Sanskriti’s Comments (group member since Dec 24, 2011)

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

10 Mar '13 to 09 Mar '14
Level: Titan
Done: 2/12

Gods: 1/6
1. Zeus: The Autobiography of Henry VIII: With Notes by His Fool, Will Somers (★★★★, 14 Mar '13)|Features a King
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Goddesses: 1/6
1.Hera: The Good Earth (★★★★, 18 Mar '13)|The protagonist's wife is married with 5 children
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I want in!!

✔ How many books you read in 2012.
37 (not all of them were 160+)

✔ How many books you plan to read 2013 >/160 pages?
(For the whole year, not just what remains...)
50

✔ If you were in Round I, the percentage of goal reached would be appreciated, if you know it.
6% I know...dismal :(

✔ Would you be willing to be a Team Captain? Or Co-Captain?
Nope.. Life keeps getting in the way

E

I'm gonna have to start this challenge all over again!

Start: 01 Jan '13
Animals: 0/26
Books: 9


CANARY: 2/6
✓C: City of Women (★★★★, 22 Feb '13)
✓A: The Autobiography Of Henry VIII by Margaret George (★★★★, 14 Mar '13)
N
A
R
Y




FISH:3/4
✓F: Falling Man (★, 03 Mar '13)
I
✓S: The Surgeon (★★★, 24 Apr '13)
✓H: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (★★★★★, 14 Mar '13)




GIRAFFE: 2/7
✓G: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck (★★★★, 18 Mar '13)
I
R
A
✓F: Fall of Giants (★★★, 18 Apr '13)
✓F
E



WHALE: 2/5
✓W: The Way of Shadows (★★★, 10 Feb '13)
H: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (★★★★★, 22 Mar '13)
A
L
E

My god! You guys are going strong with so many books already done... whereas I'm not even through 100 pages of a 900 pager. Hopefully the weekend shall be more fruitful.

Yay to Best Book Brigade! Yay to Zara as Team Captain!

and yay to me for actualy picking up a 900+ pager as my first read of the year...

01 Jan '13 to 31 Dec '13
Done: 10/100

Feburuary '13
1. The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks (★★★, 10 Feb '13)
2. City of Women by David R. Gillham (★★★★, 22 Feb '13)


March '13
3. Falling Man by Don DeLillo(★, 03 Mar '13)
4. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling (★★★★★, 14 Mar '13)
5.The Autobiography Of Henry VIII by Margaret George (★★★★, 14 Mar '13)
6.The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck (★★★★, 18 Mar '13)
7. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (★★★★★, 22 Mar '13)



April '13
8. Fall of Giants (★★★, 18 Apr '13)
9. The Surgeon (★★★, 24 Apr '13)
10. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (★★★★★, 29 Apr '13)

01 Jan '13 to 31 Dec '13
Books: 4/15


My pyramid will be 5th in series

#5 in Series (0/1)
1.

#4 in Series (0/2)
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2.

#3 in Series (0/3)
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#2 in Series (1/4)
1. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling (★★★★★, 22 Mar '13)
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#1 in Series (3/5)
1. The Way of Shadows (★★★, 10 Feb '13)
2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (★★★★★, 14 Mar '13)
3. The Good Earth (★★★★, 18 Mar '13)
4.
5.


#5
#4
#3
#2
#1

I know I should have mentioned this earlier... I got 37 books done in 2012... just haven't gotten around to updating my shelves.

Me too!

03 Jan '13 to 04 Jan '14
Done: 5/88

2003
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2004
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2005
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2006
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2007: 1/7
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1. Falling Man (★, 03 Mar '13)
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2008: 1/8
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1. The Way of Shadows (★★★, 10 Feb '13)
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2009
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2010: 1/10
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1. Fall of Giants (★★★, 18 Apr '13)
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2011
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2012 (2/12)
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1. City of Women (★★★★, 22 Feb '13)
2. Winter of the World (★★★★, 12 May '13)
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2013
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I've no idea how you guys do it but a thunderous applause to everyone who's now reading for this level!

Didn't manage to complete the challenge... Ended up reading just 1/3 :(

How the time flies by!

Duration: 23 Sep '12 to 23 Sep '13
Animals: 0/26


Hog (1/3)
H: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (5 Stars, 24 Sep '12)
O
G

Reserved...

For me the most heart-breaking part in the entire book (I have read it before), was really the part when Jack was playing dead in Old Nick's truck (or was it a van?) and then ran out as Ma had told him to get help from somebody, anybody.

