Agnieszka’s Comments (group member since Jul 06, 2016)

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

I nominate The Watermelon King by Daniel Royse - a book set in East Africa (Kenya & Ethiopia according to the main page genres)


After being laid off from his job at a prestigious consulting firm, Dean decides to embark on a journey across East Africa with his younger brother. Unknowingly, they travel into bandit territory where a medical emergency forces them to choose between their safety and their health.

Inspired by true events, The Watermelon King follows the journey of two brothers as they backpack across one of East Africa’s most inhospitable regions. As they endure endless days of difficult travel, a series of short stories written by their father begins to uncover their inherent desire for adventure and their connection to the past. Along the way they begin to understand the beauty and frustration of life in Africa.

After a week pause I got last night back to listening to the book (only because of inconsiderate neighbors having loud sex, to tune them out) and I'm not sure if I'll finish it. The first four hours (around a quarter of the book) were fine for me and even if I didn't enjoy it, it was interesting enough - especially because of the (pseudo-)science, though the last hour it became what I regard standard science fiction set in space and that's still not my cup. My library license is valid for another three day, so I try to get as far as I can and will decide then if I want to get it again (should a copy be available)


Day 1 DQs; Chapter 1-6

1. Have you seen The Martian or read any books by this author? If so, does that effect why you wanted to read the book and any expectations?
Because I loved The Martian I was willing to give this book a chance, despite it being a genre I usually don't enjoy. After reading the blurb I expected it to be very different, though am sure some of my enthusiasm for The Martian has some impact anyway.

2. Opening the book with an amnesia scene, love it or hate it? Did the opening scene catch you attention and make you want to read more?
For me it was ok, each book has to start some way and it gives the story a lot of possibilities to develop that way.

3. What do you think of the MC so far and their history with academia and current role as a science teacher? Are you having any issues with suspending disbelief on how he gets involved with the Astrophage?
Not at all, it's fiction and a genre I found unbelievable in itself - so anything's possible here :-D

Later additions/comments
Abigail wrote: "I think he’s so so funny, quite a few sentences have made me laugh out loud. I’m glad he has a personality otherwise it would make for an extremely boring read. & Good point about how he get’s involved, I just went with it but it does seem a bit tenuous as to how he originally got involved but his smarts throughout have shown he is a capable guy."
I'm so on the same page here and have to admit the humor is one of the main points I'm still there :-D

Jenny wrote: "I like the fact that he is a teacher, and he is a scientist that isn't very successful in his field. Well, sort of. It is kind of refreshing to not have him be the brilliant-est and brightest, totally equipped to solve every possible problem. "
I agree here so much, I loved especially the bean bag scenes from his class and how he went back to research when he realized how much the entire situation will impact 'his' children. The top-dog/brightest guy in the room characters get dull with time, so this was refreshing.
Which reminds me again: the genetic coma resistance or better capacity to deal with (or however it's named/explained in the English original) was THE reason which helped me to accept the 'facts' and explain how he ended up on the mission, I'm sure the fact it's a understood from the beginning it's a suicide-mission was a factor in the availability and 'expendability' (being expendable is too chunky here ;-D) of the scientist was one of the key elements who was willing (and even allowed?) to join would explain a lot as well - nobody would want to loose a first rate specialist in case the second-tier one would be successful and they still need someone down on earth for further work and research *grins*

4. Do you have a favorite first contact movie or book? What do you expect from this ship?
Nope, and nothing really. I'm reading it mostly because (for a change) it's a group read book that's available through my libraries - even if it's a translated edition.
Later addition: I like the MC so much I hope there will arise a possibility to go back to earth. This doomed from the beginning element is most likely the main reason I struggle with the book so far.


BTW the German audiobook has no chapters read it's a continuous story, so it's hard to say when's the break for any day.
Later addition:
Abigail wrote: "I’ve found the diagram at the beginning of the book to be a useful visual when he comes to describe it."
And another example why I usually prefer ebooks or paper books to audiobooks

This is so not my genre but I loved The Martian (only listened to it because I needed exactly that one to finish a challenge) and my library has the audio, so I can listen to it while I’m traveling today, tomorrow and at least one day next week :-D
Depending upon how much I’ll like it I’ll be more or less active here.

