Insiyah’s Comments (group member since Apr 12, 2022)

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

Trisha wrote: "just to verify, nothing I started today, 10/11 or earlier counts. We have to START our books after 10/12?"

Yes - we can only start our books when this countdown reaches zero (NBRC challenges work with a very specific start and end time).

https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown...

As Trisha said - ARCs are perfectly fine as long as they're listed. If they're not, let us know and we'll see if we can get it up :)

I've added in some books to the spreadsheet that I'm planning on reading in this round. If anyone here are planners, feel free to go ahead and do so!

Also, has anyone here read Jade City? It's the month's selection for a local book club I'm in, but I'm really not sure I even want to start it.

Hi Stormie, Brittany, Cindy and Bobbi! Welcome to the team!

I think almost all of our team has checked in - we're just waiting on one person now.

Shannon wrote: "Hi everyone! My name is Shannon! I recently graduated from college with a master's in Business Analytics so I am now on the job hunt! (Which the job market for seems to be quite dead rn).

My favo..."

Hi Shannon! I can relate so much - I graduated with my Master's in Data Science and I've been job hunting since as well. Agreed - it's so, so slow right now and it feels like everyone is firing not hiring.

Trisha wrote: "Sorry, quick question. if I read a previous BOTM during the challenge and I go to the old thread of the BOTM and I post 3 comments to the questions - do we get bonus points?

Just want to make sure..."

This works as long as you've completed the BOM questions within a month of the BOM start date. So for The Ministry of Time which started on 2nd October, you can answer the questions until 1st November.

September's second book Divine Rivals also works for this as long as you complete it by 15th October.

Also, we don't get bonus points for BOMs that were not during challenges. You get participation points (1 per book), and 3 participation points gives you an extra entry into the draw for BOM DQs since during challenges, more people than required tend to volunteer for DQs since they get extra points.

It's a bit confusing, so let me know if you have questions - I'm happy to answer! That said, I'm headed to bed, so I'll answer them in the morning :)

We went through the rules again; turns out you can't start your book before the 12th if you want to use it for this challenge! So you have around 3 days until this countdown ends to finish any books you're currently reading, because that's when Round 1 begins!

https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown...

Hi Trisha!

Team Clean Up Pet Cage has finally managed to get the pets corralled and are ready to get to work!

Welcome, Kelly! There aren't any dumb questions, and we're happy to help!

Can you create a separate shelf? As you finish books for this challenge, you'll be adding them to this specific shelf. This makes it easy for us captains to verify that you've read the book as per the rules, and if we need to later, we can go back and check them up easily.

Most of us use some variation of wheel and 2024.

Hey everyone! I'm Insiyah, a data analyst currently living in Dubai, UAE. I'm mostly a literary, classics, and fantasy reader, though I might give a shot to other genres occasionally. I'm not much of an audiobooks person, though I do occasionally listen to them; I prefer my paperbacks and my Kindle. I've got a giant stack of books waiting for me to make my way through them, so this challenge should be great for that.

Looking forward to playing with you all!

My shelf is wheel_2024

Insiyah DQ Tracking:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4 DQs
Day 4
Day 5

Day 5: IX - Afterword

19. The last sections of the Artic story are hard reading. Why do you think Bradley included these sections, in general, and extended the story after Graham was abducted?
I think it was mostly so that the reader understands Graham's decisions and POV, especially regarding how he thought the bridge was the woman whose husband he had killed.

20. What was your reaction to the big reveal and unveiling of what was going on?
It did come out of the left field, but thinking back there were some subtle hints.

21. The ending is ambiguous. What do you imagine happening? Would you read a sequel?
No, I don't think I'd read a sequel; I imagine the bridge ends up joining Graham and Maggie and lives a life different to Adela's since Maggie's still alive even if Arthur is dead.

22. In the vein of books being retold from another POV, who's POV would you want to read?
Maggie, because I LOVED her character.

DQs Day 4, VI - Chapter Eight

15. What do you think was that little moment when Graham saw Adela for the first time?
I definitely registered it, but I thought he might be remembering her from his early days in the present time before he was completely lucid.

16. There’s been quite a bit of emphasis around food in this story – Graham learns to cook, brings the bridge tea in bed, makes different dishes… What role would food play for you in the context of a different world/timeline?
I'm actually not sure. I'm not much of a foodie, but I have my comfort foods that I'd miss way too much if I couldn't have them anymore.

17. Arthur’s observations when he, Maggie and the bridge are sitting in the gallery regarding how traditionally feminine fields are still considered near taboo for men was a bit of a stunner to me; what were your thoughts on them?
I knew this, but reading about it was still a bit of a shocker...

