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

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

New Tasks!

Tower Teams 4: 25 Days of Tower Teams
Read 4 books related to winter seasonal holidays (e.g. with a Thanksgiving Feast on the cover, or set during Diwali)


Tower Teams 6: Sorting Hat
Read a book that would be sorted into Gryffindor House
Read a book that would be sorted into Hufflepuff House
Read a book that would be sorted into Ravenclaw House
Read a book that would be sorted into Slytherin House

Gryffindor: traits - bravery, daring, nerve, and chivalry; animal - lion; gemstone - ruby; colours - scarlet and gold

Hufflepuff: traits - hard work, dedication, patience, loyalty, and fair play; animal - badger; gemstone - yellow diamond; colours - yellow and black

Ravenclaw: traits - intelligence, knowledge, curiosity, creativity and wit; animal - eagle; gemstone - sapphire; colours - blue and bronze

Slytherin: traits - ambition, leadership, self-preservation, cunning and resourcefulness; animal - serpent; gemstone - emerald; colours - emerald green and silver

One Sentence Audio wrote: "Hi Team...

FYI

I have bern trying to help with Wheel tasks

I am switching my focus to 500+ page books to help in those categories, as the month of July hurdles towards the end!

Benita"

Sounds like a great plan!

One Sentence Audio wrote: "I had tech problems with Tennessee Moon so I have replaced it with The Dressmaker. It has the same qualifying MPG historical for wheel.

And....my Libby is having a ha..."

Poor Libby! :)

I see that you marked The Dressmaker read on the spreadsheet, but I need you to mark it read on your shelves and add it to your Tower shelf before I can request a new spin for us.

I've got a book for Platypus. It's only 104 pages, so I should finish it pretty quickly after my Muse book.

I also have City of Nightmares on my physical shelf. It is MPG Horror. Will probably take me until Friday to get it done, so if anyone has anything sooner, great.

New Tasks

Tower Teams 7: Sloth
Read a book with the animal "platypus" in the text
Read a book with the animal "zebra" in the text
Read a book with the animal "chipmunk" in the text
Read a book with the animal "heron" in the text"

Update on our current tasks, while we wait for another captain to spin for us:

Tower Teams 9: Muses - 2 completed
Laura - Lyrical - should have it completed tonight
Benita - Tennessee Moon

Tower Teams 7: Sins - 3 completed
Available MPGs are: Dystopia, Guilty Pleasure, Dark Fantasy, Horror

Yep. It works!

New Tasks!

Tower Teams 7: Sins
Read four books that have one of the following MPGs. Each book must have a different MPG (i.e. can't use Romance four times)
MPGs: Dystopia / Young Adult / Historical Romance / Guilty Pleasure / Dark Fantasy / Contemporary / Horror

DQ Day 3 Chapters 14-20

10. So we are half way through the book. Thoughts and feelings? Loving it? Hating it? Ambivalent?
Loving it! I got two of my kids stuck on it, too!

11. Jeremiah gets killed pretty quickly as his signet shows. Do you agree that power can't be allowed?
I absolutely think this is significant as a class of power is eliminated.

11. What's the deal with Andarna? Why do you think 2 dragons have bonded with Violet?
I love Andrana! I've read ahead, so I'll refrain from commenting about why.

12. If you coul choose a Signet what would it be? https://www.julesbuono.com/fourth-win...
I think the ward/shield is pretty cool. Guess I prefer a defensive power.

13. Were you surprised about Amber's betrayal? How about when Xanden completely believed Violet but Dain didn't?
I was surprised, but I wasn't surprised by Dain's reaction. Just a little surprised that Violet didn't have to talk more before Xanden believed her.

6. This section starts with two scenes with each of the male love/lust interests. The comparison of them continues very clearly. Do you like Xaden or Dain better or neither?
I don't like Dain. He doesn't listen to Violet about what she really wants and needs. He's decided what's good for her and he's pursuing it with single-minded determination. I'm reserving judgment on Xaden.

7. Violet uses alternative methods to survive the fighting challenges. Do you think that counts as cheating or using the resources available? Do you think she is aware that she only has this information because she comes from a privileged background and her sister count sneak in it? Do you think one of the professors should have noticed after 5 rounds?
I really thing someone should have noticed! I think it's cheating-ish. She has this information because of her brother. Not because of her background. Anyone with an older sibling who has gone through it could have passed that information down. And anyone who had the journal could have carried it in in their pack.

