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

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

I don't think E decided to get the book right now since there seemed to be others to cover.

If you want I can email or PM you the questions and can post them for you if that would make it easier. Just let me know :)

I lost a bet and read the series. Save yourself

DQs Day 3
Part 3

9. "Home was vomit and broken glass, and under Frank's hands she was a ripe peach splitting open, danger and solace merged in the act." - what compelling language! I had to re-read this line multiple times, and I'm still unsure if I received the author's intent. What was your interpretation? What are your thoughts on Frank and Bridgit's affair as a whole?
That home was dirty pain and abuse and Frank made her feel desired and provided comfort even though she knew it could cost her everything. I think he was being an a**hole to get back a Lal because they aren't actually friends. I think she was really looking for a way out because she thinks if Lal finds, straight to divorce and she can take Rose and run for her life.

10. Let's talk about some of the characters. In this section I grew to truly despise Frank, understand Cora and Dom a little more, but Bridgit is the most interesting to me- I keep mulling over her desire to no longer be tied to Frank, divorce Lal, and get out, but seemingly choosing to stay for Rose; and shocked but intrigued by her actions on the phone at the end. Who stands out to you and why?
I think that phone call was brilliant. Frank might never recover from who bought all those paintings. LOL, dink. He deserved that 100%. What stood out was how unbelievably selfish all of the adults are and they are all crap parents. Bridgit is the best of the lot but being the best out of piles of crap isn't exactly something to brag about. Poor Dom, he needs a hug.

11. This section breathed new life into the book for me. It was refreshing to see one night of the story from multiple viewpoints, and it drew me in, knowing that it will be catalytic for the remainder of the book. Did part 3 increase, decrease, or have no effect on your enjoyment of the book and why?
I think it was an interesting and effective section. That seems to be a pivotal day for the families so I like that we got it all in one go instead of in snippets.

12. Who do you think got into the car with Lal?
I honestly don't know. I'm just riding this bus to crazy town and just waiting to see what's at the next stop.

Christian Grey & Anastasia Steele (Fifty Shades of Grey)
200 to 299
MC had/has a troubled childhood
grey cover
part of a trilogy
number in title

Lexi wrote: "Great, thank you. I finished Hot Prof if someone wants to spin a new one. I’m phone only for the rest of March."

I think I spun and landed on your favorite couple of all time :P

(note intense sarcasm)

Lexi wrote: "Judith, since it’s your task, would you accept for MC cries a lot, MC used to cry a lot as a child if it is plot revalent?"

sure

Tomorrow is a break/catch up day so I don’t think it’ll be an issue for you to post questions then.

I know you have a Stephen King fan or 2 on your team. Joyland is a good read and has the benefit of being a normal length instead of a doorstop.

The Exile by Jane Harper also good but a 3rd in series, you wouldn’t be lost though just reading it and not the first two.

Reapers are reaping no more. New one from Overly specific

The Devourers (Indra Das)
175-225
Tagged "south-asian" (5 or more times)
"""cannibal"" or ""cannibalism"" in text"
Tagged "Trans" or "Transgender" (5 or more times)
Author Initials (all) in KOLKATA

DQs Day 2
Part 2

5.) What do you think of Richard, past & present? Do you believe that he really loved Nell? If you were Nell could you of stayed with Richard or ever forgiven him?
I bizarrely like him as a friend for Nell. What he did was despicable and shattered what little faith Nell had in trust and relationships. But I also think he got into a situation he saw no path out of, not sure where he thought their relationship was going to go though. I think he really did love her though, that's why he's helping her now.
I would of walked to, I'd never trust him with my intimate thoughts again. Some things just can't be put back together.

6.) Do you like the set up of the book, flashing back and the current timeline? What about the Frank/Lal chapters with the Up/Downs, complicated friendship there. Do you find this effective or distracting?
I think this author is pulling it off, a lot don't and the story drags. I think it helps the flashbacks are short, to the point of providing context, and are only a chapter long before returning to the current time. I think the Frank/Lal chapters are very illuminating and I like the set up of the Up/Down. I'm not sure if they are life long friends or life long frenemies.

7.) "He used other people's bodies as weapons." Do you think Frank and Bridgit had the affair? If so do you think Lal knew/knows?
In the right moment I think it could of certainly happened if it was during Lal's drinking and the mental/physical/emotional abuse happening. As for Lal knowing? I honestly don't know, there's not much to go on for his character.

8.) Oisin got quite the reality check about his family. Poor dude, grandparents weren't always old and could of been very different people from who they are at 70. Do you think Frank and Lal did it? A setup, if you any guesses as to who?
Oisin's little head just exploded during that family meeting. Bless his heart. I don't think they did it and if it's a character we've had some page time on, I'm going to go with Cora. But that's just a guess with out much to back it up. I really don't know where this is going.

