Brie’s Comments (group member since Mar 04, 2015)

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

Erin (Paperbackstash) wrote: "Brie wrote: "Erin (Paperbackstash) wrote: "I'm going to start the mermaid one today since I just read another Christmas goal. Will be on the lookout for others that fit the Christmas goal - I'm con..."

You'll be fab ;) It's for chapters 17 and 18. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Erin (Paperbackstash) wrote: "I'm going to start the mermaid one today since I just read another Christmas goal. Will be on the lookout for others that fit the Christmas goal - I'm convinced I have a fireplace one somewhere (th..."

Erin, would you be willing to write the DQ's as my replacement for American Gods tomorrow? I wasn't able to read the past two days because of the guests and I know I won't be able to catch up by tomorrow because of work.

I will read the "children" holiday goal. I just bought Child of God by Cormac McCarthy and it's a super quick read, plus we all know my obsession with Cormie! (my petname for Cormac...)

SUUUUUUPER BELATED GOAL UPDATE

I was supposed to post this this morning but...life :/

1. Read a book with the main genre (listed on the first page on GR) as New Adult -- Beg Tease Submit: Sequence One (Megan L)

2. Read a book with an animal on the cover -- Magic Burns (Erin)

3. Read a book in which a suicide or murder takes place -- Pretty Girls (Ema)

4. Read a book where an important character dies -- American Gods (Erin)

5. Read a book where the author's first name is one of the top 100 female names in Sweden according to nameberry (http://nameberry.com/popular_names/Sw...) -- Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor (Karen)

6. Read a book with someone with black hair on the cover -- The Eye of the World (Natalie)

7. Read a book shelved (listed on the first page of the "top shelves" of the book) as comedy - plurals and minor spelling variations are acceptable -- Two for the Dough (Erin)

NEW GOALS
1. Read a book where the cover shows someone swimming

2. Read a book where the edition you are reading was published on the 4th of a month

Megan, don't bother adjusting the FIRST SEQUENCE since I already used that whole thing towards a goal. I didn't notice it for Sequence One and once it's been submitted, it can't be changed. But please adjust Sequence Two.

HOLIDAY CHALLENGE UPDATE

Hey guys, sorry I've been MIA the past couple days...unexpected houseguests! :/

So here is yesterday's goal and today's goal:

DECEMBER 8
Read a book with the word "Kids" or "Children" in the title (10 pts)
***"Child" is an acceptable substitute for "Children"

DECEMBER 9
Read a book with a fireplace on the cover (10 pts)


BIG THANK YOU to Corey who completed the goal 'Read a book with a pig or turkey on the cover' with Animal Farm AND Erin who completed the goal 'Read a book with the word Santa in the text' with Murder on the First Day of Christmas!!!!!

Megan L wrote: "Book: Songs of Submission: Sequence Two
Author: C.D. Reiss
Pages: 606
Points: 60
Date finished: December 9, 2015
Goals: None"

Megan, can you please add these three books to your shelf as the THREE SEPARATE BOOKS? We cannot have box sets, I have to count them individually. Plus, we WANT to count them individually because that's three separate goals we can use them towards :)

Hey guys! I'll post the GOAL UPDATE in the morning. Too late, so tired, but we have new goals!

Update in the morning!

Corey wrote: "Book: Animal Farm
Author: George Orwell
Pages: 102
Date Finished: 12/9/2015
Goals: Holiday - Pig on Cover"

YAAAAAAY!!!

Megan, your book counted towards our "New Adult" goal.

Natalie, your book counted towards our 'person with black hair on the cover' goal.

Erin, your book counted towards our comedy goal :)

Nicely done, Karen!

Questions and Comments
04 December 2015 Chapters 10-11

20. How to save money on food during winter: freeze and bury your family... be careful to protect them from nibbling mice! When Spring arrives, thaw them and continue life. Handy, don't you think? What do you think of all these weird side stories that keep popping up, either as chapter addons or in dialogue as a character telling a tale? Do you have a favorite one so far?

Where was I for this story?! I don't remember this at all! I really enjoy all the side stories thus far. I find them entertaining (when I remember them).

21. Does anyone have any ideas as to who they were meeting in Las Vegas? He seemed to be tied to money, but also no one can remember him, other than Mr. Wednesday. Guesses? Theories?

