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

Anika’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

20.4 Nefertiti

Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir

I didn't know a thing about Lady Jane Grey. Honestly, as far as I knew Elizabeth I took the throne immediately following the death of Henry VIII. SO WRONG!
And poor Jane, the "nine days queen"! She was a pawn her entire life, right up until the time she was beheaded--at age 16/17 (as her date of birth is unknown, her age at date of death can only be approximated). She sounds like someone I would have been friends with--she just wanted to be left alone with her books and had not a care for the machinations of the court. Too bad for her, her parents were obsessed with them and as the eldest child of her family, all of the hopes for raising their status fell on her and her marriage potential.
I felt so bad for her--her mother was wretched and abusive, her father made it plain that he wanted a boy and was disappointed in his daughter, while her younger sister, Catherine, was doted upon and spoiled (though her youngest sister, Mary, seems to have been basically ignored--she was born a hunchback and a girl, so was of no use to their scheming parents).
I'm so glad I read this to better understand this period in history a bit better and extremely glad to have found this new author who made it interesting, really put you in the action without resorting to bodice-ripping tactics to keep your interest (I'm looking at you, Philippa Gregory).
Also: one of her favorite books was Le Morte d'Arthur: King Arthur and the Legends of the Round Table which I have been struggling through. I picked it back up after finishing this book and it's easier to read now, after putting myself in the historical mindset to appreciate it! I may yet finish it (finally).

+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.8, 10.9--the relationship between Jane and Catherine is definitely covered more than Jane and Mary, but they're still all sisters)

Task total: 40
Season total: 1775

20.9 True Crime

Green River, Running Red: The Real Story of the Green River Killer - America's Deadliest Serial Murderer by Ann Rule

I've been trying to get some (late-)spring cleaning done around the house and yard and my go-to listens for this are podcasts of the true crime or ghost story variety: I think the creepy/antsy/anxious feeling they inspire make me work faster. Since we have the "True Crime" task in play this season, I figured I'd try to find an audiobook to listen to for this purpose. I've read Ann Rule in the past and find she's a fantastic researcher, easy to read, and presents the story in such a way that is respectful to the victims and helps you understand in a real way the limits placed on law enforcement.
I was not familiar with this case and found it not just devastating but supremely disturbing. (view spoiler)[This man was ultimately convicted of killing 49 women, though he claims to have killed 71. He has NO remorse, in fact exhibits great pride at having gotten away with it for so long--the majority of his killings happened in the early to mid-'80s and he was not apprehended until the early 2001. It is terrifying to hear in his own words the depth of his evil. (hide spoiler)] Lets just say: I got my weeding done at an unprecedented rate. This made my skin crawl.

+20 Task (shelved as "true crime" 875 times)
+10 Review
+5 Jumbo
+10 Combo (10.3: "running"=7 letters; 10.8: "Green")

Task total: 45
Season total: 1735

I want to clear off my TBR shelf at home so am trying to build this sub-challenge from those books:

<250: Escape from Buchenwald (+5 NF)
A Place Called Sweet Shrub (+5 Old)
Dance a Little Longer (+5 Old)
The Book of Love: Improvisations on a Crazy Little Thing (+5 NF)

250-999: The Kindness of Strangers (+5 NF)
The Tale of the Rose: The Love Story Behind The Little Prince (+5NF)

1,000-4,999: Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You: 13 Stories (+5 NF)
The Secret of Lost Things
To Be Sung Underwater
Victory Over Japan: A Book of Stories (+5 NF)

5,000-9,999: Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place (+5 NF, +5 Old)
Homeland and Other Stories (+5 NF)

10,000-14,999: The Orenda (+5 BigThe Overdue Life of Amy Byler

15,000-24,999: The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made (+5 NF)
A Little History of the World (+5 NF, +5 Old)
The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels (+5 NF)

25,000-74,999: Eating Animals (+5 NF)
The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World (+5 NF)

75,000-99,999: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (+5 Big)
City of Thieves

100,000-249,999: I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You
Orange Is the New Black (+5 NF)
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics (+5 NF)

250,000+: A Prayer for Owen Meany (+5 Big, +5 Old)
The Art of Racing in the Rain
Outliers: The Story of Success (+5 NF)
Siddhartha (+5 Old)
Educated (+5 NF)

Awesome! Thank you :-) I'm so excited for this upcoming season, it looks like it's gonna be a lot of fun!

Is it only the first person to claim the country from the "Countries Still to Go" who will be able to claim this task? Say I'm reading a book set +50% in Armenia and not quite finished when I see someone else has posted a book in Armenia for 50.1--can I still claim my Armenian book for this task or will I have to claim it somewhere else in the RwS line-up?