DQs Day 2
Part 2

5.) What do you think of Richard, past & present? Do you believe that he really loved Nell? If you were Nell could you of stayed with Richard or ever forgiven him?

6.) Do you like the set up of the book, flashing back and the current timeline? What about the Frank/Lal chapters with the Up/Downs, complicated friendship there. Do you find this effective or distracting?

7.) "He used other people's bodies as weapons." Do you think Frank and Bridgit had the affair? If so do you think Lal knew/knows?

8.) Oisin got quite the reality check about his family. Poor dude, grandparents weren't always old and could of been very different people from who they are at 70. Do you think Frank and Lal did it? A setup, if you any guesses as to who?

DQ'S DAY 1 PROLOGUE - PART 1

1. First up let's discuss the artwork on the cover. When this book first popped up on my Goodreads feed I was drawn to the intriguing combination of bones, keys and flowers. Pretty. How important are covers and cover art to you when choosing to pick up (or download) a book? Does the growing popularity of audio and eBooks lessen the importance of what the cover looks like?
I'm a ho for a beautiful cover. It won't necessarily make me buy a book but it will certainly make me stop and look. And that's either in the store or if something pretty pops up in my GR feed. So cover design matters no matter the media type I think.

To me word of mouth is still the best marketing for a book period. My GR peeps generally don't let me down :P

2. The author's note and the prologue set the scene for a riveting tale. Have you ever heard of Kim Williams' Masquerade (I hadn't)? What differences do you think the digital and social media era would bring as compared to the original treasure hunt?
No, but not sure if that's because I'm not in the UK and maybe it was more of a UK thing? Digital allows more accessibility but can also limit in a different way because physical clues would be harder to include. And you can just dig a hole to check. Easier for people to steal your work too. I feel the original treasure hunt would feel more like a quest or adventure than the digital one.

3. "What's mine is his and what's his is his". (Lall)
Frank - generous Patriarch, friend and benefactor or control freak? Discuss.
master manipulating control freak dink. I am not a fan of his.

4. Finishing up Part 1 the story is a little different to what I thought it would be. I was thinking along the lines of an epic Grail quest and for me it's more a story of the family dynamics and egos. Not about the actual text of The Golden Bones but how it has affected the author, family, friends and the Bonehunter community. What's your thoughts on the novel so far and what's your prediction for what's to come?
I think it's an interesting take on how fame of parents can impact kids through multiple generations. I have no idea except based on the blurb, someone dies. Not sure who though. I'm just going to go along for the ride.

Maybe it’s jet pack racing through the country. I hear that’s going to be the next big thing

if MelanieJoy wants day 2, I can take day 3 (or vice versa) and that'll at least get us to the break day.

I'm in for DQs! Sorry I didn't realize I'd never posted saying that until I popped in here to look at the breakdown.

*face palm*

The Survivalists by Kashana Cauley

A single Black lawyer puts her career and personal moral code at risk when she moves in with her coffee entrepreneur boyfriend and his doomsday-prepping roommates in a novel that’s packed with tension, curiosity, humor, and wit from a writer with serious comedy credentials.

In the wake of her parents’ death, Aretha, a habitually single Black lawyer, has had only one obsession in life—success—until she falls for Aaron, a coffee entrepreneur. Moving into his Brooklyn brownstone to live along with his Hurricane Sandy-traumatized, illegal-gun-stockpiling, optimized-soy-protein-eating, bunker-building roommates, Aretha finds that her dreams of making partner are slipping away, replaced by an underground world, one of selling guns and training for a doomsday that’s maybe just around the corner.

For readers of Victor LaValle’s The Changeling, Paul Beatty’s The Sellout, and Zakiya Harris’s The Other Black Girl, The Survivalists is a darkly humorous novel from a smart and relevant new literary voice that’s packed with tension, curiosity and wit, and unafraid to ask the questions most relevant to a new generation of Americans: Does it make sense to climb the corporate ladder? What exactly are the politics of gun ownership? And in a world where it’s nearly impossible for young people to earn enough money to afford stable housing, what does it take in order to survive?

My current 'nominate until I read it or it wins'. If it happens to win, I'll swap it out.

The Malevolent Seven

'Seven powerful mages want to make the world a better place. We're going to kill them first.'

