Lauri’s Comments (group member since Jan 23, 2016)

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

Trinia wrote: "I can take the TV show one, was planning on listening to Monk - Mr Monk Goes to the Firehouse 😁👨🏻‍🚒"

I LOOOOVVVEEE Mr. Monk!

Steven wrote: "Lauri wrote: "I'm learning SO much about things I never even knew existed before! I am not a gamer at all and I seldom (if ever) buy books anymore. There's no room in our tiny apartment! I have a s..."

OMG! Sounds like the Iron Curtain countries -- wait... Do they even allow books?

I'm learning SO much about things I never even knew existed before! I am not a gamer at all and I seldom (if ever) buy books anymore. There's no room in our tiny apartment! I have a storage container in our storage unit filled with my special books. I also have one bookshelf dedicated to books I've "won" in GR Giveaways. After I finish, I donate them to the public library. I get ALL my books from the library! We have no limit!!

Completion Post!
Dance of Death
Douglas Preston
Finished 6/6/23
Page count: 451
Black cover
Fits the following letters for Crayola towers:
D - CLN D’Agosto
E - CLN Enderby
L - CFN Laura
N - CFN Nora
T - CLN Tisander



Could someone please add this to our spreadsheet for me? Thank you!

I can take MAP in title if the letters don’t need to be in order… I have Banana Cream Pie Murder

Completion Post!
This Pen for Hire
Laura Levine
Finished 6/3/23
Page count: 240
Blue cover
Fits the following letters for Crayola Towers:
A - MC LN Austen
C - CFN Cameron
E - CFN Elaine
K - CLN Kolchev
L - author
M - CLN Murdoch
R - CLN Rea
S - CFN Stacy
T - title
Y - CFN Yetta



Use it where you will! Could someone please add this to our spreadsheet for me? Thank you!

Sophie wrote: "https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Is anyone reading 11/22/63 for the BOM? The DQs have been sp..."
I’m planning on reading it, but no guarantees there!

Also just wondering…Am I going to get the BOM points for the May BOMs?

Hey, how many rainbow towers can we make?

I can take the Chipmunk Romance with Get a Life, Chloe Brown !

Completion Post!
The Man Who Died Twice
Richard Osman
Finished 6/1/23
Page count: 368
Chipmunks #9 - Don't Steal
RAB with a theft
How it fits: There is 20 million dollar diamond heist!



Could someone mark this as completed on our spreadsheet for me, please? Thank you!!

Completion Post!
Sleep Like a Baby
Charlaine Harris
Finished 5/30/23
Page count: 262
Crayola Towers fit the following letters:
A - MC Aurora
C - AFN Charmaine
L - CFN Levon
M - CFN Marcy
P - CFN Phillip
R - MC Nickname Roe
S - CFN Sophie
T - MC LN Teagarden
V - CFN Virginia
Y - CLN Youngblood



Could someone please add this to our spreadsheet for me? Thank you!

DQs Day 5 (Chapters 26 -End)

19. Earlier, Eduardo seemed like a fine person to me despite Montgomery's reservations. In these last chapters, he had a stark change in character or his true nature came out. Did you expect him to turn out like this? Do you think he might have been a good husband to Carlota if she were not a hybrid?
Eduardo was a huge phony! I had him pegged from the beginning! I thought he’d use Carlota and just callously toss her aside.

20. Dr. Moreau was not a great father throughout the book but his last moment touched my heart. Do you find his love for Carlota redeeming enough for his character? Or would you categorize him as a villain?
he didn’t really love her at all. She was just his most human-like creation. I didn’t consider him a real villain (like Lizalde!) he was just a mad scientist.

21. Carlota became more jaguar-like as the story drew near its end, and she finally embraced that part of her in the climactic scene. I somehow expected her physical changes to be more lasting and prominent afterward and maybe have a lifestyle closer to a jaguar which evidently didn't happen. Anyone else had an odd expectation like this or something else that you expected to happen?
I really thought Carlota was about to shapeshift and remain in her cat form! I really pictured her slipping off to live in the forest forever.

22. How do you feel about the relatively open-ended epilogue? Do think Carlota would be reunited with the other hybrids? Will Montgomery come back into her life at some point? Do you think Moreno-Garcia kept the option for a sequel open?
Yup! I smell a sequel. I hope at least a few of her friends (especially Montgomery and Cachito) find their way to her. It’s naive, I know, but she deserves a bit of peace.

Completion Post!
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
May BOM
Finished 5/30/23
Page count: 306
Still can’t do a link, but my DQ answers can be found at:
Msg #162, 222, 151, 241 & 246



Could someone please put me down for this? Thank you!

my update:
I will finish The Daughter of Doctor Moreau this afternoon and I have another 1 (possibly 2) quick reads I can finish by tomorrow. Sleep Like a Baby for sure and possible The Spanish Love Deception. I am assuming it's the free choice reads we are missing....

DQs: Day 4 Ch 19-25

15. Welcome to the penultimate set of chapters! A lot of revelations came to light in this set of chapters: did any of them surprise you? If so, which ones?
No big surprises, really. I knew she was a hybrid, most probably jaguar. I found it very sad that Moreau just dumped Carlotta’s mother so callously.

