Anika’s
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(group member since Dec 25, 2011)
Anika’s
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from the Reading with Style group.
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Ahhhh! I'm just about done with my book and just realized it was co-authored (my library had the audiobook but it was only listed under Stephen King's name...just realized it was co-authored by Richard Chizmar when I pulled up its goodreads page). Will that still work for this task?
15.2 AbBY Chronological 1940-1944Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward (b. 1943)
+20 Task
Task total: 20
Season total: 270
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Post 81 Anika wrote: "20.8 AutumnCut by Annelie Wendeberg
Micka is fifteen--she has just finished her schooling and doesn't have a lot of prospects, being the "v..."
I entirely missed reading that part of the task :-/ OOPS!
I'll use it for 10.2, please...I'll edit it in the original post? (So, instead of 40 points for that book, it's 25.)
20.2 To Conquer HellDead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
I LOVE Erik Larson's brand of non-fiction! I love the depth and breadth of his research. I love that it's not so tightly focused on the title subject, yet everything ties back to it--German code books and the British code breakers who deciphered it; President Wilson's love life; and, the history of the submarine, just to name a few. I quite enjoyed that he bounced back and forth between the Lusitania and U-20, the submarine that launched the torpedo that sank it--it not only humanizes the "bad guy," but you come to understand that if put in the same position, the "good guys" would have done the same thing. I love that he explores the lives of some of the more notable passengers on the ship--some of whom had already survived the sinking of the Titanic, one of whom was to finally meet his end on the Hindenburg. I especially love that he goes into details about less-notable passengers as well: the stowaways, the mother traveling alone with an infant and a toddler, the maid of a famous architect.
I did not know much about the Lusitania--I knew it was a luxury liner that went down (so, a lesser-known Titanic, as far as I was concerned)...I didn't realize that it had been torpedoed or that it was the spark that eventually got the U.S. into WWI. I also didn't think it was possible for a ship of that size to sink in EIGHTEEN MINUTES, but it did. Eighteen minutes to go from enjoying the sight of Ireland in the distance while eating a lush meal and chatting about shuffleboard, to running around trying to find your family and life jackets for them all and praying there's room for you in a lifeboat (of which, only six made it into the water). It's cinematic, it's intense, and it's all true. 5 stars.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Combo (10.5--https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... 10.9--nine letters in "Lusitania")
+10 Prizeworthy
Task total: 50
Season total: 250
10.2 NextCut by Annelie Wendeberg
Micka is fifteen--she has just finished her schooling and doesn't have a lot of prospects, being the "village idiot" as she refers to herself. The world she lives in is bleak to say the least (the original title of this book was 1/2986--which refers to the number of people who didn't die in the Great Pandemic). On the day she has decided to kill herself, she is invited by a Sequencer (which is a big deal in their society, even though it takes a while to figure out quite what they are) to apprentice with him. She jumps on the chance.
In the first week, she starts to find out some pretty bleak things about their world, the ways in which their history books lied: we ruined the climate, which raised the level of the oceans, which contaminated the water tables and people started becoming sick (the Great Pandemic)...but it wasn't the Pandemic that killed most of the billions who died, it was humans murdering humans and now humans have between ten and fifteen years left before they become extinct.
A lot of the other reviews I read compare this to a more adult version of The Hunger Games, but I feel the only likeness is the fact that they have tough female protagonists.
I've never read anything by this author before and can't wait to get my hands on the next one in the series...I am entranced with this world and the characters she has created. Added bonus: she is a scientist as well as being an author so her science isn't hokey in the books, it's quite sound--and terrifying.
+10 (book 1 of 3-book series)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.8)
Task total: 25
Season total: 200
10.10 Group ReadsI Am Legend by Richard Matheson
I've been in the mood for a scary(-ish) story ever since the mornings here started to get that early autumn crispness to them--feels a little like Halloween is in the air. This more than fit the bill! I listened to it on my morning walk and was jumping any time I saw another person in my peripheral vision, couldn't stop listening to it once I got home. If you're expecting the story to follow the plot of the 2007 Will Smith movie, prepare to be surprised--though it has been roughly 11 years since I've seen it, I don't recall it ending the way the novella did. Matheson knows how to keep a story taut and how to play those tightly-strung emotions to the hilt. (view spoiler) I enjoyed this so much and don't know if I would have picked it up had it not been chosen by another reader (thank you, Rosemary, for a great recommendation!).
