Allegra’s Comments (group member since Nov 03, 2017)

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

I'm in, so I gotta ask...
Under V, did you mean Valentine?

Here's the first batch, from books I've finished (19).
Second batch: 71


Beauty-9, Candy-19, Surprise-13


Affection-18, Cards-60, Emotion-14, Eternal-11, Jewels-17, Love-41, Mostly-15, Nirvana-54, Surprise-30


Affection-405, Beauty-406, Charm-408, Fancy-407, Friendship-405, Honey-410, Infatuation-407, Like-408, Love-408, Red-408, Sweet-406, Unusual-408


Admiration-86, Adore-83, Affection-91, Amorous-216, Angel-*Title* and 12, Ardent-83, Attract-83, Attractive-13, Awe-296, Beautiful-216, Beauty-228, Beloved-177, Bonds-293, Cards-89, Care-131, Celebrate-279, Cupid- 175, Desire-81, Emotion-104, Engagement-98, Eros-175, Favor- 115, Flowers-134, Fond-213, Gifts-120, Heart-77, Honey-265, Honor-231, Jewelry-170, Joy-213, Lace-15, Lilies-138, Love-93, Lover-84, Marry-161, Maternal-230, Mostly-108, Passion-243, Perfume-172, Quality-19, Rapture-69, Remembrance-130, Ribbon-142, Romantic-84, Suitor-176, Sweet-251, Tender-96, Unusual-123, Valentine-96, Warmth-14, Xxx-249, Your-97


Attraction-disk 4, Candy-d5, Favorite-d2, Fiance-d4, Kisses-d2, Marry-d4, Restaurant-d4, Romantic-d3, Swoon-d5,


Beautiful-4, Gem-4, Heart-21, Jewelry-14, Quality-23, Red-8


Ardent-16, Attractive-10, Beautiful-16, Beloved-17, Charm-11, Cozy-26, Flowers-15, Jewelry-18, Lover-19, Marry-17, Red-15, Your-16


Youth-d1


Beautiful-10, Beauty-23, Chocolate-44, Devotion-125, Fantasy-76, Friendship-125, Girlfriend-50, Heart-51, Honey-102, Honor-23, Hugs-88, Jewelry-78, Love-89, Quaint-68, Rapture-98, Red-97, Restaurant-15, Us-106, Yearning-51


Affectionate-49, Cozy-52, Friendship-51, Heart-46, Like-42, Token-4

I'm joining this more for curiosity, as I'm wondering how many of the books I read even have pets.
Here goes:

January 18
339 pages

Group Total: 69,631

Moderators of NBRC wrote: "Allegra wrote: "I thought I was doing "Alphabet Soup" with the first words of the titles--but it's gone! Can't find it anywhere. (This happened with a quasi-Christmas scavenger hunt I was collectin..."

Maybe, but thanks for trying. I think I'm just losing my mind. A couple recent Safari crashes aren't helping.

January 16th
101 page

Group Total: 62,722

FINISHED: 4/12/18 (maybe I'll spend the remaining time looking for a true X)

Deadline: 1/1/19
Progress: 26/26
Best current run: A-Z (17)

A- Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot's Christmas: A Holiday Mystery 1/4
B- Brooke Gladstone's The Trouble with Reality: A Rumination on Moral Panic in Our Time 1/22
C- Crawford, Isis 's A Catered St. Patrick's Day 3/20
D- David Grossman's A Horse Walks Into a Bar 2/28
E- Ernest Cline's Ready Player One 4/2
F- Frank , Anne's The Diary of a Young Girl 3/23
G- Gogol, Nikolai's The Night Before Christmas 1/6
H- Hayden Carruth's Scrambled Eggs and Whiskey 1/16
I- Ishiguro, Kazuo Never Let Me Go 1/30
J- John Connolly's The Book of Lost Things 1/18
K- Kidd, Sue Monk (& Ann Kidd Taylor)'s Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story 2/26
L- Lucy Knisley's Relish: My Life in the Kitchen 1/10
M-McKinlay, Jenn 's Dark Chocolate Demise 2/7
N- Neil Gaiman's American Gods 1/15
O- Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray 3/8
P- Peters, Elizabeth's Laughter of Dead Kings 3/9
Q- Queirós, Eça de's The Yellow Sofa
R- Robert Bolaño's By Night in Chile 1/2
S- Stephen Fry's The Hippopotamus 4/9
T- Tsutsui, Yasutaka's Standing Woman 1/31
U- Ursula Le Guin's Vaster than Empires and More Slow: A Story 2/11
V- Vickers, Sally's Miss Garnet's Angel 2/17
W- Winifred Watson's Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day 3/16
X- Alexander Kuprin's The Garnet Bracelet 2/15
Y- Yeats, W.B.'s The Secret Rose and Stories of Red Hanrahan 3/26
Z- Zeina Abirached's I Remember Beirut 3/15

