Suzanne’s
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(group member since Aug 13, 2015)
Suzanne’s
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from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.
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I think if possible it'd be great to find 20 - yay for bonus points. But I haven't done any point analysis on those vs. meal words. It's nice to have the kids entertained though :)That's great about pistachios! Abalone isn't showing up in my searches at all except for when it talks about the shell.
Oh look - they liked our meal names! https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
That makes me so happy!!
Completion Post The Last House on Needless Street
Date Read: 10/8/22
BOM question tracking: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
I'm not going to list all the foods but:
It has basalmic vinegar x 3 we can use for the basalmic thing
it has chicken nuggets
It also has chicken fingers which might work for the special??
Oct 08, 2022 12:11PM
Suzanne's BOM Credit PostDay 1 https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Day 2 https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Day 3 https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Day 4 https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Day 5 https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Oct 08, 2022 12:07PM
Day 5(Ted - end, p261 - end)
18. When I read what Ted's mother did to him as a child I instantly thought of his mother being let go from the hospital. Did you ever suspect her of being the kidnapper and murderer? Dee had the idea that it had to be a male who took her sister, what do you think about this assumption? I thought about that too - and about her losing her other jobs. I 100% thought she was a kidnapper, child torturer and murderer. But I also thought she'd formed Ted into the same. I think Dee saw the big footprint, plus just stereotypes about the kidnapper being male I guess.
19. Mental health is a key theme of this book. There is a lot happening within Ted. He tried to get help for himself but unfortunately for him his psychiatrist seemed more interested in writing a book and turning a profit than helping him. What do you think the book tells us about coping with traumas that are secret? Traumas like this definitely need help. I thought it was neat at the end how the doctor, the ranger, and others recognized that Ted had been tortured for years and were helping him.
20. I thought that the afterword was helpful in helping me understand a bit more about DID, and I am planning to read more about it. Had you heard of the condition before and are you planning to read a bit more about it? I had heard of it and have read some things about it.
21. I liked the book and have a few friends I would recommend it to, but I have mixed feelings about how I would describe it to them. Did you like it? If so how would you explain this book without giving any spoilers? If you didn’t like the book why not? I thought it was engrossing once I picked it up and read a bit but I had the hardest time doing that - I did NOT want to read it and avoided reading altogether for a bit so I didn't have to. I think it must have been slightly triggering for me.
22. After reading this, I am thinking about picking up another of her books. Have you read any of Catriona Ward’s other books before? No I haven't. I did think she was a good (and sneaky) writer.
Oct 08, 2022 12:02PM
Day 4 p193 - 26013. Lauren tells Olivia her story, which is horrifying. Did you think she was telling the truth? We later find out she was lying (or distorting the facts) to get Olivia to stab Ted, which hurts them as well. Why do you think she does this? Are Lauren and Olivia and Ted (and Night-time!) actually separate entities paranormally stuck together or is it dissociative identity disorder? I was figuring it was dissociative identity disorder. I wish I had thought of some supernatural solution!! I think Lauren was telling the truth about the horrors.
14. Olivia sees the rug change color from orange to blue. I had noticed these two colors of rugs mentioned before but I just assumed they were rugs in different places. What do you think this color change means? Could it actually be a physical transformation? Or does it signify something about the narrator’s state of mind? I have no idea what it means and honestly it just annoyed me. Maybe if I had been thinking about a supernatural element I would have liked that better.
15. Olivia and Lauren badly hurt each other. Lauren initiates this. Do you think it indicates something else about her character and intentions or is she just desperate and lashing out?I think Lauren is completely desperate and I can't blame her for what she does. Starting with the food poisoning (she ate the food too) it seems like she really wants to die and take Ted with her.
16. The psychiatrist claims that he knows Ted is evil but just wants to use him to profit by using his case as a subject for his book. How do you feel about this? Do you think he is being honest here or could he have ulterior motives? What do you think the consequences of Ted’s altercation with him will be?I think the psychiatrist is being completely unethical and he certainly could have called the police after the altercation with Ted (especially right after). So he probably doesn't want police involvement.
17. Lauren talks to Dee, who ignores her and proceeds to try to kill Ted. Do you think Lauren has anything to do with LuLu? And what does it say about Dee that she doesn’t stop to consider it? For quite awhile I thought Lauren was an older LuLu - and seems like Dee should have at least thought about that (in fact, maybe she did??)
Oct 08, 2022 11:56AM
Day 3 p129-1929. The bulldozers come to put in new rest areas to attract tourists. Ted freaks out and goes to unbury the gods. There are several of them, but they all fit into a single bag. What is your theory? Are these trophies from his kills? Personal artifacts from his own history? Something else? I think it mentioned a couple artifacts - I feel like they were trophies. And I felt like there were skeletons.
10. Lauren is a piece of work. 13-year-old girls can be a handful, I understand, but she seems so much younger than that. I don't understand where she is when she is not with Ted. I am starting to have an idea, but I'm not sure yet. What are your theories about where Lauren goes when she is not allowed to come back for six months? That "where she goes" is what made me think she is a multiple personality of Teds. But then she does something so different that I think I'm wrong. But doesn't seem like she'd be allowed to go with a different adult.
11. Dee seems even more unsettled in this section. She is so dedicated to finding her sister but can't follow Ted because of a fear of possible snakes. Then she lies to the investigator (Karen) about where she is and what she is doing. Could there be more motivating Dee's activities than just missing her sister? I first saw Dee as someone looking for closure (which still seems true) but good point - she seems to be a lot crazier than I originally thought. And really, seems like she gets obsessive about possible suspects.
