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

Katy’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

20.6 Characters

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
Lexile 870

+20 task
+5 multiple

Task Total: 25
Season Total: 240

20.6 Characters

The Paris Diversion by Chris Pavone

+20 task (one of those spy novels with a million characters!)

Task Total: 20
Season Total: 215

20.2 Oxford Authors

The Skeleton Road by Val McDermid

+20 task
+10 combo (10.8, 20.6)

Task Total: 30
Season Total: 195

20.8 Revisit a Friend

Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

+20 task (I first read this author in May 2019)
No styles, low Lexile

Task Total: 20
Season Total: 165

10.7 Summer Shorts

We Are Never Meeting In Real Life by Samantha Irby

+10 task (collection of essays)
+10 young (born in 1980)

Task Total: 20
Season Total: 145

15.2 RG

250 - 999 Ratings

Troublemakers: Lessons in Freedom from Young Children at School by Carla Shalaby

+15 Task (487 ratings)
+5 Nonfiction

Post Total: 20
Season Total: 125

15.1 RG

10,000 - 14,999 Ratings

Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy by Cathy O'Neil (10,905 ratings)

+15 Task
+5 Nonfiction

Post Total: 20
Season Total: 105

10.8 Series

The Next to Die by Sophie Hannah

+10 task (#10 in the Spilling CID series)
+5 combo (20.6 - many police officers and suspects named)
+10 young (born in 1971)

Task Total: 25
Season Total: 85

My favorites are...multiple, not a novel, non-western! And as an alternate, for good measure, I like series ;) Though review is fun too - I like reading other people's reviews.

20.1 Iris Murdoch

The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis

+20 task (pub 1989)
+15 combo (20.2, 20.6, 20.10)
+5 oldies

Task Total: 40
Season Total: 60

10.2 Jackson's Dilemma

The Actor's Life: A Survival Guide by Jenna Fischer

+10 task
+10 young (born 1974)

Task Total: 20
Season Total: 20

20.6 Ellen Foster

Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons

This was a strange, short book that tells the story of Ellen Foster, an abused and neglected young girl in the American South who eventually finds a home where she is safe. After reading, I looked at a bunch of Goodreads reviews and it seems to be polarizing among readers. It was hard to read the details of her life with her father, and then her grandmother wasn't much better! But at the same time, I enjoyed the characterization of Ellen, who came across as a serious, determined, and resolute child, obviously wise beyond her years. The casual racism of the time was also hard to read. The writing style was spare and serious -- I wouldn't say I loved the book but it was worth reading.

+20 task
+15 combo (10.2 - 1987; 10.8; 20.1)
+10 review
+5 oldies (pub 1987)

Task Total: 50
Season Total: 425

20.9 True Crime

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou

This book was absolutely riveting! It tells the story of the rise and eventual takedown of the company Theranos, which purported to be able to run hundreds of blood tests easily and quickly with a single finger stick. In fact, they had no ability to do this and went to great lengths to cover up the problems with their product and intimidate employees who raised questions. I have to say I had really missed all the events of this book while they were happening, so it was all new to me, but I think even if I had followed the news of Theranos more closely at the time, it would have been fascinating reading the backstory here. I would not say I have an abiding interest in Silicon Valley or medical technology but the smooth, compelling writing style and fascinating story made it worth reading.

+20 task (shelved 382 times as true crime)
+10 review

Task Total: 30
Season Total: 375

10.8 Megafinish

American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson

This was a really enjoyable read. On one level it's a spy story -- not necessarily breakneck action but definitely some mystery and intrigue. But more so, I'd say it's a solid literary portrayal of an African American woman in the 1980s who joins the CIA for complex personal reasons and experiences what I'd imagine was a pretty typical mix of success, setbacks, outright racism and sexism, and questionable moments when she had to make tough decisions about what she believed and stood for. Some readers didn't like the fact that it was told in the form of a letter to her sons, a few years after leaving the CIA, but I didn't mind it. I didn't think it needed to be done that way, but it worked perfectly well for me. I enjoyed the story and I enjoyed the unique perspective on a typical spy story.