The moment where Jack is utterly confused, terrified of what he's supposed to do, of Ma's hope riding on him and of trying to overcome his own fear... All such emotions must be like stepping onto two boats at once and feeling them moving away from each other.

I couldn't imagine a child that young, having been kept in absolute isolation, to have the guts to face a stranger, much less be able to grab attention and be able to communicate.

That was perhaps the most vivid moment for me in the book.

I've read 3096 Days which was a horrifying read. Another book called I'm No Monster: The Horrifying True Story of Josef Fritzl based on the case of Elisabeth Fritzl, who was held captive in a concealed basement by her own father for 24 years, tortured and abused in the most gruesome way, is another book you might want to look out for.

While any such case is terrible to say the least, it does put things into perspective on how so many women are able to fight back and survive.

Sashana wrote: "Ezinwanyi wrote: "Is this favorite books published in 2012 or just favorite books read in 2012?
I ask because I read Memoirs of a Geisha back in 1999"

Memoirs of a Geisha is one of my favorite m..."

You should definitely read the book sometime. The movie was good but the book beats it by a margin I think

2012 favourites thus far...

1. Memoirs of a Geisha
2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
6. A Clash of Kings
7. Empress Orchid
8. Rooftops of Tehran
9. The Light Fantastic
10. A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow

@Jennifer: "I think part of that is that she doesn't want Jack to look up to Old Nick or feel indebted to him in any way"

I agree with your train of thought here. Perhaps Ma was a tad bit insecure too? What do you think?

What if Jack managed to see some hidden goodness in Nick or began to find a friend in him and begin flouting Ma and preferring Nick instead? Remote possibility, but you never know what kids might take a liking to.

1) How many actually read the description or knew a little about what this books was about before starting it?
I spotted the book in the bookstore, read the back cover and was intrigued by it. I enjoy a book a lot more when I don't know what it's about for it keeps me on my toes.

2) What are your thoughts about the story being told from five year old Jack's point of view?
When you look at the story from Jack's POV, it's as if your senses are heightened. The young boy doesn't know any other reality save his room and the T.V., his Ma and Old Nick, his world thus being constrained and limited

3) It seems like a lot of Jack's and his mother's world revolves around TV. Jack's conversation reflects a heavy influence by the show Dora the Explorer. He speaks about things as if they're people as opposed to things. Lamp, Door, Floor, Rug, etc. That is what Dora does in her TV show. Did you notice this and does it endear you to Jack or annoy you a bit?
It endears me to Jack to know that his idea of "reality" is a lot different from any other human being. He is at an impressionable age, an age where kids begin schooling and by extension begin to form a sense of identity. I would have expected that the "Room" would rob Jack a chance at placing himself within the world. But the fact that he regards ordinary objects as if they were people, tells me that he is normal like any other child, just that he understands his world in a slightly distorted manner

4) Only 5 books reside on the shelf for his mom. What five books would you want if you were indefinitely stuck somewhere?
If I were stuck the way Ma and Jack were, I would choose books that gave me a sense of hope, of living though a crisis but surviving through it...
Not without my daughter by Betty Mahmoody
Harry Potter 3 & 4
LOTR (all 3 of them)

5) We got a little idea of how Old Nick keeps control over Jack's mother. It sounded like he might be threatening Jack. Did you get that vibe too?
Yes, it was difficult to imagine that Old Nick, who exerted so much control over Ma, wouldn't by extension also threaten Jack.

6) We don't know exactly where she is--in a basement, an abandoned bomb shelter, etc., but we do know the 'ROOM' is 11 feet by 11 feet with a stove, a bath, a toilet, a refrigerator, and a wardrobe. Can you imagine being confined to that space with your child?
I can't imagine living by myself in that much space, much less with a five-year-old, that too my own kid who would look up to me and have expectations of me. A five year old kid would certainly begin developing his own sense of "space" and being confined in the physical realm would only hamper his overall well being

7) What did you think of Jack's mom? What do you think of their situation? How did she find herself in the situation she's in?
I imagine Ma was abducted as a young woman, and then confined to this small space where she possibly conceived Jack. I think Ma is making the best of the situation she is in, considering that she has limited options, and yet is teaching Jack all that she can

8) Why do you think she hides Jack from Old Nick?
I think that is Ma's way of protecting Jack from the all the nastiness that Old Nick stands for. But more than that it is her way of striking back at Nick, by not allowing him to have control over her kid.