Another speculation:

X-rays (anything medical; books dwelling on reason behind actions like psychological thrillers, mysteries, chick-lit; biographies or historical fiction featuring or centered around the people and technology depicting inner parts of bodies, e.g. Marie Curie, MRT, echograph/ultra sonic…; science books about body or organ function)

anything book related with X (title, author name, character name, nickname, series name, location, …)

Solve for X (mathematics in any form: fiction, science, pop science or even just linked by title or cover objects :-D)

Christina T wrote: "10... it's all about the 1s and 0s. --read a book in binary code."

LOL!

Shelby wrote: "Grrrrrrrrr! Sorry guys, I'm hijacking this thread for a second cause I'm just so frustrated at the moment. Maybe someone can explain this for me, though I'm still looking for the right place to com..."

Check your PM please.

Moderators of NBRC wrote: "TTX Tip

The goodreads app is.... {insert many words here}.... best described as not useful..."

LOL and I so agree!

I nominate Safety in Numbers by Sophie Penhaligon
I nominate it because the female MC is mathematician, the book has the word 'Numbers' in title and numbers on the cover


Blurb:
When a tragic accident leaves mathematician Seraphina Ellis broken and despairing, she is convinced that she will live out the remainder of her life in lonely solitude. Determined to conceal her disability from her co-workers, she hides away in her desolate cubicle, crossing off the days of her life, unfulfilled and defeated.

A chance meeting with irascible but mesmerizing billionaire scientist and CEO Milo Grant provides her with the job of her dreams, and the chance of escape from cubicle land. But Grant is haunted by his own monsters and is increasingly interested in more than just her mathematical magic.

In this touching and sexually charged contemporary romance novel, Sophie Penhaligon manages to deliver a novel that is lighthearted and fun whilst dealing with the difficult topics of loss and disability.

BTW: I just got the Kindle edition for free :-D How cool is that?!

Reached level Princess with 17 books and doubt I finish today another one. See message #7

I don't commit to a level yet as I have no idea how many (fitting) books I'll manage in one month

In Memoriam Queen Elizabeth II
Duration: October 2022
Completed: 17
Level (reached): Princess (17 - 24 books)
100+ pages, re-reads ok after 6 months,


1. Read books set in a country that she either ruled over or that is part of the commonwealth. (view spoiler)[
Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Ceylon, Fiji, The Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Malawi, Malta, Mauritius, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Rhodesia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Tanganyika, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Kingdom (hide spoiler)]

✔ 2. Read books with page numbers made up from 21/04/1926 or 08/09/2022. 84, Charing Cross Road: Eine Freundschaft in Briefen=84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff 5* 10/14 - 160 pages

3. Read books with a member of the royal family playing a key part.

4. Read a book published during her rule, by a female author from the Commonwealth.

✔ 5. She worked up until 3 days before her death. Read a book with the main character being a working woman.
Dead in the Water book 3 in The Kate Shugak Investigations: Books 1-9 by Dana Stabenow 4* 10/1 (previously read 12/17/19) - Kate is a private investigator

✔ 6. She celebrated her Platinum Jubilee earlier this year. Read a book with Silver, Gold, Diamond or Platinum in the text. A Cold Blooded Business book 4 in The Kate Shugak Investigations: Books 1-9 by Dana Stabenow 4.5* 10/4 (previously read 12/28/19) - informed her that Diamond Lil was in Anchorage (pgs 791-792)

✔ 7. She was a keen horsewoman. Read a book where the characters ride horses. The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaler 3* 10/20 - female MC with a tourist group

