Keith’s Comments (group member since Jan 25, 2022)

Keith’s comments from the This or That Reading Challenge group.

For this month's challenge I chose This: A book about a haunting, for which I read Summer of Night by Dan Simmons. It's the story of a group of kids (around age 11-12) living in a small town with a huge, mostly unused school which is slated to be decommissioned, when strange happenings begin. In typical fashion for these stories the adults either don't notice or ignore the events, but the kids recognize what is happening and it falls to them to unravel the mysteries and fight the evil which awaits.

I've read a number of Scifi novels by this author, but this was the first horror. I really like this author's writing style; very descriptive so easy to imagine and well constructed stories and characters, and this book was no exception. While arguably mostly predictable, I felt the threats to the kids were terrifying with real stakes and consequences. An enjoyable page turner. 4 1/4 stars.

For the July challenge I chose This: A book with a title that starts with a vowel, for which I read the classic 5th century BC Greek play Agamemnon by Aeschylus (extra bonus author also starts with a vowel!). I've read Aeschylus before, but I liked this one more than I anticipated. I was generally familiar with the mythology, but I felt the author did a good job with the character depictions. Things were not black & white, a lot of gray. Everyone had combinations of reasons why we should root for them, but also clear faults. Then in classic Greek drama fashion tragedy strikes. 3 3/4 stars.

For this month's challenge I chose That: A fantasy or sci-fi satire novel, for which I read Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams. Adams, of which I have previously read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, is back with a whole new cast and crew, but similar absurdist humor. Dirk Gently is not your average detective, and the case involves a ghost, a time machine, and a spaceship. Needless to say, lots of tongue-in-cheek silliness going on. I had some chuckles along the way, and some bonus points for originality, but wasn't my favorite. 3 stars

For this month I chose This: The book that has been on your TBR the longest, which according to GoodReads when I joined in 2014 the first book I added to my TBR was The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. I enjoyed this book very much. It's a story of a dysfunctional family, both their individual lives as well as the problems when they come together, which you may get as well from other works, but the storytelling and characters here was the key. All the family members have problems, but the author gives them life and while you're often not rooting for them, you still feel what they're going through. 4 1/2 stars.

For this month's challenge I chose This: A book about surviving a natural disaster (fiction or non-fiction), for which I read Inland by Téa Obreht. This book tells a fictional tale that takes place during the very real severe droughts in Arizona at the end of the 19th century. It showcased what families had to do to conserve water, to what ends they had to go to obtain water, and also has a storyline about camels from the United States Camel Corps, that were tried as potential military option in drought areas during the US Civil War. I thought it was well written, as the author does a pretty good job of providing a sense for what it was like at the time under those circumstances. I should note that book does also venture into some magical realism, and the drought is more of a backdrop and catalyst for what is actually happening. Still, an enjoyable read. Solid 4 stars.

For this month I chose That: A book written by an anonymous author, for which I read The Tale of the Heike, a 13th century Japanese novel that is the result of a long oral tradition, therefore has no single true author. I came across one review that described it as the "Iliad of Japanese Literature". And there were definitely some parallels: the focus of the story is the struggle between the two largest clans at the time for the control of Japan, with many battles, heroes, and villains.

But while there were some very compelling stories along the way, and certainly represented an important historic epoch for the country, there are also many very dry, repetitive, sections that were almost unendurable. I'm glad I read it, and I generally liked it, but don't feel any compulsion to ever re-read. Factoring in that this is from the 1200s (and the original stories in oral form are centuries older), I'll give it 3 stars.

I selected the This: A book about a real or fictional queen challenge, for which I read When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt by Kara Cooney. The book covered the lives of six female rulers in Egypt over a 3,000 year period - which while not sounding all that great on the surface, was during a time in history when women were never in leadership positions. The author did an amazing job on the research in piecing together the circumstances and experiences of these women, especially considering how long ago this went back, the scant remaining evidence, and overcoming in some cases the willful attempts at expunging the records of the very existence of these women. The author also did a great job of putting into context their lives and reflects on the parallels with contemporary women as leaders. Very compelling and enjoyable read - 4 1/2 stars

Leticia wrote: "I selected This and read . RUOK? by Andy Futuro
I thought the cover was beautiful in its own abstract way. Furthermore, I was interested in the s..."

