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

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

Love that :) Gotta love JUDY! Have you read the Harry Potter books before???

Gurl, I am right there with you. I think that happens to just about everyone. The holidays are so draining it's really hard to get back on track.

***This is a good time to ask all members to please check in with the team by the end of the week. Now that this insane time of year is over, let's all check in and start the new year off with a good book :)

A Darker Shade of Magic DQs
Day 3: Jan 4

Chapters V Black Stone – VI Thieves Meet

Q11. Lila still intrigues me. First she gives money to the beggar boy and even go after the little rat thieves that rob the boy. But then, while running she can't help herself and steal from a man that is hurt and bleeding! What do you make of her? Are you liking/understanding her?

I wonder if she saw herself in that beggar boy. In her defense, she didn't know he was hurt and bleeding when she robbed him, did she? I like her a lot, but I really like tough/misunderstood/kind of mean female characters.

Q12. So the package was a trap! But from who? Holland, The Danes siblings, the Red Royals, ... Any guesses/theory?

I reeeaaally hope not the Red Royals!!!! I think it was a trap from the Danes siblings.

Q13. What do you think about Lila and Kell interaction? The 'made up Kell' strip-tease was kind of funny, if we disregard the black eyes and the will power.
Could Lila have magic on her? Will these two characters meet again later on?

Of course they will meet again! I mean...I hope, at least haha I loved their interaction! And yes, I think Lila has magic on her.

Q14. It was just me, or this black magic is creepy?! The shell breaking and being absorbed into the cutthroat, all the things created by the stone has a taint of black, and the final part with the drunk guy, made me think that maybe the law against carrying things between worlds was very much needed still.

Totally agree. Much darker than I expected and I like it.

Q15. Ideas to where the story is going?

No ideas yet, but I'm excited :)

Megan I'm sorry to be such a pain in the butt haha but can you please add A Week to be Wicked to your tower teams shelf? Sweet as Sin is on there, but A Week to be Wicked is not.

Yay thank you!!!

Megan L wrote: "Book: A Week to Be Wicked
Author: Tessa Dare
Pages: 384
Points: 40
Date finished: January 3, 2106
Goals: MC lives in a castle"

Yay! Please add this to your tower teams shelf!

A Darker Shade of Magic DQs
Day 2: Jan 3
Chapters III – IV, pages 58 - 108

06. "Lila Bard lived by a simple rule: if a thing was worth having, it was worth taking."
We are introduced to the Shadow Thief. Do you enjoy "tomboy" heroines in literature? What's your favourite female lead in a book?

Lila is BADASS! I love her and am so excited to see where her character goes. In terms of my favorite female leads in a book? I'm AAAAALL about the villains! I loved Cathy in East of Eden; I have never been more terrified of a fictional literary character. And I LOVED Rose O'Hara in Doctor Sleep; she is another badass chick (granted, an evil one) in a top-hat!

07. "Looking for trouble, he’d say. You’re gonna look till you find it.
Trouble is the looker, she’d answer. It keeps looking till it finds you."
Which side are you on, on this debate and why?

Hmmm I'm on the first side. Certain people crave trouble. They are drawn toward it, whether it's consciously or not. Trouble has a siren song.

08. "Our throne is not something you’re born to. It’s not held by blood. But taken by it."
The Dane siblings and Holland seem to keep a cruel balance among them. Can you identify any clear leader among them? Will this unholy trinity last? What might keep them from going for each other's throat?

I don't know who the true leader is, but they freak me out.

09. We are now introduced to all 3 Londons. If you could live in any of them which would you choose?

Probably red, it seems the most stable.

10. Kell has the bad habit of carrying trinkets from one London to the next. Is the law against it reasonable? What are your thoughts on the package the woman gave him?

I think these trinkets mean more than we are lead to believe at the moment. Maybe they will be useful? Maybe they turn out to be magical? Maybe their passage into the three Londons will somehow muddle the worlds together?

A Darker Shade of Magic DQs
Day 1: Jan 2
Chapters I – II Read Royal, pages 1 - 57

Q1. Kell has a very interesting Jacket. Have you read a story before that has items of clothing like his? If so what story does it remind you of?