8. Spell out some key places and people from her life. (view spoiler)[
Spell-it-Out Rules
Using the first letter in the book’s title, the first letter of the series name, the first letter in the author’s first or last name, or the first letter of a character’s first, last, or nick-name, or the first letter in the audio book narrator's first or last name.
If you are reading a translated version, you can also use the first letter of the translator's first or last name.
As always, if the first letter of a title starts with ‘A’, ‘An’, ‘The’, etc., you may use the first letter of the second word in the title to spell out your chosen word.
(hide spoiler)]
Windsor Castle (10/13)
W: Wayne Zurl: A New Prospect 3* 10/9
I: Invertary #2: Goody Two Shoes by Janet Elizabeth Henderson 3* 10/30
N: Shelby Nichols: Carrots by Colleen Helme 3* 10/2
D: Maggie Doyle: The 39 Cupcakes by Zara Keane 5* 10/22
S: Stabenow, Dana: Play With Fire book 5 in The Kate Shugak Investigations: Books 1-9 2.5* 10/15 (previously read 1/6/20)
O: Olivia Townsend Damaged Shadows by Kathleen Brooks 5* 10/25
R: Fortune Redding: Frightfully Fortune by Jana Deleon 4* 10/23 (previously read: 6/2/21)
C: Coben, Harlan: Der Insider=Fade Away 5* 10/12
A: Adela's Prairie Suitor by Elaine Manders 3* 10/30
S: Shephard Krause: The Mammoth Murders by Iris Chacon 4* 10/14
T: The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes 4* 10/31
L: The Lawman by Lily Graison 2* 10/31
E: Eileen Garvin: Die Melodie der Bienen=The Music of Bees 4* 10/19

Judith wrote: "Agnieszka wrote: "Do I understand it correctly we can use only the title for Option 1?"

Sorry for the delayed response. No you can use title, author first/last name or major character name in the ..."

Thank you!

Do I understand it correctly we can use only the title for Option 1?

Option 3 (Part 2): (title or author's first or last name only) 120+ pages


I (5/9)
I, Spy? by Kate Johnson 3* 4/3/22 (458)
It Started with a Kiss: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Beth Wood 4* 4/11/22 (133)
In Her Sights by Robin Perini 3* 5/9/22 (267)
Interlude in Death book 1 in Three in Death by J.D. Robb 4.5* 6/11/22 (140)
Identity Theft by Alana Terry book 6 in Pursued 3.5* 8/6/22 (155)

L (3/4)
Less Than a Treason by Dana Stabenow 5* 8/11/22 (247)
Lucky Stiff book 2 in Lucky Double by Deborah Coonts 4* 8/22/22 (395)
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett 5* 9/30/22 (252)

N (4/6)
Nguyen-Kim, Mai Thi: Komisch, alles chemisch!=Chemistry for Breakfast: The Amazing Science of Everyday Life 4* 4/20/22 (256)
No Weddings by Kat Bastion & Stone Bastion 5* 5/4/22 (232)
New Corpse In Town book 1 in Secret Seal Isle Mysteries Box Set by Lucy Quinn 4* 7/13/22 (190)
No Fixed Line by Dana Stabenow 5* 8/13/22 (400)

O (0/8)
P (1/2)
Pride and Persistence by Jeanna Ellsworth 4* 4/10/22 (347)

R (3/6)
Rothschild, Jennifer: Me, Myself, and Lies: What to Say When You Talk to Yourself 4* 5/25/22 (226)
Rumble on the Bayou by Jana Deleon 5* 8/30/22 (340)
Ruggle, Katie: Hold Your Breath 3* 5/7/22 (386)

T (3/6)
Tabitha Tate: Murder in the Rose Garden 2* 5/13/22 (156)
Taylor, Jodi: Miss Maxwells kurioses Zeitarchiv=Just One Damned Thing After Another 5* 7/21/22 (513)
THR3E by Twyla Turner 4* 8/26/22 (293)

X (0/1)
Y (0/2)
Z (0/1)


Completed Letters:
F (2)
Fading Shadows by Kathleen Brooks 5* 5/8/22 (268)
Fałszerz=The Deceiver by Frederick Forsyth 3* 6/1/22 (416)

G (3)
Granny Goes Hollywood by Harper Lin 4* 4/13/22 (164)
Gator Bait by Jana Deleon 5* 6/13/22 (252)
Granny Gets Fancy by Harper Lin 4* 6/26/22 (168)

H (2)
Henry by Sydney Paige McCutcheon 3* 5/3/22 (342)
Hudson, Sara L.: Space Age: Houston, bereitmachen zum Start=Space Age: Houston, Prepare to Launch 3* 8/24/22 (187)

J (1)
Jordan, Frank H.: Modeen Black Ops book 3 in The Jo Modeen Box Set: Books 1-3 4.5* 8/18/22 (199)

K (1)
Keine Hochzeit ist auch keine Lösung=It Happened One Wedding by Julie James 3* 6/16/22 (354)

