Anika’s
Comments
(group member since Dec 25, 2011)
Anika’s
comments
from the Reading with Style group.
Showing 1,101-1,120 of 2,799
20.2 RtMDisappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
Set in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (pop. 180K)
Country: Russia
Continent: Asia
While looking for something to read to fill this task, I started browsing what was available online at my local library. I didn't know anything about this other than quickly browsing the description to see where it was set. When I saw it'd fit I downloaded it and immediately started listening, still never having taken a look at what the book was about at all. Based on the title and the cover, I assumed it had something to do with climate change/cli-fi of some sort. Nope, nope, nope. It starts with the abduction of two little girls. What?! I was not anticipating that kind of book at all and didn't know if I was quite in the market for something that dark.
Luckily, I gave it a second chapter: and realized that it was really a collection of short stories that are loosely connected to the missing girl situation.
The writing is fantastic, the construction of the book is on point (the order of the stories is like the perfect mix tape--each story perfectly situated to further both the story and the reader's emotional response), and I would read anything else by this author in a heartbeat. Definitely recommended.
+20 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 25
Season total: 175
15.5 TDoSSaga, Vol. 5 by Brian K. Vaughan
Sara Grace => Lucien
+30 Task
Task total: 30
Season total: 150
15.4 TDoSSaga, Vol. 4 by Brian K. Vaughan
Lindsay =>Sara Grace
+20 Task
Task total: 20
Season total: 120
15.3 TDoSSaga, Vol. 3 by Brian K. Vaughan
Burke Burke => Lindsay
+20 Task
Task total: 20
Season total: 100
15.2 TDoSSaga, Vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughan
Cory Day => Burke Burke
+20 Task
Task total: 20
Season total: 80
15.1 Ten Degrees of SeparationSaga, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan
Delitealex => Cory Day
OOOH, I'm excited to get started with this series!
The main characters are already well-rounded (I feel like they are truer and fuller "people" than the main character in a book I just finished which was the FOURTH installment of the series!) and I can't wait to see what happens to them.
My favorite aspect of graphic novels/comic books is their ability to take serious themes and place them in an alternate universe so that they can be seen in a completely different light...so far, we've got warfare, class inequality, and human trafficking (and those are just the first themes that come to mind) being addressed and I can't wait for what comes next. And the art is on point!
+15 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 20
Season total: 60
20.1 Riding the MetroIn Big Trouble by Laura Lippman
Set in San Antonio
Country: USA
Continent: North America
This is the fourth installment in the Tess Monaghan series and the first to take place outside of Baltimore. The change of venue was welcome--I needed a break from hearing about her usual Baltimore haunts, accomplices, and daily workouts.
I don't quite know how I've made it this far into the series, actually--they're pretty meh books, yet not egregiously off-putting. I don't particularly like any of the characters, except for the dog. The cases she finds herself on are compelling enough, but her actions while on the case (and in her personal life) fall somewhere between absurd and downright adolescent (despite the fact that she's 30).
While these books are nothing I look forward to, they'll do in a pinch when I want *something* to listen to while doing chores around the house but don't quite know what that "something" is.
+20 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 25
Season total: 40
10.6 Page Count, 300-349 pagesQuiet Neighbors by Catriona McPherson, MPE 341 pages (this is my carryover book, read 47% last season)
Maybe it's because I was a day behind in my mind (all day yesterday I was under the impression it was only the 30th of May, so thought I had all day today to finish this one to complete my second round of Fabulous Firsts 🙄) so am angry at the book for not being better and grabbing my attention more quickly, but this was just not my jam.
Another misconception of mine: I thought this was supposed to be a spooky story so kept waiting for the ghosts to show. Nope. It's a murder mystery (and not a terribly good one as I knew whodunnit within the first hundred pages).
Everything about this story was outlandish: the entire premise, the characters, the way they related to each other, the slang...ugh. I forced myself to finish it this morning purely as penance for not keeping my days straight.
+10 Task
+5 Review
Task total: 15
Season total: 15
Kim wrote: "A place for a plan that I won't use."OMG! I die...you are too funny 😂😂😂
Guess I’ll use this space for that same purpose...
