Suzanne’s Comments (group member since Aug 13, 2015)

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

DQ Day 5: Chapters 19-end

20. Charlotte has a very bad reaction to being returned. Do you think this is normal? Why do you think she reacted so extremely?
I thought Charlotte would be happy to be back and be more pampered. However, I think it shows what a good job Bess did at protecting Charlotte from the worst of the experience.

21. Do you agree with Alexandra's decision to not pay Ned? Do you think she was right in doing this?

22. Alexandra seems to be very affected by the events that have happened. She seems less afraid, although maybe more reactive. She also manages to go outside for a short time. Do you think it will last? Will she improve? Why? I think she will improve although maybe not 100% But she has faced a few things now and is learning that she can. And she's admitting others into her life.

23. The two women come up with an interesting arrangement for Charlotte and came to understand each other better in the end. Do you think that this could have happened if Bess hadn't lied? No, Alexandra would never have been open to it.

24. The ending had lots of happy events. Did you like it? Do you think it was realistic? I like happy endings. It was maybe not super realistic, but I can at least think it COULD have happened that way :)

I'm in for Rincewind and can write daily questions, But if another Rincewind DQ volunteer shows up, please put me as the backup :)

I'm in for Rincewind and can write daily questions.

I'm in for Rincewind and can write DQs.

That sounds like a good idea about tweaking the spreadsheet. Anything that makes it easier to win Captain Tetris!

I am planning on reading all the BOMs because...I MIGHT be just a tad competitive. I'm a little worried about doing the DQs for Midnight Library since we will still be travelling, and I'll be doing audio. So if someone else is planning on volunteering for DQs - I'll pass it to you! But otherwise I can volunteer for that.

DQ Day 4 - Chapters 14-18

15. Knowing how Alexandra's parents died and seeing her state of mind after being surprised by Dr. Mead, Eliza, and Charlotte in masks, has your perception of Alexandra changed in any way? I felt a bit more sorry for her, but it was already clear she was very mentally damaged. I'd feel totally sorry for her except for the whole stolen child thing.

16. What do you think of Bess running away with Charlotte? Looking at her reasons do you think she is being selfish or doing what is best for Charlotte? I think Bess always had this plan, and is perhaps being selfish because she has so little money.

17. What do you think of Lyle and his willingness to help Bess escape with her daughter? Do you think he will remain in Bess's life? I love Lyle. He's so good natured.

18. Was anyone surprised by Ned's theft of Eliza's money or subsequent betrayal of Bess? What kind of deal do you think he made for himself in exchange for information about Bess? Not surprised - Ned is an addict and will do anything to feed his addiction.

19. Charlotte certainly went through a lot in a short time during this section. How well do you think she handled the reality of being on the run with Bess? What do you think her reaction will be to being returned to Alexandra? In many ways I think she'll be relieved. But she behaved really well.

Lol oh dear.

Thanks so much Sophie. It is really fun finding books to fit things :)

Lol the name "Team Moist" always makes me giggle - as it should. :)

DQ Day 3: Ch. 11-13

11. Do you think the author has been able to give Bess and Alexandra individual voices? Do you like books with multiple points of view? I'm listening to the audio and their voices/accents are very distinct. Even with only the words though, their personalities are so different!

12. What do you think ‘Eliza’ and Agnes were talking about in the kitchen? Do you think either Agnes or Maria know that Charlotte came from the Foundling home? I haven't gotten much of an impression of Agnes or Maria. I kind of felt like they came after Charlotte so had no idea about her origins. But that is purely a guess, not from the book.

13. I think that Alexandra will get much worse re her fears of the outside after the mask prank. Do you think her thoughts about ‘Eliza’ will suffer because of it? she's so so paranoid that I think it could get worse and more violent very quickly.

14. Do you believe that Dr Mead was telling the truth about not knowing about what happened to Alexandra’s parents? Why has he lied about who ‘Eliza’ is? I believe dr. Mead - he seems like a good person. I don't know why he lied about Eliza - maybe to let her spend time with her daughter?

I think there's a decent chance you'll enjoy the BOM one. I recall liking it and in a few weeks, I'll recall more clearly!