American Gods
January 15th
635 pages

Group Total: 59,860

Count me in!

46 +1/52 as of 9/16
44 +1/52 as of 7/25
42 +1/52 as of 6/26
37+1/50 as of 4/19
34+1/50 as of 2/12
30/50 as of 11/5
25/50 as of 9/23
21/50 as of 8/11
11/50 as of 4/6
9/50 as of 3/23
7/50 as of 2/26
2/50 as of 1/16

✔ Alabama - Birchville / The Almost Sisters
✔ Alaska - Wrangell-St. Elias NP / A Cold Day For Murder
✔ Arizona - outside Phoenix / "O Christmas Cactus O Christmas Cactus" by M. Edward McNally; Scottsdale / Dark Chocolate Demise
✔ Arkansas - Stamps / I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
✔ California - Camp Pendleton, elsewhere / "The Lake Was Full of Artificial Things" by Karen Joy Fowler; San Francisco / The Cookbook Collector
✔ Colorado - Denver / Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore
✔ Connecticut - Sherringford / A Study in Charlotte
✔ Delaware - Hawkes Harbor / Hawkes Harbor
✔ Florida - Cocoa Beach, Jacksonville, Amelia Island, Miami, and lots and lots of highways / Nuclear Jellyfish CD by Tim Dorsey
✔ Georgia - Atlanta, Augusta / Aru Shah and the End of Time
Hawaii
✔ Idaho - Excellent / The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon
✔ Illinois - Chicago / Relish: My Life in the Kitchen
✔ Indiana - outside Indianapolis / Turtles All the Way Down
✔ Iowa - Black River Falls / The Day the Music Died
✔ Kansas - Holcomb / In Cold Blood
✔ Kentucky - farm near Louisville / The Plot Against America
✔ Louisiana - New Orleans / Crooked Man
✔ Maine - prison / Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption: A Story from Different Seasons
✔Maryland - Rockville / Number One Chinese Restaurant
✔ Massachusetts - Cambridge / The Bell Jar; Nantucket / Moby-Dick or, The Whale
✔ Michigan - Northern ski resort / "Creche" by Richard Ford
✔ Minnesota - Stillwater, Bemidji, Lansing, St. Paul / Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore
✔ Mississippi - Chabot, Fulsom, Amos / Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter
✔ Missouri - St. Louis, northern country / TransAtlantic
✔ Montana - Bentrock / Montana 1948
✔ Nebraska - Omaha / The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
✔ Nevada - Las Vegas / The Nakeds
✔ New Hampshire - Devon / A Separate Peace
✔ New Jersey - Elizabeth/Newark/The Shore / Everyman
✔ New Mexico - Farmington, Thoreau, Crownpoint / Sacred Clowns
✔ New York - Longley / A Catered St. Patrick's Day
✔ North Carolina - suburban / Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story
✔ North Dakota - Fort Yates / The Standing Rock Portraits: Sioux Photographed by Frank Bennett Fiske 1900-1915
✔ Ohio - Tuttle / Charlie All Night
✔ Oklahoma - Oklahoma City / Ready Player One
✔ Oregon - Ashland / Meet Your Baker
✔ Pennsylvania - Philadelphia / Oreo by Fran Ross
✔Rhode Island - Eastwick / The Witches of Eastwick
✔ South Carolina - Charleston, Hilton Head / Book Of The Dead
✔ South Dakota - Deadwood / Sleeping Giants
Tennessee
✔ Texas - Thalia / The Last Picture Show
Utah
✔ Vermont - small farm / Scrambled Eggs and Whiskey
✔ Virginia - Chicateague / Crab Wars: A Tale of Horseshoe Crabs, Bioterrorism, and Human Health
✔ Washington - Seattle / Slow Burn
West Virginia
✔ Wisconsin - Lakeside / American Gods
✔ Wyoming - Yellowstone / Back Of Beyond
Plus:
✔ D.C. - Heartburn
Puerto Rico -

