Alyana ’s Comments (group member since Feb 14, 2021)

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

Hi there! A short intro for me as well. I'm Alyana, from NY and just like most people, I've been doing challenges forever, both team and individual.

And hello again to our caps, Cat and Danielle! Nice to be on your team again. :)

I will be looking for livestock animal books and pictures in a while.

Here is my shelf.

Thank you all for this fun challenge! To all our caps Judy, Christina and Aoife, thank you all for the hard work! I will see you around here in GR :)

Also, let me take this opportunity to invite you to join our group but I think most of you are already a member. There will be a new challenge next year and you can find the details here.

I'm halfway with my U book and will try to finish a short book by the round.

I need help, I'm looking for books that has an MC's name John. Any suggestions?

Judy wrote: "Alyana wrote: "Aoife wrote: "Alyana, the edition of The Storm Sister you have on your shelf has a different page count to what you have on the SS - SS says 513, logged on says 720. ..."

Oh I forgot to change the page count on the ss, but the link should be good now. Sorry, I'm just hungry I guess lol

Aoife wrote: "Alyana, the edition of The Storm Sister you have on your shelf has a different page count to what you have on the SS - SS says 513, logged on says 720. Which one did you have? 😊"

It's fixed now :)

Aoife wrote: "Alyana, the edition of The Storm Sister you have on your shelf has a different page count to what you have on the SS - SS says 513, logged on says 720. Which one did you have? 😊"

Oops sorry, I'll fix it.

Hello! I'm doing okay. I'm just listening to what I can for this round. Trying to make my books work for multiple challenges that I signed up for which makes it harder for me 😂🤦‍♀️

DQs Day 1
Chapters 1 - 6

1. Can you even imagine losing a 10 million dollar anything?! Have you ever lost something and felt as Ray is portrayed in chapter 1...constantly retracing your steps over and over? What are your thoughts on other security precautions, if any, that should have been in place?
➡️I can't imagine losing anything with that value, recently I lost my stylus and I was so devastated and had to retrace my steps lol. I think when it comes to something that is that highly valuable, you don't carry it around all the time, like it should be in a really secure place.

2. At this point in the book, when/where do you think the Stradivarius was taken?
➡️Since this is a reread, I kind of remember of what's going to happen.

3. Money can be a keen motivator...the ransom note leads us to believe it's all about the money...do you think it's possible it's about something else?
➡️It could be something else but money is the root of everything.

4. It's eluded to that Ray is about to make history because of his race with the upcoming competition in Russia. His family sure doesn't seem to be proud or supportive. Should Ray be proud of this accomplishment or is putting the focus on race poor form by everyone concerned?
➡️I think Ray should be proud of this accomplishment because he did everything he can to achieve this.

DQs Day 2
Chapters 7 - 12

5. His mother and Aunt Joyce had gone to the store - ostensibly because they needed more collard greens, but in reality because one of the biggest family traditions was to keep Aunt Joyce out of the kitchen. Do you have any unusual family traditions, Thanksgiving if it applies, or Christmas, if it's not too early, or any other significant cultural event that revolves around a convoluted family meal?
➡️I grew up in the Philippines and one of our cultural traditions was we start celebrating Christmas as soon as the 'BER' months start. It's funny and cool. We gather as a family and I miss that badly.

6. When Grandma gifts PopPop's fiddle to Ray, his mother's immediate reaction is that he can't keep it and she even scolds her own mother,
Mama .... what are you thinking? What do you think motivates Ray's mother's resistance to his pursuit of music? Is it purely because she wants his focus to be on earning money for the family, or does she anticipate the racism and resistance he could face and is trying to protect him from heartbreak?
➡️Of course the main reason would be money and the topic of racism will always be there. I can't blame her though, she has good intentions, it's just that she showed it differently.

7. Ray's meeting with Dr. Janice Stevens seems a pivotal moment, giving him access to the connections that sustain the close-knit classical music world. Do you feel there is a message here that hard work and talent may not be enough to overcome barriers to success, or is Ray's progress and recognition simply a result of his dedication?
➡️I believe Ray's progress and recognition is the result of his dedication to his love for music. There will be time that he may feel that it might not be enough but everything will come down to what he had done to achieve where he is now.

