Cat’s Comments (group member since Jan 28, 2015)

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

we did! still scarred!

we're waiting Lori to return from travels before opening up - tomorrow or Weds :)

DQS set 2: A Night of Travel- Matt's All-American Burgers
Oct 5- A Night of Travel thru Matt's All-American Burgers

6. Are you more like Cassie- adventurous and a risk taker or Izzy, more careful and think things through?

I'm slightly more think things through

7. What are your thoughts on "The Woman" now hearing more of her story.

Yikes, she's a Bigger Badder Bad than I thought! Avoid avoid avoid!

8. Drummond Fox has the Book of Memories and it is often used more to forget than to remember something. Can you pinpoint anything in your life you would willingly forget on purpose? Cassie is now on this adventure on her own because Drummond made Izzy forget the Book of Doors but Cassie was now able to see the Library. Was the trade off worth it?

I don't think the trade off is worth it. Taking away someone's autonomy is a bad look, even if it is based on traumatic events in Fox's past.

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DQ'S DAY 1 - START - BOOK PEOPLE

1. "This is the Book of Doors Hold it in your hand and any door is every door"
If you could open a door to anywhere, where would you go?

I don't know that I could! I'm not sure I've ever memorised a door in sufficient detail!

2. The first page of the novel starts with this lovely sentence - so true for book lovers.
"I've read it before but as I get older, I find comfort in re-reading favourites. It's like spending time with old friends." - Mr Webber
Does this ring true for you? What is your favourite comfort read?
PS - Have you read The Count of Monte Cristo? If you have do you agree or disagree with Cassie's opinion?

I do like to reread, with Discworld being particualarly good at getting me out of a slump (not Rincewind!), and reread classics on occasion to see how the passing of time has changed my reaction to them.
I have read Count... ages ago. My vibe was mostly surprise that no-one recognised him, and at his massive unwillingness to grow and let go of a grudge!

3. After Cassie's and Izzy's first outing with the Book, despite Cassie's delight it seems that Izzy's reservations are valid. Can you see the positive and negative aspects of owning the books - So far other than the Book of Doors, the Books of Pain, Shadow, Memories, Illusions and Luck have been revealed. If you could own one book which one would it be? Which one wouldn't you touch with a ten foot pole!

I don't fancy Despair or Pain. Illusions and Luck seem risky to living a happy life, ditto Memories. So Door seems the best of the lot so far....

4. Everyone seems terrified of the mysterious Woman? Who do you think she is and why is her name capitalized?

The Big Bad. I wonder if she is also Lottie or possibly Mrs Kellner ?

5. Cassie goes to Mr Webber's apartment to get some answers.
"Why did you give me the book Mr Webber" she asked the room "and where did you get it. What is the secret behind it?"
These are the "64 million dollars questions"!! Do you have any theories or is it too early in the story to come to any conclusions?

Beyond wondering about Mrs K being The Woman, nothing much. Lund the Lunk will presumably be tied in in other ways too.
Desmond is particulalry dim, not thinking about his foot prints being a huge giveaway, so he's going to be more hindrance than help when he speaks to Cassie & Izzy, leading the hunter dude straight to them....

Here for DQs

Lisa - (Aussie Girl) wrote: "I'm good for Day 1.

PS - I can't believe my choice got picked for two BOM's - great, except it's outside the Challenges, LOL. Some gals have all the luck!

Anyways, hope everyone enjoys the book."

it's nice to see Judith knocked off the BOM Winners podium! there was a stretch when she got at least one each month.
I've come to realise that I am not a person with my thumb on the reading habits of the group!

I'm in for DQs.

I'll get to fire shortly

She's pretty lost from their point of view!

And isn't Cemetery Boys featuring Day of the Dead?

There's Under the Volcano which is weird.

I've made the note with mods - we've not decided who's IC team build yet - so do it! :)

And Danielle and I can make clear from the get go that it's relaxed time chez nous! (I'm actually minded to relaxed too, given work pressures over the AUtumn)

Sammy - my team is not going to be pushing hard this time, if you want to join us: one of the teamies want's to be a "bad" teamie, reading for themself, so you can join on the same basis. only an idea, zero pressure x

Amanda wrote: "Hi ❤️

When do the BOM polls typically open? & more specifically, when will the November one open?

