Cory Day’s
Comments
(group member since Aug 18, 2012)
Cory Day’s
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from the Reading with Style group.
Showing 321-340 of 1,205
Amanda wrote: "And THIS may be my undoing for women authors ( going by my bookshelf! ).I have found one : Exiles At Home: Australian Women Writers, 1925 1945 which only gets me there thanks to the..."
Try actually searching for "extra". I think you might have a couple after all, although I don't know which bookshelves you're working from :)
10.10 Group ReadsThe Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte
Review: At the beginning, this book reminded me a lot of The Shadow of the Wind, which I loved. As I continued the story, I felt less love for The Club Dumas, in large part due to the fact that I really didn’t get most of the literary references beyond a surface level. I shouldn’t fault the book – I’ve only read one Dumas, and for the record I now want to move The Three Musketeers higher up on my list – but I guess I felt like it was too clever for its own good. The ending also bothered me, although some of it was well done. It just wasn’t as engaging as I’d hoped. Oh, and if I read one more time about ‘Irene Adler’s’ boy-short haircut, tan skin, and long legs, I would’ve been in danger of throwing my Kindle across the room.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.9 – post 400)
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 1865
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "We need 95 Oldies Points (15 have been posted since Kate posted the Readerboard). I *think* I have 25 yet to post (have to finish reading first) - anyone else reading some moldy oldies?"I should finish the one with 5 oldies I already started... I've also considered stuffing in Measure for Measure since there's no way I'll get to finish my second round of TtUS like I'd hoped. That'd be another 25...
20.3 Difficult (top 150)Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany
Review: Being on multiple lists of most difficult and most often started but not finished books, I was surprised at how easy to read I found Dhalgren to read. That’s not to say I understood everything that was going on, either at or beneath the surface, but it wasn’t the slog I expected it to be. Really, I felt like I was reading some combination of Infinite Jest and American Gods, set in one of the parties the detectives on Dragnet were always breaking up (like Blue Boy was going to appear on the page). I can’t say I LIKED the book exactly, but it felt both completely of its time and of any time, as well as both completely relatable and absolutely incomprehensible in a way that few books accomplish. I didn’t love its depictions of women, although it says interesting things about race and homosexuality, especially for its time. Also, a portion of the last section was basically just made up of alternating descriptions of bowel movements and group sex, which was unsettling at best.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (pub. 1974)
+15 Jumbo (801 pages)
+5 Combo (10.9 – post 187)
Task Total: 55
RwS Completion Bonus: 100
Mega Bonus: 200
Grand Total: 1835
10.1 AuthorA Reason to Live by Maureen McKade
Review: I thought this book was set in Tennessee, but it turned out to be a pre-car road trip novel, so I couldn’t use it for TtUS. I figured that out around 25% through, but the story engaged me enough that I kept reading anyway. There were a lot of things to love about this historical romance, including the fact that it’s set just after the Civil War in the US. That’s rare enough that it was super refreshing to read. The characters’ attitudes were also refreshing, if possibly anachronistic. It also focused really more on the character development of the individual characters more than the romance in a way, which was both a strength and a weakness. I kind of felt like it shouldn’t have forced the romance into as much a place of prominence as it ended up being – I felt short changed on both sides. There were also a few too many coincidences for my taste, and I found many of the revelations to be predictable. Still, I’d read more by this author, especially after reading too many Regency England romances.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 1480
20.7 MicrohistoryKilling Time: Leisure and Culture in Southwestern Pennsylvania, 1800-1850 by Scott C. Martin
Review: Killing Time is really a book that’s only for people who are REALLY interested in Pittsburgh history. It’s mostly a dry academic study of a period in the region’s history after it was a wilderness but before it was an industrial powerhouse. The most interesting part about it was that I could see the issues under discussion in the early 1800s as a series of modern click-bait headlines – things like “All Work, No Play – Are We Putting Too Many Hours in at the Office?” and “Men at Rest – Women Work Harder in the Home and Out!” I did get a big kick out of reading people’s names that now grace roads and towns throughout the area, and I liked that it pulled in the history of the surrounding area rather than just the city, including the town where my dad grew up.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel
+5 Combo (10.4)
Task Total: 45
Grand Total: 1460
10.2 Agatha Christie (1890-1976)Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley
Review: I received this book as a gift a while ago, and while it’s a tiny book (really a novella) and was described to me as a book lover’s book, I just hadn’t gotten around to reading it until now. I’d never really even heard of Christopher Morley, even though he wrote over a hundred books! I was a little worried at the beginning, since the first twenty pages didn’t really suck me in, but I must just have been tired last night because the rest of the story was delightful. It’s a cute, fun book with quirky characters, books, and animals right in the center, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I recommend it to anyone – even if you don’t love it, it’s so short it shouldn’t feel like a waste of time.
