Judith’s Comments (group member since Apr 15, 2015)

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

Cathy M. wrote: "I finished my spa book - time for a new country :)"

Awesome, country logged and new destination requested!

I have How the Penguins Saved Veronica that seems to work for Antarctica.

I have to get through a few books with library returns coming up soon. But if no one else has something they want to read before then, I'll grab it

This team is amazing!

I was able to get the cheese spelled with our banked books yet again!

Day 3 Chapters 14-20

11. Whether the stories are true or not, are you interested in the back stories of Margaret’s family? What did you think of Freddy’s first interaction with Bernie? (The one that contained the only laugh out loud line so far “Because of your wardrobe?”)
They are interesting but I love hearing family stories but they aren't something I would seek out in the tabloid sense. I enjoyed the Freddie/Bernie dynamic and I think she was likely very good for him.

12. Who exactly is Jodi? Will she be a part of the BIG REVEAL?
I'm sure she ties in somehow just not really putting a lot of effort into figuring out how.

13. I do not have kids, but Hayden’s list of “what ifs” to worry about was a lot. Do you parents worry about that stuff?
Yes and a bunch of other stuff on top of that. You can't help it. The goal is to find the line between being protective enough and letting them navigate problems/life themselves so they can figure it out.

14. Why do you think Alice thinks that Margaret’s tales of her childhood are true, as opposed to the stuff about her family before she was around? Do you find her insightful or naive?
Maybe it's something in the nonverbal delivery of those stories or lived memory versus family lore memory. I don't really know.

15. Think the visit to Alice’s family will go well? Think we will meet Hayden's family also?
There's generally a balance in these stories so I'm assuming we'll meet his family at some point. I think her family visit will reveal more about the complicated family dynamics she's navigating especially since her father's death.

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

Cathy M. wrote: "I finished the BOM - I ended up loving it! I'll definitely be checking out more book from Emily Henry.

I'll start the book I found for spa - but found that it also works for tango in text. I'll li..."

Yay! it always makes me happy when people the BOM and doubly so when it's my nomination.

Though to be fair Susan recommended it!

Cathy since you finished it already, I had put mine on a mini 2 task it worked for (tagged book 10x). I'm behind so I swapped it for yours so we can get a new mini 2 task.

hehe!

Team,

The mods are taking a look at team reading levels and are going to be distributing the remaining reserve players this weekend.

Most people seem to be on track with your reading and sign up. However, if you feel your estimate is significantly off, please let us know and provide a reason as to why your sign up was inaccurate (new to challenges, real life got a lot more complicated, suddenly a lot less complicated).

I cannot promise the sign up will be changed, but mods will take it under consideration. We'd need to know ASAP because any re-distributions are happening this weekend.

Thank you!

Also, one of the tasks on the Mini 2 is "tagged Journal 10x"

it came up in discussion in the captain's group. due to the few number of options meeting journal 10x, we are also allowed to use tagged diary 10x.

I'll get going on this latest spelling and see where we are letter wise!

nice find!

Newest cheese spelling is complete!

I was surprised we had enough O's and U's but we did! GO TEAM :)

DQs Day 2
The Story to Chapter 13

5. Margaret is lying – and probably not just about one singular thing. Do you think she’s even telling Alice and Hayden the same story? Personally I’m also really curious where Margaret’s sister Laura is – to me it feels like she might be key to the whole story… anything specific that made you perk up?
It wouldn't surprise me if she's telling them different parts of her family story. And I wonder if the lies are breadcrumbs that lead to the real story if they are smart enough to figure it out.
As for Laura, I honestly just assumed she was dead. Margaret is like 80 so her sister having already passed away didn't seem weird.

6. Similarly, it was kind of an aside but I thought it was interesting when Margaret mentioned the Ives family’s rivalry with the Pulitzers. Is it just a random coincidence that Hayden is a Pulitzer-prize winning author who now also gets to talk to her? Especially since she requested him? And he has a bunch of family issues too?
There are a lot of parallels between different characters looking for parental pride and acceptance. Like others I'm wondering if there is a biological connection between Hayden and the Ives family but I haven't thought much about it.

