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

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

January



Book: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1) by Stieg Larsson - Jan 2
No. Of Pages: 480

Book: Death on the Nile (Hercule Poirot #17) by Agatha Christie - Jan 3
No. Of Pages: 214

Book: Horns by Joe Hill - Jan 6
No. Of Pages: 370



Book: Breakup (Kate Shugak #7) by Dana Stabenow - Jan 8
No. Of Pages: 256

Book: The Mysterious Mr. Quin (Harley Quin #1) by Agatha Christie - Jan 9
No. Of Pages: 396

Book: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter #6) by J.K. Rowling - Jan 10
No. Of Pages: 652



Book: Rosemary and Rue (October Daye #1) by Seanan McGuire - Jan 11
No. Of Pages: 346

Book: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - Jan 13
No. Of Pages: 476

Book: My Man Jeeves (Jeeves #1) by P.G. Wodehouse - Jan 13
No. Of Pages: 256



Book: Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid - Jan 15
No. Of Pages: 384

Book: Murder on Astor Place (Gaslight Mystery #1) by Victoria Thompson - Jan 19
No. Of Pages: 278

Book: Witches' Brew (Witches and Wine #1) by Morgana Best - Jan 19
No. Of Pages: 312



Book: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - Jan 21
No. Of Pages: 496

Book: Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy - Jan 24
No. Of Pages: 518

Book: Harrow the Ninth (The Locked Tomb #2) by Tamsyn Muir - Jan 26
No. Of Pages: 512



Book: Hearts of the Missing by Carol Potenza - Jan 27
No. Of Pages: 368

Book: Tilly and the Lost Fairytales (Pages & Co. #2) by Anna James - Jan 27
No. Of Pages: 400

Book: The Sea in Winter by Christine Day - Jan 28
No. Of Pages: 250



Book: Beartown (Beartown #1) by Fredrik Backman - Jan 30
No. Of Pages: 432

Book: The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike #1) by Robert Galbraith - Jan 30
No. Of Pages: 456

My Jan Total: 7852

My 2022 Total: 7852

Running Total: 142,648

7852 + 142,648 = 150,500

New Group Total: = 150,500

NBRC - Serious Readers Challenge 2022 - Level 1

Level 1: 1 - 100 books
Completed: 100/100

Part 2:
Completed: 50/50



51. The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair (Marcus Goldman #1) by Joël Dicker - Mar 19
52. The Widows of Malabar Hill (Perveen Mistry #1) by Sujata Massey - Mar 21
53. Origin (Robert Langdon #5) by Dan Brown - Mar 24
54. Queen Bee by Jane Fallon - Mar 25
55. The Bughouse Affair: A Carpenter and Quincannon Mystery (Carpenter and Quincannon #1) by Marcia Muller - Mar 26
56. Knot My Type (All Access #1) by Evie Mitchell - Mar 29
57. Midnight Come Again (Kate Shugak #10) by Dana Stabenow - Mar 30
58. The Singing Of The Dead (Kate Shugak #11) by Dana Stabenow - Apr 1
59. A Fine and Bitter Snow (Kate Shugak #12) by Dana Stabenow - Apr 4
60. The October List by Jeffery Deaver - Apr 5



61. The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games #1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes - Apr 6
62. A Is For Alibi (Kinsey Millhone #1) by Sue Grafton - Apr 7
63. A Tundra Tale by Lone Alaskan Gypsy - Apr 9
64. Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi - Apr 10
65. The Help by Kathryn Stockett - Apr 13
66. Ice Out by Susan Speranza - Apr 14
67. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro - Apr 16
68. Beach Read by Emily Henry - Apr 17
69. We Can't Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon - Apr 18
70. One Of Us Is Lying (One of Us Is Lying #1) by Karen M. McManus - Apr 19



71. The Snow Gypsy by Lindsay Jayne Ashford - Apr 21
72. The Maid by Nita Prose - Apr 23
73. The Company Daughters by Samantha Rajaram - Apr 25
74. A Place Called Perfect (Perfect #1) by Helena Duggan - Apr 26
75. The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich - Apr 27
76. The Color of Magic (Discworld #1) by Terry Pratchett - Apr 29
77. A Grave Denied (Kate Shugak #13) by Dana Stabenow - May 1
78. A Rumored Fortune by Joanna Davidson Politano - May 3
79. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer - May 6
80. Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall - May 7



