Sophie’s Comments (group member since Apr 28, 2013)

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

I've been playing with the members info tab on the tracking SS a bit (/I have shamelessly stolen work from another team captain and made it work for us). You can now see the % of your target for each round you have read and there is a countdown to the end of each round at the bottom.

Hope you find it helpful.

Danielle has added a v fancy countdown to their team's tracking spreadsheet which I have unapologetically stolen for ours.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/... on the Member Info tab.

Into Round 2 we go!

We were 7th in round 1 which is the middle of the pack. I'm happy with that as somewhere to be.

Silje, I hope you keep recovering and work isn't too exhausting now you are back.

17. Let's discuss the fight that Joy and Stan had in Chapter 53. Joy is arguing that Stan didn't support his own children because his focus had always been on tennis and elsewhere - whereas Stan argues back that they were given everything and had no idea how lucky they are. What are your thoughts on this argument and its relation to the memory question that was asked earlier on?
I can see how parents can view events and their part in them very differently. It can be easy for one parent to think that if material needs are met then that is what counts, rather than their emotional needs

18. After reading the whole book and seeing all of the different sides of this family, what are your overall thoughts on the marriage between Joy and Stan? Was it has happy as they tried to portray or were the frictions too hard to ignore?
I think they had rough patches for certain, but it showed how relationships change over time. I think it is unrealistic to expect a relationship to remain static and happy forever.

19. A small surprise to me was that Liane Moriarty included current events as the novel went on. I wasn't expecting the covid references or the Australia fire references. Were you as surprised to see that show up? Do you think that will become the norm for authors moving forward in the upcoming years?
I think authors are right to reference it if it is relevant to when their books were set. Covid has had a massive impact on our world for a couple of years and it would be wrong to ignore that it has happened completely.

20. Joy is alive?! There was no murder? There was no violence? That final twist took me by complete and utter surprise. When I say that Liane wrote a book that I was not able to guess, that isn't an exaggeration. What were your thoughts on this massive reveal and the oncoming explanation? Were you expecting this?
I wasn't expecting this, and certainly not that she had been with Savannah the whole time.

21. Any other thoughts on the other characters endings? Were you satisfied or dissatisfied with the novel as a whole? Will you read more Liane Moriarty novels?
I was very happy that Logan worked things out and has taken such a positive step forward. He seems to have grown as a person over the course of the novel.
Brooke I feel has taken positive steps as well. I'm less able to see where Amy and Troy are going, but Amy is definitely less conventional than the others.
Savannah... Never going to be happy and settle. Always going to be manipulative and do some things I can only describe as evil, while justifying them to herself.

I'll read more Liane Moriarty, but she hasn't boosted herself to an insta-read.

Day 4 Discussion Questions
ch 33-50

13. "I come in peace". That made my laugh out loud. Exactly what the bad extraterrestial guy would say before hacking your head off. I'm pretty sure, that's what Dave thought for a minute. What do you think Logan expected to achieve with going to talk to the ex-boyfriend. Do you think he got it?
I think Logan knew something was off with Savannah and how Dave had reacted the first time they were there. I don't know exactly what he though he was going to find out, but I don't think he was surprised by what Dave had to say.

14. So, not only is Savannah related to Harry, her visit to the Delaney's was not innocent. But it turned out differently than planed. That girl is seriously damaged. Were you expecting this turn of events?
I hadn't anticipated that she was related to Harry, but I was struggling to see how all the mentions of him were relevant to the story. She's gone extreme after relatively small snubs.

15. Were you expecting the body found to be Joy? Did you think it was Savannah's doing? Or maybe Stan's? Was Joy's betrayal a cut so deep to heal?
I didn't think the body was Joy's, but had no thoughts of who it was going to be instead.

16. So. Savannah seems to be out of the picture (even if I'm not totally convinced about it). Christmas was a disaster. And nobody realized that Joy simply disappeared, till it was too late. Do you think she's dead, just off grid, or is this a Gone Girl situation?
I think they all took Joy, and the relationships they had, for granted up to this point and weren't ready for all the changes that Savannah forced upon them.