7. I was a little shocked when they were already kissing 25% in – and then not surprised when Hayden rejects Alice. Do you think he’s telling the truth when he says “I’m not going to hook up with someone whose dream job I’m about to take from them”? Or is there something else going on?
I don't think there is some large nefarious plot of Hayden's. I just don't think he wants to be a total douche canoe? There are both hoping for the same job so not the best start to a potential relationship. I can understand not wanting it to get messy and distracting.

8. We get quite a bit of detail on Alice’s job and research process as a journalist: what she’s searching for, working with fact-checkers, etc. Do you enjoy these types of details, i.e. minutae of characters’ jobs and hobbies?
Sure and it makes them seem more like real characters instead of cardboard cutouts.

9. I’ve been to Hearst Castle, but long before I actually knew anything about him. The Ives family seems to be quite obviously inspired by him (and I guess he was name-dropped for plausible deniability). Is there a specific family dynasty you’re really interested in?
Not really. There's some royal families from like the way back when that are interesting because they are so messy. But more of a celebrity type dynasty? No, I could really care less.

10. Bonus question: So… anyone else feel like they’re reading Evelyn Hugo 2.0?
I mean the blurb made me think of the book and there are certainly parallels in the set up. But the characters are very different and that book had a lot of social commentary of the struggles of being queer and a celebrity in that particular time period.

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

@Rosemarie, please join us any time you have interest in one of our BOMs (we typically have 2 per month!)

And yes we comment on each other's responses when we are so moved to or reference them in our own answers to the questions

I'm glad you are enjoying the discussion :)

DQs Day 1
Chapters 1 to 7

1.) Emily Henry is a popular contemporary romance author and a fair few of her books have been previous NBRC BOM selections. Any expectations for this book going in?
The female MC will be a happy sunshiny person who is covering some tragic backstory and the male MC will be a grumpy goose with a hidden heart of gold. Forced proximity will lead them to true love. It's a contemporary romance so probably some silly lack of communication will cause a rift that will be bridged by a grand gesture. The end. I'm sure I'll still enjoy it though. LOL And I'd be delighted if Henry tosses in some surprises!

2.) What are your first impressions of Alice? And sending that drink to Hayden?
She seems like a genuine good person who likes to be both nice and kind to everyone. A great friend to have but also not someone I could be around all the time, she's exhaust my introverted-self's social battery too quickly.

3.) Would you agree to the month long trial or tell Margaret she's a nutter and move on to something else? Why do you think Margaret is doing things this way?
As long as it didn't put me out of my day job, sure, why not? she'd be compensating me for my time and lodging. What would I have to lose? I'm not sure why Margaret is doing it this way, maybe to end up with a more interesting story? I'm sure it's something we'll learn by the end.

4.) After learning a few tidbits about Hayden's family and how he grew up, did you opinion change a bit on his character?
It explains his reserved nature and help fill in his character some. We honestly don't know all that much about him yet. Except that he's a decent guy enough that he's willing to step in and/or be aware of a woman's safety. And a talented author. That's not a lot to go on yet.

DQs Day 1
Chapters 1 to 7

1.) Emily Henry is a popular contemporary romance author and a fair few of her books have been previous NBRC BOM selections. Any expectations for this book going in?

2.) What are your first impressions of Alice? And sending that drink to Hayden?

3.) Would you agree to the month long trial or tell Margaret she's a nutter and move on to something else? Why do you think Margaret is doing things this way?

4.) After learning a few tidbits about Hayden's family and how he grew up, did you opinion change a bit on his character?

Maria Jo wrote: "Thank you for bumping my books to Itinerary 3! I'm almost done with my book for the Holy See. My book for Fiji might have to wait for Itinerary 4."

Sounds good, we'll keep shuffling books to meet with people's reading.


And thank you to everyone on the team for having such good communication! Erin, Lexi and I really appreciate it :)

We had all of the right letters to complete the cheese spelling out of our banked books!

That cleared out a lot though with such a long spelling :)

Go team!!

New Mini 2 Task

Read a book where a character lives in a small place or in the countryside

Thanks ladies!!