M (2)
The Modeen Factor book 1 in The Jo Modeen Box Set: Books 1-3 by Frank H. Jordan 4* 5/28/22 (229)
The Modeen Transformation book 2 in The Jo Modeen Box Set: Books 1-3 by Frank H. Jordan 4.5* 8/17/22 (175)

Q (1)
Quinn, Tracey: The Dessert Corpse 3* 9/8/22 (211)

S (4)
Solo=Solo by Jack Higgins 3* 5/29/22 (208)
Steep Trails by John Muir 4* 7/10/22 (150)
Schlag auf Schlag=Drop Shot by Harlan Coben 4* 7/26/22 (352)
Swamp Spirits by Jana Deleon 5* 8/16/22 (310)

U (4)
Unter dem Radar: Gott, die CIA und ich=Breaking Cover: My Secret Life in the CIA and What It Taught Me about What's Worth Fighting for by Michele Rigby Assad 3* 7/1/22 (321)
Underground Railroad=The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead 4* 8/14/22 (354)
The Unrelenting Tide by Lynnette Bonner book 3 in Pursued 3.5* 9/14/22 (269)
Upał (Heat) by Marcin Ciszewski 3* 9/23/22 (384)

V (2)
Victoria L.K. Williams: Murder at the Geo-Cache book 3 in Citrus Beach Mystery: Box Set: Books 1,2,3 3.5* 6/3/22 (204)
Vor dem Sturm=Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward 4* 8/31/22 (320)

W (2)
A Walk on the Dead Side book 3 in Secret Seal Isle Mysteries Box Set by Lucy Quinn 4.5* 7/15/22 (177)
Watson, Milan: For Justice or Love 3* 7/31/22 (292)

*

I'm going for all three options. Numbers in brakets are page #.

April Scrabble Challenge 2022
Start Date: 4/1/2022
Level: Scrabble Bingo Master (64+ books)
✔ Completed (Option 1): 20/20
Completed (Option 2): 18/19
Completed (Option 3): 55/98


Option 1: 120+ pages title, author or major character (first/last name)
S: Survivor In Death by J.D. Robb 5* 4/1/22 (392)
C: Change of Fortune by Jana Deleon 5* 7/5/22 (272)
R: Redding, Fortune: Fortune Hunter by Jana Deleon 4* 6/27/22 (248)
A: Alford, Mary: Nowhere to Run book 1 in Pursued 2* 7/19/22 (192)
B: Born in Death by J.D. Robb 5* 6/5/22 (364)
B: Breakup book 7 in The Kate Shugak Investigations: Books 1-9 by Dana Stabenow 5* 7/3/22 (274)
L: Loyalty in Death by J.D. Robb 4* 6/10/22 (359)
E: Escape to Dragon Island #1 (now: Dragon Island Hideaway #1): Dragon Tides by Rinelle Grey 4* 6/28/22 (137)

H: Hagenheim #2: The Merchant's Daughter book 2 in Fairy Tale Romance Collection by Melanie Dickerson 4.5* 9/17/22 (293)
A: Ayers, Candace: Team Leader Bear 3* 8/22/22 (136)
S: Stabenow, Dana: A Fatal Thaw book 2 in The Kate Shugak Investigations: Books 1-9 4* 9/28/22 (207)
B: Brooks, Kathleen: Forever Secret 5* 7/7/22 (372)
R: Redding, Fortune: Soldiers of Fortune by Jana Deleon 5* 6/19/22 (252)
O: The Oxford Tearoom Mysteries #2: Tea with Milk and Murder book 3 in The Oxford Tearoom Mysteries Box Set Collection I by H.Y. Hanna 4* 7/17/22 (258)

M: Mathilda 'Tilly' Bradford: Forever Protected by Kathleen Brooks 4* 9/26/22 (292)
A: Assassin Next Door by Eve Langlais 5* 4/27/22 (324)
T: Trapped in a Hall of Mirrors: How the Luckiest Man in the World Became a Spy by Michael Connick 4* 4/21/22 (168)
T: Touch My Tears: Tales from the Trail of Tears by Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer and 11 other authors 4* 5/27/22 (236)
E: Elizabeth Danniher: Sign Off by Patricia McLinn 4* 5/1/22 (234)
L: Life in the Dead Lane book 2 in Secret Seal Isle Mysteries Box Set by Lucy Quinn 4* 7/11/22 (181)