+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Prizeworthy [Tähtivaeltaja Award (2008)]
+10 Combo (10.5--https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... 20.7)
+5 Oldies
Task total: 35
Season total: 175
20.10 Fall EquinoxA Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson
Fifteen is a cursed number for Jenny "Big" Slocumb. She got pregnant when she was 15--after which she was kicked out of her home. Her wild daughter, Liza, got pregnant at 15--then ran away from home with her baby, nowhere to be found. Mosey, Liza's daughter, just turned 15 and their entire world threatens to explode when a huge secret is unearthed--literally: a silver box is dug up in their backyard containing the bones of a baby wrapped in a baby blanket. I love how the story unfolded, I love the characters that she created, and loved the Southern flair with which it was told. It was "important literature" by any means, but a rather enjoyable novel told well.
+20 Task (A grOwn-Up kInd of prEtty)
+10 Combo (20.5--all three of the main characters (grandmother, mother, daughter) were single, never-married (grandma is head of household); 20.9--#180 on the list)
+10 Review
Task total: 40
Season total: 135
10.1 Favorite ListsOne More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by B.J. Novak
Just finished this one for our book club tomorrow...I don't know if I would have read it quite as quickly had it not been for book club. The stories a mixed bag: short, long, funny, funny-ish, kinda meh. B.J.Novak is a writer/actor, best known for his role on The Office (U.S.) and the humor in the stories was very Officey. Some of the stories even came with discussion questions (example: at the end of a story about Johnny Depp showing off on his motorcycle for a bus of tourists, "Discussion question: Do you think Johnny Depp should have driven his motorcycle off the mountain highway to his death? Why or why not?"), as did the book itself (Discussion questions: Do you think "why not?" is ultimately a better question than "why?" Why or why not?). So, yes, it was very witty...but sometimes it slid into the realm of self-satisfied witty, which can be a little trying. Had I not had a deadline on this one, I think I'd have enjoyed it more if I'd spread it out a bit.
There was one "story" that still makes me laugh (but just the "Ha" kind of laugh....not even "Haha" or "Bwahahahaha", just "Ha".) The title is "If You Love Something" and here is the whole thing:
If you love something, let it go.
If you don't love something, definitely let it go.
Basically, just drop everything, who cares.
+10 Task (from the Listopia https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2..., claimed in post 705 last season)
+10 Review
+5 Combo--10.5 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... Penguin Random House Audio
(P.S.: I just saw some of the guest talent that contributed to the audiobook and I feel like I missed out--that had potential to be a great listen)
Task total: 25
Season total: 95
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Anika wrote: "I've been trying to research this author out and think I may have gotten a definitive answer, just want to get it approved:Annelie Wendeberg --on her goodreads autho..."
Thank you for your prompt and thorough response :-)
I've been trying to research this author out and think I may have gotten a definitive answer, just want to get it approved:Annelie Wendeberg --on her goodreads author page, it states she was born in Germany. On this website, it states she returned to Germany to live after two years at Caltech, and on this website of her husbands, there is a page showing his wife's completed book (her name is at the bottom with an email address as well) and shows her home as Grimma, Germany.
Will that suffice as documentation to show she was both born in and still lives in Germany?
10.6 NoirDie a Little by Megan Abbott
I'm not a connoisseur when it comes to noir fiction...in fact, I'm barely a dabbler, so I don't feel like my review is entirely reliable. Much like the narrator of this book, in fact. ENTIRELY unreliable...which made it kind of fun and sometimes a little confusing. In fact, I had to read some reviews of the book to make sure I wasn't missing something there at the end, as it fell a little flat for me.
It's the early '50s and Lora, a teacher, and her brother Bill, an investigator at the DA's office in L.A. live a close, unremarkable life--until Bill gets involved with (and eventually marries) Alice, a beautiful lady with a Hollywood connection and a shady past. Lora is both suspicious of and intrigued by Alice, her "new sister," and we follow them down the rabbit hole of drugs, dark deeds, and (duh-duh-duh) muuuurder!
I like that it was from a woman's point of view (as most noir I'm familiar with are heavy on the men with ladies only playing a sometimes-nasty/sometimes-nice pretty face) and quite like Abbott's writing--I'm reading another one of hers for another task, in fact (and like it quite a bit more, perhaps that's why the ending of this fell flat for me). I give it a 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4, as it was her debut novel).
