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R14: SSS Team 1 - One More Chapter
message 251:
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Susan A
(new)
Mar 22, 2023 10:18PM
I think you have an error in your post. It says roll: 4
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Susan A wrote: "Well. You beat me to posting. I also rolled one, so it was destined to be!"lol It goes w/ our team name, I guess.
Susan A wrote: "I think you have an error in your post. It says roll: 4"I fixed it :)
Mod
Spot 62
They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
How it fits: Alternate- D Title
389 Pages"
This won't work, the title needs to start with D! (Excepting A/An/The at the beginning, so something like The Duke and I would work.)
Mod
Spot: 62
Book: The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer
Qualification: Alternate: Title 'D'
Pages: 397
Completion PostSpot 62
Edin by Lily Mayne
#2 Monstrous
410 pages
3/23/23
5 stars
I really enjoyed this. Great world building. Fascinating creatures. I liked both MCs and their relationship. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Michael Lesley. The narration was excellent. Book 3 audiobook is out next month. I can't wait!
Mod
Spot: 62
Book: The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer
Qualification: Alternate: Title 'D'
Pages: 397
Finished: 24 Mar 2023
Rating: ★★★
Review:
Not quite what I expected, and not quite what it could have been.
Part sci-fi survival thriller set in space, part YA romance, this book came with a tempting basic premise and quite a few unexpected twists. Unfortunately, it also came with an uneven, often dragging pace and some pretty blatant plot holes and elements that were just too illogical to buy into. The worldbuilding, at least when it comes to the "back on Earth" set-up, is too simplistic and too heavyhanded in what it aims to represent. The character development, particularly Kodiak's, at times just doesn't make sense. What drives him remains unexplored in so many ways, both in terms of his and Ambrose's developing relationship and in his behaviour otherwise. That said, I did enjoy the romance between these two and remained sufficiently interested in the plot despite its flaws.
Completion PostSpot 62
The Plea by Steve Cavanagh
Qualification: #2 in Eddie Flynn Series
400 pages
Finished 03/24/2023
Review:
"You can't hustle a hustler!!"
I love this series and I love Eddie Flynn's character. Hustler turned defense attorney always finds trouble and this time around he is forced to defend a techie, David Childs while also protecting his wife. These books are so fast paced and I can't wait to get through the rest of this series.
I am unfortunately running behind again. I should have my book done in a few hours though. Sorry, team!
Completion PostSpot: 62
Book: Needle and Thread by Ann M. Martin
How it Fits: Main Street #2
Date Read: 3-26-13
Rating: 4 stars
Review: I enjoyed the second book in this series a bit better than the first, perhaps because I knew the characters more & understood them a bit better. I enjoy the friendship between Olivia, Flora, & Nikki and I appreciate that Olivia and Flora try to shield Nikki from bullies. I love the small-town, "homey" feel of the series. "Peeking" in the windows of each family is an interesting writing technique Martin uses. I will keep reading this series.
Week 9, Roll 1Tracking Thread
D.L. - completion post
Denise - completion post
Raquel - completion post
Susan - completion post
Who would like to roll today? Anyone feel free lol
I rolled 3New Spot 62 + 3 = 65
Previous Spot: 62
Roll: 3
New Spot: 65
Reading options:
- #6 in series
- #5 in series
- #65 in series
- Alternate: 65. Author 'T'
TY for rolling, Susan! We're all checked in now :)
For the alternate, does the T need to be author first or last name?
Raquel wrote: "For the alternate, does the T need to be author first or last name?"It can be either, as far as I know. Hope that helps :)
Completion PostSpot 65
Only Spite by Rylie Dark
Sadie Price FBI Suspense Thriller #5
208 pages
3/26/23
3 stars?
There are so very many mystery series in which the MC is a female FBI agent with a sister who was murdered or went missing during childhood that I am beginning to wonder, could this be an actual requirement of the FBI? I really don't know what compelled me to try one other than I was tired of tripping over them. Why this series? I liked the covers and I guess the Alaska setting was appealing. Also, I seem to need a lot of Rs for my spell out challenge, and this was available on hoopla.
