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

Katy’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

20.10 Interconnected

The Inimitable Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse

I liked this one way more than I expected! I initially picked it up just because it was a group read - but as it turned out, I found it pretty enjoyable. As others have posted, I found it humorous and light, not necessarily deep, but it was neat to see a totally different style of writing than what I typically read, and fascinating to read about the exploits of Jeeves and Wooster. I wonder how common this lifestyle really was -- it seems hard to imagine many people living a life with no obligations, no job, just spending your time entertaining and getting your butler to solve your friends’ romantic problems. Hard to imagine, but definitely intriguing! Just imagine how much reading we could all do if we had butlers to handle the other stuff!

+20 Task
+10 Combo (10.10, 10.9)
+10 Review
+10 Not-a-Novel (Short Stories)
+10 Oldies (1923)

Task Total: 60
Grand Total: 815

15.1 TTUS Land Cruiser Round 2

Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight

NEW YORK

Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 755

15.10 TTUS Land Cruiser

Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik

MINNESOTA

Incidentally, I picked this on a whim to finish off Minnesota but I ended up really enjoying it!

Task: 15
Bonus: 15
TTUS Completion Bonus: 100

Task Total: 130
Grand Total: 740

15.9 TTUS Land Cruiser

61 Hours by Lee Child

SOUTH DAKOTA

Task: 15
Bonus: 15

Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 610

10.4 Math

Seven for a Secret by Lyndsay Faye

This is the second in Lyndsay Faye's Timothy Wilde mystery series, and I would highly recommend the series if you are a fan of mystery of any sort - especially historical mysteries. The books are set in New York City in the 1840s, just as the NYPD is being formed. Timothy Wilde, the protagonist, is a "copper star" in this newly formed police force, and struggles with his personal demons alongside the crooks of NYC (some of whom are his colleagues). Faye does a fantastic job of bringing the time period to life (which is even more fun for those of us who know NYC). She uses a lot of "flash" dialect - language used by criminals in this era - but it's done well, so that you pick up some new words but aren't irritated by the device.

+10 task
+10 review

Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 580

15.8 TTUS Land Cruiser

Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer

MONTANA

+15 task
+10 bonus

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 560

15.7 TTUS Land Cruiser

Open Season by C.J. Box

WYOMING

+15 task
+10 bonus

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 535

15.6 TTUS Land Cruiser

The Echo Maker by Richard Powers
NEBRASKA

+15 task
+10 bonus

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 510

If anyone is looking for a suggestion, Half Blood Blues won the Scotiabank in 2011 and I absolutely loved it.

10.2 Agatha Christie

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

This is Agatha Christie's first book, and being a casual fan, I thought it would be fun to go back to #1. This one, like her others, have held up well against the test of time. Here's where we meet Inspector Poirot and get a bit of his backstory, and here is also where you can really see some of the elements that will ultimately make a Christie a Christie. Fun, relatively light reading in the vein of mystery writing that makes you want desperately to put down the book and solve the case before Poirot - Agatha Christie plays fair, everything is there for you, but I have yet to be able to completely figure out the puzzle in advance.

+10 task
+5 combo (10.9)
+10 oldies (published 1920)
+10 review

Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 485

10.8 The Horrors!

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

Having watched a few episodes of the Dexter TV show when it was on, I was interested to see how the books stacked up. As is usually the case, the book was better (though it's a pretty good show!). The premise is, without any spoilers, that Dexter is drawn to murder - he's a sociopath killer who wishes to do right, and so only murders people who deserve it. He also works for Miami's forensic investigation unit. (Convenient!) In this book, he is tracking down a serial killer (not the loving kind, either!) whose methods he admires a bit. The book highlights, more so than the show did, Dexter's internal struggles - wanting to do right by his values and lead a good life, but wrestling with what that means. Aside from the serial killer aspect, that I think resonates with most of us as true life work.

