Jammin Jenny’s Comments (group member since Jan 31, 2016)

Jammin Jenny’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

Day 3
Chapters 15 to 23

10.) I liked the inclusion of BLM marches and holding them up to the workplace acceptance of the Women's marches. With the latter having full support and and BLM basically seen as nothing but trouble. That's telling and I think accurate. Also, I think the chant of "We Are Enough" highlights that Queenie doesn't think she is enough in any of her relationships romantic or otherwise. Thoughts?

I agree. I was glad they included him but I think her upbringing and self-esteem are just so low that she gets herself into these situations so often without thinking it through.

11.) Ted! SO DISAPPOINTED. Married!! Filed a harassment complaint!!! What is his deal? Coward. Do you think he just wanted some wild, one last fling before he got married? What do you think will come of the complaint?

That was crazy! I thought he was going to be a nice guy but NOOO.

12.) Well, the scene with Queenie, Guy, and Cassandra was. . . interesting. Hopefully Guy is out of Queenie's life for good. But Cassandra? I wanted to punch her right in her money maker. Queenie did nothing wrong aside from make some questionable decisions. She didn't lie because she know there was anything to lie about. What did you think of Cassandra's initial reaction and the scene at Cassandra's house? Ever have a "friend" like Cassandra?

I agree. I can kind of understand why Cassandra went there because she was just in shock, and she had probably been feeling like Queenie was acting like a slut and such, but she held it in and brought it out at a really bad time. Hopefully, Cassandra will recognize her mistake and apologize to Queenie because she didn't do anything to purposefully hurt Cassandra.

13.) Tom is such a coward. How he handled all of that with her was completely unfair. What do you think about Tom? Were you surprised about the new girlfriend?

I was not surprised at all. I think he was having a "fling" with Queenie, trying to show his racist family that they were wrong (and may even feel that they are wrong in their thoughts) but I was not surprised at all to find him with a white girlfriend.

14.) Yay for Grandpa! So glad she's going to therapy! I'm not sure even Queenie realized how bad it had gotten. Do you think she'll stick with it? How often do you think people who really need therapy don't get it because of the stigma or lack of familial support?

I hope she is going to stick with the therapy. I didn't realize how bad her childhood had really been, which really takes a toll on self-esteem and bad sexual situations. I know there used to be a big stigma about getting help, and a lot of people, including my ex, thinks it's all worth nothing. That you've got to suck it up and help yourself. I agree a good therapist can really help you talk about stuff and begin the healing process.

Tammie wrote: "Jammin Jenny wrote: "Yes in the SS example they want the page # we found the word we are using when we scavenger hunts, so track item and pg #."

Do you know Jenny if we are listing if the chapter ..."

Tammie wrote: "Jammin Jenny wrote: "Yes in the SS example they want the page # we found the word we are using when we scavenger hunts, so track item and pg #."

I'd ask in Q&A.
Do you know Jenny if we are listing if the chapter ..."

Yes in the SS example they want the page # we found the word we are using when we scavenger hunts, so track item and pg #.

Sounds good. Everyone just shout out if you're stuck. I think the trickiest thing is going to be remembering to write down food/drink items as you come across them, just like you do if the characters aren't listed on the GR page.

Also, in this game we can read cookbooks, graphic novels, etc. up from 50-159 pages to create fresh meals which is awesome!

Fresh meals (must be used within the month - page count of 50 pages or more. No restriction on using children's, graphic novels, poetry, cookbooks etc.)

We can definitely use scavenger hunt items in those books.

Me too. I think it will be a really fun challenge.

Is everybody comfortable using the SS to enter their books, and all the information on scavenger words or SIO options? If not, I can come up with a completion post template if you'd rather enter it in the thread and have someone else update the SS.

I think we can get more orders done with less books if we do scavenger hunts in most books. When we can't come up with the maximum # of items (based on page count) then SIOs make more sense.

DQs Day 2 - chapters 6 - 14

6. Queenie has some more bad sex experience! What did you think of her interactions with Welshman? and Ted (will he contact her again?!)?

That Welshman was crazy. And I think I like Ted but I'm not sure.

7. Queenie's hair. Honestly, I had no idea that touching black people's hair was a thing that happened. Have you ever? Would you ever? Do you think the author is successful in showing the various micro- and macro- aggressions black women have to endure?