20.7 Anna Karenina

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

All I knew of this book before delving into it:
--woman has an affair
--woman throws herself in front of a train
--it's really long.
Yup. That was it. I'd never seen a movie treatment of it, never heard friends review it (though I've seen friends carrying this book around in the past, so they've ostensibly read it), was never assigned it in school so never quite got around to reading it...until now.
I'm glad I waited. Had I read this in high school, I probably would have quit in the second (of eight) part(s), where we wade through Levin expostulating for soooo many pages about the best farming practices in Russia and how those practices differ from the best practices for Europe. Oy vey.
But, as an adult, I found this discourse not necessarily interesting but his thought process behind it was fascinating: his absolute belief in the rightness of his thinking and how it becomes bent and changed and improves as he matures.
I felt this book was far more about Levin (and Kitty) than it was Anna/Vronsky/Karenin--but one illuminated the other and both were needed to make this the classic that it is. It is about more than the characters as well: it's about love (how it changes, how its allegiances are fickle, the love--or lack thereof--of parent for child, etc.), about religion and God, about politics and wealth and poverty, about what it is to be good and kind and also what one can become when they abandon all morals...and, of course, about farming practices in Russia.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Oldies
+20 Jumbo
+10 LiT
+25 Combo (10.8--"Anna"; 10.9--Dolly and Kitty are sisters and their relationship and that of their families are a large portion of this story; 20.1; 20.6; 20.10)

Task total: 95
RwS finish: 100
MegaFinish: 200

Season total: 1690

Heather wrote: "10.7

Get Well Soon: History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them by Jennifer Wright

+10 task
+ 5 combo (10.8)
Task total: 15
Grand total: 315"

I hope you liked this one! I adored the author's voice, the historical perspective, and the science in it (even if it was science lite)...

10.1 Square Peg

A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen

Ugh! What a wretched story! Is Nora really stupid, vapid, and materialistic or is that what she's pretending to be because that’s what her husband expects of her? The entire premise of the play is flimsy(view spoiler)[: she borrows money to save her husband's life (he needs to "go south" to recover from an illness) and doesn't tell him so that he can focus on recovering, but since she's a woman the only sources of borrowing money are her dying father or a disreputable moneylender. Clearly she goes with the moneylender. And she's paying him back according to schedule. Everything should be fine on that front! Then suddenly said moneylender threatens to expose her (again: expose WHAT?! She's almost done paying off the loan! What is there to expose?!) to her husband and she considers SUICIDE to escape the "humiliation"!? (hide spoiler)]
Her husband is the worst: I think he would have been perfectly happy living with a mannequin--he could dress it up exactly as would please him, she'd always be slim and attractive (no macaroons for her!)...(view spoiler)[No wonder Nora has a break at the end and leaves to "find herself."
Brief non-sequitur: I *HATE* those words! You know that part in the beginning of the movie Amelie, where each new character is introduced and in addition to that they list several "likes" and "dislikes" of each person and some of those "likes" and "dislikes" are phrases? My anathema phrases would be: "in my heart of hearts," and "I need to find myself." They make my skin crawl worse than nails on a chalkboard! (hide spoiler)]
I know that some of my bias is a result of being a modern reader, but I quite disliked this. Perhaps down the line on re-reading I might end up enjoying it more or I'll understand it on a deeper level...but, honestly, there are too many books to be read and not enough life to fit them all into so I doubt it'll be one I ever revisit.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 LiT (translated from Norwegian)
+10 Oldies

Task total: 40
Season total: 1295

10.9 Sisters

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Ever since reading and having reviewed Jane Eyre and stating that Pride and Prejudice came in a close second as far as the perfect love story, I've been wanting to revisit P&P to make sure it was an accurate statement. I stand by my original opinion: Jane is perfection--it has remarkably low lows to balance the glorious highs. But Pride and Prejudice is an absolute delight and the slow-burn of love between Elizabeth and Darcy is scrumptious. I love re-reading this one because there's always some detail that feels like new, that I've entirely forgotten...this time, I'd entirely forgotten about the existence of Colonel Fitzwilliam! Also, this is the first time I've listened to this book and it's absolute ear-candy. It has been so nice to revisit these friends...I imagine I'll be back in Longbourne before too long.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+15 Oldies
+10 Combo (20.6, 20.7)

Task total: 45
Season total: 1255

Can I please move The Identicals (Post 261) from 10.9 to 10.10? Since they're both 10 point tasks, it won't change my score. Thank you!

15.10 AbC

USA--Nene Award

Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers (830 Lexile) (This was my first time reading this! I loved it...boy, did the movie take liberties!)

