Shannon’s Comments (group member since May 21, 2018)

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

Hey guys! Sorry Ive been a bit MIA recently. Work took off and Ive been coming home exhausted. I go on vacation in three days so hoping to get more time to read then :)

DQs Day 1: Chap 1-11
1. Have you read the The Sun Down Motel by this author? If so, does it change your expectation for this book? Either way, what are your expectations for this book?

I have not read the Sun Down Motel or any other books by this author so I dont know what to expect from this book. It seems to have good ratings and be my normal sort of read though so I am excited!

2. The MC writes about cold cases and is in her late 20s and divorced. I have read quite a few horror/thriller/mystery books recently where the MC is a recently divorced, usually a bit older, woman. Have you experienced this as well? Why do you think authors might make this choice? Why do you think the choice was made for this book?

I have read quite a few mysteries and thrillers about murder cases. Most I've read are about girls in their teens or 20s/30s. Im not sure why its not usually about men. Maybe the author figures the audience is moreso girls.

3. This section includes the start of the interview. Did it go the way you expected? Any one comment really stick out to you?

I thought the interview went exactly the way I expected it. Although I wasnt expecting her to get the dectectives to talk to the main character. I did think she would swing the interview in her favor a little which she seems to have done or maybe she is innocent.

4. What do you think about the ghostly occurrences in this section? How do they add to the story (or maybe detract)?

I think the ghostly occurences may not be actually occurring. Maybe Beth has some PTSD still from her father being shot (by my assumption: her mother since her mother was begging for forgiveness of her). I think the ghostly occurences are intended to make Beth an unreliable narrator.

Sixty wrote: "Would the tether on the cover of count as a rope on the cover?"

I would consider that a rope

Just finished . Works for a lot of the tasks and it was such an amazing read!

For “mentions some type of championship” do you guys consider the european swimming championship ok. Im from america and was wondering if anyone knew if this was a big championship

Two of the BOMs just came in from the library! Really excited to get reading them! Will start them next Monday or Tuesday depending on when I can get to the library to pick them up

Finished . I really enjoyed this book. It was a really easy and quick read because I found it really interesting. It has a mirror on the cover too

I counted a witch as a sorceress as the definition is a woman who does magic

Just finished and was happy to find that it fit some of the tasks I didn't think it would

Volunteering for DQs for Ajax

Volunteering for DQs for Ajax

We need a few people to add the following books to their tower team 9 shelf...

Sara:
Under Fortunate Stars

Sarah:
The Secret Life of Cows

We can't add the books to the spreadsheet until they are on your shelves so once theyre added we will add them

Our team is doing amazing! We are currently in 1st place with a 200 point lead!! Keep it up guys!

Volunteering for ajax!

DQ May 19- How Noriko Learned to Love - End of Book

Do not read these if you haven't finished the book. Contains spoilers.

13. In this chapter we get to know Saturo's Aunt Noriko better. What adjectives would you use to describe Noriko's personality? How did you feel about the way Noriko revealed Saturo's birth story? Were you surprised to learn he was adopted?

I like Aunt Noriko. I think she tries for Saruto, but in the beginning she was obviously struggling to be a cat person. I liked the transition to being a better cat person. That was interesting for me and it made me happy because Noriko would be Nana's owner after Saruto died. I was definitely surprised that Saruto was adopted. I felt bad when he learned his own birth story because how ever old Saruto was was awfully late to learn that he was adopted. But I think he lucked out in the end and was treated way better than his birth parents would've treated him or an orphanage.

14. Did you think Nana running off towards the end and living his former life as a stray was fitting for the story. Was it believable that he would come back and forth visiting Saturo in the hospital?

I kinda was sad when she did this, but it made sense. Nana was there for Saruto, but once he was staying in the hospital it made sense that he would go back to his own life. He no longer had "his master" (Nana was a loyal cat). I found it slightly unbelieveable that Nana was able to come and go in the hospital and none of the staff were able to catch her. I feel like they would've called a person in who has skills in catching strays. I was happy that Nana was able to go into the hospital though.

15. Endings...they must be the second hardest thing to write for authors after beginnings. Did you like the ending? You may consider the Epilogue also when answering the question, if you like.

I loved the ending, but I most definitely was crying my eyes out. I was so happy that Nana got to see Saruto right before he died. I also was happy that Nana understood what happened and was at peace with it. I feel like most animals aren't and if that was the case I don't think I would've ever stopped crying! I also enjoyed the epilogue where Saruto was asking Nana if he was ready to join him and he said he had to teach the kitten to be a proper cat first. That was cute.

16. The author, Hiro Arikawa, has written other books, with very different genre. She has written books about Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF). (I have to admit I know nothing about that!).
Would you read another book written by her? And lastly, would you recommend this book to others? If so, would you only recommend it to people who you know are cat lovers or would you widely recommend it?

I would definitely consider another book by this author. This isn't my usual read, but I definitely enjoyed it! I also would recommend this to any animal lovers or anyone who just wants a peaceful read. I'm more of a dog lover, but I loved this book so much!

Emma (M) wrote: "Just confirming, that means that even books that had provisionally been assigned a number in the mini are no longer needed for the mini but can just be read for book points?"

Yes that is correct

Congrats guys! We finished the mini! Way to go!

You guys can keep reading to add more page points but all the tasks are accounted for until the next challenge starts. We are still a little under where we could potentially be with books read so there's still no penalty for reading (and even if there was it would probably balance out by the end anyways)

Abir wrote: "I finished Kingpin but I don't I'll be able to finish the other book before he end of the mini challenge

also, I finished the last DQ for the BOM to get us the 20 points: https://w..."


What number was the other book for?

Emma (M) wrote: "Hey Deanna, just letting you know that I won’t likely finish one of the two books I have left to read for the mini challenge (the one against 82). I’m on a long weekend away with family and am not ..."

No worries Emma! We will see if there's another book that can fit there!

No worries Saar! Just wanted to clear up any confusion :)