Geri’s Comments

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

Note: Geri is not currently a member of this group.

Carrie wrote: "Did you enjoy Who is Maud Dixon? I just bought it on kindle. "

We definitely have the same taste in books. LOL Yes, Maud Dixon was good. A 4 star read for me. The MCs were interesting. The story was twisty and fun. A good summer read.

The other book I just read The Disappearing Act was really good too.

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Who Is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews
Date Read: 6/14
Pages: 324
BOM/Participation: No
BOM/Writing DQs: No

Possible uses and reasons/justifications:
Jackanory
Describe your protagonists - a wannabe writer with a twisted sense of ethics
What's DEATH up to? - the famous author may have died in a car accident
How do the protagonists react? - let people think she is the famous author to steal their life
What obstacles are in the protagonists' way? - a dead body is found on the author’s property

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The Disappearing Act by Catherine Steadman
Date Read: 6/14
Pages: 320
BOM/Participation: No
BOM/Writing DQs: No

Possible uses and reasons/justifications:
Jackanory
Describe the setting of your story - Los Angeles, California
Describe your protagonists - British actress in U.s. to get away from a breakup
What's the spur that starts the story? - woman she meets suddenly disappears

Jackanory is difficult to me. I’ll look through the inputs to see if I can add anything. So far I just add details as I can.

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The Girl Who Died by Ragnar Jónasson
Date Read: 6/11
Pages: 320
BOM/Participation: No
BOM/Writing DQs: No

Possible uses and reasons/justifications:
Jackanory
Describe the setting of your story - tiny Iceland town of 10 people
Describe your protagonists - 30 yr old teacher, lonely and loves her red wine
What's DEATH up to? - haunting the house our protagonist lives in
What's the spur that starts the story? - stranger comes to town and then goes missing
How do the protagonists react? - they ban together to protect the secrets of the town

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I Hope You're Listening by Tom Ryan
Date Read: 6/13
Pages: 373
BOM/Participation: No
BOM/Writing DQs: No

Possible uses and reasons/justifications:
Jackanory
Describe your protagonists - 17 yr old crime solving podcaster
What's the spur that starts the story? - girl was kidnapped
What's the next plot point? - 10 hrs later another girl goes missing
Time for the final twist! - both are found alive

I can claim #201 - Onomatopoeia in title with the book The Echo Killing. I had to look up a list of words that would work for this! 🙂

Carrie wrote: Did you see Hulu is planning on making this into a series?."

Yes. I can see it making a good tv series. Better than the book. 🙂

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One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
Date Read: 6/11
Pages: 432
BOM/Participation: No
BOM/Writing DQs: No

Possible uses and reasons/justifications:
213. mini skirt on cover

Bingo
B7 bag of coffee beans - MC is holding a coffee cup on cover

Jackanory
Describe the setting of your story - set in New York City
Describe your protagonists - 23 yr old college student

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Killer Content by Olivia Blacke
Date Read: 6/11
Pages: 288
BOM/Participation: No
BOM/Writing DQs: No

Possible uses and reasons/justifications:
Bingo
E7 boot - MC wears cowboy boots
G3 "woof" - MC walks shop dog, Huckleberry
E8 fierce cat - MC takes care of Aunt’s cat, Rufus

Jackanory
What genres describe your story? - Cozy Mystery
Describe the setting of your story - set in New York City
Describe your protagonists - transplant from Louisiana, working in a bookstore
What's DEATH up to? - killing co worker, Bethany, by falling 15 feet

Yasmine wrote: "Ohhh both of those are on my tbr list!! But I don't know yet if I'll be able to get copies before the end of the challenge. I'll see if I can do anything about that!"

Yasmine, I have read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. It was great! Of course, it is too early for me to re read. 🙁 I will check to see if I can get the other book. Many have given it rave reviews.

I don’t see my book posted for Fatal Chaos in the spreadsheet. It’s message 523. Thanks!

Carrie wrote: "What did you think of Malibu Rising? I seemed to be one of the few people out there who had a bit of a love/hate relationship with Daisy Jones and the Six"

I didn’t love Daisy and the Six either. LOL This book was okay. I gave it 3 stars. It was a Hollywood family drama set in the 50s and 80s. It felt a little too similar to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Which I did love. Just a different era of Hollywood. And family centered. I was hoping for more, I think.