Option 2: 120+ pages
✔ Read a book that has a title with all the letters in the word "scrabble" Ratgeber Beckenbodenschwäche: Welche medizinischen Behandlungsmöglichkeiten es gibt. Was man selbst für einen starken Beckenboden tun kann. Gegen Harn- uns Stuhlinkontinenz lässt sich etwas tun! (Pelvic Instability Guidebook: Which Medical Treatment Is Possible. What You Can Do To Strengthen The Pelvic Floor. Aconuresis And Anal Incontinence Can Be Helped!) by Stefan Riss & Barbara Bodner-Adler 3* 7/31 (176) - rAtgEBeR beckenBodenSChwäche weLche
✔ Read a book that has a title with all the letters in the word "bingo" Riding The Cowboy Brothers by Sierra Wyatt 3* 4/5/22 (192) ridING cowBOy
✔ Read a book with a title that has all the letters in the word "bonus" The Reason I Jump: one boy's voice from the silence of autism by Naoki Higashida 4* 5/10/22 (193) resON jUmp Boy'S
📌Read a book that has a blank cover The Unnamed Devotional by Lisa Buffaloe ?* ?/?/22 (235)
✔ Read a book that has 2 - 4 characters Childlike Faith For Grown-Up Miracles by Chantale Williams 5* 7/24/22 (167) this memoir is mainly about the author and her husband, their two children are mentioned a couple of times but not really present
✔ Read a book that has the word "square" in the text The Healer's Apprentice book 1 in Fairy Tale Romance Collection by Melanie Dickerson 3* 4/19/22 (335; this book: 1-425 of 1963 iTunes pages) and acrobats performing in the square (Ch. 2, p.59)
✔ Read a book with a red cover The Blood of Christ by Andrew Murray 5* 6/11/22 (254)
✔ Read a book with a blue cover Wanna Get Lucky? book 1 in Lucky Double by Deborah Coonts 4.5* 8/20/22 (366)
✔ Read a book with a pink cover Knockout by Mia Gold 3* 9/10/22 (207)
✔ Read a book that is 2nd in a series Fan the Flames by Katie Ruggle 4* 5/30/22 (450) Search and Rescue #2
✔ Read a book that is 3rd in a series Sanctuary Breached by Lisa Phillips 4* 4/5/22 (347) WITSEC Town #3
✔ Read a book with the word "tile" in the text Frame 232 by Wil Mara 4* 5/26/22 (448) Sliding the tile aside (loc. 420)
✔ Read a book with a board game on the cover or in the text Miss Merkel: Mord in der Uckermark (Miss Merkel: Murder in the Uckermark*) by David Safier 3* 6/14/22 (320) lit. transl.: his weekly game of Scrabble on Skype (p. 133. original quote: seine wöchentliche Partie Scrabble via Skype)
*Uckermark is a historic territory north-east of Berlin
✔ Read a book in which a character wins Fantasy in Death by J.D. Robb 5* 6/23/22 (353) (view spoiler)[the perp wins once but in the end Eve & Roarke win (set partially in a virtual fantasy game) (hide spoiler)]
✔ Read a book with a title that has all the letters in the word "dictionary" What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe 3* 9/9/22 (321) absuRD hYpotheTICAl questIONs
✔ Read a book with the word "fun" in the text Flame and Fortune by Jana Deleon 5* 4/24/22 (287) might be a fun thing (p.137)
✔ Read a book with the word "strategy" in the text Swamp Sweets by Jana Deleon 4* 4/23/22 (287) she changed her strategy at some point. (p.263)
✔ Read a book that is 7th in a series Hurricane Force by Jana Deleon 5* 6/24/22 (256) Miss Fortune #7
✔ Read a book with the word "turn" in the text Sanctuary Deceived by Lisa Phillips 3* 4/13/22 (260) Remy started to turn him. (p.5)


Option 3: (title or author's first or last name only) 120+ pages
A (2/9)
Allyson Lindt: Seduction Games 4* 8/24/22 (157)
Advanced Physical Chemistry book 3 in Chemistry Lessons Box Set: Books 1-3 by Susannah Nix 3* 9/5/22 (288)

E (2/12)
Erich Segal: Love Story=Love Story 2* 7/10/22 (136)
Evie Monroe & K.B. Winters: Northern Lights 2* 8/27/22 (342)


