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

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

I'm super behind on posting here, but I've been having issues with my hand. I'm going to try and catch up in the next few days.

20.5 Emma

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There by Catherynne M. Valente

Review: Since reading and loving the first of Valente's Fairyland books, I've been afraid to read anything else by her for fear it wouldn't stand up. Well, the second in the series was just as charming as the first.

The story is reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland - fun and fantastical, but not without darkness. The protagonist is a child and it is a children's book, but not for very young kids. Actions have consequences, and characters can get hurt or even die, and just because it is Fairyland does not mean everything will turn out okay in the end.

These are books that demand to be read aloud, with a playfulness of language I greatly admire. I read so quickly that very few books stand out and make themselves heard in my mind - but the books in this series do. I hope someday I have a child who is old enough to appreciate the story but young enough to tolerate being read to aloud - because it's just that kind of book.

+20 Task (a girl named September is the only main character and Valente is female)
+10 Review

Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 30

That's interesting, and is likely part of it, but I do think at least part of the time it's due to being assigned at schools: http://www.bklynpubliclibrary.org/loc.... Under Young Adult Collection it says, "Popular "Assignment" section in which commonly assigned school titles are readily available.". But maybe it works both ways?

Location, Location, Location: Pittsburgh
Time Period: 1955-2011

15.10 - Pittsburgh Noir by Kathleen George, ed (orig pub 2011)

Setting: Pittsburgh

+15 Task
+25 Bonus (set entirely within 6 miles of Pittsburgh, except a brief flashback to WWII making up <10% of one story)

Task Total: 40
+100 Archeologist Bonus
+200 Mega Finish
Grand Total: 1410

Location, Location, Location: Pittsburgh
Time Period: 1955-2011

15.9 - Borrowed Time by C.J. Lyons (orig pub 2009)

Setting: Pittsburgh

+15 Task
+25 Bonus (set entirely in Pittsburgh)

Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 1070

10.6 Nobel

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak

+10 Task (1959 Nobel Prize in Literature)
+10 Canon
+10 (Non-Western - Russian)
+5 Jumbo (559 pg)

Task Total: 35
+100 RwS Finish
Grand Total: 1030

10.5 Thinking

Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally

+10 Task (#89 on list)
+10 Canon
+5 Combo (20.4 - Keneally born 1935)

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 895

Liz M wrote: "Cory (Bigler) '00-'05 wrote: "I'll just assume that if something is listed as YA ANYWHERE in BPL and it has a low or non-existent Lexile score, it'll be off my sub-challenge and style points list....."

Ditto - I forgot to check as well. :). No biggie - I already read an alternate to make up for it, and changed my real estate listing to renumber.

Location, Location, Location: Pittsburgh
Time Period: 1955-2011

15.8 - The Paris of Appalachia: Pittsburgh in the Twenty-First Century by Brian O'Neill (orig pub 2009)

Setting: Pittsburgh

+15 Task
+25 Bonus (set entirely in Pittsburgh)

Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 870

Location, Location, Location: Pittsburgh
Time Period: 1955-2011

15.7 - Everyday People by Stewart O'Nan (orig pub 2001)

Setting: East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh

+15 Task
+25 Bonus (set entirely in Pittsburgh)

Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 830

First, adjustments. Switching post 732, The Piano Lesson, from 15.6 to 20.4 (August Wilson born 1945) due to no Lexile and YA Assignment classification; post 738 - Bing Crosby's Last Song switches to 15.6.

-20 points

Grand Total: 790

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "How do I know if a book is YA?
We are using the Brooklyn Public Library's classification. If a book is located in "YA Assignment, ""Assignment", "YA," or "Juvenile" it will be considered young-adul..."