+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo: 20.5--Lora, the narrator, is single-never married
Task total: 25
Season total: 70
Valerie wrote: "Ed wrote: "Just booked the next trip.... Barcelona, Istanbul and Egypt! Been to Barcelona before (and consider it my favorite city) and Istanbul too.... (though decades ago) - but Egypt has forever..."We went a couple of years ago—beautiful country! I don’t know if you’re a wine fan at all, but we did wine tastings and vineyard tours in Calaveras and Amador counties to finish off our week in Northern California and it was so much fun...
15.1 AbBY, Chronological: 1935-1939Dog Songs by Mary Oliver, 1935
+15 Task
Task total: 15
Season total: 45
20.4 BirdsongThe Storyteller's Secret by Sejal Badani (was 48% complete before the beginning of the season, my one carryover book...thank you, insomnia, for allowing me to finish it in a rush this morning ;-) )
Jaya is a modern-day Indian-American woman, a reporter, a wife, and frustrated would-be-mother--she has suffered three miscarriages. Her intense focus on these losses and the sorrow she allows to consume her have caused a strain on her marriage. At the same time she finds out her husband has been "talking to" someone else and has secured an apartment for himself, her grandfather in India passes away and her mother refuses to return to deal with the arrangements. Jaya uses this as a chance to escape her crumbling life at home. In India, she meets the family servant who worked in her grandparents household and tells her the story of her grandmother whom she never knew. The book jumps back and forth between Jaya's story in the present day and Amisha's story in the '40s. While it is pretty predictable, the writing is beautiful and the descriptions of Indian life are lush.
+20 Task
+10 Review
Task total: 30
Season total: 30
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "We won't use calculated dates, but I have library sources that saySimsion is 1956
Laurain is 1972
Mbue is 1982 (this is the only one you have as incorrect)
Schneider is 1986"
You are a saint! Thank you so much!!
1935-1939 1940-1944 Bob Woodward (1943) Fear: Trump in the White House
1945-1949 Stephen King (1947) Full Dark, No Stars
1950-1954 Ana Castillo (1953) So Far from God or Peel My Love Like an Onion
1955-1959 Graeme Simsion (1956) Two Steps Forward
1960-1964 Mitch Landrieu (1960) In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History
1965-1969 e lockhart (1967) The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (890 Lexile)
1970-1974 Antoine Laurain (1972) French Rhapsody
1975-1979 Greg Sestero (1978) The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made (a friend lent this to me and told me I *must* read it...I've had it for months trying to find a spot for it and this is IT. I have got to get it done and returned already!)
1980-1984 Imbolo Mbue (1982) Behold the Dreamers
1985-1989 Robyn Schneider (1986) The Beginning of Everything (930 Lexile)
(with an extra for leeway if I am not loving a book)
Graeme Simsion, 1956: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en... (in this 2014 interview, he is 58; 2014-58=1956)Antoine Laurain, 1972: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine... (yes, it's Wiki, but Wiki France...thought I'd put it here just in case)
Imbolo Mbue, 1981: https://www.vogue.com/article/imbolo-... (in paragraph 3 of this 2017 article it states that she is 36: 2017-36: 1981)
Robyn Schneider, 1986: http://www.robynschneider.com/bio/ (she was 31 when this web page was updated in 2017: 2017-31=1986)
Hope this is sufficient for birth year documentation! I scoured the internet to find these scant scraps...
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I love seeing so many Mega finishers this season! I don't know what the usual number is, but it seems as if more of you have worked hard to get 30 books! Congratulations to everyone!"Thanks so much, Elizabeth! And I noticed you congratulated every single finisher: you're kinda sweet and amazing like that <3
As always, subject to change...10.1 One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by B.J. Novak (from the Collections of Short Stories Listopia, post 705)
10.2 A Test of Wills by Charles Todd or The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
10.3 California by Edan Lepucki or The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant
10.4 The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
10.5 A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
10.6 Die a Little by Megan Abbott
10.7
10.8
10.9
10.10 History of the Rain by Niall Williams
20.1 The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
20.2 Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
20.3 Last Train to Istanbul by Ayse Kulin
20.4
20.5 The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis (from what I can tell it should fit this task...but if anyone else has read it and knows otherwise I'd love to know!)
20.6 Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
20.7 Queenpin by Megan Abbott or The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
20.8
20.9 A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson or North and South by John Jakes or Paper Towns by John Green
20.10 I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You by Courtney Maum
Do audiobooks count as editions? I was looking at a book and Penguin Random House Audio is the publisher of the audiobook, but the print editions are all under the Random House label.