TIA!"

The last couple of days of the month preceeding. You'll find links in the newsletter. They usually close on 7th of each month.
So November's will be added in a few days, and be active until 7 Oct.
Subject always to real life!

SET 2

6. There's a quote from Bear "maybe freedom is just about choosing the life you want"
Do you think this is true? And do you think it's a revelation that all three versions came to?

7. Julian's life seemed the hardest for him and Maia to find happiness. Do you think this is due to the lack of Cora in their story?

8. Did you expect the resolution of Gordon's journey?

9. We don't see much of Gordon Snr at all, until the Epilogue. Did the end of his story satisfy you? Do you think that his life would have been different if he was Hugh, as hinted?

10. Overall thoughts about this book? Did the conceit work well?

I updated with more :)

apart from the ghost jaguar pirate treasure warrior (missing only the kitchen sink, I think!), I think they were all of merit, though some will be skewed by mood too :)

how about: The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds (actually interesting)

The Ghost Pirate's Treasure: Mystery of the Jaguar Warrior (I suspect was pressed into service for an NBRC task)

This Book Will Change Your Mind About Mental Health: A Journey into the Heartland of Psychiatry (also good, but not uplifting reading!)

Taxtopia: How I Discovered the Injustices, Scams and Guilty Secrets of the Tax Evasion Game (Infuriating)

The Stopping Places: A Journey Through Gypsy Britain (I enjoyed this one)

The Red Prince: The Life of John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster

The Reason I Jump: the Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism

Playing for Freedom: The Journey of a Young Afghan Girl

The Patient Assassin: A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge and the Raj

The Kaiju Preservation Society (Scalzi!)

His Bloody Project: Documents Relating to the Case of Roderick Macrae (apparently 5 stars...)

Ghosts of the Tsunami: Death and Life in Japan's Disaster Zone (v good)

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper (excellent)

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line

The Black Jacobins: Toussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution

(shame you can't do it across both title & series: Ancillary Justice would work then)

DQ's 1

1. This was my pick because it had such an interesting premise. Does your given name affect the path of your life? Do people make assumptions about you, your personality even your ethnicity/cultural background because of your name. What do you think?

I'm not sure about name affecting the path of my life, but they definitely have cultural connotations.
For this book, the name started the different paths because of how an abusive man reacted to them, rather than the name per se.

2. Now that I have started (now finished) the book it actually is more a book about sliding doors. Three different names, three different pathways. Bear, Julian, Gordon - what do you think will happen to these three boys?

I wondered, about a third into it if their lives would come back together in the end, but suspect not. I hope they all manage to find happiness and fulfillment in their different ways.

3. What are the initial similarities/differences between the three stories? Were you shocked that all of the three stories involve murder and abuse no matter what the boy's name is?

I think the point is more about how different types of abuse and escapes impact more than the directly abused (Cora) than the names. I was interested by the post-partum depression when Cora didn't exercise any free will in the naming of Gordon, and how that shaped the relationship between father and son.

4. Do you think the sibling relationship between Maia and Bear/Julian/Gordan play out differently in the three stories? Is it the name of the brother or other factors that cause any differences between them?

They definitely play out differently, but again, mainly because of the shared knowledge or not of abuse. I find the Julian-Maia relationship the hardest to understand, given we are only looking in every 7 years- but how it went from sleeping in bed together to being quite distant and cool is odd.

5. Handing down family names is very common in many cultures. "Maybe consenting to live in the shadow of his father and his father's father is only perpetuating the likeness...Perhaps calling their child something different would be a liberation" Agree/disagree with this statement.

I agree, I think. Especially when the ancestral figures are negative/judgy in their approach to descendants. A link with a positive connection would be different. I think the solution is that the family name is a second name, not the primary one, to keep the connection but also to allow individuality.

generally feeling boo hiss about that Australia location too. :(

and sad that my current has an invisible M in the title (The Shadow Cabinet would be vastly improved if it smuggled an M in there somewhere, amirite?!)