81. All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells - May 8
82. The Birds of Pandemonium by Michele Raffin - May 10
83. Child of God by Cormac McCarthy - May 11
84. Spin the Dawn (The Blood of Stars #1) by Elizabeth Lim - May 13
85. Murder by the Book: Mysteries for Bibliophiles by Martin Edwards (Ed.) - May 15
86. Book: The Tea Dragon Society (Tea Dragon #1) by Kay O'Neill - May 16
87. Book: The Tea Dragon Festival (Tea Dragon #2) by Kay O'Neill - May 16
88. Book: The Tea Dragon Tapestry (Tea Dragon #3) by Kay O'Neill - May 16
89. Book: Princess Princess Ever After by Kay O'Neill - May 16
90. A Taint in the Blood (Kate Shugak #14) by Dana Stabenow - May 17



91. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins - May 19
92. A Deeper Sleep (Kate Shugak #15) by Dana Stabenow - May 20
93. Long Bright River by Liz Moore - May 21
94. If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha - May 24
95. Frozen Ground (Stormwatch #1) by Debra Webb - May 25
96. Moby Dick by Herman Melville - May 26
97. Innocence by Roald Dahl - May 27
98. Standoff by Sandra Brown - May 28
99. Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories (Hercule Poirot) by Agatha Christie - May 29
100. The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa - May 30

NBRC - Serious Readers Challenge 2022 - Level 1

Level 1: 1 - 100 books
Completed: 100/100

Part 1:
Completed: 50/50



1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1) by Stieg Larsson - Jan 2
2. Death on the Nile (Hercule Poirot #17) by Agatha Christie - Jan 3
3. Horns by Joe Hill - Jan 6
4. Breakup (Kate Shugak #7) by Dana Stabenow - Jan 8
5. The Mysterious Mr. Quin (Harley Quin #1) by Agatha Christie - Jan 9
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter #6) by J.K. Rowling - Jan 10
7. Rosemary and Rue (October Daye #1) by Seanan McGuire - Jan 11
8. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - Jan 13
9. My Man Jeeves (Jeeves #1) by P.G. Wodehouse - Jan 13
10. Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid - Jan 15



11. Murder on Astor Place (Gaslight Mystery #1) by Victoria Thompson - Jan 19
12. Witches' Brew (Witches and Wine #1) by Morgana Best - Jan 19
13. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - Jan 21
14. Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy - Jan 24
15. Harrow the Ninth (The Locked Tomb #2) by Tamsyn Muir
16. Hearts of the Missing by Carol Potenza - Jan 27
17. Tilly and the Lost Fairytales (Pages & Co. #2) by Anna James - Jan 27
18. The Sea in Winter by Christine Day - Jan 28
19. Beartown (Beartown #1) by Fredrik Backman - Jan 30
20. The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike #1) by Robert Galbraith - Jan 30



21. The Bookshop of Second Chances by Jackie Fraser - Feb 3
22. The Mystery of the Yellow Room (Joseph Rouletabille #1) by Gaston Leroux - Feb 3
23. The Perfect House by R.P. Bolton - Feb 5
24. Wish Upon a Duke (12 Dukes of Christmas #3) by Erica Ridley - Feb 6
25. Heartless by Marissa Meyer - Feb 9
26. Murder at the Lighthouse (Exham on Sea Mysteries #1) by Frances Evesham - Feb 10
27. Booked for Death (Booklover's B&B Mysteries #1) by Victoria Gilbert - Feb 12
28. Sprinkled in the Stars by Violet Morley - Feb 13
29. Girls with Sharp Sticks (Girls with Sharp Sticks #1) by Suzanne Young - Feb 15
30. My Dear I Wanted to Tell You: A Novel (My Dear I Wanted to Tell You #1) by Louisa Young - Feb 18



31. Magpie Murders (Susan Ryeland #1) by Anthony Horowitz - Feb 20
32. The Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne - Feb 21
33. Don't You Cry by Mary Kubica - Feb 21
34. A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham - Feb 22
35. Moonflower Murders (Susan Ryeland #2) by Anthony Horowitz - Feb 23
36. The Body in the Attic (A Jazzi Zanders Mystery #1) by Judi Lynn - Feb 25
37. Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup - Feb 25
38. A Constellation of Roses by Miranda Asebedo - Feb 27
39. Wild Rising (Yellowstone Shifters #1) by K. Panikian - Mar 1
40. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter #7) by J.K. Rowling - Mar 4



