Natalie’s Comments (group member since Oct 24, 2015)

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

Book: Shadow Scale
Author: Rachel Hartman
Pages: 608
BOM: No
Date Finished: 11/10/15
Goals: none currently, but it has a character with "Z" name

Brie wrote: "You get the 20 points for participating and you get the normal page number points, which for Child Thief comes to 40. So you get 60 points total."

Weird, when I looked at the spreadsheet yesterday it had 40 points for the BOM column, giving me 80 overall. Looks like it was fixed though.

Erin (Paperback stash) *is juggle-reading* wrote: "Doing a google search...

Looks like a lot of Marvel Comics start with X, so if you have a graphic novel that qualifies...

Graphic novels don't count though right? Otherwise I'm sure I have an x-men one with Xavier that I could read quickly.

Karen Michele wrote: "I just got home and did a quick search for X characters and found this Goodreads Challenge that has some listed:

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

I'll try to c..."

I forgot about Xenophilius Lovegood from HP7. I did a reread of all the books except that one this year. Not sure when I could fit it in, but I can read it pretty fast.

Also I just wanted to double check the BOM points. It's 20 for just reading and participating and 40 for writing discussion questions right? I noticed my row for child thief says 40 under BOM, but I only answered questions.

Book: The Child Thief
Author: Brom
Pages: 481
BOM: Yes
Participation: Yes
DQs: No
Date Finished: 11/9/15
Goals: none currently, but it is broken into parts.

Here are the other first word goals, just to keep our eyes open.

Read a book where the first word of the text is The
Read a book where the first word of the text is They
Read a book where the first word of the text is As
Read a book where the first word of the text is This

I've been checking out some of the books I am planning to read on Amazon since you can usually see the first few pages. Nothing so far.

Erin (Paperback stash) *is juggle-reading* wrote: "It doesn't have to be a main character right? Just as long as a character's name starts with X?"

Right, I forgot about that. The character I mentioned first shows up in Lover Revealed. Shadow Scale helpfully has a character list in the back, but none that start with "X". There is a character with a "Z" name though.

Read a book where the character's first name starts with the letter X? The only one I know of (and I'm not planning a reread, sorry) is Lover Mine.

Shadow Scale does not start with "one" so that will have to be kept on the backburner for some other goal. I'll look through some others I'm planning on reading and see if they fit. I know a few of them are november releases.

I just started Hero which would count for our MCs have superpowers goal. It's an audiobook so I don't know exactly when I will finish.

For regular books I should finish The Child Thief today, which I think counts for the August goal unless someone finished it earlier. I'm also reading Shadow Scale, but I don't think it counts for any current goals. I have to double check the first word though.

Discussion questions The Child Thief chapters 20 – 23 November 8, 2015

28. How nice you escape from being persecuted for your beliefs and end up doing the same thing to other people. There is a strong undercurrent in this book of religion and religious persecution. The story also asks choices from the characters concerning their beliefs whether it is making a choice between magic, Christianity or something else like family. What do you think?

It reminds me of The Mists of Avalon with the change from Pagan Celtic beliefs to Christianity. The behavior of the colonists is in line with their period and not a surprise of how they reacted when they reached Avalon, similar to the Salem Witch Trials.

29. Did you expect Danny to betray Peter and the Devils? I was expecting him or Leroy.

I would have guessed Leroy, since he had betrayed them once already. I didn't expect it from Danny.

30. Do you believe the Captain has any fatherly feelings towards Danny? He seems concerned about what is happening to the Devils and does not agree with the Reverend about what needs to be done with them. What do you think, is he handling the situation as he should by essentially only looking out for himself (I wonder why because it didn’t get him anywhere but just really stuck on that island) or is there more going on that we don’t get to see yet?

He does seem to have fatherly feelings towards all the children, but clearly does not have control of the situation. He hopes to save Danny from the Reverand, but I don't know how he would have gone about that. I think there is more to him than we've seen.

31. Nick and Leroy are saved by the Fairy Nick rescued from the privy. Nick then doesn’t kill the guard do you think that he will be paid back in kind later on? They save Peter from the cross and escape only Leroy is deadly wounded. Do you think Peter really killed him to avenge Seque or was it a mercy killing?

Bit of both. He likely wasn't going to survive.

32. Ulfgar has gone completely of his rocker and is now killing his own kind. I think that sword is just a poisonous killer and does not give judgement as Ulfgar seems to think. What about you? Do you think they will be able to stop him and maybe turn things around and make him help them save Avalon although it seems that Ulfgar has turned his back to Avalon?

I think he's too far gone. I don't know if the sword is posionous or just takes its cues from its master.

33. What is going to happen to Avalon now that the tree is dead or dying and the Lady is captured? Do you think Peter and Nick can save the Lady and the island, or are they doomed?

I think the island is done for. Or at least it won't continue to exist as it has.

Team Moirai

I just got this from the library yesterday and read up through today's questions:

Questions for Chapters 16 - 19

22. These chapters were extremely violent. The Devils have left one war zone (their tumultuous home lives) only to find themselves in another. Nick wants to go back home and help his mother escape from the tyranny of Marko. Danny also voices a desire to return home. Do you think the children would be better off if Peter had never recruited them?

Honestly, I'd say they are in a better position at Avalon. The situations they were in before seemed to have no way out. None of them had anything resembling a bright future. At least in Avalon they have some freedom and choices.

23. Ulfger has a vision that prevents him from taking action to harm Peter. Is it the Horned One he sees?

Probably. Or something regarding Peter.

24. Why do you think Ulfger's guards finally turned against him?

They realized that Peter was right and their isolationist ways weren't helping.

25. When Peter & co. find the Lady of the Lake, she is glassy eyed and withdrawn. After recognizing Peter, she seems to revive and the spark comes back to her. What caused her to be "catatonic," and why does seeing Peter restore her?

I though back to when the witch tells Peter that she would take his eye, but the lady will take his soul. Maybe she gains strength from children?

26. Do you think Nick will be able to convince the others that Leroy is the one who killed Sekeu? Any predictions on which one of these two will survive?

Leroy is not surviving this book. I don't know if Nick will get everyone to believe him, but I think Peter will.

27. At the end of chapter 19, Peter sees Ulfger and thinks he is the Horned One. Does Ulfger intent to murder Peter, or use him for another purpose?

Murder is probably the long plan, but I think given their history, Ulfger will try manipulate and use him.

How does it work when more than one of us reads the same book (like BOMs)? Can we use the book for each time it is read or only once?

It looks like last round there was a separate section for posting books:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

Is that not the case this round?

Philippa wrote: "Hey Natalie, welcome to the group & the team! I've always meant to pick up one Tamora's books, any recommendations where to start? "

She has two fantasy worlds that she writes in. Tortall, is broken into multiple series, each with its own protagonist. The series can be read on their own, but you will see crossover between the books. Song of the Lioness is the first series, and my personal favorite, but I know a lot of people who started with other series.

Emelan is a different universe that focuses on four mages as they grow up. It's one series, but broken up into different quartets. I like both :)

Hello! I'm Natalie. I live near Boston, Massachusetts in the US with my husband and the two best cats in the world. I've been in the AAMP group for a while so I'm used to group challenges. I'm new to this group after getting lured over by some of the members here.

My favorite genre to read is fantasy. I love dragons and magic. However, my favorite book is All the King's Men. If you are looking for some fantasy, my favorite author is Tamora Pierce. My tower shelf is nbrc-tt4.

And I looked up the prouncouncation for Moirai and found this video.