Briana’s Comments (group member since Aug 15, 2018)

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

Duration: January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023
Progress: 5/25

2015

1. Extras by Scott Westerfeld 1/9/2023
2. Blue Noon by Scott Westerfeld

2017
3. The Prophecy of Shadows by Michelle Madow

2018
4. Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
5. The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson
6. The Hundredth Queen by Emily R. King
7. Mind Dimensions by Dima Zales
8. Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs

Series To continue/finish
9. A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab
10. A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle
11. The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson 2/5/2023
12. Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
13. Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson
14. Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas
15. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
16. Heat Stroke by Rachel Caine
17. The Secret by K.A. Applegate 3/17/23 ⭐⭐⭐
18. City of Spells by Alexandra Christo 2/2/23
19. The Queen's Secret by Melissa de la Cruz Series DNF
20. Sightwitch by Susan Dennard
21. Spring by Audrey Grey
22. A Fistful of Charms by Kim Harrison
23. A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross
24. The Brightest Fell by Seanan McGuire
25. The ​Missing of Clairdelune by Christelle Dabos
26. Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi 5/27/2023 ⭐⭐⭐, replacing The Queen's Secret.

Submitted my last book. It was a lot of fun guys. Hope to compete with you all next year.

Melissa wrote: "I would say maybe the paranormal/UF?"

Okay I'll be reading Fire Touched it works for both.

I have a cosy and/or a paranormal/UF I could read. Whichever is needed more I can do.

Eni wrote: "@Kit/Briana could you tell me what is the page and the sentence where food appears in Crossed?"

Pages 26, "It takes some time to walk into town and the smell of farming hangs thick in the air—burning wood and cool air and apples turning to cider."

Pages 130, "We find him eating an apple in the second cave." If you need the character actually eating something.

Melissa wrote: "I bet a book 6 or 8. I haven’t heard anyone covering them."

I have a book 8 if you have a book 6.

Also in general I DNFd The Rage of Dragons. I was enjoying it while I was reading it but once I'd put it down it was a struggle to pick it back up. I'm thinking right now just isn't the time to read it. I've removed it from the SS. Sorry everyone.

We can bank Rage of Dragons if Nanci finishes first. There have been mentions of funerals in what I've read so far but neither one was more than a mention of the MC being able to attend the bodies burning which then happened off page. I'll keep an eye out in the remaining pages but I don't have much hope either.

Melissa wrote: "Briana wrote: "I completed a white cover book yesterday with Frost Burned that can fill that task if no one else has one ready to go.

And I should have The Rage of Dragons complete..."

I do believe there was a funeral in the first few chapters, let me check and I'll post if there is.

Updated the spreadsheet and the Bull is defeated

I completed a white cover book yesterday with Frost Burned that can fill that task if no one else has one ready to go.

And I should have The Rage of Dragons completed today. As I only have about 300 pages left.

Oh the bull looks like a lot fun.

I just finished Cursed Fates and updated the spreadsheet so Charybdis 1 is down too.

Sorry it took me so long. Next I'm working on The Rage of Dragons and This Savage Song to finish out the Cerberus, hopefully I'll have them done by tomorrow since I'm working on laundry and have audios for both.

DQs Day 3: Chap 20-29

10. Beth's house has seemed important from the beginning of the story and there have been a lot of descriptions of the "Frankenstein ugly" house. During one of Shea's interviews Beth told her to go upstairs and see her childhood bedroom and then she said, "Not all of the answers you want so desperately are going to come from me. Some of them are going to come from this house." What do you think Shea learned from the house when she perused Beth's room?
I think it taught Shea to remember that Beth is human and that she's using Shea just as much for her own means as Shea is using Beth. And maybe to have a healthy touch of annoyance toward the older woman for her mysterious and veiled ways of speaking.

11. We now have a better insight into the note that was left at the murder scene that said, in part, Am I bitter or am I sweet? In this section we got a lot of details about how this "bitter/sweet" was played out in the house with Mariana and the two girls. Lily also told Beth that everything was her fault and she could have stopped it. What do you think the note will reveal about the murderer and how do you think Beth could've stopped it or could she have?
I think the note will reveal that the murderer likes to believe she's the sweet girl, the victim, the one swallowed up by bad people time and time again. Though I'm not sure Beth could've actually stopped anything. Short of never welcoming Lily I don't know if she could have prevented what happened later.

12. Julian's treatment of Lily is rather atrocious, especially considering how young she is when she first visits them. Why do you think he hates her so much and who do you suspect Lily's father is? (I have only read through chapter 29 for my questions, so I don't even know if that is revealed. Just curious what others are thinking about the situation.)
I think he treats Lily so poorly because she is a shameful secret that reflected just as poorly on him as it did Mariana. Or he just didn't have sympathy for women that had children while unwed and took it out on Lily because it was easier to do than arguing more with his wife about it. I'm going to guess that her father though was one of the two men that died in the Lady Killer murders.

13. Lily told Beth she wanted a lot of things, including the house. Beth told Lily she hated the house to which Lily said, "That's because you don't understand it...It's an abomination that shouldn't exist...It's exactly like me." What do you think she meant by this?
I think a certain amount of that hate for the children of unwed mother's has seeped into her, she doesn't believe she should exist but she does so she going to make everyone regret in the process. Just like the house once looked lovely but what's been done to it in the name renovation has turned it into something awful and terrible that no one wants to see or should have to see and the house feels that as much as Lily does about her own existence.

