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

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

Devann, I finished Project Hail Mary a few days ago - and I too loved it. I am now making other family members read it :)

And captains, sorry - I know it's up towards the first of the books list - I hope that isn't too inconvenient to deal with. Let me know if you want me to move it down so it is more with the books currently read.

DQ Day 3
Chapters 21 to 33

11. For someone claiming and trying to be body positive about herself, Willowdean sure isn't giving anyone else any slack. Her description of Hannah, like with others, was just mean. Do you think the author is projecting Willowdean's insecurities on how she sees herself onto others? yes I think her insecurities ARE projected onto others. We may all do that. But I didn't like Willow much this section because she was so critical of everyone around her.

12. What did you think about the incident Patrick kneed in the balls incident? He didn't seem like Mitch's best friend saying that (honestly, maybe Patrick and Willowdean should date). What did you think about her mom's reaction and the resulting blow up between mom & daughter?
Side note: to anyone with teenagers, we are here for you. Agreed - it's hard to be a parent to teenagers!!!! I thought Mitch should shut Patrick down, and I don't have an issue with Willowdean doing it, but I don't know -Will's mom sure doesn't understand her. (However...understanding teenagers is hard.)_ But really there is some hardcore bullying (like the horse picture) going on at the school. Upsetting!

13. Did anyone else want to high five Ellen for calling out Willowdean on her crap? What did you think of their argument? Do you think the rift will be repaired? If so, do you think a Dolly Parton sing-along (thanks Cat) will be part of their healing process? I'm kind of guessing Dolly may be part of the talent show in some way. Maybe an impersonation? I was glad Ellen called out Will and I do think they could mend this, but honestly by this day 3 set of chapters, I'm kind of sick of Will's attitude.

14. Based on the blurb, Millie's attitude and pep talk while at the restaurant is what I would of expected from Williowdean. What do you think of these girls deciding to enter the pageant? What did you think of Millie's pep talk? II was expecting that attitude from Willowdean too. I'm proud of Millie!! I think she is more of the main character I expected.

15. Thoughts on Mitch? Where do you think his and Willowdean's relationship will go? Do you think she'll crush his poor soft heart?
I think Willowdean's is all about Bo - but I do feel like Mitch is sincerely interested in her. Poor Mitch. I HATE love triangles.

Lol! Andy that made my morning! That's indeed the holy grail! I
bow to you.

DQ for Day 2
Chapters 11-20


6. Picking up on the previous grief question to turn it around towards Willowdean and her mother. Will seems to think (I'm paraphrasing here) that her mother is a heartless cow and wants to use Lucy's room all to herself without any consideration whatsoever for anyone else. I can't help but wonder though if the mother isn't somehow trying to be close to Lucy - her own sister - by setting up a craft room in Lucy's space. Everyone deals with grief in their own way, and while yes, I agree with her (unlike Will) that the dusty old things will eventually need to go, I feel like she's trying to find a way to cope at the same time.
I'm so glad you asked this question (and it is very compassionate). I had never thought of it like that, but you're right - I'm sure Will's mother is grieving too. And I think it is totally wrong of anyone to judge someone else's grieving. The few glimpses we saw of Lucy and Will's Mom....they clearly loved each other.

7. Will and Bo. Thoughts? More particularly, Will's reaction to finding out that Bo will start going to the same school?
I kind of think she has overreacted about the whole Bo thing, and maybe should be glad instead of mad. BUT I do like what she said about being tired of being someone's secret. I thought "good for her."

8. The more I read, the more I wonder how Ellen and Will are (still) friends with the way they talk to each other. According to Will, they are drifting apart because Ellen is having sex and because of Callie (she doesn't quite say it but it is definitely there). Their interactions however do make me wonder, a lot. I feel like they're friends more because it's a habit than anything else. They're both dependent on each other - Will because she doesn't seem to have other friends and can't stay in the pool alone? Ellen because she needs a back-up when she goes to pick up her pay check?) What do you make of their friendship now that we know more. Irreparable rift? Habit? Undying friendship? I think there is still hope for their friendship, but they are going to have to work at it.

9. And this inevitably brings me to Will's interactions with Callie. It seems like Callie is at least trying, even though there is the fat-girl-issue, but she isn't completely ignoring Will, unlike Will herself, who barely manages to be civil to the girl. Sure, I completely understand the jealousy of thinking that someone is stealing your (best) friend from you, but it isn't helping Will's case that she is basically being a douche to the girl. This is another good question (and observation)! You're right - Callie is being way nicer than Will is. I kind of predict at the end we will discover Callie is really a nice person. Will is so insecure right now that it seems like she's only nice to people she feels are worse off than her.