B (2)
Bride on the Run by Milan Watson 3* 7/28/22 (225)
Bad Blood book 11 in The Kate Shugak Investigation Books 10-20 Box Set by Dana Stabenow 4* 8/10/22 (236)

C (2)
A Cold Day for Murder book 1 in The Kate Shugak Investigations: Books 1-9 by Dana Stabenow 4* 9/5/22 (201)
Coben, Harlan: W głębi lasu=The Woods 3* 9/5/22 (432)

D (4)
Don't Close Your Eyes by Christie Craig 3* 6/18/22 (319)
Die in the Wool by Katherine Hayton 3* 8/5/22 (174)
Dana Stabenow: A Fine and Bitter Snow book 3 in The Kate Shugak Investigation Books 10-20 Box Set 5* 8/9/22 (181)
DeRusha, Michelle: 50 Women Every Christian Should Know: Learning from Heroines of the Faith 2* 8/16/22 (386)

*

I've not got as far as I wished but that's life

Carle's Crawling Critters
Duration: June 2021
Level: The Grouchy Ladybug (9-16 books)
Option 4: Any combination of the above
Completed: 14/17+
100+ pages, Re reads are allowed (6 month rule)


Option 1: Spell out insects or spider species
Ants
A: Amy Mitchell: The Mystery of Smugglers Cove by Paul Moxham 4* 6/23
N: No Such Thing As A Good Blind Date by Shelly Fredman 3* 6/20
T: Travels in Alaska book 1 in Alaska Days with John Muir: 4 Books in One Volume: Illustrated: Travels in Alaska, The Cruise of the Corwin, Stickeen and Alaska Days by John Muir 5* 6/21
The Tutor's Daughter by Julie Klassen ?* 6/?
S: Darby Shaw: Raport pelikana=The Pelican Brief by John Grisham 4* 6/7

Bees
B: Blackburn, Cindy: Unbelievable 3* 6/23
E: Ernst, Dee: A Mother's Day Murder 4* 6/4
E: Anne Elliot: Persuasion: with original illustrations by C.E. Brock by Jane Austen & Charles Edmund Brock (illustrations) 5* 6/17
S: Sebastian Ridgeway: Never Gonna Happen by Cynthia Eden 4* 6/10


Option 2: Find insects or spiders in text or title (generic words like 'butterfly' or the specific species are both acceptable)
1. Frightfully Fortune by Jana Deleon 4* 6/2 - stalk around among the red bugs and mosquitoes. (p. 97)
2. The Secret of Pembrooke Park by Julie Klassen 3* 6/18 - her stomach tingled as if she’d swallowed a caterpillar. (p. 309)
3. A Year of Shorts: Flash Fiction by Barbara Venkataraman and 23 other authors 3* 6/24 - “Put spiders in their beds!” (p. 109)
4. Her Sanctuary book 1 in Her Box Set by Toni Anderson 4* 6/25 - A couple of last year’s pups were still visible, but they hadn’t moved much beyond the flick of an ear to remove a pesky fly. (loc. 2754)
5. Apple Pie and Arsenic by C.A. Phipps 3* 6/29 - the curtain she’d had installed to keep out flies, (p. 73)
📌6. The Cruise of the Corwin book 2 in Alaska Days with John Muir: 4 Books in One Volume: Illustrated: Travels in Alaska, The Cruise of the Corwin, Stickeen and Alaska Days by John Muir ?* 6/30? - While we were yet fifty miles from land a small gray finch came aboard and flew about the rigging while we watched its movements and listened to its suggestive notes as if we had never seen a finch since the days of our merry truant rambles along the hedgerows. A few hours later a burly, dozing bumblebee came droning around the pilot-house, seeming to bring with him all the warm, summery gardens we had ever seen. (p. 257 - book 2: pages 195 - 382)

Option 3: Find insects or spiders on cover
1. Louisiana Longshot by Jana Deleon 5* 6/11 - butterfly

What happened to my original sign up message?
I'll start with level two but hope to bump it up later.

