Okay,  this week I’m doing a good impression of the White Rabbit.  “Me, late, with my reputation!”  This actually wasn’t my fault as I was on holiday.  So, I’m playing catch up.  I’ve read the book but will keep my posts separate and check everyone’s posts out in order.  Below are the questions for week 2 of the Wintersmith readalong provided by the Lovely Lisa at Over the Effing Rainbow.  Week 3 will follow shortly!  If you haven’t been joining in we are about to pick up the next book in the Tiffany Aching series anytime and if you want to join in the two hosts are:

Dab of Darkness and Over the Effing Rainbow.

Also, if you haven’t started this series right now would be a good point to stop reading as spoilers will follow:

1.  “I’m not here…” At Miss Treason’s funeral, we see Tiffany get the better of the Feegles, sneaky though they are! What do you think of the way Tiffany’s ‘witching’ is getting better here?  She’s really coming along isn’t she?  Sometimes you could be forgiven for thinking that there isn’t really much actual ‘witching’ going on.  More, sixth sense and common sense and I think that’s true of this situation.  Tiffany is smart enough to realise what the Feegles are up to.  Such a funny part of the book though (well, every time the Feegles are involved everything turns slightly hysterical!)
2. It’s decided that Annagramma gets the cottage, at the meeting of witches – but we learn that Mistress Weatherwax put Tiffany forward for it. Do you think Tiffany should have gotten the cottage?  No.  Or at least I didn’t really want her to.  She’s just so young – I know it shouldn’t matter but I want her to carry on with her ‘witching apprenticeship’.  I admit that’s she’s very sensible in some respects and has her head screwed on (in the right direction as well which is a comfort) but I suppose I want her to be allowed to be young for a little while longer.
3. Nanny Ogg appears at last, to take Tiffany in while the wintersmith’s about. Next to Mistress Weatherwax, she’s my favourite of the witches! What do you think of her so far?  I love Nanny Ogg.  She’s a riot, not to mention seems perfectly capable of being friends with, whilst standing up to, Mistress Weatherwax.
4. We learn a little more about “the dance” that Tiffany interrupted, now – and I love the summer-winter mythology that’s explained to her here. What’s your take on the effect it’s having on Tiffany (and her feet)? And do you think we’ll be seeing more of the Summer Lady as well as the Wintersmith?  Both the elementals are now involved with Tiffany.  The Wintersmith because of his infatuation and Summer because it feels like she’s teaching Tiffany a bit of a lesson.  It will be interesting to see how both these pan out and I definitely think we will see more of Summer.
5. Poor Annagramma … I’m starting to have a little more sympathy for her now, as she turns up desperately seeking skulls! Do you think she’s got what it takes to be a good witch, when it counts? Or is her case as hopeless as it seems?  I think that she will probably be okay.  Let’s face it she’s pretty thick skinned so failure doesn’t seem to be something that she will ever acknowledge!  I’m not sure she’ll ever make a good witch – at least in the traditional sense – it feels like she thinks more of it as a ‘glamorous’ role rather than actually getting down to the nitty gritty and actually helping people but it could be that she learns her lesson and sees sense?
6. Oh, dear. Rob Anybody has a Plan … With all of the seriousness surrounding what Tiffany’s gotten herself into, do you think the Feegles can help her this time? Or are even they in over their heads?  I absolutely have faith in the Feegles.  Frankly I would love a little band of these critters following me around!  They’re the stars of the show.

Part 3 to follow soon.

The other readers joining in as follows:

Dab Of Darkness

Coffee, Cookies and Chili Peppers

Tethyan Books

Over the Effing Rainbow

This week I’ve returned to the world of little blue men, who steal, drink and tell lies (but you still can’t help loving ’em) and witches with pointy hats who have demons in their cellars and can slit your gut with their thumb nail.  Or can they??

Today commences week one of the Wintersmith read along being hosted by Dab of Darkness and then alternately by Over The Effing Rainbow.  These books are such good fun so if you want to join in you’re really not too late.  This is a fairly leisurely pace so you won’t struggle to catch up.

Straight to this week’s questions. (Oh, almost forgot to mention – if you haven’t read these books but want to do so then you might want to look away about now as spoilers run amok in the text below).

1) Did anyone else read the Feegle Glossary in the Introduction? What Feegle words have you incorporated into your daily speech?

I actually didn’t, or at least I very quickly skirted over it.  But I recognised a lot of the words from previous books so I’ve not struggled at all.  I might go back later to see if there’s a couple of choice words I want to save for future bloggery or just plain old insults!

2) Chapter 1 starts the story with a flashback. In it, Tiffany says, ‘This I choose to do. If there is a price, I choose to pay it.’ Pretty ominous, huh? How did you feel about the serious nature of this first chapter?

At first I thought I’d picked up the wrong book and had missed something!  Then I realised what was going on.  I liked the opening chapter although in one respect you could say it’s a bit of a spoiler for future chapters maybe – we’ll see??  I thought it seemed darker than previous stories and it makes me wonder if the Tiffany books are going to get a little more dark as she’s growing up and her talents are being honed.

3) Ms. Treason is 113 years old, and odd. What aspect of her oddness was most endearing to you? Which the most disturbing? 

One-hundred and thirteenty – that deserves a party right there!  She seems like a real old curmudgeonly so and so and yet I think her bark is worse than her bite.  She was all ‘I don’t care about’ the kitty when it arrived but as soon as there was nobody left to see she let it right in (and lets face it she probably let it sleep on her lap as well).  I think the most disturbing thing would be the way she uses other people’s eyes to see – most bizarre, a little bit creepy and also a total invasion of privacy – not to mention I don’t think I want to be used as someone’s personal mirror!

4) Miss Tick finds herself once again persecuted for being a witch, and is being held per the instructions of Witch Hunting for Dumb People (which she secretly wrote). What instructions or tidbits would you include in such a book, or in one entitled Feegle Hunting for Really Dumb People? 

On Feegle Hunting – I would say be sure to write into the instructions to leave lots of liquor round the place, easily accessible and highly potent!  Also, on no account lock your valuables away.  And, if you ever see a Feegle be sure to run as fast as you can in the opposite direction as nobody who saw a Feegle has ever lived to tell the tale!

5) After Tiffany wakes up after the Morris Dance, she stomps off into the snow to cool off & yells for the Wintersmith. What amused you about that scene? 

She was a proper stroppy little teenager wasn’t she – knowing that she’d acted in the wrong and feeling embarrassed so just stomping out with a red face!  it sort of amused me that Ms Treason didn’t go after her – she has a bit of a ‘if you can get yourself into this mess then you can jolly well get yourself out of it’ approach which I found quite funny.  It also made me wonder when Tiffany was yelling for the Wintersmith if she realises more than we think that she has some sort of hold over him??  It was the first point at which he realised the Wintersmith had some sort of almost romantic interest in Tiffany.

6) Boffo and little assumptions fed ticking clocks. What do you think of Ms. Treason’s little tricks? 

I thought they were great to be honest – although it’s just as well there’s no witch hunt going on as she’ll be the first for flames!  But, it goes to affirm that people will believe all sorts and make up and exaggerate even more as they go along because they love to be able to relate a bit of a fantastical tale.

7) We have been reintroduced to Roland, but this time we learn a little more about his family: his ill father and his controlling aunts. What do you think Roland will do about this problem? 

I’m not quite sure just yet.  It appears that he’s having a mini siege imposed by himself – quite the opposite of being sent to your room huh!  Perhaps he will search out Tiffany or ask for her help in some way – maybe he’ll use it as an excuse to see her again?