LittleRedRidingHood’s Comments (group member since Oct 20, 2016)

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

I liked your idea that Merricat was maybe sitting at the dining table on that fatal night, watching them die. It seems that Constance is the only member of the family she loves (no talk about loving parents). And putting poison in a sugar bowl to sprinkle blueberries was a perfect way to kill others (for whatever reason), except Constance, as she doesn't eat blueberries. Beside that as you pointed out they do have strange relationships. Julian calls only Constance for help. Constance serves him like his nurse and lets Merricat do what she wants without discipline. While Merricat doesn't have any real feelings for uncle and only on occasions reminds herself to be nicer to him since he is dying. And maybe Merricat is indeed psychopat and everyone tiptoes around her.

I'm joining. I have a bunch of older books that I meant to read but for some reason I didn't come around to. It's time for some cleaning.

Round one
✓1. The Help by Kathryn Stockett★★★★
✓2. Netopir by Jo Nesbø ★★
✓3. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed★★★★★
4. Mud, Sweat and Tears by Bear Grylls
5. Pasja grofica by Bogdan Novak
✓6. Samo smeh nas lahko reši: izbrane kolumne za Planet Siol.net, 2012-2014 by Miha Mazzini ★★★★★
✓7. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy ★★★★
8. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
9. Formule ljubezni - Ne zapravimo življenja v iskanju prave ljubezni by Zoran Milivojević
✓10. Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx ★★



Round two
11. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
12. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
13. Io sono Dio by Giorgio Faletti
14. Emotional Vampires: Dealing with People Who Drain You Dry by Albert J. Bernstein
15. We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
✓16. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan ★★★★
17. The Valley of Horses by Jean M. Auel (read half)
18. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
19. History of Beauty by Umberto Eco
20. In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant

1-3 chapters

I agree that in the 1st chapter is some strong sense of termination, like something happened to them in that week. It's said that Merricat is checking the locks, patroling down the fence her father put up and burying things around property like some kind of talismans to protect them from some sort of impending danger. By the villagers maybe? They may go on some witch hunt, although I don't see the reason.

The story definitely kicks off in 2nd chapter where eager uncle Julian sheds some light on the fatal evening, but it seems they fabricated the story for public. Uncle Julian in one moment remembers the events on that night and in the next he is not sure anymore. Beside that he is writing a book with not entirely true facts of that night in want of sensation. At first I thought that Constance really must did it, becase she was recultant to step out of their family estate and that's why Merricat must go alone in the village for grocery. But I'm now more convinced that the real culprit for the poisoning was in fact Merricat, because she isn't allowed to cook or hold a knife, while officially acquited murderess prepares all the food. Wouldn't the two of them be affraid of being poisoned too?
To me Merricat also doesn't seem like a normal 18 year old. It sounds like maybe she has some kind of sitback in developmet or she is still traumatised. There is something very off about her.

This is definitely one whacky family. It has this eerie atmosphere and I really like it so far.

Christina wrote: "Do you want to do a set number of chapters then, to ensure we stay on the same pace? Reading chapters 1-3 should put u..."

Fine by me.

Are we gonna devide the reading in two or three chapters and then share our thoughts or we read it all in one piece? I'm not really super fast reader, but I can pack 50 pages in a day.

Didn't think anyone would replay so fast. I've never done this before too, so do we need to wait for more people or two are enough? I can start any day from this sunday on.

Anyone interested in reading any of this books in near future?


Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Brain On Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan

Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology by Leah Remini

The outspoken actress, talk show host, and reality television star offers up a no-holds-barred memoir, including an eye-opening insider account of her tumultuous and heart-wrenching thirty-year-plus association with the Church of Scientology.

Leah Remini has never been the type to hold her tongue. That willingness to speak her mind, stand her ground, and rattle the occasional cage has enabled this tough-talking girl from Brooklyn to forge an enduring and successful career in Hollywood. But being a troublemaker has come at a cost.

That was never more evident than in 2013, when Remini loudly and publicly broke with the Church of Scientology. Now, in this frank, funny, poignant memoir, the former King of Queens star opens up about that experience for the first time, revealing the in-depth details of her painful split with the church and its controversial practices.

Indoctrinated into the church as a child while living with her mother and sister in New York, Remini eventually moved to Los Angeles, where her dreams of becoming an actress and advancing Scientology’s causes grew increasingly intertwined. As an adult, she found the success she’d worked so hard for, and with it a prominent place in the hierarchy of celebrity Scientologists alongside people such as Tom Cruise, Scientology’s most high-profile adherent. Remini spent time directly with Cruise and was included among the guests at his 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes.

