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

Katy’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

10.8 Mediterranean

Riviera Gold by Laurie R. King

I'm nearly caught up with the Mary Russell series - I think this was number 16 and there's one more out - and King is prolific, so there's likely more to look forward to! If you haven't read this series, but enjoy Sherlock Holmes-inspired stories, you'll enjoy it - it's adventures featuring Mary Russell, the protege-turned-wife of Holmes, and while I enjoy a good original Sherlock Holmes, I've been especially captivated over the years by the many ways that Holmes has inspired other writers to innovate on his character. This is one of the best, I think - and it also stands alone in its own right as a series. In this particular installment, Russell & Holmes are tracking down smuggling in the Jazz Age French Riviera while also trying to help their erstwhile housekeeper Mrs. Hudson as she runs from her past. Thoroughly enjoyable!

+10 task
+20 combo (20.3, 20.4 - flips back & forth in time and POV, 20.5 - born 1952, 20.9 - "Clara Hudson smiled at the tiny bubbles of champagne rising up in the glass, then lifted it")
+10 review

Task Total: 40
Season Total: 225

20.1 Serially

Agatha Christie by The Murder on the Links

+20 task
+15 combo (10.2, 10.5, 10.8 - set almost entirely in France)

Task Total: 35
Season total: 185

10.4 Truth & Reconciliation

Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

Really engrossing book with a few different levels going on! It tells the story of Virgil Wounded Horse, an "enforcer" on the Rosebud reservation who is caring for his teenage nephew and working but is kind of at loose ends. He winds up trying to track down the source of drugs coming onto the reservation (especially as they have impacted his nephew's life directly) and uncovers secrets and corruption on different levels. Beyond the mystery/thriller aspect, the book also paints a fascinating picture of life on the Rosebud reservation, and an equally fascinating but also depressing and grim picture of some of the ways that the government and law enforcement operate that seem completely unjust.

+10 task
+5 combo (10.3 - bio lists him as a professor)
+10 review

Task Total: 25
Season Total: 150

15.5 Counting on Authors

The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance by Laurie Garrett

+15 Task (13 letters)
+5 not a novel
+5 jumbo (750 pages)

Post Total: 25
Season Total: 125

15.4 Counting on Authors

Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life by Christie Tate

+15 Task (12 letters)
+5 not a novel

Post Total: 20
Season Total: 100

15.3 Counting on Authors

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney

+15 Task (11 letters)

Post Total: 15
Season Total: 80

20.5 Boomer

The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny

I was eagerly awaiting the release of #17 in this series - I didn't get into Louise Penny until the last few years, so I never had to wait before, I could just plow through the first 16! So it was pretty exciting to await the new release. I typically listen to these as audiobooks and just love being immersed into the world of Three Pines - despite all the murders, seems like a wonderful place to be! In this installment, COVID has come to the village, and is now in the past - but very much impacts the events of the book. A statistics professor is in the line of fire due to her extreme views, and these views are personal to everyone, perhaps especially Gamache's team. I enjoyed the mystery but also really enjoyed hearing about how the villagers made it through COVID - obviously Penny wrote this when it seemed like COVID was going away (sigh) so the reality now diverges from the story, but it almost felt like seeing old friends again after quarantine to have the villagers emerging from their houses. I don't want to say too much about the mystery because it really will spoil it, but it was well worth reading.

+20 task (author born in 1958)
+5 combo (20.3 - avg rating 4.44)
+10 review

Task Total: 35
Season Total: 65

10.3 Back to School

Long Bright River by Liz Moore

This was an interesting read! It was a well-written, contemplative mystery - heavier on the contemplation than the mystery. Mickey, a Philly cop, is on the job but also worried about her sister, who is an on-again off-again drug user on the same streets Mickey patrols. Meanwhile, girls like Mickey's sister are turning up dead. So there is definitely a mystery aspect, but a lot of it is around the relationships Mickey has and the ways that her personal history shapes her present beliefs. As a side note, I also enjoyed the way her role as a single mother played into the story - unlike a lot of mystery novels where the crime-solver's family life seems to just be on hold for the duration of the mystery, Mickey's childcare struggles were ever-present -- in a way that made the book feel different, fresh, and real.

+10 task (her GR bio describes her as teaching at Temple Univ.)
+10 combo (20.3 - rating 4.06, 20.4 - moves between past and present throughout book)
+10 review

Task Total: 30
Season Total: 30

10.4 Page Count 200-249

Later by Stephen King

+10 task

Task Total: 10
Season Total: 180

10.3 Page Count 150-199

Last Breath by Karin Slaughter
176 pages

+10 task

Task Total: 10
Season Total: 170

20.5 Riding the Metro

While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams

City: Washington DC
Country: United States
Continent: North America

So Stacey Abrams is an amazing political leader, a successful romance novelist - AND now writes political thrillers???? Amazing. I did enjoy this though it may not crack my top few political thrillers. Her deep knowledge of how government works definitely shines through, and I found the characters, particularly the main character Avery, compelling and interesting. The central plot, which I won't spoil here, is interesting but almost a side note and less engaging than the day to day of how Avery tries to solve the problem of people around her trying to kill and discredit her. Nonetheless, it was worth reading!

