Ashley’s Comments (group member since Apr 27, 2022)

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

Seems like the group is leaning towards either:
Red Sin
Redemption River

Jean, since they are your book choices, do you have a preference on which you want to read, which seems most interesting?

Karen ⊰✿ wrote: "I’m sitting in Sydney airport checking in :)
Just finished my last book for the round and added to the spreadsheet.
Emily Henry - so lovely! Although I was trying not to cry in the Uber on the way ..."

Safe travels Karen!

Just a reminder that the Buddy Read for The Hunger Games officially ends tomorrow (15-Jun). If you are planning to read for points, you need to be finished and have your participations post done by then!

Jean wrote: "Personally I think sin has a lot of options but it depends on the type of books they read. I’m good if they want to pick which they prefer."

I think it'd better to provide them with a firm Title, in the interest of not adding even more time to the choosing!

Arena Battles
In the interest of time and so that we can somehow get all our books chosen before time is up, I'm putting a time limit for nominating and picking books. We have lots to add!

I'm giving the team until 5pm CST/10pm UTC to add any new books and/or voice their votes for any possibilities...

District 10's Book Choice: Hot and Bothered

Current Possible Books
Red Moon
Red Sin
Redemption River

I just picked 3 from Jean's list that seemed to have good options for District 10!

I've got nothing for Red....

Round 1 End Housekeeping
End of Round Countdown: 18 Hours : 49 Minutes
I'll keep updating and reposting so that it doesn't get lost in our chatter, but if it doesn't pertain to you, you can certainly ignore it!

Book Shelves / Read Dates
The following books need to be corrected... 😊
🏹Keri! Please add The Switch and Long Lost to your book games shelf. Long Lost also needs a read date.
🏹Brittany! Please add The Hike to your book games shelf.

Round 1 Finishing Tasks
C67: The Great Divide (Cristina Henriquez) | Cass per comment: finishing soon

Group Check-In
✔️ Andy
✔️ Ashley
✔️ Brigia
✔️ Brittany
✔️ Cass
✔️ Chava
✔️ Eldarwen
✔️ Jean
✔️ Karen ⊰✿
Keri
Laura Crumpets
✔️ Laurie B
✔️ Lisa
✔️ Nous

Round 1 End Housekeeping
End of Round Countdown: 1 Days : 12 Hours : 6 Minutes
I'll keep updating and reposting so that it doesn't get lost in our chatter, but if it doesn't pertain to you, you can certainly ignore it!

Book Shelves / Read Dates
The following books need to be corrected...

🏹Keri! Please add The Switch and Long Lost to your book games shelf. Long Lost also needs a read date.

Round 1 Finishing Tasks
I will just go ahead a grab whoever finishes first for tasks C5 and C45, unless I'm notified otherwise.

C5: Sure Signs of Crazy (Karen Harrington) | Laurie B (backup: Andy)
C45: A Proposal They Can't Refuse (Natalie Caña) | Nous (backup: Lisa)
C67: The Great Divide (Cristina Henriquez) | Cass

Group Check-In

✔️Andy
✔️ Ashley
Brigia
✔️ Brittany
Cass
✔️ Chava
✔️ Eldarwen
✔️ Jean
Karen ⊰✿
Keri
Laura Crumpets
Laurie B
✔️Lisa
✔️Nous

Brittany wrote: "Mine are on the tracker and I may have more, still have 2 days left, right?"

Yes! Official time is: 1 Days : 16 Hours : 39 Minutes

I have less than 10% left in both of the books I'm finishing for Round 1 (BOM books) and should finish by tonight. :)

Round 1 End Update

Everyone please check in and let us know what (if anything) you are finishing up for Round 1. I'll add a check mark (✔️) once you've checked in!

✔️Andy
✔️ Ashley
Brigia
✔️ Brittany
Cass
✔️ Chava
✔️ Eldarwen
✔️ Jean
Karen ⊰✿
Keri
Laura Crumpets
Laurie B
✔️Lisa
✔️Nous

Round 1 Finishing Tasks
Round ends in: 1 Days : 18 Hours : 50 Minutes

Mini Tasks to Complete:
C5: Sure Signs of Crazy (Karen Harrington) | Laurie B (backup: Andy)
C45: A Proposal They Can't Refuse (Natalie Caña) | Nous (backup: Lisa)
C52: Flawless (Elsie Silver) | Brigia
C67: The Great Divide (Cristina Henriquez) | Cass

Housekeeping!

Keri! Please add The Switch and Long Lost to your book games shelf. Long Lost also needs a read date.

Brittany! Please add Murder Road to your book games shelf.

We have to have our Round 1 Sheets completed within an hour of Round 1 end, so please make sure that any books you are adding as read (or will be adding - especially if you will be completing them close to the end), are on your shelves, with read dates!

Thank you!

Hello from District 6!
Just dropping by to let you know we have chosen out First Book for our Battle!

"One Shot"

We look forward to your response book!

Attention District 6, an Announcement!!

Our first book will be "One Shot" from Jean (can you send me the book link on that one when you get a moment, Jean?)

The Gamemakers have given us leave to continue on with the planning phase so I will let District 10 know that we have a book chosen so that they can get moving on their choice.