+10 Task (born 1890, died 1957)
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (pub. 1917)
+5 Combo (10.9 – pending approval for post 431)
Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 1415
15.3 – TtUS Land Cruiser (Round 2)The Good, the Bad, and the Emus by Donna Andrews
Review: The Good, the Bad, and the Emus is a fine but not stellar installment in the Meg Langslow series of cozy mysteries. If you want to read the books, I’d start much closer to the beginning – each one stands pretty much alone, but you really get to know all the kooky characters if you start early. My favorite part about these is that the main character acknowledges just how silly it is that she keeps getting wrapped up in murder mysteries. Since that’s my biggest problem with cozies, I like the winky attitude. In this one, Meg sets out investigating something that isn’t a murder, but quickly gets wrapped up in a big conspiracy. I’ve liked previous installments better – the characters in this one didn’t interact as much as I’d like, and I figured out most of the mystery well before Meg did – but a mediocre Meg book is still going to be a lot of fun.
+15 Task
Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 1380
10.10 Group ReadsThe Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell
Review: I remember getting this book out of the library when it first came out, but I never got around to actually reading it before it needed to be returned. I didn’t really remember anything about the description, and didn’t bother to look it up since it was on my TBR. I think I’m glad I didn’t read much about it, since that allowed the book to unfold a little better. I didn’t love the style, although I understand why the author used it, but I did really enjoy the last 50 pages or so, when all the characters kind of really started to crystallize in my mind. It’s not an easy book, but it’s maybe a hopeful one, depending I think on your perspective going in.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 1365
10.8 The Horrors!Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson (Lexile 1070)
Review: Like many swashbuckling adventure stories I’ve read, I found Treasure Island to be oddly unsatisfying. I know the genre has changed since this came out, but it was so focused on plot and adventure that I never connected with any characters. I’m sure there were times when I read the same page multiple times, just because the story wasn’t connecting with me. I will continue to try to read some of the “classics” of the genre, but might eventually have to come to terms with the fact that I tend to like my books just a little lighter on adventure and heavier on character development.
+10 Task
+10 Oldies (pub. 1883)
+10 Review
+15 Combo (10.7, 10.9, 20.2)
Task total: 45
Grand Total: 1345
20.10 InterconnectedIn Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin
Review: This short story collection was one of the saddest books I’ve read, mostly because of the contrast from the beginning of each story to the end. Most of the stories were basically love stories, all surrounding a wealthy Pakistani family. Some were about the servants, some about the family members themselves, but basically all ended tragically. It did evoke a place (in fact, I think this was one that showed up on one of the lists for next season’s task), but I do wish there were more hope in some. One story in particular would have ended in a sad but realistic way, but a paragraph at the end acted as a kind of tacked on epilogue making it downright depressing. Read this if you want to read about a culture that isn’t heavily represented in typical American fiction; don’t read it if you want to feel good about the world.
+20 Task (centers around a single family; description shows it as interconnected)
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel
+5 Combo (20.4)
Task Total: 45
Grand Total: 1300
Bea wrote: "I posted my five but really do not like the list. JK Rowling is on it only because I read all the Potter books. I have no plans to read more by her unless you count the Galbraith books. Some of the..."I'm in the same boat - my top 5 are fine, but for the most part I've stopped reading their writing as intensely. No matter - I can catch up on one of their series - but it is an interesting look at our reading habits... Maybe we've prioritized wrong! :)
1) Christopher Morley wrote [book].2) Christopher Morley has writing credits for Kitty Foyle, starring Ginger Rogers.
3) Ginger Rogers was in The Confession with Elliott Gould.
