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

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

Beth wrote: "@MN Lisa - Horns on the cover of The Captive's Curse... is that the thing immediately to the left of the lute that looks like an upside-down bowl? I see what I think are horns on that. :)

Also, yo..."

There's a big like musical horn on Captive's Curse right in front of the lute (I'm the one that recommended this one lol)

Lol! It'll make more sense once we know what to work off of. We're not going first so we really can't start yet, but once they pick their book I assume we will put out a "does anyone have a book planned that starts with these 3 letters call".

But I can voluntold you if you want 😂

So we will have to do planning and coordinating for this one. All books have to be planned during the first week and then read during the second (they can't be started until the start of the second week). Fortunately, they do not have to be read in order and luckily we have a team of fairly fast readers so I'm confident we can do it!

NEW MINI!



In order to succeed in the Arena you will need to battle with your competing District Tributes.

You have been matched with an opposition and will fight them twice (once in round 2 and once in round 3), switching who strikes first.

The fight will consist of parrying book titles back and forth, by matching the end of your opposing team's title with the start of your own. You can use or ignore articles at the start of the title. There must be an overlap of at least three letters.

Planning
To start the fight each pair will be spun a title by the Arena Masters. The first team must find a book with a title that overlaps by at least three letters, and declare their planned strike to their opposition team, who must then plan their riposte. Each team will plan out a maximum of 10 strikes each this way.
Books can be read in any language, but titles must be in English.

Note: planning must be completed within the first week, and you must NOT start reading any book until the second, fight, week.

Fighting
Once the fight phase starts each team simply reads their planned books!
There's no requirement to read them in the correct order, but if at the end of the week you have missed a planned strike then you will lose the battle, regardless of how many of the rest of the books you complete.

Supply Drops
Supply drops from your partner team can be used to provide ONE extension letter to help you make an overlap.
You can use either the first or last letter of your supply drop title to make the overlap work.
Supply drop books can be read during either of the two weeks, and may be started at any point during the challenge.

Points and Winning
Each team gets 5 bonus points for each completed strike
The winning team in each pair will get a further 5 bonus points
The winning team will be either:
- the team to make the last completed strike, if not all 20 books (across both teams) are read; or
- the team with the smallest number of overlap letters in their strikes, if all 20 books are read; or
- if there is a tie for number of overlap letters, a coin toss will be made by a neutral mod to decide the winner.

Example
Team A will strike first.
Their randomly assigned book title is Orphan Black.

Team A Strike 1: Blackwater (BLACK overlap, 5 letters)
Team B Strike 1: Terms and Conditions (TER overlap, 3 letters)
Team A Strike 2: Onset of Danger (ONS overlap, 3 letters)
Team B Strike 2: Anger (ANGER overlap, 5 letters)
Team A Strike 3: Gerald's Game (GER overlap, 3 letters)
Team B Strike 3: Me Before You PLUS a supply drop letter A (AME overlap, 3 letters)

Team A final total (of overlap letters) = 5 + 3 + 3 = 11 letters
Team B final total (of overlap letters) = 3 + 5 + 3 = 11 letters

Battle Pairings

District 1 & District 8
District 2 & The Capitol
District 3 & District 13
District 4 & District 12
District 5 & District 11
District 6 & District 10
District 7 & District 9

Timings
The first week in each of Round 2 and 3 shall be for planning your fight
The second week in each of Round 2 and 3 shall be for fighting your fight

In Round 2 Districts 1 - 7 will strike first
In Round 3 Districts 8 - The Capitol will strike firs

Greetings from District 12! We've narrowed down our supply books and wanted to let you know so that you're able to plan accordingly. In the next couple days we will send the following books.


-MPG Childrens but audiobook over 5 hrs
-Works for Mini: Orange cover
-Weapons: Gray on cover
-Shelter: 'abbey' in title
-Food:Orange on cover
-Defense: 'lake' in title


-Works for Mini: Horns on cover
-Weapons: Horns on cover could be used as weapon
-Shelter: "...in one of the caves above the village" p. 13
-Food: "I scrape up the last potato" p. 32
-Defense: Set in a mountain down that is inaccessible unless you can teleport


-Works for mini: Author's name has a diacritic
-Weapons: Letters of GUN in title
-Shelter: letters of HUT in title
-Food: "...holding sausage links" p. 79
-Defense: MC Maryse Boudreaux is a resistance fighter

We saw you needed these books on the mini so hoping they help! If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out to us captains!

I already did Bridge of San Luis Rey but can add Chronicle of Death Foretold as well!

Jade aka MrsTosh wrote: "It’s already on my shelf, not sure why it isn’t showing your side. It is tucked and marked on mine. Will try deleting it and re-adding"

You can ask Beth, I made a lot of mistakes checking last night lol I apparently needed sleep. Thank you for doing this :)

Jade, could you add Young Prince Phillip:His Turbulent Early Life to your shelf?

Thanks!

Beth wrote: "@Amanda, please add Caulky and A Stealthy Situation to your bookshelf. TYVM

@JadeAKAMrsTosh, please add The Secrets of Creswell Hall to your bookshelf. The Island Love Song doesn't have any resour..."

Done! It hasn’t been sticking unless I go to the big edit page so I’ll try to remember that from now on

Picnic in the Ruins by Todd Robert Petersen

A madcap caper across the RV-strewn vacation lands of southern Utah meets a meditation on mythology, authenticity, the ethics of preservation, and one nagging question: "who owns the past?"

Anthropologist Sophia Shepard is researching the impact of tourism on cultural sites in a remote national monument on the Utah-Arizona border when she unexpectedly crosses paths with two small-time criminals. The Ashdown brothers were hired to steal maps from a "collector" of Native American artifacts, but instead of delivering as promised, the brothers are out to strike it rich.

