Cory Day’s Comments (group member since Aug 18, 2012)

Cory Day’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

10.1 Author

When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds

+10 Task
YA Low Lexile – no styles

Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 570

1) Myke Cole wrote [book].
2) Myke Cole wrote for the anthology Beyond the Wall: Exploring George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, edited by James Lowder.
3) James Lowder was a puppeteer (!) on Misfit Heights, which used the voice acting of Etta Devine.
4) Etta Devine was in I Am I with Angela Paton.
5) Angela Paton was in Flatliners with Kevin Bacon.

1) Justina Chen wrote [book].
2) Justina Chen cofounded readergirlz with Janet Lee Carey.
3) Janet Lee Carey is a writer on Ano sora wo oboeteru (a film adaptation of Wenny Has Wings), which stars Yutaka Takenouchi.
4) Yutaka Takenouchi was in Taiheiyou no kiseki: Fokkusu to yobareta otoko with Markus Waldow.
5) Markus Waldow was in Elephant White with Kevin Bacon.

1) Sara Nović wrote Girl at War.
2) Julia Whelan narrated the audiobook of Girl at War.
3) Julia Whelan was in Fading of the Cries with Brad Dourif.
4) Brad Dourif was in Murder in the First with Kevin Bacon.

1) Brendan Kiely wrote The Gospel of Winter.
2) Nick Podehl narrated the audiobook of The Gospel of Winter.
3) Nick Podehl also narrated the audiobook of Three Faces of Me by R.L. Stine.
4) R.L. Stine was in Goosebumps with Steven Krueger.
5) Steven Krueger was in Escape Plan with David Joseph Martinez.
6) David Joseph Martinez was in X-Men: First Class with Kevin Bacon.

(edited because I couldn't confirm the audiobook narrator Nick Podehl was the same as the actor on IMDB)

10.1 Author

Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra

+10 Task
YA Low Lexile – no styles

Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 560

10.3 Dictionary

Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews

Review:This is book eight in a series, so the review is kind of useless to anyone who hasn’t read the previous seven. While each book has its own plot, the authors have created a world that would be super confusing to anyone who didn’t start at least close to the beginning. That being said, I’ve been following it from the start, and it’s one series I basically drop everything to read every year. This installment felt a little like filler, but it’s setting things up for a really interesting conclusion a couple books down the road. I’d recommend the series to anyone who likes urban fantasy, with the caveat that the first book is a little confusing and not their best – even the authors agree.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.9)

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 550

15.6 – TtUS Land Cruiser

Over and Under by Todd Tucker
Set entirely in Indiana

+15 Task
+10 Bonus

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 525

15.5 – TtUS Land Cruiser

Summer People by Aaron Stander
Set entirely in Michigan

+15 Task
+10 Bonus

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 500

10.7 Librivox

Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery

Review: The first sequel to Anne of Green Gables is sweet and fun, but not full of quite the same whimsy as the original. Perhaps it’s just that Anne has grown up, although in the introduction to the first book, Margaret Atwood said even L.M. Montgomery herself didn’t feel her follow-ups weren’t as successful as the original. I’d like to go back and reread some of her other books, since I remember loving Emily of New Moon even more than the Anne stories when I was a kid. I’ll eventually catch up with most of her catalogue eventually, I hope, but I think it’ll be a while.

+10 Task (shelved as librivox 8 times)
+10 Review
+10 Oldies (pub 1909)
+10 Combo (10.9, 20.4)

Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 475

1) Peter Mendelsund wrote [book].
2) Peter Mendelsund did the cover design for The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro.
3) Kazuo Ishiguro was a writer and producer of Never Let Me Go, in which Monica Dolan acted.
4) Monica Dolan was in Kick-Ass 2 with David Reid.
5) David Reid was in X-Men: First Class with Kevin Bacon.

1) Ilona Andrews [or the other contributors to the anthology below] wrote [book].
2) Ilona Andrews wrote a story in Must Love Hellhounds with Charlaine Harris.
3) Charlaine Harris received writing credit for True Blood, in which Anna Paquin starred.
4) Anna Paquin was in Buffalo Soldiers with David Crow.
5) David Crow was in X-Men: First Class with Kevin Bacon.