Oceania:
Africa:
North America:
Montreal, Canada (pop. 4M): Lullabies for Little Criminals
South America:
Asia:
Tokyo, Japan (pop. 14M): I Am a Cat
Baghdad, Iraq (pop. 7M): When the Apricots Bloom
Europe:
London, England (pop. 9M): The Devil's Grin
Beth wrote: "I also want to read Saga and have most of them. I may borrow your hard work figuring that out!"Borrow away! You'll just want to plug Vol. 6 in somewhere else (I'm planning on using 10.3 for that one) since I had to skip it to make the reader chain work...
20.3 OppositesMuch Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
+20 Task
+25 Oldies (1598)
+15 Combo: 10.3; 10.4; 10.9 merlot: Much nOThing wiLliam shakEspeaRe
Task total: 60
Season total: 2025
20.3 OppositesCraigslist Confessional: A Collection of Secrets from Anonymous Strangers by Helena Dea Bala
+20 Task
+10 Combo: 10.2: Bala; 10.9 cabernet: sECRETs heleNa BAla
Task total: 30
Season total: 1965
20.10 FamilyThe Gathering by Anne Enright
+20 Task
+10 1001 Books
+20 Combo: 10.2; 10.5; 20.1; 20.2
Task total: 50
Season total: 1985
This first run will go fast (and is kinda phoning it in...though it's a series I've been wanting to read for ages and this is the most opportune time to do it!). I definitely want to do a second (and maybe third) run of this one...it's my fave!1. Saga, Vol. 1 Delitealex + Cory Day
2. Saga, Vol. 2 Cory Day + Burke Burke
3. Saga, Vol. 3 Burke Burke + Lindsay
4. Saga, Vol. 4 Lindsay + Sara Grace
5. Saga, Vol. 5 Sara Grace + Lucien
6. Saga, Vol. 7 Lucien + chunwui
7. Saga, Vol. 8 chunwui + Rin
8. Saga, Vol. 9 Rin + Mai
9. Hamlet Mai + Ann
10. The Friend Ann
Thank you to Valerie for noticing a snag in this second plan--you saved me a giant headache!
1. Children of Blood and Bone Katy + Tien
2. Rose Under Fire Tien + Denise
3. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life Denise + Rebekah
4. Before You Know Kindness Rebekah + Kate S
5. An Unnecessary Woman Kate S + Elizabeth (Alaska)
6. Olive, Again Elizabeth (Alaska) + Connie
7. Between Shades of Gray Connie + Karen Michele
8. The 13 Clocks Karen Michele + Valerie
9. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day Valerie + Rosemary
10. The House in the Cerulean Sea Rosemary + Kim
One more graphic novel binge while they count:
1. Here Joy + Andres Santiago
2. Hawkeye, Volume 1: My Life as a Weapon Andres Santiago + Maksym Karpovets
3. Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening Maksym Karpovets + Shaina
4. Nimona Shaina + Dave
5. Transmetropolitan, Vol. 1: Back on the Street Dave + Adam
6. A Contract With God and Other Tenement Stories Adam + Bea
7. Anya's Ghost Bea + Emilia
8. Through the Woods Emilia + Steph
9. Paper Girls, Vol. 1 Steph + Burke Burke
10. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1 Burke Burke + Rachel
I'm going to try REEEALLLY hard to stick to this plan, since most of the books are books that have been lent to me and I really need to return already...10.1
10.2 New Hampshire by Robert Frost
10.3 Saga, Vol. 6 by Brian K. Vaughan
10.4 Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
10.5 Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
10.7
10.8 To Be Sung Underwater by Tom McNeal
10.9
10.10 The Huntress by Kate Quinn or The Diviners by Libba Bray
I was looking at A Thousand Splendid Suns and it has both Kabul and Herat listed as settings (both of which have +100K population)...does anyone who has read it remember if it's at least 75% in either of those cities?
20.3 OppositesAs You Like It by William Shakespeare
+20 Task
+25 Oldies
+15 Combo: 10.3: pub. 1599; 10.4; 10.9 whiskey: You WillIam sHaKESpeare
Task total: 60
Season total: 1935
