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

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

Final day DQS:

21. Do you think it made sense for the group to fall apart after the climax, or would you have expected the shared experiences to keep them close (who else are they going to be able to talk about it with?).
Yes, I do really. The guilt of it all I think would just feed into their paranoia about someone breaking and turning everyone in to the police.

22. So all in all the characters are all quite unlikeable. Is there one that stands out to you as the least likeable of all?
Charles probably

23. What are your thoughts on the book as a whole? Will you read more by Tartt?
It was fine and I may read others by her depending on the topic and my mood.

24. I'm surprised this book hasn't been turned into a movie yet, especially with the popularity of Dark Academia. Would you watch the movie if they made one? Any preference for any cast members?
Probably. The movie rights were actually purchased and went through a couple rounds of almost being made but not because of life events. I think Tartt has the rights back. From what I read she hated how the movie for The Goldfinch happened so may not re-option this book for a movie.

DQs Day 5: Chapter 7 to Chapter 8 "... dark sheets of slate." (pages 377 to 489)

16. "Everyone, suddenly, had known him; everyone was deranged with grief; everyone was just going to have to try and get on as well as they could without him." This is what Richard thinks about the other students at Hampden college after Bunny was found. What are your thoughts on that? Did you ever experience something like that in real life?
When someone young dies unexpectedly, this is fairly typical I think. Especially if reporters are swarming and I think is worse now with social media. And yes I have, a good friend was killed in a car accident when I was in high school. It was disturbing how people who normally wouldn't of even said hello to her had all these memories of doing xyz with her.

17. Bunny's parents invited all of his friends (close or not so close) to stay at their house before the funeral. If you had been in Richard's place, would you have gone? Why (not)?
No, even if I was completely uninvolved with his death. Grief is complex and I would 1) want to make sure they had their space and 2) likely want my own space to both grieve on my own and as a break from the family's grief.

18. How would you describe Henry's behavior at the funeral?
Weird and I think showing he is unraveling from everything that has happened.

19. Charles kissed Camilla, and it turns out that this might not have been the first time this has happened. Were you shocked to learn about this or did you see it coming?
I mean it was gross and I wasn't expecting it but not surprised by it. Even though this was written in 1992, this is my first read of the novel. But after Game of Thrones, not sure twin-incest can ever be 100% surprising even again.

20. "Had Henry intended to make me the patsy if his plan had fallen through?" Richard suspects that Henry has used him and would've gone even further if things had been differently. Do you agree?
100 percent. Henry would certainly pick a patsy to not take accountability. Richard is the most sensible choice from Henry's perspective.

DQs Day 1
Chapters 1 & 2

1.) Is this your first Donna Tartt book or have you read hot book of whatever year that was, The Goldfinch? If you've read The Goldfinch, has this been sitting on your to-be-read list since?
I listened to The Goldfinch what feels like a long time ago. It was the second audiobook I ever listened too. I really enjoyed it, even the parts that stretched believability a bit too much. And yep, this books was added to my tbr shortly thereafter.

2.) This has definite secret-college-campus-society vibes. Do you like this setting for a story? Have you read any from this genre you'd recommend to others?
I do and I think the college environment lends itself well to the type of plot set up that requires some level isolation of the characters without making it completely obvious (like snowed in on top of a mountain or the like). I've enjoyed some like Ninth House though I still need to read the second.

3.) Speaking of the setting, does the author provide a good description of the campus and the surrounding landscape to set a believable atmosphere for the novel?
Yes, I think she provides enough detail to set the stage but vague enough for your imagination to have spaces to fill in.

4.) Initial thoughts on characters. It's early in the book, but any you like, don't like, or want to learn more about?
They are all interesting in their own way but probably the most interested in learning more about the twins.

5.) Do you think the narrator is reliable? Do you like unreliable narrated books or are you not a fan?
No, he's not reliable and I feel like lies even when the truth would work just as well. Some people are just wired like that and I find it weird and fascinating at the same time.

Ann,

When you get a chance can you add Sanshiro, The Golden Son, and Death and Taxes to your challenge shelf?

Thank you!

To those who celebrate, Happy Thanksgiving!

The blind date was an unexpected gold nugget

Thank you! It’s been a day

Got those 2 old ones out of there finally!

