Dev’s Comments (group member since Sep 09, 2017)

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

Laughter at the Academy by Seanan McGuire
Date: 11/5
Pages: 376

Sin: Wrath
Criteria: bafflingly enough to the naked eye, tineye clocks this in at 59.3% brown when all browns are added together

could maybe also work for the consequence of the mini-challenge?

i always thought they just picked the ones that had been shelved the most for various tags but i'm not sure how exactly the opening round gets chosen. i'm hoping that there will be some better choices in round 2 due to write-ins because i didn't see a lot that i recognized for this first round [and i'm too lazy to write in lol]

there are definitely a few longer books that i really like but i feel you just have to have enough material to justify the page space. i feel like longer books are becoming more popular recently so authors are just adding stuff in to pad out page space that has really nothing to do with whatever story they are trying to tell and that always makes it less enjoyable for me personally

@Vicki i agree about the book length thing. i like that they tried to make it more even this time by putting penalties for going over in number of books, but i think there needs to be some kind of spot on the sign up form for what length of book you generally read as well. i'm not sure how much of a pain that would be to set up / try to even out but maybe next challenge.

i agree that it is what it is. i'm never going to be a person who enjoys reading long books. i try to get a few longer ones in during challenge time but ultimately there is a very low bar of how much i will keep going on something i don't enjoy just for the sake of a challenge lol and this time i think i used up most of my patience slogging through kraken ;)

The Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron
Date: 11/4
Pages: 310

Sin: Sloth
Criteria: cover is 77.4% Midnight (Blue)

could also be used for name/role for the mini challenge but probably only if we need it to finish up a set since it will be worth 1 less point in that role.

i think a good idea for the poetry books would be that you have to find a word count or provide a link to an audio book length like you do with middle grade books. i mean obviously they wouldn't change it in the middle of this current tower teams but it's something to think about for the future! i have several epic poetry books on my tbr and never get to them because 1. they are honestly hard to get through and 2. can't use them for challenges lol

i'm glad you all were so awesome this week because i definitely dropped the ball lol. i should finish my podcast tonight or tomorrow morning and then i will get back to the audiobooks and not start any other podcasts until towers is over! i was just so disappointed with all the horror books i was trying to read last month that i had to do something about it and apparently that something was a podcast

i will definitely get one more in and will try to do another as well. i have unfortunately become very distracted by the magnus archives podcast so i haven't been listening to any audio books, but i'm almost caught up so hopefully i can get through a bit more next week lol

i like how now goodreads is recommending me a bunch of zombie books and i'm like listen i don't actually usually like zombie stuff soooo lol

Mycroft and Sherlock: The Empty Birdcage by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Date: 11/1
Pages: 336

Sin: Avarice
Criteria: cover is 51.3% Gold (Yellow)

Mini Challenge:
* Read a book with MPG Crime, Mystery, Thriller or Suspense that also meets the criteria for "Scotland Yard" [I assume this just means that Scotland Yard features at some point and Sherlock talks to them at one of the crime scenes]
* Read a book with a serial killer [the person who is the killer in this book has murdered 11 people, making him a serial killer]
* Read a book with MPG Crime, Mystery, Thriller or Suspense set in 1800AD - 1900AD [takes place in 1873]
* Read a book with MPG Crime, Mystery, Thriller or Suspense that also meets the criteria for "Historical Mystery" [again if this just means that it is a mystery and takes place in a historical setting then we're good to go, if it means something else then maybe not?]
* Read a book where poison is used [the killer uses venom from a poisonous frog to kill people]
* Read a book with MPG Crime, Mystery, Thriller or Suspense that is 300 - 399 pages [336 pages]

hey mary i think your comment that you put over in the sinful chat thread was probably meant to go here

How much effort to do we want to put into the new mini-challenge? If I'm reading it right, each finished story is worth 28 points (2 per book + 14 for completed story) , so that averages out to 4 pts per book. We'd do better reading for Sin Bingos or cover color pts but that's not necessarily all that easy either. I have 4 more Sin Bingos, if my library cooperates. So I'll probably focus on those unless I have a book that helps fill in a story spot.

i was having similar thoughts. it would be good for books that only fit those 1 point tasks but if you read a book for genre and then for cover color that evens out to 4 points each which is the same as what each book gets for the mini challenge. could be fun to put a few together if we end up with things that work but i'm not going to be focusing heavily on it

i feel like that interstellar book could be hilarious as an audio book but i do not think i could read it lol also i do not have KU right now and would not even pay a dollar for that :p

finally finished level 7! i'm hoping i can get to level 8 by the finish date but i just do not have a lot of pre-2010 books on my shelf. i only need 14 more books from that time period but i am struggling lol definitely won't be able to do that level next year since i'm likely to use up all my options this round.

yeah it was probably like 35 degrees here and super windy, i don't give out candy myself but i also didn't see / hear many people outside like i usually do either. i think a lot of families go to organized events by like churches and businesses now instead of going to door anyway though.

i should be able to get 7 in and will try to squeeze in an eighth, although definitely not doing any long ones this week lol

haha yeah monday is fine. or maybe i'll try to wait until tuesday since i always finish right away -_-;

Eat the Ones You Love by J.L. Murray
Date: 10/31
Pages: 278

Doesn't work for any sins so you will have to place it in the mini challenge somewhere

Mini Challenge:
* Read a book where a catastrophe (of any kind) takes place [i feel like the zombie apocalypse is a pretty big catastrophe]
* Read a book with a character who is always angry {Jenny is angry because people won't tell her the truth about the experiments her mother and grandfather performed on her]
*Read a book with "Post-Apocalyptic" as MPG [2nd tag listed on MPG, used once]
* Read a book with zombies [tons of zombies lol, MC included]
*Read a book containing the phrase "see red"
again not sure how exact this has to be but in this book we got closer with “Do you ever see the red?” said Faron. “Since you came back?”

i think the hobbit book and movies are both kind of boring in different directions. like the book is so short and simplistic and feels more dated than the regular lotr trilogy to me, but by the 3rd movie i was like oh my god just get to the point already because they dragged everything out so much. i think they could have done two movies instead of three and it would have been good but i know that it was just the studio wanting to make more money that made it 3 parts in the first place so what are you gonna do i guess lol

@Claudia haha i've known people that age and way older who are just as naive as Amy was so i guess i don't find it THAT unrealistic. although with her living in chicago it does maybe tip it over the line. but yeah i agree that angel is more relatable than amy in general. although i do feel like at times maybe angel was a bit TOO jaded. like i get that there was a reason for it but i'm glad she started getting her shit together on her own terms after awhile.

i'm good with seeing gross things but yeah there are some smells that definitely make me gag, although i don't think i've ever actually thrown up because of something gross.

i'm good to start the next one whenever. we could wait until sunday/monday to do one a week or we could start right away.

What the #@&% Is That?: The Saga Anthology of the Monstrous and the Macabre by John Joseph Adams
Date: 10/30
Pages: 368

Sin: Sloth
Criteria: Dark Fantasy is on top page of tags [used one time]

Mini Challenge:
* Read a book where there is a car accident [in one story a woman and her girlfriend are in a car accident and she ends up going back in time to try to fix it]
* Read a book with a haunted place as part of the setting [Seanan McGuire's story takes place in a haunted house]
*Read a book with "Supernatural" on the first page of the book's Top Shelves [if 'genre - supernatural' counts then this works, tagged by one person]
* Read a book with a serial killer [one of the stories features a serial killer who murders couples]
* Read a book where a religious crime takes place [one story has a religious cult where the leader poisons all the followers]