Cory Day’s
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(group member since Aug 18, 2012)
Cory Day’s
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from the Reading with Style group.
Showing 921-940 of 1,205
20.9 BIG BooksThe Book Thief by Markus Zusak
+20 Task (552 pg)
Lexile 730 – no style points
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 550
TtPR – Seafarer15.5 (fifth stop): New Zealand
The Changeover by Margaret Mahy (born in New Zealand, New Zealander, set in New Zealand) (Lexile 1030)
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 530
10.3 Detective FictionVisions in Death by J.D. Robb
Review: This is the nineteenth in the “In Death” series, so if you want to understand the character development, don’t start here. Each story is relatively standalone, though. As usual, Eve Dallas has to solve a murder, and in this case a particularly gruesome one has occurred. Robb shifts perspectives in a way that I always have to get used to, but in this case she actually surprised me a little with her ending. As usual, there is a decent amount of character investigation and development, mostly for Eve and her partner Peabody, which is what keeps me coming back to these books. They’re comfortable and interesting and I know that Eve will always get the bad guy in the end, learning just a little more about herself in the process.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 505
TtPR – Seafarer15.4 (fourth stop): Chile
By Night in Chile by Roberto Bolaño
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 485
TtPR – Seafarer15.3 (third stop): Mexico
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
(born in Mexico, Mexican, set in Mexico) (1030 Lexile)
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 460
20.10 Born 1866-1913The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright (820 Lexile)
Review: This is a book I wish I’d discovered as a kid. It’s a delightful story about a family of precocious children living in New York City during World War II, and had I found it (not been given it, because I refused to read anything suggested to me by adults as a kid…) when I was younger I think the series would have become one of my favorites. I love the idea of kids going out to have adventures by pooling their allowances, but finding that the things they had the most fun with were not the things they paid for. I also love the idea of being a kid and having Manhattan at your disposal!
+20 Task (born 1909)
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (published 1941)
Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 435
TtPR – Seafarer15.2 (second stop): USA
The Wedding Bargain by Victoria Alexander (Alexander was born in the USA and is American)
+15 Task
+10 Bonus
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 400
In case anyone's still looking, I was listening to the Three Percent Podcast and remembered that they'd probably be a good source for this if I need a quick fill-in. Anyway, they maintain a database, which could be useful: http://www.rochester.edu/College/tran...
TtPR – SeafarerWild Justice by Kelley Armstrong (Armstrong was born in Canada, is Canadian: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelley_A...)
+15 Task
Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 375
10.9 NobelThe Tin Drum by Günter Grass
Review: I’ve had this book out of the library countless times (it always seems to fit a variety of tasks!) but never got around to reading it – something about it felt daunting. So when I started, I was pleasantly surprised. It had an interesting folk tale-magical realism vibe to it with a big dose of humor that I loved. That was when Oscar, the narrator of the book, was telling the tale of his grandparents and parents. There were a few passages that made me laugh outright in their cleverness. By the second part of the book, however, when Oscar is fully into his own story, I had almost entirely lost interest. After a while, I felt as though a good half of the story was devoted to Oscar’s (ahem) “third drumstick” and it’s exploits; given that Oscar presented himself to the world as a three year old boy, not just a little person, his sexual escapades were rather disturbing. There were glimpses throughout of the book I began to fall in love with – mainly when more of the focus was on people other than Oscar. All in all, a book that went up and down quite a bit for me, and many of whose subtler points likely were lost to me as my attention waned.
+10 Task
+15 Combo (20.2, 20.6, 20.9)
+5 Oldies (pub 1959)
+5 Jumbo (567 pg)
+10 Review
Task Total: 45
Grand Total: 360
10.7 Short StoriesWhat We Talk About When We About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander
Review: I often have difficulties connecting with short story collections and also with literary fiction, so I approach books such as this with some trepidation. I’m not sure if it’s Englander’s writing or the subject matter, but this one was a winner! I’m not Jewish, but I’ve read a lot of Jewish fiction and Holocaust books over the years, so I liked that part. The title story was probably my favorite, even though it shouldn’t be – it was basically middle aged suburban white folks sitting around being less than excited about life – but it was thought provoking and just the right length. That story builds a theme around the Holocaust – basically, that it is both the most important thing for the Jewish experience and also the most overblown. The rest of the stories hover around that – I kept expecting – maybe hoping for? – stories of the Holocaust. Sometimes Englander went there; sometimes he didn’t. I also liked that most of the stories had a modern folklore feel to them.