Whoops! Sounds like both you and I got off to a rough start with our January picks. Hopefully we have better luck this month! 😁

For this month's challenge I selected That: A book with an author that has a 3 letter first name, for which I read The Life and Loves of a She Devil by Fay Weldon. The novel was described as "a masterpiece about love, hate, infidelity, corrosive envy, and the best kind of revenge, a feminist classic". Ummm...not so much for me, unfortunately. There was definitely love, hate, infidelity, and envy elements, but I found the tone of the majority of the novel was more done in an absurdist manner, with so many bad behaving characters depicted, that I found myself not caring about any of it. And while there were clear feminist themes, the author alternates between highlighting and trashing various viewpoints - again, nobody comes off well in this one. There were some interesting elements, but even factoring in the year it was written (early 1980s) this one still didn't work for me. 2 3/4 stars.

What was your worst read for 2024?
Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner - read for a book club, but it was such a snoozer that I was one of the few that actually completed it. And regret it.

What was your good read for 2024?
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy, was so beautifully written that the author placed me at the heart of this unique tale

What was the absolute best read for 2024?
Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error by Kathryn Schulz, used humor and common sense to make great points about how we fail at failing

What was your most unforgettable read in 2024?
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. It is so unbelievable when you learn how closely this book hews to the author's actual life

Welcome Chris - happy to have you aboard!

I should also note: took a peek at some of the upcoming month prompts for 2025 - looking forward to the new year!

I just posted my 12th and final This/That challenge read for December 2024, and I just wanted to to take a moment to thank you again Leticia for organizing and facilitating this. I know putting something like this together takes time and effort, so very much appreciated. Thoroughly enjoyed my reads and the discussions. Thanks again!

Love this! I'm going to wait until after the first of the year to respond because I'm still reading! 😁

For this month I chose That: A book with a green cover or red cover, and read Satan Says by Sharon Olds (which unsurprisingly had a very red cover). This was the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winner's first poetry collection - the first of theirs I had read - and I was impressed. The writing was stark by design, and really hit hard. Great use of language. 4 3/4 stars - definitely plan to read more from this poet!

For October I chose That: A paranormal horror novel, for which I read Ghost Story by Peter Straub. I had this on my TBR for a while because it was on a lot of Top 10 recommended horror reads lists, so I was happy to have this prompt to read it. Maybe my expectations were a little too high. It was good overall, but I found the pacing to be too slow (not in a good "slow burn" sort of way), and ultimately very predictable which took a lot of the scare out of it. There was a general creepiness factor, but ended up just thinking it was ok. Maybe 3 1/4 stars.

For this challenge I chose That: A book from your own TBR, for which I read The City in Glass by Nghi Vo. It's the story of a city, a demon, and an angel, covering a total period of centuries. It was a unique tale, especially as it was primarily told from the demon's perspective, and I really enjoyed the writing and the demon's character. Not a lot happens, but I was ok with that as I was taken in by the atmosphere / vibe of the story. I've read two other by this same author and have enjoyed them as well. 4.25 out of 5 stars

For this month's selection I chose This: A book about an oceanic voyage, for which I read Migrations: A Novel by Charlotte McConaghy. The story takes place in the not-too-distant future, and features a passionate individual on a ship-bound voyage from Greenland to Antarctica to follow what could well be the final migration of the remaining Arctic terns. I really enjoyed this book. The writing was beautiful, and interspersed flashbacks revealed that there was much more to the story than initially met the eye, and there were some potent themes of loss in its various forms. 4 1/2 stars.

For this month I chose This: Read a gothic horror, for which I read The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, which is considered the first ever gothic horror novel, written in 1764. From what I read about it this work is considered highly influential on the genre, establishing many of the familiar elements including secret passageways, trapdoors, painting that move, etc. Unfortunately the writing did suffer from age, and contained many overly verbose dialogues which got so repetitive at times that even the characters would remark on it ("please, will you just get to the point, you're exhausting my patience!"). Still, it did have some fun spooky qualities and a couple of surprise deaths. Since it was the first and written in 1764, I'm willing to grade on a curve and score it a '3'. Decent if you're curious about the origins of the genre, but not a great work in and of itself.

For this challenge I chose That: Read a book that has over 500 pages in it, and read Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner (569 pages). It's a multi-generational story of a family both in the late 19th century untamed West, as well as the remnants of that family in the 1970s. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1972.

And I didn't like it. 😆 While some of the stories of frontier life were interesting, the 1970s protagonist didn't seem to do a good job of learning lessons despite all the historical studying. I gave it 2.5 stars.