Carle's Crawling Critters
Duration: June 2021
Level: The Grouchy Ladybug (9-16 books)
Option 4: Any combination of the above
Completed: 14/17+
100+ pages, Re reads are allowed (6 month rule)


Option 1: Spell out insects or spider species (view spoiler)[
Using the first letter in the book’s title, the first letter of the series name, the first letter in the author’s first or last name, or the first letter of a character’s first, last, or nick-name, or the first letter in the audio book narrator's first or last name.
If you are reading a translated version, you can also use the first letter of the translator's first or last name.
As always, if the first letter of a title starts with ‘A’, ‘An’, ‘The’, etc., you may use the first letter of the second word in the title to spell out your chosen word (hide spoiler)]

✔Ants (4)
A: Amy Mitchell: The Mystery of Smugglers Cove by Paul Moxham 4* 6/23
N: No Such Thing As A Good Blind Date by Shelly Fredman 3* 6/20 - Brandy Alexander
T: Travels in Alaska book 1 in Alaska Days with John Muir: 4 Books in One Volume: Illustrated: Travels in Alaska, The Cruise of the Corwin, Stickeen and Alaska Days by John Muir 5* 6/21 (or #2 skips and whirls of flies (p. 27))
The Tutor's Daughter by Julie Klassen ?* 6/?
S: Darby Shaw: Raport pelikana=The Pelican Brief by John Grisham 4* 6/7

✔Bees (4)
B: Blackburn, Cindy: Unbelievable 3* 6/23
E: Ernst, Dee: A Mother's Day Murder 4* 6/4 - Mt. Abrams Mystery #1, Ellie Rocca
E: Anne Elliot: Persuasion: with original illustrations by C.E. Brock by Jane Austen & Charles Edmund Brock (illustrations) 5* 6/17
S: Sebastian Ridgeway: Never Gonna Happen by Cynthia Eden 4* 6/10 - Alyssa Kyle (or #2 - Even if she accidentally killed a spider. She’d been working on the guilt issue. (p. 27))


Option 2: Find insects or spiders in text or title (generic words like 'butterfly' or the specific species are both acceptable)
1. Frightfully Fortune by Jana Deleon 4* 6/2 - stalk around among the red bugs and mosquitoes. (p. 97)
2. The Secret of Pembrooke Park by Julie Klassen 3* 6/18 - her stomach tingled as if she’d swallowed a caterpillar. (p. 309)
3. A Year of Shorts: Flash Fiction by Barbara Venkataraman and 23 other authors 3* 6/24 - “Put spiders in their beds!” (p. 109)
4. Her Sanctuary book 1 in Her Box Set by Toni Anderson 4* 6/25 - A couple of last year’s pups were still visible, but they hadn’t moved much beyond the flick of an ear to remove a pesky fly. (loc. 2754)
5. Apple Pie and Arsenic by C.A. Phipps 3* 6/29 - the curtain she’d had installed to keep out flies, (p. 73)
📌6. The Cruise of the Corwin book 2 in Alaska Days with John Muir: 4 Books in One Volume: Illustrated: Travels in Alaska, The Cruise of the Corwin, Stickeen and Alaska Days by John Muir ?* 6/30? - While we were yet fifty miles from land a small gray finch came aboard and flew about the rigging while we watched its movements and listened to its suggestive notes as if we had never seen a finch since the days of our merry truant rambles along the hedgerows. A few hours later a burly, dozing bumblebee came droning around the pilot-house, seeming to bring with him all the warm, summery gardens we had ever seen. (p. 257 - book 2: pages 195 - 382)

Option 3: Find insects or spiders on cover
1. Louisiana Longshot by Jana Deleon 5* 6/11 - butterfly
*

This was a fun week. I'm glad I joined and managed to read much more than I expected.

Oleander wrote: "Agnieszka wrote: "I mixed up the dates (once again) and started re-reading some of the books from my favorite series (Miss Fortune by Jana Deleon) two days ago.
Today I finished [bo..."

Miss Fortune is great. So far I've not met one person who didn't enjoy it.

Judy wrote: "I had put this in my calendar where did it goooooo??? but anyway, ready to start! not sure how much reading I'll get done today as I need to finish an assignment but here's to trying my best!"

I'm sure a troll came and took it *grins*

I mixed up the dates (once again) and started re-reading some of the books from my favorite series (Miss Fortune by Jana Deleon) two days ago.
Today I finished Gator Bait and started the next one Soldiers of Fortune (both 5* and reading for the fifth time). I love the covers and even if they are not really fun I add them here.