Picture a wizard. Go ahead, close your eyes. There he is, see? Skinny old guy with a long straggly beard. No doubt he's wearing iridescent silk robes that couldn't protect his frail body from a light breeze. The hat's a must, too, right? Big, floppy thing, covered in esoteric symbols that would instantly show every other mage where this one gets his magic? Wouldn't want a simple steel helmet or something that might, you know, protect the part of him most needed for conjuring magical forces from being bashed in with a mace (or pretty much any household object).

Now open your eyes and let me show you what a real war mage looks like . . . but be you're probably not going to like it, because we're violent, angry, dangerously broken people who sell our skills to the highest bidder and be damned to any moral or ethical considerations.

At least, until such irritating concepts as friendship and the end of the world get in the way.

My name is Cade Ombra, and though I currently make my living as a mercenary wonderist, I used to have a far more noble-sounding job title - until I discovered the people I worked for weren't quite as noble as I'd believed. Now I'm on the run and my only friend, a homicidal thunder mage, has invited me to join him on a suicide mission against the seven deadliest mages on the continent.

Time to recruit some very bad people to help us on this job . . .

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/...
Day 5: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

DQ Set 5: Chapters 34 - Historical Note

19. Her relationship with Bernard goes through a real rollercoaster here, from "companionable rapport" to her rejection of his passionate final pleas. What do you think about these changes, and the relationship overall?
I think it shows her growth and the fact that she's grown up. I think it also shows the complicated position people were put in during this time period.

20. There's an important scene with her father, discussing race and how she should continue to navigate her life. Did you expect her father to say she should continue to pass? What do you think, having finished, about the different views about being authentic? Which - if any - characters felt truly authentic to you?
I think it shows that the line in the sand on issues are different for everyone and that's okay the answer doesn't have to be the same for everyone. It made me happy that they were able to reconnect. He mother felt authentic to me, even though she was passing. She felt like a mom, willing to do whatever it took to give her children a better life.
I'm still a bit confused about how things worked with her siblings' spouses and if they all knew the family secrets.

21. Having spent her life looking after documents, Belle chooses to destroy her personal papers. What do you think about this decision, especially within the context of her struggles with her identity?
I think it came from her need to hide and to protect herself, legacy, and her family. I could see her being worried about her fortune been seized if her passing as white became public after her death.

22. The Historical Note gives some context about the choices the authors made in writing the book. What do you think of this, and did it change how you perceived the book?
It was nice to have some factual context to frame where the took (and didn't take) artistic license. Also I think this collaboration worked better having the author's being different races. If this book had only been written by white authors, I don't think the nuances would of been there the way they were.

DAY 4 DQ'S - CHAPTERS 24-33

15. "No matter how close I feel to Bernard, how connected to him intellectually and emotionally, I will never divulge my secret."

So after their weeks of passion and declaring their undying love, Belle admits she will never reveal her secret. And Bernard shows jealously about her relationship with J P Morgan. Trouble in Paradise! Do you think the fact that Belle won't share her deepest secret with Bernard (and he doesn't see to be able to share his with her) lessens the significance of their relationship? And why do you think the two men are possessive of Belle in different ways?
Yes, I think they both feel their secrets but don't know exactly what those secrets are so there isn't the feeling of trust or security. I think they are both in lust with her in different ways and see her as a shiny prize/toy they don't want anyone else to have.

16. Wow, Chapters 25 and 26 are just poignantly sad. It seems Belle's hesitation to tell Bernard all was the right one. Was there any alternative for Belle other than the action that she took in London?
Honestly, no. It does make me wonder about her siblings' spouses though. They have to know about them passing as white but it still seems dangerous. Though I know Belle's risk is higher mainly because of her high profile.

17. Chapter 28 - What a powerful chapter. I had no idea of this small window in time in which equality looked so promising. And the US is not the only country that has to confront its past, Australia also has a lot of issues to work through as well. How are these confronting themes of racism, inequality and sexism affecting you as you follow along with Belle's story?
It just makes me so very sad. The US and other countries as well have come really far in obtaining equality. But still far to go and some things are systemic. There is a lot of focus on race issues in the US (as there should be) but one of the biggest issues is actually poverty, which most people don't talk or think much about. But it's so intertwined with race you can't effectively work on one without the other. I don't know what the answers are but I know the US still has a ways to go.

18. At last Belle has the Caxton Le Morte Darthur secured for Mr Morgan. But what ramifications! How do you see their relationship? Does it confirm the adage that men and women can never be just friends?
I think there is mutual attraction between them of various kinds and when both are emotional it makes things between them complicated. I think they see each other as intellectual equals. She sees him as security and he sees her as youth and vitality. Makes for a heady mix I think.
Men and women can certainly be friends. A significant part of my friend circle stemming from grad school are guys (yay economics!) it was never sexually weird to tempting then or now.