Laura’s Comments (group member since Nov 04, 2015)

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

Heather, in past challenges the official page count has been what you use no matter what edition you read. I guess they’ve changed that since Tower Teams?

Laura wrote: "I don’t know if it matters, or if it can be changed now, but the bonus/quote for Calypso for my Tapped Out Single Mom book got put on the line for Paula’s La Promise on the official spreadsheet."

Not to trying to be nitpicky, but I just wanted to point out that the official page count for Starter Villain is 336 pages (https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...). In Round 4, Karolyn's read of it is listed with 264 pages, so we could get more points there.

Also, the BOM sheet in our Tracking spreadsheet shows Stephie as reading it in Round 3, but it's not appearing on the Round 3 sheet in either our tracking spreadsheet or our official spreadsheet.

Also, the BOM tab in the official spreadsheet has not been updated with any of the readings of Starter Villain. Nor with Nikki's reading of How to Sell a Haunted House in Round 2. Points!

Karolyn's and Stacey's reads of How to Sell a Haunted House in Round 1 is listed as 419 pages, when the official page count is 433.

DQs: Day 3 ~ Chapters 12 – 17

9. It seems like the whole book is a test of Charlie’s character. Hera’s conversation with Charlie is one example. Charlie suddenly asks if Hera and Persephone like him. She says they were sent to watch him, but they like him because Charlie chose to take them in and treated them well. Do you think the book is portraying a series of tests from his uncle? What do you think it means?

I actually wonder if his uncle is still alive and testing him to see if he'll let Charlie join him.

10. “Business is business. It’s different from respect and friendship.” What did you think of this statement? Do you agree with it or do you think these things can’t be separated?

Reminds of Tom Hanks telling Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail, "It's not personal. It's business." And then she tells him, "It was personal to me." I don't think they can be separated.

11. Charlie was quick to pick up clues on the Lombardy Convocation members. What did you think of his assessment? Did it change your opinion of him?

He's a little more astute than I was giving him credit for. But we've only seen him down on his luck, and then thrown into a dizzying, confusing situation. He's finally getting his feet under him.

12. There has been a lot of great banter in the book so far. I have to say I think both parts with the dolphins were my favorites. What has been your favorite line/quote, or your favorite part of the book so far?

I like Charlie and Mathilda's interaction at the Pitch and Pitch.

DQs: Day 2, Chap 7 - 11


5. We learn Hera and Persephone are both sentient cats. My cats love lying next to me and staring at my computer screen (when they’re not stomping all over my keyboard), so I can picture a cat using a computer vividly. What mischief would your pets come up with if they were sentient? Even if you don’t have pets, what mayhem do you think could happen?

My cats would just be watching videos. Probably of other cats hacking up hairballs, throwing up, and dragging their butts across the carpet.

6. Charlie seems to be surprisingly chill about going along with everything happening, from sentient animals to attempts on his life to being whisked away to the Caribbean. Does that make sense to you, with how his life was before the book started? How would you react if you found out your uncle was a supervillain?

I think he's in a state of shock, and everything is going to hit at some point and he'll have a breakdown. I'm pretty sure that's how I would be!

7. Although travelling there was a bit of a hassle, St. Genevieve sounds like a pretty sweet place to be. Where would your ideal villain (sorry, process disruptor) lair be set?

Tropical Island sounds pretty good to me.

8. We got a list of more or less exciting options including sharks, so: what is Charlie going to decide? How is Jacobs going to “die”? Or might his death end up being a real one after all?

I don't think it will be a real one, but I think Charlie's going to pick 2 and flip a coin.

Bonus question: The (soon to be striking) dolphins have, uhm, quite the vocabulary. Any favorite insults? Do you want to give coming up with some creative insults a shot yourself?

I'm glad I wasn't the one who had to come up with those. Better Scalzi than me!

DQs: Day 1, Chap 1 - 6

1. I'm so excited to be reading another John Scalzi book with you all. He has quickly become one of my "always read" authors. Is this your first Scalzi book? What are your expectations?

I read Old Man's War years ago and never got around to the next one in that series (but it's on my TBR!). And I've read Redshirts, which I absolutely loved. But that could have been the Wil Wheaton magic. I expect great entertainment.

2. What are your first impressions of Charlie? Do you think he is using his sad life events as an excuse to coast through life easier as his siblings and attorney seem to imply? Do you relate to him so far?

I think sometimes the hardest thing is to start over. You don't have the energy and naïveté of someone in their early twenties, but you have to plod on, knowing the types of things that are going to happen. I think the lawyer likes him and really wants to help him, but his hands are tied. A year ago I left my husband of 26 years. Several months later I packed up a UHaul and moved with my kids across the country. So I do relate to Charlie about starting over. It's scary!

3. “When people name cats, they usually do it in one of three categories: food, physical characteristics or mythology,” Morrison explained. What do you think Mathilda imagines Charlie's choice of "the goddess route" says about him? What sort of name would you choose and what do you think that could tell someone about you?

I imagine that Mathilda sees Charlie as someone who might be willing to allow the cats to lead. My cats are named after physical characters or mythology. And one is named after Hemingway.

4. What would your reaction be if a rich, but estranged family member left you a huge inheritance?

Where do I sign? Time to buy a house!

Karolyn wrote: "Would you call this blue?

"

I would.

I don’t know if it matters, or if it can be changed now, but the bonus/quote for Calypso for my Tapped Out Single Mom book got put on the line for Paula’s La Promise on the official spreadsheet.

All done with my books and updated the spreadsheet. Now on to the first 17 chapters of Starter Villain!

I’m going to come down to the wire on my last book, but I will finish it.

Karolyn wrote: "December BOM

The December BOM is The Lost Bookshop

I haven’t dug in to see what letters it works for, but wanted to be sure everyone knew in case you need an excuse to go to the l..."

I may just buy that one. It's $2.99 for Kindle.

Thanks. I’ll plan it for next round.

Question about Starter Villain. I know we have until the 2nd to read it. Is that anytime on the 2nd? Or do I need to finish it by the end time of this round? Or can I just finish it by the end of the day?

Next round we’re looking for musicians. Either author musicians or main character musicians!

I'm not looking forward to spelling out Saxophone, but I am glad to get Blue again!

I've found Bluegrass, Calypso, Mambo, and Tango on my Kindle, so that brings us to 10 and allows repeats.

So happy for the search feature on the Kindle!

Heather wrote: "Laura wrote: "One more whiney question. Can we get an updated list of which musical genres have been claimed, since we need 10 different ones before we can repeat? I can search my Kindle for a word..."

Thanks! I was checking Karolyn's post #5, and didn't even think to scroll down and check any other saved posts. :)

I've got a few books to finish, and then I'll focus on the words.

Sofie wrote: "I would say so!"

This is why I hate cover color tasks. I always get to the point where I'm questioning myself on every cover. Even something as obvious as these!

White, right?

One more whiney question. Can we get an updated list of which musical genres have been claimed, since we need 10 different ones before we can repeat? I can search my Kindle for a word, but I want to make sure I'm looking for words we haven't found yet.

My other team challenge that I was focusing on ended this week, so now I can really look for books with the words we need. :)

Karolyn wrote: "Laura wrote: "Can we get the formula for the Member info tab for Round 4 fixed, please? I like seeing that number go up and challenging myself to beat the number from the previous round. :)"

Will do!"

Thanks! I stared at it for too long trying to figure out what is wrong with it, but it's beyond me. :)