+20 Task
+5 review

Task Total: 25
Season Total: 160

20.4 Riding the Metro

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

City: Shanghai
Country: China
Continent: Asia

Thoroughly enjoyable retelling of Romeo & Juliet, set in 1920s Shanghai, which apparently was run by some pretty powerful gangs. That's the backstory of the book - the R&J characters are the heirs of 2 powerful opposing gangs, hence the doomed love part. There's a fantasy element here as well - the two gangs need to tentatively work together to battle a monster/disease that is killing people across the city - but I enjoyed just as much (or maybe even more) the historical setting, and learned a lot about historical Shanghai gangs and the sizable Russian community that lived there as well.

+20 Task
+5 review

Task Total: 25
Season Total: 135

20.3 Riding the Metro

Sleep Well, My Lady by Kwei Quartey

set in Accra
Country: Ghana
Continent: Africa

This is book 2 of a series by Ghanaian author Kwei Quartey - I really enjoyed the first one and was excited to see the second one come out. I also liked this second one - the storyline is that a wealthy young fashion designer is murdered at her home, and her driver was arrested. Some years later, her aunt brings the case, that she still is unsatisfied with, to the private detective agency, and Emma Djan and company are on the case. I enjoyed the storyline but even more, I loved the gorgeous detail & description of the different areas of Accra.

+20 Task
+5 Review

Task Total: 25
Season Total: 110

20.2 Riding the Metro

Where We Go From Here by Lucas Rocha

set in Rio de Janeiro
Country: Brazil
Continent: South America

This is just a lovely, fast-paced, engaging book tracing the intertwined stories of 3 young men in Rio who are all dealing with HIV in different ways -- one is HIV positive and coping, eventually, with a dramatic betrayal from an ex. Another just tested positive. A third had a scare but is HIV negative, and is struggling with trust.

+20 Task
+5 Review

Task Total: 25
Season Total: 85

20.1 Riding the Metro

Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie

set in London
Country: England
Continent: Europe

I read the first book in this series last season and just thoroughly enjoyed it. It seems like the Tommy & Tuppence series is not one of Agatha Christie's most popular series, but I found it pretty amusing and the characters engaging. This one is a collection of short stories of their adventures, now that they've set up shop (semi-officially) as private detectives in London, tackling cases of all sorts - and of course with an extra espionage thread all the way through!

+20 Task
+5 Before 1996 (pub 1929)
+5 Review

Post Total: 30
Season Total: 60

10.2 Page Count 100-149

The Dispatcher by John Scalzi

I always enjoy John Scalzi, and this is no exception. It was quick, fun, lighthearted given the subject matter (a world where if you're killed intentionally, you don't die - so Dispatchers are on hand to quickly murder you if you're about to die of natural causes, so it isn't permanent!). I listened to this on audio and it was the perfect quick pick-me-up for a summery afternoon. (Again, I realize the subject matter doesn't sound like a pick-me-up, but Scalzi's writing is always pleasurable!)

+10 Task (128 pages)
+5 Review

Post Total: 15
Season Total: 30

10.6 Page Count 300-349

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

This was interesting in that I did actually predict part of the twist (which is a GREAT one!) before the end of the book, which is frankly rare for me - I am not the world's best predictor! But nonetheless, the book was still engaging to a point where I stayed up late to finish because despite knowing how tired I would inevitably be, I just could not imagine going to bed without having read the end. The basic storyline is that a formerly promising but now languishing writer hears from a student about an amazing, can't-lose plot for a novel - but the student dies before he can write it. So Jacob, the author, writes it and finds unbelievable success...until he starts getting messages about being a thief. It's sort of a literary thriller - definitely edge of your seat, and definitely well written.

+10 Task (336 pages)
+5 Review

Post Total: 15
Season Total: 15

Valerie wrote: "Well, it's was a banner season for you Katy! Congrats on winning the gift card!"

Thanks, all! It was a banner season indeed :) And was able to read some really good books, too!

15.10 Fabulous Firsts

Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students by Zaretta Lynn Hammond

C - Z

+20 task
+5 nonfiction
+100 finisher FF
+200 Mega Finish (my first mega, I think!!!)

Task total: 325
Season Total: 1260

20.5 Balkans

The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht

+20 task
+10 combo (20.1, 20.10)
+100 RWS Finish

Task Total: 130
Season Total: 935