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

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

Location, Location, Location: Pittsburgh
Time Period: 1955-2012

15.1 - The Dutchman Died, and Other Tales of Pittsburgh's Southside by Fred Lissfelt (orig pub 1955)
Setting: Southside neighborhood of Pittsburgh (within city limits - except 8 pages that flash back to Germany)

+15 Task (first book)

Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 120

Goodreads doesn't have an original publication date for the listing for The Dutchman Died, and Other Tales of Pittsburgh's Southside, so I'd appreciate its being updated. My copy and the research I've done has it as 1955. There are two ISBN numbers listed - 0-8229-3726-3 and 0-8229-5483-4 (pbk.). The page number (135) listed matches my copy. Thanks!

20.4 Winter Trees

The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin

+20 Task (Boris Akunin was born in 1956 in the Republic of Georgia)
+10 Non-Western (born in Republic of Georgia and lives in Russia)

Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 105

10.7 Buy Nothing Christmas

Dog on It by Spencer Quinn

+10 Task (first published February 10, 2009 and borrowed from the library)
+5 Combo (20.4 - Quinn is a pen name of Peter Abrahams, who was born in 1947)

Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 75

Finally finished a book this month... Stupid work.

20.9 Penned

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

+20 Task
+10 Non-Western (Russian)
+10 Canon
+20 Jumbo (942 pg)

Task Total: 60
Grand Total: 60

Liz M wrote: "Cory,

Your Pittsburgh plans looks good (and academic!). Monongahela Dusk may have significant action in Uniontown (56 mi from Pittsburgh) -- it is where the book starts & the protagonists eventu..."

Got it! I'll either substitute or just take reduced points for Monongahela Dusk. I just like having an excuse to actually begin reading through the gobs of hometown books I've collected.

Location: Pittsburgh
Goal: Archeologist
Time Period: 1953-2011

1. The Dutchman Died, and Other Tales of Pittsburgh's Southside - Southside neighborhood of Pittsburgh - 1955
2. Life and Architecture in Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh - 1983
3. The Spencers of Amberson Avenue: A Turn-of-the-Century Memoir - Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh - 1983
4. Remaking of Pittsburgh, The - Pittsburgh - 1984
*alt Fences - Hill District neigborhood of Pittsburgh - 1986 *
5. Sons And Daughters Of Labor: Class And Clerical Work In Turn Of The Century Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh - 1990
6. Bing Crosby's Last Song: A Novel - Pittsburgh - 1998
7. Everyday People - 2001 (East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh)
8. The Paris of Appalachia: Pittsburgh in the Twenty-First Century - Pittsburgh - 2009
*alt Monongahela Dusk - McKeesport (~12 mi from Pittsburgh) - 2009
9. Borrowed Time - Pittsburgh - 2009
10. Pittsburgh Noir - Pittsburgh - 2011
*alt After the Fog - Donora (~20 mi from Pittsburgh) - 2012

**updated to remove The Piano Lesson and switch The Paris of Appalachia from alt to #8

Phoebe wrote: "Maybe one of these works:
Unlikely Friendships: 47 Remarkable Stories from the Animal Kingdom by Jennifer S. Holland
Friendship by James O. Grunebaum
Friendship by Hugh Black
or
The Politics of Fri..."
Or
MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search For A New Best Friend?

Sam wrote: "Would Blackout, published by Orbit, work?"

Unfortunately Orbit is an imprint of Hachette, which is one of the big six: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/publ....

You guys did a great job implementing this already! I'm stuck at work meetings and things are happening in the background. Such fun /)

10.2 Oktoberfest

Endgame by Ann Aguirre

Review: The previous book in this series left me utterly in tears, so I have to admit to reading the last two pages of this one before beginning. I just had to make sure there was some resolution! And there was. I'm sad to see the story end - this is the sixth book in the Sirantha Jax series - but I think Aguirre finished at what might be just the right place. Most of the major plot lines, both political and personal, have been resolved in some manner, but the characters still very much feel as though they're still out there causing trouble.

This series hits a lot of good notes for me; it's a action- and romance- filled science fiction story, but it also hits many real issues regarding morality, politics, society, love, and tolerance. The main characters are, for the most part, seriously broken, but they find ways to make each other whole. My favorite relationship may not actually even be the romance Jax has, but her friendships. I'll miss these guys, but I'm sure Ann Aguirre will continue to write other series I'll love just as much.