We are doing great team! Holding strong in 3rd place even though many teams are reading more books than us. The points from long and old books are certainly paying off!! And generally reading books that work for mini tasks help as well.

I did want to provide some clarification on the Relax mini task "features one or more books". This can be either other book(s) are mentioned in the text somewhere or there are books on the cover.

DQs Day 1
Chapters 1 & 2

1.) Is this your first Donna Tartt book or have you read hot book of whatever year that was, The Goldfinch? If you've read The Goldfinch, has this been sitting on your to-be-read list since?

2.) This has definite secret-college-campus-society vibes. Do you like this setting for a story? Have you read any from this genre you'd recommend to others?

3.) Speaking of the setting, does the author provide a good description of the campus and the surrounding landscape to set a believable atmosphere for the novel?

4.) Initial thoughts on characters. It's early in the book, but any you like, don't like, or want to learn more about?

5.) Do you think the narrator is reliable? Do you like unreliable narrated books or are you not a fan?

Michelle's Empty Nest wrote: "Just wanted to update that I'm done adding books for this round."

Thank you for letting us know!

And this reminds me to ask everyone to check in when they've read their last book for Round 3

I'm in for DQs Team Traffic Jam

extra entry too!

Yes, lots and lots of food mentioned in that one!

Teddie, our tracking sheet master has the R4 Book tab ready to go for those planners among us :)

Our word for Round 4 (and the last round) is Projectile Vomit Clean-up

Judith's BOM Tracking

Day 1: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Day 2: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Day 3: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Day 4: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

DQs Day 4
Ch 11 to 13

14. How do you like Poirot's style of revealing what happened? Do you enjoy reading whodunnit mysteries?
I'm more of a Miss Marple fan than Poirot and read a lot more of that series. This genre in general though is one of my favorites.

15. The mystery has been unraveled and we now know what happened to Mrs. Inglethorp. Have you guessed who it was or were you surprised?
It was a reread for me. It was long enough ago that I didn't remember all the details but the more I read the more that came back in the memory cells.

16. Is there anything you would have changed about the narrative? Something you didn't like? If so, here's your place to rant :)
It was fine. Though I think Poirot's books are hard to figure out because some things are just random or the details are withheld from the reader.

17. If you haven't already, would you consider picking up another Hercule Poirot book or any other of Agatha Christie's works?
I'll be reading more from her in future, I'm sure :)

And I just finished off another one

Alicanto
350 to 450
Author initials in ENTIERRO
Item or animal with wings on cover
Set in a mountainous location
"treasure" in text

Saw we had completed another monster so spun for a new one

Meduse
250-300
Tagged "africanfuturism"/"African-Futurism" at least 1 time
Part of a trilogy (can ignore 0.5)
Shortlisted for Hugo Novella Award
Author African or part of the African diaspora

Oh whoops, wrong brother written down when I was scratching down questions.

DQs Day 3
Ch 8 to 10

10.) Any guesses about "find the extra coffee cup and you can rest in peace"? Does that fact Lawrence found it indicate guilt or innocence do you think?
I'm guessing this is the coffee cup with the actual poison in it? And finding in leans towards his innocence I think, especially since he was confused about it's existence when first asked about it.

11.) With books as old as this, some language/terms just do not age well and can be jarring to randomly come across in the text. Should language like this be censored/edited to match less offensive terms of the times (though not sure there is a correct way to say a lady dressed up in blackface). Or should they be left as is and used as a point of discussion on race/sexuality/class/gender/etc?
I think they lend themselves to discussions social issues, respect and acceptance of those who are different from you. And as an example of while we have far to go for many social justice issues, we have come a long way.

12.) Lots happening in the section, arrests abound! Do you think John was arrested for his step mother's murder or for some other reason like Dr. B?
Dr B being a spy was a random thing from left field for me. I know there are a lot of comments about being at war, but it never fully registered in the sense of place in the story. I actually forgot it a war was going on until they said he was a German spy.
I don't think John killed his stepmother. I think that's another red herring. Besides, there is still 25% left in the story. LOL

13.) What do you think about our narrator and giver or random marriage proposals, Hastings?
If someone proposed to me like that, I'd probably laugh too. Or at least back away slowly. Although maybe that wasn't strange for the times? Still seemed odd and off putting.
And in general I don't find Hastings to be a very likeable character.