14. Lily appears to have more power in the relationship between her and Beth, but based on Beth's current day ability to manipulate others, do you think Lily really is the more powerful one in their relationship? Why or why not?
I think Beth was a truly amazing student in learning how to manipulate the way she does. But I think even now Lily holds power over Beth no matter how hard she tries to escape it.

DQs Day 2: Chap 12-19

5. Shea is trying to explain the taps being turned on and the cupboards being opened by themselves through telekinesis. If you had experienced what she did, do you think you would have tried to explain things logically or do you think you would have believed it was ghosts and left it at that?.
I would have believed it was ghosts and left it at that. It really isn't any more far-fetched than saying a pressure change in the house caused the cabinets open or a lapse of memory for forgetting to turn off the taps.

6. After getting a cat, Shea calls on Michael to ask for advice on how to care for it, through the conversation she thinks about wanting to meet him. Do you think they will end up together or perhaps just remain as friends? Could Michael be interested as well?
I think they could potentially end up together. Assuming he doesn't turn out to be a serial killer because I do find the only by phone bit a little hinky I must admit.

7. Mr. Greer’s former secretary tells Shea Mrs. Greer wasn’t competent and that she was "sent away somewhere when she was eighteen". Do you think she was crazy or do you have any other theories?
I think she was pregnant and they sent her away to have the baby in secret and be adopted. And her so called crazy was her grief manifesting years later.

8. While listening to the recording of Beth’s interview Shea hears a voice in the background whispering “I am still here” and poor Winston gets spooked. Did you find this scary? Do you think cats/animals have a feel for the supernatural? If it were you, would you come back to the house after hearing that?
I didn't find it scary I used to watch Ghost Hunters a lot as a kid and that was a common thing to come up in an episode. I do think animals are more aware of the supernatural though their sense pick up on things we can't a lot. I might out of sheer curiosity, but definitely not alone either.

9. Finally, in order to get in the mood for more scary stuff. Have you or someone you know have any scary/ghostly experiences you might like to share?
I don't have any scary experiences. I firmly believe that my house is haunted, but they're pretty chill spirits. I have heard them call my name before or they have a little fun with us by stacking empty laundry baskets up by the door in our laundry room at night, but they're relaxed and we seem to co-habitate pretty well.

@Heather I'm up to Assassin's Quest as well and I was considering giving it a read in August as it finishes a "series" for me.

I've also got a lot of paranormal/urban fantasy at my disposal if thoses genres come up and I can usually knock those out in a day or two for Battleship.

DQs Day 1: Chap 1-11

1. Have you read the The Sun Down Motel by this author? If so, does it change your expectation for this book? Either way, what are your expectations for this book?
I have not read anything by Simone St. James before. I expect this to be a fun twisty thriller. That's pretty much all I want out of a thriller.

2. The MC writes about cold cases and is in her late 20s and divorced. I have read quite a few horror/thriller/mystery books recently where the MC is a recently divorced, usually a bit older, woman. Have you experienced this as well? Why do you think authors might make this choice? Why do you think the choice was made for this book?
I have experienced this in other thrillers of late. I think it lends a sense of believability to make the MC a bit older. I think Shea's specific circumstances lend an interesting twist to her circumstances and makes her somewhat sympathetic instead of just odd for her love of true crime.

3. This section includes the start of the interview. Did it go the way you expected? Any one comment really stick out to you?
I found the quick flow of the questions and answers different that expected, and it feels a bit like Beth is interview Shea as much as Shea is interviewing Beth. Though Beth's reiteration that women were nothing more than tits and ass in the 70's was interesting. Like she was trying to create a sort of mask of what the time was like.

4. What do you think about the ghostly occurrences in this section? How do they add to the story (or maybe detract)?
I was surprised since the chapter from Beth's perspective kind of made it seem like it was all in Beth's head. But I really enjoyed the whole scene and I'm looking forward to reading more of such experiences.

The Wee Free Men would work for Polyphemus 4, in case anyone is itching for more Pratchett after last years Tower Teams.

Stacey wrote: "I'm going to start working my way through The Stand tomorrow. It will probably take me a while, but I figure I can be ready if we get another 800+ book. :)

@Eni -- please let me kno..."

Hey Stacy. Yeah I like them in a they're trashy but the smut is decent and at least one of our main characters is actually not garbage. I have a favorite twin and I read it mostly for her and her relationship with one of the male leads though at my current point in the series I'm kind of like okay time to learn to function without them too. So it definitely has its issues but it's also addicting like I binged the first three in a weekend for a readathon (3x speed on audio). I do suggest the audio in conjunction with the book if you like audiobooks. Especially in book 2 when they add in the perspectives of the male leads.

I haven't given any of them more than 3 stars because while I like them well enough they also aren't amazing. They're middle of the road and they are dark and the male leads are really not good guys to the twins at first and take the bullying aspect way too far like crossing into life-threatening and assault territory in the first book. I probably would have stopped after that book if I weren't curious to see how the twins got their revenge, which was a strong enough reason for me to be on book 5 now I guess. If you have Kindle Unlimited I say borrow the first book and see how you feel after the first few chapters and go from there.

Checking in to say I'm still here. I just haven't had a moment to read since I did a maze task last week. End of year commitments are insane and I forgot that with covid in full swing the last two years. Hopefully I'll be back on my game after the 17th.

Finished Royal Assassin and The Obelisk Gateearlier this morning. I think I'm going to just sneak in my last two claim for the May mini by the skin of my teeth today.