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

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

Here's what open on the Wheel tasks:

Read a book with title starts with one of letters JEDI (all words count, inc A, An, The)
Read a book with a humanoid robot/android
Read a book with a princess and rogue trope characters

Read a book with the animal "chipmunk" in the text

Pair of books where the second is a spin-off from the first.



I can do Android, Chipmunk, or a Pair of books. Or just one in the pair if Lory still wants to read Kate Daniels.

Keely's Inheritance or Just Breathe both work for starts with a letter in Jedi.

Tammie's Death of a Red Heroine works for JEDI

Does Lory's The Princess and the Fangirl work for princess/rogue tropes?



We just need to know what people want to read, in order to plan for the other tasks. :)

Lory wrote: "I'm happy to read for both, unless someone else finishes first! I'll add my books to the spreadsheet. But feel free to adjust if someone comes across a platypus or heron in their current book!..."

We've also got a pairs task right now. Are you up for Kate Daniels, or should I read a few Oz books?

Stacey wrote: "I finished both of my books, SS is updated. I'm not sure if my book is an original or spin off so I left that blank.

The main Winston brothers series is still included with an audible membership ..."

That's good to know. I had to buy the last Junkyard Cats because I didn't realize it would only be included for about 6 months!

I do have Chipmunk in the one I was going to read for Cat. But I can easily save that for the next time we get Cat, if someone else has something.

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


On our planning sheet:

Lory - The Naturalist's Daughter - platypus
Tammie - Storm and Silence - Zebra
Lory - Saint's Gate - Heron

Are you guys good for those books? Does anyone have a chipmunk in text?

Lindsay, I don’t know if they’re still included, but for awhile they were included with an Audible membership.

Vian, we don’t actually have that task yet. If you want to get ready for it, you could read until nearly the end, then wait. Otherwise, we’ve got a need for Os, Is, and Us!

The possible Wheel tasks sheet is for planning for when we do get the tasks.

I loved the audios for the Winston Brothers books. They are so well done!

Perfect! I’ll get started on mine in just a bit.

Our new tasks:

Tower Teams 1: The Original

Read two pairs of books where the second is a spin-off from the first. This could be a secondary series by the same or different author (e.g. Sherlock Holmes original and Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell), a continuation of a series by another author (e.g. Poirot by Agatha Christie and Sophie Hannah) or a retelling (e.g The Great Gatsby and The Chosen and the Beautiful)
It is NOT two books from the same series


Stacey, are you ready to complete Beard in Mind?

If we don't get another pairing, I can also read Magic Claims in a pair with Lory. It's a short-ish novella I've got sitting on my Kindle. I just don't want to be a task hog!

I've got about an hour left in my grim reaper book, then we'll get more new tasks.

DQs Day 3 - The Australian Open (58%)

9. Gwen sends Carrie a gift the start day of the Australian Open…a Discman! The first song it plays is ‘The Bitch is Back’…I love this album. I immediately went to play me some Elton John tunes😊 Do you have a song or routine that gets you revved up…sets a tone to put you in the right state of mind?

Going back to my college days, Two Princes from The Spin Doctors always got me moving!

10. Reflections--
Carrie thinks…I inhabit the silence of this moment with my father, when we are still asking questions and do not yet have to live with the answers. What do you think she means at this moment in time with that comment?
"Te quiero mucho, pichona," he says.
I open up my eyes, "I know. I love you too."
Javier and Carrie both have many reflective moments throughout these matches… Is this a premonition of what’s to come with the open or even more in the future?

I think it's basically Schrodinger's Cat. They're asking the questions, but the answers do not yet apply. Not until after the match.

I love that their relationship is getting better/closer throughout this process.

12. We hear from the media in various forms throughout. What are your thoughts about some of their comments so far? Do you believe any of them have affected Carrie or the game? I was thinking about this especially when Gwen indicates Elite Gold was pulling back some of their ads prior to the French Open. Gwen has a role in her job with managing all of this…what are your thoughts about the impact of media and advertising with sport?

I think Carrie was already at a point where it didn't affect her, but for younger players, they have to consider the media/advertising effect of their actions. I absolutely think that media and money shape sports, and not generally for the best.

13. Carrie’s been doing some very smart training thanks to her father. She’s been practicing in recent weeks with Bowe on clay and Bowe has challenged her, calling her a ‘quitter’. And here at the end of this segment, she’s just had a challenge from Nikki Chan. Is she going to win? Is Nikki? What do you anticipate happening in Paris?

I won't answer because I've already finished and don't want to accidentally post any spoilers. But I did think that the Australian Open forecasted (view spoiler)[an injury to Nikki (hide spoiler)]

DQs Day 2 - The Comeback (40%)

5. Welcome back sports fans! If any of you have read other Taylor Jenkins Reid's novels, you know she loves looking back at interesting eras in time. The Golden Age of Hollywood! 70s rock and roll excess! Why do you think TJR chose to focus on 90s sports for this novel? Do you think it was only to bring Carrie back or do you think there was something special about sports during that time?

Well, she did get to talk about Princess Diana later in the book, so maybe that's why? But seriously, sports in the 80s and 90s were just better. That's when all the great classics happened.

