Vicki’s Comments (group member since May 01, 2018)

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

Good point, Tammie! I'm glad we all stuck together, too. :)

We took first place? Wow! :) I love this challenge and I'm already looking forward to the next one!

Thanks everyone for all of the reading you did, and a special thanks to Tammie and MN Lisa for all the work you did to captain and co-captain.

Oh my gosh, Tammie, I am SO glad you reminded me about the BOM!!! I was obviously (as you know) in Arizona this past week and came home Thursday but thought I'd have yesterday to do my BOM DQ's but ended up absolutely needing to watch my grandchildren which I rarely do on Fridays. Long story short, I literally forgot about doing those questions so with your reminder I just now finished them in the nick of time! I'm so glad I saw your post to me! I was in AZ on the day I read Anxious People, so I think putting the date read in my phone just didn't save or something so I didn't know that either. Whew! Bet you can't wait to work with me again! I know I hope to work with you again! :)

DQ Day 4 Chap 32-45
(Finished with the book.)

15. We finally see Martha start college! Before she goes in, she starts to question herself and it's Mrs. Bowden who gives her a pep talk to actually go. Would you need a pep talk to restart college again? Can you sympathise with Martha and what emotions & memories college brings up for her?

I think anyone could use a pep-talk/support for going back to college. That being said, I didn't! lol I can see why others would definitely need words of encouragement to embark that journey.

16. The book brings one of the darkest parts of Irish history to the forefront with the Mother & Baby Homes. If you knew about them, do you think this was an accurate portrayal of the institutions? If you hadn't heard of them previously, how did the cruelty from the staff to the women make you feel?

I'd never heard about them before, but it seems obvious to me that anyone in today's society who is a decent human being would find them atrocious, as do I!

17. Henry ends up coming back to Ireland looking for Martha after leaving to end his engagement. Henry finds out that Martha never got his note. Would you accept this explanation?

Uh, NO! These two just didn't make any sense to me!

18. Opaline's baby was taken from her before she was able to even see or hold the baby because the child was born with the cord around her neck. Do you think the poor child is dead or that they lied to Opaline?

I thought they lied.

19. While in the asylum, Opaline shows a lot of compassion and empathy with the other women. Do you think over time she'll lose yourself and become hardened?

Trying to think back to this point in the book, I don't think that I thought that would be in her character to become hardened. That being said, I know that extreme circumstances can change just about anyone, so that would be something that (had I read this question at that time) I would like to have contemplated more.

DQ's Day 2: Chapters 13-22
(Finished with the book.)

5. In this section, we find out how Opaline ends up in Dublin. What do you think of Armand and her relationship/friendship with him? I feel there is something off about him but he does seem to want to honestly help her.

Well, at that point in the book I really saw him as rather shady...something being off about him. Not so sure that his motive was altruistic at all.

6. In many ways there are parallels with Opaline and Martha's stories. Both are running from abuse and from a life they do not want and both have ended up living in a basement apartment where the vanishing bookshop was located. Do you think these parallels will continue? Do you think this plays a part in Martha solving the mystery of the Lost Bookshop?

I most definitely thought parallels would continue, and yes, some mentions earlier in the book had me believing that Martha would those things would play a part in the solving of the mystery.

7. The old library in Italy! What a coincidence that a book that showed up in Martha's apartment, A Place Called Lost, is the same story of how Matthew's father built the building where his shop was! I just love how the author is building the connection from the past to the present. Do you have any guesses yet about what the connection or what happened to the Lost Bookshop? Have you read magical realism before? It's one of my favorite genres to read.

No real guesses at that point. I have read magical realism but not so sure I really like it. I need to read more to make a fair assessment of the genre for myself.

8. "Were we all preconditioned to love certain things? A moment in childhood, lost to memory but indelibly marked on our souls?" This quote jumped out at me while I was reading and made me think. I don't know when I started reading or where my love for reading came from. My mom always says I was carrying a book around before I could walk! But I have no specific moment where I fell in love with reading just that I always have loved it. It made me think was there a moment that happened but I can't remember? Something so significant it created something in me? Or was I preconditioned to love reading? What do you think about this quote?

I don't think we're pre-conditioned to love certain things at all, especially since our loves and desires etc. change throughout our lives.

