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

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

Tammie wrote: "I did some SS checking yesterday...if you see a bright blue highlight in one of your posts, please check your book.

Highlighted in mod check means it's not on your shelf yet
Highlighted in the pa..."

After last round when I had a couple books that I ended up not reading for that round, you said I had too many on my shelf. So I have just been adding them to the Wheels shelf as I finish them for this round.

Fixed my one page count error. How on earth did I get 320 when it was 398? lol Tired, maybe?

DQs: Day 3 ~ Chapters 12 – 17

9. It seems like the whole book is a test of Charlie’s character. Hera’s conversation with Charlie is one example. Charlie suddenly asks if Hera and Persephone like him. She says they were sent to watch him, but they like him because Charlie chose to take them in and treated them well. Do you think the book is portraying a series of tests from his uncle? What do you think it means?

I think it's very possible that his uncle was testing him in a way. Who wouldn't do what they could to make sure someone was ready/capable to take over? I don't know what it all means to be honest.

10. “Business is business. It’s different from respect and friendship.” What did you think of this statement? Do you agree with it or do you think these things can’t be separated?

Unfortunately, for most people, I do believe that's a true statement. A good friendship isn't worth chancing the risk of ruining it in my opinion. It's far too difficult to separate the two relationships.

11. Charlie was quick to pick up clues on the Lombardy Convocation members. What did you think of his assessment? Did it change your opinion of him?

I wasn't surprised because we already knew of his journalistic career. If anything about my opinion changed, it would be that I gained more respect for him.

12. There has been a lot of great banter in the book so far. I have to say I think both parts with the dolphins were my favorites. What has been your favorite line/quote, or your favorite part of the book so far?

I also loved the section with the dolphins. I love dolphins in general anyway. But I also love Hera's character, so the I loved that part of the book too. Oh, and I love how he talked with his cat. We always talk to our dogs so that's definitely touching.

DQs: Day 2, Chap 7 - 11

5. We learn Hera and Persephone are both sentient cats. My cats love lying next to me and staring at my computer screen (when they’re not stomping all over my keyboard), so I can picture a cat using a computer vividly. What mischief would your pets come up with if they were sentient? Even if you don’t have pets, what mayhem do you think could happen?

These questions are a little difficult for me because we just had to put our dog down on November 1. Jazzy was 14 years old and she was a Bichon Frise. She was always right by my feet or my side. She never did get into things like chewing our shoes or clothes. But she would always get under my feet when I was at the computer on Goodreads and often unplug my computer and mess me up! lol If she had been sentient, I think she would have possibly taken off with some of my more valued items and felt the silkiness or furriness of things. She was ALWAYS laying right beside us!

6. Charlie seems to be surprisingly chill about going along with everything happening, from sentient animals to attempts on his life to being whisked away to the Caribbean. Does that make sense to you, with how his life was before the book started? How would you react if you found out your uncle was a supervillain?

I love how calm Charlie is and that he handled things so well after the fire. He seems to know how to handle tragedy well. If I found out my uncle was a supervillain I would think it was super cool...IF I believed it.

7. Although travelling there was a bit of a hassle, St. Genevieve sounds like a pretty sweet place to be. Where would your ideal villain (sorry, process disruptor) lair be set?

I'd love my villain lair to be set up in Banff National Park in Canada. We visited there last summer and it is beautiful! Lots of waterfalls, places to hide, beauty to see.

8. We got a list of more or less exciting options including sharks, so: what is Charlie going to decide? How is Jacobs going to “die”? Or might his death end up being a real one after all?

No way do I think it will be real. (Well, I've already finished it, so that's the way I felt at that time.)

Bonus question: The (soon to be striking) dolphins have, uhm, quite the vocabulary. Any favorite insults? Do you want to give coming up with some creative insults a shot yourself?

I absolutely loved this section, especially the dolphins. But, no, I am not gifted with humor enough to come up with something so fun and witty.

DQs: Day 1, Chap 1 - 6

1. I'm so excited to be reading another John Scalzi book with you all. He has quickly become one of my "always read" authors. Is this your first Scalzi book? What are your expectations?

This is my first Scalzi read, so I don't really have any specific expectations. I just hope that it's good and I like it.

2. What are your first impressions of Charlie? Do you think he is using his sad life events as an excuse to coast through life easier as his siblings and attorney seem to imply? Do you relate to him so far?

I assume he probably is to a degree. But overall I have a really positive impression of him and I think I am going to like him.

3. “When people name cats, they usually do it in one of three categories: food, physical characteristics or mythology,” Morrison explained. What do you think Mathilda imagines Charlie's choice of "the goddess route" says about him? What sort of name would you choose and what do you think that could tell someone about you?