+10 Task (author born in USA, which I only claimed as a combo before)
+5 Combo (Sirantha has a couple of conversations with other women about various aspects of the war, including one regarding medicine she has with Farah)
+10 Review

Task Total: 25
Final Grand Total: 2005 (includes +15 adjustment by switching Capital - post 288 - from 10.2 to 20.7 for extra points plus multiple bonus)

And that's me done! I had fun with this first season - thanks everyone :)

10.5 Elderly

Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey" by Margaret Powell

Review: What a fun read! This is a book that helped inspire shows like Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey, and since I'm a Downton devotee it ended up on my reading list.

Margaret Powell (née Langley) was born in 1907 to a poor family in Hove, England. At age thirteen, despite a scholarship opportunity to continue her schooling, financial circumstances forced her to find work, and a year later she entered domestic service as a kitchen maid. Her memoir focuses on the time spent in the kitchens of various homes, where, despite her quick rise to the coveted position of cook, she never felt truly satisfied or respected.

Powell is a woman who, if born in another time or into another class, may have done any number of things. An avid reader, she remained curious, never ceasing to question the way the world worked. Her no-nonsense conversational style is at times amusing (especially when she speaks of sex, which she does throughout the book), at others keenly insightful, and much of the time both. Ultimately, I think she ended up getting what she wanted for herself and her family, even if it happened later than she'd have preferred. She left service when she married, her sons got the educations she was denied as a child, and then she herself completed additional schooling as a woman in her fifties and sixties. This memoir was a hit and continues to inspire producers of current-day pop culture, so she even got some of the respect she was certainly due.

+10 Task
+5 Oldies (published 1968)
+10 Review

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 1965 (includes +15 adjustment by switching Thinking Fast and Slow - post 809 - from 10.5 to 20.8 for extra points plus multiple bonus)

10.1 Square Peg

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss

Review: Ah, the illusive Square Peg, I think I've finally found you!

This short, cute book about punctuation is making me hesitant to write its review. After all, I'm typing this on an iPad, which does not always lend itself to grammatical accuracy. But, since Lynne Truss is not likely to read this, I'll soldier on.

I am definitely a grammar nerd, having grown up under the care of my mother, who taught me at the age of three to respond to anyone asking to speak to me on the phone with a polite "This is she." So this book is right up my alley. And I think that was its biggest weakness. In writing specifically to an audience of 'sticklers', (did I place that comma correctly?) Truss makes a lot of funny but snide remarks about the state of punctuation today, with its awful texting, emailing, and other emoticon-filled correspondence. Those pieces have likely ensured this book, which much of the time read like a biography of punctuation, will stay on the bookshelves of people who already know most of the basics. Even those people can probably stand to learn a thing or two; I know I did... ;)

+10 Task (NOT 10.2 - author born in England; NOT 10.3 - Garfunkel hasn't read it; NOT 10.4 - no color in title; NOT 10.5 - author born 1955 - not yet 60; NOT 10.6 - author has not held elected office; NOT 10.7 - no monsters; NOT 10.8 - 2003 publication, 10 words in title, 5 letters in Lynne; NOT 10.9 - not a continuation; NOT 10.10 - not a group read; NOT 20.1 - no awards; NOT 20.2 - not rural; NOT 20.3 - not essays - shelved 428; NOT 20.4 - she makes reference to wanting an anonymous person to be male and unmarried; NOT 20.5 - not science - grammar!; NOT 20.6 - not Gothic or a novel; NOT 20.7 - she's not a feminist author and it's not a novel; NOT 20.8 - first published book was in 1994 according to her website: http://www.lynnetruss.com/about.asp; NOT 20.9 - not a memoir; NOT 20.10 - author is still alive)
+10 Review
+100 RwS Finish
+200 Mega Finish

Task Total: 320
Grand Total: 1925

Please, if anyone notices I've missed something and this actually doesn't qualify, let me know! I have a plane trip tomorrow during which I can squeeze in a book that has already been claimed, but I wanted to be unique! I wouldn't want to come so close and not finish.

15.10 - Know Your ABCs - 10th Book - Letter J

Middle Passage (1150 Lexile) by Charles Johnson (published 1990)

+45 Task
+200 Doctorate Bonus:
1969 - Angelou - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
1976 - Butler - Patternmaster
1978 - Colwin - Happy all the Time
1980 - Doctorow - Loon Lake
1982 - Eddings - Pawn of Prophecy
1983 - Foster - For Love of Mother Not
1984 - Gemmel - Legend
1985 - Hambly - Dragonsbane
1989 - Ishiguro - The Remains of the Day
1990 - Johnson - Middle Passage

Task Total: 245
Grand Total: 1605

20.9 Authors

Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves

Review: This is poet and author Robert Graves' only autobiography, written at 33 and focusing on World War I, with a few chapters on either end devoted to the years before and immediately after the war. I'm not familiar with Graves' work, but the memoir was powerful. He mentions that he worked through his war experiences through the writing of one of his novels, but I expect this memoir also played a part in his coming to terms with his early life.