+40 Task
+150 AbC Finish, 10 countries

Task total: 190
Season total: 1205

10.3 Scrabble

Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny

I love this series SO MUCH. I love the characters, the setting (I want to move to Three Pines...if only it truly existed), the description of art and food and poetry, the swearing duck... It's all so cozy! But this series would be nothing without the murders and drugs and Inspector Gamache on the edge of ruin. I'm always willing to jump into the world that Penny has built, but some of her devices are getting a little overused(view spoiler)[: the person/agent/cadet who seems to have gone bad but is really just a pawn perfectly placed by Gamache himself; the piece of art that holds a clue; okay, those are the only two I can think of right now, but I finished this one a few weeks ago and was waiting to see if it would win the Agatha Award so I could use it in my sub-challenge so my memory is a little hazy (hide spoiler)]. Despite this, she drops a bomb on us there at the end and I am waiting with bated breath for the next installment to drop!

+10 Task, "Kingdom"=7 letters
+10 Review

Task total: 20
Season total: 1015

20.4 Nefertiti

Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory

I've only read one other Philippa Gregory novel, The Other Boleyn Girl, which I quite enjoyed. She wrote history in such a way that it was memorable and the political intrigues of the day were made understandable to a modern reader.
While this one also helped untangle the messy knot of the Tudor court for me, it was insufferable. Margaret (the one who was the Queen of Scots, sister to Henry VIII--it gets so confusing with so many "Margaret"s, "Mary"s, and "Elizabeth"s floating around in this time period!) is actually the one whose story we are following--I know! From the title I too thought it'd be told in three voices! Nope. We get lots of letters from her sisters, Katherine of Aragon (sister-in-law) and Mary (her biological sister, who apparently thinks of nothing other than what's new in fashion at the time as that is about the extent of her contributions to the letters) and a couple of face-to-face visits, but that's it. The rest of it is Margaret acting like an insecure teenager, worried about having a higher status and better clothes than her sisters and getting angry and paranoid when she isn't. Each of the sisters felt very two-dimensional. Katherine was the duplicitous sister; Mary the vapid; Margaret was just plain whiny.
I did not enjoy this one at all, but do feel I understand the ins and outs of this historical period a bit better from having read it.

+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.3: "Sisters"=7 letters; 10.9)

Task total: 40
Season total: 995

15.9 AbC

Sweden--Nobel Prize in Literature

An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro

+30 Task

Task total: 30
Season total: 955

For a possible sub-challenge:

Books with numbers in the title--but can't repeat author, bonus for reading in numerical order, like:
One Day
The Second Chance Tea Shop (I would definitely think that ordinals should be accepted)
Three Sisters, Three Queens
Four to Score
Slaughterhouse-Five....etc.

I know it's kind of simplistic, but that's what I'm in the market for once summer comes around...I'm always so busy and this could be an easy one to throw together without too much planning. (Even though the planning *is* half of the fun.)

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Anika wrote: "Ugh. I can't with the book I chose for this task. It's destroying my soul.
I know that Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory is fictionalized ..."

We can stretch when the lives are so inter-twined that a biography of one must include others. You're fine with this one.


Thank you <3

Ugh. I can't with the book I chose for this task. It's destroying my soul.
I know that Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory is fictionalized history, but since it follows the story of three "sisters" (Mary and Margaret being biological sisters and Catherine of Aragon later becoming a sister-in-law) would it fit the "biography" sense of the task since "biography" would normally--to my limited understanding--follow the life of one person?

15.8 AbC

Chile: National Prize for Literature

In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende

+30 Task

Task total: 30
Season total: 920

20.9 True Crime

Chase Darkness with Me: How One True-Crime Writer Started Solving Murders by Billy Jensen

This is my second book for this task and I enjoyed this one SOOOO much more than the first!
For those of you who read I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer, by Michelle McNamara--this is one of the writers who helped finish the book based on Michelle's research after her passing.
I heard Billy Jensen speak at a book festival in March and he spoke a little about this book (which has only been released in audiobook form--the printed version is slated to be released in August) and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it! I finished listening to this a while ago, just had to wait for enough people to shelve it as "true-crime" :-)
Billy has always been interested in true crime--an interest instilled by his father when he was young. The interest in cold cases developed later and his frustration at the cold cases that he thought were solvable in addition to the families reaching out for his help spurred him on to try to dig up new leads which eventually led to finding several perpetrators.
I really enjoyed the audiobook (which is read by the author) and would definitely recommend it to any true-crime fans.

+20 Task (shelved as "true-crime" 51 times)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.3--"Started," "Solving," and "Murders" all fit the bill)

Task total: 35
Season total: 890

15.7 AbC

Spain: Prince of Asturias Award for Literature, 2011

The Flame by Leonard Cohen

+20 Task

Task total: 20
Season total: 855