12. There was a bit of repetitive actions in this section. The music box and the nesting dolls were broken by Olivia and years earlier by Ted. A lot of talk about the color blue: dresses, clothing, rugs, etc. Is this just to keep the reader as confused as Ted or is there a deeper meaning to all of these duplications? I don't know why they were there - and all the time changes confused me. And the whole - broken/fixed thing just annoyed me.
Oct 06, 2022 11:13AM
DAY 2 - PAGES 63-1285. So Dee is on the case but like all the characters and situations in this story I'm feeling there is more to her than meets the eye. Emotionally damaged by the loss of her sister or something else. Thoughts? She lost not only her sister but also her parents, so I think she's emotionally damaged for sure, and feels like she needs to find Lola before she can move on.
6. Interesting that the author uses Wuthering Heights as the one book Dee obsesses over because IMHO it has some of the most beautifully emotionally written passages ever written in English literature. Gush over.. back to this novel..
."the hammer falls to the floor. She kneels and comes face to face with it, the child, its silver-white flesh dappled in the moonlight, its mouth a black cherry, eyes gleaming like lamps, filled with the light of death, scalp stripped and wounded where the birds have plucked the hair from her skull."
How does language such as the above paragraph contribute to the overall feeling and tone of the novel? It made it feel much more like a horror novel to me! And all of the things she thought she saw but didn't - like the cat!
7. In all the scenes with Ted and the Bug Man I find myself scrutinizing every sentence for clues. Have you picked up any insights into Ted's character that may shine light on what is actually happening? He's certainly trying to figure out Lauren, so I think that is a lot of it.
8. Okay, here's a few theories. Ted is a harmless man with mental illness and Olivia and Lauren are delusions of his illness. He had nothing to do with Lulu's disappearance and is innocent. Or Ted is a raving psychopath, has murdered countless people and they are buried in the woods. Or somewhere in between. What's your theory on who Olivia and Lauren really are? Are you enjoying puzzling this out or is it altogether to cryptic and weird for your tastes? This is not a book I look forward to picking up yet, but I'm intrigued. I thought Olivia was a real cat the first set of questions, but now I think she's one of Ted's personalities, and that Lauren is too. And I think at least one of them is a killer. I'm pretty sure what's buried in the woods has to do with Lola. I also think Ted/Lauren/Olivia killed the dog lady and the girl who met him for a date. And the birds at the first.
Oct 05, 2022 08:01AM
Day 1: Ted - Olivia (ends ""I am pretty hungry now, so I will sleep.")1. Ted is .... interesting. With blackouts, no pain sensitivity and a very strange relationship to the present and past, is there any "weirdo" characteristic unplumbed?! How do you feel this set of quirks plays into the unreliable narrator trope? Most unreliable narrator books I've read, I didn't know for quite awhile the narrator was unreliable. But boy Ted is messed up. I alternate between being sorry for him and afraid of him.
2. Olivia - another unreliable trope. And a cat. (or is she?). And a cat who has found God. What's going on here? How do you feel about having a cat narrator? (as an aside, I'm amused we have now had two BOMs in the past 6 months with cat narrators) I like what she says and how she views the world. Her parts are my favorite so far.
3. The general set-up of Needless Street seems exceptionally strange - Ted is open about having a daughter (or does he?), but she doesn't seem to go out. The lack of nosiness by the neighbours is possibly the least believable thing about this so far, cat narrator and weirdo bingo-full-house included! What do you think about the set-up? So far I'm mildly intrigued and a bit baffled.
4. There's a reference to the gods having to be reburied. Want to hazard a guess? I was thinking somehow bodies, but wow I have no idea.
Completion PostBook: Something in the Heir by Suzanne Enoch
Date Read: 10/4/22
Pages: 352
Scavenger Items
(view spoiler)
Completion PostBook: Death of an Outsider by M.C. Beaton
Pages: 194
Date Read: 10/3/2022
Scavenger Hunt Items: (view spoiler)
wow nice kid toys!! The House on Needless has chicken nuggets.
Rainy days can be wonderful for reading! My only issue with rainy days now is that adult daughter and son both have youngish dogs that get muddy when they go outside. But they have so much fun! MY dog goes out and plays but doesn't get nearly as messy - I guess it's children vs. adults - just like our store!
Yes - it totally made me laugh - still does.
I submitted the ones Lynne mentioned - I agree though - the Clam Linguine is great! We should submit that too - lol maybe you should since I already did. They didn't say a number, after all :)
Completion PostPryor & Cummings: The GAIA Incident
by Rod Pennington
Date Read: 10/1/22
266 pages
SIO:
A: Albert (c)
B: Blake (c), Brooke (c)
C: Cummings (c)
D: Danny(c)
G: Garrison (c)
H: Holden (c), Hollis (c)
K: Kevin (c), Kauthmann (c)
L: Luke (c)
M: Melissa (c), Mucker (c)
N: Nash (c), Norman (c)
O: Okmar (c)
P: Title, Pryor (c)
R: Rod (author), Reload (c)
S: Sandra (c)
V: Vane (c)
W: Wilson (G)
Scavenger (view spoiler)
Completion PostRuby Fever
by Ilona Andrews
Date: 10/1/22
Pages: 380 (so either 8 or 10 items)
Scavenger items:
(view spoiler)
I sent in a couple of meals. Thanks for fixing the spreadsheet Rebecca!
I went and looked and it said "send them to us." So I guess we can do that if we want (although I think it's pretty much just if we want to share).
One month in, I feel like I'm beginning to understand this game. Which makes total sense - playing a round helped a lot!