8. The obstacle course is straight out of American Ninja warrior (and other similar TV shows) including ending with the giant ramp. Did you enjoy this section and how Violet figured out working with her height limitations? Have they told us how tall she is? (Though in real life, the shortest person to make it up the wall has only been 5’1” – I just Googled it).
I don't remember anything about an exact height. But I did enjoy Violet figuring it out.

9. Finally, we meet the dragons. Was it all you were hoping for? Did anyone guess the black one when it was first introduced in this section? (Also, I am not taking the fall seriously at the end of my section since we still have 2/3 of the book to go).
I love the dragons!

Bonus: If you could have a dragon from any book or movie, which one would you want?
Toothless!

DQs Day 1, Chapters 1 - 6

1. As someone who grew up with the Pern books, I love diving back into a world with dragons and dragon riders. And this one has extra bonus Gryphons, apparently!
Do you have any first impressions of the main characters (Violet, Dain, Rhiannon, Xader) and the world building? Do you want to know more?
I've finished it, but trying to remember my first impressions. I love Violet. Really dislike her mother. Love her sister. Love Rhiannon and the new best friend energy. Xaden, first impression was he'll be the love interest. Reserving judgement on Dain, but he's pushing it. Obviously I want to know more. I finished it already!

2. What do you think of Violet’s mother and sister? Any idea about why her mother chose to order her to the Rider Quadrant instead of the Scribe Quadrant?
I don't like her mother; love her sister. I kept hoping she would just defy her mother and go to the Scribe Quadrant.

3. The brutality of the selection process and the casual acceptance of murder is something else. What do you think the purpose of it is? (If there is one beyond societal norms.)
Would you have given your boot to a stranger?
I think it's to foster a competition to get to the strongest and smartest. I like to think I would have shared boots, but probably not.

4. So this is a world at war, but at the battle briefings at least, they don’t seem to know why the outer provinces are currently attacking the borders. Any ideas about why this is happening?
I just figured that they didn't want to share super in-depth information with the cadets.

5. Do you think that Violet will survive and get chosen by a dragon? If so, any predictions on what kind?
It seems obvious that she'll have a special dragon.

Keely wrote: "Done. I thought it was tagged, but it was the tag next to it. Sorry!"

Thanks!

@Benita - can you mark Key Lime Pie Murder as read, with a date, and add it to your Tower Shelf? As soon as you do, I can request a new set of tasks for us.

@Keely - can you please put Just Breathe on your Tower shelf? Thanks!

It looks to me like it works. And a Romance would finish that off for the Love muse.

Do you have another Hannah Swenson with cake on the cover, Benita?

Laura wrote: "New Tasks

Tower Teams 9: Muses
Pick four different Muses, for each Muse, read a book that fits their role
Thalia (Comedy); Clio (History); Euterpe (Music); Melpomene (Tragedy); Terpsichore (Dance)..."

If no one has anything by the time I finish what I've already put myself down for, I'll re-read a Chief Inspector Gamache book. One of the main characters, Ruth, was a Poet Laureate of Canada.

Tammie wrote: "To add to Elen’s post…
Per what’s claimed…if those are complete as planned…and we don’t use any for wheel…
400s - we’re ok
500s - we need 9 more
600+ - we need 4 more..."

The BOM page in the spreadsheet shows CB and Rachel also reading Fourth Wing, although those aren't on the Books tab yet. So that's 2 more for the 500s.

New Tasks!

Tower Teams 4: 25 Days of Tower Teams
Read 4 books related to winter seasonal holidays (e.g. with a Thanksgiving Feast on the cover, or set during Diwali)

Holidays between Nov 15 and Feb 15



Tower Teams 2: Lemon Cupcakes
Read a book with a (cup)cake on the cover
Read a book with flour in the text
Read a book with eggs in the text
Read a book with lemon in the text

Tammie wrote: "I added Just the Sexiest Man Alive to the Muse list…thinking humor is the best.
The MCs do dance… “Dance with me, Taylor.” pg 275
MC, Jason Andrews is a movie star…not sure if that c..."

I think comedy is the best spot for that one.

I've got a dancer book. I'll add it right now. As well as one I'll read for 600+

New Tasks

Tower Teams 9: Muses
Pick four different Muses, for each Muse, read a book that fits their role
Thalia (Comedy); Clio (History); Euterpe (Music); Melpomene (Tragedy); Terpsichore (Dance); Erato (Love); Polymnia (sacred poetry); Urania (Astronomy); Calliope (epic poetry)


This doesn't have to be MPG. For example, a book with a night sky cover could work for Urania - Astronomy.