But when she began to raise questions about some of the church’s actions, she found herself a target. In the end, she was declared by the church to be a threat to their organization and therefore a “Suppressive Person,” and as a result, all of her fellow parishioners—including members of her own family—were told to disconnect from her. Forever.

Bold, brash, and bravely confessional, Troublemaker chronicles Leah Remini’s remarkable journey toward emotional and spiritual freedom, both for herself and for her family. This is a memoir designed to reveal the hard-won truths of a life lived honestly—from an author unafraid of the consequences.

Spontaneous by Aaron Starmer

A darkly funny and spectacularly original exploration of friendship, goodbyes—and spontaneous combustion.

Mara Carlyle’s senior year is going as normally as could be expected, until—wa-bam!—fellow senior Katelyn Ogden explodes during third period pre-calc.

Katelyn is the first, but she won’t be the last teenager to blow up without warning or explanation. As the seniors continue to pop like balloons and the national eye turns to Mara’s suburban New Jersey hometown, the FBI rolls in and the search for a reason is on.

Whip-smart and blunt, Mara narrates the end of their world as she knows it while trying to make it to graduation in one piece. It's an explosive year punctuated by romance, quarantine, lifelong friendship, hallucinogenic mushrooms, bloggers, ice cream trucks, “Snooze Button™,” Bon Jovi, and the filthiest language you’ve ever heard from the President of the United States.

Aaron Starmer rewrites the rulebook with Spontaneous. But beneath the outrageous is a ridiculously funny, super honest, and truly moving exemplar of the absurd and raw truths of being a teenager in the 21st century . . . and the heartache of saying goodbye.

Well it's my first challenge and I'm going all out. I'm gonna try and do all three options and House Stark motto spell out.

Level: Queen
Start on: 24 October

Good luck to everyone!

House Arryn:
✔ Option 1: Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town
Option 2: Read a story featuring a member of the military, or in which the protagonist does the right thing. Alternatively, read a story that involves heights in a significant way.
Option 3: Read a book in which a falcon or another bird of prey plays a significant role in the story. Bird shifters are fine, too!


House Baratheon:
✔Option 1: Spontaneous
✔ Option 2: Winter of the World
✔ Option 3: Secretum ★★★★


House Greyjoy:
✔ Option 1: Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void
Option 2: Read a book featuring pirates, ships, or the sea.
✔ Option 3: Celtic Tales: Fairy Tales and Stories of Enchantment from Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, and Wales★★★★★


House Lannister:
✔ Option 1: The Sisters Brothers★★★
✔ Option 2: We Have Always Lived in the Castle
✔ Option 3: Tiger's Destiny ★★


House Martell:
✔Option 1: Netopir
Option 2: Read a book in which the protagonist overcomes great hardships or survives impossible odds. Alternatively, read a dystopian or post-apocalyptic novel.
Option 3: Read a book set in space, that involves stars, or in which the protagonist uses a weapon.


House of Mormont:
✔Option 1: Every Heart a Doorway
Option 2: Read a book with a bear on the cover or that deals with a zoo.
Option 3: Read a book in which a main character suffers from unrequited love. Or read a book with a loyal hero or heroine.


House Stark:
✔ Option 1: The Killing Lessons ★★★
✔ Option 2: Light on Snow ★★★
✔ Option 3: City of Lost Souls ★★★


House Targaryen:
✔ Option 1: Through the Woods ★★★
✔ Option 2: Club Dead★★★
Option 3:



House Tully:
✔ Option 1: Under The Skin ★★★★★
✔ Option 2: Burial Rites ★★★★
✔ Option 3: Beauty Queens★★★


House Tyrell:
✔ Option 1: A Storm of Swords ★★★★★
✔ Option 2: The Unexpected Everything ★★★★
Option 3: Read a book involving trees, flowers, or another type of plant in a significant way.


House Karstark:
✔ Option 1: The Grownup ★
✔ Option 2: A Court of Thorns and Roses ★★
✔ Option 3: Cress ★★★★


House Bolton:
✔ Option 1: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda ★★★
✔ Option 2: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies ★★
✔ Option 3: The Husband's Secret ★★★


Spell it out: House Stark motto

W - Wonder Women - Sam Maggs
I -
N -
T - Torre, A.R. - The girl in 6E
E - Egomaniac - Vi Keeland
R - Reptile room, The - Lemony Snicket

I - Iko (character) from Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
S - Stockett, Kathryn - The help

C - Coldest girl in Coldtown, The - Holly Black
O - Oprah Winfrey - What I know for sure
M - Man called Ove, A - Fredrik Backman
I - I hate Fairyland - Scottie Young
N - Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett - Good Omens
G - Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, The - Amy Schumer