Preeti’s Comments (group member since Sep 26, 2021)

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

Congratulations, District 11!

Angie ☯ wrote: "Jenny wrote: "I stand all day, so I wear sneakers all the time now as well. Or, boots.
I am a converse high-tops (or the like) addict. I recently got a pair with Eeyore on them. How cool is that?"
..."

I was thinking the same! I had a pair of shoes when I was in high school that I painted all the Winnie the Pooh characters on. I loved them so much and wore them until they fell apart. I think it is time I make myself a new pair.

Excellent news, Sammy! That must be awesome.

I had to stop wearing heels 10 years ago after my surgery. Sneakers have been my only option since then. Luckily, Puma makes some very smart black sneakers and my cousin works for the company giving us lots of huge discounts. About 2 years ago, my doc told me I could start wearing heels again but so many years without has made me forget how to wear them and I doubt if I will ever get back to doing so. It is good that so many sneaker companies are making smart sneakers that don't necessarily have to be worn only with sportswear.

Awesome work, team! Thanks, Laura, Yasmine and Keely, for all your amazing work.

Sorry about the Mockingjay points but I am glad the Funny Story ones went through.

Thank you, mods, captains and my lovely team for a fun challenge!

Pt. 3

• That “real/not real” game is heartbreaking! For the capitol to have managed to make Peeta doubt everything about himself and his surroundings… I could understand why he did the things he did, his reactions. In his place, I would have been absolutely catatonic.
• I read through the first two parts of the book fairly quickly but this part… this part took me days of starting, having to stop, put away the book, read something else until I could get back to it. This book shows the ugly side of war and it sounds weird but I am glad it does. The kind of violence that surrounds us today, I see so many children and teenagers around me completely oblivious to the fact that the people being affected are humans just like them. I don’t blame them, the way war is depicted in many books/games/video games inures them to the gruesome violence. This book makes you realise that it isn’t always somebody else, a complete stranger being killed, sometimes it is people you have come to know and care about.
• Tigris… I never paid much attention to her any of the times I read this book earlier but now after having seen what she was in Ballad, I am so curious to know what happened to her.
• See, I knew when we got that entire bit of Gale and Beetee developing bombs that it was going to come back to bite them in the ass, and boy, did it!!!! It also made me realise that I was absolutely correct (view spoiler)[to despise Coin. This entire section was proof of her machinations. And I was proved right when she tells Katniss that she has “saved” Snow for her. Yet another one of her power moves. And it was proved when Snow talks to Katniss about it. That was the 🤦🏻‍♀️ moment when the whole plot became obvious. (hide spoiler)]

Pt. 2

• Peeta warning them of the impending assault should have made District 13 realise that he was being brainwashed and held against his will but they seemed to be intent on treating him as a traitor. That was another sign to me of District 13’s shadiness.
• Katniss remembers Johanna saying that there was nothing the Capitol could hold over her as she had nobody left whom she loved. That was so heartbreaking and yet so revealing as well as so obvious that even Prim is aware of it when she answers Katniss’s question by saying the Capitol would do to Peeta whatever it took to break Katniss.
• Which brings me to… Prim felt so much more grown-up in this book, not chronologically, but emotionally. While Katniss and her mother may have kept her protected, I think this book showed that she had an inner strength that had never been given the chance to be shown.
• Yet again, secrets being kept from Katniss… one would think the people around her would have learnt by now that the best approach with Katniss would be to keep her in the loop and prevent her panicking.
• Peeta and the others being rescued was definitely better handled in the movie. But I must say, I was not in the least bit surprised when Peeta attacked Katniss on seeing her for the first time after the rescue considering the Capitol would obviously have been using her images to brainwash and torture Peeta. Though I am still wondering why Gale chose to join the mission, what were his motives, to do something that he thought would please Katniss or was there something more nefarious?!?!?
• The entire bit about the Nut made me hate Gale all over again. I can understand him being bitter after having dealt with District 12 being blown up and so few people managing to escape from there but I would think that would make one more understanding of other people going through similar situations. There was a cruel streak in Gale that I noticed would pop up every now and then that prevented me from liking him. This was made apparent when he suggest blowing up the Nut and then when told that the majority of the workers are citizens from 2 says they would never be able to trust them even though Katniss says they don’t know how they ended up in the Nut. After reading the books the first time (and 2nd and 3rd….) I knew I didn’t like Gale but reading it this time and concentrating on his parts showed me why.