15.4 – TtUS Land Cruiser

Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
Set entirely in Ohio

+15 Task
+10 Bonus

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 435

15.3 – TtUS Land Cruiser

Steel Ashes by Karen Rose Cercone

+15 Task
Set entirely in Pennsylvania

Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 410

10.9 Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Review: I initially didn’t intend to read A Little Life, having heard it was incredibly depressing and that the main character just kept having endless strings of bad things happen to him. But when so many of my Goodreads friends read and recommended it to me, I felt like I needed to be part of the conversation. The first two hundred pages were amazing – I was reminded of how much I love stories of intimate male relationships. In this case, it’s a group of four close college friends, who have more than a surface level affection for each other and aren’t afraid to show it.

As I continued through the book, the camaraderie among the four friends faded in and out, but the story continued to move me, and for whatever reason the unceasingly bad things that happened to Jude bothered me less than I anticipated. It’s not that I didn’t care – the whole 720 pages is basically the story of a victim of horrific abuse and that person’s response to it as he ages – but it definitely seemed hyperbolic in a way that was maybe almost comforting. The villains are nothing but bad, and most of the good characters are nothing but good, and that worked better than I expected. However, it was like watching a train wreck – I knew even worse things were coming, but had no way of averting my eyes.

In the last eighty pages or so, I ended up crying, which led me to my five star review, since books that move me to tears, in however manipulative a manner, generally get five stars from me. I think if I analyze the “moral” (or length!) of the story or some of Yanigahara’s decisions, it would lose a couple stars, so no rereading it for me, but I’m glad I did get through it this one time.

+10 Task
+10 Review
+10 Jumbo (720 pages)

Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 395

10.3 Dictionary

Player's Ultimatum by Koko Brown

Review: I was looking forward to reading this book, since I love sports star heroes in romance novels and I love soccer, so a book set in the Italian football scene seemed perfect for me. Unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me. Part of that is my problem – this is definitely farther toward the erotica side of the spectrum than I usually enjoy – but the rest really had to do with inconsistency in the writing and in the plot. I did love how diverse the cast of characters was, but that was the main thing that appealed. The rest fell way flat. I may try another by the author in the hopes that some of the issues are resolved, but it won’t be right away.

+10 Task
+10 Review

Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 365

10.9 Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

A Red-Rose Chain by Seanan McGuire

Review: The October Daye series by Seanan McGuire is one of my favorites, and I always look forward to a new installment. This one is a quieter book than the last couple, full of more court intrigue and politics than fighting, but I still enjoyed it. This is not a series that would easily be begun in the ninth book – better to start at the beginning. It’s urban fantasy – Toby lives her life partially in modern-day San Francisco and part of it in the places where the fairy Summerlands intersect it. It’s fun, relatively diverse, and better written than many similar series. I’ll read just about anything McGuire writes, but Toby will always have a special place in my heart.

+10 Task (post 333)
+10 Review

Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 345

15.2 – TtUS Land Cruiser

Half-Resurrection Blues by Daniel José Older

+15 Task
Set entirely in New York

Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 325

And in case my last post doesn't work:

1) Seanan McGuire [or the other contributors to the anthology below] wrote [book].
2) Seanan McGuire wrote a story in Home Improvement: Undead Edition, which was edited by Charlaine Harris.
3) Charlaine Harris received writing credit for True Blood, in which Anna Paquin starred.
4) Anna Paquin was in Buffalo Soldiers with David Crow.
5) David Crow was in X-Men: First Class with Kevin Bacon.

1) Seanan McGuire wrote [book].
2) Seanan McGuire and Paul Cornell host the Hugo award winning SF Squeecast together: http://sfsqueecast.com/about/.
3) Paul Cornell wrote the "Father's Day" episode of Dr. Who, in which Christopher Eccleston starred.
4) Christopher Eccleston was in eXistenZ (1999) with Jennifer Jason Leigh.
5) Jennifer Jason Leigh was in In the Cut (2003) with Kevin Bacon.

If the podcast doesn't work since it's not a paid gig, I'll look through her anthologies for a better link.