Melindam wrote: "It is such a relief to have some semblance of order around me, plus I have got some lovely new bookshelves, so I could rearrange my books to my heart's content. ;)"

Yay! I need to find time to rearrange all our shelves. Got to the point where there are piles of books all over the place and I can't find anything.

Professional decorators sound v sensible. Our house is still the white that the builders painted it when it was built. Might decorate properly eventually.

Catherine wrote: "Hi. I am sorry to have missed the boat for this one, but if plan to do this challenge again, I would love to take part."

Here if you read through this page, there is a sign up link. Replacement players may be needed later so you might still be able to join in

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend.

We took the kids to see the stage version of The Smartest Giant in Town which was adorable.

Read a book shelved (listed on the first page on GR) as german - plurals and spelling acceptable

S Transposition - character Somerset
K The Moon Sister - Charlie Kinnard
I Sapphire Flames - Ilona Andrews
P (The) Pearl Sister - title

Casey wrote: "Hello! I’m finishing up my last book for the maze and really enjoyed this challenge! Would I be able to ask for a second maze in the easy category again please?"

Sorry it's taken a month for me to set this up for you, it is there if you log in with the same account details again.

Thanks Tricia for explaining! The posts here are to keep people honest while playing.

Chava and Trisha - glad I'm not the only one finding this a bit messy and confusing. I'm normally good with multiple pov (oh hello epic fantasy authors with no sense of restraint), but this some how doesn't feel coherent.

Trio wrote: "Hi - sorry - I'm from Wheels as well. I've never done a BOM in this group before.
I have the book, but am I too late to join the discussion?"

Definitely not! People will trickle in over the next few days and answer the questions as and when they can.
Feel free to add other comments about what you have read, but try to keep them to sections of the book that have been read already (or under spoiler tags so people reading at the suggested pace are ok to flick through the thread).

MelindaM I'm very glad that you recovered.

Silje - really hope the fever and cough wear off soon.

The first time I had it, the breathlessness and chest pain was the worst (March 20) and went on for months. The 2nd was shorter, but the fever and cough were worse. Would like the vaccinations to stop me getting it a 3rd time any time soon.

Day 1 discussion questions

1. Traditional 1st BOM question! What has led you to join in?
Is Liane Moriarty one of your must read authors or are you more like me, where I'm happy to read her books as I get round to them.

2. I'm finding this difficult to sink into. 2 different timelines and multiple points of view. So far we've had the prologue, the waitress, Joy, the beautician, Barb, Brooke's physiotherapy patient, Brooke, the Uber driver, the police officer and Logan. I feel like I've missed someone as well! Do you think we'll circle back to anyone other than the family?

3. Savannah has just appeared at the house. Do you think she has more of a link to the family than she is saying? I feel like the house choice isn't entirely random but I can't put my finger on why (other than reading too much and trying to see patterns). What are your feelings about Joy and Stan taking her in?

4. There's a lot of hints towards Joy and Stan's relationship being less than picture perfect. Do you think he's responsible for Joy's disappearance or has she really taken herself off grid? With the comments in her section about memory loss, is this actually a case of a lady with relatively early onset dementia getting lost?

You are welcome to answer the questions and get credit for the BOM on a personal level.

If you are taking part in wheels, it won't count towards your team's participation unless you started it after the wheels start time.

Enjoy everyone!

Emerald Blaze has been started and Apples Never Fall isn't going to be far behind.

My interpretation of rules for an individual challenge is very relaxed. For this one, Cat's serial killer justification works for me!



Everyone waiting for mazes etc, sorry for the delay! I'll have some computer time without children on Wednesday so I'll get it sorted then if I haven't done before.

Books can count for 0, 1 or 2 bonuses depending on the book. So Apples Never Fall is good for grey.

After we have 5 grey covers, there are no more colour bonus points available. Looking at the SS, we've got 5 grey covers planned already. A couple of backups aren't a bad thing.

Michelle's Empty Nest wrote: "We are going to Europe for 24 days next March for our anniversary. The trip was originally planned right when COVID caused the first lockdowns and border closings, so we had to cancel. Now we'll ce..."

Have an incredible time! Glad you've been able to reschedule it all.