+10 Task (2012 winner of the Frank O’Conner Short Story Award)
+5 Combo (10.6 – as far as I can tell this is his most recent book – the only one after that is a contribution to an audio-only anthology)
+10 Not a Novel (short stories)
+10 Review
Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 315
10.5 Goodreads AuthorLessons in French by Laura Kinsale
Review: I started the new year off by reading a nice light historical romance. I’ll be putting Kinsale into the rotation for historicals – it was cute and fun but with enough depth that I bought the relationship. The best part was that the pair – Callie and Trev – knew each other as children and had pursued a romantic relationship as well as being best friends until being ripped apart – so it was believable that within a few weeks they’d fall in love. There were some dropped plot points and some unbelievable occurrences, but overall it was just what I needed. If you like historical romances with relatively smart, independent heroines this is a good one. I only wish there were more with the same characters.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 275
10.5 Goodreads AuthorUnbroken by Rachel Caine
Review: This is the last in the Outcast series, which was a spinoff to Caine’s interesting urban fantasy Weather Warden series. The world and the plot are involved and complex, so I won’t attempt to explain. Having read the three previous Outcast books and all nine Weather Warden books a while ago, I’d forgotten how frantic the pace was. Caine’s chapters are long, and the books are absolutely packed with action and angst. She never gives her characters room to breathe, and I found myself feeling the same. After a while, however, it’s less of a page-turner and more of a workout. I loved both series for a while, but I do wish she’d turned down the stakes just a tad so we could get to know the world and the characters in a more low-key kind of environment. I recommend both series, but really know what you’re getting yourself into if you start – it won’t give you much of a break.
+10 Task
+10 Review
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 255
20.9 BIG BooksWool Omnibus by Hugh Howey
Review: I’d heard all over the internet how wonderful Wool is. Then a coworker said she loved it and wanted to reread it right away. And when I started looking for books my family might like for Christmas, this went right to the top of the list – a twofer, since I thought my brother and dad would both like it. So, I read about half of it before deciding to buy it for both of them, then put it down to savor it and get a little more done. After Christmas, I inhaled the second half.
It’s the story of a society that lives in underground silos in a world that has obviously gone through something awful. To question what happened, to wonder what’s outside, or to want to leave results in the ultimate punishment – cleaning. To be sent to clean is a hideous kind of death, but to think too hard about what happens to those who clean is suicide. So the society lives – until a series of cleanings start to break down the delicate balance. It was published as separate stories, but I didn’t hear about it until it and its sequel (really a prequel) were published as omnibus editions. I’m glad – it would’ve been agony waiting for each installment.
+20 Task (509 pages)
+5 Combo (10.5)
+5 Jumbo (509 pages)
+10 Not-a-Novel (I’m pretty sure this counts as interconnected short stories, but let me know if not)
+10 Review
Task Total: 50
Grand Total: 235
20.5 DisturbingThe Maze Runner by James Dashner (770 Lexile)
+20 Task (Shelved 6 times as disturbing)
Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 185
10.5 Goodreads AuthorThe Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz
Review: This was a fun book to read in the stressful time before Christmas, when my reading slowed way down and light reads were about all I could handle. It had an added bonus of being in the same vein as a Janet Evanovich novel, so it was another good one to get for my sister-in-law for Christmas.
The Spellmans are a multi-generational family of private investigators – something that makes them interesting, but also makes them a little different and messes with their personal lives. The structure of the book was a little off-putting – narrated by the older daughter Izzy, it moves back and forth in time as she’s answering police questions, and it’s well into the book before it is clear why she’s being questioned in the first place.
Still, the characters are awesome, and once I understood a little better the structure was fine. If the following books are written in the same way I think it’ll take less time to adjust, although I’d really prefer it be written in a more straight forward way. I’ll be picking up the next in the series at some point, although it joined the list of 190+ series I’ve started but not finished…
+10 Task
+5 Combo (10.6 – as far as I can tell it was her first book)
+10 Review
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 165
10.6 Beginnings/EndingsThe Funeral Dress by Susan Gregg Gilmore
Review: I met Susan Gregg Gilmore at an event in September, and listening to her talk about the research she did for The Funeral Dress captivated me. When I finally got around to reading the book, I wished more of that research had come through. That’s partially me – I have an affinity for milltowns, although usually industrial northeastern cities rather than Appalachian towns with single factories – but the book may have benefited from a little more length and more time showing the town rather than a single woman’s struggle across a week’s span. Still, Gilmore has a knack for taking difficult situations but creating hope around them and also for making me cry. And she’s a really nice person!
+10 Task (most recently published book, September 2013)
+10 Review
+5 Combo (10.5)
Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 140
10.6 Beginnings/EndingsThe Recruit by Robert Muchamore (Lexile 660)
+10 Task (as far as I can tell this was his first book)
Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 115
Alright, I think I've got this. Seafarer itinerary:1) Canada
2) USA
3) Mexico
4) Chile
5) New Zealand
6) Australia
7) Philippines
8) China
9) Japan
10) Russia
