Insiyah’s
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(group member since Apr 12, 2022)
Insiyah’s
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from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.
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Jul 14, 2025 08:00AM
Day 1, Chapters 1-11 (1-18%)1. Warm-up question: have you read any other books by Fredrik Backman before? If yes, what do you like/dislike about his themes/style, etc?
I've read A Man Called Ove and Beartown, both of which were 5-star books for me. I mostly remember really enjoying the way he observed and brought his characters to life.
2. In the first chapter we are introduced to quite a memorable auction scene with super-rich people who all want to possess THE PAINTING, though their intentions are questionable. Did this make you think of some similar events happening in the world right now?
I do think it was realistic in how the men were talking investments and the women were there mostly socially; that said, I hope there are at least a few people there who care about art because it's art rather than because it's valuable.
3. "Artists vs Normal People" - another aspect of these first chapters is the great divide between true artists and normal people. Backman seems to suggest that most people don't/cannot get true art and artists are so much more different (possibly better people?). Do you agree with this? Or is it a generalisation?
I think the purpose of art is to reach people. I don't think people don't get art, but I do agree with the part about artists being different, because artists see the world in a much more interesting way than other people.
4. In a sequence of weird events, Louisa ends up in possession of The Painting.
Any guesses what may happen to her and to it?
I've read the whole book, so I'll skip this one.
Bonus Q: do you have a favourite artist or a favourite piece of painting/sculpture?
Artemisia Gentileschi for classical art, Ivan Aivazovsky's stunning marine art, Yves Klein's performance art
Richard wrote: "I didn't realise that books we've already read would apply for Mini 4B.""Banked books are allowed for this mini challenge." (and we happily took advantage of it) :)
Karen ⊰✿ wrote: Part 2 has many letters available so I won't list them here :) I can't get the formula to work to find out how many are left, and don't have the time right now.. I've been trying to figure out how to make that work as well with no results for 45 minutes now :(
Edit: Made it work :D
It's been fixed 👍🏼
My religious convention is over, travel is briefly paused, and I now have Wifi again! Anyone reading My Friends right now? I'm about 25% of the way through and have THOUGHTS
Mini Update
Mini 1
Countries read twice:
(view spoiler)
Mini 2
Open tasks:
23 Read a book which has the main location (setting) on the South American continent
43 Read a book with a character who desires world domination
70 Read a book that was originally published before 1900
77 Read a book that is in the Books You Wish More People Knew About List
80 Read a book tagged "Diary" at least 10x
82 Read a book tagged "Time Travel" at least 10x
83 Read a book which has the main location (setting) as a bus, train, or other road based vehicle
84 Read a book with the word car, vehicle, bike, bicycle, truck or lorry in the title (Plurals are acceptable)
86 Read a book which has the main location (setting) on the African continent
Mini 3
China:
Author born in China
Red and Yellow on cover
Dragon on cover
"rice" in text
character speaks at least 2 languages
Russia:
WW146 Author born in Russia
WW147 Red, White and Blue on cover
WW148 "palace" in text
WW149 character (dreams of) going to St. Petersburg
WW150 character is an artist
WW151 letters VODKA in title (any order)
WW153 U
WW155 S
WW156 I
WW157 A
Preeti wrote: "I added Children of Time (Children of Time #1) by Adrian Tchaikovsky to the spreadsheet. I am so glad I got around to reading it. Absolutely loved it and I can't wait to get into the next book in t..."Added this to my TBR, because it looks really good
Elisabeth wrote: "Insiyah, is Oryx and Crake correct for the travelling task? The words should be in the title not the text. I thought that would be quite difficult!"You're right! Thanks for pointing it out!
Moderators of NBRC wrote: "As it's been long enough to eat all of the last batch of cheese, the Chipmunks shout "think fast" and toss a literal bag of cheese into the tower.Bouhezza
Bouhezza is a type of ripened cheese th..."
Now I really want to try this cheese!
Lisa - (Aussie Girl) wrote: "Quick question Captains.. does Character goes to carnaval have to be in Brazil? Can they go in another country eg Carnaval in Venice? Thanks."Karen, I think you might know better than me on this one
Tasks for China: WW97 Author born in China
WW98 Red and Yellow on cover
WW99 Dragon on cover
WW100 "rice" in text
WW101 character speaks at least 2 languages
WW102 character considered to be part of a dynasty
WW104 H
WW106 N
WW107 A
We have a new country for Mini 3: China
New task for Mini 2: 82 Read a book tagged "Time Travel" at least 10x
Mini Update: Mini 1:List of countries used twice
(view spoiler)
Mini 2: Open tasks
23 Read a book which has the main location (setting) on the South American continent
43 Read a book with a character who desires world domination
58 Read a book that covers multiple generations
65 Read a book with a famous landmark on the cover
70 Read a book that was originally published before 1900
77 Read a book that is in the Books You Wish More People Knew About List
78 Read a book from a new-to-you author
80 Read a book tagged "Diary" at least 10x
Mini 3
Mexico
letters AZTEC in title (any order)
Brazil
character celebrates Carnaval
Chava wrote: "Hi all. I’m still around but have had a major allergic reaction and am unable to see properly."That sounds terrible. I hope you feel better soon!
Preeti wrote: "Insiyah wrote: "My bad - I just read your earlier post. Can you post the link here to your post on the GR librarians group? The captains have a few librarians, so I can request it there as well a..."
Great!
Can you see if it fits in with any of the tasks in Mini 2 or 3?
Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "I’ve only read Priory and that was when it came out so I’m trying to catch back up in my head on the world"One of the things I think are great about this series is that Samantha Shannon has written them so they can be read in either order. The story of this book is in Priory as history, but it explains the world just as well as Priory does.
New Mini 2 tasks: Read a book with an unearthly mode of transportation on the cover (i.e., spaceships allowed)
Read a book that is in the Books You Wish More People Knew About List
Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "I finished
which ended up better than expected by the end.
I had started it for the south american continent task, but assigned it to born in brazil in..."
A Day of Fallen Night is brilliant - The Roots of Chaos series is one of my all time favourites ❤️
Elisabeth wrote: "The worst books list isn’t as bad as it sounds😀 I’ve read lots and some were 5 stars from me. Two or three are on my TBR and I own a few as well. I have a few other books coming first, though but c..."Agreed - I saw the list and literally went "Why TF is Little Women on this list??!"