I can't think of any other story that is even remotely like this. Hadder's top hat in The Looking Glass Wars kiiiiiiind of reminds me of this, because it's an article of clothing that's not really what it seems? But so far this book is very unlike anything I've read before and I love it.

Q2. Going between worlds, multiple Londons with names of colors to distinguish them, the year 1819. Are you able to keep track of Kell’s travels? To keep up with the world building?

I'm not able to keep up right now. Admittedly, I'm listening to the audiobook (which is AMAZING! Steven Crossley is an AWESOME narrator!) so I'm not as focused as I would be reading a hard copy, but I think I'll get the hang of the traveling eventually.

Q3. Kell is an Antari (Blood Magic), a dying breed, one of the rare few that can do magic. Kell used his special coins and his blood to travel between worlds. Do you think he is a blood mage? Or does he have a darker kind (shade) of magic since he uses his blood? Or is it just part of Antari training?

Hmmm I don't know! I think there is a darker magic in him that he's either not letting through, or doesn't know is there quite yet.

Q4. How do you feel about the Collectors and the Enthusiasts?

::heavy sigh:: It's awkward. The Collectors don't seem like bad people, they seem more like family...but when it comes down to it, it's very obvious that Kell is an asset. I can't remember the Enthusiasts too clearly, I think I was a little distracted when I was listening to that part.

Q5. Are you enjoying the book so far?

I love it! I can't wait to continue on!

*Like*

Karen Michele wrote: "Yes, I promise to read my coal book before the 15th!"

Thank yeeeeeeew!!!!!

Megan, that's awesome!

Erin, dude I'm in the same boat and I have surprise guests this weekend. I'm already f***ing exhausted.

Karen, yaaaaaay!!! The elusive hot chocolate book!!! Now onto the coal!

We are running EXTREMELY low on Goalless Books team!!! Because of the Australian Day Mini-Challenge, we have been cleaned out! We have TEN Goalless Books left!

Start power reading, friends, and let's bulk our goal choices back up!!!

HOLIDAY CHALLENGE UPDATE

I have finished My Sister's Keeper which fulfills the December 25 goal. We only need the last two (hot chocolate and coal) and then we will have our Mega Boon!!! :D

***********************************************************************

GOAL UPDATE

1. Read a book that is in the "Best Unappreciated Books" Listopia List (https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4...) -- Sweet Tooth (Valentin)

2. Read a book where the edition you are reading was published on the 3rd of a month -- Crash and Burn (Kat)

3. Read a book with a conjunction in the title -- A Cold Day For Murder (Karen)

4. Read a book where the title starts with the letter V -- Valea Minunilor (Valentin)
***a whole BUNCH of V's there!!!***

5. Read a book with the name of the tarot card "The Lovers" in the text or title -- The Viscount's Christmas Temptation (Natalie)

NEW GOAL
Read a book where a character lives in a castle or palace

Valentin wrote: "Book: Sweet Tooth
Author: Ian McEwan
Pages: 320
Date Finished: 1/2/16
Goals: None"

This fulfills the goal, "Read a book that's on the Best Unappreciated Book Listopia list." You fulfilled another goal :)

Aw thank you Karen!!! :D You are all such a great team!!!

*All of the little updates (Goals, BOMs, Tower Teams Status, Holiday Challenge) on page 1 are up to date if you all would please check them out.

*Also, the Australian Day Mini-Challenge is completely fulfilled :) We shall be getting those points in a few days when the spreadsheet guru Mod returns.

***epic procrastination from packing = SUCCESS***

Aw good Philippa! Amazing coworkers can make ALL the difference!

Natalie, I LOVE Stephen King's books but I don't enjoy his movies. I like horror but his always come out too corny :(

I would like to take a moment to demonstrate the level of lazy that I am on this New Years Day...I used the Postmates app to have Burger King delivered. These are the things I will miss about New York. *epitome of class*

Dammit nevermind again...the last N book was completed today, not yesterday. I WILL FIGURE THIS OUT.

NEVERMIND!!!!

GAAAAAH frustration! We need ONE MORE "N" BOOK! It either has to start with N, have an author's first or last name start with N, or have a character who's first or last name starts with N.