10. Did anyone else have that moment of "oh shit, something really terrible is going to happen on the date" when Ellen and Tim tell Will that Patrick Thomas is Mitch's best friend. Or is it just me who thinks that there is a very obvious lack of mobbing and finger-pointing? Not that this is a bad thing, on the contrary! Though I do find it odd since Will has A LOT of issues and basically hates people who are not Ellen (and Bo) The date thing was interesting. I keep hoping that Will discovers that boys like girls with lots of different shapes and sizes. But at this point I sure want to see what happens with everything!

Sonia from the stress you get at work...I think you can hide under as many rocks as you wish!! and those are delightful things to to whilst hiding.

oh those cold packs sound helpful!
I hate the dizziness and nausea too Sammy. Totally incapacitating. I hope you feel better soon!!

DQs Day 1 - Chaps 1 - 10

1. What do you think of Willowdean? Does she feel like a sufficiently real person?
She seems real to me. She does frustrate me a little bit, but that's just because she's young. If I knew then what I know now....well my 10th grade self would have frustrated me too.

2. What you you think about her relationship with Ellen? They are starting to keep secrets from each other now - do you think that this is the start of a drifting apart or will they stay close? I think they really care about each other and that they can stay close if they try. I do think it's normal to now have some private experiences.

3. Bo is interesting - the opposite of Will in terms of being reserved in comparison to her chattiness, but with something lurking in his backstory. Do you want to have a guess at what's up with him? Would anyone NOT have done the same as Will and followed him to the abandoned school in the hopes of more making out?! I totally would have done what Will did - especially at that age. When it's your crush - well I was proud of her to even consider it could be dangerous.

4. Will claims ownership of "fat" when she introduces herself to Bo. How successful do you think she is in her aim to stop it from being an insult? She's still pretty sensitive and clearly doesn't fully accept herself. But wow body issues are hard at any age, and even harder in high school. I liked how she was nice to Amanda

5. Lucy has clearly been a big influence in both Will and Ellen's lives, and yet they haven't been talking about her at all since her death. Do you think this is a normal reaction to a sudden death? Would you be like Will's mother, and get rid of everything, or keep it? I'd want to keep it, but there was clearly a LOT of things that didn't need to be kept.

I had no idea about that. Thanks!

That is SUPER valid. It's so very annoying to pay a lot of money and end up disliking a book!

YA is the hardest for me! I just get mad at it far too easily :) Pretty soon I'll be yelling "Get off my lawn you darn kids!" or something.

Wow Sammy - enjoy that two hours! That's a huge thing!

Yeah that was so frustrating! I depend on those :)

Agreed! See I'm so so glad pictures are fixed! Nothing like beautiful beaches :)

Yay - glad it is fixed!

I like the pictures! And the replies.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who listens at a faster speed!

And yes, I'm on a LONG road trip. I wanted to bring the dog, and between that and COVID it's all RV parks. We are travelling quite a lot each day til we get to South Carolina, and then travelling more slowly on the way back home. I'm loving all the new sights and the dog is loving all the new smells.

I put that series on my to read list Sonia - it looks fun!

My plans - we are driving another 7 hours so I'm hoping to get some reading done - a bunch of short books for the last day of The Amazing Race. Yesterday we listened to Fugitive Telemetry which I knew I would love (and did). But my husband can only listen at 1x speed and...I'm just not a 1x speed girl :)

Today I'm going to encourage him to listen to his book so I can read mine.

Last night/this morning we are at "Owl Creek Market and RV Park" . The Market was advertised for many miles as famous for its cheese. They had 66 different kinds! So needless to say I shopped a bit last evening :)

Devann I'm loving it so far!! I'm so glad to hear you liked it!

Lol yeah good point! there are MANY books between B and V. And this one is on Kindle Unlimited (yes I already checked and got it), so I can remove it after I read it. But if he starts talking about hedgehogs well....I'll know I'm busted.

Sammy wrote: "OK team. For anyone who likes M/M erotica, or just fancies a laugh, there will be a backroom BOM as well as the normal ones next month.
As always, BOM participation is 100% optional, but there are ..."

Oh dear, these are the times I get conflicted because I share my kindle account with my 80-year-old dad.... but points....

Lol the last time I was at his house he told me he was going through my books A - Z authors - and trying each one and then reading them if he liked it. Anyway, he started talking about The Others series, which I love but would never have recommended to him. I was sure tickled he liked it though - in fact wanted to go to bed so he could read :)

Sammy - those are amazing creations - what beautiful crafting!!