9. I think Madam Bowden is going to prove to be a character with surprises. Could she be Opaline? Or a descendent? I think she knows about this vanishing bookshop and why it shows itself to certain people and not others.

Interesting...I hadn't thought about that to be honest, but I see why that would be something to consider at that point in the book.

DQ'S DAY 1 - CHAPTERS 1-12
(I'm finished with the book.)

1. Love the cover, love the blurb! I'm expecting big things from this novel. "The thing about books" she said "is that they help you to imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of."
Is this why you love to read or do you just enjoy good old fashioned escapism? Discuss.

I think I read for many reasons, those being two of the reasons. It depends on the book and genre. I read romance as an escape, historical fiction because of my interest especially in WWII and the holocaust, sci-fi (mostly yuck) to step outside my box.

2. In the Prologue and the first two chapters we are introduced to the main protagonists, Opaline, Martha and Henry. First impressions of these characters and what differences and similarities to you notice about them?

I like Opaline the best, Henry is okay but nothing fantastic, and Martha...ugh! I felt like they were all running from something, not to something if that makes sense.

3. In a novel about books (and big bonus points to the author for Wuthering Heights being the first book mentioned) there seems to be a lot of novels names and famous authors mentioned in the early chapters. How many of these have you read and loved.. or hated!

Hmm...if I remember them correctly. I've read The Hunchback of Notre Dame, David Copperfield, To Kill a Mockingbird (at least 20 times since I taught it), The Tell-Tale Heart, and possibly some others that I don't recall. I loved The Tell-Tale Heart and also To Kill a Mockingbird.

4. The novel is taking place in two time lines with Opaline in one and Martha and Henry in the other. How do you see the two timelines/storylines being linked and being a novel with a magical theme do you think the characters in the two timelines might actually meet?

Yes, I thought it was possible they'd meet via a time travel but was hoping not.

Oh, sure thing, Tammie :)

I have All My Rage to post and I will have my ladt book finished ON TIME!

@Tammie, I don't know why the Anxious People doesn't show it's on my wheels shelf because it is. I don't have a duplicate and I don't have the wrong book marked so not sure why.

Also, I just got back from my granddaughter's graduation and it was SO NICE! But I have a couple books to add but it won't be until tomorrow since I have to watch my grandkids at 4:45 AM until 4:00 or so tomorrow afternoon.

Okay amd THANK YOU!

You mean 4 hours 31 minutes?

No problem. Thing is there is a Kindle version so I don’t know why it shows 0 for a page count. 😂

OK, if I understand your post correctly, I can only put 100 pages? I looked on Goodreads and Amazon and both said 0 pages. Made no sense to me, but I don't know anywhere else to look. I'll set it to 100 pages on the SS. It does show a Kindle version published by Montlake, but it still shows 0 pages.

Tammie, I read on audio. It's 4 hours 31 minutes long, but no page number. This formula was used, so does this work?

Total length into minutes (271)
x150 words per minute (40,650)
/250 words per page (162.6 pages)

So 163 pages?

That does answer my question so it won’t work so I will remove it. Thank you, Tammie.

Tammie or anyone else who can answer this question, I posted Bing Crosby and Benny Goodman from one of my books, but I don’t know if the book needs to be about the person or if a mention is good enough. Since I am on my phone, I can’t find the answer to my question so if somebody can let me know, I can remove it from the spreadsheet from my phone easy enough. Thanks!

MN Lisa wrote: "Vicki wrote: "Oh good. lol I just read another one (Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery) so if you don't see it on Wheel shelf, let me know. I'm on my computer today though so it should ..."

Good, thanks ;)

Oh good. lol I just read another one (Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery) so if you don't see it on Wheel shelf, let me know. I'm on my computer today though so it should be good. I'm also going to read Watcher in the Woods so it should be good, too. Fingers crossed!

Tammie, I am updating my books now. Yesterday I was just on my phone so I think Holly Dates is OK now. I don't know why my phone doesn't always update my books correctly.

I Must Betray You already is on WHEELS shelf so I don't know why that one doesn't show up for you.

Good luck, Natasha. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel now, and you’ve done a good job paying off a big loan!! I was very blessed when I was a junior in college, and I applied for a loan assumption where they paid half of my loan off. I was the only one to get that. I was surprised because I had to write an essay for it. I had to work three years in a low income school district and they paid off a portion each of those three years. A huge blessing!