41. Unspeakable Things by Jess Lourey - Mar 5
42. We Dream of Space by Erin Entrada Kelly (Arbookfind.com: 48045 words) - Mar 6
43. Killing Grounds (Kate Shugak #8) by Dana Stabenow - Mar 8
44. The Night Shift by Alex Finlay - Mar 9
45. The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins - Mar 10
46. Hunter's Moon (Kate Shugak #9) by Dana Stabenow - Mar 11
47. A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams - Mar 13
48. Kiss of Salt (Darya Nandkarni's Misadventures #1) by Smita Bhattacharya - Mar 15
49. The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis - Mar 16
50. The Secret Angels (Darya Nandkarni's Misadventures #2) by Smita Bhattacharya - Mar 17

Audrey Jane wrote: "Melindam wrote: "Hello Lovelies,

UNO 2022 sign-ups are open now. ♡♡

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/..."

Thank you, Melinda. Never played..."

Excellent, Audrey. It is such a fun challenge!

Nothing But Reading Challenges - Author Alphabet Challenge 2022

Completed: 26/26
A. - The Mysterious Mr. Quin (Harley Quin #1) by Agatha Christie - Jan 9 - AFN
B. - Witches' Brew (Witches and Wine #1) by Morgana Best - Jan 19 - ALN
C. - Death on the Nile (Hercule Poirot #17) by Agatha Christie - Jan 3 - ALN
D. - Breakup (Kate Shugak #7) by Dana Stabenow - Jan 8 - AFN
E. - Wish Upon a Duke (12 Dukes of Christmas #3) by Erica Ridley - Feb 6 - AFN
F. - Beartown (Beartown #1) by Fredrik Backman - Jan 30 - AFN
G. - The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike #1) by Robert Galbraith - Jan 30 - ALN
H. - Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy - Jan 24 - ALN
I. - Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro - Apr 16 - ALN
J. - Horns by Joe Hill - Jan 6 - AFN
K. - Don't You Cry by Mary Kubica - Feb 21 - ALN
L. - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1) by Stieg Larsson - Jan 2 - ALN
M. - Rosemary and Rue (October Daye #1) by Seanan McGuire - Jan 11 - ALN
N. - The Maid by Nita Prose - Apr 23 - AFN
O. - The Yorkshire Shepherdess by Amanda Owen - Jul 1
P. - My Man Jeeves (Jeeves #1) by P.G. Wodehouse - Jan 13 - AFN
Q. - That Bonesetter Woman by Frances Quinn - Dec 14 - ALN
R. - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter #6) by J.K. Rowling - Jan 10 - ALN
S. - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith - Jan 21 - ALN
T. - Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid - Jan 15 - AFN
U. - Everybody's Son by Thrity Umrigar - Dec 6 - ALN
V. - Murder on Astor Place (Gaslight Mystery #1) by Victoria Thompson - Jan 19 - AFN
W. - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir - Jan 13 - ALN
X. - A Lover's Discourse by Xiaolu Guo - Jun 5 - AFN
Y. - Girls with Sharp Sticks (Girls with Sharp Sticks #1) by Suzanne Young - Feb 15 - ALN
Z. - Black Water Sister by Zen Cho - Dec 3 - AFN

Melindam wrote: "Hello Lovelies,

UNO 2022 sign-ups are open now. ♡♡

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/..."

Thanks, Melinda.

Thank you, Sammy!!! And thank you to all of you for a grand time. I hope to see all of you at UNO.
All the best of wishes for a happy holiday season!!!

Thank you to all the lovely mods and my fabulous teammates for a fun challenge. This was my first time taking part in it and I loved every moment of it. I am looking forward to the next round.

Until then, Happy holidays, and here's wishing all of you much love, peace and good health for the coming year and beyond. 🤗 🤗 🤗

Audrey Jane wrote: "And now I will eat some dessert. I'm already sampling some yule log cake so I can decide which one I will want to eat on Christmas eve haha (don't know if it's a thing in other countries). French bakeries are to die for!..."

