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

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

I do like Katniss' friendship with Gale - and I really like Peeta's character in the book with his long-time love of Katniss. I just want everyone to be happy and get overly worried about those book characters :)

I had forgotten a lot of stuff about the end - I remembered the berries, but I didn't remember Peeta's leg, and Cato's grisly end - pretty horrific!

I'd gladly join the Haymitch train - I'd love to see a story about him. As I (and others) said, he's a lot more sympathetic once you know more of his story.

I didn't love Peeta's casting either, although it's cool to read that the cast really liked him! And he did look strong. Haha plus it's really hard for any mortal to compete with a Hemsworth.

I'm about 2/3 through now. I am liking Katniss more than I did at the start, and I really like how she interacts with Rue. I also really liked learning about district 11 - and even thought District 12 sounded really rough, it was sure a lot better than 11!

DQs - Day 1: Chapters 1-8 (pages 1 -71)

1. The book has the MPG Dark Fantasy. Do you like this genre in general? If so, do you have any favourite authors or books?

I do generally like the genre, unless it gets TOO dark. I like T. Kingfisher a lot, and Joe Abercrombie. I really liked the Red Queen's War and Book of the Ancestor series by Mark Lawrence, but his Prince of Thorns series was too dark for me.

Picture a wizard. Go ahead, close your eyes. There he is, see? Skinny old guy with a long straggly beard. No doubt he's wearing iridescent silk robes that couldn't protect his frail body from a light breeze. The hat's a must, too, right? Big, floppy thing, covered in esoteric symbols that would instantly show every other mage where this one gets his magic?

2. The book starts with the quote above. Is this your mental image of a wizard, too? Or something different? :)
My mental picture is pretty close - I picture like Gandalf, etc. Maybe I should picture Harry Dresden instead.

3. And the author lands us in the middle of a siege (ideal for the Book Games, right? ;) with 2 of the main characters Cade Ombra and Corrigan Blight. Cade is narrating what is happening and offering us his views on good and evil, the part they are playing and how they "win" this particular siege.
Do you think it's a strong start to the book? Has it got you intrigued?
It has me interested and I was a bit worried at first about rooting for what seems to be the "bad guys". But I do like Cade, so we'll see how it pans out.

4. As an extra incentive & entertainment, the Ascendant Lucien offers young girls and boys (sublimes) to the wanderists after the siege. We get introduced to Fiddick and Galass and learn that Cade decided to kill Lucien. We can actually start putting some pieces of Cade's character together. What do you think about him at this point? I liked him a lot more after I saw how he treated Fiddick and Galass. Especially giving them a way to escape.

5. Some demonic highlights to this introductory part: Tenebris the demon, with whom Cade as an "infernalist" mage trades with to get his spells.
What were your impressions of Tenebris? How do you find the "religious/magical" system of the Infernals and the Celestines?
I like not running out of spells - lol. But it's an interesting system from what I can tell so far - with such weird trading/"currency" exchange.

I'm re-reading, but it's been about 12 years. I've liked all of the comments above! I have an overwhelming number of thoughts about all the insights, but for now I'm just going to focus on my thoughts as I read.

1. Somehow the first time I never caught the Appalachian, Rocky Mountain, etc. references. Not sure how I missed those. I liked the comments in this thread about them. I do get some disconnect about having the Capitol in the Rocky Mountains because the extreme weather/terrain doesn't fit well with me when I think about a luxury society. What do they do when they are under 6 feet of snow!?
2. Haymitch is such a horrible man at first - I remember really hating him the first time I read the book. I now understand why he has resorted to drink and don't blame him a bit.
3. I hate love triangles even more than I did when I first read the book.

I hope you feel better soon Sophie! And Catherine - that sounds like a fun book!

We made it home - yay! BUT I've been up for about 26 hours straight now. I'm going to try to put the two books I've been able to finish in the spreadsheet (trying to stay up a bit longer) but if my reasons don't make sense- sleep deprivation is the excuse!

Hello from Peru! I'm excited to read through the whole thread when I get home! it's been an amazing trip. I started an excellent fantasy book on the 15th that should be done on the plane I hope. anyway have a great weekend and I'll see you all soon!

I'm just starting with houseplants and enjoying them! I bought one of those common orchids and it has been spectacular. we keep joking that it must be fake.

We are off to the airport! I'll check in on the 19th or 20th with some finished books.

I too am in for the Entwives (District 7)

Haha spoken like a true book lover. "Unfortunately it's a short commute. "

I love the woods :) Thanks Sonia

Thanks Cecily! Those look really good - and I was hoping for some good change of pace recommendations from my fantasy/scifi stuff!

Oh I adore Murderbot!
And I love those recommendations - what a nice variety. I've thought quite some time that I need to check out Connie Willis! I enjoyed the movie Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris - how did I not know there was a book!? And it is so nice to learn of relatable non-fiction.

Sophie - I agree that Starter Villain was excellent! Such a great book - plus cats!

Yes! Sorry - I just remembered I needed to do this when I went to the Hunger Games thread. I saw the message on my phone and couldn't edit my post, then totally forgot about it when I was at a computer. But I confirm - District 7 :)

For 2024: I read the God King Chronicles series starting with and really enjoyed it. It was a buddy read with another group, and I think everyone in the group liked the series a lot.
such a good series start!
I'm also loving so far (30% done) of . I didn't think I'd like it - the cover looked a bit silly to me - but the audio version is excellent, and I think the snarky asides would work in text as well. Hopefully it can continue to be enjoyable the rest of the way through :)

For 2023, I'd recommend:
11/22/63
Remarkably Bright Creatures
and Orphan X (cheating I know - but I read the most recent up to that time2 books of the series in 2023)

Oh that's cool about the informal buddy read! It has been quite some time since I've read that series.

Off to look at my read books so I can answer that great favorites question.

Sophie wrote: "That's a good variety! Peurto Maldonado in the Amazon was where we ended up. I hope you get to see the giant river otters." I hope so too! Wow that is so cool you spent 6 weeks there! I feel like you had the 9 course meal and we'll be getting the hor d'oeuvres. But they will be delicious :)

@Teddie - I loved Project Hail Mary - I hope you enjoy it! It 100% appealed to my inner math and teacher. For Peru, we spend 2 days in Lima, then 3 days in the Amazon and 4 at Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley. I'm getting excited!

Hi! My name is Suzanne and I'm very excited to be in District 7 with all of you!

Like Vicki, I am a retired teacher (math in university). My children are all grown up and currently all out of the house, but that could change any minute :). I'm married and we have an English Mastiff who is pretty convinced that he's another person (he's very spoiled).

Being retired, I'm going to be in Peru the first few days of the challenge - we are leaving May 8th and will be back the evening of the 19th. I'll be sure to keep track of what I read from the 15th on - for sure I'll have reading time on the LONG plane trip - or perhaps sleeping time :) Yay for kindles - I can take hundreds of books and mood-read whatever I want.

I like many genres - although I get impatient with a lot of YA and scared by a lot of horror. I will probably be reading lots of Sci-fi/fantasy the first part of this challenge because I'm intending to vote for the Hugo awards, and I want to vote responsibly :)

My shelf is here: bg24

I saw this and thought of you guys: