Amanda’s Comments (group member since Mar 13, 2022)

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

Hello Everyone!

I'll be your captain this time around, looking forward to the next couple months with you all! Please take a moment to read through everything above and ask any questions you have. If you look at the tabs on our planning spreadsheet for each mini it'll hopefully become a bit clearer, but we're here to answer any questions you have!

As a quick getting to know each other, let's all answer the following:
- Is this your first time playing TT?
- Where's your favorite place you've ever travelled to?
- What's your number one bucket list place you'd travel to if money/time were no object?

Our Planning Sheet

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

This is where you will put all your books! The main sheet is for captains only. If you have to request access you're in the wrong place!

📚 Spreadsheet Time! 📚
Everything you enter will go under the "Books" tab. The other tabs will come from us! We've added some new columns to the Books tab and here's what you need to know:

🗺️ New Columns:
Country/Reason – This helps with the 11 Book Itinerary and the World Wheel Mini challenges.
➡️ Reasons can be:
50%+ set in the country
Author born there
For non-fiction: subject is about that country
I added a note in cell J2 with a quick reference.

Cover Colors – For all our rainbow challenge and visual sorting fun 🎨

Series, AFN, ALN, Character Name – This is to help with spellouts and easier searching.

🟩 Status Highlighting (conditional colors):
To help us track where a book stands, we’re using color coding:
GREY – Read, shelved, and moved to the official sheet
RED – Moved, but not read and/or not shelved
YELLOW – Read, but not shelved
GREEN – Read and shelved, but not moved

Please fill in details wherever possible — this helps us captains/co-captains rearrange or cross-check books as needed.

💬 There are times when we will need to move things around to make things fit or to complete tasks. If it's an extremely hard task and you don't want us to move your book under any circumstances, please let us know!

MINI INFO (these will take place the entire competition!)


Novels Around the World
Each team will create their own Book Travel Itinerary of 11 books, each set in a different country, written by an author born in the country, or a nonfiction book where events in the country are the primary subject of the book. No more than 6 books can be chosen from among a list of easier to find countries (easy). At least 3 books will have to be chosen from off the beaten track countries (midlevel), and at least 2 more books should be from challenging countries (hard).

Note your itinerary may use fewer easy countries and more midlevel or harder countries but each itinerary must have at least 3 midlevel and 2 hard countries. There is a tab in the team spreadsheet that provides a list of countries in each category. The reason on the spreadsheet should match exactly the spelling of the country provided in these lists.

Once one Book Travel Itinerary has been finished, the team can start on a new Book Travel Itinerary. Countries may only be duplicated once. If, for example, your team has read a book set in the UK for Itinerary 1 and for Itinerary 2, you will not be able to read a book set in the UK for Itinerary 3.

The next itinerary can only be started once the previous itinerary has been completely finished. Within the itinerary, you don't have to read books in order, meaning your first 11 books can be finished in any random order. But you cannot move onto your next itinerary if all books from the previous itinerary have not been finished.


◈ Each book read can only be used for one mini challenge.
◈ Each book read can only be used for one task.
◈ Each book read must be set for 50% or more in the selected country, verifiable that the author was born there, or clear that the country is the primary subject matter of the nonfiction book.
◈ Fantasy settings of real countries are allowed. Korea fantasy books or historic books where is it otherwise not clearly set in the north are defaulted to South Korea.
◈ Contemporary boundaries are to be used in determining which country a book takes place in and if it is not clear, save everyone the headache and use it for a different task. Please and thank you.
◈ Books can be started at any point since the start of Tower Teams XI (17th May 9am UTC).
◈ The usual book length rules apply.
◈ You will gain 5 points for each easy country, 10 points for each midlevel country, and 20 points for each hard country.
◈ One partial itinerary will be allowed



Traveling around the world
Let's go on a trip! Or five! Are you excited? Who wants to tag along? Pack your bags and most importantly your books, and let's gooo!

Whether you'd rather go on a road trip, an all-inclusive beach vacation, an adventurous hike through unknown lands, or an easy-going city trip, this mini challenge will have something for everyone's tastes.

There are several tasks you can read for. Alright... there are a LOT of tasks that you can read for. You will only ever have a set number of tasks on your spreadsheet. Once you have completed a task, a new one will appear on your spreadsheet until all tasks have been revealed. For these tasks, you may use any book that the team has read since the beginning of the challenge as long as they have not yet been used for a different task or mini challenge. Books can only ever be used once.

This mini challenge runs from the beginning of Tower Teams XI until the very end of the challenge.

Remember, Tower Teams is a marathon and not a sprint. So take your time and enjoy the trip(s)!

◈ Each book read can only be used for one mini challenge.
◈ Each book read can only be used for one task. Once books have been entered for a task and a new task has been received, you cannot swap books around for different tasks.
◈ For books with a specific setting, books with an alternate universe/reality are acceptable.
◈ Series substitutions are allowed for the shelves/lists.
◈ Books can be started at any point since the start of Tower Teams XI (17th May 9am UTC).
◈ The usual book length rules apply.
◈ The usual spell-out rules apply unless stated differently.
◈ You will gain 10 points for each task you complete.


World Wheel
We all love spinning a wheel and enjoying the randomness it'll churn out. Twenty-four countries were placed on the World Wheel. Teams will have 2 countries at a time and once a full set of country tasks are completed and entered on the official spreadsheet, captains can get a new spin for the next country.

Countries cannot be repeated. Tasks include things related to each country including colors from the flag, authors born in the given country, and the country name spelled out.

◈ Each book read can only be used for one mini challenge.
◈ Each book read can only be used for one task.
◈ For books with a specific setting, books with an alternate universe/reality are acceptable.
◈ Books can be started at any point since the start of Tower Teams XI (17th May 9am UTC).
◈ The usual book length rules apply.
◈ The usual spell-out rules apply unless stated differently.
◈ You will gain 10 points for each task you complete.

BOM INFO:

What the River Knows Starts May 18

✔️ Amanda - Tower2025 - MAX BOOKS PER MONTH: 37
✔️ Shannon O'Flynn Co-Captain - ttxi - MAX BOOKS PER MONTH: 11
✔️ Lisa Co-Captain - A-tt-xi - MAX BOOKS PER MONTH: 35
✔️Rebecca Guyer - Tower - MAX BOOKS PER MONTH: 27
✔️ Shan ~A~ - 2025 NBRC Tower Teams - MAX BOOKS PER MONTH: 35
✔️ megan - SHELF - MAX BOOKS PER MONTH: 11
✔️ Haley - Tower Teams 14-2025 - MAX BOOKS PER MONTH: 18
• Reed - SHELF - MAX BOOKS PER MONTH: 9
✔️ Trio - Tower Teams - MAX BOOKS PER MONTH: 17
✔️ Natasha - World Tower Teams 2025 - MAX BOOKS PER MONTH: 13
✔️ Teresa Fletcher - SHELF - MAX BOOKS PER MONTH: 15

Link to Rules/Announcements

PLANNING SHEET - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami

A novel about one woman’s fight for freedom, set in a near future where even dreams are under surveillance.

Sara has just landed at LAX, returning home from a conference abroad, when agents from the Risk Assessment Administration pull her aside and inform her that she will soon commit a crime. Using data from her dreams, the RAA’s algorithm has determined that she is at imminent risk of harming the person she loves most: her husband. For his safety, she must be kept under observation for twenty-one days.

The agents transfer Sara to a retention center, where she is held with other dreamers, all of them women trying to prove their innocence from different crimes. With every deviation from the strict and ever-shifting rules of the facility, their stay is extended. Months pass and Sara seems no closer to release. Then one day, a new resident arrives, disrupting the order of the facility and leading Sara on a collision course with the very companies that have deprived her of her freedom.

Eerie, urgent, and ceaselessly clear-eyed, The Dream Hotel artfully explores the seductive nature of technology, which puts us in shackles even as it makes our lives easier. Lalami asks how much of ourselves must remain private if we are to remain free, and whether even the most invasive forms of surveillance can ever capture who we really are.

**ETA for tower friends this author is from Morocco!

Oooh my weird book works again! Mountain Lion that lives in the mountains


Open Throat by Henry Hoke

A lonely, lovable, queer mountain lion narrates this star-making fever dream of a novel.

A queer and dangerously hungry mountain lion lives in the drought-devastated land under the Hollywood sign. Lonely and fascinated by humanity’s foibles, the lion spends their days protecting the welfare of a nearby homeless encampment, observing obnoxious hikers complain about their trauma, and, in quiet moments, grappling with the complexities of their gender identity, memories of a vicious father, and the indignities of sentience. “I have so much language in my brain,” our lion says, “and nowhere to put it.”

When a man-made fire engulfs the encampment, the lion is forced from the hills down into the city the hikers call “ellay.” As the lion confronts a carousel of temptations and threats, they take us on a tour that spans the cruel inequalities of Los Angeles and the toll of climate grief, while scrambling to avoid earthquakes, floods, and the noise of their own conflicted psyche. But even when salvation finally seems within reach, they are forced to face down the ultimate question: Do they want to eat a person, or become one?

In elegiac prose woven with humor, imagination, sensuality, and tragedy, Henry Hoke’s Open Throat is a marvel of storytelling, a universal journey through a wondrous and menacing world told by a lovable mountain lion. Both feral and vulnerable, profound and playful, Open Throat is a star-making novel that brings mythmaking to real life.

Mask of the Deer Woman by Laurie L. Dove

To find a missing young woman, the new tribal marshal must also find herself. At rock bottom following her daughter’s murder, ex-Chicago detective Carrie Starr has nowhere to go but back to her roots. Starr’s father never talked much about the reservation that raised him, but they need a new tribal marshal as much as Starr needs a place to call home. In the last decade, too many young women have disappeared from the rez. Some dead, others just… gone. Now, local college student Chenoa Cloud is missing, and Starr falls into an investigation that leaves her drowning in memories of her daughter—the girl she failed to save. Starr feels lost in this place she thought would welcome her. And when she catches a glimpse of a figure from her father’s stories, with the body of a woman and the antlers of a deer, Starr can’t shake the feeling that the fearsome spirit is watching her, following her. What she doesn’t know is whether Deer Woman is here to guide her or to seek vengeance for the lost daughters that Starr can never bring home.

Who wants to read something weird?


Open Throat by Henry Hoke

A lonely, lovable, queer mountain lion narrates this star-making fever dream of a novel.

A queer and dangerously hungry mountain lion lives in the drought-devastated land under the Hollywood sign. Lonely and fascinated by humanity’s foibles, the lion spends their days protecting the welfare of a nearby homeless encampment, observing obnoxious hikers complain about their trauma, and, in quiet moments, grappling with the complexities of their gender identity, memories of a vicious father, and the indignities of sentience. “I have so much language in my brain,” our lion says, “and nowhere to put it.”

When a man-made fire engulfs the encampment, the lion is forced from the hills down into the city the hikers call “ellay.” As the lion confronts a carousel of temptations and threats, they take us on a tour that spans the cruel inequalities of Los Angeles and the toll of climate grief, while scrambling to avoid earthquakes, floods, and the noise of their own conflicted psyche. But even when salvation finally seems within reach, they are forced to face down the ultimate question: Do they want to eat a person, or become one?

In elegiac prose woven with humor, imagination, sensuality, and tragedy, Henry Hoke’s Open Throat is a marvel of storytelling, a universal journey through a wondrous and menacing world told by a lovable mountain lion. Both feral and vulnerable, profound and playful, Open Throat is a star-making novel that brings mythmaking to real life.

The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard

A literary speculative novel about an isolated town neighbored by its own past and future

Sixteen-year-old Odile is an awkward, quiet girl vying for a coveted seat on the Conseil. If she earns the position, she’ll decide who may cross her town’s heavily guarded borders. On the other side, it’s the same valley, the same town--except to the east, the town is twenty years ahead in time. To the west, it’s twenty years behind. The towns repeat in an endless sequence across the wilderness.

When Odile recognizes two visitors she wasn’t supposed to see, she realizes that the parents of her friend Edme have been escorted across the border from the future, on a mourning tour, to view their son while he’s still alive in Odile’s present. Edme––who is brilliant, funny, and the only person to truly see Odile––is about to die. Sworn to secrecy in order to preserve the timeline, Odile now becomes the Conseil’s top candidate, yet she finds herself drawing closer to the doomed boy, imperiling her entire future.

The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant

In this captivating novel of suspense, a wilderness guide must team up with the man who ruined her life years ago when the friend who introduced them goes missing.

Emlyn doesn’t let herself think about the past.

How she and her best friend, Janessa, barely speak anymore. How Tyler, the man she thought was the love of her life, left her freezing and half-dead on the side of the road three years ago.

Her new life is simple and safe. She works as a fishing and hunting guide, spending her days in Idaho’s endless woods and scenic rivers. She lives alone in her Airstream trailer, her closest friends a handsome and kind Forest Service ranger and the community’s makeshift reverend, who took her in at her lowest.

But when Tyler shows up with the news that Janessa is missing, Emlyn is propelled back into the world she worked so hard to forget. Janessa, it turns out, has become a social media star, documenting her #vanlife adventures with her rugged survivalist boyfriend. But she hasn’t posted lately, and when she does, it’s from a completely different location than where her caption claims to be. In spite of their fractured history, Emlyn knows she might be the only one with the knowledge and tracking skills to save her friend, so she reluctantly teams up with Tyler. As the two trace Janessa’s path through miles of wild country, Emlyn can’t deny there’s still chemistry crackling between them. But the deeper they press into the wilderness, the more she begins to suspect that a darker truth lies in the woods―and that Janessa isn’t the only one in danger.

Poignant, suspenseful, and unforgettable, THE NATURE OF DISAPPEARING explores what it takes to start over―and the cost of letting the past pull you back in.

MC is a Forest wilderness guide and they are searching the woods for their friend

Amanda'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/...

DQ Set 4: Chapters 43-End

15. We’ve come to the actual murders! What did you think of each executed plan? Were the success levels what you expected?
I honestly was back and forth on Cliff finishing all the way to the end. Doria seemed like she was going to do whatever it takes and Gemma was more like she felt she had to rather than she actually wanted to.

16. Doria’s chapter starts with the enquiry, “Have you given your target every last chance to redeem themselves?” Did you believe she did?
I definitely do. Her target pulled all his usual crap right up to the end so she knew he had not changed.

17. Cliff’s Chapter starts with the enquiry, “Is this murder necessary” Do you think it was?
Yes, definitely. He was directly responsible for other deaths.

18. Gemma’s chapter starts with the enquiry, “What Innocent person might suffer by your actions?” This ends up being vital to her plan. Did the result change your opinions of Gemma? Reinforce how you already felt about her?
I already felt like Gemma was a good person based on her characterization and like I said previously, it felt like she felt she had to do it, not like she actually wanted to. Her whole "ending" seemed to really fit with who I've been lead to believe she was as a person.

19. How’d you feel about Cliff’s benefactor? To me, it seems like in another life Jacek Horvath could have been a McMasters student. What did you think of these reveals
These two reveals were some of my favorites. I did not see it coming at all, but it made perfect sense. Very sad about Jacek though.

20. What did you think of where the author chose to have each of the three end up? Do you think they’ll be appearing in sequels?
I thought where they ended up made perfect sense. I think we'll see Cliff and Gemma just teaching (so brief cameos), but it seems like Doria might be back for another deletion

DQ Set 4: Chapters 43-End

15. We’ve come to the actual murders! What did you think of each executed plan? Were the success levels what you expected?

16. Doria’s chapter starts with the enquiry, “Have you given your target every last chance to redeem themselves?” Did you believe she did?

17. Cliff’s Chapter starts with the enquiry, “Is this murder necessary” Do you think it was?

18. Gemma’s chapter starts with the enquiry, “What Innocent person might suffer by your actions?” This ends up being vital to her plan. Did the result change your opinions of Gemma? Reinforce how you already felt about her?

19. How’d you feel about Cliff’s benefactor? To me, it seems like in another life Jacek Horvath could have been a McMasters student. What did you think of these reveals

20. What did you think of where the author chose to have each of the three end up? Do you think they’ll be appearing in sequels?

DQ Set 3: Chapter 22 - 42

11. We've left the campus! But first, a couple of points: there's an area of debate around the Dean v Assistant Dean approaches (wide v narrow curricula, focus on quality v focus on quantity). What side do you come down on? Did you expect Jud's outcome?

I definitely side with the Dean. If you're teaching a group of people how to murder, you must be pretty particular about who you teach. I was surprised by Jud's outcome, but probably shouldn't have been. They're not looking for sociopaths who just want to murder, although it's a little bit of a conundrum that they've now killed multiple time rather than just who they (assumedly) initially wanted deleted.

12. Cliff has put into practice an extremely complex plan. What do you think of the plan?
Cliff's was extremely complex, which honestly left a lot of room for bumbling it. I think that fit though because I think you're always supposed to be unsure on if Cliff will end up following through or not.

