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

Katy’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

20.1 Play Ball
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

+20 task (shelved 39 times as baseball)
+5 combo (20.8 - more than 9 named characters, told from POV of all the main characters)
+5 jumbo (512 pages)

Task total: 30 points
Grand total: 65

10.9 Design Your Own Task
My task -- Read a book that has Historical Fiction as one of the genres on the book page.

I read Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

(This was a 5 star book for me -- I really enjoyed it)

+ 10 Task
+ 5 Jumbo (529 pages)

Task Total = 15
Grand Total = 35

20.8 Baseball Team
The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi

(Told from various perspectives including both Jared and Jane, more than 9 named characters)

+ 20 task

Task Total = 20
Grand Total = 20

OK, I think I finally decided what I want to do...

Read a book that has Historical Fiction as one of the genres on the book page.

10.7 - Nurse It
Lives in the Balance: Nurses' Stories from the ICU edited by Tilda Shalof

My aunt is an ER nurse and so for years I've heard some of her wild stories, but Thanksgiving dinner with 20 plus kids running around isn't the best forum to talk through some of the big issues nurses face. I picked up this book, a collection of essays by different ICU nurses, only because of this task (that and it was already on my Kindle!), and so it was a really nice surprise to enjoy it as much as I did. I had worried that the different essays would get repetitive, but I found the collection well-edited in that respect. There was a nice balance of philosophical commentary, sad stories, funny stories, and policy musing. I learned a lot about aspects of nursing in such high-stakes environments that I had never even considered before and it made me want to pick up more of Shalof's work.

+10 task
+10 review

Task total: 20 points
Grand total: 55

20.5 - In Honor of Emma
Feed by Mira Grant

This was a re-read for me of one of my favorite books in recent years. Having a tough time at work, I wanted to come home and sink into something that would engross me, and Feed is one of those books. The light, humorous writing style is fun but, to me, the thing that really makes this book is the combo of modern politics and zombie apocalypse. All political jokes aside, it's an interesting thought exercise to consider all the different tiny (and, uh, definitely large too) ways things would be different if we DID have zombies roaming the world. And you could certainly, if you were so inclined, use the zombie apocalypse as an allegory for how humans handle other epidemic problems and diseases, for better or worse. I can't put my finger on every reason why, but I like this book so much -- come for the zombies, stay for the politics!

+20 task (narrated by Georgia, a female, written by a female author)
+10 review
+5 jumbo (571 pages)

Task total: 35 points
Grand total: 35

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Katy wrote: "So, does that mean that additions to the two word title like "a novel" or "stories" would be okay for this task?"

Fortunately, Liz thought of this situation when she was writing the F..."

Yay! Thanks for the FAQ reminder...should have checked that first! :)

So, does that mean that additions to the two word title like "a novel" or "stories" would be okay for this task?

10.8 Historical Reading

A Murderous Procession by Ariana Franklin

+10 task (historical fiction set in 1176 AD)
+5 combo (20.4 - author born in 1933)

Task Total: 15

Grand Total: 320

20.2 Winter War

My Ántonia by Willa Cather

+20 task (#42 on best westerns list)
+10 canon

Task Total: 30

Grand Total: 305

Incidentally, I had never read any Cather and completely LOVED this book! I couldn't stop reading.

20.4 In Honor of Winter Trees

The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly

+20 Task (born 1956 according to his bio)

Task total: 20 points
Grand Total: 275

I'm not sure, but what about Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power? Haven't read it yet but it seems to be about modern American wars, culminating with Afghanistan, and the US war in Afghanistan is in several of the blurbs.

20.7 - Notable
What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander

+20 task (on the 2012 list)
+5 combo (10.2 - we)
+10 not-a-novel (short stories)

Task total: 35 points
Grand total: 250 points

And if you're interested, I thought these stories were REALLY good. I couldn't put it down.

20.4 - Winter Trees
The Leopard by Jo Nesbø

+ 20 task (born in 1960 according to his GR bio)

Task Total: 20 points
Grand Total: 215 points

20.4 - Winter Trees
The Reversal by Michael Connelly

+ 20 task (born in 1956 according to his GR bio)

Task Total: 20 points
Grand Total: 195 points

Task 10.7 Buy Nothing Christmas
Old Man's War by John Scalzi

+10 Task - published in December 2004 and was free to me since I got it from my mother

Task Total = 10
Grand Total = 175 points

20.4 - Winter Trees
The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly

+ 20 task (born in 1956 according to his GR bio)

Task Total: 20 points
Grand Total: 165 points

20.4 - Winter Trees
The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Douglas Brinkley

+20 task (Brinkley born in 1960 according to this link)
+10 not-a-novel (nonfiction)
+10 jumbo (736 pages)

Task total: 40 points
Grand total: 145

This was a very interesting read. Took a while, needless to say, but well worth it. It's not a totally neutral-journalist tone (he's from New Orleans and lived through Katrina there) - he expresses some anger and frustration - but given the circumstances that feels right.

Elizabeth, that library looks amazing! I was so excited a few weeks ago when the main branch of my public library reopened after significant Sandy damage...but even at the best of times it was not as cool as that one! :)

Karen GHHS wrote: "RwS Task

10.7 Buy Nothing Christmas

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, 1020 Lexile

+10 Task (published in Feb. 2012, from the Gig Harbor High School Library)

Task Total: 10
Grand Total: 400

W..."

I did, Karen, I liked it a lot! I thought it was really compelling.