16. Montgomery and Carlota finally seem like they are going to make love but Montgomery stops this from happening. Do you think he made the right choice? Why or why not? Also do you think they’ll still get together in the end?
I think Montgomery has lived a lot of life & is pretty smart. It would’ve been a bad move on his part. She’s so young and naive. I feel that they will be together in the end. Carlota will get her way through sheer force of will.

17. It looks like Dr. Moreau is going to die by the end of the book. In the original novel and adaptations Dr. Moreau is a villainous figure. Do you think he is portrayed as a villain in this book or do you think he has redeeming qualities?
I dunno about redeeming qualities. I don’t consider him villainous, though. He’s a genius, but egocentric. He truly thought his experiments were going to be a scientific breakthrough. I think he believes in white supremacy, though. He holds himself above everyone, even Lizalde.

18. Carlota is given a key to the laboratory. What do you think she will find there? Also any predictions for the end of the book?
I think the formulas/ notes on every hybrid’s creation story is contained within - - even her own and all the failures. God help them all!
I think they may either a) join up with the Indio rebels OR b) strike out on their own and live in hiding.

Mia wrote: "hi! I have gotten kidney stones. So i'm in lot of pain, so unsure of what I can finish.

Have done the tresure, for chipmunk.
but don't think i can finish the daughter of dr moroue and priory.
I..."

Oh no! You poor baby! I’ve had them FOUR times so far & would rank them at #3 on the pain index! At least you’re not a man… far worse for them! Just try & rest & relax as much as possible. I know it’s hard to read because concentration just blows out the window…

DQs Day 3, Chap 12 - 18

10. I've noticed Carlota's perceptions are often described using non visual cues: she hears a lot, and even smells Montgomery behind her bedroom door but then dismisses the idea. After her attack, she finds herself noticing that "Her fingers, in the mirror, looked very long, the nails almost too sharp and the eyes...". Do you feel Carlota ever questions her own nature as a human/hybrid or is she too ingenuous to do so? Do you also feel the author is using alternate senses and, if so, as clues for the reader or red herrings?
I’m sure she’s part jaguar! That’s why the yellow, glowing eyes, languid drape, etc. I don’t think she questions much herself. She’s alone, for the most part, and just sees these clues as flights of fancy - - like her romance/adventure novels.

11. For much of this part, I felt Montgomery was conflicted regarding his feelings for Carlota. He "writes" to his wife using what I felt was a brotherly perspective only to realise, a few lines and drinks later, he could not resist kissing her if she were there in that moment. What did you make of this change of heart and do you find his various missteps bring something to the story?
Montgomery has told Carlotta that they are romantics in love with the idea of love. I think that is true. And that he cares about her. He can put whatever brotherly protector spin on it he likes. He’d take her if he had the opportunity. He’s good with animals. Ha!

12. We're already halfway through the story - Doctor Moreau and Montgomery are both complex characters. Am I alone in thinking Carlota and her hybrid friends deserve to be more thoroughly fleshed out and layered?
I would like to learn more about Carlota other than that she’s motherless, fragile & sickly. Lupe, Cachito and the others as well. Are all their human characteristics from the good Doctor? That would make them all (at least) half siblings! I would love to hear Ramona’s backstory as well!

13. What did you make of the scene where Carlota loses her virginity by the cenote - did her reaction seem natural to you or did you find yourself questioning her fearlessness? In your opinion, if Carlota is herself a hybrid, what effect might that have on their progeny?
I thought she should’ve played a bit harder to get! She is spoiled, though. Eduardo must have seemed like an exciting new plaything! It didn’t occur to her for more than a second to say no. The brazen way she grabbed his head seemed very jaguarlike to me! I don’t think she’ll be able to get pregnant, so that’s one good thing.

14. There's a storm brewing as the hybrids plan to join Juan Cumux and Carlota attempts to retrieve her father's notes and formulas. Do you think the hybrids will remain subservient once they remove themselves from Doctor Moreau's influence or could the story turn dark?
Oh, the darkness is rising. If the hybrids do join with the rebels, what’s to stop them from becoming ill and dying? Of turning totally wild & eating everyone in sight. This will NOT end well.

Completion Post!
Kings of the Wyld
Nicholas Eames
Finished 5/27/23
Page count: 5
May BOM
I can’t do a link to save my own life, but my DQ messages are: #194, 254, 275, 287, 305, 321 & 326.
All in all, a pretty good book, it just slightly missed the mark with me. I still gave it 4 stars based on premise & imagination…



Could someone please add it to our spreadsheet for me? Thank you!

Completion Post!
The Silence of the Library
Miranda James
Finished 5/27/23
Page count: 300
Free choice!
Can fit the following letters in Crayola Towers
C - MC Charlie
E - CFN Electra
L - CFN Laura
M - AFN Miranda
S - title
T - CFN Teresa



Could someone please add this to our spreadsheet for me? Thank you!