Lisa - (Aussie Girl)’s Comments (group member since Sep 26, 2012)

Lisa - (Aussie Girl)’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

Keely wrote: "We seem to have a nice mixture of letters in our next round. I agree with Karen, the U's will be hardest to find and 2 A's per word.

I definitely had no problem finding Blue covers, I still have ..."

Just checking, can the genre words only be found once? I have a baroque word as well but will put it on hold if you are reading for it Keely? I'm sure I can find another word.

Can't believe I've found a Baroque straight off! In a steampunk book no less. . It's been on my kindle for years unread.. till now.

Wow, they look tricky. I’m kind of wishing we’d got my guess of instruments in the title!

Ahhh The BOM DQ's are up - can't believe I missed out again and was No 6 on the list.. so close and yet so far..

I'll probably try and hold off to read till next round as I have a few to finish for Round 3. Hopefully the bonus will be musical instrument in the title.. using my supernatural powers again. Hee Hee.

The Silence... has been silenced. ;😁

New Who villain is .. Judoon

How to Train Your Dragon

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the quiet and thoughtful son of the Chief of the Hairy Hooligans, tries to pass the important initiation test of his Viking clan by catching and training a dragon. Can Hiccup do it without being torn limb from limb?

Join his adventures and misadventures as he finds a new way to train dragons--and becomes a hero. This action-packed, hilarious, and perfectly illustrated novel is a modern classic beloved by millions across the globe.

Elisabeth wrote: "Lisa, I see Orchestrated Death on the sheet. I love those Bill Slider books. Have you read many? They seem to have rereleased the earlier ones and they've reappeared in the library. I picked up som..."

This is my first Bill Slider. I absolutely love her Morland Family saga, following the one family from the Tudors to the 20th Century. And the good news is after a long time she is bringing out another book in the series next year.

I enjoyed your books Elisabeth. Especially in The Tangled Web when my suburb (Lane Cove) was mentioned.. I think that's a first. 😊

Afraid I'm not much into classical music although my father absolutely loved it. I remember when I was about 12 he took me to something in the Concert Hall at the Sydney Opera House which I've remembered to this day. It did make an impression. Have a great concert. PS I am going to see Robbie Williams at the Allianz Stadium on Thursday, he's such a showman, I'm really looking forward to it.

Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "Hi team,
It has now been 3 weeks since my surgery so I was out and about to clients a few times this week. It has been nice but also tiring!
It does mean my reading has slowed back to usual levels,..."

Glad you're recovering well, Karen. 😊

Mr Burns has turned up his toes!

Another Dr Who monster to defeat... Autons.

Sammy
2932 books | 193 friends
see comment historyFinal Day DQs:

17. Charlie definitely came a long way towards leaning into the supervillain vibe before it was cruelly snatched away again. How about you? How would you decorate your supervillain lair?

Lots of books.. and teacups. 🤣

18. How did you feel about the ending? Right? Too convoluted? Predictable? Needs more cowbell?

Definitely needed a cowbell.. I love that.. Seriously this wasn't my usual sort of read. But I really enjoyed it and liked that the end all wrapped up so nicely and not so super villain at all.

19. If this was your first Scalzi, will you go back for more? If not your first, where would you rank this one compared to others you read?
My first and I enjoyed it. I probably wouldn't go looking for another one but definitely would read it for another BOM

20. And finally... Cats. Do you have any? Are you under the delusion you own them, rather than the other way around? If you don't have cats, is that because you're wise to the fact they they are indeed evil supervillains intent on taking over the world, or some more mundane reason?

Not at the moment but have had them earlier on in life. They are good pets in that they are usually low maintenance, as long as the owner knows they are the boss all ok!

LISA'S POSTS FOR CREDIT

DAY 1 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
DAY 2 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
DAY 3 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
DAY 4 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
DAY 5 - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Keely wrote: "Lisa - I'm listening to Starter Villain as an audiobook so it's hard for me to check if 'invisible' has shown up in the text. Did you happen to read it as an ebook and if so could you do a search f..."

Hi Keely, I just finished it. It was different and I enjoyed it.

I read the paperback but managed to do the word search on Amazon and unfortunately invisible isn't in the text. 😭

Shelob is defeated.

