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

Krista’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

Okay, here's another question. Can I use two books by authors who have last names starting with the same letter -- as long as the title, and names are in alphabetical order?

For Example:
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

To---
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Title Word: Brown Author: Woodson
Title Word: Castle Author: Walls

----------------
Update:

I now know I can't use this combo because it's the first word only of the title that can be used, but I'm still curious as to whether or not words or names starting with the same letter can be re-used if they're used in the correct ascending or descending order. (I know --- so many questions!)

Will a subtitle be considered part of the title?

For example: Lost in Shangri-la: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff

(Keeping my fingers crossed that subtitle words are allowed as this will then be a perfect 'A to Z' book, and it's on my TBR list)

Thanks!
-Krista

Yes, it will be fun to be back. I'm spending a good part of my day today plotting my reads, and trying to work in books I've already checked out of the library.

It *is* hard to believe that it' been 5 years since this all started. Now if we could get Sam to jump in and say 'Hi' that would be wonderful since this was his brainchild. It's been amazing to watch it grow over the years. Thanks to all of you who took over the reins, when Sam and I stepped away.

Thanks for the welcome back messages. :-) I've been following along by watching the posts to this group, but chiming in myself will be an added pleasure this quarter.

Hi Elizabeth! Thanks for posting this list. I'm going a bit crazy on Amazon today. I might as well add a few more Kindle books.

I'm going to join the upcoming Winter Challenge. It's been awhile since I've participated, and I'm really looking forward to it. I've spent an enjoyable morning reviewing tasks and books. My hold queue at my library has now been maxed out.

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Cheers,
-Krista

I think that at least two of John Ajvide Lindqvist books would count.

Let the Right One In - Vampires (?) I (haven't read this one yet.

Handling the Undead - Zombies - I gave this one 4 stars. It was an intelligent zombie book!

Liz M wrote: "Krista wrote: "Hi Everyone! Hope you had a great 4th of July. I know I've been away for awhile -- and see that Liz and the new group of moderator's have things well in hand. What a big job this ..."

Thanks!! It's good to be back. :-)

Hi Everyone! Hope you had a great 4th of July. I know I've been away for awhile -- and I see that Liz and the new group of moderator's have things well in hand. What a big job this is now with all the new participants. :-) Sam's idea for a new type of challenge has certainly gained in popularity.

I've decided to work on the Ten Degrees of Separation for this quarter. It's been so fun working on the list. I've enjoyed discovering how folks have rated so many classic books. I've found some new treasures and been spurred to read some older classics I haven't had time to read yet. They've all been great!

Cheers!!
---------------------------------
TDoS Sub-challenge

15.1 1st Book 5 Stars by Ms Hicks and Tracey
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
+15 Task

15.2 2nd Book 5 Stars by Tracey and Lisa Sokol
Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
+20 Task

15.3 3rd Book 5 Stars by Lisa Sokol and Zadzubina
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
+20 Task

15.4 4th Book 5 Stars by Zadzubina and Rachel
The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy
+20 Task

15.5 5th Book 5 Stars by Rachel and Suefly
Stardust by Neil Gaiman (Lexile score = 970)
+30 Task

Grand Total = 105

Thanks so much Liz. Kudos for all the time you donate to the group!

Carolyn wrote: "Hi everyone, hope it's ok for me to say hello here. I just joined and am comparing my "to read" shelf with the challenges. What a great way to figure out what to read next!!
I do about equal parts..."

Hi Carolyn: Nice to have a fellow audiobook listener in the group. Welcome! I'm the moderator that Elizabeth referred to in her earlier reply to your message. I love me my audiobooks! I have about a 45 minute commute into work each way. Thank goodness my library has a decent selection of audiobooks. At least now I feel like the driving time is productive. :-)

I hope you'll like the group. I really love these challenges.

Cheers,
-Krista

Kazza wrote: "Krista wrote: "Merry Christmas Eve everyone! I hope you're all able to spend some quality time with your family and friends. I've been absent from the group for awhile because my Mom was hit with..."

Thanks Kazza -- your warm wishes are appreciated! Mom is doing better. I think we've finally convinced her that she'll need to move to an Assisted Living center when she's released from this care facility. It's a big move for her (for all of us actually), but she'll be safer that way.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Krista, so sorry about your Mom's hospitalization, but so glad she's on the mend."

Thanks!

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! I hope you're all able to spend some quality time with your family and friends. I've been absent from the group for awhile because my Mom was hit with some unexpected medical issues that invovled a few days in ICU and more days in a regular hospital room. She's now been moved to a rehab facility, but it was touch and go there for awhile. It really brought home how much family means. Give your loved ones a hug today!

My apologies for not doing a great job of keeping up the scorekeeping task that Liz had handed over to me. She's taken it back, but there is quite a big backlog of posts for her to catch up on. So please be patient about seeing the Readerboard scores updated.

Thank goodness for audio books! They've helped pass the time with all the driving I've had to do lately. So I have even been able to get a few CiV tasks completed despite all the recent chaos.