I am not a cat lover, never have been so I know nothing about them and their characteristics. The only real interaction I've ever had with cats was my aunt's MEAN grey, fluffy, hissy alley cat. I think that naming a pet after a mythological character might be indicative of an intelligent, well-read owner. Then again, I have a bachelor's degree in English and a master's degree in Education. I have named my pets (dogs) after names that simply reminded me of their character: Buddy, Rocky, Yenta, Jazzy, and Kitsy. I have never even thought of a mythological name and I always loved mythology.

4. What would your reaction be if a rich, but estranged family member left you a huge inheritance?

OMG!! I would probably have a heart attack! But when my mother-in-law died, she left us enough money that we were able to pay off our home, buy a brand new Highlander, pay off some other debts, and it enabled me to retire the end of that school year. That was blessing enough!

The Raven Brothers
11/6

Thanks, Tammie. And regarding the page count of books and how many U-books we need to read, my brain definitely does not work that way! I get what you are saying, but I never would’ve thought of it myself! 😂

Tammie, this month due to daylight savings, I have to be at my daughter’s house at 4:30 in the morning and once I get the three older kids to school, I just have my three-year-old grandson Julián aka. JuJu. My son-in-law doesn’t get home until 5:30 in the evening, so I have a very long day to be able to read because JuJu is really good about playing by himself and watching his “big show” (tablet) so I can pretty much read all day. And he & Lily take naps once I get her home from her kindergarten class and even if they don’t nap they go to their rooms and they have rest time. I’m just telling you all of this because I am on my phone today and most of the time I can update on my SS, but for some reason I can’t get back to my book section on our spreadsheet. I can only see the right side where it has the author’s name and series etc. So if it’s OK I’m going to just mark my books as I’ve gotten them read because I have three books going right now because I need to finish them up for Turf Wars. I am going to be pushing myself today to get them all read which I can do. I just can’t put them on the SS until later tonight or if I am too tired it could even be Thursday when I don’t watch them. So I am going to add them here as I get them read and if you don’t mind you can add my read date on the SS.

Trial by Fire
Read: 11/6

Thanks and sorry for being such a pain in the you-know-what!

Tammie, I also added book 4 of the Cake series (follows Fiercely Emma) and it has an actual guitar on the cover. As of now, I had to put in in a K spot, but I might find another character for another letter to help fill in some words above.

And Emma has redeemed herself (and so have I) because the cover is 57.4% brown! :) There are a total of 6 books that are marked for brown and I know we can only have 5 but it's there in case we need it, unless you want me to remove the checkmark for brown.

Tammie wrote: "@Vicki a couple of things

I can't see a guitar on the cover for your Fiercely Emma book

also...there's been quite a bit of discussion in the captains thread regarding instrument cases...it's been..."

Oh jeez, I'm so sorry! I must've had a brain fart because Emma has NO guitar! I might've had another book in that spot and moved it because I did switch a couple books around or I simply messed up. And it's too bad that the guitar case doesn't count but OK.

Lol oh good — I love dorkships!

That answers my question with one exception. If round 3 doesn’t start officially until today, how could we finish the book yesterday and answer the questions today? Oh jeez! Never mind! I haven’t looked at anybody’s spreadsheets on any other team or anything but obviously they could have used it for round two. Forgive me for being such a dork! 😂

Tammie, I'm confused about the time frame for reading books. Some people already read and finished Starter Villain and have answered the questions with a rating showing. Can we read books ahead of time like banking them? I know we can start our books prior to a round, but I didn't think we could finish them until the round began, so would you please clarify that for me?

Tammie wrote: "I found these instruments on KU

- KU - U

- KU - K

- KU - K"

Thanks, Tammie, I loved CAKE books 1 & 2 and I am reading book 3 for this next round.

Plus, I posted my last book for this round.

I agree, Tammie! I have added all my books I could find until I get home. We’re leaving for home soon and I am driving, probably the whole way. With no traffic or potty breaks it’s a good 5 hour drive, so obviously I won’t be able to check this thread once we head home. And don’t worry about my last book, Beautiful Ruins., because I have the audiobook too.

Oh my gosh, I have SO many books planned for another challenge that don't work at all for Wheels! Hopefully when I get into them there will be some character names I can use. We're heading home this morning so later tonight or tomorrow I'll look through unplanned books for E and U and whatever else we need. This word is hard!

Tammie, I think it's good now. I had 2 books that ended up not working for anything and I forgot to remove them. And I had 1 book that I forgot to add to the SS, so I hope it's good now.

I added a book that I forgot to mark as read and I read it on Oct 27th lol so I added Nutshell by Ian McEwan and it works for I, E, C, T, R and I placed it on line 114.

OK lol

Tammie, I plan to read Beautiful Ruins on our way home tomorrow. Is that okay or do I need to read it tonight?

Glad you’re feeling better, M!

Thanks, Tammie :)