Anika’s
Comments
(group member since Dec 25, 2011)
Anika’s
comments
from the Reading with Style group.
Showing 1,581-1,600 of 2,801
10.7 A, E, I, O, U, Sometimes YLagom: The Swedish Art of Balanced Living by Linnea Dunne
The Nordic countries are consistently in the top ten of any worldwide happiness survey. I'm always curious about how their national habits differ from the ones with which I was raised.
I've read a couple of books about Hygge (the "Danish art of Happiness"), so I was curious to read a bit about Sweden's lesser-known answer to that. While hygge makes practical sense to me (coziness that is achieved using candles, warm drinks, sweaters, time spend in intimate groups, baths), lagom is a little more complex. I think of it as the Goldilocks philosophy: not too much, not too little...just right. I liked the focus it had on being ecologically responsible (trying to have as neutral a carbon footprint as possible), on putting as much energy into free time as one does their work life (you won't find a Swede at the workplace 80 hours a week!), and on being smart when it comes to physical exercise (actually engaging in physical activity without spending hours pumping iron at the gym). I find Americans are far more extreme in all of these things and definitely have a thing or two to learn from their Swedish counterparts. On a practical level, I feel like lagom makes sense and is do-able (but once there's a chill in the air and until summer is again in full swing, hygge is my philosophy of choice).
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel
Task total: 30
Season total: 225
10.6 WWIIWhen Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II by Molly Guptill Manning
Denise gave such a comprehensive review of this book, I don't feel like I have a lot to add rather than my own impressions and not so much a review of the content...
I love the role that librarians played in placing books in the hands of soldiers and the process that they established in choosing titles. I love that publishing houses set aside thoughts of profit and competition in order to get books into that hands of those young men putting their lives on the line. It enraged me when politicians tried to censor them and was filled with glee when those very politicians were overruled! I love that it was recognized that war is not just a clash of arms but of ideas and that reading is a crucial weapon.
As they were talking about different titles available to the soldiers, I couldn't help wondering, "Which of these would my grandfathers have been drawn to? Is that what initiated their lifelong love of reading or was it a boon to have the books to feed their preexisting love of reading?" One of my most treasured possessions is a book that my maternal grandfather carried with him throughout the war which he gave to me after graduating high school (being the first grandchild has its definite advantages!)...after reading this book and realizing the precious nature of reading materials at that time, I treasure it all the more.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel
+15 Combo (10.2, 10.7, 10.8)
Task total: 45
Season total: 195
20.5 Non-Linear (this is my carryover book, was only 40% complete before the start of this season)The Way Home: Tales from a Life Without Technology by Mark Boyle
I find myself reading more and more about finding one's way back to a more simple time, a more simple life. I read A Pig in Provence: Good Food and Simple Pleasures in the South of France last season which was rediscovering food and life on a more simple? primitive? natural? level. I'm always dipping into Walden for reminders of what it is to be human yet to be part of Nature and Desert Solitaire is never far from my mind since it's right in my back yard.
This one felt like a Walden for the modern day...yet the author had so much more to adjust to than dear Thoreau. The abandonment of technology when you've been submerged in it your entire life is quite an adjustment. No consulting Google when you have a question. No quick purchases on Amazon to fill your every need/whim. No hopping in the car to run to the store when you're out of milk. No email or phone to communicate with friends or family.
While the author was content living in the moment, the book itself bounced back and forth between three times: the early settlement of Blasket Island (in Ireland, not far from the homestead he has established for his year of no technology) and the way that the people there lived without technology up until the day that it was abandoned in the 1950s; the author's youth/college years, when he was most submerged in technology and the rat race; and his "present" moment, the year he is documenting for this book.
While it didn't make me want to give up all of the modern conveniences to which I'm accustomed (like using my computer to participate in this group or reading books on my kindle or using electricity to cook or illuminate my house when it's dark out), it did make me take a look at my habits and find ways I can reduce my use (and abuse) of technology--which, in the long run, may not have a huge impact on the environment, but will definitely have a huge impact on me. If you're at all interested in ecological issues, checking out of society, or have a soft spot for Walden, I'd definitely recommend it!
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel
+5 Combo--10.7 (a, e, o, y)
Task total: 45
Season total: 145
Jayme(the ghost reader) wrote: "Question, I wanted to use
for the sub challenge. It has young adult on its main page but I can't find a lexile score for it."Just took a look over at BPL (because I've been considering this series as well), and they're shelved as SF/Fantasy, not YA, so you should be good to go on this title!