I so agree. I was in Paris for a week about 10 years ago and I would buy bread, cheese, cold cuts and desserts every afternoon, go to the Jardin des Tuileries, sit and enjoy my picnic meal while people-watching. Oh, and Orangina which is my favourite beverage ever. They launched here in India but the recipe seems to have been changed and it tastes terrible, nothing like what I had in Paris 🙁 )
And yes, we do that. My mum's classmate gets us Xmas cakes from her church and we buy cakes from some other bakeries and do a cake-off all the way up to Christmas.

DQs for Evelyn Hugo are done and updated on the spreadsheet.
I can't believe we have reached the end of this challenge. I keep thinking I need to look out for more books with difficult letters. I can't wait for the next round.
But at least now I have no excuse to not finish the remaining 500 pages of A Suitable Boy.☺️

DQs: Day 6 Chapter 56 - End

23. What are your thoughts on the immediate aftermath of Harry’s accident? Was Evelyn right in her actions? Who or what was she protecting?

I think that was a ghastly thing that Evelyn did but at the same time, I can understand her wanting to protect Harry and, more importantly, her daughter. I don’t think she was right in her actions but I realise that her moves were coloured by previous life experiences that may have been instrumental in her making the decisions she did.

24. Robert became husband #7 when Celia, Evelyn and Connor moved to Spain to live out Celia’s days in peace. What were your thoughts on this section? Did Evelyn finally find happiness if only for a little while?

I think Evelyn finally got to see some kind of happiness and the good thing was that everybody gained. Evelyn and Celia got to finally spend time together, Connor had a stable father figure who loved her greatly and gave her the kind of love and support she desperately needed, and Robert had a family who loved him unconditionally. I feel sad that they had to go through so many hoops just to find some peace and joy in their lived.

25. “… “They never did care about getting it right. The media are going to tell whatever story they want to tell. They always have. They always will.” How true do you think this is?

This is an apt line particularly in these days when the media will translate stories the way it suits them just to increase their viewer statistics. But then, exactly as I said while answering a question in the Day 2 questions, it boils down to supply and demand. If there was no demand for such stories from the public, the media would not be writing these highly skewed stories.

26. We finally find out the reason why Evelyn wanted Monique to write her Biography. Were you surprised by this. Could Evelyn have handled it differently?

This is my second time reading this book so I definitely wasn’t surprised. I wasn’t surprised the first time I read the book either. I think this was Evelyn’s way of righting a wrong and goes with what she says in the beginning when she says that she doesn’t regret many of the things she did that were wrong because she had her reasons and did her best with them. She then says that one can be sorry about something and not regret it. I think this was one of those things and she did not regret doing whatever it took to protect Harry and Connor.

27. The story ends with possibly the most controversial of themes dignity in death and the right to choose. Monique makes a conscious choice to allow Evelyn the dignity of choosing to die. Is this something you could do?

This is one of those topics that I do not know enough about to make an informed decision. While on the one hand I respect the right to live and die with dignity, I don’t know what my thoughts about it would be if push came to shove. I just hope should I ever be in such a situation, that I could do what was best for the person in question.

DQs: Day 3 Chapter 21-30

10. Don is the one who ask for a divorce. What do you think of the requirements he put on the settlement?

I would have expected nothing less from a man like Don Adler. His personality is shown to be that of a needy, insecure person who cannot deal with being surpassed by someone like Evelyn whom he considers insignificant. His asking for Evelyn to not be allowed to talk about their divorce and his asking the studios to blackball her was more of a sign of his insecurities than anything else.

11. Do you think Monique’s negotiation with her boss and Evelyn were realistic? Do you think she is growing as a person from the interview process?

Monique, to me, seemed to be somebody who was very willing to just go along with the path of least resistance. I think that in meeting Evelyn and spending time with her, she develops a bit more backbone and learns she isn’t going to get what she wants unless she believes that she deserves it and asks for it.

12. What is your first impression of Max? Does that change throughout the session?

I did NOT like Max from the beginning, and he only got worse as the book progresses, in my opinion.

13. What do you think of the Evelyn and Mick plan and her reasons’ for carrying it out?

Evelyn knew as soon as she saw the looks on the faces of the people who saw Celia and her together at the Mick Riva show that she was going to be in trouble. She knew that dating Mick Riva and marrying him would shut down the gossip mills and stop further rumours being spread about her relationship with Celia. I don’t think she had any other choice and the good thing is that at least Mick Riva only gained from it.

14. What do you think of Celia’s reaction? Does it seem realistic to you that she didn’t think they would sleep together?

