Melissa’s Comments (group member since May 12, 2019)

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

Okay,I'm going to finish which was a birthday gift. I think it would be hilarious if we had a lot of these hot guy characters in our Jackanory - just prancing about. :)

Andrea wrote: "I liked the relationship between Sophie and Howl in the movie better, besides the animation is really beautiful (I am a fan of Studio Ghibli's movies).
As for the book, I liked that it explained he..."

I love Studio Ghibli movies :)

Phew,
I got us a camel!
But it was a bit of a slog.. the middle part was good.
The Last Camel Died at Noon

Elizabeth Peters
E1 - Camel in title, on cover
153 Historical Fiction MPG
188 Two characters are wearing hats on the cover
234 MC has a son (Amelia has a son Ramses)
37 Book set in Egypt
47 Sword on cover

Finished: Interpreter of Maladies
Date Finished: 5/11
Pages: 198
Tasks:
46, candle flames on cover
58, 2 primary stories are set in India
186, Jhumpa Lahiri is of Indian decent
73, book is 198 pages
168 Award winning (Pulitzer)

I also really liked The Murmur of Bees. I’d recommend that one. How about you?

Melissa wrote: "Has anyone read anything good yet since TT began?"

I liked The Foundling :)

Brittany, I finished Foundling - let me know if you'd like me to send it to you :)

Book Finished:
Stacey Halls
The Foundling
Date: May 10
Pages: 370
BOM
BOM Questions: Message; 301,302,304
Tasks:
#49: Books with different titles - The foundling/The lost orphan
#61: MC changes jobs: Bess was a shrimp hawker now she is a nursemaid
#88: Book set in big city - Set in London
# 84: Spell it out S - AFN Stacey
#112 or #169 - Spell it out L: Title Lost
#153: Historical MPG
#229: Mystery MPG
Bingo:
A4 Broom - Bess's neighbor Nancy was a broom maker
C2 Pile of coins - Bess's brother Ned was a thief

Book Finished: IlluminaeAmie Kaufman
Date May 10
Pages: 602
Tasks: 4 (first in the Illuminae Files Series)
21 Romance MPG
46 Flames on cover (it's more of an explosion, but there must be flames there)
109 Features robot / golem / AI (AIDEN is AI and a major character in this book)
116 Someone pretends to be someone they're not (AIDEN pretends to be Ezra Mason, among other people)
164 Young Adult MPG

DQ Day 3: Chapters 11-13
11. Do you think the author has been able to give Bess and Alexandra individual voices? Do you like books with multiple points of view?

Yes. I am really glad to hear Alexandra's point of view. It gives sympathy to this character, and understanding into what she might be thinking. It is really interesting to me how she remains so distant, as a result of trauma.

12. What do you think ‘Eliza’ and Agnes were talking about in the kitchen? Do you think either Agnes or Maria know that Charlotte came from the Foundling home?

I'm kind of wondering if they were talking about how Charlotte is really Eliza's daughter.


13. I think that Alexandra will get much worse re her fears of the outside after the mask prank. Do you think her thoughts about ‘Eliza’ will suffer because of it?

I'm not sure. She seems to have some reflective ability into how unconventional she is. I hope she doesn't lash out at Eliza. I was kind of hoping she would get together with the doctor, but that seems off the table for now.


14. Do you believe that Dr Mead was telling the truth about not knowing about what happened to Alexandra’s parents? Why has he lied about who ‘Eliza’ is?

That would be terrible if he did the masks on purpose! Cruel!! I don't know what he is doing about Eliza, except that he must know that she is the real mother. Something to ponder...

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DQ Day 2: Chapters 6-10

6. Were you surprised to find out Daniel had a wife? I personally was super surprised as I originally believed him when he said he was single. What do you think of the way Daniel died?
I wasn't really surprised. I just wasn't sure if he was married, or a "man about town."

7. How do you think Alexandra Callard knew about Bess and her daughter?
I don't really know. Maybe the doctor is involved?

8. What do you think of the way Alexandra and Charlotte live? Do you think Alexandra keeps Charlotte home to stop her from being recognized or because she is truly scared of the real world?
I feel sorry for Alexandra - there must have been an event to cause her to have agoraphobia. Still, it is not okay for Charlotte. She needs to be able to have a more normal childhood.

9. "Eliza" has been fired on her first day. What do you think of Alexandra's reasoning for firing her? Do you think part of Alexandra knows that she is Charlotte's real mom?
Well, Alexandra doesn't seem to trust anyone and has extreme control issues, so this seems like a perfect storm for firing Charlotte.

10. Do you think Bess will find a way to still see her daughter? How?
Well, there must be some sort of way. Either Alexandra sleeps on it and is okay with having Bess in the morning, or Bess maybe kidnaps Charlotte?

Hello :) I was away for the weekend, and so I'm just writing from my notes from when I was at the different chapters.
DQ Day 1: Chapters 1-5
1. How are you liking the writing style ? Are you enjoying the story so far?
I like how descriptive the writing style is. It seems to fit well with the time period. I wonder if the descriptions will continue throughout the story.

2. After reading that opening scene, what do you think of the practice of the Hospital taking babies based on a lottery (the coloured balls in the bag) ?
I thought this was really weird. I also was surprised at how well they seemed to take care of the babies that were picked as opposed to those who were not.

3. At some point Bess says that "knowing she [Clara] could be anywhere instead of nowhere at all was torture even more exquisite." Implying that not knowing where her child is is worse than knowing she's dead. What's your opinion ? Or would you rather not know ?
It must be terrifying to not know. It seems like there would be a continual responsibility to find out what happened. But yet again, maybe there would be continual grief. Neither is a very good option.

4. What do you make of the child's father, Daniel Callard ? Everyone keeps asking Bess if he's really dead. Do you suspect there's more to Daniel than we've been told so far ?
I think he's alive.

5. Time for your theories ! Who do you think claimed Clara on the 28th of November 1747, the day after Bess gave up her baby ?
I think it must be a relative of Daniel's.

Hmm I’ll have to say I was surprised when my last book came up as historical fiction, and it was set in the 1980s.... I guess that make me historical?

Completion : Trowbridge Road by Marcella Pixley
pages: 336
Date: 5/7/2021
Tasks:
6 Purple shirt, Yellow dress, green trees
74 Has "GOD" in title
95 Nana Jean saves everyone, basically - she is a grandparent of one of the main characters
181Mental Health MPG

Welcome Sehrish!
I agree with you, cats and coffee and books... what a fabulous combination!

Gem ~Zero Shelf Control~ wrote: "I started reading The Family Upstairs and in something like chapter 20 there's a bit to do with a new sock being found in a house that was supposed to have been abandoned for over 2..."

I love the fact that you picked out this sock from the story - I wonder how much you would have paid attention to the sock otherwise :)

Melissa wrote: "I’m in for Midnight Library. hopefully I don’t hate it. That’s the worst when you’re reading a book for a challenge and don’t like it. I always feel like I have to finish."

I was gifted this book, so I could read it too.

Maddy wrote: "Do you want them easy?

This is a funny vamp story but has a zombie character
this is very ac..."
Fabulous!
Thanks Maddy!

I am going to finish a few books first, but Illuminae is not too cheery. It’s kind of like a zombie book but biochemical weapons instead of zombies. I’ll finish it, but it makes me want to read a real zombie book though....
Anyone have a fun zombie book recommendation?
Are there such things as zombie westerns?
Just pondering.

Yeah, I started Murmur of Bees like 10 minutes after the challenge started. I haven’t done a challenge in a while so I started out our challenge in a sprint :). It should count.