I really didn't mean to bring up this whole thing again! It's fine if it doesn't qualify - it was a book I read on a whim since I'm on a little bit of an August Wilson kick with my Pittsburgh reading, and this gave me the most points. You didn't mess me up :)

I was, however, under the impression that a book could be listed SOMEWHERE in BPL as YA but not be counted as YA - in looking back on last season's threads, there was a big discussion about what order the books were listed in on the site and whether there was a separate view on an ipad vs. a desktop that led me to determine that the first listing of the book was the one that counted. I've never totally understood the system anyway, since different libraries list different books differently, but that's ok. I know this is not a science and no method is perfect. I just wanted to explain what I thought - and I admit I didn't go into great detail with this particular book. In the future I'll just assume that if something is listed as YA ANYWHERE in BPL and it has a low or non-existent Lexile score, it'll be off my sub-challenge and style points list. Really, my plan is not messed up and I should be able to finish - I just got greedy :)

Liz M wrote: "Cory (Bigler) '00-'05 wrote: "I made one final edit to my listing... Sorry about all the changes!

Thanks!"

Piano lesson works."

Hey, when I posted The Piano Lesson in the completed tasks thread, Elizabeth (Alaska) mentioned that it was listed as YA Assignment in BPL. When I looked again, it does turn out many of the branches in the first listing do list it as YA Assignment (and it has no Lexile), but the very first that came up for me did not. I should be able to shift it over to 20.4, take my 20 points, and read another backup before the end of the month, but I just wanted to clarify - I guess I'm still confused about the 'first listing to come up on BPL' rule :). Not a big deal - I just wanted to make sure before I change it over. Thanks!

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Cory (Bigler) '00-'05 wrote: "Location, Location, Location: Pittsburgh
Time Period: 1955-2011

15.6* - The Piano Lesson by August Wilson (orig pub 1990)
Setting: Pittsburgh

+15 Task
+25 Bonus (set..."

Hm, ok. I think this is another case of not quite understanding the 'first on the list' in BPL. It won't be a big deal - I should be able to read another backup before the end of the month (or I can always shift Fences back over). I'll reconfigure my list as needed when I get home from work today, but I'll also move my question about this to the LLL Q&A thread, since The Piano Lesson was approved over there and when I looked it up the first listing showed it as non-fiction - although now I see that quite a few of the other library branches did list it as YA Assignment. Thanks for keeping me on my toes ;)

Location, Location, Location: Pittsburgh
Time Period: 1955-2011

15.7 - Bing Crosby's Last Song: A Novel by Lester Goran (orig pub 1998)

Setting: Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh

+15 Task
+25 Bonus (set in Pittsburgh except approximately 9% when Daly takes short trips - and thank goodness the last trip was less than half a page...)

Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 810

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Cory (Bigler) '00-'05 wrote: "*edited post 595 to switch Fences from 15.5 to 20.4, and post 666 to be 15.5 - no totals changed "

Thanks for this note, Cory. We don't go back to prior posts, so edi..."

Good to know - if I need to clarify or repost I can - just trying to keep things as clean as possible :)

20.1 Novels about Writers

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

+20 Task
+5 Combo (20.4 - Barbara Kingsolver born 1955)
+5 Jumbo (most common edition has 508 pages)

Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 770

Location, Location, Location: Pittsburgh
Time Period: 1955-2011

15.6* - The Piano Lesson by August Wilson (orig pub 1990)
Setting: Pittsburgh

+15 Task
+25 Bonus (set in Pittsburgh except approximately 5 pgs with flashbacks to the South)

Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 740

*edited post 595 to switch Fences from 15.5 to 20.4 (task + canon + not a novel), and post 666 to be 15.5 - no totals changed

I made one final edit to my listing... Sorry about all the changes!

Thanks!

Location, Location, Location: Pittsburgh
Time Period: 1955-2011

15.5* - Sons And Daughters Of Labor: Class And Clerical Work In Turn Of The Century Pittsburgh by Ileen DeVault (orig pub 1990)
Setting: Pittsburgh

+15 Task
+25 Bonus (entirely about Pittsburgh)

Task Total: 40
Grand Total: 700

*edited post 595 to switch Fences from 15.5 to 20.4, so this becomes 15.5

20.2 Westerns

True Grit by Charles Portis (800 Lexile)

+20 Task (#2 on best westerns list)
+5 Combo (20.4 - Charles Portis born 1933)

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 660