Anika’s Comments (group member since Dec 25, 2011)

Anika’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

I have 11 books left for a Mega, but the next five weeks are gonna be painfully busy for me....so: high hopes, low expectations?

10.7 Strange New Worlds

The Collapse of Western Civilization: A View from the Future by Naomi Oreskes

+10 Task, #48 on the CliFi list
+10 Combo: 10.4, b. 1958; 20.5, colon

Task total: 20
Season total: 505

20.10 World of Crime

The Healer by Antti Tuomainen

+20 Task, set 100% in Finland
+10 LiT, translated from Finnish
+10 Combo: 10.2, 10.7 #56 on CliFi list

Task total: 40
Season total: 485

10.6 Modernism

The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie

+10 Task, pub. 1936
+10 Combo: 10.9, MPE page count 232; 20.5, periods

Task total: 20
Season Total: 445

10.2 The Dispossessed

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

I've been reading some heavy books lately, thought I could do with something a little lighter. This one wasn't on my radar at all--for the Kindle seasonal challenge, the newest task was to read the first book in a series and this was one of the listed "recommended" books, I needed something to fill 10.2, et voila.
I couldn't put this down. I knew NOTHING about it when I borrowed it, other than it was ostensibly about a "housemaid"...the way this psychological thriller unfolds is pitch-perfect and I was definitely glad I took that ride. It was total beach-read material--all plot--but what a compelling plot. I've already borrowed the second in the series.

+10 Task
+10 Review

Task total: 20
Season total: 425

15.7 HDYGG?

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

Oregon = ONION

+15 Task, 1 Plant

Task total: 15, 36 Total plants
Season total: 405

15.6 HDYGG?

Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley

London = LEEK
Great Britain = GARLIC
Europe = ENDIVE

352
5 = THYME

ionaiversonsrulesforcommuting = CLOVER
ionaiversonsrulesforcommuting = GERANIUM

6 Total Plants
+15 Task, +5 Flower Bonus

Task total: 20, 35 Plants
Season total: 390

15.5 HDYGG?

A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan

432
4 = DILL

afeverInthehearlandthekukluxklansplottotakeoveramericaandthewomanwhostoppedthem = NASTURTIUM
afEVERintheheartlandthekukluxklansplottotakeoveramericaandthewomanwhostoppedthem = LAVENDER
afeverintheheartlandthekukluxklansplottotakeoveramericaandthewomanwhostoppedthem = CLEMATIS
afeverintheheartlandthekukluxklansplottotakeoveramericaandthewomanwhostoppedthem = PHLOX

5 Total Plants

+ 15 Task, +15 Flower Bonus

Task total: 30, 29 Plants
Season total: 370

20.5 Surprised!

Hunter's Moon by Annabel Chase

+20 Task, apostrophe
+15 Combo: 10.3, #3 in "Hex Support" trilogy; 10.5 "Man on the MOON"; 20.3 Kit has Isis (her feline familiar) and Mr. Montgomery has Shiela (what a terrible cat name!)

Task total: 35
Season total: 340

15.4 HDYGG?

The Rural Diaries: Love, Livestock, and Big Life Lessons Down on Mischief Farm by Hilarie Burton Morgan

Rhinebeck = RUTABAGA
Dutchess County = DAIKON

ThERurAldiarieSlovelivestockandbiglifelessonsdownonmischieffarm = ASTER
theruraldiArIEslOvelivestockaNdBiGlifelessonsdownonmischieffarm = BEGONIA
theruralDiarieslovelivestOckAnDbIgLiFelessonsdownonmischieFfarm = DAFFODIL
theruraldiariesloELlIVesTockandbiglifelessOnsdownonmischieffarm = VIOLET
therUraldiarieslovelivestoCkandbiglifelessonsdownOnmiSChieffaRm = CROCUS

7 Plants, +5 Flower Bonus

Task total: 20, 24 total plants
Season total: 305

Jayme(theghostreader) wrote: "15.3 HDYGG
Twisted Twenty-Sixby Janet Evanovich

Napa Cabbage-set in New Jersey
Chives 6-306 pp

Task +15
Grand total: 110"

So sorry, Jayme, but it looks like you've already used Napa Cabbage in your 15.1 claim (post 18). Your plant total for this post is 1 plant (chives) rather than the 2 claimed.