1. The narration is completely fine.
2. The MC is indeed a female FBI agent with a dead sister who she suspects was murdered 15 years ago. The author has doled out little bits of info about this in each book.
3. The books are very easy to listen to and require very little brain power.
4. The mysteries and the process of solving them are completely implausible - -Sadie has been in Alaska for just a few weeks and we're up to 5 serial killers now. She's been in the hospitable multiple times.
5. The characters are sterotypes, every single one of them. There are definitely cringey moments. Sadie has in multiple books noted that her younger, less experienced partner seems to be star struck by her. Ewww.
I realize that I have just reviewed books 1 -5 as a whole. I think that's okay because it applies to every one.
Would I recommend these? No. No. No. However, they don't annoy me in the moment. I can listen to these and perform other tasks at the same time. I can't always type and listen to an audiobook, but these are so simple that I can. That's both a negative and a positive.
I think I will most likely finish out this series.
Mod
Spot: 65
Book: The Rest of the Story by Tal Bauer
Qualification: Alternate: Author 'T'
Pages: 419
Mod
First, middle or last.
Selection PostSpot: 65
Book: Twins for the Soldier by Rochelle Alers
How It Fits: #5 in Wickham Falls Weddings
Completion PostSpot 65
The Engineer's Wife by Tracey Enerson Wood
How it fits: Alternate Author T
Pages 352
Completed on 03/29/2023
Review:
Have walked the Brooklyn Bridge many many times and had no knowledge of the history behind it. This historical fiction novel goes from the imagining of the process to the first people getting to walk across it. Interesting read but a bit anti climatic at times. Characters needed a little more development, but if you enjoy learning of the history of NYC architecture, this is a good one.
Mod
Spot: 65
Book: The Rest of the Story by Tal Bauer
Qualification: Alternate: Author 'T'
Pages: 419
Finished: 29 Mar 2023
Rating: ★★★
Review:
Well. Believe me, it hurts my soul to give a Tal Bauer book only three stars, but there was just no way around it with this one. I was too damn bored for too much of the time for more.
My first reaction upon seeing that his newest release was gonna be yet another sports romance was disappointment - it's not a genre I'm all that into, especially when it involves a sport I have absolutely zero interest in, and none of the books he's released in this genre so far have made it onto my favourites shelf.
Imagine my surprise, then, when the sports part was what I enjoyed most about this one! Everybody loves an underdog, of course, and "team of perpetual losers makes some changes and embarks on meteoric rise" is a trope I quite like. If only there had been more of it happening on the page, beyond "We played this team. We won. Yay us." over and over...
Instead, most of the focus was on the romance, and I was not engaged by that part of the book. For one, these are supposed to be grown men, yet they act like idiotic teenagers for an excruciatingly long time. Then there's Shea's whole "I want to wait until marriage" deal, which is just utterly nonsensical and incomprehensible to me - I found Morgan's "One night stands and flings only, I don't do love" stance unappealing, but at least I get that even though it's not how I function. Does Shea have a personality beyond being a sweet, naive little goody two shoes, an utter paragon of virtue and perfection? If so, I couldn't find it - we only get to see him through Morgan's exceedingly rose-tinted glasses, and there was no complexity there. I was just not invested in their lovestory, and the whole thing dragged on and on for entirely too long.
I still love his writing despite its tendency to go overboard with the purple prose, and I did like the ending of the book - it just took way too long to get there.
Now, please, can we have more murder and less sugar in the next one?
Mod
Denise wrote: "D.L., how's your book coming?"Sorry, everybody. I'm being a terrible captain. I just need about 10 minutes to finish my book, then I'll do my completion report, & someone can roll for us :)
Mod
Completion PostSpot: 65
Book: Twins for the Soldier by Rochelle Alers
How It Fits: Wickham Falls Weddings #5
Date Read: 3/30/23
Rating: 3.5 stars
Review: I have read another book in the Wickham Falls series & I have to say I found the characters in this book far more likable. Plus I like the trope of the best friend taking care of & ultimately falling for his best friend's widow, which is what happens here. It had a sweet feeling to it. There was good character development & a nice if slightly, rushed ending.