January 10th
173 pages

Group Total: 40,060

Once I finally tried this form, I realized I prefer audio in certain circumstances (i.e., very long books, distasteful situations). And with the right narrators, sometimes they're just more fun.
To keep expanding my horizons, I'm going to go for Audio Technician

Female Narrator: Laughter of Dead Kings
Male Narrator: A Horse Walks Into a Bar
Duets: If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period
Full Cast: Agnes of God Not sure if a taped play counts, so... American Gods
Dramatization: Four Graham Greene Thrillers: Our Man in Havana/The Fallen Idol (The Basement Room)/Travels With My Aunt/Brighton Rock
Celebrity Narrator: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day -Read by 2018 Oscar Winner Frances McDormand!
New-to-Me Narrator: Public Library and Other Stories Read by the author, Ali Smith (with a voice and accent I could listen to forever)
Favorite Narrator: Stephen Fry reading his own The Hippopotamus (The sole reason I picked this up was Fry's narration; his writing was a bonus.)
Volunteer Narrator: The End of Something
Less than 3 Hours: A Light History of the English Language
Between 3 - 5 Hours: Everyman (4.5 h)
More than 5 Hours to 9.9 Hours: Dark Chocolate Demise (7.5 h)
10 Hours to 14.9 Hours: The Book of Lost Things (11 h)
15 Hours to 19.9 Hours: The Cookbook Collector
30 Hours to 34.9 hours: Outlander (32.5 h)
40 Hours and Beyond – or a Trilogy!: 1Q84 (47 h)
Doing it “Old School”: Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
In-Sync Multi-Media: American Gods
Planes, Trains, or Automobiles with an Audiobook: The Plot Against America
Multitasking: Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story
Audie Award Nominees: The Pleasure of My Company: A Novella (2004)
BOM via Audiobook: Turtles All the Way Down
"Buddy Read" via Audiobook: When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?
Classic Read: The Witches of Eastwick
Re-Read a Favourite: Nineteen Eighty-Four

January 9th, and I'm more than halfway to Vacationer in Level I. But I know it's not that easy. I need to assess my commitment when I'm not watching football, but consider me in.

Level I

Africa:

Asia:
----Japan: Standing Woman
----Ukraine: The Night Before Christmas

Europe:
----England: Never Let Me Go

North America:
----U.S.A.: American Gods

Oceania:

South America:
----Chile: By Night in Chile

You just ... keep ... pulling me ... back ... in.

I'm reading this while staying in New York, the city on my life. (I also happen to have Captain Kirk on in the background; sorry.) I don't see where I have any choice about this one. I may come back for the Book Levels, but for now, I'm going to start the Scavenger Hunt, with my own twist to be explained later (if it works).

January 4th
271 pages

Group Total: 6,947

What fun! I've held the title of Managing Editor more years than any other, but I have always been (and will always be) a Copy Editor at heart, so I will shoot for that.

1. "She wrote him... By Night in Chile"
2. "Cats are good pets; they are American Gods"
3. "I am never at home on...The Night Before Christmas"
4. "He comes asking for...Relish"
5. "Christmas is...Scrambled Eggs and Whiskey"
6. "I currently have...Trouble with Reality"
7. "She tiptoes by...The Book of Lost Things"

January 2
130 pages

Group Total: 1,766

Moderators of NBRC wrote: "Allegra wrote: "I'll go for 20; most of my book clubs read new-to-me anyway. But just to clarify, I haven't read before, or I haven't heard of (i.e., would Evelyn Waugh or [author:Ma..."

thanks

Not sure how I missed this one, as food is a passion of mine.
I'm going to pretend I saw it in real time, so I'll be including my reading from September for the themes.
I'll give myself a year from September so I can savor every crumb. Given that timeframe, for the spell-it-out portion, I will only use books that are about food/drink/eating OR have a food/meal/party as a significant scene or plot point OR discuss food/drink throughout.