15.1 PnM2 C3: first person narration
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
+15 Task
Task total: 15
Season total: 85
10.9 Science!The Physics of Everyday Things: The Extraordinary Science Behind an Ordinary Day by James Kakalios
This book takes you through an "average" day (if your idea of average includes a doctor's office visit, a flight, and a hotel stay) and discusses the physics behind everything that you'd encounter: your alarm clock, toaster, traffic, GPS, x-ray technology (in this scenario, "you" have a sore ankle and in need of an x-ray to identify the problem, but also the scanner at the airport falls into this category), airplanes, smartphone/camera, LED tvs....and I'm sure I'm forgetting something.
I never took Physics in High School (we had to choose two of three sciences and I went with Biology and Chemistry) and in university I majored in English Lit so didn't have to worry about encountering Physics there, either. As a result, this book was a bit of a struggle for me. It was fascinating and the ideas behind it mostly made sense, but I know a fair amount of it went right over my head. I tried!
I did quite enjoy the simple breakdown of a traffic jam, how just one person minimally slowing their speed or one person speeding up to close a gap can cause a giant headache for drivers miles behind them.
+10 Task (Dewey Decimal of 530 @BPL)
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel
+5 Combo (10.7)
Task total: 35
Season total: 70
20.7 Spec FicVox by Christina Dalcher
Imagine a U.S. that has elected a right-wing isolationist misogynist President, who has his own version of an ultra-Christian Rasputin pouring poison in his ear and into the public discourse. Imagine their cult of personality grows so strong that they are able to institute a horrific program that shackles every female in the U.S. with a "bracelet" that counts the words each woman says and once that number has hit 100, it delivers an electric shock which grows in intensity with every word over that count. Women can no longer work, can't have their own bank account or cell phone, lose their passports and computer access. Even non-verbal communication is curtailed: with cameras everywhere, even a simple wave or blown kiss could bring down the wrath of the authorities.
Just typing this sickens me. To think that the number of words in this review are more than would be allowed in an entire day...argh.
This book had me on edge and anxious the entire time. It did make me think a lot about "voice" and how we choose to give it away when the stakes don't seem high, how much the spoken word actually means in so many small and seemingly insignificant ways.
There were certain aspects of this that annoyed me (view spoiler) but overall, this was a fantastic book in the vein of The Handmaid's Tale.
+20 Task (shelved as "Speculative-Fiction" by 53 readers)
+5 Combo--20.8, CD=cadmium
+10 Review
Task total: 35
Season total: 35
(Just a side note: when I wrote the task title, it was mainly because the song of that title by ‘80s band Ebn Ozn was stuck in my head...I’d intended any “y” to count...)
Would Peadar O´Guilín work for PO (Polonium)? I’m always a little unclear on names that start with O’, L’, and D’....
A6: (set in Australia or Oceania) Brotherhood of Heroes: The Marines at Peleliu, 1944--The Bloodiest Battle of the Pacific War by Bill Sloan, set 100% in Palau (also: Project, Palau)B3: (1901-1950) Pitcairn's Island by Charles Bernard Nordhoff (also: Project, Pitcairn)
E1: (title contains a person's name) Hippolytus by Euripides (also: Personal Reading Goal 2019)
E4: (non-generic subtitle) The Black Room at Longwood: Napoleon's Exile on Saint Helena by Jean-Paul Kauffmann (also: Project, Saint Helena)
F6: (author T-Z) Hamlet by William Shakespeare
Completed: C 3, F 1
C3: (first person narrator) Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
F1: (author A-D) Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
(just want to remember these...will flesh out the rest of the list shortly)
message by Rebekah:Anika wrote: "Rebekah wrote: "50.1 Group Project
Sierra Leone
Radiance of Tomorrow by Ishmael Beah
+50 pts - Task
+5 pts. - Combo (20.6)
+5 Pts - Multi
Task Total - 60 pts
Season..."