Pt. 1

• I read this book immediately after the first 2 in the series in 2011 and found it to be very dark and violent. I remember thinking at the time that it was something desperately needed in young adult fiction. Here, finally, was a book which showed young people the true horrors of war, that just being the good guys doesn’t automatically protect one from the atrocities of war, that sometimes sh!t happens and one has to deal with it.
• I was absolutely convinced that district 13 had their own agenda, that none of what they did was out of the goodness of their hearts but more out of necessity.
• The Capitol’s plan of using Peeta against Katniss seems to have backfired. I don’t think she would have been so quick to volunteer if they hadn’t done that.
• Plutarch comes across not as being interested in fighting for the rights of the districts but rather still stuck in gamemaker mode. I was very irritated with his treating people around him as pawns.
• The part with the prep team is one I seemed to have completely erased from my mind. That was horrific and not a good sign of things to come. This was one of the first few things that made me realise that district 13 was not the democratic space they claimed to be but instead closer in feel to the Capitol. This was made clearer when Katniss talks about the look on her mother’s face when she takes the prep team to her for treatment.
• I was definitely impressed by how much aware of her surroundings Katniss became in this book. Her telling Plutarch and Fulvia that they were just as dispensable as her showed that she was doing a lot of reading between the lines and had figured out just what their standings were.
• Boggs had some of the best lines in the book and sadly, I don’t think I noticed them much in earlier readings. When Katniss said “I decide to go ahead and like Boggs”, I was thinking the exact same thing.
• The words of “The Hanging Tree” made so much more sense after having read and watched The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Preeti’s BOM Participation Post:

Day 1: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Day 2: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Day 3: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Preeti’s BOM Participation Post:

Day 1: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Day 2: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Day 3: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Funny Story by Emily Henry - Day 3

Chapters 14 - 21

11. Ack! Why do these kinds of stories always have the not-quite-yet couple decide after a steamy session that they need to keep their relationship platonic? You know that both people just go off wistfully lusting after each other and regretting the whole platonic agreement! What other tropes in romance novels drive you nuts?

I can’t name any in specific but there are so many which is probably what put me off romance novels in the first place.

12. It's a huge step for [Daphne to start selling her wedding stuff. (hide spoiler)] It's so easy to get bogged down by things, and then it can be so hard to let them go. Have you had to deal with similar situations (the general situation of having accumulated too much but having trouble downsizing)?

As a result of my dad’s job which had us moving all around the country and other countries, I never used to keep a lot of stuff. That all changed when we moved back home to our own house and things just started accumulating like crazy. Earlier, we would routinely get rid of stuff because it was expensive to lug around all that useless stuff. I am slowly trying to get rid of all the rubbish I have managed to collect over the last 10 years in particular.

13. Any further thoughts about Miles's family background? We learn a bit more in these chapters about what growing up with his mother was like for him; is there more to his estrangement than that?

There seems to be something big but I still haven’t understood what. It makes sense for him to distance himself from them if their relationship is acrimonious.

14. What are your thoughts about Julia? What do you think is her real motivation for her visit to Miles?

I think it is partially because they do seem to have a very close relationship and partially because of something to do with their family that I am guessing will be revealed in the coming chapters.

Funny Story by Emily Henry - Day 2

Chapters 9 - 13

6. In this section, we learn that the countdown at the start of every chapter is for the Read-a-thon, a reading event Daphne is planning at the library. Did you try to figure out what it was about? What did you think? Or were you just along for the ride, waiting to find to, like I was?

To be honest, I wasn’t in the slightest bit curious. I decided to just continue and eventually it would be revealed.

7. Speaking of the Read-a-thon, have you heard of or participated in (or even organized!) something like it? Would you like to?

While it sounds interesting, I have never taken part in one. It sounded fun and I would love to take part in something like that.

8. “[Sadie] and Cooper were our best friends” Daphne is not only going through the end of her romantic relationship, but also seems to have lost her best friend. What’s your take on that? Have you ever been on either side of this situation? (No need to answer/go into detail of course!)

I can understand. With the break up of a relationship, it isn’t just the two people in the relationship who are affected but the secondary relationships as well. I have seen this in a few relationships that have ended where everybody connected thinks they have to pick a side. Having said that, I think it is different with Daphne and Sadie since Daphne considered her to be her best friend. That must have felt like a whole new level of betrayal.

9. “I think the beard is sheer chaos, but not inherently bad. It’s your face, Miles. All that matters is how you feel about it.” I think Daphne makes a great point here and think we should all remember that a bit more before we judge people’s looks. Were there any quotes that really stood out to you?

There were many good lines, sadly none that I can remember right now and I have returned the book.

10. What do you think is up with Miles’s family so he doesn’t have a relationship with his parents? How do you feel about Daphne neither probing nor really wondering about it?

For this I have to pull out that old chestnut, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” From the sounds of it, the relationship between Miles and his family is a dysfunctional one and I greatly appreciate Daphne’s just accepting it as is and allowing Miles the space to choose when and if he wants to let her in to his personal space.

Funny Story by Emily Henry - Day 1

Chapters 1 - 8

1. Is this your first Emily Henry book or have you read others by her? If not your first, what has been your favourite book of hers, so far? If your first, has she been on your radar before or is this a BOM/Games thing you're reading for?

This is the 4th book I have read by this author. I liked all of them though sadly not enough to remember any of them. At some point, I will probably read them again. My favourite so far has been Book Lovers.

2. What do you think so far of the story and the writing?

So far, it is building up well. There are some really funny lines that me laugh out but not so much that I will remember them once I am done with the book.