+10 task (#125 on list)
+5 Combo (10.9)
+10 review

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 450

15.5 TTUS Land cruiser

Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town by Nick Reding

IOWA

+15 task
+10 bonus

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 425

20.4 Balance

A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif

I have had this book on my list to read for ages, and it didn't disappoint, though it wasn't quite what I was expecting. It's the story of Ali Shigri, in training for Pakistan's air force, who we eventually learn is trying to figure out and then avenge his father's death by concocting an elaborate plot involving his best friend and the "silent drill" routine he's learning with an American drill sergeant. In some ways this reads like a comedy - there are absurd situations and larger-than-life characters, some of which are quite funny. Hanif's writing pops out the humor well. On the other hand, there are also parts that read more like a drama or a historical fiction piece. Hanif plays with time and point of view expertly -- I was confused at first but it quickly became clear and enjoyed the author's skill as much as the story line.

+20 task (#34 on South Asian Fiction list)
+10 review

Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 400

20.2 Innocence

Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist by Dorothy Gilman

Published 1997, Gilman died in 2012

On my re-reading Mrs. Pollifax books kick, I realized that I hadn't actually read this one in the first place, so I was looking forward to a fresh read. It definitely delivered in one sense - new setting, new problems, new characters. On the other hand, I was reminded of both the pleasures and disappointments of formula books. It's nice sometimes to just read a pattern - you know what kind of thing is coming, you can predict, nothing totally shocks you, and you're just enjoying the writing and being taken along for the ride. However, I definitely felt like I had read this before, though I hadn't. In this installment, Mrs. Pollifax accompanies her old friend Farrell to Jordan to rendezvous with someone and pick up a manuscript of an imprisoned, then murdered, dissident Iraqi writer. Unsurprisingly, she meets someone along the way who isn't what he seems to be and uses karate and wits to do more than her mission suggested. Formula, but a fun formula.

+20 task
+10 review

Task Total: 30
Grand total: 360

15.4 TTUS Land Cruiser

The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh

MISSOURI

+15 task
+10 bonus

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 330

D wrote: "Katy wrote: "Kate S wrote: "From Post 488

Katy wrote: "15.4 TtUS Land Cruiser

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

....It doesn't fit any other task, I don't think...sigh......"

Ooooh, thanks! I can't think why that task didn't occur to me...clearly I am off my game, what with forgetting to check BPL for that book and ignoring Six Degrees! Thanks for that! (On the plus side, I did find a new book for Missouri already that looks terrific).

Kate S wrote: "From Post 490

Katy wrote: "10.1 Authors

The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear by Seth Mnookin

The Panic Virus attempts to explain how and why..."

Thanks, Kate!!

Kate S wrote: "From Post 488

Katy wrote: "15.4 TtUS Land Cruiser

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Missouri

+15 task
+10 bonus

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 250"

Sorry, Katy, this is ..."

Oh wow, I would not have expected that! Let's hope it's not shelved as Assignment...pretty horrific and gruesome for English class! (Though I might have enjoyed that as a teenager, I suppose). It doesn't fit any other task, I don't think...sigh...back to the drawing board for Missouri!!!

10.1 Authors

The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear by Seth Mnookin

The Panic Virus attempts to explain how and why anti-vaccine belief has sprung up (again) in recent years, and the effects of this trend. I found this book far more fascinating than the subject would suggest. I didn't know, for example, the history of vaccine rejectors, for different reasons, and I didn't know much about the ways that vaccines were developed and tested. Most of all, his research made me think about the way (some) people tend to treat science in the US. It's a fascinating puzzle, because I think it has to do with the media, religion, culture, education, trust in authority (or lack thereof), our beliefs about the value of individualism, and more. Mnookin issues a pretty harsh indictment of how the media did more to fan the flames of the issue than anyone else, and from reading his book I am inclined to agree that the media in general was not especially responsible in this story! I was surprisingly entertained by this book, and learned a lot.

+10 task
+10 not-a-novel (nonfiction)
+10 review

Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 315

20.1 Celebration

Happy birthday Elizabeth!

The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman

I've been on a kick recently of re-reading Mrs. Pollifax books -- these were some of my mom's favorites as well as mine, when I was a teenager. The series tells the adventures of Mrs. Pollifax, a widowed Garden Club enthusiast in New Jersey, who ends up working for the CIA after her doctor advises her to find a new interest or hobby to avoid depression. I read almost all of the series years ago, and then haven't picked one up since. I've found, though, that they are mostly delightful and wonderful airplane/commuting reading - light, engaging, fast. I'm saving some up for a long flight I have in November! It's such a pleasure to rediscover something enjoyable like this!

+20 task (pub 1970)
+5 oldies
+10 review

Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 285