Sorry! I didn’t see your question until tonight? So did you make your packing lighter? I did like it. I gave it 5 stars and shelved it under “disturbing”, “social justice”, “current events”, “environmental” and “”books I highly recommend”. It is a bleak though. I listened to it as an audiobook that was read by the author. I often do that with books written by authors that originate from another country or book set in another country. Not always the author reading it though. I like to hear the voice of character, with the proper accents and because they correctly pronounce the names of people and places. I think that was another reason I enjoyed it so much. But I like to listen to Dickens, Austen and the Brontes with a British reader. Two of my favorite audio readers for these classics are Nadia May and Simon Vance.
I’ve digressed. Did you read A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier ?
I wasn't sure where I should reply to this one, Rebekah, so I'm hoping you find it here :-)
I ended up not taking it. Sadly, I didn't finish half of the books I brought with me (specifically, the ones I'd chosen for Pitcairn and Palau :-( bummer!)...while I have more time to read when I'm working redeye flights, I'm also exhausted in the middle of the night and those books were soooo hard to get into (I don't want to say "boring" because I never made it far enough into them to state that for sure).
I did read A Long Way Gone: Memoirs Of A Boy Soldier when it first came out (heard him speak on a panel and had him sign my book at the Tucson Festival of Books) and it was beautiful but so stinking sad...I worried this one would be just as heartwrenching, thus returned it to the library unread. I'll read it, one day...
Karen Michele wrote: "Anika wrote: "I found a book I want to read for Guam but it has a low Lexile--HOWEVER I didn't see it listed at BPL, so would it be a viable option for this task + Styles? The book is [book:Keeper ..."I liked it, too...it was a little hard for me to get into at first, but by the end my heart was burst and I was crying like a baby...
20.1 Iris Murdoch The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
+20 Task (pub. 1940)
+10 Young (1917-1967)
+5 Multiple
+5 Oldies
+15 Combo (10.3, 20.3, 20.6)
Task total: 55
Season total: 2425
Congrats to all of the MegaFinishers! (There were so many I'm afraid to list names in case I accidentally leave someone out...)
On to Fall!
10.1: Catch-22 The Year of Reading Dangerously: How Fifty Great Books (and Two Not-So-Great Ones) Saved My Life Beneath the Sugar Sky Educated10.2: Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry Book Lust: Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment, and Reason The Year of Reading Dangerously: How Fifty Great Books (and Two Not-So-Great Ones) Saved My Life Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II
10.3: The Immortalists The Call The Reader The Waves The Metamorphosis The Trial The Idiot The Sparrow The Stand
10.4:
10.5: Catch-22 Civil Disobedience and Other Essays I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings The Metamorphosis Howl and Other Poems Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch The Supernaturalist Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
10.6: Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II The Reader Catch-22 The English Patient
10.7:
10.8:
10.9:
10.10:
20.1: The English Patient The Blind Assassin Frankissstein: A Love Story 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World Wolf Hall
20.2: Wolf Hall
20.3: Cakes and Ale The Book of Dave: A Revelation of the Recent Past and the Distant Future The Ghost Writer
20.4:
20.5:
20.6: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch The Last Werewolf
20.7: The Man in the High Castle The Power Neverwhere Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch The Sparrow The Stand
20.8:
20.9:
20.10: The Waves The Trial The Idiot Beloved Neverwhere Catch-22 The Crying of Lot 49 Wolf Hall
20.5 Characters A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell
+20 Task
+10 Young
+5 Multiple
+5 Combo 10.3
Task total: 40
Season total: 2370
50.1 Project RwS, Cape VerdeThe Last Will & Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo by Germano Almeida
+50 Task
+5 Multiple
+5 Oldies
+10 Combo: 20.1, 20.6
Task total: 70
Season total: 2330
50.1 Project RwS, CroatiaRunning Away to Home: Our Family's Journey to Croatia in Search of Who We Are, Where We Came From, and What Really Matters by Jennifer Wilson
+50 Task
+5 Multiple
+10 Combo: 10.2, 20.6
Task total: 65
Season total: 2260
And thank you, Kate, for being so understanding of that giant mess i made of things—you’re the best!
50.1 Project RwS, NiueNiue of Polynesia: Savage Island's First Latter-Day Saint Missionaries by Robert Maurice Goodman
+50 Task
+5 Multiple
+10 Combo (10.2, 20.6)
Task total: 65
Season total: 2195
20.6 CharactersI Miss You When I Blink: Essays by Mary Laura Philpott
+20 Task
+5 Multiple
+5 Combo (10.7)
Task total: 30
Season total: 2130