I got to spin the New Who Wheel, yay, and the next monster is ...

The Silence.

DQs Day 4: Ch 18 to 23

13) Well we now know what happens to Jacobs. No shark death for him! Were you surprised about how all that went down? Do you think all of those men (Dobrev, etc) are dead?

I think it was mentioned that all the different ways of how Jacobs "could" die were just hypothetical. So the reader never knows what happened categorically, so him popping up again and changing sides wasn't that far out of left field. I guess Dobrev and crew are dead although it does mention they couldn't identify them so anything is possible.

14) "Humans do a good job of making outcasts." Do you agree with this statement?

Yep, aint' that the truth. A lot of people are their own worst enemy that's for sure.

15) Was everyone else as entertained as I was by the first Zoom call? There are times I'd love to do stuff like that at work.

It was pretty amusing especially all the stuff about the lock not being in place. Tech problems.. sheesh.

16) What did you think of Charlie's response to the attach on Jenny's Bay? Settling in to his super villain role?

Yes, he's settling in nicely. Uncle Jake would be proud!

Angie ☯
6969 books | 481 friends
see comment historyDQs: 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?

That's an interesting theory. I didn't really think of it like that, but it could be true. A series of tests to see if Charlie is fit to the uno supremo super villain!

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?

It sounds good but I don't think it really flys. You don't have to be friends with who you do business with but respect and integrity go a long way in the business world.

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?

Charlie is probably a chip off the old block and by that I mean his Uncle. I think it's always been obvious that Charlie is coasting and is way more intelligent that his recent past shows.

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'm really enjoying the book.. and as an Aussie I loved the part when they hinted that an Australian woman in mining was once thought of to join the convocation. For non Aussies that was alluding to one of the richest women in the world and one who attracts a lot of publicity.. not all positive, one Ms Gina Reinhardt who is Executive Chair of Handcock Prospecting, she inherited from her father and has since increased the wealth. Thought it was very very clever. I also liked the islands named after the Jennys.. that gave me a smile as well.

Judy
1638 books | 124 friends
see comment historyDQs: 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?

Just as well I had the heads up from this group about the cats.. or I might have thought WTF!!! Now I've got my head around the type of book this is I'm quite enjoying it.. and cats are definitely their own creatures so I'm imagining quite a lot of mischief and mayhem will ensue!

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'm not surprised, Charlie seemed a fairly laid back open minded kind of guy.. I think he's just going with it. He may have picked up some sub conscious vibes about his uncle from his child hood too.

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?

Caribbean Volcanic Island is certainly the go to villain lair as per Dr No and Dr Evil. I liked the links.. Mmmm, my Villain Lair would be some palace somewhere, maybe Buckingham Palace or Balmoral, LOL. Who's to say there isn't a secret lair under them already... hee hee.

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?

He needs to "die" with sharks with frigging laser beams on their heads, a la Dr Evil, LOL.

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?

The dolphins were certainly a nice touch, they are usually described as such friendly good guy creatures, the foul language was pretty funny.

Keely wrote: "We just finished our 8th spelling!

With just over 12 hours until the end of round 2, please can you let us know if you will be finishing any more books as the captains only get a short time after..."

That's great work everyone.

I have finished reading for Round 2. 😊

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?

This is my first Scalzi book.. I actually have never heard of the author but I am intrigued. By the cover and the blub it seems like its going to be something different for me.. and it's good to read out of your comfort zone!

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'm enjoying the set up of the book and Charlie very much, so far. Is he coasting.. probably but he seems an amiable sort of fellow and quite interesting.

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?

Choosing mythology is always a good choice. It means you're interested in a good story and love imagination. Out of those three alternatives I'd choose mythology too. So I hope that means people would find me kind of interesting with a big imagination as well.

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

THANK YOU GOD.. 🤣🤣🤣

Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "Elisabeth wrote: "D and O etc turned out to be quite hard. Too restricted, really."

Yes, but it could have been worse (Ukelele!)"

Haha, but don't even think it.. there are still two rounds to go!

Elisabeth wrote: "I have with a piano and good for I and L for starters.

Also a blue cover with N."

I LOVE North and South.. the book is great but the TV adaption with Richard Armitage as John Thornton is even better. 😍