Krista’s Comments (group member since Jul 24, 2010)

Krista’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

Man The Goldfinch books change fast!

Here are two new ones that are on my TBR pile...
(using the arrows)
Bring Up the Bodies
and
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

Coralie wrote: "Thank you Krista, that's one square peg less."

Yay! -- Still on the hunt for a spot for All the Light We Cannot See. Everyday I'm hopeful that the book will pop up here. :-) -Krista

Karen Michele wrote: "Hooray for Station Eleven! Author Emily St. John Mandel has been approved for Exiles and Emigrants as well!"

And ... I'm just about at the top of my library's Hold queue for the CD Audiobook version of this book. Hurrah!

Okay -- today's check of The Goldfinch
(using the arrows) came up with a few of new books. (At least I don't *think* they've been posted here yet. It's getting hard to keep track of them all.)

Station Eleven
The Burgess Boys
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

20.5 Mystery Women
R is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton

Review:
I didn't realize how much I missed Kinsey! It has been a few years since I read my last Kinsey Millhone mystery, and now I'm wondering why I had such a long lapse in my reading of the series. In this book Kinsey is pulled further and further into the investigation of a money laundering scheme almost against her will at each step along the way.

Kinsey was hired by Nord Lafferty to go pick his daughter Reba up when she is released from prison after serving two years for embezzlement from a local Santa Teresa land development company. Kinsey meets her match in Reba who is a smart-talking, fast-living gal who initially wants to get back with guy whom she took the fall for by going to prison. Then the worm turns, and she wants to get even with the guy.

Along the way Kinsey finds a new love interest in Cheney Phillips. Boy I hope it works out for them! I'd like to see Kinsey happy. Since this is set in the late 1980's computers still come with towers and floppy disks, and cell phones haven't been invented yet. There were a couple of scenes which involved a pay phone which now seem so old.

This was another good Kinsey Millhone mystery from Sue Grafton. I think I'm on to "U" now.

+20 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 30

I think that Henri Troyat works. Can this be confirmed please?

From the Goodreads bio blurb about Troyat: "Troyat was born Levon Aslan Torossian in Moscow to parents of Armenian descent. His family fled Russia in anticipation of revolution. After a long exodus taking them to the Caucasus on to Crimea and later by sea to Constantinople and then Venice, the family finally settled in Paris in 1920, where young Troyat was schooled and later earned a law degree."

Also -- I think that Colin Cotterill works for this task too. Born in England, but has lived and worked in SE Asia for many years now. Currently lives with this wife on the Gulf of Siam.

A new one from The Goldfinch : Fin & Lady: A Novel

Found with the arrows. The good news is that I already have Fin & Lady: A Novel in CD audiobook format checked out from the library!

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Krista wrote: "I don't think I've seen this posted yet (using the arrows)....

The Goldfinch: The Bone Clocks"

Confirmed - I've been keeping an out for your "Light"..."

Thanks!! The more folks on the lookout for this the better. LOL -Krista

Karen Michele wrote: "It's a deal, Krista! I check it every so often. Hopefully we will find them-- of course my TBR keeps growing;)"

I know -- right? Sigh, but that IS half the fun. :-)

-K

I don't think I've seen this posted yet (using the arrows)....

The Goldfinch: The Bone Clocks

Karen Michele wrote: "I'm actually keeping my eye out for Some Luck because I can't find another place for it, my hold at the library just came in and I'm reading my square peg right now, so i can't use ..."

Okay Karen --- I'll keep an eye out for Some Luck for you if you could try to keep an eye out for All the Light We Cannot See. :-)

It seems like I saw Jane Smiley on one of the lists I was looking at for this challenge though. If I find her again, I'll let you know.

-Krista

Jama wrote: "I'm pretty sure I saw that on the Readers also enjoyed feature while looking for books for the 20.10 task. The newer books like the Goldfinch seem to quickly cycle other popular recently published..."

Hi Jama:
Good idea! I'll keep watching that The Goldfinch to see if All the Light We Cannot See comes up on 'Readers Also Enjoyed' section.

Thanks!
-Krista

Okay folks -- I could use some help. I'm currently listening to All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

I had to wait *months* to get this CD audiobook from the library so I'm reading it while I have the chance. But I can't find a spot for it. :-( I know it can go into the Square Peg task -- but I'd like save that task for later in the challenge if I can.

If anyone can figure out what other task this book might work for, that would be wonderful. It's set in France and Germany during WWII. It's fiction, released this year. Short listed for the National Book Award.

I'm about 2/3 of the way through it, and I'm really enjoying it so far. Thanks for the help!

From A Tree Grows in Brooklyn comes These Is My Words

I think that Michael Ondaatje will work as he was born in Sri Lanka, moved to England as a child, and eventually got Canadian citizenship.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_...

Are his books approved for this task?

Liz M wrote: "Deedee wrote: "As of today:

#199 The Kitchen God's Wife
#200 Hugh and Bess: A Love Story"

I am putting together the master list for the database today and these are in..."

Hi Liz: (Not to be a pest as I know how busy the transition from one challenge to the next is!)

When you have more time, will you post that master list somewhere we can review or copy it? (Or tell me how I can copy it to a spreadsheet from the Listopia list) as it's painful to page through all the pages on the Listopia list.

Thanks!
-Krista

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Krista, you need to check your list again. The authors are alphabetized by last name only."

Oh My Goodness! Thanks for checking my list. I'll get this down yet!! I'll revise as needed.

Okay -- here's my current plan. Yes, I know there are 11 items in my list. But that mean's I can toss one if it doesn't sound interesting by the time I get to it. :-)

15.1 B-W Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (990 Lexile Score)
15.2 C-V Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland
15.3 D-U The Devil's Highway: A True Story by Luis Alberto Urrea
15.4 E-T Earthly Possessions by Anne Tyler
15.5 F-S A Fine And Bitter Snow by Dana Stabenow
15.6 I-K The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
15.7 P-H The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
15.8 S-F The September Society by Charles Finch
--or--
15.8 S-F Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron by Jasper Fforde
--or--
15.8 S-G Still Alice by Lisa Genova
15.9 T-C This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash
15.10 W-B What We Keep by Elizabeth Berg
--or---
15.10 W-B World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
15.11 Z-A The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman

Whew -- I think I'm following all the rules correctly now. First letter in first word in book title, and first letter from the author's last name

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "No, a letter can only be used once for titles and once for authors. And this was my biggest roadblock for making my list!"

Again -- many thanks Elizabeth!

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Krista wrote: "Will a subtitle be considered part of the title?

For example: [book:Lost in Shangri-la: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War I..."

Oh -- okay. I think I misunderstood. It's not ANY word in the title that can be used, it's only the first word (excluding A, The, etc.) that can be used.

Thanks! Back to the drawing board.