+10 task
+10 review

Task Total: 20
Season Total: 345

10.3 Scrabble

Fascism: A Warning by Madeleine K. Albright

In this book Madeleine Albright defines fascism (a more slippery term to pin down than I realized!) and then launches into case studies of a huge number of 20th and 21st century fascist leaders. I definitely found this book interesting -- even in sections on people I knew quite a bit about, there were new bits of information and ideas. It was interesting (though depressing) to have such a long parade of fascist leaders, one after the other, and to see their similarities and differences. I think what struck me the most was how many different ways there were for a fascist leader to take power -- if the goal is power, there seem to be endless ways for it to happen!

+10 task
+5 combo (10.8)
+10 review

Task Total: 25
Season Total: 325

10.7 Olive Kitteridge

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Wow! I cannot believe I slept on this book! I think I had assumed that it was just a story about a grumpy old man, but it was so much more than that. I loved every minute of it! It was hilarious, funny, cleverly written, and I fell in love with the characters. (Ove reminded me of my grandfather, and his relationship with his wife was just like his with my grandmother). The book tells the life story of Ove, who is in fact a grumpy old man, and his neighbors. The story goes back and forth between the present and moments from his past, which is a structure I don't always love, but I thought it was well done. The only quibble I had was the author's tendency to use a LOT of similes and other comparisons -- all funny but at times it verged on mixed metaphors!

+10 task
+5 combo (10.8)
+10 review
+10 Lost in Translation

Task Total: 35
Season Total: 300

20.10 Asia

The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices by Xinran

What a fascinating choice for group reads! Thanks, Tien! I really enjoyed reading this, though perhaps enjoyed is the wrong word since the stories were so heart wrenching. Xinran, a radio host of a women's radio program (one of the first of its kind in China), begins investigating the stories and lives of her fellow Chinese women and broadcasts many of these stories. This book is her compilation of many of these stories, with themes emerging about limitations that are placed on women not only because of laws and traditions, but by choices women are forced to make to maintain a reputation or avoid trouble. It was interesting to read stories of women from different class backgrounds, as some experiences were shared and others quite different. I'd be curious to see whether women's experiences today, if she rewrote the book, would be substantially different.

+20 task (set in China)
+10 combo (10.8, 10.10)
+10 review
+10 Lost in Translation

Task Total: 50
Season Total: 265

10.6 Public Domain

Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers

I think I had only read two other Sayers books before this, one of them being the completely delightful Gaudy Night which I've read more than once. This is the first Lord Peter Wimsey mystery and at first, I found his character incredibly grating and annoying. It didn't help that I was listening to it as an audiobook! (Though the narrator was good, he was good in that he accurately rendered the way the character spoke!) However, as the story went on I was more engrossed in the details of the mystery and even gained a bit more sympathy for Lord Peter himself. By the end, I was eager to keep listening.

+10 task
+5 combo (10.7)
+10 review
+10 oldies

Task Total: 35
Season Total: 215

10.3 Scrabble

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

I've read a lot of Moriarty's other books and enjoyed them a lot -- I feel like she is an author who gets categorized (and a bit denigrated) as "chick lit", but while I often don't enjoy other authors lumped into that category, I do really enjoy her work. This was a strange one. I enjoyed it, and by the end found it hard to put down, but it was certainly bizarre. The premise is that nine people arrive for a health retreat -- they'll turn in their electronic devices, have massages and fasting and juices, healing walks, and so on. When they arrive, things immediately seem a little different than anticipated. The guests justify things, try to give it a go, but as a reader you're left wondering if this will turn into some kind of horror thing (don't go in the basement!) or just a weird health resort. It's a bit of a combo, actually. And well worth reading.

+10 task
+5 combo (10.8)
+10 review

Task Total: 25
Season Total: 180

15.1 AbC

U.S. - Printz Award

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (800 Lexile)

Post Total: 15
Season Total: 155