Jenifer’s Comments (group member since Dec 05, 2011)

Jenifer’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

Task 10.6 Beginnings and Endings

Allegiant by Veronica Roth
*this is the most recent book by this author*
lexile score: 830

+10 task
+5 jumbo (544 pages)
+5 combo (w/10.5 Roth is goodreads author)
+10 review

Task Total = 30 pts
Grand Total = 280 pts

My Review
Divergent is a hugely popular YA dystopian series. If you have read it, you really need to! I read books one and two back to back in 2012 (I think, or was it early 2013?). I immediately went online and pre-ordered book three, Allegiant, and like thousands of readers out there, I counted down the days to its release date last fall. Immediately after the publication date, reviews started coming in and surprisingly not all of them were positive.

Having read some of the negative reviews, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I began Allegiant. I was afraid that I would be disappointed but I wasn’t. I found Allegiant to be a solid ending to the Divergent series. The ending may not have been what readers had hoped for (which I think was the crux of most of the negative reviews) but I think it was the right ending. I actually applaud Veronica Roth for being brave enough to write the ending that she believed in knowing that it might anger some of her fans.

I don’t want to say too much about the book for fear of inadvertently including some spoilers so suffice it to say that while I didn’t feel the urgency to finish this book as I did with the other two, I did still enjoy it and am sad that this is the end of the series. I can’t wait to see what Veronica Roth writes next!

15.3 South Korea

Please Look After Mom by Shin Kyung-sook (fits A, B, & C)

+15 task
+10 seafarer bonus

Task total = 25 pts
Grand Total = 250 pts

Task 20.2 Picaresque

Candide by Voltaire


+20 task
+10 review
+20 oldies (originally published in 1759)

Task Total = 50 points
Grand Total = 225 points

My review:
I know that I'm supposed to love Candide. I know that it is a classic and brilliant and satirical and everything else that has ever been said about it. Really, I do know that but I just didn't like it.

I get that Voltaire was trying to prove a point with the adventures and beliefs of Candide but the story was just so negative. I felt so bad for poor Candide. It was hard for me to continue reading knowing that Candide was just going to have more outrageously horrible things happen to him.

Before you yell at me, remember that I know the purpose of Candide's story. Voltaire was living during a time of great philosophical thought and he was using this story to satirize the politics and religious fervor of the mid eighteenth century. I just felt that as a novel (novella?) it was not very enjoyable. Voltaire comes across as so negative. I may read Candide a second time (especially when I am not dealing with the flu) and give Voltaire a second chance to charm me.

TtPR - Seafarer

15.2 Canada
The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
(fits A & B)

+15 task
+10 bonus

Task total: 20 pts
Grand Total: 175 pts

10.10 Group Read

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

+10 pts
+5 combo (10.4)

Task Total= 15 pts
Grand Total = 150 pts

Kate S wrote: "From Post 255

Jenifer wrote: "10.1 Reading Resolution

Read a book from my actual bookshelf

Buried in a Bog by Sheila Connolly
I bought this book earlier in the..."

Thank you!

TtPR - Seafarer

15.1 USA
Defending Jacob by William Landay
(fits A, B, & C)

+15 task

Task total: 115 pts
Grand Total: 130 pts

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Found this: "She lives in Canada, near the shores of Lake Ontario."

You're good to go with Kearsley as Canadian."

Great! I started reading one of her books the other day and then it dawned on me that I might be able to fit her into my itinerary. Yay!

I'd like to change my itinerary (assuming we can go backwards on the list):

1. USA
2. Canada
3. South Korea
4. Japan
5. Malaysia
6. Australia
7. New Zealand
8. Chile
9. Columbia
10. Mexico

Thanks.

I have another Canadian author that I'd like to get approved: Susanna Kearsley

She was born in Canada and although I cannot find proof that she still lives in Canada, I am pretty sure she does. She identified herself as a "Canadian author" in this interview

10.5 Goodreads Authorized

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

Hannah Kent is a Goodreads Author. This is her debut novel (combo with 10.6)

My Review:
This is Hannah Kent's writing debut and it is impressive. Burial Rites is a story of circumstance. It is the true story of Agnes Magnusdottir and is historical fiction at its best. Kent took what little was known of Agnes' story and with research and imagination was able to flesh out a compelling and thorough story.