6. In this section we are introduced to Bowe. What do you think about him? Do you think he is a good match for Carrie (in sports or romantically)?

I love him! He gets her, but he calls her on her crap, and helps her to be better, both in sports and in life/relationships.

7. In this section, there is a letter from the editor entitled "Why I'm Thankful for Carrie Soto" in which the author, Helene, says that Carrie was inspiring to her as a child. Do you find inspiration in any sports legends past or present? If so, who and why?

I've read so many sports biographies/autobiographies. But the one that has always stayed with me is The Duke of Flatbush. And I met Snyder at a signing once many years ago. So I guess I would say I find him inspiring.

8. Up next is the Australian Open! Any predictions on what is going to happen in the next section of the book? Also how are you enjoying the book so far?

I loved it! And I'll hold my predictions since I already finished. But I did call it pretty closely.

Stacey wrote: "I have 2 space opera options which I can start after I finish Carrie -- but they are both in the 400-499 range which I know we've been trying to keep for the towers. Let me know if you want me to s..."

I'm without a current audio, having just finished Carrie. So I'll go ahead and start mine. Then yours can count toward the towers.

I'm not so worried about the towers this month, as we can't bank books. So we don't have to worry about books being taken out of the towers once they have been put in.

But that page range has been our last finished both months so far.

DQs Day 1 - Chan v Cortez & The First Time Around (26%)

1. The most popular releases by Taylor Jenkins Reid have been BOMs in this group before (Daisy Jones & The Six in 2019, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in 2021, and Malibu Rising last year). Have you read any of these books (or others) by TJR too or is Carrie Soto is Back your first book by the author? What are your expectations going in?

This is my first book by her, but I've seen the others around a lot, especially during Uno. Because of all the hype, I expect good things.

2. After the first chapter is set in 1994 and Carrie Soto decides to get back into the sport to get her record title back the next few chapters follow her early years up until she felt like she had to retire because of her knee injury (and because she felt humiliated lbr) somewhat 30 years later. Her dad always wanted her to be the greatest whereas her mother just wanted her to be kind and happy. It doesn't seem like Carrie is either at this point in her life, also not the greatest anymore. How do you feel about her as a character so far? What do you think (sort of) being forced into retirement by her own body has done to her, mentally and physically; do you think she's changed at all in the last 5 years?

I see a change in her. At the time of her retirement, she seemed to have lost much of what she had with her father, but as she's considering coming back she clearly has regained closeness with her father. At this point, I'm not entirely sure I like her.

3. What we've learned about Carrie's childhood and teenage years has quickly started to remind me of 'King Richard' the movie about the Williams sisters' life and I'm seeing a lot of similarities between Carrie's dad Javier and the Williams' (movie) dad (as I'm sure is often the case when athletes' parents are involved in their kids' sports careers/futures).
Javier seemed to have good intentions and only ever wanted what (he at least thought) was best for his daughter, but they grew apart after going separate ways in 1979. As we know, they've found their way back together (does this sound weird seeing they're father and daughter??), but things definitely changed between them. How do you feel about Javier and about his and Carrie's relationship growing up vs now?

I think he pushed her as child. Was it too much? I don't know. She didn't really have much time to be a child, but without his pushing, she probably never would have been as great as she was. But she also didn't learn to balance life and sports, and when he tried to impose it on her, she didn't react well.

4. It seems like Carrie doesn't believe in love (or actually of being worthy of being loved imo). She's been having flings/ONS left and right apparently, and appearing in tabloids with random guys regularly. The one time she let herself finally believe this could be IT for the long run was with Brandon Randall (who some of us already knew from Malibu Rising) who was cheating on his then wife with her. No surprise he left her for (yet) another woman, but were you surprised Carrie took him back after he wanted to go back to his ex-wife and she rejected him? Do you think losing her mother at such a young age and only ever having her dad as a single parent in her life has influenced how she views love, relationships and generally a deeper bond with other people?

Did her father ever leave her? No. Did she feel like he left her? Absolutely. So she expects to be left. And then she picks guys who will leave. Self-fulfilling. She saw the grief of losing love, but she didn't see the actual love for long enough in her life.

I'm all caught up on Murderbot, but I can do a re-read if no one else has an android or robot.

Also, Stacey, you put down that you have a Space Opera. If you aren't ready to read it now, I can listen to For We Are Many. I quite enjoyed the first one.

We've got our new tasks:

Tower Teams 5: Star Wars - Jedi
"Read a book with title starts with one of letters JEDI (all words count, inc A, An, The)
Read a book with MPG Space Opera
Read a book with a humanoid robot/android
Read a book with a princess and rogue trope characters"


Note: The Princess & Rogue book does not have to have a romantic aspect.

I finished Carrie Soto. I'll get us a new set of tasks and then off to answer discussion questions.

That makes sense, Benita. Thanks for the communication.

We’re good for our Carrie Soto plan. I fell asleep this afternoon (to much late watching Independence Day last night!), but I’ll be done soon.

Assuming that we're allowed to do this (and I think so, because Eldarwen's team did Never Never for their Ladder), we have:

Lindsay
Laura
Stacey
Elen

Should all be finished with it today.