•Read a book that has a dessert on the cover or in the title.
->Dark Chocolate Demise

•Read a book where someone gets their "Just desserts"
->Fahrenheit 451

•Read book with character who is Chef or owns/works in Bakery:
->White Truffles in Winter
->Relish: My Life in the Kitchen
->A Cook's Tour

•Read a book with an interesting way of eating desserts

•Read a cookbook that is new to you; make at least 3 recipes within

•Read a book from each of the major Dessert groups
Bread/Cakes:
->The Birthday Party
->"A Christmas Memory" from Breakfast at Tiffany's: A Short Novel and Three Stories
Pastry/Pies:
->The City Baker's Guide to Country Living
Cookies/Brownies:
->The Allegra Biscotti Collection (couldn't resist)
Dairy
->Nuclear Jellyfish (main character always ordered milk)
Chocolate/Candy:
->Chocolat
->The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse

Undecided what to spell out to get me to Chef. I may need to do some research. More TK
12/25

Sounds like fun. But where do I put the Orange book that I'm reading right now?

Black

White

Red

Blue

Green

Yellow

Purple

Brown

I'd like the encouragement to read some of these (I tend toward less-current books), but these challenges all sound so great, I've got a lot going on. I'm going to commit to Come What May and see where I can work these in. My spirit is willing...

What a Christmas!
And with 188 words, that's CHALLENGE COMPLETE!


Boxes (p. 16), Carve (p. 4), Charity (p. 29), Children (p. 4), Christmas Eve (p. 7), Dolls (p. 16), Journey (p. 14), Occasion (p. 11), Pixie (p. 3), Presents (p. 8), Reindeer (p. 12), Sack (p. 11), Santa Claus (p. 3), Sending (p. 27), Sleigh (p. 11), Snow (p. 11), Stable (p. 17), Stand (p. 3), Stockings (p. 13), Thanks (p. 23), Toys (p. 3), Tree (p. 3), Trust (p. 19), Twinkling (p. 5), Wonder (p. 16), Workshop (p. 9)


Baking (lost record of most page numbers). Bells, Blessings (p. 77), Bows, Candles, Cards, Celebration, Children, Chocolate, Church, Crowds, Feast, Guests, Pies, Wrapping


Bethlehem (p. 2)


Appreciation (lost record of most page numbers), Assemble, Birth, Caring, Celebrate, Communication, Efforts, Family, Friends, Friendship, Groups, Journey (p. 40), Messages, Questions, Volunteer


Christmas Eve (p. 29), Expensive (p. 33), Gifts (p. 16), Magi (cover)


Goose (p. 25), Mistletoe (p. 36), Roots (p. 30)

I Saw Three Ships
Carols (p. 1), Christmas Eve (p. 1), Church (p. 1), Companionship (p. 3), Dancing (p. 23), Duck (p. 20), Entertain (p. 3), Eve (p. 44), Exchange (p. 61), Faith (p. 7), Feast (p. 1), Festival (p. 38), Friends (p. 2), Gather (p. 30), Gathering (p. 35), Grace (p. 66), Greens (p. 12), Ham (p. 40), Holly (p. 1), Holy (p. 4), Home (p. 10), Homeward (p. 9), Hope (p. 47), Jesus Christ (p. 63), Joy (p. 16), Joyful (p. 9), Lighting (p. 15), Majesty (p. 59), Mantle (p. 34), Nuts (p. 11), Prayer (p. 24), Pride (p. 51), Quantity (p. 29), Reflection (p. 3), Sack (p. 50), Sacred (p. 26), Sauce (p. 11), Sharing (p. 28), Stress (p. 7), Temple (p. 65), Thankful (p. 10), Tradition (p. 50), Travel (p. 59), Wishes (p. 12), Youth (p. 2)


Bells (p. 14), Boxes (p. 16), Camels (p. 16), Cards (p. 13), Carols (p. 5), Child (cover), Children (p. 14), Church (p. 14), December (p. 6), Feast (p. 33), Goose (p. 21), Gravy (p. 24), Holiday (p. 5), Holy (p. 37), Jolly (p. 28), King Wenceslaus (p. 32), Lights (p. 37), Mistletoe (p. 20), Mittens (p. 16), Music (p. 37), Post office (p. 20), Presents (p. 15), Reindeer (p. 6), Snow (p. 6), Snowman (p. 12), Tidings (p. 15), Tinsel (p. 21), Tug (p. 16), Turkey (p. 22), Walnuts (p. 20), Wenceslaus (p. 32)