The story is set in Iceland during the early 19th century. Kent portrays the setting as both beautiful and isolated. Family farms are spread apart from each other and must be fairly self-reliant, particularly during the long and lonely winter months. We follow Agnes as she is sent to spend her final days on the Jonsson farm.

The story is told in alternating third person and first person narrative. I found this to be a distraction as there was no obvious delineation of the switching narratives. Because of this, it was a bit of a struggle to get through the early pages of the book but the story did eventually take over allowing me to overlook the switching points of view and I ended up thoroughly being drawn into the Agnes' story.

+10 task
+10 review
+5 combo (w/ 10.6)

Task Total=25 pts

Grand Total = 115 pts

10.1 Reading Resolution

Read a book from my actual bookshelf

Buried in a Bog by Sheila Connolly
I bought this book earlier in the year because I liked the cover but never got around to reading it.

+10 task

Task Total = 10 pts

Grand Total = 90 pts

Task 20.10 Between the Wars
author born between 1866 - 1913
The Essential Neruda: Selected Poems by Pablo Neruda

Neruda was born in 1904

My Review:
A new collection of Neruda poems with some new translations. I loved the introduction to this collection. The editor describes how he came about with the idea of creating a book with new and updated translations of Neruda. This book was a work of love by the editor...the love of Neruda, the love of the Spanish language, the love of poetry.

My favorite books of Neruda are those with dual translations (Spanish on one side and English on the facing page). Although my Spanish is fairly limited, there is something magical about seeing Neruda's words in their original language.

I enjoyed the cross-section of poems that the editor selected and have only one complaint that I would have liked to see the poems were not separated in sections, perhaps by publishing dates/books they were originally published in/themes.

This would be a great addition to anyone's Neruda collection or a wonderful introduction to someone new to Neruda.


+20 task
+5 combo (w/ 10.9 won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971)
+10 not a novel
+10 review

Task Total = 45 pts

Grand Total = 80 pts

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Jenifer, all of the letters in the word BINGO must be in either the title or the author's name, so Neil Gaiman does not qualify for 10.8. However, this book has been posted in the challenge before ..."

Oh, I'm sorry. Just now seeing this. Can we repost it as 10.2, that way the combo will stay the same (goodreads author)? Would you like me to repost the whole thing?

Thank you. I thought it was kind of iffy which is why I'd thought I'd already asked. lol Guess I'll cross Micronesia off my list for now.

Would The People in the Trees work for the Federated States of Micronesia? I thought I'd already asked but can't find the post so I probably just imagined that I'd asked. lol

Just what I need! My resolution is read some of the books that have been on my actual bookshelf (not on my kindle) since prior to the start of this challenge, 12/1/13.

Task 10.8 BINGO

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
The author's initials are in the word BINGO.

Review:
This was my first Neil Gaiman novel. Friends of mine that like him, REALLY like him, so I wanted to give him a try. I chose to read The Ocean at the End of the Lane as my first Gaiman novel because the cover is so darkly beautiful.

The story is pieced together with decades old memories of the main character about a time in his life when some pretty amazing things happened to him. It is a strange story and I found myself spending much of time my time with this book wondering how on earth Gaiman comes up with his ideas. What goes through his mind to decide "Oh, I'm going to write about a giant stick figure (?) made out of fabric"? I didn't love this book but I also didn't hate it. Probably the main problem for me is that I went into not knowing what to expect. From the synopsis, I thought it was going to be a slightly dark mystery. I guess in some ways it was that, but it was also so fantastical that I often didn't know which end was up while reading. The strong element of fantasy definitely surprised me (remember this is my first foray into Gaiman).

While I was left feeling a little unsettled by the story, I will say that I believe Gaiman is a master of storytelling. When he described the main character being in the bucket of water, and his feeling of knowing yet not knowing, of all knowledge being just within his grasp, it was amazing. He (Gaiman) was able to put the feeling of dreams into words. Because of his control of words, I am planning on reading more work by Neil Gaiman, and this time I will be a little more prepared.

+10 task
+5 combo w/ 10.5 (Gaiman is a Goodreads Author)
+10 review

Task total = 25 pts
Grand Total = 35 pts

10.3 In Honor Edgar Allen Poe

Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James

PD James is on the list of "detective fiction authors"

+10 task

Task Total = 10
Grand Total = 10

Liz M wrote: "Jenifer wrote: "Can "hound" work for "dog? I was thinking of The Hound of the Baskervilles"

itpdx wrote: "I was wondering if other translations of the animal names would work--for ins..."

Okay. Thanks.