Cory Day’s
Comments
(group member since Aug 18, 2012)
Cory Day’s
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from the Reading with Style group.
Showing 301-320 of 1,205
10.2 NoelAgnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie
Review: Jennifer Crusie is an author that comes up time and time again as recommended as a stellar example of funny contemporary romance, and every time I’ve read her books before I just don’t connect well with them. This one was written with a partner, and reads more like a caper novel than a romance, and I liked it much more. Ridiculous things happen to Agnes – she gets into more scrapes than Stephanie Plum – but it was fun to go along for the ride, and I wish it were part of a series. The romance is almost incidental and very straightforward, which was a nice change of pace. Don’t expect this book to be realistic, but if you want something silly to read, it might be a good pick.
+10 Task (3.92)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.2)
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 320
10.9 Realistic RatingsEdge of Dark by Brenda Cooper
Review: Edge of Dark is a perfectly serviceable science fiction book. It kept me interested throughout, touched on important social and environmental issues, and had a diverse cast of characters with 2/3 focal points being from female perspectives. Despite its following a previous series by the same author, I didn’t feel like I was confused. However, it never went much beyond okay. The writing was fine, but there were a couple of glaring typos that pulled me out of the story. The characters were developed in some ways, but relied a lot on off screen backstory. Regardless, I’d totally pick up the sequel, just to see what happens now that the robots and the humans seem to be heading toward some sort of peace.
+10 Task (3.26)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.2)
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 295
20.5 Alice Munro (2013) - AwardsThe Wars by Timothy Findley
Review: This book and I just simply did not get along. I read a review that called it historiographic metafiction, which is an accurate description and pretty much summarizes much of what I didn’t like about the format. It switches perspectives between following the main character, Robert Ross, getting in his head, following him through parts of his life only he would know, and following the research of an archivist, talking about how no one can ever really know the whole story. The parts following Robert weren’t terrible – they contained some heartbreaking depictions of war – but the rest just made the story unnecessarily complicated in my opinion, and none of it added up to a compelling whole.
+20 Task (Governor General’s Award 1977)
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (pub. 1977)
+10 Combo (10.8 – born in Canada, 10.9 – 3.85)
Task Total: 45
Grand Total: 270
10.7 Cozy HolidaysCrocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
Review: This first in the Amelia Peabody series was a lot of fun. In the same vein as other historical mysteries I’ve enjoyed like those of Maisie Dobbs, Mary Russell, and Lady Georgie, I had an enjoyable romp through the beginning of Amelia’s adventures. It was a different kind of mystery, too, since really no one was murdered. Usually cozy mysteries drive me a little nuts, reading about improbable situations. As an added plus, I didn’t totally figure out the intricacies of the mystery ahead of the narrator, and the light sprinkling of romantic tension present throughout the book kept me extra interested. I’m actually pretty surprised it was written in 1975, because it reads as though it was much more recently written.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (pub. 1975)
+5 Series
Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 225
15.2 - DominoesThe Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
(from Speak Easy by Catherynne M. Valente - born 1979)
+15 Task (born 1977 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel...)
Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 195
10.8 Winter SolsticeA Forbidden Rumspringa by Keira Andrews
Review: The title of this book is so silly, and the content is actually not. It is, indeed, a gay Amish romance, but because the story continues in the next two books, I think the series as a whole is going to dive deeper into things like family dynamics than most romance novels have time for. This one is the lead up, and I actually felt like the parts where Isaac and David were together were the weakest bits, but I really want to pick up the next installment and see where it goes next. I only wish libraries were better at stocking M/M romances – this is hard on my budget.
+10 Task (born in Canada)
+5 Combo (10.2)
+5 Series
+10 Review
Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 175
20.2 Sigrid Undset (1928) - Middle Ages (500-1500 CE)Katherine by Anya Seton
Review: This was a weird book for me. While I was reading it, I was pretty much completely sucked in and wanted to keep reading and reading. Somehow, however, each time I went to pick it up next, I wasn’t that enthusiastic. It is a good book, and the kind of thing teenaged me would’ve devoured. Not quite a romance novel but not quite not one, it’s the kind of historical fiction I love – multiple times I started reading information about Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt to try to distinguish fact from fiction. I may pick up a biography sometime, although I’m not sure it’d surpass the story told here.