3. What would you do if you found yourself in the same shoes as Miles and Daphne and were invited to an ex's wedding?!?

That was definitely a shitty move on the part of both Peter and Petra! If I were in their place, I would have accepted, attended the wedding, had a grand time there just to rub it into their faces.

4. I love Emily Henry's characters. I always find myself laughing throughout her books. Are you enjoying the characters so far in this one? Anyone in particular an early favourite?

The dialogue is generally very snappy in her books and I enjoy that. As for the characters, neither of the MCs has quite caught my attention. Ashleigh is my favourite so far, we all need an Ashleigh in our lives.

5. Any early predictions for how this will turn out? Do you think Peter's call to Daphne is an indication of jealousy? Do you agree with Ashleigh when she said "If Peter was going to break your heart now, he would’ve done it eventually." and "He's a lunch swapper, and whether it was the rusty metal Batman lunch box or a Cars 2 zip-up one that's filled with mold, at some point, he was going to trade in the sack lunch." (I love that metaphor!!)

I agree, that was an absolutely astute metaphor! I got the feeling that Peter was disappointed by the lack of drama on Daphne’s part and wanted her to act jealous and ask for him to take her back.

Book: Very Good, Jeeves! (Jeeves #4) by P.G. Wodehouse
Date Read: Aug 14
Page Count: 272


Weapon:
Author’s initials PW in WEAPONS

Shelter:
Houses on the cover

Food:
Pg. 237: There’s ham sandwiches,” he proceeded, a strange, soft light in his eyes, “and tongue sandwiches and potted meat sandwiches and game sandwiches and hard-boiled eggs and lobster and a cold chicken and sardines and a cake and a couple of bottles of Bollinger and some old brandy…”

Defense:
Blue cover

4: blue cover, #4 in series; 5: Author’s initials PW in POWER ELECTRICITY; 6: blue cover; 13: Orange text on cover, Author’s initials PW in NUCLEAR WEAPONRY

Book: Carry On, Jeeves (Jeeves #3) by P.G. Wodehouse
Date Read: Aug 14
Page Count: 273


Weapon:
Author’s initials PW can be found in WEAPONS

Shelter:
Red cover

Food:
Pg. 67: I could have sobbed into the bacon and eggs.

Defense:
Brown on the cover

3: 3rd in series, white text on the cover; 5: Author’s initials PW in POWER ELECTRICITY; 6: CARS in title; 8: White text on the cover; 11: Green text on the cover; 13: Author’s initials PW in NUCLEAR WEAPONRY

Book: Nerida (The Untold Stories of Neverland Book #3) by K.R. Thompson
Date Read: Aug 13
Page Count: 175


Weapon:
Ch. 7: Then the woman was pulled free and a dull clank echoed, as if the sword had been thrown away.

Defense:
Blue & green cover

3: 3rd in series, white text on cover
4: blue text on cover, water and mermaid on the cover (item related to district), book is set under the water and features mermaids and other sea creatures (plot element)
6: blue text on cover
8: white text on cover
11: more than 50% green cover (according to Tineye)

Book: The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi
Date Read: Aug 11
Page Count: 314


Weapon:
Author’s initials AS can be found in WEAPONS

Food:
Pg. 62: The main course followed, an equally delicious spaghetti bolognese, the pasta perfectly cooked and the meat drenched in a thick tomato sauce that melted in my mouth. Then, for dessert, a bittersweet pear and chocolate cake, served warm and with a single scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Defense:
Brown on the cover

2: Author’s initials AS in MASONRY DEFENSE
3: white text on the cover, Author’s initials AS in GENERAL ELECTRONICS
6: Author’s initials AS in TRANSPORTATION
8: white text on the cover
9: Author’s initials AS in GRAIN PULSES
Capitol: Author’s initials AS in POLITICS COMMUNICATION

Book: The Graduate (The Graduate #1) by Charles Webb
Date Read: Aug 9
Page Count: 211


Weapon:
Pg. 237: He picked up the knife…

Shelter:
Inside of a building on the cover

Food:
Pg. 137: A hamburger.

Defense:
Brown on the cover

1: 1st in series
5: author initials CW in POWER ELECTRICITY
11: Green text on cover
13: author initials CW in NUCLEAR WEAPONRY, Set in USA

Book: Pan (The Untold Stories of Neverland Book #2) by K.R. Thompson
Date Read: Aug 9
Page Count: 103


Defense:
Blue cover

2: 2nd in series
3: white text on cover
4: blue cover
6: blue cover
8: white text on cover
10: author initials KT in LIVESTOCK

Book: Hook (The Untold Stories of Neverland Book #1) by K.R. Thompson
Date Read: Aug 8
Page Count: 354


Weapon:
Ch. 3: He thrust his sword out toward the captain with the still-smoking beard, hilt first…

Food:
Ch. 3: …cups of tea, and small biscuits.

Defense:
Blue cover

1: 1st in series
3: white text on cover
4: blue cover, Ship on the cover
6: blue cover
8: white text on cover
10: author initials KT in LIVESTOCK