Katy’s Comments (group member since Aug 04, 2010)

Katy’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

10.4 Name

The Judge's List by John Grisham

This was...a John Grisham book, through and through! Lots of action, not amazingly well written but enjoyable. I read the first in the series (though I think it ends with this second installment) and was curious to know what's next, in a purely plot-driven way. The storyline follows Lacy, who works in Florida's BJC, investigating complaints against judges in the state. In this particular complaint, the judge is a serial killer. It's quite a leap for the BJC team, whose usual work involves judges who might be corrupt, or drinking too much. This was a somewhat underwhelming, but fast-paced read. It's a perfect airplane read but I'm not sure I'd seek it out otherwise.

+10 task
+10 review

Task Total: 20
Season Total: 55

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Karen Michele wrote: "I'm looking at The Mapping of Love and Death, a Maisie Dobbs book, and it opens with a flashback scene in 1914 and then moves to 1932. Will it work if just the ..."

I don't recall how many pages/what percentage, but it's definitely less than 5% of the text taking place in 1914, and it's background information -- the real action takes place in 1932.

20.10 Between the Wars

Journey to Munich by Jacqueline Winspear

This is book 12 in the Maisie Dobbs series, which I am thoroughly enjoying. I've been working my way through these as audiobooks for my commutes/washing dishes, but I'm finding these engaging enough that I'm making up good reasons to be listening more often! The bonus there is that I'm doing a lot more cleaning up :). This installment is in 1938, and Maisie is drawn into Special Branch/secret service work, traveling to Nazi-ruled Munich to rescue an English citizen who's imprisoned in Dachau. The tension was high in this one, naturally, and I also found it really interesting to think about the run-up to the war in both England and Germany. Of course wars don't spring up out of nowhere, but we often think about 1939 as the start of the war, not considering the many, many ways life changed as war became more and more likely. So I found that fascinating, and the mystery/intrigue itself also held my attention.

As a side note, all of the previous Maisie Dobbs books also fit this task, if anyone's looking - though after #12 we move into WWII years. And #11 is set in and is about the Spanish Civil War! Too bad I read that at the end of the last season! :)

+20 task (takes places entirely in 1938)
+ 5 combo (20.9 - "She ordered tea and an Eccles cake and sat down" chapter 1)
+10 review

Task Total: 35
Season Total: 35

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Connie wrote: "“Elizabeth, I'm not sure if I understand the task. Does it mean that you can have a title with ten words, but only three words in the title have to start with the letters of the holi..."

Oooooh that does change things! So, for The Mambo Kings example you gave - it fits because K, S, and O are part of the title, but it's okay that there's a T in the title initials that isn't in Songkran, right?

And when you say re-use letters, does that mean that for Songkran, you could use a book like Oona Out of Order - four Os, so you can re-use the one O in Songkran?

Sorry for the detailed questions!!!

Would this count as a trilogy? https://www.goodreads.com/series/2821....
It sounds like the last book isn't out yet but it's still listed as a trilogy.

15.8 Counting on Authors

This Is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf

+15 Task (16 letters)
+50 All female authors
+100 Finisher bonus

Task total: 165
Season total: 685

15.10 Counting on Authors

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

+15 Task (20 letters)

Task Total: 15
Season Total: 520

15.2 Counting on Authors

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

+15 Task (10 letters)

Task Total: 15
Season Total: 505

20.3 Ratings

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall

+20 task (4.42 rating)
+10 Not a Novel

Task Total: 30
Season Total: 490

20.6 Awarded

Final Girls by Riley Sager

+20 task (ITW Thriller Award, Litsy Award)
+5 combo (20.4 - time and POV shifts)

Task Total: 25
Season Total: 460

20.10 Musical Mysteries

Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon

+20 task
+5 combo (10.2)

Task Total: 25
Season Total: 435

20.9 Anniversary

I Know a Secret by Tess Gerritsen

+20 task ("Frank, Sr., filled a champagne class and handed it to his son." - chapter 35)
+5 combo (20.3 - 4.20 rating)

Task Total: 25
Season Total: 410

20.9 Anniversary

They'll Never Catch Us by Jessica Goodman
no Lexile score yet

+20 task ("Mom had allowed herself a glass of champagne, which turned into a few too many" - chapter 7)

Task Total: 20
Season Total: 385

15.9 Counting on Authors

Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear

+15 Task (18 letters)

Post Total: 15
Season Total: 365

15.7 Counting on Authors

Learning in Public: Lessons for a Racially Divided America from My Daughter's School by Courtney E. Martin

+15 Task (15 letters)
+5 not-a-novel (nonfiction)

Post Total: 20
Season Total: 350

15.1 Counting on Authors

Impostor Syndrome by Kathy Wang

+15 Task (9 letters)

Post Total: 15
Season Total: 330

15.6 Counting on Authors

14 letters

Crooked House by Agatha Christie

+15 task

Task Total: 15
Season Total: 310

10.7 Service

Into the Deep: A Memoir from the Man Who Found Titanic by Robert D. Ballard

Kate, thanks for suggesting this book as a group read! I would probably never have picked it up, but was so interested! Ballard's life is fascinating and he discusses not only his discovery of the wreck of the Titanic but also his work with other shipwrecks and dives, and his work developing educational resources on land. I was intrigued as an educator with his description of realizing he had dyslexia, and how that impacted his learning as well as his presentation and thinking style. I will say, I kept thinking throughout the first half of the book that if he didn't have a wife to stay at home and raise his kids, there's no way he would have been able to "have it all" - the exploration, the career that demanded long trips, plus the family life. I think he realizes this too, though, as he describes his efforts later in life to support girls and women in STEM and in particular in ocean exploration.

+10 task (Ballard served in the Navy)
+10 combo (10.10, 20.3)
+10 review
+10 not a novel

Task Total: 40
Season Total: 295

10.1 TBR

Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam

What a strange book! I wouldn't say it's a page turner by any means. The writing is lovely and kept me returning to it, but it was not a book I (at first, especially) was dying to come back to each day. It rewarded going a bit slower, I think. The plot is simple -- a family has rented a vacation home in a remote corner of Long Island, and something happens, causing the home's owners to come seeking shelter. The implication is that something terrible has happened in the more populated world - maybe a blackout, maybe a bomb? I think what this book does best is create an incredible sense of unease - the way Alam builds a mood is terrific. I never had a good idea of what exactly the terrible thing was, but was anxious about it nonetheless!

+10 task (on TBR since 10/4/20)
+10 review

Task Total: 20
Season Total: 255

10.2 Halloween

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
no Lexile

+10 task (poison refers to the main character's ability to kill people with plant poisons)

Task Total: 10
Season Total: 235