Bows (p. 218), Boxes (p. 222), Cards (p. 218), Child (p. 234), Children (p. 231), Christmas (p. 224), Christmas Eve (p. 6), Coal (p. 226), December (p. 218), Expensive (p. 222), Family (p. 217), Gifts (p. 217), Goose (p. 230), Heart (p. 224), Holiday (p. 217), Journey (p. 222), Laughter (p. 234), Lights (p. 226), Love (p. 218), Memories (p. 218), Miracle (p. 234), Relationship (p. 227), Relatives (p. 220), Ribbons (p. 222), Season (p. 217), Spirit (p. 218), Tree (p. 224), Unwrap (p. 237), Vacation (p. 222), Wrapping (p. 218)


Blitzen (p. 12), Bows (p. 20), Children (p. 4), Chimney (p. 2), Christmas (p. 2), Comet (p. 12), Dancer (p. 12), Dasher (p. 12), Donner (p. 12), Hope (p. 2), Jolly (p. 24), Merry (p. 20), Prancer (p. 12), Reindeer (p. 8), Saint Nicholas (p. 2), Sleigh (p. 8), Snow (p. 8), Stockings (p. 2), Sugar plums (p. 4), Toys (p. ), Twinkling (p. 16), Vixen (p. 12), Winter (p. 4), Wreath (p. 22)


Angel (p. 16), Beauty (p. 39), Charity (p. 28), Child (p. 10), Christian (p. 20), Church (p.44 ), Comfort (p. 38), Dancer (p. 23), Dancing (p. 23), Grace (p. 18), Greenery (p. 86), Greetings (p. 47), Holy (p. 52), Host (p. 32), Inn (p. 45), Invitations (p. 4), Laughter (p. 22), Love (p. 38), Memories (p. 34), Minister (p. 46), Party (p. 26), Peace (p. 29), Prayer (p. 49), Snow (p. 8), Stable (p. 18), Star (p. 13), Train (p. 5), Tree (p. 6), Winter (p. 38)


Children (p. 135), Church (p. 135), Hymns (p. 136)


Caroler (p. 27), Carols (p. 43), Chimney (p. 27), Christmas (p. 27), Christmas Eve (p. 27), Church (p. 30), Dancing (p. 44), Feast (p. 39), Guests (p. 38), Hostess (p. 39), Kisses (p. 37), Merry (p. 40), Nativity (p. 27), Oven (p. 38), Priest (p.40), Snow (p. 41), Songs (p. 27), Star (p. 13), Stockings (p. 38), Train (p. 5), Tree (p. 6), Turkey (p. 39), Winter (p. 38)


Appreciation (p. 121), Beauty (p. 46), Bells (p. 62), Boxing Day (p. 72), Camels (p. 26), Carols (p. 49), Child (p. 122), Children (p. 43), Christmas (p. 22), Christmas Eve (p. 72), Church (p. 55), December (p. 9), Eve (p. 72), Expensive (p. 35), Family (p. 32), Fireplace (p. 91), Friends (p. 46), Gold (p. 88), Good will (p.85 ), Grace (p. 19), Guests (p. 23), Heart (p. 56), Home (p. 31), Host (p. 84), Ivy (p. 94), Kisses (p. 25), Love (p. 30), Memories (p. 33), Merry (p. 168), Messages (p. 40), Ornament (p. 94), Parade (p. 70), Peace (p. 85), Presents (p. 33), Quantity (p. 124), Season (p. 86), Shock (p. 49), Spirit (p. 26), Surprises (p. 42), Train (p. 12), Turkey (p. 35), Worship (p. 25)


Beauty (lost record of most page numbers), Child, Chimney, Community, Familiar, Festival, Fireplace, Freedom, Gathering, Generations, Gold, Host, Midnight, Mistletoe, Myths, Pies, Religion (p. 452), Religious, Santa Claus, Snow, Toys, Tree (p. 241), Turkey, Vanilla, Winter, Wonderland


Chimney (p. 238), Christmas (p. 232), Cranberries (p. 208), Dancing (p. 232), Dolls (p. 232), Gifts (p. 236), Gingerbread (p. 6), Merry (p. 232), Music (p. 7), Reindeer (p. 235), Sack (p. 238), Santa Clause (p. 232), Stockings (p. 238), Yuletide (p. 5)