I have no guess and no theory :(

22. People gamble to lose money. Do you think that's the equivalent of a modern sacrifice to an old god? It seems to give him a lot of power!

I think that's a definite possibility. We have been given small hints throughout the book of different "sacrifices" that are unknowingly given, so that makes sense.

23. So Wednesday knows 18 charms and none can bring Laura back... Does it mean that it cannot be done? Will Shadow give up? What do you think will happen with the Laura story thread?

I don't think Shadow will give up. I don't think Wednesday is telling the truth either. I think the Laura storyline will peak at some point with Shadow bringing her back, or coming crazy close to bringing her back, and realizing he made/is about to make a terrible mistake.

24. Hinzelmann seems to be playing a big role for just a side character... I'm suspecting he's either a god or something else not entirely human. I have a theory... but since I just went and confirmed it, I won't share. What do you think?

I like him a lot. I have no theory. I'm choosing not to do much guesswork with this book because there are too many characters to try to keep up with and it's taking me too long to read, so I'm just letting the story unfold bit by bit.

25 Do you think Sophie is right? That Alison's disappearance may be part of a pattern? That Sandy didn't ran away to meet his father? Are the gods involved? Or does a human have a hand in things?

I didn't even contemplate human involvement, I've been so focused on gods! If there are gods, does that mean there are devils? Could that be where this is going?

This has been quite the quiet week on here! I, myself, am struggling with both the books I'm reading right now. I feel like I don't see an end in sight for either of them but I have the next two days off so that means I'll be able to catch up on American Gods and get at least halfway done with One Mississippi.

What does everyone think about Sam????? After that last little tidbit I looked around like, "WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"

Dec 6 Chapter 8-9

16. Mr Ibis speaks about independent funeral parlours being taken over or replaced by big chains. This seemed to me to be reminiscent of what is happening with the old gods being replaced with newer ones. Ones that are often consumer driven or by items that are soulless or have no real personality. What do you think about Gaiman's idea of what happens to gods like Odin? Do you think he is right that TV, etc have somewhat taken the place of gods?

Absolutely, but I don't know if I necessarily agree that ALL TECHNOLOGY IS BAD! The comment that was made about sacrifice is very true. We sacrifice our time with our family to check our phones. We would rather watch our favorite show during dinner rather than have a conversation about our day. Things like that, I see his point. However, at the same time, having the internet at our fingertips has furthered learning, inter-continental communication etc. To say that modern day technology has replaced tradition and religion is a very loaded accusation. If anything, it has allowed those traditions and different faiths to become more widespread.

17. Were you surprised at Mad Sweeney's death? Do you think that the alcohol and cold were what killed him?

I was surprised. I was expecting him to be a weaselly little character that kept popping up and causing trouble throughout the book. I do not think the alcohol and cold killed him.

18. Do you think Sweeney was telling the truth about the coin and was it Wednesday that he was so afraid of?

Oh ya! That coin is definitely powerful and the likelihood of that thing leaving Laura's neck anytime soon is slim to none. I believe it's why she's "alive" in a sense. I think Wednesday is more dangerous and powerful than we know right now. He certainly has his own agenda.

19. We have the old gods and the new gods but where does the buffalo man fit in seeing as he said "this is not a land for gods"?

Hmmm well he's kind of the Native American version of these gods. An ancient ancestor? Shadow keeps being asked if he has Native American blood in him so maybe he is Shadow's ancestor?

Corey wrote: "I'll start animal farm for a book with a pig on the cover."

Perfect!!! I need to re-read that. I remember loving it in high school!

HOLIDAY CHALLENGE UPDATE

Karen is working on the cookie challenge.
Erin is working on the Santa challenge.
I (Brie) am working on the green cover challenge.

DEC 6
Read a book with a turkey or pig on the cover (10 pts)

Ya but it's the audiobook so of course the narrator is male and I seriously dislike when a man tries to do a woman's voice. Maybe it's because of listening to my older brothers tease me for almost 30 years, but a man mimicking a woman (even though the poor guy is just narrating and reading her parts) seriously irks me. Oh well, I got 8 more hours of this. I shall prevail!

My green cover book is pissing me off a little bit... It's kind of sexist, but what should I expect from a male coming-of-age story set in Mississippi in the late 60's...

Yaaaay Farhad!!!