Task 15.1 The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling 277 pgs (Audio Book) 1894 pub
I-J-K, 261-300, 1892-1904
+ 15 Task Points

Task 15.2 The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan 118 pgs, 1915 pub
A-B, 101-140, 1905-1916
+20 Task Points

Task 15.3 After the Funeral by Agatha Christie 253 pgs (Audio Book), 1953 pub
C-D, 221-260, 1953-1964
+25 Task Points

Total Points this post = 60
Grand Total = 60

Phoebe wrote: "Hi everyone,
just wanted to say thanks for all the answers to my many questions in the other threads! :)
I really like the (slightly complicated at first sight) challenge structure! It opens one's ..."

Hi Phoebe:

You're welcome. Glad to have you with us. I love these challenges. It's really made be delve into some classic treasure that I probably wouldn't have tackled. I've been pleasantly surprised by a great majority of them! :-)

Come back anytime Denae! Hope you have a Happy Holiday Season.

I'm mainly doing my Christmas shopping on the internet this year. (Gotta love that free 1-month trial of Amazon Prime!) A boatload of boxes arrived today. Now I'll need to sort everything out and get to wrapping. I think that most of the shopping is done. -- Step away from the computer. (Unless of course it's to do some more RsW scorekeeping!) :-)

Kazza wrote: "I was wondering if I could claim points for Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - haven't decided exactly which task yet but... it seems to be short...

I read it on my Kobo of which copy I d/l from..."

Yes, you can use Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I read it last challenge and claimed points for it. :-)

In Msg 73 -- Rosemary wrote: "20.2 In honor of A Tale Of Two Cities

50 Reasons to Say Goodbye by Nick Alexander
....
+20 Task (set in the UK and France)
+15 Combo (10.5 Underrated; 10.6 letter X in author surname; 10.7 my type is ISTJ, S and T in title)
+10 Review

Task Total = 45

Grand Total = 130 ..."

Hi Rosemary: Based on the more complete definition of the words that can be used to make the 'type' pairs -- this book should be disallowed for the combo points. ("to" isn't a valid word for pairing.)

But since your points were claimed before Liz made clarification in Msg 74, I'll allow the points.

Note: For those of you who STARTED READING a book for Task 10.7 that would now be disallowed based on the clarified requirements in Liz's message on 12/8 -- let us know that you started reading the book before Liz's update was posted when you claim points for the book. It doesn't seem fair to not let you claim points for a book if the rules for the task changed WHILE YOU WERE READING the book.

In Msg 72 -- Leigh wrote: "20.6 Bleak House

The Metropolis Case by Matthew Gallaway (a main character is a lawyer)

Three stories entwined around the opera Tristan und Isolde following: Lucie..."

Hi Leigh:

I don't think that this book qualifies for Task 20.6. Based on your review, there are three main characters, only one of whom is a lawyer. For Task 20.6, the book really needs to focus on the law and/or the legal system. For example if the book features a lawyer, the lawyer needs to be involved in a court case (-- or working with a client, etc.) as a major part of the book.

I don't think that this book has those elements. Please feel free to let me know if it in fact does have those elements as a major feature of the book.

You can certainly claim it for any of the tasks you've used as Combo points. Please repost the book, with the new task number it is being used for and the combo points, etc. You don't need to repost the review. Just remind me that a review was posted in message #72.

Thanks!

In Msg 68 -- Audrey wrote: "Task 20.4 - set in 1950s and 60s

The Bad Girl by Mario Vargo Llosa, written in Spanish, published in 2006, translated to English in 2007

Review:
I chose this book because I wanted to read somethi..."

Welcome to the Reading with Style Winter Challenge! If you could add your book title and author using the 'add book/author' link found at the top of the Comment box when you're posting your message that would be helpful. That way your book title and author are added as links. It's easier to access the book and/or author that way if we as scorekeepers need more information about it, and it's easier for other challenge participants to delve into the book information if it looks interesting to them.

The Bad Girl by Mario Vargas Llosa

Let us know if you have any questions about how to use the 'add book/author' feature.
-----------------
Also when claiming Combo points, please include the task number(s) that the book would also have worked for.

For example instead of:
+ 10(combo- takes place in >2 countries, listed in Crazy Love list)

This is more helpful:
+10 Combo (10.4 #22 Crazy Love list, 20.2 Chile/France)

------
I don't mean to sound too picky here. We're glad you joined us! There's just a lot of research that goes into validating the points claimed for each task and the more information you can provide up front, the quicker we can get the tasks scored.

Thanks! -Krista

In Msg 58 -- Kate S wrote: "RwS Tasks

10.8 Chinese New Year
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

+10 Task
+5 Combo (20.5-story of the author and family)
+5 Jumbo (508 pages)

..."

Hi Kate:

I'm disallowing the combo points for Task 20.5. For task 20.5, the book should be an autobiography. Wikipedia loosely defines an autobiography as a work that, "typically focuses on the "life and times" of the writer". Since this book focuses on three generations of women in the author's family, I don't think that it really qualifies as an autobiography. Too much of the book is taken up with details of people other than the author.

+10 Task
+5 Combo (20.5-story of the author and family)
+5 Jumbo (508 pages)
.....

Updated Post Total: 110 105
Updated Season Total: 110 105