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

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

One question: we only assign 1 of the tasks OR 3? If I found a book that matches 1 & 2 or 1 & 3 etc. I can’t claim both for points?

I’ll not worry about the DQ’s then unless someone posts otherwise.

Thanks, Jill.

Thanks, Trinia! I wonder if I can contribute to the BOM answers if I am not reading the book NOW. I already read in June, but I can possibly do the DQ's/A and get points or do I have to be reading it concurrently?

Not trying to rush anyone, but any idea when you'll each be done with group 2 books? I plan to start my group 1 book so I can hopefully use it for another challenge so I'm just curious if that's feasible for me to do or not. :)

Finished my group 2 book and hopefully it's added to the SS, if not I finished it Oct. 2.

I also read if we can use it for the ladder? 285 pages.

I’m in San José del Cabo & will be here till the 10th and this challenge starts the 7th. So the internet service is VERY spotty & frustrating! So I mostly am using my phone. I can access the internet but only so far. So if I have seen a link & click on it, most of the time it won’t open. Grr so I’m concerned about finding books at this point. Does anyone know if two of us can read the same books? If so, at least for the first week I could read a book someone else found.

I’m a little bit mad at myself for reading a really green book the other day that could have counted for something.

Great! I’ll start it tomorrow morning!

YAY!!!!! Jenny, is my book The Perfect Couple for group 2?

Works for me, Jenny. :)

Me too Jenny IF I got in the jury box to be questioned.

Lol Trisha I had jury duty recently too.

Jenny, surprisingly I did like it more than I thought I would. But sci-fi is still not one of my favorite. Lol

I finished the DQ's and added the date read onto the SS, so we will get our points for that.

It's too bad we can't use that one book for a spell-out since it I was able to read it already. :(

DQs Day 4: Book 5

18. In "Book 5" there is as much focus on Barry and Helena's relationship as there is on their attempts to stop the world remembering previous timelines and therefore avert catastrophe. What did you think of their romance, and how it played out over multiple time re-sets?

Haha! That's a good one! I guess it was okay but certainly not mind-blowing for me. The way it played out over multiple time re-sets was done pretty well. In some ways I felt it was repetitive.

19. Earlier in the book, I never got the sense that Barry was a particularly brainy person, but here we often see him doing advanced math and science stuff alongside Helena, on timelines where they met in their early 20s. What did you think of Barry's participation in Helena's work?

I gave him kudos. LOL He's brainier than I thought as well. But I wasn't that surprised really.

20. Each April 16 2019 brings a brand new same old nuclear apocalypse! But if everyone in the world gets their "false" memories back at the same time, then everyone would remember those other apocalypses too. Do you think that humankind would really keep reacting the same way over and over, repeatedly dooming themselves?

That's a good question. I do think they'd tend to react the same with the exact same given circumstances and no new information or memories of what went wrong and why/how to consider new ways.

21. The solution seems so simple, though I think it contradicts what we were told earlier in the book about the possibility of going back into a "false" memory. Did Barry going back to the "original" timeline make sense to you?

For me it made no sense at all!

22. In the epilogue, we learn everybody's ultimate fate. What did you think of Barry being the only person to remember everything? What did you think of Marcus Slade's demise and Barry's hand in it?

Well, since Barry was definitely my favorite character if there had to be only one person left, I was glad that it was him. I really wasn't emotionally invested in the characters too much, so I didn't mind that Marcus met his demise the way he did.

DQs Book 4 (spoilers likely!)

13. This section opens with a quote from 1984
"he who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past."
Do you usually read these types of epigrams carefully, searching for hints about the theme of books? Did this quote give you a hint about what was coming? Having read this section, do you think it meets the expectations of the quote?

I always read the epigrams, quotes, prologues, etc. Whether or not I delve into them for deeper meaning is contingent on my interest and familiarity of the person quoted. Meaning, my interest is sparked by poets or authors or historical people that I've studied and know of their works. I'm sure the quote might have meant more to me if I had read 1984 but I haven't. But I do think the quote is a reflection of this section.

14. Helena doesn't hold out long, and joins the team in correcting tragedies. Did you agree with her decision at the time? Would you change your answer at the end of the section? Has you opinion of Helena changed over the course of the book?

I think she was addicted to the power and the potential of righting wrongs. I think there are people like her that are do-gooders. I thought her intentions were well-meant. I don't know that I agreed with her decision, but I understood it. My opinion didn't change of her and I don't care for her too much.

15. The team start off idealistic... Would you be willing to be part of the team, fixing those sorts of tragedies? Do you agree with their ideals? The team got co-opted by the government very quickly. Did you expect that?

First I'll say that I'd never expect the government to do anything very quickly, so no I didn't expect that at all. I most definitely wouldn't have been on their team because I couldn't "right tragedies" in the ways that they did by messing with people that way. I think there has to be better ways. That being said, if I were living in their world I might have felt differently.

16. At the end of this section it all goes very grim (though I enjoyed the destruction of Trump Tower!). Do you think Helena can solve this, or is the world going to collapse in a mess of conflicting dead memories?

At this point in the book, I literally had NO idea! But if I had to have guessed, I think I'd have assumed that it would go all wrong and end up a mess.

17. Do you have a provisional rating for the book? Why? And are you missing Barry and Marcus?!

I probably began with a 2.5 and worked my way up with it being around a 3 at this point. Miss Barry and Marcus? Nah...maybe Barry a wee bit.

Day 2 – Book 2 &3
Most of these questions are spoilers for Book 1-3

1. Were you surprised to see how time travel works in this book?
I'm not familiar enough with time travel to "be surprised," assuming the question based on a comparison to other time travel books.

2. Did you anticipate the issues with Barry going back in time and Meghan? Do you think that is a realistic reaction?

I wouldn't say that I "anticipated" it but I did enjoy reading about it and I think it helped me to understand a little bit more. I think based on the story, it's feasible.

3. Now that we are about halfway done, what do you think of the characters and motivations? Do you feel like you connect to them or that they are real people?

While I liked the characters, I can't say that I felt a true connection to them. For that to happen to me, I pretty much need to have much more of an emotional connection.

4. At this point, in the book, multiple timelines are starting to branch. How do you think this would change your view of reality if it was this malleable?

Wow! This concept is really abstract for me. So, I simply cannot fathom any of this except in a book world.

5. Finally, this book is already optioned as a screenplay (I think) and many reviews comment that it reads that way too. Do you like books that read like a movie or do you wish the author wrote it differently?

I didn't feel as though it "read like a movie" nor did I really think of what a great movie it would make, but then again I'm not really into time travel, sci-fi, nor much that's not realistic; however, that being said...I LOVED Back to the Future but maybe because their time travel involved times that I knew about...the 1960's. At least there were a lot of allusions that brought back memories for me that I know my own grandchildren have no idea what was meant.

Okay that’s what I thought. Then I’ll wait until Jill & Trisha finish. Thank you!!!

And I’m finishing the Recursion DQ’s today before I leave just in case.

OH, Trisha, you know we've all done that kind of thing. LOL It's all right.

Jenny, just to be 100% sure (lousy memory!), I KNOW I can't finish a book until Jill and Trisha finish their countdown books, but can I START reading them or do I have to wait to begin them?

[[ Frankie ]] wrote: "Vicki wrote: "Joanne wrote: "FYI, someone I'm friends with on Team Jealousy (Vicki) read Wilder Girls on July 10, 2019, so we're all good to read it and finish whenever to qualify f..."

Awe, thanks, Frankie. :) I'm sure I'd love it here too.