Katy’s
Comments
(group member since Aug 04, 2010)
Katy’s
comments
from the Reading with Style group.
Showing 561-580 of 1,216
10.8 MegafinishThe Shakespeare Requirement by Julie Schumacher
This is the sequel to Dear Committee Members (which is epistolary, FYI! And hilarious!). In the first book we meet Jason Fitger, a professor of English and creative writing at a small college. Through his letters of recommendation for students, emails and notes to his ex-wife, memos to and from colleagues, and so forth, we learn about the endless construction in his building (by his nemesis, the Economics department), the absurdities of his job, and his mid-life woes. In this second book, which isn't epistolary, Jason is now the chair of the department, the construction is finished, and his ex-wife continues to be a presence in his life. What I loved about the first book, the strong voice and side-splitting humor, is still there in the second one although to a slightly smaller degree. I understand why the author may have felt she wanted to try a different style, or that the epistolary style would have worn thin, but I did love it. However, despite that, this book was a fun, lighthearted read -- and for anyone who works in academia (or quite frankly, any slightly-dysfunctional, bureaucratic environment) the story will ring hilariously true.
+10 task
+10 review
Task Total: 20
Season Total: 140
20.3 Ella Minnow Pea Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn
This is definitely one of those books that I have theoretically meant to read for ages and never gotten to. It sounded vaguely interesting but never enough to bump it to the top of the list, so I'm grateful for this task that did bump it up! It was a strange book for sure, but I enjoyed it a lot. The premise is that as letters fall off a sculpture, on the small island community of Nollop, the island's leaders forbid any speech or writing with that letter, with extreme punishments for those who violate the rule. The earliest letters, conveniently, aren't too hard to avoid, but as you can imagine, things get tricky fast. I wondered if it would become hard to read the book once the selected letters were gone and the answer is yes, somewhat, but not to a point where it's *too* hard, and those parts go quickly. I expected a somewhat cute, maybe silly book that relied on the gimmick of losing letters - but what I didn't expect was the embedded parts that were quite thought-provoking about the whims of dictators and how people could or should respond to them. I found those parts even more interesting than the linguistic tricks the author had to employ to get around the missing letters!
+20 task
+10 combo (20.1, 10.8)
+10 review
Task Total: 40
Season Total: 120
20.2 Rebecca The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
This book tells the story of a young lawyer who goes up to the house of a recently deceased woman, to examine her papers. He has warnings, both explicit and subtle, from many townspeople but (of course!) ignores them and presses onward with his work...until the woman in black turns up. I kept checking to see that it was in fact written in the 1980s because it read like a much older book. Having read and enjoyed Wilkie Collins and similar writers, it was amazing how much Hill's style felt like it came from another era. Aside from that, it was also a terrific ghost story -- well-paced, atmospheric, and creepy enough that I didn't want to read it alone at night!
+20 task (born UK 1942)
+10 combo (10.2, 10.5)
+5 oldies (1983)
+10 review
Task Total: 45
Season Total: 80
20.9 True CrimeI'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara
I am not always a huge fan of true crime, but I had this book already and decided to give it a try. The book tells the story of the Golden State Killer, who was active for years all over CA. The story is of him, but also of the author's efforts to track him down as laypeople. The backstory here is that Michelle McNamara, the author, died while completing the manuscript, and it was finished by her husband and her assistant. Although the writing style did change in those sections, they were labeled as such, and it didn't interfere with the book. It was also fascinating to learn that recently, the killer at the heart of the book was actually apprehended, so that was another angle that made this book especially intriguing. As the book went on, I found myself seeking out more background information like this because the whole thing was just so fascinating.
+ 20 task (shelved more than 2000 times as true crime)
+ 5 combo (10.8)
+ 10 review
Task Total: 35
Season Total: 35
I'm trying to make sure this works -- the book I'm looking at is Blood Safari which won the ATKV Award for Suspense Literature (https://www.goodreads.com/award/show/...) -- this is a South African award. The Wikipedia entry for the ATKV awards only references the Prose awards, not Suspense (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATKV_Pr...) - so it's a little muddled. Will this still work?
20.10 Over and UnderThe Perfect Candidate by Peter Stone
+ 20 task (135 ratings, 4.06 avg)
+ 15 combo (10.2, 10.4, 10.8)
Task Total: 35
Season Total: 170
10.9 State Your NameLess Than A Treason by Dana Stabenow
+10 task (SD - South Dakota)
+5 combo (10.2)
Task Total: 15
Season Total: 135
10.7 ConjunctionsSo You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
+10 task (so!)
+10 combo (10.8, 20.1)
Task Total: 20
Season Total: 120
20.5 Nevil Shute Transcription by Kate Atkinson
+20 task (shelved 730 times as historical fiction)
+10 combo (10.9 - Alaska AK, 20.1 - Dec. 20)
Task Total: 30
Season Total: 100
10.4 New Year's DayThe Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth
1120 Lexile
+10 task
+20 combo (10.2, 10.8, 10.9 - DE, 20.1 - Jan. 17)
+5 Prize Worthy (Montana Book Award 2012)
Task Total: 35
Season Total: 70
Two others -- Ijeoma Oluo - born Dec. 30 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ijeoma_...
and
Elizabeth George - born Feb. 26 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabe...
10.5 2018 Amazon Elevation by Stephen King
+10 task
+10 combo (10.2, 10.9 - KS)
+5 prizeworthy (GR Choice award for Horror 2018)
Task Total: 25
Season Total: 35
10.2 Goodreads Authorized The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz
+10 task
Task Total: 10
Season Total: 10
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Thanks, Katy. Yes, everyone is fine here. I've seen some scary pictures up there, but Ketchikan is 700 miles from Anchorage and completely safe.How is motherhood?"
Oh good, 700 miles feels nice and safe :) I couldn't remember where you were! Motherhood is wonderful and intense. Feels a little like an earthquake actually :) I'm very happy and also very tired!
Elizabeth, how are you with the earthquake?? Hope you and your family are ok!
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "How are you doing, Katy? Hope you're able to get some sleep, but if not, the day will come and you'll sleep like a baby!"Thanks for checking in! We're doing okay -- I was getting some sleep - she was actually a pretty good sleeper. She is going through a rough patch with sleep this week but I have faith it will work itself out :) I am easing into some new routines, which is nice - including my own reading (and, of course, reading to the baby!). It sounds silly (though probably not to anyone in this group!) but it was making me so stressed and unhappy to not be able to read at all, in the first week or so. Now that I don't just sit and feed her all day, and I've carved out a few bits of reading time here and there, I feel more myself!
Ooooh...I am definitely going to try both those books tonight! I like the idea of baby book magic!
Hi all! Just popping in to say hi -- I had the baby, June 19 at 5:47 am. Her name is Alaya and she's doing really well. Can't believe it's been almost a month! Taking care of a newborn is definitely impacting my reading time but I check in on the group quite a bit!!!