4) Elliott Gould was in The Big Picture with Kevin Bacon.
I haven't checked if this is comprehensive or completely accurate, but I always like to start with a Goodreads list if possible. https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8... seems like a good place to start...
10.3 DictionaryReap the Wind by Karen Chance
Review: No one should start the Cassandra Palmer series at this seventh book – I was already confused a little since it’d been over two years since the last one was published. It is one of my favorite urban fantasy series, and one of the few I still keep up with, but I wouldn’t suggest anyone start it unless they’re very okay with cliffhangers. This one was longer than most of her installments, but it still was mostly filler – action, action, action, and basically no resolution of any of the major plot points. The good parts were still good – the side characters, the humor, etc. – but no resolution after two years of waiting, plus an author who regularly pushes back her deadlines makes it super frustrating. Luckily, the romance seems to be moving in the direction I’d like to see it go, and there was a funny appearance by my favorite minor character, the fashion designer.
+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Jumbo (514 pages)
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 1250
20.6 Crime and Punishment (300,000 ratings)A Time to Kill by John Grisham
Review: I’ve read a couple of Grisham books before, but had never read this one, which is possibly his most famous. I’ve also still never seen the movie version, so I went into the experience almost entirely unaware of the plot. I found it chillingly related to some of the other books I’ve read recently – namely, The Warmth of Other Suns – in its exploration of race relations in the southern US. I didn’t love Grisham’s portrayal of women – the few who were present were either hardly there or gross stereotypes – but it was still an engaging read. I wish I hadn’t read the end right before bed, since some of the things that happened were the stuff of nightmares, and the end felt really rushed to me. I’ll probably check back in with Jake Brigance in Sycamore Row at some point in the future.
+20 Task (525,077 ratings)
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (pub. 1989)
+5 Combo (10.9)
+5 Jumbo (544 pages)
Task Total: 45
Grand Total: 1225
20.5 History (Pulitzer winning author)First Family: Abigail and John Adams by Joseph J. Ellis
Review: I love Abigail Adams, mostly because she’s one of few historical figures you learn much about in school who is female. Still, much like in this book, historically she’s relegated mostly to her relationship with her husband – the historical context in which she lived didn’t have starring roles for most women. Learning more about their relationship, which, to be honest, I mostly knew from the musical/movie 1776, was interesting, but I do wish Ellis had expanded more on her alone the way he did with John. Part of this had to do with the lack of historical documents – beyond their letters, there isn’t much left behind about Abigail’s life – but surely there was a little more he could have done. At times, the author supposes things about their relationship, so he wasn’t opposed to extrapolating. All in all, it was a fine little historical biography, but mostly made me want to read more about Abigail and some of the other First Ladies.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel
+5 Combo (10.9)
Task Total: 45
Grand Total: 1180
20.4 Balance (South Asian or Canadian)Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery
Review: This third book in the Anne of Green Gables series may have been the one I liked most as a kid, but they all kind of blended together in my memory. It’s the one when Anne really starts moving toward being an adult, which makes it less charming than the earlier ones. A lot of the plot comes from letters, which seems a little forced, but it’s still a fun little world to inhabit for a while. I know at least one of the later books features Anne’s daughter instead of herself, so that might provide a little more of the former magic, but I’d still love to follow Anne into her later life.
+20 Task
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (pub. 1908)
+5 Combo (10.9)
Task Total: 45
Grand Total: 1135
10.9 Six Degrees of Kevin BaconEdinburgh by Alexander Chee
Review: Through a series of recommendations and wanting to be able to converse about certain books, I have ended up reading three books in two months that focus on the lifelong emotional trauma to victims of pedophilia. That’s enough for the year, I think. This one took a slightly different look at it – for one, the criminal was not a priest – but the style was a total distraction to me. Chee wrote the book in an almost stream of consciousness style but not quite. He doesn’t use quotation marks. The points of view and tenses shift, probably as an effort to show emotion, but in my opinion mostly to create confusion. Another reviewer said it seemed workshopped to death, and I tend to agree. Were I a person who had managed to train herself to put books down when I’m not into it, I would have stopped around page 25.
+10 Task (post 410)
+10 Review
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 1090