But their ineptitude has alerted the local sheriff to their presence--and forced their employer, a former lobbyist seeking lucrative monument land that may soon be open to energy exploration, to send a fixer to clean up their mess before it upsets her machinations. Sheriff Dalton, following the Ashdowns' trail, soon discovers he's not dealing with a simple burglary--and any hope the sheriff had for peace and quiet is long gone.

Reasons: Is it even a picnic if you don't have fruit?! (the answer is no)

That's my bad, I add links for Janine!

I'll fix my page count too

DQs – Day 3 Protective Impulses-Pert Thing

11. What do you think about the revelation in the garden/the haunting? Did you see it coming, and do you think there are others involved with the “curse”?
I did see this coming (I feel like the OG story is pretty well known, even if you've never read it), but I'm a Suspicious Sally so I still thought others were involved

12. What do you think about Mr. Rochester sending away Jane and the staff? If you have read the original, how does this change Jane’s agency, and do you like the change? Either way, why do you think the author made it Mr. Rochester’s choice?
I feel like it was done to add to the tension of the romance plotline more than anything. He seems very self sacrificing, so it made sense.

13. Have you ever visited an Apothecary’s Garden? Would you be interested in seeing one? Do you grow any herbs or are you interested in growing any?
I've never seen one but would absolutely love to! My grocery order recently substituted a sprig of basil with a basil plant and my black thumb killed it within like a week LOL

14. What do you think about the scene with Miss Ingram? What does this tell you about Mr. Rochester’s character and did that seem consistent with his character so far? Did his explanation make sense to you?
Honestly, I didn't understand the purpose at all and would've loved it to be left out. Based on what others have said, I guess it was a (forced) tie in to the original, but without having the original it makes even less sense.

DQs Day 2 - Baneful-"My Own Wee Thing”

6. Jane gives Rochester a black-coloured thumb-sized stone to keep with him as a protective talisman. Do you believe in talismans? Please tell us about an object that you keep with you as a talisman?
I don't really believe in talismans so I do not keep one with me.

7. Between some of the chapters narrated from Jane’s point of view, we get chapters from Rochester’s point of view. What do you think of these “interludes”? Do they help or distract?
I think they help quite a bit! It's nice to see how he is interpreting things as well

8. We are introduced to Dr. Poole. What did you think of this character particularly with regards to Jane meeting him in the poison garden? Were there any changes in your opinion after reading Agnes’ conversation with Jane about the late Mrs. Rochester?
I think meeting him in the poison garden is likely a red herring, otherwise it's very obvious. Honestly, to me Agnes seemed more shady, but maybe I'm just looking for there to be a big twist.

9. We have been told several times about a curse on Thornfield. Then Jane follows Rochester to the graveyard where his family members are buried. At this point Jane says “This was a story of heartache. Everyone in Mr. Rochester’s family had died before their time, especially the females. Then his wife had done the same.” Do you think there is a connection between the curse and the early deaths?
This is the first that it truly felt like a curse more than human (or human/magic) intervention to me. Since it's always women, it feels like something that is pointed.

10. We have been given information about Jane and her origin? What do you think of this twist in the tale?
Very interesting! Like I said before I was hoping for a twist so I'm liking that it kept me on my toes.

Bonus: The author has used several of the same names as those of characters from Jane Eyre. Other than Jane, Rochester, we have Brocklehurst, Maria Temple, Mrs. Fairfax, Poole etc. What do you think about authors using the same names in retellings?
I don't have a strong opinion either way, especially since I've never read the original in this instance.

DQs - Day 1 - Prologue-Blackthorn

1. A paranormal retelling?? of Jane Eyre - this prompts the question about the original or let's call it the "source for inspiration". What is your relationship to Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë? Have you read it? Loved/liked/disliked it?
I have never actually read Jane Eyre, but have read some retellings and enjoyed them. It's also just a story that has become just part of general knowledge.

2. What about Retellings? Is it a genre you like/avoid?
I love retellings! A lot of older language is difficult for me, so I appreciate when retellings make it more palatable.

3. Jane Aire as a witch in a school for orphan witches? How do you like the setting of this alternative Victorian world where magic is at least tolerated?
So far I like the setting. I'm a fan of witchy stuff in general, and I think it always works well with Victorian as it gives it a more eerie feeling.

4. What are your first impressions of Jane and Rochester?
I like them both well enough so far. I haven't really seen enough to form strong opinions and since I haven't read the source material, I don't really have anything to compare.

5. What do you think about the occurrences in Thornfield? Are they really caused by supernatural elements or is it human action
I'm thinking both, likely someone else with witchy powers.

Caly ☯ Crazy Book Lady wrote: "I just finished and added it to the sheet including a mini reference for the food word "Fish"

I am now reading the BOM and I want to make sure I am doing it right..."

Unfortunately, the mini doesn't start until June 1, so any books for it can't be finished until then. Still great for resource points!

For BOM you have to answer 3 groups of questions, correct (wasn't sure if you thought 6 posts, but it's 3 posts total). And yes, you have until June 25th :)

MN Lisa wrote: "I'm trying to confirm what books i've added and which ones I may have missed, but I a can't see the hidden rows....."

They're hidden when they're moved to the main sheet so you can see them there :) https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

You actually put it in the round one tab and then put the mini task number in the “mini column”. Otherwise it’ll mess up points!

@ Lisa, could you add Scout to your shelf? Thanks!

I felt like I was moving a little slow, but looking at the spreadsheet I'm right on track! I guess, as always, I just wish I had more reading time

Both of June's BOMs are up if anyone is interested! I've signed up for DQs for both.