8. So... PopPop's old fiddle might be a Stradivarius, but before the appraisal Rowland offers to buy it for $25,000 dollars. Ray refuses, declaring I'm not selling it. Ever. What do you think is behind Ray's attachment to the instrument at this point, the rarity of it and the legitimacy it will give him in pursuing his dreams, or the link to his family's history, back to slavery, or something else?
➡️I would say the link to the family history and second would be in pursuing his dreams.

DQs Day 3 Chapters 13-19

9. I don't know how I feel about the school basically milking Ray owning a Stradivarius and him having to do an interview without even getting asked to do so. I personally would have preferred to keep it private, at least for a while. What are your thoughts on the situation?
➡️That move by the school seems disrespectful for me. I agree with you that it would be best if it was kept private.

10. I can see where Ray's family is coming from wanting to sell the Stradivarius and divide the money, but they never showed any interest in the violin even though it had been in the family for a century, and Ray's grandmother gave Ray the fiddle for Christmas. He had to take care of everything surrounding it and his school/education himself, and he never even had much money to begin with. Would you be selling whatever in your life might turn out be worth this much money, and would you feel like your family was entitled to fair shares?
➡️ Worst comes to worst, if I really needed money for something, I might consider selling it. I can share it with my family but I'm not obligated to do so.

11. Another family claiming ownership of the violin - it was bound to happen. On one hand I'm surprised they're suing Ray for the Stradivarius since I doubt they can prove the fiddle was stolen in any way, but on the other hand the odds clearly are against Ray. And now his family is suing him for the violin as well?! Who do you think is the rightful owner of the Stradivarius?
➡️Again, it's all about the money. I didn't like the part where Ray's own family sued him for the violin that they never cared until they found out about its value. That is such entitlement to the highest level to them. The rightful owner is the one who is most deserving and in this case, it should be Ray.

12. We've been introduced to a lot of different people (whose names I don't even all remember) and they all (most of them anyway) seem to have different reasons to possibly want to steal Ray's Stradivarius - greed, jealousy, racism,... it's all there. Do you have any more guesses of who's behind it all?
➡️Like I said in the second question from Day 1, this is a reread and I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't gotten to chance to pick this up yet.

- is this brown?

Judy wrote: "Alyana wrote: "I'm almost done with my O book and I think that is my last book for this round. I checked our team sheet and we need MORE O's next round! 😮"

we're currently debating a respin to avo..."

I'd prefer an O than X lol

I'm almost done with my O book and I think that is my last book for this round. I checked our team sheet and we need MORE O's next round! 😮

Judy wrote: "Aoife wrote: "Robin - could you check Velvet Was the Night for Tango and The Hacienda for baroque if you get a chance? Google or Amazon aren't helping for locations ..."

The Hacienda: In his family's old Baroque apartment (Ch. 2)
Velvet Was the Night: For all he knew, a tango. Yeah, probably a tango. (Ch. 16)

It's Peggy, updated it on the sheet.

I finished Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking earlier but I didn't put in the sheet the text where the genre is found in the book. I only put in all the genres found but don't know which one to use. So caps, just let me know and I'll update the sheet. :)

Aoife wrote: "How's everyone doing? Anyone get a deal over the weekend with the black friday/ cyber monday offers?

I've been looking through BookBub to see what's going on offer on Amazon for kindle soon and g..."

I got myself the new Fire HD 10 which I thought I could use for looking for text in books lol.. But it's okay, I got it for a good deal and it's time also for an upgrade from my old tablet.

Judy wrote: "I'm busy losing my mind lol today has been another hell day at work... and after many years of not getting anything, I bought three (🙈) Sims expansion packs, a couple quilt and cross stitch pattern..."

We would love to finally see the quilt Judy! I'm sure it's beautiful!

For the KU deal, it might help if have a VPN. :)

Judy wrote: "Alyana, what's the I name in The Coppersmith Farmhouse?"



It's Ida, I updated it on the sheet. :)

Judy wrote: "Alyana wrote: "Judy, how do you find these books on your kindle? I was trying to do this yesterday but no luck."

At the top of both the home screen and the library view, there's the "search kindle..."

Judy, what kind of kindle do you have? I just got the kindle fire and I can't find this option 😭

Judy wrote: "Alyana wrote: "I just got a KU deal too, 99c for 3months :D"

sweet! I wish they'd do anything for people who already had KU 😭"

They do bc I just canceled mine last month, so when I saw the offer, I took it.