Aiswrya’s Comments (group member since Mar 30, 2020)

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

Good start to the challenge, team! Also, we don’t need completion posts in the thread. Not a problem if you add them for your own tracking, but the captains will be going off of the spreadsheet only.

Robin (Saturndoo) wrote: "Aiswrya wrote: "Robin (Saturndoo) wrote: "Completion Post
Book/Author: After Life
Pages: 272
Date: 5/17/25
Task: Mini 3-- Spell Out: India-- Letter A
Fits: Title starts with "A"
[b..."

oops!

Discussion Questions Day 1
Prologue – Part 1, Chapter 5

1. The first line is “A letter changed my life.” Would you say this was a good start, a cheesy start, or are you indifferent?
Indifferent — I figured out what the letter was going to say based on the précis, so it didn’t leave much of an impression.

2. Why do you think Tío Roberto wanted to immediately send Inez back to Egypt without even seeing her? Do you think he’s hiding something? Or do you think it’s just typical of men at that time to dismiss young women and insist they be chaperoned and taken care of?
I’m very suspicious of this guy. I feel like he has something to do with the parents’ death. While some of his dismissal might stem from the typical male mindset of that time, I suspect most of it is driven by his need to hide something from Inez.

3. The ring scene with Thomas Sterling was definitely outrageous; I felt Inez's outrage and all of her shock. Do you expect to see the ring later in the story? Any guesses about its significance?
Oh yeah, that scene made my blood boil. That man was a total ass! I do expect the ring to play a role later in the story — it probably leads to some kind of hidden treasure.

4. What do you think of the writing style and the pacing so far? Are you enjoying the lyrical, rich descriptions, or do you prefer a more fast-paced story?
I think the pace is a little slow. The dialogue is repetitive. After the 100th time she talked about how her parents' abandonment affected her, I was just like — I get it, move on! LOL. I feel cold-hearted saying that!

5. In Chapter 5 we see politics at play, and we can tell this is just the beginning. How do you think this will affect your enjoyment of the book? Will it enhance the story for you, or will you feel bogged down by the details?
Hmm, I’m not sure yet. If this turns out to be a typical Indiana Jones setup with a bit of romance thrown in, I’m going to be very disappointed.

Robin (Saturndoo) wrote: "Completion Post
Book/Author: After Life
Pages: 272
Date: 5/17/25
Task: Mini 3-- Spell Out: India-- Letter A
Fits: Title starts with "A"
"

And we have our first completion! 🎉🎉

Jacqueline wrote: "Hello All,

Please call me Jackie. I am a Reading Specialist for the sixth grade. I read Middle school/teen and YA as part of my job. I love historical fiction, romance and sci-fi.

I have a pup na..."

Oh wow, your first challenge on GR? That’s awesome! Hope you’ve fun!
We need you to create a special bookshelf for this challenge. Can I ask you to follow the instructions in this post and create one as soon as you can? You’ll add all the books you read for this challenge to the shelf. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Welcome Jacqueline! Lots of info in the initial messages in the thread. Let us know if you have any questions! Please post a link to your TT shelf. Happy reading!

May 17-june16

Re:book cap. Speaking from my experience as an ex-mod in this group, I can say that it’s actually the opposite. A lot of people underestimate the books they read when they sign up just so their team can have an advantage. These could be people that read 5 books a month or 100. There are also people who suddenly read a crazy number of books during these type of challenges where number of pages read gives them an advantage. The cap exists to make it fair to players who were accurate in their bpm estimates when they signed up, and those that want to have a chill challenge without feeling like they have to read twice as hard to compete. The 60 bpm cap was enforced to protect the team should a heavy reader drop out mid-challenge, life happens and we need to cope :)

Yes, it makes sense to use our number of books wisely, choosing longer books rather than shorter ones. We all get an allowance of 5 additional books on top of the number we signed up to read (max 60), so if you want to read shorter books, you can make up for it by reading an extra book. Books read on top of the allowance go into reserve, to be used should a teammate read fewer than their signup.

With all that being said, this is a game, so the important thing is to have fun and leave the rest to chance 😊

Happy Reading! I’m starting with what the river knows and the fellowship of the ring 📚

Welcome to the team, Melissa! Great to meet you :)

Same - don't read pure romance anymore, just don't enjoy it, especially the smutty ones and this book has all signs of being one lol! But this is an easy tag to fill. I'll find a quick audio and get it done :)

ETA: Robin, I see that you claimed the task, please go ahead :)

Perfect thank you!

Team, is anyone friends with the 2 new team mates? The mods let us know that they haven't informed them of their team assignments and that we'd have to message them. Melissa has a private profile and Jacqueline is not accepting messages from non-friends. Would much appreciate your help with getting in touch with them. You'd just have to let them know that they have been placed on our team and include a link to the team thread.

Profiles below:
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/3...
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1...

Keep us posted on whether you were able to message them :) If none of us can get in touch with them, we'll need to get some help from the mods again.

Thank you! Just waiting for Lucy to check in (the mods have sent her a message too) and for Bernadette’s shelf :)

A little over 24 hours to go! I’m excited to get started!

I've added a lot of useful info about the challenge, minis, current tasks (claimed and read) in messages 4-6. I'll try to keep it as updated as I can.

As you finish tasks for Mini 2, please drop a message here. Either the co-caps or I will move it over to the main spreadsheet and get us the next task.
Similarly, if you finish the last book in the wheel mini, drop us a note here so we can get the next spin.

Rachel, can you create your TT shelf and post a link please?

lol I’m the same! I never plan beyond my next book

Storm Front by Jim Butcher

HARRY DRESDEN — WIZARD

Lost Items Found. Paranormal Investigations. Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates. No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or Other Entertainment.

Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he's the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the "everyday" world is actually full of strange and magical things—and most don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a—well, whatever. There's just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks.

So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name. And that's when things start to get interesting.

Magic - it can get a guy killed.

Rachel wrote: "Hi Everyone! Sorry to be so late checking in.

My name is Rachel and Ive done quite a few TTs over the years. I think I recognize a few names on this team? I look forward to playing with you all! I..."

Welcome Rachel, nice to meet you!

Masters of death won’t count for this challenge since the read started may 2nd. Nevertheless, it is a fun read and we can use it for other tasks :)

ETA: when I say won't count, I mean that the BOM point won't count. We'll still get points for reading the book, as long as you start the book on or after May 17th.

Sounds good!!

Tricia wrote: "I have a couple of questions.

Should we enter stuff into the team spreadsheet, or the planning spreadsheet? I've requested access, so if someone can add me to that then I can start planning my bo..."

Gave you access, thank you :)

And yes, all minis will be open from the start. The mods may even surprise us with more minis as the challenge progresses!