+20 Task (set 1366-1396)
+20 Combo (10.2, 10.4, 20.1, 20.9)
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (pub. 1953)
+5 Jumbo (500 pages)
Task Total: 60
Grand Total: 145
10.2 NoelEasy by Tammara Webber
Review: I messed up my dominoes almost immediately and accidentally switched my first two books, but luckily this one fit into 10.2 just fine. It’s a ‘New Adult’ romance novel, although it could be argued that the romance often takes a backseat to some more difficult issues. I’m a sucker for stories of people falling in love during college, having experienced that myself, so I ended up staying up way too late reading this. At 1:45 AM, it was a four star read, but in thinking about it later I’d probably downgrade it by one star. The romance and the harsher parts of the book almost conflicted with each other, and like others I almost immediately figured out things that took forever for the main character to realize. Plus, reviews of the second book make me not want to continue the series, which is a shame. I may just skip to the third or something – we’ll see.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Series
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 85
My plan: 2) The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (born 1977) (born USA)
3) Tonight & Forever by Brenda Jackson (born USA) (pub. 1995)
4) Forever And A Day by Mary McBride (pub. 1995) (first name 'Mary')
5) Word Puppets by Mary Robinette Kowal (first name 'Mary') (pub. 2015)
6) Cost of Repairs by A.M. Arthur (pub. 2012) (last name 'Arthur')
7) Darkness Hunts by Keri Arthur (last name 'Arthur') (born in Australia)
8) Satisfaction by Sarah Mayberry (born in Australia) (first name 'Sarah')
9) One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah MacLean (first name 'Sarah') (word 'good')
10) Too Good to Be True by Kristan Higgins (word 'good')
Mine is going to be to read a book published in 2015 found in Locus Magazine's New and Notable section (http://www.locusmag.com/Magazine/cate...).
Ed wrote: "Hoping someone can help me.... I'm trying to kill 2 birds with one stone... for a different reading challenge...I need to read a book by the end of the year set in high school.... and I was wonderi..."At a glance, all of the books I've personally read that are on the list and set in high school are YA romancey novels (Twilight, Vampire Academy, etc.). My favorite of the ones I'm sure qualify for both tasks was Anna and the French Kiss, which is set in a boarding school in Paris, but I can't say if it'll be to your taste. It's definitely a young adult romance, and definitely cute and slightly angsty. It does definitely fit though :)
Rebekah wrote: "All but two of the Groupreads fits this task. The exceptions are The Invention of Wings and Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End"I was glad when the mods picked this one out of my ideas, because it had by far the most potential for combo points!
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Anybody else still noticing Authors with Three Names and thinking it would fit this challenge?"I still catch myself seasons later every once in a while noticing something that fits an old challenge. The 1964 birthday one happens a lot, and it was a long time ago!
20.1 Grazia Deledda (1926) - Sense of PlaceRage Against the Dying by Becky Masterman
Review: I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I liked the cast of characters and the setting a lot. On the other hand, the protagonist did some really stupid things with minimal actual consequence, and the best parts of the character development were not the focus of the book. I didn’t actually end up completely guessing what was going on ahead of the main character, but I think it was because I just wasn’t all that invested in the story. I may pick up the sequel at some point just to see if the author’s second book improved upon some of the flaws I perceived.
+20 Task (posts 49-50 in help thread)
+10 Combo (10.2, 10.9)
+10 Review
Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 40
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Cory Day wrote: "Ok, so if Amazon reviews count then maybe iBooks would too? I found this for Rage Against the Dying:https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/rage......"
Great, thanks! Maybe I'll take the 20 points after all. The beginning of the season is so full of possibilities!
Ok, so if Amazon reviews count then maybe iBooks would too? I found this for Rage Against the Dying:https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/rage...
Ron in Baltimore is short and to the point, but he does say it has a great sense of place. It's only for combo points right now, so no big if it doesn't work, but I did feel like for a crime novel it focused a lot on place.
Hey! We met all our group goals!!!
20.9 Three NamesMothers, Tell Your Daughters: Stories by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Review: I really shouldn’t have finished this book, since within the first couple of stories I 1) determined it wasn’t a set of interconnected stories, 2) I wasn’t going to finish either challenge twice as I had hoped, and 3) it is definitely a book that is just not for me. I tend to dislike certain types of ‘literary fiction’ and have a lot of trouble with most of the short story collections I’ve read. But then, in investigating whether or not these were all set in the same town, I watched an interview with the author and some of the things she said about how she writes about difficult things because that basically is all she feels is valuable, and how some types of books are mere escapism – things I really disagree with when applied in broad general strokes. From then on, the collection just grated on my nerves, although interestingly enough the last story was kind of charming in its more direct style and lack of a depressing ending.
+20 Task
+10 Not-a-Novel
+10 Review
Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 1955
That's it for me - I wasn't able to squeeze in that last Shakespeare, so I hope we hit the Oldies goal no matter what!
20.7 MicrohistoryMaking Their Own Way: Southern Blacks' Migration to Pittsburgh, 1916-30 by Peter Gottlieb
Review: I’m glad I read this in the same few months as The Warmth of Other Suns, because the two books deal with the same issue from different perspectives. This one takes more of a micro level approach, looking at a specific time period within the larger Great Migration and only in one city. It’s also much more academic and drier in tone – lots of reciting statistics and less about specific people. Still, any investigation of a subject like this reminds me how far we’ve come but also how far we have to come – and how the legacy of experience can inform generations to come.
+20 Task
+5 Oldies (1987)
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel
+5 Combo (10.4)
Task Total: 50
Grand Total: 1915