18. What do you think of the book so far? Are you eagerly reading on to what happens next, or can you wait until you feel like picking the book back up?
I ended up finishing it the same night.

Reserved

Reserved

DQs Day 4, VI - Chapter Eight

15. What do you think was that little moment when Graham saw Adela for the first time?

16. There’s been quite a bit of emphasis around food in this story – Graham learns to cook, brings the bridge tea in bed, makes different dishes… What role would food play for you in the context of a different world/timeline?

17. Arthur’s observations when he, Maggie and the bridge are sitting in the gallery regarding how traditionally feminine fields are still considered near taboo for men was a bit of a stunner to me; what were your thoughts on them?

18. What do you think of the book so far? Are you eagerly reading on to what happens next, or can you wait until you feel like picking the book back up?

DQs Day 3, V - Chapter Six

10. Why do you think the expats and bridges are of the opposite sex? Do you expect any actual romance between Graham and his bridge? Why hasn’t her name come up yet? Or did it and I missed it?
Maybe this is her diary or something? Or she is purposefully keeping herself anonymous? I think the bridges being the opposite gender of their expats is done deliberately to see how the expat reacts to temptation, considering heteronormality.

11. The theremin scene is interesting. So there is a "hereness" and a "thereness" for the expats, that they can somehow almost control? How did they find this out? Any ideas on why this thing affects electrical devices?
I’m guessing temporal shenanigans, beyond that I’m honestly not curious enough to consider it.

12. There are horrible historic facts that our expats were unaware of, but are told about. In a twist, what are a few happy or amazing things that you would love to share with someone out of their time if given the chance?
I’d love to explain in detail the miracle that is electricity. The short term and long term impact of it is unparallelled.

13. Do you have an idea yet of what the “sides” are in this war? Is the Ministry somehow good? Or is the Brigadier et al the goodies?
I don’t think this book follows the usual structure of good vs evil; it seems to be more two opposing sides fighting for control over something.

14. So that last chapter before the break had a lot going on. Why did Graham have that reaction to our heroine?
Victorian sensibilities, maybe?

DQs Day 2, III - Chapter Four

5. If you were sent 300 years into the future from your current time, do you think you would be able to cope?
Do you think that having a better grasp of science and science fiction than the expats in our story have would prepare you for dealing with the unimaginable advancements you might encounter?
I definitely imagine that I’d be able to do so. I happen to be both a nerd and a tech enthusiast, so I can imagine very few scenarios where I’d struggle to cope with sudden temporal displacement (assuming it’s not a Hunger Games-esque dystopia).

6. Is anyone else loving the fact that this author has a wonderful vocabulary? (Or at least knows how to navigate a thesaurus?)
I had to break out the dictionary for invigilating.
Are you learning any new words? (Anyone else want to add “angry Marmite” as a category for Restaurant Wars?)
Agreed – the varied vocabulary does make it a lot more fun.

7. It isn’t explicitly explained, but do you get the impression that these 5 expats are not the first to be given asylum? Is the Brigadier from a slightly earlier time frame?
I hadn’t thought about it previously but I can see what you mean.

8. What exactly is this Ministry? Do you have a grasp on what they are trying to accomplish yet?
Not yet – I just have questions. Fingers crossed they get answers or they become plot holes.

9. What happened to Quentin, and what was the projectile weapon that Graham drew?
I imagine Graham drew a gun. I think Quentin has been removed from the Ministry entirely; hence his disappearance.

DQ-1 (I - Chapter Two)

1. Our main character, whose name has yet to be said (I believe,) is on her 6th round of interviews for this new position that is unclear. Have you ever gone into such an intense interview process or would you go through one with a significant pay raise without knowing what the job entailed?
I hope that I never have to. Six rounds of interviews sounds like a nightmare to deal with.

2. Commander Graham Gore is the main expat that we are following along with four others. Did you google or already know if these expat characters are real from history? What did you find out?
I actually don’t know if they’re real people or not yet because I haven’t looked it up. I probably will after I’m finished reading the book.

3. The MC mentioned she was concerned that Ralph was bridge to one of the only woman expats. Do you think we will hear of any issues among them later on in the book?
Yes, probably. Ralph sounds like a guy who needs things to be in a certain way else he’d react badly. And women tend to ruffle these types of guy’s feathers pretty easily.

4. What were your thoughts on the MC introducing Gore to cannabis?
I’m still wondering why exactly are cigarettes/booze/weed given such prominent supporting roles in the book so far.