Graves was an interesting man. He grew up in an era when everything was changing - social class distinctions, gender roles, national identities - but maybe wasn't changing quickly enough. He never seemed to quite fit in, but he did find people with their own quirks. The list of familiar people he knew is staggering - George Mallory, Lawrence of Arabia, Thomas Hardy, Aldous Huxley, among others. His experiences were wide-ranging, from his time on the front to teaching in Egypt, and his first wife was someone I would have liked to get to know. All together, it was a fascinating read, especially the parts leading up to and following the war.

+20 Task (Graves published this in 1929 after publishing many things, including Fairies and Fusiliers in 1917)
+10 Combo (10.3; 20.8 - he published from 1917 into the 1980s)
+10 Oldies (published 1929)
+10 Review

Task Total: 50
Grand Total: 1360

Kate S wrote: "Bea wrote: "Kate S wrote: "Post 583

Cory (Bigler) '00-'05 wrote: "20.1 Frankenstein

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susannah Clarke (2005 Locus First Novel)

+5 Combo for 10.8 B-author's first n..."

Good catch, thanks!

15.9 - Know Your ABCs - 9th Book - Letter I

The Remains of the Day (1210 Lexile) by Kazuo Ishiguro (published 1989)

Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 1305 (Includes +5 from change to post 583 - Combo -10.8 - 7 letters in author's first name)

Kate S wrote: "Cory (Bigler) '00-'05 wrote: "20.4 Carmilla

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Review: David Mitchell's novel made of nested stories is all over the place right now with the movie in theaters, so I f..."

No problem. I looked at the question thread and couldn't really tell, so I figured I'd try. I've gone back and edited post 911 and the subsequent post so the 5 points are removed and I'm on the same page as you.

10.6 Election Day

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin

Review: I've watched the movie 1776 so many times that sometimes I feel like I know the characters (silly, of course, since it's fictional, but...). Reading Bem Franklin's autobiography made me realize how little I actually knew about him. The book only spans his life until 1757, a mere fraction, but was written by an elder Mr. Franklin looking back on his life. The humor, wit, and quotability I've always associated with him were evident, but I found him to portray himself as far more serious and disciplined than I expected. I've always heard he was a lady's man, out to have a good time, but little of that was evident in the book. It was an interesting side of the man - but I do wish it had covered more of his life, to see if that lecherous side came out in his later decades.

+10 Task (among other things he was elected President of Pennsylvania)
+15 Combo (10.5 - he was well over 60 when he wrote this; 20.8 - he published Poor Richard's Almanack for 25 years, among other things; 20.9)
+15 Oldies (published 1790)
+10 Review

Task Total: 50
Grand Total: 1270 (includes -5 points from change to post 911)

20.7 Women

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Review: David Mitchell's novel made of nested stories is all over the place right now with the movie in theaters, so I felt compelled to pick it up and see what all the fuss is about. I really should know better, since I tend to apply higher standards to books that get a lot of hype. Plus, I don't really like short story/novella collections that much.

I do admire Mitchell's structural shenanigans. Whether or not it's gimmicky, the interwoven and nested story ploy was new to me. The fact that he did manage to write in different styles was also interesting, even if the styles were taken over the top. It's still a feat to tie all of this together into some sort of cohesive whole. And I actually enjoyed some of the stories - most of all the ones written in the styles I tend to prefer in general. As for the plot or the point - well, I'm actually not really sure I have any insight into that at all. Maybe I should see the movie and hope it clears some things up.

+20 Task (passes Bechtel Test - Louisa Rey has a conversation about her career and the article she's writing with her mom, as well as other shorter similar conversations with other women)
+5 Multiple
+5 Combo (10.5 - Timothy Cavendish is over 60)
+10 Review
+5 Jumbo (509 pages)

Task Total: 45
Grand Total: 1220

Given the discussion above regarding Olive Kitteridge, I'm wondering about Cloud Atlas. I can claim it for a couple things based on the narrators, but since it's composed of nested stories, I thought it might fit here instead. If that's the case, it actually wouldn't fit the other categories since not EVERY story applies to each thing, but whichever way would work for me. I'd just like some clarification on it before posting :)