13. Doria's plan isn't as complex, but her target - whilst obnoxious - seems less worthy of deletion, being very much male abusing his power. Do you have thoughts on Doria's strand?
I just dislike Doria (lol). But, I think if I was a woman in the 1940s who had her career completely ruined by a man I would have an extreme (but hopefully nonmurderous ) reaction. There was probably nothing she could do to challenge it and get her career back.

14. Gemma is having to free-style, given Adele is not handily falling into line with the plan. Do you think Gemma will be successful in her attempt to kill Adele?
I've read the whole book by now so I am abstaining from this one!

Judith wrote: "Amanda, that would be great if wanted to write the last set!"

Yes! I have them all ready to go for tomorrow. My goal this year is to do more buddy reads and BOTM so I'm so glad this first one worked out so well

Judith, if you want me to try my hand at the final set of DQs let me know. I can do a quick refresher on that last section and come up with something :)

DQs Day 2

6. This book is about how to murder your employer and a school of helping those perfect it. Would you watch a series or movie if made on the storyline? Why/why not?
I definitely would. I actually have described this book to multiple people as being Mel Brooks-esque. I think a semi-slapstick dark comedy version of this would be amazing.

7. The ethics of the book could be questioned but have you learned anything new that all media in the world has to offer?
I think it's interesting how there are still some ethics involved. You can't just delete whomever you want, and there's a reason certain students get chosen.

8. What was your favorite scene in these chapters?
I'm 2 days and 3 other books out so I do not remember exactly what happens in this stretch. Was the back and forth record player pranks in here? I did enjoy those

9. We are getting a mix of media from storyline, rulebook, reports, and pictures. Are you reading this physically, electronic, or audio?
I listened to the audio (amazing, definitely recommend) but when Judith pointed out there were pictures I also flipped through to get a sense of what I was missing!

10. What do you think of each of their Hunting game? Did you think their names were mixed up
I said this in another thread where we're all discussing, but I thought it was a little confusing at times. I actually had to grab my ebook to read along to figure out what I was missing.

I'm gonna try to answer with just the information everyone else has but I've finished it so if I might be spoilery I'll add some spoiler tags

1.) The book certainly begins in a unique way. Was the textbook like way it began effective to catch your interest in the story?
I really enjoyed the textbook format. It was surprisingly well done, even in audiobook.

2.) Wow, what an intro to the school. I admire Cliff's roll with it attitude. How do you think you would of reacted in a similar situation?
Lol, not good. I am not what you would ever describe as a go with the flow person so I would be panicking.

3.) That was quite the escape attempt. Cliff is definitely a quick thinker, but maybe a bit too quick. Should he had waited a bit before trying to pull a runner?
I think waiting would have probably just resulted in him not pulling a runner, when he would inevitably realize it was futile. I figured the ice cream truck was too convenient, but wasn't expecting the whole elaborate setup

4.) We certainly have and interesting cast of characters. The background on Gemma and Doria was helpful. Any favorites so far?
I really like Cliff! He remained my favorite the entire time.

5.) The discussion around "I could never murder anyone. Except maybe . . ." was an interesting one. What are your thoughts on this statement and how true do you think it is
I think it can be true, when you take out the personal (I don't remember the exact discussion). But saying "I could never murder anyone. Except maybe Hitler" does not seem like a farfetched thought.

Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder by Kerryn Mayne

Lenny Marks is excellent at not having a life.

She bikes home from work at exactly 4pm each day, buys the same groceries for the same meals every week, and owns thirty-six copies of The Hobbit (currently arranged by height). The closest thing she has to a friendship is playing Scrabble against an imaginary Monica Gellar while watching Friends reruns.

And Lenny Marks is very, very good at not remembering what happened the day her mother and stepfather disappeared when she was still a child. The day a voice in the back of her mind started whispering, You did this.

Until a letter from the parole board arrives in the mail—and when her desperate attempts to ignore it fail, Lenny starts to unravel. As long-buried memories come to the surface, Lenny’s careful routines fall apart. For the first time, she finds herself forced to connect with the community around her, and unexpected new relationships begin to bloom. Lenny Marks may finally get a life—but what if her past catches up to her first?

Equal parts heartbreaking and heartwarming, Kerryn Mayne’s stunning debut is an irresistible novel about truth, secrets, vengeance, and family lost and found, with a heroine who's simply unforgettable.