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When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain
Date Read: 6/9
Pages: 415
BOM/Participation: No
BOM/Writing DQs: No

Possible uses and reasons/justifications:
Bingo
F6 runner - MC is running from her tragic past
G3 "woof" - MC gets a dog

Jackanory
Describe your protagonists - law enforcement profiler
Describe your antagonists - kidnaps young girls
What's the spur that starts the story? - A girl has gone missing

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Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molloy
Date Read: 6/9
Pages: 320
BOM/Participation: No
BOM/Writing DQs: No

Possible uses and reasons/justifications:
90. author initials AM

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Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Date Read: 6/7
Pages: 384
BOM/Participation: No
BOM/Writing DQs: No

Possible uses and reasons/justifications:
244. important character dies - mother dies halfway through book

Bingo
C2 pile of coins - family was rich and famous

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Girl One by Sara Flannery Murphy
Date Read: 6/8
Pages: 368
BOM/Participation: No
BOM/Writing DQs: No

Possible uses and reasons/justifications:
137. MPG Fantasy

Louise wrote: "Duplicate books have now been removed from the spreadsheet, thanks Geri for picking up on this.

A reminder to anyone reading the BOM's please use the official page count, this is shown in msg 8 o..."

(Sigh!!) I may never get the BOM page count right. I didn’t realize it was posted in message 8. Thanks!

Carrie wrote: "Completion Post:
Hostage

Clare Mackintosh
Date Read: June 7, 2021
Pages: 400 (This is the book that is an ARC and I selected default ed..."

What did you think of this? I have my eye on this.

Yasmine wrote: "I just finished the book and hope you'll enjoy it! It's not in my usual genre but I did quite like it! I'm going to look up more of Matt Haig's books now :))"

I think I will look for more books by the author too. 🙂

Carrie wrote: "I think I may be one of the few people who really debated how much I liked The Midnight Library. I gave it 4 stars because I really liked the ending. The problem for me was that I found Nora so unlikeable that I thought it was difficult to read!"

For me, Nora was a downer in the beginning. But as the book went on, she grew on me. The book had some important things to say about living your life. I gave it 4 stars too.

Audrey Jane wrote: "The past couple of weeks passed by so fast I didn't realize that the June BOMs have already started. I will join the BOM discussion for The Midnight Library next week.
The summer we..."

We are having some great weather here too! So nice to be outdoors. Hubby and I have been going on some road trips.

I hope you enjoy The Midnight Library. I just finished and did enjoy it. I read it will be turned into a movie soon.

I noticed Heli’s books on 6/3 have also been duplicated. Sorry. I didn’t notice that earlier.

Completion Post



The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Date Read: 6/6
Pages: 304
BOM/Participation: Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4
BOM/Writing DQs: No

Possible uses and reasons/justifications:
137. MPG Fantasy
236. vehicle powered by engine on cover

Completion Post



Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala
Date Read: 6/6
Pages: 336
BOM/Participation: No
BOM/Writing DQs: No

Possible uses and reasons/justifications:
212. spoon / cooking utensil on cover
243. fossil / skeleton on cover

Discussion Questions - Day 4: Ryan Bailey - A Pearl in the Shell (79%)

16. What were your thoughts on the interview Nora did? Did she handle it well? What do you make of her thoughts on life in this interview compared to the speech she gave as a champion swimmer?

Nora is good at winging it. LOL It wasn’t bad. She is taking things she’s learned and using it to answer questions. She is getting wiser.


17. Nora tries for a simpler life working at animal shelter. Did you see this as a life for Nora at all during the book? Do you think she will incorporate this into her chosen life? If not, what will she take from this life if anything at all?

Yes. I figured she would move on from her biggest regrets. Trying out a simpler life seemed like good advice. Less stress can lead to a happier life. I do think Nora will use everything she has learned, big and small, in the end.


18. In 'The Many Lives of Nora Seed', we are given a large summary of all the other lives she tried. Did any stand out to you? Did you think any of these lives would have suited her? Do any relate to what you would want to experience or have thought about experiencing? I was amused by the life where she only ate toasts and like hearing about her lives abroad. Though was a bit concerned with all the lives she chokes on something

I think Nora could have been happy in some of the lives. There were just small complaints in some. But since Nora has a choice, she is flitting through many lives. One important thing she is learning is that there really isn’t a “perfect” life. It will be interesting where she is in the end.


19. The life with Ryan was the one I was waiting for when reading. What do you make of it so far and what do you think will happen? I thought she would stay in this one and was intrigued about the family life she had built.

So far we haven’t seen much. But I am also intrigued to see where this goes. Even if she doesn’t end up in this life for good. She may end up in a variation of it?


20. What are your thoughts of Mrs Elm as her guide? Do you think she does a good job or could do something better? What advice would you give if you were in her position?

Yes. I do think Mrs. Elm does a good job. I don’t think I could give better advice.