemed like she went from disdain for him to being terrified he was going to die in about 4 hours. Not sure I got what triggered the change.

8. Wow Will's mum is controlling. I'm not surprised he's ended up rebelling from taking his treatments. Do you think you'd react like Stella (perfectionist, controlling about treatment and planning for the future) or Will (fed up, rebellious and living for the moment) to being in this type of situation? I'd like to think I would be more free wheeling like Will, but I'd probably have a spreadsheet made and color coded by the end of the first day of meds/treatment.

9. Masks, lots of hand washing, staying 6 feet (or roughly 2m) apart, limited places you can go… The recent pandemic is giving me more insight into some of what this must be like than I'd had before. How are you coping with the changes?
I'm a GP trainee so have been at work throughout with a massive shift to remote consultations. That bit is easier compared to entertaining a 2 year old without any of the friends/family/groups as distractions!
I work in an acute care hospital as well, and the biggest issue that I've had is the CONSTANT changes in policy and procedures over the last few months. I'm a creature of routine and it has not been a comfortable situation! But other than that my life is pretty much the same, so I'm lucky that way.

Donna wrote: "Stacey, I am assuming that you are waiting until you have all of your participation links before shelving Five Feet Apart."

Actually, I just forgot. :) I'll have the second link ready later this pm.

Is there any letter we are behind on? I have time for 1-2 books depending on length, and can look for something we need multiples of if needed?

Captains -- When are you planning on updating our SS? I tend to get a little over competitive on these things and would LOVE to know where we stand in rankings. But if you all are just planning to do it once or twice at the end of each round, I'll just chill myself out. :)