20.10 World of Crime

The Harbor by Katrine Engberg

+20 Task, set in Denmark
+10 LiT, Danish
+25 Combo: 10.2; 10.9, 352 MPE page count; 20.1 (view spoiler)[one character's art/photography become a key piece of evidence in helping the detectives uncover whodunit. it is a crucial story line that develops and evolves from about halfway through the book and ultimately we find out the artist herself is the perpetrator (hide spoiler)]; 20.6: nearly every character in the book has at least one chapter from their point of view; 20.9 (view spoiler)[one of the subplots in the book is about a group of three engineers who are falsifying emissions data at a waste disposal plant to increase government funding so they can skim more money from the company (hide spoiler)]

Task total: 55
Season total: 285

Valerie wrote: "The irony of Anika calling me a master gardener, in the context of HDYGG, makes me laugh. This morning when I got back from my walk, I saw that my carefully laid out seed sprouting tray had been kn..."

LOL! Since reading that, I've been extra careful to harden off my seedlings in a place where my cats can't muck them up--my cats are notoriously naughty. Mother Nature is having a say in my efforts, though: woke to SNOW!? I'm ready for proper spring already!

Apple wrote: "20.3 The Madonna of the Cat

The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa
Nana is named for the shape of his tail, which is shaped like the number 7..."

I loved this one! I also highly recommend The Goodbye Cat by the same author.
It's a collection of short stories and you encounter some of the characters from The Travelling Cat Chronicles in the last two stories so it'd fit for 20.8...

Tawallah wrote: "15.1 - HDYGG

When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen
Set in Kipsen, North Carolina, USA

Flower : cosmos "

Unfortunately, the title you're claiming only has one "s" so "cosmos" wouldn't work here. "Rose" would, though. Would you like to claim "rose" and keep the same plant count or do you have "rose" planned elsewhere?

Tien wrote: "15.5 HDYGG?
The Romance of Tristan and Iseult by Joseph Bédier

Vegetables:
England - ENDIVE
France - FENNEL"

The requirement for a vegetable is 51%+ set in that location.
Does this book take place mostly in England or France? Only one country would be claim-able. Does it take place 51%+ in one city that you could additionally claim? If it is set a majority in France, you could still claim "Endive" but for Europe...

Valerie wrote: "15.10 How Does Your Garden Grow

Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo"

Congrats on how quickly you grew your garden!!

In reviewing your posts, I found a few things that I think will make you happy :-)

Post 85 15.4: You only claimed plant total 5 for this post, it was actually 6 (ASTER, GARLIC, ENDIVE, HORSERADISH, ROSEMARY, THYME), +1
Post 99 15.5: You can also claim CUCUMBER (California), +1
Post 117 15.6: You can also claim SWEET PEA, +1 (also +5 Flower Bonus since it's an 8-letter claim)
Post 159 15.9: You can also claim ONION (Ohio) and LILY, +2

With those additional plants, your garden total is 46 which gives you the +150 bonus points rather than just +100! Well done you, master gardner!

Joanne wrote: "Before posting, I just want to be sure that this works to avoid my last error-

Talon of the Silver Hawk is book # 1 in the Conclave of Shadows series. The merchant Roo reappears in a ..."

It sounds like it would work. Go for it! <3

15.3 HDYGG?

Gaining Ground: A Story Of Farmers' Markets, Local Food, And Saving The Family Farm by Forrest Pritchard

Berryville = BEET
Clarke County = CUCUMBER

320 pages
3 = RUE

gaininggroundastoryoffarmersmarketslocalfoodandsavingthefamilyfarm = LILAC
gaininggroundastoryoffarmersmarketslocalfoodandsavingthefamilyfarm = MARIGOLD
gaininggroundastoryoffarmersmarketslocalfoodandsavingthefamilyfarm = GARDENIA

6 Total Plants, +10 Flower Bonus

Task total: 25, 16 total plants
Season total: 230

15.2 HDYGG?

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson

Illinois = ICEBERG LETTUCE

447 Pages
7 = PARSLEY

tHE Devil iN the white citY muRder mAGic And madness at the fair that changed america = HYDRANGEA
the devIl in THe white city mUrDer magic aNd mAdneSs at the fair that changed america = DIANTHUS
the devil in the white city murder magic and madness at the fair ThaT ChaNged AMerIca = CATMINT

+15 task 5 Plants total, +10 Flower Bonus

Task total: 25, 11 total plants
Season total: 205