I have never and I would never unless the person asked me to. I think she's doing a great job showing all the little things - like at the Christmas dinner when one of the relatives said she should keep score because she was more dark colored (even though she was wearing a white dress).


8. Christmas: we get some snippets of Christmas with Tom's family. What do the flashbacks to her life with Tom make you think about her relationship?

I think it was really more one-sided for her more than him. I think maybe he was just testing the waters to see what it was like, and probably went back to his family's viewpoints.

9. We meet Queenie's mother, and discover she had an abusive relationship. How do you think this impacts on Queenie's actions in her life?

I think we often repeat those patterns unless something else comes in to help stop it.

@Tammie, the Meal Number is just the next number we assign to the meals we are making. Since your book had 4 different food/drink items, we made four meals with that book. I marked them as complete, then updated the Store Order form to show what we can get for those items and who we can sell them to.

I feel all of you with The Olympics. It was fun but very stressful - playing, scoring, managing, etc. I actually fell off for a while but luckily we have a great team of mods in AMMP and Game Night so they stepped right in and helped out.

I agree with Tammie on the SS. At least put the book in the books read, and include in the columns either food/drink items you find in the book, or the various SIO options we have. I'm good with copying/pasting from that sheet to the Kitchen orders and Shop Orders when we get customers.

If you find pie in the text, it would be best to know what kind (cherry, pumpkin, etc.) and put both words in the "food/drink" column on the SS. That way we can decide what type of pie or whatever we want to sell

Discussion Questions
Day 1

1. I love Queenie. I think I used to be like her - searching for who I was, what I wanted, etc. I love how she is trying to fill her life with love but not doing a very good job in making choices. Did you ever feel like that in your life? Also, I was shocked she found out she had a miscarriage while using an IUD. Does that happen often? Wouldn't you know if you were having one?

2. Being a 1st generation British Citizen from Jamaica must be very difficult. Seems like there's racial tension everywhere in the world these days. I'm surprised at some of the reactions she's getting on the dating app like "Mmm chocolate girl" or "gimme some chocolate". Has anyone else shared that type of experience and would they like to talk about it?

3. I felt so bad for Queenie when she went off with Adi in his car. I can't believe he was so course - "look at it, isn't it big?" and she has to answer him. That was a very dangerous and difficult situation. I can relate. I made some bad choices like Queenie when I was her age. Would you ever put yourself in that type of situation? Why or why not?

4. I love how she renamed her friend chat group to "The Corgies" because well, she's Queenie, and her friends support and love her just like the Queen of England's corgis take care of her. I'm not sure they all like each other though. Do you have a group of friends like that and if so how do you handle the disagreements that come up?

5. Finally, I kind of like "tweed glasses" and am looking forward to see if she ends up going out with him. Anyone else want to make a guess?

Okay I tested the SS and I think I understand how it works. I don't think it matters really if we do SIO or scavenger hunts. I think it really depends on the book. If you're reading a cozy mystery like Hannah Swensen, there'll be plenty of food and drink in the book. Another book might be less focused on eating and more focused on action or fantasy, like a space adventure. So do whatever feels right!

Thanks!

If I read a book and see the word "potatoes" can I use that for Fish and Chips? to cover the Chips?

Thanks! It works for a while then stops working in Column E (cell E13).

I used a book I just finished to do a SIO (432 pages so 8 letters). I put the 8 letters into two different menu orders, and there are some letters that other people/books will need to fill in to complete the order.

The books read page is showing I used my 8 letters, but I'm getting a #REF in column E.

ETA: Wow you are super fast! It's working now!!

Awesome. Yes, I think we should do that.

Also, I noticed a couple of "REF" came up when I copied books to the kitchen so I asked in the Q&A for them to look into it.

I'm getting a #REF error when I try to copy a book from my books read to Kitchen Meals created tab.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Okay, I watched the video on the SS and read through the Q&A and think I have it. We'll see. I think it would help if we play around a little bit with the SS before the round starts just to make sure we know how to use it.

Unless, Tammie, you want to take this on as head chef? I can be a sous chef on the SS if you like.

I need to watch the video and read through the Q&A thread to catch on. I'll plan on doing that this week, and will be happy to help with strategy once I figure it out!