Week 9, Roll 2Tracking Thread
D.L. - completion post
Denise - completion post
Raquel - completion post
Susan - completion post
Mod
Previous Spot: 65
Roll: 4
New Spot: 69
Reading options:
- #6 in series
- #9 in series
- #69 in series
- Alternate: Title 'B'
Denise wrote: "Week: 10 - Roll: 1Previous Spot: 65
Roll: 4
New Spot: 69
Reading options:
- #6 in series
- #9 in series
- #69 in series
- Alternate: Title 'B'"
It's up to the team, of course, & I'll go with the majority, but would it be possible to use one of our bonus points to get to 70? 69 is a difficult one.
Plus, the other teams are already in the 70's so this would advance us a bit.
Mod
What do you think about using one of our bonus points, Susan & Raquel, to get to 70?
Okay cool. Here are the new task options we will use for Spot 70:- Standalone
- #7 in series
- #70 in series
- Alternate: Favorite Author
Completion PostSpot 70
Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan
Qualification: Stand alone
Review:
A cute and fun read that will easily bring a smile to your face. Not your typical plot for a rom com and that is what I loved about it. Nora, a screenwriter and the hunky actor starring in her movie fall for each other. Her kids and whole town fall for him too. Misunderstandings happen and things fall apart, but the love is still there. Book goes a little deeper at times but also a little silly which I think makes a good escape rom com.
Mod
Spot: 70
Book: N. P. by Banana Yoshimoto
Qualification: Alternate: Favorite Author
Pages: 192
Completion Post
Davo by N.R. Walker
169 pages
STANDALONE
4/1/23
3 stars
I usually like this author and the book won a few awards in the MM Romance group so I had high expectations...and this didn't meet them.
The book was sweet. I liked the characters, but there really wasn't much to this. Guy who works in mining likes to wear skirts and none of his colleagues care. If it weren't for the skirts, this would be 100% forgettable.
It's not that this is a bad book, it just doesn't really have a plot. And that ending seems like something a child would write. (view spoiler)
Mod
Spot: 70
Book: N. P. by Banana Yoshimoto
Qualification: Alternate: Favorite Author
Pages: 192
Finished: 01 Apr 2023
Rating: ★★★★★
Review:
Banana Yoshimoto has been one of my favourite authors since I discovered her as a teenager, and one whose works I could easily pick out from reading a single paragraph.
N.P.'s characters are brought together by a short story, written shortly before its author's death by suicide, which appears to drive all those who engage with it deeply enough to attempt to translate it to take their own lives as well. Now the unpublished manuscript rests in narrator Kazami's drawer, where it has been ever since her boyfriend became the latest victim of its apparent curse. A chance meeting with the children of the long dead writer who penned the tale leads to curious encounters and friendships, laden with Yoshimoto's typical bittersweet, melancholy scenes.
It's been a long time since I last read this. Once again, it had me captivated from page one.
Completion PostSpot: 70
Book: Chasing Forgiveness by Neal Shusterman
How It Fits: Standalone
Date Read: 4/1/23
Rating: 4 stars
Review: Wow, this was such a powerful book & what makes it especially profound is that it's based on a true story. Preston really exists and so does his family: his dad really did kill his mother. I can't imagine how difficult that would be to deal with & how much it would affect the trajectory of his life. He was a strong person. The writing was good, but not flowery or heavily descriptive which I think suited the topic. Stark. It was stark. A very easy, but sad & powerful read. Recommended.
Week 10, Roll 1Tracking Thread
D.L. - completion post
Denise - completion post
Raquel - completion post
Susan - completion post
Mod
Week: 10 - Roll: 2
Previous Spot: 70
Roll: 4
New Spot: 74
Reading options:
- #4 in series
- #7 in series
- #74 in series
- Alternate: Cover Item: Lamp/Candle
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