Brittany wrote: "I am confused on what the 3 book choices mean, we read for them? we read for tasks inspired by them? We read a book with one of those words in the title?"

Brittany, we are discussing which book to use first for the Battles. You can read about them here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... and here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

So, do we want to do One Dark Window then? I would think finding a book title that starts with "Down" might be too awful...

Or do we prefer to try one of the options Jean mentioned?

DQs Day 3 - Chapters 14-19

11. Starling House reminded me up to a point with some vibes of Beauty and the Beast, although lesser now as the story progresses. Is the book reminding you of any other stories you have read before?

My favorite sentient house series - the Gertrude Hunt Innkeeper by Ilona Andrews!

12. Ch 14-19 have answered a lot of questions about Opal, the house, Arthur, the history of the place and what's going on. Has anything revealed in this section been surprising to you? Does the explanation so far of everything that has happened ring true?

So far, I'm not much surprised by anything and it seems to be proceeding as I would assume it should.

13. Jasper and Opal are clearly close, although he is sometimes moody and surly. He seems resentful at times of Opal going out so far on a limb to take care of him and get him out of Eden. What do you think of the character now that he has more fleshed-out scenes and more has been revealed about him and their relationship?

I think their relationship is pretty typical of an older sibling who is obligated to take care of and protect of a younger one - which inevitable carries with it resentment.

14. Arthur and Opal have heated a few things up. Do you think they fit each other well with these developments?

I like them together.

15. There is humor in the book that is overshadowed by genuinely creepy horror like tales, What do you think about Underland "beasts" revealed so far?

I don't really get them, honestly. Maybe I'm missing something.

DQs Day 2 - Chapters 8 - 13

6) The narration is using dual POVs: 1st person for Opal, 3rd person for Arthur. Does it work for you? Do you think this suits the story?

I don't mind it, and I think it does suit the story, as if Arthur actually exists outside the events of the story.

7) Opal goes to the Library to find out more about Starling House and finds her mother's phone number among the Gravely family's documents. What implications can it have? Do you think it could be a hint about Opal's parentage?

This is a very interesting tid-bit, although the implications have gone a bit over my head.

8) After Bev's story about the relationship between Eleanor Starling and the Gravely brothers, we get a totally different perspective from what Nathaniel Boone went through. What do you think about the Gravely family and their "hold" over the town of Eden? What do you think Nathaniel may have discovered in the dark?

Bev's account suggests that the Gravely family has long been entwined with the darker, more mysterious aspects of the town's history. Nathaniel Boone's experiences offer a contrasting perspective, hinting at the unsettling and possibly supernatural elements at play.

The Gravely family's "hold" over Eden can be interpreted as both literal and figurative. They might possess tangible power and wealth, which allows them to manipulate events and people within the town. Additionally, their influence could be more sinister, involving dark secrets or forces that bind the town to its troubled past.

Nathaniel's discoveries may hint of their manipulations or a deeper, more supernatural connection to the town's eerie occurrences.

9) Finally we learn some more about about Arthur's role (warden) and his connection to the House. What do you think about their "relationship"? What is your opinion about Starling House as a sentient being? Could it be good or evil?

The relationship between Arthur and Starling House combines elements of obligation, mutual dependency, emotional complexity, and mystery. This provides depth to Arthur's character and adding layers of intrigue to the house's role in the plot.

The concept of Starling House as a sentient being adds a fascinating dimension to the book, and I love this idea, as well as the idea that the house is neither good OR evil.

10) On "characters not communicating"
In Chapter 12 we find out that Opal has not told Jasper about the fact that she arranged for him to go to a different school and she actually managed to put together the fee for the 1st year already. Opal doesn't tell his brother about her working in Starling House and she doesn't tell Arthur about her spying on the House for Elizabeth Baine and getting more and more demands.
What do you think of all this?

I think this is going to blow up in her face, as these things typically do....

DQs Day 1 - Ch 1 to 7

1.) Have you read other books by Alix E Harrow? Was this on your tbr list before it was a BOM selection? Any expectations going in?

I have read 2 books from the Fractured Fables series (A Spindle Splintered and A Mirror Mended) and The Ten Thousand Doors of January. This book was on my TBR, but I didn't have any expectations going in.

2.) Did you read the footnotes as you went along? Find them helpful? Annoying?

I am listening to the audio, so the footnotes are just read as they are presented! I don't mind them.

3.) The discussion of E. Starling's book being too scary for children reminded me of some interviews with M. Sendalk when the Where the Wild Things movie came out several years ago about books, etc that scare children (when children are the target audience). His response was basically children should be scared sometimes and there's nothing wrong with that. And has further said, it's better to have a book full of fears than one pretending there's nothing to be afraid of. What are your thoughts on this topic?

I agree with this, and the non-coddling of children. Additionally, discussing scary things with children is important, because we don't overcome fears by ignoring them.

4.) What are your thoughts so far on Eden and Starling House? Has the author done a good job so far of creating an atmosphere and setting for a good gothic story?

I'm actually enjoying this so far. I find that gothic type novels/writing are very hit or miss for me, but I like the vibe here.

5.) Any favorites so far in our motley cast of characters? Opal, Arthur, Jasper, Bev, and Starling House.

I'm intrigued by Arthur and I want to know MORE!