Steven wrote: "Almost done with The Color of Magic and I am finding it totally meh. :("

I think that may be why some people don't recommend starting with book 1. A lot of his books are total social commentary on things - the post office, the stupidity of war, etc., but that one isn't (if I remember correctly). Of course, our Discworld expert Sammy probably knows a lot more!

That shirt! Hahaha that is so perfect!

Oh yes - those games were so fun. And I played the MMO for quite awhile too. Sigh. Now I want to quit my job and just read and play games full time. If only...
Some of that may be driven by the fact that its finals week. I even want to clean my house and exercise...because I just can't this week. That desire will disappear as soon as I'm done grading :)

I was super sad when they made those stories non-canon as well. I really loved all of Han and Leia's kids, and Mara and Ben. Those were really good stories.

I don't know if I've ever LOVED any of the Star Wars books - not with the same love without bounds I have for the movies. However, I'd recommend going audio for them, if you read one that has Marc Thompson as the narrator. He is absolutely amazing with the voices - just so so good.

After reading the two lines about Jenny's dream, I kind of want to go back to sleep, just in case :)

DQ Day 2: Ch. 6-10

6. Were you surprised to find out Daniel had a wife? I personally was super surprised as I originally believed him when he said he was single. What do you think of the way Daniel died? I believed him when he said he was single too. I'm not suspicious about his death, but then I believed the single part :) I think he had a brain aneurysm.

7. How do you think Alexandra Callard knew about Bess and her daughter? I think maybe someone working at the foundling hospital recognized the whalebone. What I can't figure out is why Alexandra even wanted a child, as damaged as she is.

8. What do you think of the way Alexandra and Charlotte live? Do you think Alexandra keeps Charlotte home to stop her from being recognized or because she is truly scared of the real world? I think she is really scared of the world and acted like this before she got Charlotte also. The early scene where she had tea with her "parents' was kind of eerie.

9. "Eliza" has been fired on her first day. What do you think of Alexandra's reasoning for firing her? Do you think part of Alexandra knows that she is Charlotte's real mom? I don't think Alexandra knows about the relationship. She just doesn't like deviation from the routine - its upsetting.

10. Do you think Bess will find a way to still see her daughter? How? Now that Bess knows where her daughter is, I don't think she'll be able to keep away.

Woah - that's a big discrepancy!

DQ Day 1 - Chapters 1-5

1. How are you liking the writing style ? Are you enjoying the story so far? I am enjoying the style so far - I like the voice of Bess and I think the writing gets me into her head pretty well.


2. After reading that opening scene, what do you think of the practice of the Hospital taking babies based on a lottery (the coloured balls in the bag) ? I had no idea foundling hospitals existed! And at first I kind of thought the nurses, sponsors were determining the color of the balls each lady got. But anyway, I think it makes sense because if they cannot take all of the babies, how cruel to make anyone choose! It seems a lot better to leave it up to chance and maybe let the workers sleep at night.

3. At some point Bess says that "knowing she [Clara] could be anywhere instead of nowhere at all was torture even more exquisite." Implying that not knowing where her child is is worse than knowing she's dead. What's your opinion ? Or would you rather not know ? I think not knowing would usually be the worst. The imagination is so very powerful ,and it'd be way too easy to imagine awful things.

4. What do you make of the child's father, Daniel Callard ? Everyone keeps asking Bess if he's really dead. Do you suspect there's more to Daniel than we've been told so far ? Well, we hardly met him, but I didn't think much of him. For him, it seems like he basically used her as a whore and didn't even pay her. On her end, she seemed to kind of romanticize the whole thing. I have no clue if we will see him again or not.

5. Time for your theories ! Who do you think claimed Clara on the 28th of November 1747, the day after Bess gave up her baby ? I cannot imagine who could have done it other than maybe a rich person that was there the night the baby was given up. Maybe they wanted a brand newborn. But how in the world did they have Bess's information, unless someone at the Foundling hospital was involved.

I finished my first book! I did start it at the "legal" post-countdown time but it says April 30th, because it was still April 30th here. Hope that is ok!