Sadly, Celia was one character whom I didn’t like from the beginning. She is shown to be this sweet, young thing, but throughout the book, she is never aware of her privileged background. Additionally, while she wanted to be accepted as a lesbian, she would not give Evelyn the same respect and time to figure out what she was and what she wanted as was evident from the line “She liked women and only women. And I liked her. And so she often denied the rest of me.” I found that Celia under a sweet-looking exterior had a very nasty streak and would lash out quite viciously not caring that she had hurt the woman she claimed she loved. As such, as a result of her selfishness and her inability to appreciate that Evelyn was, unlike her, attracted to both women and men, I wasn’t surprised in the least bit when she got angry about Evelyn sleeping with Mick. She ought to have realised that was the only way Evelyn was going to get Mick to marry her.

DQs: Day 2 Chapter 9-20

6. How do you think Evelyn handled her relationship with the abusive Don?

I think that Evelyn did the best she could do under the circumstances. The majority of women at that time rather than being assisted when physically, mentally and emotionally harassed by their significant others were instead accused of having done and said things that caused it. Evelyn being very aware of the social attitudes at the time knew that she would become an object of ridicule and chose to hide her personal tragedy. While I do not approve of it (view spoiler)[particularly after what she learns later in the book (hide spoiler)], I can understand her feeling alone and not wanting to worsen an already ghastly situation.

7. How believable do you feel the progression of the friendship to romance between Evelyn and Celia is, especially bearing in mind the time period?

Evelyn and Celia having acted in the same film would have spent a lot of time together. As a result, they would have had plenty of time to meet and for the relationship to progress through various stages. I think because that period of time is not gone into in as much detail, it feels very insta-lovey until one realises that. Having said that, if the author hadn’t condensed that part and several others like it, we would be reading a book containing many thousands of pages.

8. Do you think the author got the old Hollywood vibe right?

From what I have read over the years about old Hollywood, I think the author did a fabulous job capturing the feel of the era. I could identify several of the sources of inspiration for characters and storylines and that added to my enjoyment of the book. I would have loved if there was a bit more but I can appreciate that the author needed to edit some of it in order not to end up with a book that would scare readers with its length.

9. What do you think of Evelyn’s plan to fake a miscarriage in order to gain sympathy instead of getting bad press? How does it make you feel about her character?

Again, while I do not approve of it, I can understand why she would have taken this step. The relationship between celebrities and the media can at times be quite an acrimonious one and several such stunts have been pulled in order to protect the reputation of various celebrities even in real life so this was justifiable. To me this shows Evelyn to be a realist, somebody who realised that the only way she can get out the situation unscathed is to get a firm hold on the narrative and have it work to her advantage. I think, however, that more than her character, what this truly mirrors is that of the masses. The only reason the media writes these stories is because there is a demand for such stories from a public that is more interested in seeing celebrities fall rather than see their accomplishments. If the public were more understanding of the fact that celebrities are at the end of the day human beings and empathised with them as such, there would be less of a demand for such salacious gossip and then there would not be any need for such stunts.

I finished my last book and will update the spreadsheet after lunch. I still have to do the answers to the DQs and will have it done by tonight.

The app is awful... I prefer to use GR on the browser and I select the desktop version.

I am done with my Hemingway book as well as Gone With the Wind (I have to watch both movies soon) and will update them on the spreadsheet as well as add the answers to the BOM DQs by the end of the day.
I have added a book against one of the E's in the last word. It is one I know I will definitely finish by tomorrow.

Eni, so happy to hear she's feeling better.
I can understand... my nieces and nephews are the same. They tell us they are much too grown-up to be hugged but the same lot will come and sit on laps and ask for cuddles if they are feeling poorly.😆

Oh, also, forgot to say, I completed one of the BOMs, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo today and will add the answers to the DQs in the next day or two.

Yay, we have completed the colour task and with my last book (Gone With the Wind), we will complete the tag tasks as well. I will definitely be done with the book by the 18th... It is a very long book and I am going a bit slow as I find that with this book I am enjoying it more if I listen to a part of the audiobook every day rather than all of it at one go.
I will try and squeeze in at least one more book.

Melindam wrote: "Good news, Ladies (not to my reading time, tho')! I have been offered the job. :)

Thank you very much for all your good wishes. ♡♡♡♡"

Congratulations, Mel, that is excellent. I am so very happy for you!!!